You've been hyped enough, so we won't slap you around with any more snappy lines, witty asides, or caustic remarks. Here are the crucial sites. The Microsoft Win95 Site has free software, compatability info, and the usual support materials. "Report From an OS/2 Devotee" is a PC World cover story with an IBMish perspective. Try the "Unofficial Windows 95 Software Archive" for free and shareware goodies. Finally, are there Subliminal Messages in Windows 95? Bob Loblaw takes you on a twisted tour of the best ones. Now you can sleep at night, knowing you have the links that matter. Microsoft Win95 Site: "http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/" OS/2 Article: "http://www.pcworld.com/features/coverstory/cover1f.html" Windows 95 Software Archive: "http://WWW.NetEx.NET:80/w95/windows95/" Subliminal Messages: "http://tcp.ca/gsb/PC/Win95-subliminals.html"
IF IT'S OUTDOORS, IT'S IN GORP
Some of us use the Great Outdoor Recreation Pages (GORP) a remarkable amount. From links to every U.S. National Park/Forest/Monument/etc. home page to the rec.boats.paddle FAQ, you can access a wealth of outdoor-related information by activity type, geographic location, and attraction name. You can find links to environmental resources for the eco-politically active; health info for travelers who go off the beaten path; gear; books and maps to order; current magazine and newspaper articles; organizations to join or volunteer for; and of course, commercial trips to go on. It's all up to date and clearly arranged: a real masterpiece of Web service. "http://www.gorp.com/"
Build it and they'll come. Build it, burn it, and they'll come again and again. Burning Man is a unique annual celebration held in the high desert wilderness of Northern Nevada - so remote, the organizers provide survival instructions. Three days of art, music, dance, and performance - often by costumed celebrants - climax in the ritual destruction by fire of a four-story human effigy known as the Burning Man. In its tenth year, the festival will take place Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, 1995. The official Web site below gives a taste of the event and some images, but we suspect you gotta be there to truly soak it all in. "http://www.well.com/user/burnman/"
If you're one of the millions of fans of "The Simpsons", then you've probably had half an urge to put a bullet in the nasty old curmudgeon yourself, as did one character in last spring's season-ending cliffhanger. Now there's a site devoted to unmasking the murderer. Clues lie scattered about the site and a bulletin board hosts an ongoing discussion of the mystery, or you can study the suspect file, provided by the ever-incompetent Police Chief Wiggums. Richly illustrated with characters from the show, this site also provides background on the program, and an upcoming episode guide. The only problem with the site is... no donuts. Doh! "http://www.springfield.com/main.html"
DeathNET, a collaboration of the Right to Die Society of Canada and Derek Humphry, best-selling author of "Final Exit", contains a vast array of resources covering right-to-die materials. This large, impressively laid out, and intelligently designed site offers over 550 files and 100 links covering legal, political, social, and medical information on human mortality, euthanasia, and bereavement. A frequent target of the press, DeathNET also features a popular page on media criticism. "http://www.islandnet.com/~deathnet/"
Just call this the "death issue" of Netsurfer Digest. There's at least a couple of sites out there cashing in on celebrity demises. Looking for a Halloween gift? Try Celebrity Rubbings from the Grave. You can buy a gravestone rubbing from the resting place of Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe, or many others. Want a very rare David Koresh business card? How about the medical examiner's report on Kurt Cobain's death? Digital Deviations Gift Catalog caters to the tastes of the, um, more unusual collector, with copies of the death certificates of more than 20 celebrities from Karen Carpenter to Humphrey Bogart. Rubbings: "http://pixi.com/~seagull/grave.html" Deviations: "http://www.hooked.net:80/alex/people/chuck/cat.html"
Time for some levity. Oracle's Humor Archives (not to be confused with the Usenet Oracle) is a compendium of Usenet comic relief. Containing everything from top-ten lists to dreaded blonde jokes, it's a virtual warehouse of humor. The site also contains a collection of Net-available comic strips and even includes the entire screenplay for "Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail". If you've always wanted to know the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow (African or European?) drop on in. "http://www.synapse.net/~oracle/Contents/HumorArch.html"
JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING'S IN THE ART BIN
At first glance, this eclectic collection of pages might be mistaken for a magazine. The grand theme is culture, and the content is varied. H.G. Wells proves himself a visionary in "World Brain: The Idea of a Permanent World Encyclopedia". "The whole human memory can be, and probably in a short time will be, made accessible to every individual," he wrote. Consider us a neuron. The Kisamor Documents deal with Kisamor, a female natural healer in Sweden (1788-1842). There's even a sound file of James Joyce reading a fragment of "Finnegan's Wake". This site is not for everyone, but what a find for those with refined and/or oddball tastes. "http://aristotle.algonet.se/artbin/"
A UC-Santa Cruz tradition known as the "geek house" continues to live on in the "Resort", a mixed-sex group of self-confirmed geeks who can teach you all you need to know about nitrous oxide, Santa Cruz's Mystery Spot, and the local Renaissance Faire. Households comprised solely of computer geeks are scattered throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains of central California, and there are links to most of them through this page. The residents of the Resort have a couple of rooms available to the right person. Before you pack your bags, make sure you like banana slugs. "http://resort.com/"
PHILOSOPHY, THEOLOGY, AND FAMILY COOKING
Orrin Onken's Very Serious Guide to Spiritual Stuff offers the soon to be classic text, "The Big Dummy's Guide to Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics". After introducing naive "technoids" to the jargon of "deep thought", this work delves into questions like "Does God exist?", "Do we have free will?", and "Who is really going to Hell?" Despite virtual tongue in virtual cheek, basics of the real arguments do get covered. When you're done with that, take a gander at the other document here, Onken Family Cooking, which holds as its philosophy "fresh ingredients, cast iron pans, and a cupboard full of garlic" to "hold at bay the tide of pretentious gourmetism that threatens to engulf America." "http://www.industrial.com/~simon/"
NOT FANTASY BASEBALL, BUT BASEBALL FANTASY
Based on the belief that baseball "is really a metaphor for the life of the mind", the Cosmic Baseball Association has sorted cultural icons into teams competing in cyberleagues. For example, the 1995 Vestal Virgins roster lists Marilyn Monroe, P; Yoko Ono, IF/OF; Pocahontas, P; and Sappho, C/OF; among others. Fans can follow links to thumbnail biographies of each. This is probably the only place on Earth you'll find a bio on rocket pioneer Robert Goddard a few clicks from the hypothetical (and shabby) batting average of Alan Ginsberg. "http://www.clark.net/pub/cosmic/cba1.html"
WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO BE A PEPPER, TOO?
