UNDERWATER RESEARCH PROJECT OFFERS LIVE VIDEO FEEDS
For 10 days starting April 15, netsurfers can play stowaway with the JASON Project. The underwater research project consists of AQUARIUS, an underwater scientific habitat; a US Navy submarine mapping virgin Florida Keys seafloor; and a robotic vehicle tracking shark movements. The question, Alex, is: "What are things that are underwater?" Netsubmariners will have access to research data, an underwater digital camera, and the hand-held PDA of expedition leader Dr. Bob Ballard, the guy who discovered the RMS Titanic in 1985. The site highlight may prove to be the streamed images, video, and audio, or possibly the live underwater chat session. Blub, blub. "http://aquarius.eds.com/"
ONLINE REPOSITORY FOR YIDDISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
The Yiddish Language and Culture home page, which bills itself as a "Virtual Shtetl", links to Yiddish-oriented pages for a library, synagogue, school, memorial, and more. What's a shtetl? It's a small Jewish town or village formerly found in Eastern Europe. You can learn much more than definitions by visiting one of the areas; the library, for example, contains a link to a Bibliography with topics ranging from literature and art to theater and cinema to history and Holocaust Rescuers. Be sure to stop by the Kitchen, where you can check out a database of kosher restaurants or get a recipe for blintzes and other delicacies. "http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/shtetl.html"
FANCY SEARCH AND RESCUE SITE WITH JAVA, FRAMES, AND MORE
Learn how to hug a tree and prepare a survival pack. To get the full effect of this professional Search and Rescue site you'll need a browser that supports frames and Java. There are, however, interesting alternatives at this content-rich site. One of the coolest features is a US map generator that accepts latitude and longitude and outputs an area map with roads, lakes, rivers and cities. It is generated dynamically using info from the US Census Bureau. Nifty. "http://www.digital-cafe.com/~webmaster/sar01_01.html"
Not everyone takes the time to create a links list to related sites, and those that do often do not update them. The WebRing is a novel idea that groups in series related but independent Web sites across the Net. Member pages include a ring icon that will link them to the next site (or a list of the next five) in the sequence. Following all the links in any given ring eventually leads you back where you started. The original ring has over 250 pages, so this can take a while! Some current rings are: ESLoop (English Language Teaching), Queering (lesbian/gay/bisexual), and Ring of Truth (humorous slant on philosophy/religion). You can hitch your own pages to a ring or find out how to create your own at the site. "http://www.mind.net/sage/webring/"
HOW NOT TO DO BUSINESS ON THE WEB
Before you launch your next big Web endeavor, be sure to stop by StoogeNet, a site dedicated to showcasing big Internet boo-boos made by corporations and individuals alike. Just click on the eyeballs and you'll soon be learning from other people's promotional pitfalls, firewall horror stories, virus nightmares, and more. Some of it's pretty funny. "http://stoogenet.com/"
The Virtual Cities Repository is, as the name implies, a storehouse for three-dimensional representations of urban landscapes. The cities are stored in several formats, ranging from the mindbogglingly CPU-hogging VRML to the more precise 3DS file format, used by Autodesk's 3D Studio application. Current uses of these models are currently limited, at least where the average user in concerned, but the implications are staggering. With the hope that eventually netsurfers will be able to do the VR glide through the Galleria (thus cutting down on the nuisance factor), this site may just be the vanguard of a new means of getting - or rather, looking - around. "http://www.vir.com/~farid/ctrepos.htm"
In the days before television, CNN, and the Internet, Movietone News would project current events onto movie screens across North America. Fox News, which owns the rights to the 10,000 hours of footage, has started to make the newsreels available to netizens via their Internet starting point, IGuide. The images are available as downloadable .AVI and QuickTime .MOV files, and several interesting sections, including a "This week in History" feature, are bound to keep surfers fascinated. "http://www.iguide.com/movies/movitone/"
WE SURFED IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
The Diners' Grapevine is bound to have famished surfers salivating all over their keyboards. The concept is to create the single largest resource for those who would use the Internet in the quest for the perfect meal. The Grapevine features selected restaurants daily, highlighting cuisine, atmosphere, and special features, and often providing images of the locations. More usefully, the site has a searchable database of North American restaurants that allows users to select their dining criteria and restrict the search accordingly. Currently, the index boasts over 6,000 entries. Yum. "http://www.dinersgrapevine.com/"
HTML/CGI EXPERTISE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Dr. Clue (a.k.a. Ian Storms) has launched a rather spiffy resource for those looking to broaden their electronic horizons. His "HTML Guide from InfoBON" offers helpful information on everything from beginning HTML to advanced CGI programming. Need help with forms, frames, or tables? This is the place. Want to know more about server-push animation? Here you go. And if you're just plain tired of doing everything yourself, Dr. Clue is an expert CGI programmer for hire. "http://www.cnw.com/~drclue/Formula_One.cgi/HTML/HTML.html"
TWO COMMUNITY SITES BRING LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE TOGETHER
