c|net Online
URL: http://www.cnet.com
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Shel Kimen
TITLE: C|NET ROCKS c|net has, beyond doubt, one of the best sites on the Web, and most certainly offers the best of media-related pages. It¹s an example of where online publishing can go, is going and should be. c|net online, a division of the television network, is easily as solid in content, and perhaps nicer because you get to choose if you want to ³watch² the commercials. Get your technology-related news from work or home, or anywhere you happen to have a copy of Netscape 2.0. I highly recommend using Netscape: The site backs it's content with outstanding design, making full use of Netscape¹s enhanced features ‹ forms, tables, text formatting, multimedia goop, and should I go on? If it¹s possible, it¹s there. c|net should be read like a newspaper ‹ everyday. With a full time staff working hard to bring us the best of the best tech-related news, there's no chance you'll miss the hottest headlines. The site is constantly updated and also sports a wonderful, searchable, archive of past articles in case you *have* missed something. The features are, of course, well written and concise, offering a slew of hyperlinks to connect you to additional information, and as you might suspect, the site also has plenty of pictures that look high rez but take up minimal bandwidth. Sift through mounds of daily features, listen to reports via RealAudio, get personality profiles of the movers and shakers in the tech arena and whatever you do, check out the reviews section. If you¹re looking for good advise on products or Web sites, these cats will guide you to the action. c|net test drives modems, e-mail clients, Web authoring tools and picks a site of the day ‹ always cool and useful. More. More. MORE! c|net also has regular updates an how to find a job, resources for women online, a kids section and on and on it goes. While a site this full with so much serious content runs the risk of being too dry, boring or staid after a few repeated visits, make no mistake: c|net is interesting, insightful, intelligent and entertaining ‹ consistently. And in addition to all it's offerings about news and Web technology, c|net is also responsible for software.com (a mega-database for freeware and shareware), DREAM technology (for intelligent agent interactive advertising) and co-sponsors E!Online (the entertainment channel.) Don¹t miss this.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

SPIV
URL: http://www.spiv.com/spiv.html
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Shel Kimen
If Spiv is any indication of what mainstream Web-publishing is headed for, we¹re in for an outstanding future! Spiv, Ted Turners twenty-something e-zine, is prepared and packaged for the urban hipster a la cyber culture. My first inclination is to lash out at yet another media king¹s attempt to buy out, chew up, and spit back at us our own ideas at an inflated price. But in this case, I am glad to say, I just don¹t think that¹s true. It seems Ted and the white collar boys are giving Spiv considerable editorial control and creative freedom to make the zine what it needs to be ‹ a fresh, intelligent, idea space that speaks Web to the people who know it best. Spiv has collected an outstanding group of editors who are in fact very involved in the wired community, from David Pescovitz of *Wired*, *Boing Boing* and *The Net* freelance fame, to Rebecca Paoletti who has written for *MIGHT* and edited *SOMA Magazine*. Spiv hits fashion, sports, lifestyle, music, and tech culture full force with smashing wit, knock-out graphics and an all around cool attitude that is never ever ³too cool.² Spiv is always fun and always accessible. Check out the latest in skater wear or read music scene reports from across the country. Chat with X-Girl model Cara Friedrichs or read a scathing rant about Pat Buchanon. Personality to politiks, it¹s all there. Editor of Spiv, Rebecca Paoletti, started the site with the creation of Shiitake. Not so far from a mushroom trip, the Shiitake section will dazzle you with games, quotes, a hot hot hot pink background, and the most clever use of a Web chat I¹ve seen so far. But, perhaps the amusement flavor is best represented in Zooey, the section for fashion, urbanism, and attitude. ³Zooey was my second site creation when I got to Spiv,² said Paoletti. ³The fun and scary thing about it is the number of people who really believe that she exists, that this NYC high school senior we created is real, and wants to go on dates with any number of college guys who write to her! I adore answering her email...² (Wink. Wink.) In plain English: Spiv Rocks! BLUE LIGHT
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

About USA TODAY
URL: http://www.usatoday.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Steve Szyszko
USA Today has revolutionized the daily newspaper industry. Its characteristic style--slick graphics, tight layout, and almost too-terse stories--is widely criticized and even more widely emulated. Updated frequently, the Webspace features the latest news of the day. Each story is accompanied by extensive crosslinks, background information, and related pieces. The graphics are great and the layout is top-notch. This is one of the finest sites on the Web, an active and engaging space which seamlessly blends contents and presentation into a definitive example of what the Web can be. This page should be visited frequently.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

SALVO 12 8 13
URL: http://www.salvo.com/index.cgi
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Dubbed as an "American Survival Guide," Salvo salutes freedom of expression with a double-barreled shotgun verbal attack. Read Daily News Bite for an unabashed analysis of hourly happenings from news on Midwestern vampire children to convicted government officials. If you have Shockwave, SALVO abuses it fully with an interesting an Simon Says Electronic Game graphic. Read rants on ozone depletion, over population, land use, homelessness, domestic violence, Internet censorship, militia madness and more. BLUE LIGHT
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Welcome to EXTRA
URL: http://www.extratv.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Extra! Extra! Get your daily dose of entertainment news and gossip here! Based on the entertainment television news show of the same name, the EXTRA site has multimedia sections on everything from discussions with male models from Miami (hear in their own words what they look for in a lass) to exclusive interviews with hip movie stars such as Jackie Chan. Look up the release date of new movies or read gossip off the online newsletter. The site is table-happy and has cute push-pull animation boxes to add glitz to the grapevine.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

PBS
URL: http://www.pbs.org/
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Kathy Tafel
You¹d expect PBS to have an information-rich site. It does ‹ every national show that PBS distributes has a page with descriptions of upcoming episodes. Many shows, including Nova, Hometime, and the Newshour with Jim Lehrer not only have this one page, but also sections of their own with more dynamic content. The Newshour, for instance, has real audio versions of especially interesting segments. You rarely have to scroll to find what you need, and information is presented with pleasant ‹ sometimes even cool ‹ graphics. PBS has done an excellent job translating its content to a new medium. BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

ruse
URL: http://www.ruse.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
See Hypermode. More of the same here, (though not quite as slick yet): alluring images of models doing what they do best and links to other outposts in the fashion galaxy. Like Hypermode it takes full advantage of frames, but hasn¹t yet incorporated Java. Some departments are still under construction, but there¹s no shortage of things to see. Still playing catchup with Hypermode, but a top notch entry all the same. Oh, and I like the title, but the subtitle: ³Aesthetics over ethics² has echoes of fascism.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