The Unofficial Dr. Pepper Homepage is a shrine to the beverage the creator of this homage cannot do without. Rather than an overwhelming and unabashed marketing ploy, the Dr. Pepper page comes off as a sincere tribute to the drink as though it were a trusted friend, a companion through long nights and bleary days. In any event, this site offers more than just adulation and fun nutrition facts. It also has some pretty spiffy VRML pages that allow Web surfers to navigate what might be Dr. Pepper-induced hallucinations. Be a Pepper. "http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~howk/pepper.html"
MY GOD, IT'S FULL OF STAR TREK
Star Trek:The Billion Billion Dollar Best Marketing Scheme Ever will always have special status on the Internet. This Web site guarantees it. This unofficial WWW Star Trek page indexes, rates, and links to every Star Trek site on the Net. It's massive - as in your CPU will perceptibly gain weight when loading it - but it's cool. Live long and prosper. "http://www.chem.ed.ac.uk/adamstar.html"
"Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra." If your immediate reaction is "Huh?", the Darmok Dictionary is ready to introduce you to one of the best episodes of Star Trek:The Next Generation. The third-season episode, "Darmok", features aliens with whom the Enterprise crew is incapable of communicating, since they speak only in the metaphors of their alien culture. The Darmok Dictionary decodes the cryptic statements made by the alien race, known as the Tamarians, and provides an exhaustive dissection of the episode. The site might only be of worth to hard-core trekkers, but should be commended simply for the amount of effort that has gone into detailing the 46-minute episode. Mirab, his sails unfurled. "http://www.wavefront.com/~raphael/darmok/darmok.html"
This site is devoted to the 1994 Pronoia ("the suspicion others are conspiring behind your back to HELP you") tour born of the huge publicity jolt following a cover story on the Zippies in Wired magazine. The Zippies, (Zen Inspired Pronoia Professionals, or "hippies with zip"), loosely affiliated with the rave scene and the Rainbow family, are ideological opposites of the do-nothing, don't-care, slacker Gen-X stereotype. The site has a superior collection of links to music, politics, virtual communities, and spirituality and consciousness sites. Promises of audio/video experiments and links to interactive communities suggest that you keep an eye on this page. "http://myhouse.com/pronoia/"
Feeling misty about the Misty Isles? This is your site. The Virtual Irish Pub contains a wealth of information about Ireland and things Irish. The pub is divided into tables, each hosting a topic of its own. The literature table includes information on famous Irish writers, current Irish bestseller lists, and some excellent essays and poetry gleaned from the Net. The Explore Ireland table is a tourism resource, and the music table provides a number of links to pages devoted to Irish musicians. There's even a chat table. Belly up to the bar, pour yourself a pint of Guinness, and enjoy. "http://www.misty.com/ulysses/vip/welcome.html"
AROUND THE WORLD... WITHOUT LEAVING THE GROUND
If you enjoyed Luke's Hippy Dippy global travels, and even if you didn't, chances are you'll really like Jeff Greenwald's Big World. Jeff, a professional travel writer, made his trip around the world using only surface transportation. We're impressed. He tells about it in a thoughtful, engaging manner. Fascinating stories and a spiffy interactive map - what more does one need? "http://nearnet.gnn.com/gnn/meta/travel/features/bigworld/jeffworld.html"
Volunteers with the National Park Service bring one of San Francisco's most popular tourist attractions, the infamous ex-prison on Alcatraz Island, to the Web. With an emphasis on straight text, there's everything you'd want to know about "The Rock". You'll find a history of the prison, including the 1969-71 Native American occupation, the island's natural history, and visitor information. Go to the bookstore area to hear audio clips from former inmates and island residents. All subsections conclude with a Q&A that answers questions like "Are there any rats on Alcatraz?" "http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/"
If you're a North American planning a trip to France, FranceScape is the site for you, literally. The French Government Tourist Office and France OnLine (both located in the U.S.) have teamed up to bring you a touring guide to - guess where - France! You'll find regional information; tips for traveling by car, train, and bus; suggestions for planning your trip; a list of tour operators; and more. Although the chic graphics are great to look at, it seems they're a bit slow to load. Zut alore! "http://www.france.com/francescape/top.html"
