US SUPREME COURT AGREES TO RULE ON CDA
The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a ruling that the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is unconstitutional. Earlier this year, a three-judge panel in Philadelphia ruled that the CDA violated rights protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. A decision is expected by July. The CNN article comes with a pic of Santa Claus looking at naked Jenny McCarthy holding a Dalmatian. How timely, for both the Christmas season and Disney's "101 Dalmatians" are being foisted at us from every corner. And Jenny? Well, she's timeless. "http://www.cnn.com/US/9612/06/internet.indecency/index.html"
The eight-day Jewish festival of lights and grease began Thursday at sundown, and we've taken pains to seek out a few points of Chanukah brightness and clarity from the deep dark Web. Jewish Communication Network (JCN), offers lots of guidance for those who want to celebrate a traditional holiday. You'll learn how to light the candles, what to recite, and meditations for every night. Other links at the site include the history of Chanukah, the JCN's "Top 12 Reasons We Like Hanukkah," the Chanukah Carol Competition, and a recipe exchange (including latkes, of course!). Much of the same is found at the Jewish Post site. JCN: "http://www.jcn18.com/holiday/hanukkah/index.htm" Post: "http://www.jewishpost.com/chanukah/"
Personal stories make important events seem so - well, personal. Seeing as how we've just passed the 55th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, we decided to look online for eyewitness accounts. William Innanen, a soldier, describes the scene at the naval base in the wake of the attack. Ginger, a 17-year-old high school student living in Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack, gives another point of view. Her concern for friends and family killed or missing is vivid and touching. Innanen: "http://www.clark.net/pub/innanen/hawaii/pearlharbor.html" Ginger: "http://home.earthlink.net/~bzleonard/"
Picture an ordinary family in Minnesota, a mother, a father, two boys, and an infant girl. Now picture them thrust into a nightmare, with the parents and the baby girl infected with HIV. This photodocumentary takes a sensitive and emotional look at one family's struggle with AIDS, particularly how the infected parents of the three-year-old dealt with her illness and the reactions of their town and church. A photographer and two writers tracked the family's six-year odyssey and have put together a site with as many positive insights as are possible. The pages are as elegant as they are heart-wrenching, and the somber gray-scale frames tell the story as it should be told. "http://www.startribune.com/stonline/html/special/aids/"
Phillip's Vision of the Future Magazine is a dive into a whole new world of the possible. The site tries to determine what the future would look like in terms of personal communications and entertainment tools. What they came up with is nothing short of fascinating. Make sure you check out the Personal Touch issue and the background information on the project. "http://www.philips.com/design/vof/"
...AND ROBON CORPORATION HYPES IT
According to mythical metamegacorporation Robon Corp., life is upgradeable. That's all you need know before you enter this wry, wise, and slick site dedicated to the belief that all cyber-hype is indeed true. Whether Robon is Bill Gate's wettest dream or your worst nightmare, it's good for more than a few laughs, and shivers. "http://www.robon.com/"
Things are really hopping in Washington, D.C. Especially at the National Zoo, where promiscuous Komodo dragons and computer-literate orangutans abound. If you're in the mood to stroll among the animals, stop by. Be sure to check out the naked mole rats and newly born rhinoceros via freeze-framed, live-action photos. "http://www.si.edu/organiza/museums/zoo/"
Bots are entities that have been around almost as long as the Net. These pseudo-beings, originally created as a means of bridging the gap between computers and ordinary linguistic communication, have evolved into a powerful means of translating simple questions into powerful Internet database queries. The big low-down on bots, their origins, and their current capabilities now resides at the Bot Info site, full of data on current bot trends. There's even a link to Eliza, the "original" bot, created in the late 1960s. This site holds a great deal of information, including several FAQ's and reviews of bots deemed important enough to communicate to the Internet community as a whole. "http://www.botspot.com/"
IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD IT, THEY'VE USUALLY GOT IT
The C|Net downloading engine makes it easy to find, read about, and download just about any online software that you might be looking for. It's convenient to search or browse by categories at the well designed site. Links are easy and navigation is quick. Some of the groups of software that they classify for downloading are: business; development tools; educational; games; home and personal; Internet; kids; multimedia and design; and utilities. Test drive it. "http://www.download.com/"
Anyone who's ever tried looking for the images hidden in those inane stereoscopic pictures (Ooh, look! I'm dizzy!) might get a kick out of the 3-D hypercube page. A Java applet runs a three-dimensional simulation of a hypercube, and those who have held on to those 3-D movie glasses will be able to take full advantage of the effect. Plenty of other optical illusions abound, and some of the programming that went into creating the displays might also confuse you. "http://www.sover.net/~manx/hyprcube.html"