New York Times
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
The News York Times prints all the news that¹s fit to print... online. This is one of the best national daily newspapers online that uses hypertext to explain articles in-depth. Read about the latest news, or go into a feature about Internet legislation. The newspaper requires you register at the beginning in order to read everything, but it¹s worth it! The photos capture moments of tragedy and triumph. Who said newspapers were going out of style?
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Discovery Channel Online
URL: http://www.discovery.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
Discovery Channel Online strikes a fine balance between a tight layout, subtle graphics (featuring the popular push-pull logo animation), and consistently engaging articles and photos. A calender motif thematically groups the stories, so a piece on Timothy Leary's proposed Internet suicide is found on the Saturday Technology page, while Science Wednesday features a hypertext essay all about Alan Turing, chaos theory, and artificial life. In keeping with the Discovery Channel's programming philosophy, there's really an embarrassment of riches here. Well-written features on nature, history, people and exploration round out this outstanding and inexhaustible webzine. The only complaint is all the download time.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Tweak
URL: http://www.tweak.com
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Wayne Cunningham
The Web has lead to many online magazines, but until now I would have said the only one that mattered was Word (http://www.word.com). Tweak is a zine that rivals Word for design quality and content but has a style all its own. The creators may feign humility, insisting as they do that they ³are not the next big thing,² but their creation belies them. Think of it as punk rock in 1976, lounge music in 1990, or rockabilly in 1950; which is to say, the edge. Tweak opens up with a ³splash² page, (the closest thing a virtual magazine has to a cover), featuring a random image. My first hit opened with what looked like an Aztec statue. A later visit turned up an ostrich. The splash page is timed to roll over to the main index page where the true innovations of the site are unveiled. One is a slick little Java applet that opens an extra Navigator window containing a menu bar . The independent navigational tool is a nifty alternative to Frames. Tweak consists of four sections: First Person, Muck, Exon, and Phone Tag. Muck¹s icon is a rake, which should clue you in to the nature of the content. The only article available on my visit was a deconstructive expose of Disney¹s ToonTown, unraveling the values implicit in the Magic Kingdom¹s newest installment. Admittedly, this is the kind of content that will sit best with the cynical gen-Xer set. Exon is devoted to flouting the Exon Amendment, also known as the Communications Decency Act. Articles here include a detailed description of drug use and a tribute to masturbation. Again, not for everybody, but then that¹s the cutting edge for you. Phone Tag is devoted to ³Interviews with people we could get a hold of.² The people reached include Kim Deal, of The Breeders, and Paul Barker, of Ministry. First Person embodies the mission of the magazine, to include a personal perspective in journalism. The anecdotal stories there are about disparate events like a mistaken police raid and a 30th birthday -- real stories about real people, well-written and executed. So visit Tweak often. Make the site so popular that it starts getting big, fat advertising revenues. Make the editors so wealthy that they¹ll trade in their youthful ideals for families and four car garages. Then, fifteen or twenty years from now, maybe some young punks will sneer at them. For the moment, they¹re not trying to cause no big sensation,...just talking Œbout the generation.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

IGuide
URL: http://www.iGuide.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Diedra Ramsey
The on-line, interactive equivalent of TV Guide, IGuide is one of the most attractive and well-organized web sites I¹ve seen. Not at all a rehash of old TV Guide stories, its pieces are original and distinct from the paper publication. IGuide goes out of its way to make its links interactive and incorporate multimedia elements. For example, its crossword puzzle area gives sound and video cues in addition to written ones. The page also features top news stories, reviews of Web sites and other media, as well as chat rooms and bulletin boards. Substantive, (though the material is light, mainstream fare), and eminently navigable, this is a great site.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Frontline Online
URL: http://www2.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
"Literate television," says Frontline's David Fanning, "combines reporting that does not speak down to the viewer and filmmaking that avoids packaging news in the disposable, formulaic patter of standups and sound bites. It raises and addresses questions without skirting complexity." The award-winning PBS series expertly uploads its ideals to the Web, filling its elegant pages with rigorously researched and cross-linked stories on subjects ranging from the ongoing Shakespeare Mystery to the ascendancy of Jesse Jackson. Transcripts are downloadable, gratis, within 2 weeks of broadcast and many pieces are accompanied by RealAudio files, like the one about WACO, which features a conversation between Koresh and the FBI. A real treat for fans of independent journalism.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

National Public Radio
URL: http://www.npr.org/
Category: Media
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Patrick Joseph
One of the many things a Web site can be is an online supplement to an ³offline² media program. An inveterate public radio junkie, that¹s how I use the National Public Radio site. Let¹s say I want to know what the topic of discussion is for the day on *Talk of the Nation*, for example, or what the next book-of-the-month selection is; I just stop in at npr.org and check the program listings. Ray Suarez¹s talk show is just one of many programs on NPR, of course; *Morning Edition*, *All Things Considered*, and *Fresh Air* all have similar offerings. What¹s more, there is a strong audio component to the NPR site. Making extensive use of Real Audio, the site allows you to listen to audio files without long download times. From the top of the main menu, for example, you can get streamed audio of the day¹s news updates. It¹s an easy way to catch up online, without having to turn to the newspaper or other print sources. It requires the Real Audio Player, of course, but, no worries, you can download it online at <http://www.RealAudio.com/> or just travel via hotlink to the Real Audio page from the NPR site. Keep in mind that while there are gopher files available at npr.org, the complete NPR audio files are archived at Real Audio. With Real Audio installed on your machine, you can listen to past programs in their entirety, offline at your convenience or while you continue to surf. The sound quality leaves something to be desired here, but it¹s a pretty impressive capability, nonetheless. Other features of the site include links to NPR member stations, around the country and overseas, information on ordering tapes and transcripts, and NPR¹s own style guide online -- a worthwhile bookmark if, like me, you¹re prone to forgetting the difference between ³further² and ³farther,² ³flaunt² and ³flout.² If you listen to public radio and haven¹t yet discovered npr.org, you¹re in for a treat.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Kapow
URL: http://www.kapow.com
Category: Media
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Kapow is an ongoing ³multimedia fiction² mystery whose plots feature the net along with the more traditional, mysterious human clients and evil stalkers, all bedeviling private detective, Mace Broade. There are even live performances with actors; fans participate in solving the mystery. If you like serial plots (updated twice weekly) and would get a charge out of following Mace telnetting to a mysterious IP address, you¹ll like Kapow, a good-looking postmodern mystery where even Java plays a part. Listen to Mace¹s voicemail on his answering machine; study the mysterious spreadsheet he hacked into.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

EON-4
URL: http://www.eon4.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
EON-4 means ³earth after the discovery of extraterrestrial life.² This site is a paean to deep space probes and proof of E-T¹s. The design and literary style of EON-4 are terrific. You¹ll have trouble separating NASA fact from Website fiction, which is part of the fun. The Earth-Alien Contact Hub is updated daily; investigate the ³inbound transmissions² (including photos and sound files). Daily outbound messages to the EXPLOR team further the story. You must register to get news of ³new alien technologies² and ³requisition² for merchandise. All qualifying sentients report to EON-4. BLUE LIGHT
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

The Adbuster's Culture Jammers Headquarters
URL: http://vanbc.wimsey.com/~sfgray/adbusters/main.html
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
This site is a winner, very interactive, very slick, and full of content. It¹s a magazine aimed at subverting the culture of consumerism. Tall order, huh? It gets better: they wanna beat the merchandisers with their own weapon, advertisments. Check out this page to join the cause. Get the low-down on "Buy Nothing Day" next November 29. See a few of the most revolting advertisements corporate America ever tried to pull over on you. The Adbuster's own "uncommercials" and "subvertisements" are showcased to the delight of closet revolutionaries like myself. The page is witty but the subject matter is serious, and Adbusters are right on target.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Car Talk
URL: http://www.cartalk.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the risible radio stars of NPR have gone online. Traveling around the content-laden site is easy with a detailed navigation bar. You can send an "online postcard" to friends here: just enter a message, choose a graphic then send it off. You can also shop an online catalog on their "Shameless Commerce" page or enter contests to win "Free Stuff". A handy classifieds section helps you find a buyer for that '64 Impala you've been trying to sell or find a date for next Saturday night. Definitely a good, time-killer of a site.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

