Gifts. We want lots of gifts this year and let's face it, our naughty/nice ratio could be better. That's why we thought we'd suck up to Santa in a major way and give you this mini collection of the best and brightest Santa sites. Visit them and put in a good word for us. Enjoy.
SAINT SANTA: CHRISTMAS IN CYBERSPACE
It all started with St. Nicholas, so you might as well begin at the source. This site, put up by the St. Nicholas Society is by far the neatest of the bunch. Excellent graphic design complements visual treats such as Santa's coat of arms, his signature, his medal, and a picture gallery. There's even a CD-ROM. Spiritual, enlightening, and beautiful. Don't miss it. "http://193.65.230.1/mp/rec/santa/santa.htm"
A nice mainstream site with good design and cool content. What's your entry in the Naughty or Nice list? Just what is the sinister Legend of the Pickle? Graphics, history, calendar, recipies. The best of the rest. "http://www.claus.com"
SANTA INC.: DOWNSIZING, RESTRUCTURING, AND ROUND TOP, TEXAS
The latest report from the (funny) business rumor mill. Wall Street Journal would be proud to run this piece and you should run to read it. And by the way, CAN polar bears tell the difference between elves and seals? Anybody? "http://www.rtis.com/reg/roundtop/santa.htm"
SANTA TOY: THIS YEAR'S COOLEST TOY
Well, what is it? Here's what your netsurfing peers think: "Lots of really hot pizza. A new Lamborghini Diablo. Power Ranger punching bag. Fantastic nails. A BIG HUGE jet. Studly Bobby doll". Add your own. Read your kids' choice. Take out second mortgage. "http://www.cris.com/~santa/cool.html"
SANTA SOFTWARE: TRACKING SANTA
Cool, entertaining, and utterly usless. Who could think of a more perfect gift for the techno-geek in your life? See where he is on the map or via satellite view. Hear Santa talk, check his progress, add your own sounds. Holiday hackware at its best, for Windows. "http://www.cyberhighway.net/~citius/santa.html"
SANTA GIMMICKS: SANTA CLAUS GOES CYBER
You've got your cool 3-D spinning snowflake on the home page, and a nice threaded forum with the topic of "All I want for Christmas is...". A topical technical trip. "http://www.kriskringle.com/"
SANTA FOR THE SNOW IMPAIRED: SANTA ON BEACH PATROL
Sand, surf, and Santa. It's a small, wet joke, but still.... "http://www.clark.net/pub/stroh/orders.htm"
"What makes grown men cry and little kids behave?" Fertnel Snack products, of course. This tasty site has its tongue and cheeze firmly in cheek. Ever wonder just how many insect parts are allowed by law in your cheeze product snackfood? Well, we're not telling. At Fertnel they have a vision: "It's using up the environment now, before it's all gone." You're gonna love 'em and their cheezy products. Be sure to check out the Industral Accident Corner. This is hilarious. "http://www.fertnel.com/"
If you've ever had to say those words, you'll appreciate the Evil Younger Brother Excuse Generator. With a few simple vocabulary inputs from you, the mad geniuses at Dr. Fellowbug's lab will create a complete excuse for use in case you happened to have slept with your best friend's spouse, have burned down someone's house, have missed your editor's deadline, or have done a number of other things. It works like those Mad Lib pads. Remember them? "http://www.dtd.com/excuse/"
Space Ghost is likely the best superhero/talk show host on TV, and if you're going to visit his Ghost Planet, make sure you have plenty of time. This is a huge site. You can pick up your favorite Space Ghost Coast to Coast memorabilia at the Quik Stoppe, or have submit a tape to be played in the Locust Club. Clips from the show can be viewed by those with QuickTime capabilities. Unless you're just stubborn or have a lot of time on your hands, do NOT take the mine shaft! "http://www.biggun.com/SpaceGhost/"
HotWired has added a new channel dedicated to alternative, epinephrine-boosting sports. If your interests include climbing, rafting, biking, surfing, or ultimate frisbee, check out Adrenaline on HotWired's homepage. you'll find slick graphics (though hard to tell what's a live link and what's window dressing), news bites on recent exploits, first-person blurbs and photos, and a database called Core that users update with insider info on local top-notch sites along with a words of wisdom on how to tackle it, the hazards, and the places to unwind and refuel afterwards. There's even space for bragging. "http://www.hotwired.com/adrenaline/"