Looking for a Web home to call your own? Stop by GeoCities, a virtual world of 18 cyber-communities based on real-world places like RodeoDrive, Paris, SoHo, and the RainForest, to name a few. In keeping with its homesteading philosophy, GeoCities provides free personal home pages (up to 1 MB of space). Another neighborly site is Tripod, which puts emphasis on sharing "tools for life". Tripod was founded by a group of college grads who felt unprepared to enter the real world. Accordingly, their site focuses on everything you didn't learn in school. You can read the latest news, create an online resume, and - see the them? - construct your own home page for free, among other things. GeoCities: "http://www.geocities.com/" Tripod: "http://www.tripod.com/"
What rough beast is slouching toward Memphis waiting to be reborn? Elvis, of course. The King is duking it out with the King of kings for titular head of heaven. You can decide who to follow after studying Elvis's 31 commandments (actually a grocery list) and getting a quick medical checkup you're a true believer, you'll want to hit the "Siteings" section, or maybe order a T-shirt. "http://chelsea.ios.com/~hkarlin1/welcome.html"
It may not be the mother of all Web search engines, but the Cosmix Mother Load shows enough promise to take some of the load off its ever-busy elders. With this directory of directories and search engines, you get a choice of three flavors: Insane ("the most thorough metasearch"); Web ("a simplified metasearch"); and Mother Load ("a local directory search"). Insane lets you select online magazines and newspapers for your needle-in-a-Web-haystack moments, and the Yahoo-like categories in "Mother Load" are great for browsing. Join the crowd, Mom! "http://www.cosmix.com/motherload/"
Lay rubber today to Car and Driver - it's terrific! Whether you're in the market for a new car or just want to browse, this site is a car lover's dream. The '96 Buyer's Guide is a hot resource for road warriors. You can search by manufacturer, price range, or vehicle type. Daily news, articles from Car and Driver magazine, and links to automotive sites will also help make you an informed consumer. This is quite likely the most comprehensive collection of auto info on the Web. Even the animations are exemplary. Park yourself in front of your monitor and get wired to this slick baby. "http://www.caranddriver.com/"
If you like Hollywood press photos and multimedia clips, Hollywood Online is for you. The graphics are quick (as the Web goes, of course) and slick; you'll need plug-ins for the .MOV and .AVI tidbits and RealAudio for the sound bites. Keep in mind that everything here is designed to tease you toward the box office. Press releases provide the only substance, and much of the "humor" is flat. Many movie buffs will prefer 60 seconds of continuous, televised preview on "Entertainment Tonight". For teasers, though, it sure is tempting. "http://www.hollywood.com/"
Despite using all the latest whistles and horns, this site is surprisingly easy to understand and navigate. Two sections will be of interest to the surfer: first is "My Eye", a section where you can manipulate images and add to a string-along story, and the Flying Pig section of links and other things. The second section of interest is the business portion of the pages which contain plenty of tools for advanced Web site design. "http://www.dream.com/"
Where in the world is Montserrat? It's about 1,300 miles south of Miami, near Antigua. You can find out about the island, its history, its people, and all there is to do on this tiny Carribean island. They have an active volcano, black sand or white sand beaches, and all the usual tourist attractions. Every question that the traveller can ask is answered in a running dialogue between the two characters that take you on a virtual tour of the island. "http://www.mrat.com/"
BIG DO-IT-YOURSELF TRAVEL SITE FROM TEXAS
A collaboration between SABRE Interactive and Worldview Systems has produced a slick, easy-to-use travel site. The main menu choices are reservations, destinations and interests, chats and forums, and travel merchandise. You'll find places from at least five continents and over a dozen main headings for things to do. The new site is easy to navigate and well presented, and will probably get better as it matures and adds even more information. If you crave interaction, try the chats and forums. "http://www.travelocity.com/"
Thinking of spending a season in Europe on the rails, travelling from city to city, meeting new friends, eating unusual dairy products, and drinking strange alcohols? This'll help, at least with the rail part. Take a dip in the Cafe Elysees for threaded messages and conferences. There's lots of advice on travel plans and what to do once you get there. Although you can't purchase Eurail passes online, this site offers everything else you could possibly want. Well, maybe not everything. A good croissant would hit the spot nicely, but what can you do? "http://www.eurail.com/"
One place Eurail doesn't go - three places, actually - are the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe's answer to Benelux. The Baltics Online offers a mix of current events and financial news along with cultural info and art. Oddly, the only available geographical information is tucked away in an entirely French page accessed via a tiny-fonted link. And there is no history presented at all. It's a slow load at times, but be patient - this is straight from the horse's mouth in Tallinn, Estonia. "http://www.viabalt.ee/"
SEND A MESSAGE TO NETSCAPE PROGRAMMERS
As the person who told us about this wrote, "This is so cool!" From this page, you can type text which will be sent to the electronic sign above the engineering area at Netscape. Let them know how you feel. "http://home.netscape.com/people/mtoy/sign/"
Tired of emptying Muffy's litter box? Yes, there are several books explaining how to toilet train your cat, but here's a great page describing exactly how to do it complete with photographs of the featured pet, Misha, in action. "http://www.greyware.com/authors/karawynn/toiletcat.htp"
ARE YOU A VICTIM IN THE MAKING?