National Geographic Online
URL: http://www.nationalgeographic.com
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Patrick Joseph
From it¹s inception at Washington D.C.¹s Cosmos Club in 1888, the National Geographic Society has been encouraging world-wide exploration and discovery in an effort to ³increase and diffuse geographic knowledge.² The society is responsible for producing one of the world¹s truly great magazines as well as some of the finest film documentaries anywhere. That despite all this, 108 years later, the country in which the society was conceived should be so thoroughly ignorant of geography is, well, ... a little disgraceful. So, ...welcome to the latest project from the esteemed organization, National Geographic Online. Sponsored by Apple Computer and the American Plastics Council (hmm) this is a big site with content covering nearly everything under the society¹s umbrella, from grant programs, to television productions, to its ongoing educational endeavors. Speaking of which, this site could as easily be classified under Education or Humanities; educators will want to bookmark it as a valuable resource (K-12 lesson plans and materials are available for download) and as a point of reference for curious students. The Question of the Day is a good place to get your bearings, and see how your geographical knowledge rates. Here¹s a sample from the archives: ³Which country is farther west‹Guatemala or Cuba?² If you guessed Cuba, well ... it was a tough one; the Central American isthmus has a big wow to it that swings farther west than you might think, thereby forming the Caribbean. You can navigate the site by means of the ³passport² menu or click on ³Go² for the index (recommended). To get the most of the site, you¹ll need a host of plug-ins. Click on ³Gear² to get fixed up. From there you¹re ready to explore some of the finer features of the site, pulled from the pages of the magazine, and tricked out with multimedia. The interactive content is geared for a younger audience than the magazine, with contests thrown in and more ideas for teachers with wired classrooms. Older visitors may wish to skip to the synopses of the month¹s feature articles or to the cover story which receives more generous treatment. It¹s no replacement for the newsstand copy, but it will give you some highlights, and a place to explore further. Traveler magazine is also on the Web, and parents should know about World magazine online, which the Society produces specifically for children. Also worth looking into are the cartographic department which boasts the Map Machine and the Photography page for tips and contest information. Like I said at the beginning, this is a big site, and, judging by the size of the staff, it¹s a sure bet to grow. Visit when you have plenty of time to explore and don¹t forget to bring the kids. They¹ll thank you someday, when they¹re planning that trip to Guatemala City.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

MSNBC
URL: http://www.msnbc.com
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
Sure, Bill Gates is a subterranean nudnick and his company, Microsoft, hopes someday to supplant motherhood and apple pie in our affections. But consarn it, MSNBC isn't half bad. Putting aside the question of its credibility as a reliable source of accurate and unbiased information, MSNBC is pretty to look at, and there's no denying it uses an awful lot of words, the bulk of which are updated frequently. Still, it¹s very sad that so much of our news is filtered through giants like Time-Warner, Disney, Microsoft, Westinghouse, and General Electric. Aside from the unfortunate lineage, MSNBC rocks.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Epicurious
URL: http://www.epicurious.com/a_home/a00_home/home.html
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
Catering (pun intended) to the tastes (again) of an insignificant little niche market described only as "people who eat," Epicurious will probably cause much slobbering and drooling and smacking of lips. If, while visiting Epicurious, your considerable drool short-circuits the keyboard, don't say you weren't warned. Look around a little bit and you'll encounter the recipes of famous chefs and four-star restaurants, restaurant reviews, and a guide to the best eateries in 10 major US cities; also, kitchen hints, ideas for entertaining, wine expertise, nutrition data, contests, a dozen user forums, and much more. Better tuck a napkin into your collar before browsing.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Internet News Radio
URL: http://www.iNewsRadio.com/inr/
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
With minimalistic design redolent of German engineering, iNR inspires confidence in its services before you've even sampled a sound. With a 14.4+ connection and a RealAudio plug-in, you can stream weekly real-time stories of relevance to the Internet, and the related telecommunications and technologies industries. A special feature currently reports from the The Fourth International World Wide Web Conference. iNR also hosts a beautifully designed subsite of "irreverent" film reviews and interviews from Hollywood. As streaming technology improves, iNR is poised to stay at the forefront of Webcasting.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

The Nation
URL: http://www.thenation.com
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
The Nation has gone online in a surprisingly big way. The spirited liberal weekly leapt from its trademark newsprint to the Internet with a clean, mean, and unabashed transplant of its print model. Not all the content is here, of course, but a good many articles and features did go digital, including Calvin Trillin¹s satirical verse. Additionally, some new Web-specific features have been introduced: stringed discussions in the Forums section, and streamed audio programming in Audio Nation, to name two. Other sections such as the Archives and Hot List are, as yet, nought but a promise. But if the existing material is any indication, things are off to a promising start.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Texas Monthly WWW Ranch
URL: http://www.texasmonthly.com
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
Feeling lonesome for something Texan? Need a new recipe for barbecued ribs? Slide in a Lyle Lovett CD and giddy-yup over to Texas Monthly's online magazine. This classy site has none of the overdone glitz usually associated with the Lone Star State. Texas Monthly features, discussion groups with hip and well-known Texans like *Slacker* director, Richard Linklater (yes, he really hangs out with Quentin Tarantino), Willie Nelson, and Jimmy Jeff Walker, bulletin boards on Texas travel, food, and other highlights. Links Across Texas features more than 600 hot links. Other highlights include articles on Top Texas Companies and the Texas Marketplace. Well done.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Far Eastern Economic Review
URL: http://www.feer.com
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
For those doing business in Asia, this will be a key destination, with an up-to-the-minute Dow Jones Asian Equities Report and a host of other articles, all searchable by subject. In order to enter the site, you must register and maintain a password, frustrating for the occasional visitors, but well worth the effort of those who plan to access the site frequently. The design makes extensive use of frames, which is fine for anyone with big, color monitors, but folks with smaller screens may be annoyed by the obligatory horizontal scrolling. But, overall, FEER¹s abundance of current information and sophisticated design make it a notable achievement.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

News.com
URL: http://www.news.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
The super slick News.com is C/Net's news hub for the computer industry. Like the C/Net site, nothing has been missed, with hot, colorful graphics that catch the eye but don't overwhelm the content, excellent features on current events, a robust search engine, and great links to other news sites. This is the catch-all for insider information on the computer, Internet, and multimedia business. In addition to the informative feature articles, your more puerile interests will be satisfied by The Rumor Mill, providing the day¹s gossip on bigwigs like Bill Gates and Larry Ellison.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Dark Alliance
URL: http://cgi.sjmercury.com/drugs
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Unknown
On August 18, 1996, the San Jose Mercury News ran a story by investigative reporter Gary Webb under the headline, ³America's 'crack' plague has roots in Nicaragua war: Colombia-San Francisco Bay Area drug pipeline helped finance CIA-backed Contras.² Quite a scoop for a regional paper. Or is it? After all, at this late date, that the Contras were backed by a Reagan White House and actively aided by the CIA can be no secret to anyone. And even as far back as December, 1985, the Associated Press¹s Brian Barger and Robert Parry authored a dispatch which called attention to the the Contra drug connection. Similar stories have percolated through the media ever since. What is surprising, and sadly instructive, is the extent to which these stories have been ignored. Were it not for Dark Alliance, the Web version of the Mercury News story, this series might also have disappeared. Although Webb¹s investigation carried the story to significant new conclusions‹namely establishing a link between the genesis of America¹s crack epidemic and funding for the Contras‹it didn¹t exactly catch fire in the national media: over a month since it¹s publication, The New York Times has yet to devote coverage to the issue; The Washington Post acknowledged it only after demonstrators and the Congressional Black Caucus clamored for an investigation. Dark Alliance has received as many as 700,000 hits a day, demonstrating one clear advantage of the digital press: While the daily paper is here today, gone tomorrow, online content persists as long as the publisher cares to sustain it. Mercury Center‹the paper¹s online counterpart‹has done a commendable job with the site, adding value to the archived articles every step of the way. Visitors can link from the text directly to the reporter¹s primary sources: depositions, court documents, photographs, and recordings of audio surveillance are all available at the site, not to mention supplementary links to other online resources and a bibliography. The extensive documentation not only lends the story credibility, it also heightens the drama. On the technical side, the site falls for the usual trap: implementing gimmicks for gimmicks¹ sake. Available in both Shocked and Unshocked versions, the former adds scant audio narration and a gratuitous gunshot report for every click of the mouse. My advice: Skip it. But don¹t miss the site: Everyone should read this story.
Overall Rating (out of 18): <@COL 12>