The 1990s' fads of body piercing and netsurfing get combined in this twisted little game called Piercing Mildred, in which you get to apply multiple body modifications to a character of your choice. You start with enough "money" for several holes or self-designed scars, placed where on the anatomy you wish. Of course, you also have to pay for the antibiotic ointment when an infection crops up. Get even with your enemies, win cheap prizes, and earn a place in the weekly Freak Show. A must-see for the weirdo in us all. "http://streams.com/pierce/"
Riding the wave of retro that has swept North America - exemplified by the cultural icons, the Monkees. The site's a veritable shrine to the band, with biographical info on band members, sound clips from the albums, and lyrics to nearly every song. There are also the requisite FAQs, addresses of the band members (both snail and e-mail), and the most apocalyptic rumor to hit our planet in years: there may be a Monkees movie. It's an odd sign of things to come when the four horsemen of the apocalypse are named Mickey, Mike, Peter, and Davy. "http://www.primenet.com/~flex/monkees.html"
It was the 1960s. Suddenly, on your television set appeared a show unlike any other (except maybe "The Twilight Zone"). It was "The Outer Limits", featuring monsters and aliens whose sole purpose was to terrify and take over unsuspecting Earthlings such as yourself. Even if you didn't watch it back then, you can't help but admire the show's cool plots and funky, if not funny, creatures. This site pays homage to the show with a historical perspective, a guide to episodes, selected pictures, and sound effects. More retro. "http://www.webzone1.co.uk/www/brendan/outer.htm"
TODAY PAGE OFFERS NIFTY DAILY FACTLETS
Ari's Today Page will please those who love collecting trivia with which to surprise (or bore) their friends. You can check out the number of days until Christmas and Chanukah, learn about historical events that happened on that day (how could you have lived so long without knowing that December 4, 1915, brought forth the first edition of Chase's Annual Events), and link to a news summary from Reuters. Other goodies include links to a space calendar, a cool site of the day, an astronomy picture of the day, and the cool word of the day. "http://www.uta.fi/~blarku/today.html"
Not to be confused with the Way of the Exploding Head (NSD 1.35), the Headless Way presents the road to self-understanding pioneered by English philosopher and workshop leader Douglas Harding. Seems, years ago, Harding realized that when he looked around he could see the world, his arms, his legs, his torso - everything but his head. He had "lost a head and gained a world." He has since developed exercises to help others discover what and who they are at their center, all based on the Headless Way. New Age, no doubt, but kind of fun too. The only questions is: what about those of us who can see the tips of their noses? "http://huizen.dds.nl/~ramsay/headless.htm"
Automotive Information Center's (AIC) AutoSite proves to be a great pit stop for car owners and buyers. AIC claims the site carries 24,000 pages of resourcels covering every make of car on the US market, and you have to believe them. Useful bays include a library of auto-safety and consumer advice; info on car clubs; repair info and hints; and wholesale and retail book values of used cars and trucks. AutoSite gleams with a Simonized shine if you're in the market for a new car. You can grab detailed info on any model; compare two models' features; look up dealer prices and MSRPs; and generate a final cost for the car and package you want. Complete access requires a "Passport" costing $4.95 for three months, though there's plenty of valuable free info available to help you hit the real highway. "http://www.autosite.com/"
SoundSite is devoted to all things audiovisual. From a full glossary of a/v terms to text-only directions on how to connect all sorts of electronics together - including how to run a TV through your stereo - this is a site for sound buffs. There are historical highlights from both the sound and moving image industries, current industry news and the all important list of directions for how to set your VCR clock on ten major models. "http://www.soundsite.com/"
NAME THAT TUNE AT WORLD WIDE MUSIC
Once you're amped to the max, you can tackle another problem, one that's plagued us since the invention of the car radio: how to track down the album by the band that did that song. If you've got the song title, jam on over to World Wide Music, where you can search out albums by artist, title, or track. Having found the album, you can listen to several 30-second song samples. If you like it, buy it. Cool. The site also boasts a recommendation engine: you grade albums and the site suggests others you might enjoy. The site covers more than 20 music categories and lists the ten top albums in each category. With more than 45,000 discs available to browse and choose from, you won't leave singing the blues. "http://www.worldwidemusic.com/"
