home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
AOL File Library: 9,300 to 9,399
/
9300.zip
/
AOLDLs
/
E-Zines
/
EZINE_ The Weekly Bookmark 2.25
/
wb0225.txt
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
2014-12-11
|
20KB
|
381 lines
The Weekly Bookmark
May 17, 1996 - Vol 2, No. 25
http://www.webcom.com/weekly/wb/friday.html
__________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
On My End - Note from the Editor
WWW Advances Environmental Activism
Out There - Places to Visit
Weekly Bookmark Information
Meet The Staff - Contact Info
__________________________________________________________
On My End
Matt Alberts weekly@webcom.com
I've included an article from Mark Westlund of the Rainforset
Action Network. I thought everyone would enjoy it. If you did,
send some comments my way and I will attempt to continue this.
__________________________________________________________
Supporters
Imaginary Landscape
Hand Woven Web Sites
It All Begins With Your Ideas
http://www.imagescape.com
__________________________________________________________
WWW Advances Environmental Activism
Mark Westlund ranmedia@ran.org
Rainforest Action Network (RAN), in its campaign to save the
world's rainforests, has a three-part function: education,
direct action, and grassroots organizing. Our web site is
designed to give maximum play to these fundamental aspects of
the organization, and has proven to be an effective tool for
distributing information, communicating organizational
objectives, providing activists with a means of action, and
generating much-needed income.
We are generating an average of 14,000 hits per week, which
means many people are coming into our environment... and
hopefully are leaving with a strong sense of the urgent
rainforest issue.
Since "Action" is RAN's middle name, the Action Alert occupies
a prominent place on the home page. We update the text monthly
to keep the page fresh, and to reflect current campaign goals.
Recent alerts have focused on pirate mahogany logging on Indian
land in the Amazon basin, Georgia-Pacific's questionable timber
purchases from Guyana, the wrong-doings of Shell Oil and the
Nigerian government in Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution, and the
creation of a wildlife preserve in British Columbia for the
rare white bears that live there. What makes our Action Alert
particularly effective, however, is that each installment
concludes with a letter of protest to the targeted rainforest
destroyer. In the case of the Saro-Wiwa alert, for instance,
the virtual activist sends E-mail to President Clinton, urging
an embargo on all Nigerian oil products. With the mahogany
alert, the letter goes by way of fax-server directly to
Brazil's Minister of the Environment. The letter template can
be edited on line, or transmitted as is. Just click the "Send"
button and there you are: You've made an honest to goodness
political statement.
Our statistics show that nearly one person in ten who visits
the site uses the Action Alert fax/E-mail feature. This is an
extremely high rate of return, especially when compared to an
old-fashioned direct mailing piece that might generate a mere 1
to 3 percent response.
Web technology allows us to focus attention on specific
campaign targets more effectively than passive media does. For
instance, RAN has a long-standing boycott of Mitsubishi
Corporation, due to the Japanese conglomerate's rapacious
world-wide timber trade. The Mitsubishi Corporation home page
made several preposterous claims about the company's concern
for the environment, which we took them to task for. We
constructed a duel: Our site posted refutations to their claims
one by one, with documentation, and in each case linked back to
their site, which caught them in their falsehoods. In an
information-age coup de grace, the RAN site then offered users
the ability to send a message with their own opinion back to
Mitsubishi Corporation on MC's own comments page. Apparently,
the response was voluminous enough to prompt MC to dump the
pages with their eco-boasting, and redo their site. Our stats
showed that Mitsubishi was hitting our pages fairly heavy for
the weeks before their page "redo." In addition, our webmaster
reports that the RAN site is generating on the average of 500
faxes a week to the Mitsubishi Corporate offices.
This points to the fact that, on the web, the playing field is
more level, and corporate greenwashing can be more effectively
countered. We notice that Shell and Texaco have been studying
our site, too. This is probably because RAN is speaking truth
to power about their devastating environmental records in the
third world. Shell in particular should worry. We have designs
on them for something similar to the Mitsubishi duel. They've
been saying silly things about their involvement in
petrochemical development in Nigeria, and insinuate that the
November executions of human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and
eight others was the result of activists protesting too much!
Our entire site is educational, I think, in keeping with the
organization's mission; however, some areas are decidedly so.
The Rainforest Information section is all about education, as
is the Kid's Corner. Rainforest Information answers commonly
asked questions, from rates of destruction, to medicinal uses
or rainforest fauna, to the kind of products that come from the
rainforest. The children's' section is geared for a young
computer user, and features easy-to-read text, and plenty of
graphics.