Internet 1996 World Exposition
URL: http://park.org/
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Steve Szyszko
The World's Fair is a delightful anachronism persisting from that long past age when "progress" and "science" were going to solve the world's problems and put a helicopter in every garage. This is the Internet 1996 World Exposition, a "World's Fair for the Information Age." Visitors find information on the exhibits ‹ many still under construction--and hints to the future direction of the Internet. Especially interesting are the details of the Internet Railroad, a multi-national effort to circle the globe with a 45 Mb/sec connection. Excellent graphics and a model presentation make this site a delight to visit.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

NewsPage Home Page
URL: http://www.newspage.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Pick up the daily business news from over 600 information sources without having to pull a big truck up to the corner newsstand. NewsPage has the latest news on computer hardware, software, data communications, telecommunications, energy, media, travel, insurance, environmental services, business management and more. Taking articles direct from wire services, this subscription-based service is excellent for text-only news, but don’t expect any bells and whistles. Check out the funny/hard-to-believe news section for the interesting stuff.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

TST ON-DEMAND
URL: http://www.tstradio.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Turn your computer into a talk radio Mecca with TST ON-DEMAND. Taylor Subscription Talk is an audio on-demand service that lets users subscribe to talk radio programs on subjects such as politics, health, alternative lifestyles, arts, entertainment and news. The site itself serves as an advertisement to convince Internet surfers they need a talk show playing on their computers as they wander through the Web. The only interactive quality on TST’s Web site is the Real Audio download of the demo. The graphics look like they were kidnapped from Apple’s ill-fated eWorld service.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Hypermode
URL: http://www.hypermode.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
People are gonna start taking their cues from the fashion world as to what a Web site can do, methinks. Don¹t know why it is, but a good many fashion pages are way, way Web-savvy and nice to look at. Same holds true here at Hypermode, where the page functions like a greased preflambulator; that is to say, really well. As for content, while it amounts to a lot of pretty pictures, it¹ll link you up to a host of other eyeful pages, most slickly. (All right, so I made up ³preflambulator,² but I stand by the rest.)
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

New York Trash
URL: http://www.nytrash.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Most tourists remember New York City for its smell more than for its taste, and online, it¹s no different. New York Trash is the seedy guide to a city with no party limits. Get the dirt on the bands, bars, and behavior that keeps New York City fun and trashy. The guide a la dumpster is sectioned off by migraines (weird rants), earaches (music reviews), eyesores (party pics), and cramps (Internet links and guest book). Even Blondie¹s Debbie Harry has her own section of photos and handwritten lyric scans. Dive into this dumpster site for the goods on the Rotten Apple.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

The Spot
URL: http://www.thespot.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Seven strangers live in a house... This is their story of love, lust, and landlords. Haven¹t we heard this story before? The Spot tries to accomplish what MTV¹s ³The Real World² doesn¹t have the guts to do ‹ take a bunch of whiny kids living together and make them gripe online. Ironically, The Spot isn¹t as ³real² as MTV, and it has even more advertising attached. The introduction explains how dead celebs such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Jim Morrison hung out at the real Spot house. Egads. The design layout is mind-blowing, but the overly contrived characters all might as well be brain-dead.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Culture Zone
URL: http://www.culturezone.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
If you feel like a hick without hauteur, maybe a trip to the Culture Zone is what you need to feel hip again. The mass of image maps and eye candy promises to restore online excitement sucked out by other not-so-savvy sites. However, unless you have an ISDN line, prepare to wait a while for graphics to load. Speed along the Wailing Highway or hop the Groovy Train to download alternative music sound samples. Read casino poetry in the Celluloid Cafe. The Zone has so many twists and turns, a pro cybersurfer could drown in an entertainment tidal wave.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Ferndale
URL: http://www.ferndale.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
If you¹re already bored with talk show guests ripping out their hearts to entertain viewers, check out the Ferndale Webumentary site. This is a cross between a talk show and a soap opera, masking itself as an authentic Web experiment. Listen in on ³real² therapy sessions via RealAudio, or snoop through staff and resident journals. Take online personality tests and chat with one of the residents. The staff at Ferndale wants to hear your deepest secrets. Many of the therapy sessions try to be humorous when they¹re just hooey, but the journal entries will make you wonder why some of the staff members weren¹t committed with the residents.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

PC WORLD NEWS
URL: http://www.pcworld.com/cgi-bin/w3com/start?pcw+main
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
As the ³Online Personal Computing Authority,² PC World News magazine has good reason to toot its own horn. Get tips on selling old computers, find out which new PC is the best buy, or read hardware reviews on scanners, motherboards, and printers. PC World News requires readers to fill out a survey so they can access even more articles. Help bring the computer world a little closer to your desktop with this valuable, online resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Supermodel Home Page
URL: http://www.supermodel.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Even supermodels can be geek girls. Read about your favorite leggy lass on the Supermodel Home Page. SuperModels in the Rainforest is a special section meant to not only show beautiful models prancing around the trees but to teach us about the fragile ecosystem, animals and native peoples. Another section introduces visitors to one of Ford Modeling Agency's Supermodel of the Year, Monika Schnarre, with insights on her make-up tips and fashion secrets. Parts of the site is still under construction, but the elaborate quality of the home page suggests supermodels can walk down the Information Superhighway just as gracefully as a fashion show runway.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

The MESH
URL: http://www.albany.globalone.net/theMESH/
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Internet news and culture blend well in The MESH. This monthly newspaper features articles, reviews, columns, listings, and news. Read editorials on the growth of the Internet, follow advice on getting the most out of your e-mail, or learn about cyberfraud and how to prevent it. Sign up for MUG News Service for a free disk full of articles, reviews, tutorials, clip art, news, and other information. MESH is a magazine ³written by cyberusers for cyberusers² and will enlighten even the most arrogant of Internet know-it-alls.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Popular Mechanics
URL: http://homearts.com/pm/toc/00pmhpc1.htm
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Diedra Ramsey
A web site for Do-It-Yourselfers (DIY) or folks who just like to read about how things are done. The site includes articles from the print publication of the same name and serves as a pitch for the newsstand version. The site also links to a search engine that combines resources from other Hearst publications such as Home and Garden, Good Housekeeping and Redbook. So, after you¹ve spent hours reading about how to lay down a hardwood floor, you can hyperlink over to the search engine and plug in "curried lamb" for a dinner recipe.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

MoJo Wire
URL: http://www.mojones.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Diedra Ramsey
Named after labor organizer Mary Harris Jones (1830-1930), Mother Jones, or MoJo, is the kissing cousin of its paper publication, established in 1976. MoJo Wire is a political "magazine of investigation and ideas for independent thinkers," according to its information page. It bills itself as the first general interest magazine online, having established itself electronically in November 1993. Articles from issues dating back to that inception date are retrievable here. Features include Roger Ebert¹s and John Sayles¹ list of top 20 political films, pieces on the tobacco controversy, Newt Gingrich's ethics and Congress' major financial donors. There is also a search engine and bulletin board.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