INKTOMI'S A POWERFUL PLAYER IN THE NET SEARCH FIELD
Inktomi, brought to you by the University of California at Berkeley, is a Net search engine that claims a higher actual document count than Lycos and Infoseek. A further claim to fame is that its database is distributed across several workstations for increased processing speed. When asked to search the name of one of our esteemed writers, Inktomi rapidly delivered the correct document title but the wrong URL. Oh well. Document results inform you of the actual keyword hits within each matching document. Don't bother with the "Full Graphics" display as it only adds a graphic separator bar to the text listings. Document retrieval is fast, but the lack of Boolean logic may put off power searchers. "http://inktomi.berkeley.edu/"
It would take a librarian to make sense of the mass of technical reference material on the Internet. Gerry McKiernan attempts to do just this with his prototype, Cyberstacks, which organizes these documents under the Library of Congress classification scheme. Navigation, by subject area, becomes more refined as you dive into the schema. Prior categories are visible (in a tiny two-point font) and available as links, allowing you to easily wander through a subject area. Target resources contain useful abstracts along with short summaries on the specifics of searching it. This is only a demonstration with few areas fleshed out, but it's worth a look. "http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gerrymck/"
CultureFinder is one-stop shopping for performing arts information. The central feature is US listings for classical music, opera, chamber music, ballet, and dance, accessed through a calendar which can be searched by date range, type of performance, and location. A news section includes recent articles and (any moment now...) interviews with famous conductors and performers. Enter the Library for excerpts from books and magazines, and answers from the e-mailable "Classical Music Answer Man". This new site does not show much depth at the moment, but will become a great resource if updated regularly. "http://www.culturefinder.com/"
PARENTS PLACE PLEASES PROGENITORS
Even if you don't hold the title to a tiny tot, this parenting resource can be relatively (oops) interesting. For those who do have children, the articles written by and for parents - on topics ranging from pregnancy and breastfeeding to family activities and children's education - should provide a motherlode (oops, again) of helpful tips. Parents can commiserate with other parents via chat or public e-mail and there's a Parents Place Birthday Club, too. Useful both for parents and those who for some mystical reason like other people's children are the kiddy-related shopping links. Where else can you find a title such as "Piddlers Toilet Targets: Potty Training Fish"? "http://www.parentsplace.com/"
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING REALLY STEAMY - A VIRTUAL RIVERBOAT RIDE
Picture Old Man River with a PowerMac and a high-speed modem. That's the image that might come to mind when you visit the S.S. Cherokee Bell, a virtual riverboat that's carrying everything (and we mean everything) you ever want to know about the people, paddlers and places of American river lore. Cap'n Mark Wheeler is your guide to steamboats, paddlewheelers, rivers, cities, and much more than we can possibly list here. Take a ride and see for yourself. "http://www.acy.digex.net/~capnmark/home.html"
DISCOVER THE VANISHING CINEMAS OF PARIS
Bonjour, mesdames et messieurs. Please make your way directly to the entrance, where you'll discover the strange-but-vrai odyssey of Jean Francois Chaput, a former movie projectionist who has spent over a decade documenting the vanishing cinemas of Paris. Highlights include photographs, interviews with cashiers and projectionists, and animations. Available in your choice of French or English. "http://www.objectif.fr/seita/"
HORSE-DRAWN WAGONS HIT THE WEB
Ever wonder about the Amish? This site has all you'll ever want to know about people, places and events in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. And if you can't find your burning question answered on one of the pages devoted to Amish history and habits, covered bridges, quilting, and even weather of the area, you can submit your query to Ask the Amish and have one of the experts from the Mennonite Information Center answer you directly. Ironic, no? "http://padutch.welcome.com/"
DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE? II