Each of our five campaigns (Amazonia, Rainforest Wood,
Mitsubishi Boycott, Wood Reduction Clearing House, and World
Bank) has its own section, which includes campaign overviews,
and specifics about why particular rainforest destroyers are
the target of these campaigns: Mitsubishi, MacMillan Bloedel
(British Columbia clearcut villain), Georgia Pacific, Texaco,
Maxis, and others. The sections are updated regularly to
reflect campaign developments, and information about what
like-minded groups in the effected regions are doing. In these
updates, we have links established to related web sites. Again,
whenever possible, we provide a fax or E-mail link for users to
make comments directly to allied groups, government officials,
or corporate offenders.
The third part of RAN's mission in developing grassroots
organizations on a regional level, and the web site (coupled
with a mailing list) acts as a kind of meeting house. Our
grassroots outreach program, or Rainforest Action Groups
(RAGs), have a section alongside the campaigns. We post notes
from the council meetings, articles submitted by the groups,
and news of particular interest to our regional affiliates.
Most important, however, is the search engine and E-mail
directory that allows the user to find and make contact with
the nearest RAG. If there is no RAG in the user's part of the
world, and the interest is there, the user can sign up as a RAG
online.
Users can also sign up online as RAN members-we have a secure
server for charge accounts (and we are in the process of
establishing First Virtual). Certainly, the money issue is one
of the big hurdles for Internet users; the more comfortable
everyone becomes with putting their credit information out into
the ether, the more memberships we'll get. That said, I'm
impressed with our performance. I understand that the
memberships generated from our online JOIN page covered the
initial investment of machines and staffing in the first 5
months of its operation. What's more, we are getting an
extremely high percentage of international members that join
through the web site. Perhaps people in Japan, Sweden, and
Germany are less afraid of new technology than are Americans.
At the bottom of the page, we have a rainforest quiz. If you
surf wide and deep through our site (and retain enough of the
minutia!), you can correctly answer all the questions. Happy
surfing for the rainforests!
100 % Recycled Electrons
__________________________________________________________
Out There
Art, Humanities, and Music
The International Gallery of Art
Premier art gallery boasting 1000's of works in a variety
of mediums. Many weekly features! Sculptures, paintings,
drawings, photographs and prints are all available for
browse and purchase. A beautifully designed site with a
twist. Check it out...Now! (you won't be disappointed :)
I promise!)
URL: http://london-net.com/art/intgal.htm
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher.
Submitted By: Matt Allan
The Cyber-Book Of Love
A site for romantics of all types. This site includes
love poetry, letters, advice, relationship counseling,
gifts, related links, and much more! Begin a
heart-warming experience that will take you into the
world of love and romance. Submissions are very welcome.
Add your works here. Just send an Email!
URL: http://www.netsrq.com/~flwolf
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher.
Submitted By: Kevin Teague
aixia
Take a trip to aixia, the eerie Borges-like land of
intertwining poetry. All who enter are affected.
URL: http://www.lot11.com/aixia
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher.
Submitted By: Matthew Kropp
Education
North Coast Xpress
A magazine devoted to hard to find news on prison reform,
goverment coverups, original in depth economic research,
evironmental studies, with such writers as Jerry Brown
and Mickeal Peranti. We also have a complete archive of
former publications.
URL: http://www.north-coast-xpress.com/~doretk/
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher.
Submitted By: Doret Kollerer
Entertainment
Mira Furlan reference page
The first complete WEB site on Mira Furlan. Everything I
could find on the net on her is on the site. If you don't
find it here, chances are goods that you won't find it
anywhere else. New information is added to the page
almost on a daily basis.
URL: http://www.odyssee.net/~shaka/mf/index.html
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 1.1 or higher.
Submitted By: Martin Albert
Jessie's own page
Hi my name is Jessica/ On my page you will find fun
links, crafts, games and stories. Mom changes them often.
Please come visit.
URL: http://www.netcom.com/~karyntag/jessica.html
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher.
Submitted By: Jessica Taglia
Slab Shredder online comic
biweekly serial sci-fi comic strip. each episode includes
interactive clues and a new RealAudio soundtrack.
cyberpunk subgenre: four revved-up misfits prowl the
interstate highway system in search of Brink, mythical
founder of the Lifestyle Engineering industry.
URL: http://www.superlux.com
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher.
Submitted By: Mark Falls
Health and Medicine
The Stork Site
Stork Site is a childbirth and pregnancy resource on the
web. Membership is currently free and offers
participation in the Stork Site community through
bulletin boards, chat rooms, and a daily advice column
with Tori Kropp, RN. Tori brings her extensive experience
as an O.B. nurse to the site to help women through their
pregnancies with a caring and realistic approach. Come
join the club!
URL: http://www.storksite.com
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher.
Submitted By: Tori Kropp
American Medical Women's Association
AMWA is a national medical organization of women
physicians and medical students providing the unique
voice for women's health.