According to this Web site, the name Waitomo comes from the Maori "wai" (water) and "tomo" (hole or shaft). As you might guess, Waitomo is a region in New Zealand reknowned for its caverns and underground watercourses. Centrally located on the North Island, the limestone caves are home to many glowworms. Activities and adventure center around a small village called Waitomo Caves (or simply Waitomo). The pages have historical, spelunking, and general tourist info, nicely illustrated with photos and MPEGs. "http://www3.waikato.ac.nz/waitomo/"
TELL THE NET WHAT YOU DID ON YOUR SUMMER VACATION
Want to talk about your day in the sun? Try Toucan Travel, where you can show and tell all about your latest travel adventures. Here, ordinary folks describe their trips with prose and GIFs. So far, most stories highlight good times in the tropics. You're invited to submit your own recollections and electronic images for free publication. Brevity is a virtue, but some of these mini-essays could use more detail. On the other hand, a taste of paradise goes a long way. This site is bound to grow and grow. "http://www.toucan.net/travel/"
THE ELECTRIC POSTCARD CARD RACK
You design your postcard from a variety of classic art or from themes such as On the Beach, Music, and Insect Drawings. The site notifies the recipient by e-mail of the waiting postcard, which can be retrieved at the Pick-Up Window. "http://persona.www.media.mit.edu/Postcards/"
What would happen if you request Web visitors snail-mail you any physical object in exchange for a chance of winning a CD-ROM? Matt Kruse created the this page to find out. There are some peculiar people out there.... "http://web.sau.edu/~mkruse/experiment/"
If you're a fan of the silents, hurry on over to the Silent Movies page. Neat stuff includes the poignant Silent Star of the Month - still stuck in July, but neat nonetheless. "http://www.cs.monash.edu.au/~pringle/silent/"
RECOMMENDED SF AUTHORS AND BOOKS
This page lets visitors post science fiction recommendations for others, as in, "If you like William Gibson, check out Walter Jon Williams." The page doesn't have much to offer now, but with a little help can blossom. "http://metro.turnpike.net/C/chriss/"
Action-flic king Jackie Chan's latest movie is called "Thunderbolt", and if that pushes your buttons, squeal with delight at the stills, clips, and plot synopsis (like THAT matters) at the URL below. "http://www.hk.linkage.net/markets/thunderbolt/"
Everyone from Barbara Bush to Mark Twain to Steven Wright is featured at this quotation index, which is conveniently divided into categories. "http://www.lexmark.com/data/quote.html"
The pretty genus with over 800 species is the subject of this lovingly crafted site. We especially like the background that frames the many, many pictures. "http://haven.ios.com/~mckenzie/rhodo05.htm"
The success of this card game is no less than phenomenonal. If you've fallen victim to its spell, check out the official Wizards of the Coast site, or the larger, unofficial Magic: The Database. Wizards: "http://www.itis.com/deckmaster/" Database: "http://www.public.iastate.edu/~playground/magic/index.html"
NETSURFER DIGEST FINDS A HOME ON MSN
We were sitting around, humbly working hard to get you this issue of NSD without imbibing TOO much, and this message floats into our e-mailbox: "Dear Site Administrator," it begins (editors get no respect), "We are writing to notify you that a link to your site has been placed on the World Wide Web site of The Microsoft Network.... If you would like the link to your site removed from our Web site, please email your request. Sincerely, The Microsoft Network." There's really nothing like a personal note to give you the warm fuzzies. Anyway, you can preview the Microsoft Network at the following URL. "http://www.home.msn.com/"
SAMPLE SOFTWARE FOR 3-D INTERACTIVE CONTACT
Worlds Inc. is offering free software for that allows you to navigate 3-D virtual environments, and interact and communicate with any real people you meet there. The software is based on VRML+, similar to VRML but with an added capacity for interaction. Users are represented by digital actors, or avatars, that move through the 3-D spaces. Currently, the software only supports the Windows platform, though Mac and Windows 95 versions are in the works. Be forewarned that the compressed program is almost 3 MB, and can take a very long time to download. "http://www.worlds.net/"
INTERESTING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-LIKE SEARCH TECHNOLOGY
READWARE is technology used to access, search, and read electronic texts. It "understands" a language's vocabulary and syntax, and applies this knowledge as a query, searching through the ideas and concepts contained in electronic texts - essentially a new search model. You can put theory into practise searching the site's Virtual Yellow Pages. There's also a technical paper on hand, and you can join a mailing list discussing the retrieval of electronic documents. "http://www.imsworld.com/miti/"
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