Argos is a search engine whose focus is limited to matters of ancient history, myth, and fable. The Argos site draws from a variety of sources to be a handy tool for researchers and academics interested in the legends that populate humankind's collective unconscious. Some of the sources drawn from include the Labyrinth's medieval site and the Duke Papyrus Archive, the Internet's most exhaustive study of ancient Egyptian papyri. "http://argos.evansville.edu/"
A THROWBACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF WEB PUBLISHING
The days of quirky, remote URLs loaded with personal neuroses, boasting, and occasional banality seem to be vanishing before the onslaught of slick, commercial Web sites. Sentimentalists longing for the good old days should check into the Catacombs Cyber Cafe where proprietor Scott Klender is selling nothing but himself: what books he reads, what movies he likes, what bands he listens to. There's more: admittedly bad poetry; the "random psychosis generator"; his own Another Brilliant Site award - so much more that it feels like you've taken a can opener to his skull. It's worth the peek inside. "http://www.rust.net/~sklender/catacombs_home.html"
If you love mysteries and don't mind eyestrain, you'll like "The Light Files". This series of online murder mysteries, which begins with "Death in Broad Daylight", opens with a very dark, dismal, and hard-to-scan home page. Get past that obstacle, and you can try to solve the mystery. As an enticement, the sponsoring company (SouthPeak Interactive) is offering a $5,000 reward. "http://www.lightfiles.com/"
Talk about walking a mile in somebody's shoes.... Robert Swan and colleagues are going to walk 1,300 kilometres across Antarctica. If you want to join them, along with 35 young explorers from around the world, slip on your mukluks and head for One Step Beyond. The site covers both Swan's stroll across the Antarctic wastes and the activities of a select group of 16 to 24-year-olds who will undertake their own month-long expedition to the Antarctic environs, meeting up with Swan and company in January 1997. The site promises daily notes from the field and expedition updates. For those with the juice to support it, the site features a 3-D virtual reality walk across Antarctic terrain. Those without it can stare at a white screen and pretend it's a blizzard. "http://www.onestep.tandem.com/"
BELIZE - SMALL COUNTRY, BIG WEB PRESENCE
By the time we entirely explored this virtual guide to Belize, we could have nearly journeyed there and back. Whew! This extensive site offers four different tours around the small Central American country, including visits to the Mayan Ruins, the national parks, and other localities. It's the next best thing to being there. "http://www.belizenet.com/guide.html"
WHAT DO ERROL FLYNN AND A TASMANIAN DEVIL HAVE IN COMMON?
Both come from Tasmania, as do these vicarious adventures you can experience with your Web browser. Tour Australia's smallest state and one of its most popular tourist attractions from the comfort of your chair. This tour is designed as a brief guide to "Tassie", as it's called in the local vernacular. It provides a nice, well designed sampling of the diverse and spectacular scenery and attractions of Tasmania. An interesting and informative tour, it's also a good way to plan a trip there. "http://www-mcnl.tamu.edu/~justin/tastour/"
While we'd love to write this ultra-commercial site off as just another pretty travel page, the World Travel Guide, sponsored by AT&T and the Columbus Group, is actually a glorious collection of information for would-be travelers. Based on the best-selling World Travel Guide books, this site provides tourist and business travel information; essential details about climate, visas, currency and customs; listings of public holidays; and, of course, so much more. Use its spiffy Hotel Finder to search a database of over 6,000 hotels worldwide. "http://www.wtgonline.com/"
What the online World Travel Guide doesn't have, TheTrip.com does. This travel resource aims squarely at the business air traveler. The coolest feature is the real-time flight tracking page. The page will retrieve flight info - from ETA to speed and altitude of the airplane - lickety-split for airline and general aviation aircraft. The technology uses Federal flow control data, piped and formatted for the Web interface. It works only for flights wholly within the US, but you don't need a flight number. The airport guides would be more useful if they mapped gates. On the horizon, TheTrip.com promises a customized bargain airfare e-mail list. "http://www.thetrip.com/"
TOP 50 SITES THAT DOWNLOAD QUICKLY
Quick - where can you find some of the fastest loading Web sites in the world? The "Top 50 Web Sites That Download Quickly" will instantly be appreciated by Web designers and frustrated surfers alike. We're one. Zip on over. "http://www.zazz.com/fast50/"
NETIZENS AGAINST GRATUITOUS SPAMMING
The site lives up to its name. Who hasn't received a few, or many, unsolicited e-mail messages from some clown wanting money? This site tells you what you can and cannot legally do about this wanton waste of time and bandwidth. "http://axxis.com/~ian/nags/"
INVESTIGATIVE RESOURCES FOR PIS...