The Black World Today
URL: http://www.tbwt.com/index2.htm
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
TBWT aims "to be the one 'must stop' in cyberspace for Blacks the world over; a place where they can come each day to feed their minds and souls with uplifting information and inspiration, a place to meet and chat with each other and to engage in commerce." With its sophisticated design and knowing reportage, TBWT seems prepared to realize its ambitions. Here you'll find cogent politico-economic and cultural analysis from a pan-African perspective, complimented by historical and geographical profiles of black countries and achievers. Furthermore, embedded Webchat and a classifieds section give this site a promising degree of interactivity.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

UNCOVER WEB
URL: http://www.carl.org/uncover/
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
CARL unCover purports to be an "online article delivery service, a table of contents database, and a keyword index to nearly 17,000 periodicals." This Website is one of several available ways to access the CARL unCover database, which includes more than 7 million articles in English, with 5,000 more added each day. Searches are free, but ordering the full text of an article will set you back $8.50 plus a copyright royalty fee. Or, for $20 a year, the bibliographic results of your prescribed search strategy will be e-mailed to you on a regular basis.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Intelligent Agent
URL: http://www.intelligent-agent.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
IA is a monthly New York-based newsletter reporting on the use of interactive media and technology in arts and education. With backgrounds in hypertext theory, literature and interface design its writers are hardwired for illuminating emergent areas of communication. Print articles are archived here alongside site-specific projects. Offering brief descriptions, the table of contents ushers you into intense hyperlinked interviews, essays, reviews and exhibitions on subjects ranging from internet copyright to distance education, and DNA-based art. A subtle balance between form and content makes IA a site for sore eyes and minds alike. They'll even mail you a free newsletter.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Voyager Company
URL: http://www.voyagerco.com
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Wayne Cunningham
Sure there are a lot of Pulp Fiction sites on the Web, but none that compare to this one. The slick, professional graphics seem to float up off the white background, like hovercrafts. The content is uncluttered and thorough, including speculation from various Internet users about the contents of the briefcase,Tarantino¹s influences, trivia from the movie that.... oh, wait a minute,... this is a review about the Voyager Company site; I got a little sidetracked in the Pulp Fiction section, he heh. Now then, Voyager¹s site is one of the paragons of good Web design, with a home page that¹s updated daily and content based on a plethora of projects in all kinds of media formats, from Interactive CD-ROM titles to laser disc and video collections, and ... well, Web design. Voyager¹s work reveals educated and eclectic tastes. A list of its projects reads like a roll call for the avant garde: with titles like Laurie Anderson¹s Green Room , Art Spiegelman¹s Maus , and the digital version of inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal¹s Live from Death Row, Voyager keeps CD-ROMs from becoming passe. Movie buffs should know about Voyager¹s Criterion Collection, a compendium of classic and contermporary films on laser disc. Even if you don¹t have a player the site is worth browsing for its considerable content, with excellent pages devoted to each director in the series. To its credit, Voyager also hosts projects that don¹t have anything to do with selling products. Consider the Guerrilla Girls site, devoted to a group of feminist artists with a biting sense of satire. A poster they produced for the 1992 Republican convention bore the heading ³Republicans do believe in a women¹s right to control her own body!² underscored with images of nose jobs, liposuction, and breat implants. Clearly, this is a company which isn¹t afraid to offend. Also hosted by Voyager are two eminent literary journals, The Paris Review and Grand Street.. Here you¹ll find exceptional poetry, fiction, and interviews, not to mention more Tarantino (with Dennis Hopper,Grand Street, August `96). The online issue only publishes excerpts from the print version, but it¹s still a great source of free content. Also be sure to check in for a preview of Narrative Corpse, an experimental, comix-style ³chain story by 69 artists,² the results of which are positively weird, if not exactly exquisite. In the end, this company is involved in things too numerous to mention. But one thing for sure: The Voyager imprint is a reliable mark of quality content and design.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Organa
URL: http://www.organa.com/welcome.html
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
Organa is a new media publishing company-made up primarily of former Voyager employees-that markets and distributes a wide variety of intellectually challenging CD-ROM products. Not interested in simulated killing, maiming, and wholesale slaughter? Then this site is worth checking out for descriptions and order information of intelligent and thought-provoking new media products. "Visionaries in Exile," which traces the lives of twenty Austrian architects who profoundly influenced modernist architecture in the United States, is just one example of the titles Organa is producing. It's refreshing to see that there are companies committed to more than just the trumpet call of the almighty buck.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Erack
URL: http://www.erack.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Deb Richardson
Stunning layout and understated graphics are the stuff of which dreams are made. Erack offers up online companion zines for seven popular British mags -- Carworld, Empire, FHM, Image, Q, Select, and Total Sport. While the content is primarily tailored for those of us with *.uk addresses, there's still plenty of interesting stuff for non-Brits around the globe. Wander into Carworld and get the latest high performance or classic automotive news, or rifle through the plethora of random cinematic rumors and tidbits in Empire. All of the zines are updated daily so there promises to be new stuff for each and every visit.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Baudeville
URL: http://exp1.mobius.net/baudeville/
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jason Sneed
This commentary-as-comedy site is humorous from the get-go. Featuring the Troubletown comic by Dangle and Too Much Coffee Man by Shannon Wheeler, the site boasts some very funny material! And the layouts and design are tasty! This one is sure to give up a laugh.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Blender Web
URL: http://www.blender.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jason Sneed
Blender Web is the online counterpart to Blender, a digital entertainment magazine. Although the site is full of reprint articles from the CD-ROM¹s, the Web site suffers from some of the limitations of the online medium -- audio and video are simply better integrated on discs. Follow image-icons to the zine¹s sections: Menu, Daily Blend, Pop Chop, Digest, Blend In and Music. Inside you¹ll find the typical pop culture suspects: Cobain, Dilbert, Bjork, et al.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

The East Village
URL: http://www.theeastvillage.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
The East Village is to New York City as Tales of the City is to San Francisco. This site is a diary of a party kid, Eve, who is destined to take a bite out of the Big Apple. Meet her friends and lovers as she explains her life from a bar stool. On the design front, The East Village accents text about bad weddings and bitter relationships with magnificent photos of New York at night. The site has a while to go before it makes much sense to the average online wanderer, but this is one apple Eve doesn¹t mind pushing on to another Internet Adam.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Cupcake
URL: http://www.cupcake.com/index.html
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
Remember those kiddy cupcake ovens from Fisher Price? Well, it seems they've migrated to the Web in the form of a 'zine self-consciously devoted to packaging non-nutritious ingredients. Cupcake's multimedia frosting invites sassygrrls the world over to sink their teeth into purest pop poop. Content ranges from media pranks to fashion spreads and celebrity profiles laced with blase irony. The young ladies I queried agreed that the Shock(wav)ed site served up a visual treat but left them starving, as cupcakes will, for meaningful substance. All the same, this site has a great feel to it, largely due to a seamless use of Frames.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

BBC Multimedia Centre
URL: http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/the_centre/animenu.html
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
At this site, you'll find yourself staring at a wordless graphical interface that impels you to click on one of its several weird icons spun into motion by the progressive gif format. Clicking leads to Macromedia animations that reflect the Centre's mission "to explore the possibilities of interactive media, to better understand our role as broadcasters in the future." In the "loonoids" animation, a cluster of thriftstore instruments scatter across your screen to the arhythmic drone of an industrial soundtrack. Ever more daft animations abound. Since it's partly devoted to training BBC employees in the application of multimedia technology, the levity of the site would seem to foreshadow a strange new generation of British broadcasters.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Jinn
URL: http://www.pacificnews.org/jinn/
Category: Media
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
Jinn, the ³Genie of Culture,² is the online, biweekly news magazine of the Pacific News Service, a journal which purports to examine the world ³through the lens of culture rather than of politics.² Looser in style than straight reporting, Jinn¹s writers (an able and ethnically diverse stable of talent) write personal narratives and essays which strive to tap a deeper vein than most news media. The editorial has a decidedly Pacific/Californian perspective, seeing its home state as a cauldron of all American social phenomena. Fair enough; what other state could produce Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown, Jello Biafra and Jerry Garcia, Berkeley and Hollywood? Think about it.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Duckman
URL: http://www.duckman.com
Category: Media
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
This Shockwave-enhanced online home to the webbed creature who lives in TV land has just enough "multimedia" to satisfy Duckman addicts until the next episode. Click from page to Shocked page for a Duckman fix as you explore this virtual cartoon with dozens of different scenes. Well-designed and a fine demonstration of Shockwave, but content only a Duckfan would love.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