The capital of Silicon Valley has another index and directory (see NSD 1.24), but this one includes more than 1,100 web sites that focus not only on San Jose but on the entire San Francisco Bay Area. There are more than 30 major categories - and yes, technology just happens to be one. Other groups include associations, parks, gardens, performing arts, weather, and shopping. Handy for tourists, this site will also be useful for Silicon Valley job-seekers, sports fans (yup, you can link to topics ranging from basketball to soccer to hockey), and school children assigned to write reports on San Jose. "http://users.aol.com/mentorms/sanjose.html"
EASY PUBLICITY FOR YOUR WEBPAGE
Billed as the "fastest way to publicize your website", "Submit It!" is a single point of entry to 15 of the Web's info search engines, including Yahoo, Infoseek, Lycos, and WebCrawler. "http://www.submit-it.com/"
HOW TO WHIP BUTT AT MAGIC: THE GATHERING
The FunWeb from Pastime Palace is for people into gaming. You can subscribe to comic books, order components for role-playing and board games, or read up on effective strategies for the immensely popular Magic: The Gathering. "http://www.funweb.com/"
Silicon Valley locals (i.e. us) know the twisty mountain death trap between San Jose and Santa Cruz as Highway 17. The Highway 17 Page of Shame highlights the idiots who help make this a hair-raising commute. "http://www.got.net/~egallant/the_road.html"
Hoover's Online is a corporate information service set up by The Reference Press Inc. as a quick means of gaining access to the facts and figures on any of the more than 9300 companies listed. A corporate profile on selected companies is also available for a fee. "http://www.hoovers.com/"
CORRECTION: YOU CAN USE OTHER BROWSERS WITH AOL
Last week we reported that Compuserve was moving away from the strategy of having its subscribers use a proprietary Web browser. They have plans to allow the use of any browser with their service and to establish an area where various browsers would be available for downloading. We wondered when AOL would follow suit. Sharp eyed readers pointed out to us that America Online subscribers already have the capability to use non-proprietary browsers, though you'd never know it given the lack of advertising. Here's the scoop: go to keyword "WINSOCK", download WINSOCK.DLL, stash it in the \WINDOWS directory, start up AOL software, minimize it, launch your favorite browser or other TCP/IP software and surf away (while paying hourly rates, natch). More info in the WINSOCK area. Thanks to Anthony Greene for the details.
HINDSITE REMEMBERS WHERE YOU'VE BEEN
Now this is one cool piece of software. HindSite, currently available only for Windows, automatically detects and indexes all Web pages visited with your Netscape browser and remembers the information for any period of time you specify. Much better then bookmarks, which 1) you have to set, and 2) tell you little about the content of the page. This puppy can let you go back to that page you remember seeing somewhere, sometime in the last six months. Best part? For the moment its free. It was a finalist for the "Best Internet Product of COMDEX" so you know it has to be good. Check it out. "http://www/rmii.com/isys_dev"
DATABASE GUIDE FOR WINDOWS MACHINES HELPS FIND NET RESOURCES
The service consists of a shareware search reader, a notebook program, and copyrighted freeware database files covering various areas of interest on the Internet. With the Internet Resources Database, you can build and maintain your own searchable database of sites. This could be the answer for the totally serious browser. Caution, some of the database files are large and take a long time over slow links. The software and databases are also available on diskette, check the site for details. "http://www.mbmarktcons.com/mbmarkt/irdhome.htm"
IRC NOT ENOUGH? TRY "THE PALACE"
Time-Warner's chat shareware for Unix, Mac, and PC users is free for trial use, and only $20 if you want full use and the ability to customize it with your name and an image for your face. This software is just coming out of beta, so expect some hiccups. We couldn't get it running for a demo, but try it out for yourself if interested. "http://www.thepalace.com/"
CLARIFICATION OF SCIENTOLOGY VS. THE WASHINGTON POST
Last issue, we said The Church of Scientology's lawsuit against the Washington Post, for allegedly conspiring with "lawless elements on the Internet" to harm the church, had been dismissed with court costs charged to the Post. Clearer wording would have informed you that the Religious Technology Center was held liable for the Post's court costs. "http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/scientology/home.html"
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