Webgator serves up investigative links for private investigators, or someone searching for a long lost friend. Besides the expected links, it provides several unique items, from terrorist group profiles to the virtual world of spies and intelligence. "http://www.inil.com/users/dguss/wgator.htm"
Find that long lost love, or maybe someone who owes you money. Now you can not only find that address, but you can book the lowest fare to reach them... sort of a one-stop stalker's shop. "http://www.worldpages.com/"
Oh, excuse us - "trekker". This site is divided into 21 categories such as "TNG" and "Star Trek Humor" which link to over 1,100 sites on the Net. Rather than a hit or miss method, try the Top Picks section and work from there. "http://users.aol.com/ksc1/startrek.htm"
Talentworks is an online casting company that promises to "get your face on every screen in town." You send them a headshot and profile and they place it on the World Wide Web, where you hope casting directors will find you. If you subscribe, you can get casting call information. "http://www.talentworks.com/"
AND IF YOU NEED A JOB WHILE YOU'RE WAITING TO BE A STAR...
The Virtual Job Fair lets you search for a job online. Instead of dragging yourself to yet another career fair, click on one of the links from this home page, and you're there. The focus is on high tech, so if you want a job in a film version of My Three Sons, think again. "http://www.vjf.com/"
PUBLIC EYE VIES FOR INTERNET BUSINESS CERTIFICATION
The Public Eye offers certification for Internet businesses as it strives to be the "Good Housekeeping Seal" for Internet commerce. It focuses on customer service and also provides consumer alert info. "http://www.thepubliceye.com/"
Don't forget that birthday, anniversary, or any other hot date ever again. The free customized calender will e-mail reminders to you and keep you in everyone's good books. "http://calendar.stwing.upenn.edu/"
Want to know what's new in the world of designer beverages? Really? It's all here with reviews, order forms, and related features. Go crazy, if you aren't there already. "http://www.thebevnet.com/"
MAKE AND ELECTRONICALLY MAIL YOUR OWN POSTCARDS
Postcards from the edge of sanity, or simply cute and clever? By downloading about 3 MB of free software, you can create your own miniature postcards to include with e-mail to friends or enemies. Several clever designs are included and more are available for a fee. The cards are viewable on virtually any system without special software as they come in JPEG format. There are samples and download links for Windows 95 or Mac. "http://www.coolcards.com/"
WEB BILLBOARDS: READ ALL ABOUT IT
Ever wonder how some Web pages get those neat scrolling billboards? Well, Riada's RiadaCartel allows those without degrees in Java programming to easily enhance their pages by adding billboards displaying whatever text the user wishes. By using a Wizard interface, the creation, appearance, and publishing of the scrolling text windows on a web page becomes as easy as click, click, click. "http://www.riada.com.au/"
REALAUDIO 3.0 RELEASED, NOT YET BANNED IN BELGRADE
RealAudio Player and Player Plus 3.0 are now out of beta and available for download for all platforms. The page also has a link to news about Radio B92, Belgrade's recently banned radio station. "http://www.realaudio.com/"
CULTUREKIOSK'S URL LOSES SOME WEIGHT
The URL we gave you last issue had an extra "L" attached to the end of the "htm", and "L" stands for pound, and a pound is weight, so lose the "L", lose the weight, and go see Culturekiosk. "http://www.culturekiosque.com/index.htm"
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