AudioNet Talk Radio Guide
URL: http://www.audionet.com
Category: Media
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
AudioNet is a nifty site that takes you to schedules and audio clips from talk radio around the US: sports, news, politics, interviews, astrology, business, and more. AudioNet licenses its audio programming from hundreds of AM, FM and broadcast radio sources, and is available to listeners on demand using RealAudio (download it here). For college sports buffs, AudioNet even offers live broadcasts from some 50 schools. The service would be vastly improved by offering descriptions of the hosts and programs with each link, as most Web-listeners won¹t know a local station¹s call letters nor the names of the hosts.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Hitch!
URL: http://www.ionet.net/~twilken/hitched.shtml
Category: Media
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
It¹s the world where we live, brothers and sisters, and it¹s weird as hell. At the Hitch! site you can read a fair sampling of articles and outtakes from the journal which chronicles modern absurdities, from garden variety oddities to truly bizarre social phenomena. At the site you get chiropractic mishaps, a philosophical deconstruction of Mentos, dead-pan interviews with the washed up and/or semi-famous, and much more. And where do you think all this hip social criticism hails from? You got it: Oklahoma City, USA. A good stop for offbeat, heartland humor.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

The Economist
URL: http://www.economist.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
The stalwart British publication retains its signature brand of thorough reporting even in this new medium. They don't give away the store either: only a handful of articles are available each week, but if you know The Economist, you know they're substantial enough to keep you reading awhile. Of note: expatriates can find news from the Isle left out of the American printed version right here, online and uncut. Also at the site, the Review of Books and Multimedia. If you've got a thirst for news and a long attention span, this is the way to go.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

WXYC Chapel Hill
URL: http://sunsite.unc.edu/wxyc/
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
From alternamusic-rich Chapel Hill, comes the sounds of WXYC, a very hip radio station that's dug its heels deep into the net. Since 1994, WXYC has been a Web radio station, first using CU-SeeMe and now simulcasting with impressive Xing Streamworks. More information could be included on the site (band profiles? Chapel Hill hang-out scene reports?), but minimalism has its merits. Tune into the new wired sounds from last year's Gavin College Station of the Year and experience eclectica at its finest.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

George
URL: http://www.georgemag.com/hfm/index.html
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Deb Richardson
Slow. Really, really slow. This graphics-intensive site is the online companion to the hardcopy zine of the same title. If you have a fast connection and a love for U.S. politics, then this is the place to be. George offers a 'features' section which includes a letter from the editor-in-chief himself, a handy guide to finding your political representative, a cyberspatial tour of U.S. politics, and a trivia quiz. All in all, if you like the hardcopy, you'll probably love the site. Just be prepared to wait a bit, as some of the graphics are huge.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Hometime
URL: http://www.hometime.com
Category: Media
Issue: 0197
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
Hometime, the home improvement show airing on PBS featuring Dean Johnson and Robin Hartl (the 4th gal sidekick) now have their own Web page. Here, you can find out everything about their show, including bios and autographed publicity pictures! They keep an archive of their past shows, with a short description of the project and some screen shots of Dean and Robin hard at work. Also available are Hometime hats, T-shirts, caps and tapes of their shows. A discussion forum page allows visitors to post messages to each other and talk shop. Their "How To" section gives you step by step directions on many projects so you can remodel your kitchen without buying that Time-Life "Kitchens and Bathrooms" book.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

City TV
URL: http://www.citytv.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Steve Szyszko
One has to chuckle at television station and network Web sites. The Web is simply the precursor to technological changes which are going to swamp the broadcasting industry; how many broadcasters see it coming? This is the Chumcity Internet Site, offering up programming schedules and information for several Canadian television networks: CityTV, Bravo, and MuchMusic. Though better organized than most such Webspaces, this page suffers a near universal affliction ‹ a lack of engaging content. In the absence of attractive content, one must take advantage of the latest Web bells and whistles to attract attention. Unfortunately, that is not done here.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

SMASH
URL: http://smash.cs.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Steve Szyszko
Smash bills itself as a Web magazine devoted to science-fiction, fantasy, comics, and games. Fine graphics and a well-organized, hierarchial presentation make this site pleasing to the eye and easy to navigate. Unfortunately, Smash suffers a lack of content. This doesn't have to be a damning condition, as many content-light but flashy sites demonstrate. But Smash does not offer the quantity or quality of information one would expect to find in a magazine purchased at a newsstand, and Smash fails to exploit the Web's strengths to hide this lack of content. If a site is going to call itself a magazine, then we have every right to judge it by magazine standards.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

TMIWeb Big Free Area
URL: http://www.tmiweb.com/Bigfree/Xofree/xofree.html
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
XO's mission is "to rewire real men for vitality, joy and creative success in the context of today's capitalist urban society." Huh? If you don¹t understand this site, you won’t be alone. The bias slant of XO makes Rush Limbaugh look liberal. Take a ten-minute quiz to see if you have what it takes to strike it rich on your own. Discover the "truth" why feminist overkill is driving single men out of the traditional dating scene. Most of the photos just happen to be scantily-clad women looking to have relationships with REAL men.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

96 WCMF Rochester's Home of Rock & Roll
URL: http://www.wcmf.com./
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Kathy Tafel
If I were an aging baby-boomer into classic rock, I might listen to WCMF. I¹d have to move to Rochester, first, but that¹s a minor detail. There¹s a mildly amusing Star Wars-esque intro to the site. The home page uses bright primary colors that really pop of the page. The self-congratulatory introduction to the morning circus, events that the DJs go to, and the staff bios are really the only sections worth looking at. If you live in Rochester, and listen to WCMF, go ahead and scrounge around. But there really isn¹t anything else of interest to ordinary netizens.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

PIG Intertainment
URL: http://www.pigweb.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jason Sneed
This Hollyweird publication, like its hometown, is very busy and full of strange twists. Links to photo collections and articles span the tres-LA content, stuff like The Digital Art Space, the Parficial Pig cartoon strip, and the photography of Gary and Pierre Silva. The Silvas¹ 'Fetish' gallery gets pretty far out there; I didn't dare click the thumbnails for close-ups. ŒFine Art¹ seemed more my speed -- a section containing black and white photos of leather-clad folks and Gothic statues.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Spank
URL: http://www.cadvision.com/spank/
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jason Sneed
I don¹t get the relationship between Spank¹s title and its content, Nor are the subtitles much help: ³Alien Landing Zone² and ³Youth Culture Online.² Features include musician interviews, essays on topics like vegetarianism and the fur debate, as well as a regular column by Daria Kenin, called Ravings. The layout is a little ragged, and text is a little hard to read against the baby blue background. The site¹s creators knew enough to list 'Win Free Stuff' first in the table of contents. The prize: A matching CD and Mousepad set. Right On!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