What are your odds of having your home robbed? Of being beat up, murdered, or raped? Check out these nifty quizzes to learn your risk and how to cut down on the odds. "http://www.nashville.net/~police/risk/index.html"
Go here, choose a card, write something, give them Mom's address. These nice people will send Mom your card a few days before Mother's Day. Simple, no? "http://www.worldvillage.com/mother.htm"
If you gotta go to Pittsburgh or if you live there already, you'll want to know the weather forecast and the level of background radiation. Here's an online Pittsburgh Geiger counter. Western Pennsylvania is a hot spot, apparently. "http://www.metafire.com/radmonitor/index.html"
Here's a thought-provoking WWW essay contest for 11th-grade high-school students or their equivalents: "the Scarlet Letter is/is not relevant to today's teenage parents." Entries accepted April 26 - May 1. Much more Hawthorne here, too. "http://www.tiac.net/users/eldred/nh/hawthorne.html"
IF MONEY MAKES YOUR WORLD GO 'ROUND, THIS ADDS UP
If tax season makes you contemplate the financial aspect of your existence, visit the Financenter. Read details on buying and selling your home, buying and leasing vehicles, and credit cards. Or go crazy on the 35 financial calculators. "http://www.financenter.com/"
Feeling peckish for cat? If you didn't get enough of the smart-alec space alien the first time around, you can relive those fond memories here. If you can answer all the trivia questions, you know you've been watching too damned much TV. "http://www.webcom.com/pleasant/kyle/alf/alf.html"
If you like mysteries, get your blood-lovin' self over to Murder On Schedule, where you'll find a murder mystery game complete with prizes. The whodunnit features various clues that if properly solved will win you an award, making whydoit a moot question. "http://www.demon.co.uk/murderon/schedule/"
The National Political Index, sponsored by Americans Who Work for a Living, a non-profit organization, is a comprehensive page of non-partisan political information and government agency contacts. If you're a political activist or voter, check it out. "http://www.politicalindex.com/"
Databoat's a good place for boat plans, nautical CD-ROMs, equipment, yacht charters, marine software, and snippets on cruising rallies. Sales pitches abound, but this site's worth an old salt's visit if you need phone numbers, addresses, or passage to other electronic harbors. "http://www.databoat.com/"
It wouldn't run on Win 3.11, crashed Win95, and took 20 minutes to load on a Power Mac but hey, this thing really pushes the audio-video envelope! Go without fear to this preview site for Modified's new CD-ROM, produced with Macromedia Director, and take a peek. Imagine an interactive audio/visual experience that you mix and modify with your own sound/movie clips (or download clips from their site). The experience is akin to a multimedia Etch-a-Sketch. You'll find plenty of screenshots, and even an interview, but the real treat is interactive excerpts viewable with the Shockwave plug-in. If you're not taken in by the hot techno-ambient sound track, the visuals alone will dazzle you. "http://www.compulink.co.uk/~modified/"
NSD 2.4 featured Sugarplums, a site devoted to food and love, but not necessarily love of food. NSD 2.6 mentioned TenantNet, devoted to the rights of renters. They've moved. So what else is new? Sugarplums: "http://www.sugarplums.com/ezine.html" TenantNet: "http://tenant.net"
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