URL: http://www.amwa-doc.org/index.html
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher.
Submitted By: Debra R. Judelson, MD
Internet and the WWW
WebMaster Magazine
The May/June issue of WebMaster Magazine is online. This
issue looks at the potential impact of the Web on
middlemen, franchises on the Web, how the Kennedy
Center's Web site blends art and commerce, how to
personalize your site, web team staffing strategies, and
how some large internal webs are approaching searching.
Also at WebMaster are Web Central, a great collection of
links, the Webmaster's Notebook, and the Intranet
Resource Center - along with an online qualification form
for a free subscription.
URL: http://www.web-master.com/
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 1.1 or higher.
Submitted By: Tim Horgan
SnyderNet: Jay's Corner of the Web
My personal page, which I have had for quite some time,
is always growing and improving. I currently offer a
general linklist, a monthly website review, a monthly
calendar, an email penpal service, and local information
(for Maryland). I also have information about myself. As
of now, my site has only two graphics (a logo on the main
page and my picture on the information page), but I plan
to add more soon.
URL: http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~jsnyder
This site is can be viewed with any browser.
Submitted By: Jay Snyder
The OnLine Electronic Publishing Collection
The OnLine Electronic Publishing Collection: Publishing
Formats, Text and Image Viewers, Audio and Video Players,
Virtual Reality, Electronic Books, Computer and Internet
Related OnLine Books, OnLine Errata and Updates to
Printed Computer Books.
URL: http://home.earthlink.net/~jlutgen/epublish.html
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 1.1 or higher.
Submitted By: Jack Lutgen
SearchSource
This site contains links to popular search engines,
directories, what's new lists, metasearches, and other
miscellaneous investigative tools. Also included are
links to the Detroit Tigers, sci-fi, books, and other
family-oriented favorites.
URL: http://www.nconnect.net/~tcturner
This site is can be viewed with any browser.
Submitted By: Anthony Turner
Recreation and Sports
WinterMute Home page
The home page WinterMute 58 levels, multi-playing,
multi-classes and plenty of room.
URL: http://www.students.uwf.edu/~snovota/winter.htm
This site is can be viewed with any browser.
Submitted By: James E. Newman
Reference Libraries and Indexes
The Skeptics Dictionary
This is a mini-encyclopedia from the skeptics' viewpoint,
covering a multitude of topics, alphabetically arranged,
including items such as alien abductions, chiropractic,
massage, near-death experiences, dowsing, firewalking,
holistic medicine, telepathy, the Yeti, etc. The
mini-articles often contain links to other sites on the
topic or off-line reading. Even a skeptic will find some
topic you took for granted debunked. There's even a
bulletin board for you to blast em if you want.
http://wheel.ucdavis.edu/~btcarrol/skeptic/dictcont.html
Submitted By: Robert Samet via BestWeb
Science and Industry
Roswell Crash Site
In 1947, something happened in Roswell, New Mexico. Was
it a crash of a UFO, and were bodies recovered from that
craft? This is the grandaddy of all UFO stories. The WWW
site itself is magic to those who truly believe that
something happened out there. I would like to hear from
anyone interested in UFOs and this story.
URL: http://execpc.com/vjentpr/jroswell.html
This site is is best viewed with Netscape 1.1 or higher.
Submitted By: Ed Laborwit
_________________________________________________________________
Weekly Bookmark Information
The Weekly Bookmark Hompage:
http://www.webcom.com/weekly/wb/weekly.html
The Weekly Bookmark Archives:
http://www.webcom.com/weekly/wb/archives-index.html
The Weekly Bookmark Index:
http://www.webcom.com/weekly/wb/site-index.html
Subscribe/Unsubscribe via WWW form:
http://www.webcom.com/weekly/wb/subscribe.html
Subscribe/Unsubscribe via E-mail: weeklyb-request@webcom.com
Include ONLY the following in the BODY Subscribe WeeklyB
or Unsubscribe WeeklyB.
Submit a Site: http://www.webcom.com/weekly/wb/submit.html
Send Feedback: http://www.webcom.com/weekly/wb/feedback.html
_________________________________________________________________
Meet The Staff
Editor - Matt Alberts weekly@webcom.com
Assistant Editor - Holly Drake hdrake@niu.edu
Webmaster - Matt Alberts weekly@webcom.com
Writer
Marian Hank justhank@mcs.net
Submitters
Ted Nellen tnellen@mbhs.bergtraum.k12.ny.us
Marian Hank justhank@mcs.net
Want to help? Read our Help Wanted section.
_________________________________________________________________
(C) Copyright 1996 by Matt Alberts - All Right Reserved
Comments? Ideas? Send mail to weekly@webcom.com