STUMP
URL: http://www.ipahome.com/stump.html
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
This political site boasts a pretty nifty frames set-up, including a mildly humorous attraction called Build Your Own President. Scrolling horizontal in two separate frames allows you to match Pat Buchanan¹s eyes, say, with Lamar Alexander¹s chin. Or whatever. There¹s also some trenchant political commentary, by region.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Comics Zone
URL: http://www.darknet.com/Motion/
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
Comic Zone is the collaborative effort of Conception and Motion Comics, a pair of indie publishers emerging from the nascent Kansas City scene. Their site features bios and a gallery of samples from the various artists who have teamed up since the early nineties to produce company flagships *Captain Crafty*, and *Walt, the Wildcat*! The drawings on view are more than serviceable, but the marbleized purple backgrounds might be worth reconsidering. The colorless vertical frame that runs throughout these pages is also a bit of an eyesore. Nevertheless, there's a palpable sense of honest work in these pages, and I anticipate gradual but significant enhancements.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Monk
URL: http://www.monk.com/Monk/
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Diedra Ramsey
Monk is where journalism meets the nitty gritty cities of America. For the most part, it is the travelogue of the monks, Jim and Mike, who wander from city to city detailing the latest in street lingo, regional drug use, drag queen escapades, and underground sites and sounds. The monks' tales feature titles like Freakin' In Frisco and Portland Kicks Butt. Not all of the articles are written by the monks, but all explain the goings-on in the cities the monks have visited. Unfortunately, the Web site does not contain anything in the way of video clips or sound.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Omni Online
URL: http://www.omnimag.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Diedra Ramsey
Artistically, Omni's home page is beautiful. The artwork leads the eye to a few top stories and a bulleted list of the Web site's sections. On the downside, the sections and content do not differ much from the newsstand version. Hyperlinks to several of its sections yield in-depth science articles and science fiction, with pictures that take much too long to load. Printed out, an Omni interview of astronomer Alan Stern was 17 pages. Who has time to read this online?
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Smithsonian Magazine
URL: http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
Well, it looks awfully nice. Beautiful photographs spliced into the text make for an engaging layout. What's the problem? Well, the contents page promises real articles, interesting ones -- on the resurrection of Gibson guitars, on how Alexandre Dumas battled racism in seventeenth century France -- but what you get are diluted essays, never more than a page long, half of which is pictures. Tell me: how can you say a third of all there is to say about the rebirth of Gibson Guitars in less 500 words? You can't. (Upon closer inspection you¹ll see that all articles are abstracts of those published in the real magazine). Besides these shoddy synopses there is museum information, schedules for exhibits and events. You can even order your tourist paraphenelia ahead of time and skip the line at the gift shop. All fine and good, but not really a magazine.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

CBS News Up to the Minute
URL: http://uttm.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
I know it's just a name, but I really felt rushed, worried it was going to be updated even as I read. I needn't have worried. UTTM is CBS's grave-yard shift news program; its dramatic moniker hides the fact that it is actually pretty dull. The page is organized like a broadcast, with anchors, headlines, features, movie reviews, sports etc. There's a spot for women's health and even a section for news about space, aptly titled "The Space Space". UTTM boasts video news clips, which isn't that impressive because, hey, I have a television.All I can say is that it really captures the essence of late night news: sleepy and sort of half-assed.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

HighTimes
URL: http://www.hightimes.com
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Yes, one of the oddest magazines to flip through, giggle at, and never buy, has hit the Web. Now you can actually read current and past issues, without living in fear that your parents will find it between those Zeppelin records. My favorite part of the site is the "Pot Shots" gallery of buds and bongs -- reminds me of centerfolds in men's magazines...only different. Make sure to pay a visit to the herbal Oracle, where your reefer-related questions will be answered. As the site says, "We've got all the space we need! So who got the weed?!" (eyeroll)
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Nash Bridges Home Page
URL: http://www.thenetshow.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
Only the truly fanatic Nash Bridges/Don Johnson fan will be all to stomach this site. Billboard-sized image maps make for slow, pointless and frustrating loads. You can help Nash Bridges solve crimes with the interactive "webisodes" (a word that is sure to test your gag reflex). Buy an official NB sweatshirt and be the coolest person on your block. You can also send DJ some email to tell him what you think of the show. During the Spring, this site was apparently very busy, but now it is in cyber-hibernation until the new Fall season. (See ya, Bubba.)
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Project Censored
URL: http://zippy.sonoma.edu/ProjectCensored/
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
Project Censored is a media research project started in 1976, whose mission is to publicize under-reported news by the mainstream media. Tall order, you say? Well they¹re up to it. Every year they choose the top ten "censored" stories. There¹s an archive spanning 1989 to 1995 and more years are promised. Not really censorship, you say? Maybe not. It's more like the press censoring itself, but it¹s interesting reading nonetheless. Want to nominate a story? Send it in and start spreading the news. For the most part, the items are rather dry, environmentist, and anti-government in their slant. And, unfortunately, no "Bat Boy Found in Cave" type stories here.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

NetBC
URL: http://www2.netbc.com/netbc/netbc.acgi
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Deb Richardson
"The news, the net and life in B.C." NetBC advertises itself as "a fully interactive news service, designed expressly and exclusively for the exciting World Wide Web domain of the Internet." The 'fully interactive' part is certainly arguable, but overall this is a well- designed site with great writing and interesting content. Offered up are sporadic snippets of news about British Columbia, networking information, and a fantastic serial article entitled, "Urban Adventures in the West End." NetBC, while not as interactive as it's cracked up to be, is a great place to gain some insight into those occasionally wacky folks who live at the western end of Canada.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Living on Earth
URL: http://www.loe.org
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Deb Richardson
Living on Earth is a radio show which is broadcast on 'over 250 National Public Radio stations' in the U.S. The site offers transcripts of the radio show, including news, features, interviews, and a variety of other interesting items about ecological and environmental issues worldwide. The latest batch of goodies includes articles about the exposure of children to PCBs, the ecological damage caused by illegal cocaine plants, exotic tree-destroying beetles in NYC, and an interview with an inventor who recycles old tires into new furniture. Fascinating and weekly-updated content more than makes up for the shabby layout. Environmentalists of all ages will find this site of interest‹even (or perhaps especially) if you're out of the radio broadcast's range.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

CYBER CULTURE MAGAZINE
URL: http://www.cvp.com:80/cyber/
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jason Sneed
The theme of Issue 3.0 is ³cyberlove and friendship² and to get the ball rolling, it starts off with an essay called, "The Dark Side of Cyber Romance." Ooosh... hold up: frivolous use of the word ³cyber² is a serious faux pas! Ah well,...the site has a daily column by Dave Daily. (Dave was moving the day I visited, though, and the column was on hold for a spell). The fiction I read was unspectacular, but you¹re encouraged to submit your own or comment on what you see.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

WDTN Channel 2
URL: http://wdtn.com/wdtn
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
Despite the fact that the Web is a globally distributed network transmitting vivid design ideas everywhere, Dayton's WDTN retains the drizzly aesthetic of the newsroom itself. Perhaps the designers should be applauded for their devotion to the old style. It's hard to say. In any event, this site is another competent, if unremarkable, shoveling of daily news and weather reports into hyperspace. The few perks include an expression of WDTN's take on computer culture: "Making Money on the Web." Also, locals can now send e-mail to the weatherman, whose satellite photos are the best thing about this site.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Lives of the Great DJs
URL: http://www.wfmu.org/LCD/lotgdjs.html
Category: Media
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
No, there's no Howard Stern here, just a few shock jocks from the past. This is a radio station sponsored page (WFMU in New York/New Jersey) that gives out brief but interesting profiles about the wild bunch of early radio. Download and listen to actual broadcasts from these ground-breakers. Read about the Real Father of Radio (Nathan B. Stubblefield) and the recent Talk Radio Assassination of Alan Berg. Interesting stories but generally too short.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

SEE Worldwide
URL: http://www.tic.ab.ca/SEE/
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
The utterance, "eh?" in response to the SEE Worldwide site is not an anti-Canuck jab so much as a comment on the overall dreariness of this alternative newsweekly from Edmonton, Alberta. The print rag is probably a lot more interesting (I don¹t know), but the online edition is singularly uninspired. There's a lot of information here (lagging a bit behind it¹s newsstand ³weekly² status), and the writing is wacky and irreverent. But the presentation of the mateiral practically defines "lackluster." One potential Brownie Point: In a brilliant stroke of irony, their "In the Web" column is apparently not available online.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Zomboy
URL: http://www.netdoor.com/com/inferno/zomboy/
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
Minneapolis-based comics artist, Thomas Florimonte, has inked, he says, for some of the best pencilers in the business. Greater ambitions have led him to combine his writing and inking talents in the creation of Zomboy. Here you can read about Florimonte's self-actualizing revelation and page through the first issue of his colorful comic which is out in stores this summer. The book's art and story are dictated by the misadventurous impulses of a pubescent kid, and since there's no shortage of them in the world, Zomboy should be a big success. You can order an autographed copy from the artist.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

What Else?
URL: http://www.best.com/~whatelse/
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Wayne Cunningham
A year ago when everyone was so hyped about the Web, somebody pointed out there was no real content out there, just a lot of Simpsons sound and graphic files. Original content became the Web site watchword. What Else? took that to heart, and publishes a weekly editorial about computers and the Internet. Well, that¹s all fine and good, but the quality of the writing is a bit weak, not to mention the atrocious copy-editing, and the topics discussed are not the most thought-provoking. There is a French version of the editorial, though, so if you *parlais* the language, there is at least that. Take your value where you can.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

ALR Advocate
URL: http://www.cris.com/~chocker/alradv.htm
Category: Media
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Kathy Tafel
The ALR Advocate tries. It tries really hard. I¹m not quite sure what exactly it was trying to do, but whatever it was., it failed. It wants to be a Webzine with a Gen X audience. While some of the story concepts are almost amusing, the site uses frames for no apparent reason, with no apparent means of navigating to other pages. The backgrounds are atrocious enough in and of themselves, but with black text (bolded in a futile attempt to make the text readable), the result is truly horrendous. ALR Advocate did succeed in making me resolve never to go back.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Everton¹s Genealogical Helper
URL: http://www.everton.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
More a way station for surfing genealogists than an online version of the magazine, this site is nevertheless deceptively smart from a sales standpoint. Offering limited free use of their database and extensive links to other sites around the Web, Everton¹s is bound to attract repeat visitors and, unless I miss my guess, some of those repeat visitors, happy with what they¹ve seen, are bound to bite at a subscription sooner or later.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Fair Play
URL: http://rmii.com/~jkelin/fp.html
Category: Media
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jason Sneed
Updated bimonthly, Fair Play's features examine the conspiracy theories surrounding the JFK Assassination. There are original documents from the Assassination Records Review Board, tape recordings of Lee Harvey Oswald, and items concerning the possible affiliation of the Freemasons. The content consists primarily of huge articles, written in dense legalese and will therefore be of little interest to the casual surfer.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Off the Rack
URL: http://www.enews.com/off_the_rack/
Category: Media
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
An "editorially independent" spin-off from the Electronic Newsstand, the Off the Rack Web zine has dedicated itself to "the exploration of magazines, media, and more." Its straightforward interface points to a handful of articles that are available elsewhere in far richer detail. But for those who need to be informed of what they "must read," who crave a "daily dose" of "hype heaven" and "hype hell," well, Off the Rack's got it all figured out for you. From its predictable Microsoft fluff piece to its rehash of the Unabomber story, Off the Rack's mix of articles says nothing about media except that its more anemic advocates have invaded the Web.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Cops
URL: http://www.tvcops.com/
Category: Media
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
Let me just come right out and say it: I hate *Cops*, the TV show, and the Web site did nothing to change that. It¹s more (but not much more) of the same: smug attitude, lame glorifications, and shameless exploitations of the worst in humanity. There is a whopping total of eight short Quicktime videos on the site as of this writing, including four deemed ³Too Hot for TV.² Unless you¹re scandalized by gratuitous boob shots and drawn shotguns, I hardly think you¹ll be impressed. In case you are, the video tapes are on sale at the site along with sundry other related merchandise. The only other segment is the FAQ, which is not really a FAQ, but an archived online chat with John Langley, one of the show¹s proud creators. Here¹s a sample exchange. Q: ³When I got arrested, the *Cops* crew were filming in Dallas. How good of a chance do you think there is that i will be on the show?² A: ³I hope you are on it. Good luck.² It¹s enough to make you sick.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Harper¹s Magazine
URL: https://www.harpers.org
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
Hell of a magazine, Harper¹s. Not much of a Web site. Makes you wonder why they even bothered. The only content here worth mentioning is Harper¹s Index, the print magazine¹s remarkable opener wherein a litany of revealing statistics are presented with zero commentary, but juxtaposed in such a way that they speak for themselves. At the site, the ³interactive² version of the Index allows visitors to post their own stats. Visitors can also browse Harper¹s none too extraordinary merchandise, the current issue¹s table of contents, and write to the editors via e-mail. Oh yeah, and you can subscribe, too. Which, aside from Harper¹s Index, is the only thing worth the trouble.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Amateur Radio Club
URL: http://www.netside.com/~jtmood/amateur.html
Category: Media
Issue: 0197
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
The Palmetto Amateur Radio Club, of Columbia, South Carolina's home on the net, this site is dedicated to amateur radio, ham radios, and radio experimentation. The down home site is mostly made up of hotlinks to ham radio sites, as well as ftp sites to download a variety of sound files and applications for radio-based application (for example, an application that logs telephone calls at radio stations). All in all, the content is pretty specialized and not for those without a lot of interest in amateur radio.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

The Dominion/Sci-Fi Channel
URL: http://www.scifi.com
Category: Media
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
³Your love of the fantastic, the strange² is what fuels The Dominion, a mega-site from the cable Sci-Fi Channel. This rich, well-designed site has something for everyone from Trekkers to Area 51 aficionados (Rod Serling fans can download his spooky Twilight Zone intro). The Dominion is much more than promotion; there are extensive chat areas, photos, video and audio from all over. Don¹t miss Orbit, the Dominion links page with a generous selection from Gothic/Horror to Paranormal. However obscure your sci-fi interest, I¹d bet it¹s here.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 12

Newspage
URL: http://www.newspage.com
Category: Media
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Deb Richardson
I couldn't stop yawning. The only thing which broke up the endless black and blue text on default-gray background was the plethora of clickable ad-banners. I guess if you're interested in business news, and if you're willing to pay for most of it (Newspage is a primarily subscription service), this site could be a valuable resource. For the most part it's just boring: boring layout, boring graphics, boring content. The most exciting moment of the whole trip was when the authorization window popped up and promptly refused access to the 'protected stories' on the site. What a blast. Really.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 12

7 AVENUE
URL: http://BYTESIZEMAG.COM/7AVENUE/7AVENUE.HTM
Category: Media
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Fashion victims now have a Web site full of advice. Take a stroll down 7th Avenue for tips on winter fashion, stylish eyebrows, and even the comeback of the ponytail. The content isn¹t extensive, but it is informative for anyone wanting to know why camel coats have invaded the runways. Download photos of models strutting their stuff or follow links to advertisements from Armani, Hermes, and even the Gap. The 7 Avenue site needs more articles and features to keep fashion fans and phobes interested in staying longer than just a few minutes.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 10