NETSURFER DIGEST

Friday, November 03, 1995 - Volume 01, Issue 35

"More Signal, Less Noise"

OUR SPONSORS: Netsurfer Marketplace

ONLINE TRAVEL

Stripling's Guide to Beach Strips Where You Can Safely Strip
Branchez-Vous: L'HyperGuide d'Internet
Houston by Postcard
Messing About in Boats
Fishing in Finland

FLOTSAM & JETSAM

More Blow-Up Fun
Rush to Judgment
If You Want Pets, Have Pets, or Like Pets
A Bit of Fry
Software Spot for Netsurfin' Tots
Not So Spooky Pez Page
This Calls for the Ol' Billy Barule
Newton's Apple for the Teacher

SURFING SITES

The best places to netsurf this week

HEADS BLOW UP REAL GOOD

If you've always wondered what Boris Yeltsin would look like without a skull, you need look no further than the Exploding Head Page, where you can enjoy blowing up the heads of Tom Hanks, Rush Limbaugh (perhaps particularly after reading the Rush article below), and even Bob Dole. Yes, 'tis a calming conclusion to a difficult day when you get to blow up your favorite celebrity, albeit vicariously. If you're worried about your own head, or you think it can never happen to you, we highly recommend a visit to the "How To Tell If Your Head's About To Blow Up" page. Informative and discomforting. Celebrities: "http://www.vv.com/~gilmore/head/heads.html" The rest of us: "http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/mkgray/head-explode.html"

THAT WHALE BLOWED UP REAL GOOD, TOO

What do you do with a dead whale? If you're Inuit, you carve it up and use it. If you're in Oregon, you get a half-ton of dynamite and blow it up real good. Yeee-ha! Yes, the exploding whale is on the Web. There's a full report in audio and video (about 11 MB) so if you have some time and want to watch the blubber fly, drop in on the Infamous Exploding Whale. "http://www.xmission.com:80/~grue/whale/"

A HIGH FIVE FOR SUPERIOR WEB DESIGN

The High Five Award Page rewards excellence in Web design, with standards so strict and lofty - the page claims to be the Carnegie Hall of Web sites - you can presume the winners have something to offer. It's essentially intelligent design and execution that count rather than groovy content. Commercial providers, for example, have been awarded High Five accolades for the designs of their online catalogues. Visitors looking for examples of primo Web pages can spend happy moments sifting through a great backlog of previous winners. "http://www.highfive.com/"

CYBERGRRL: WOMEN'S RESOURCES AND MORE

We loved Cybergrrl. It's chock full of great online resources for women, with a great collection for all of cool links, surfing sites, and stuff like "How to use HTML". The easy, friendly, attractive format makes it one of the best of its kind. Cybergrrl's personal preferences are original and her approach is to inform rather than show off. Stuff like Digital Women and Cyber-sisters is linked as well. It's a good example of an intelligent and useful information site, definitely worth checking out. "http://www.cybergrrl.com/"

SAGE'S ADVICE

Enter Sage Lunsford's personal Web-enhanced world and revel among the original graphics (which you're invited to download). These pages are clearly a labor of love. There are collections of short stories, including the adventures of the author's eight cats; an online journal with a helpful summary of the cast of characters; and assorted other goodies. If Auntie Lois - "advice you did not ask for, from a woman you will not like" - leaves you cold, spend your time answering informative questions like "What was your favorite toy as a child?". If your home page's looking a tad stale, come here for inspiration. Be prepared to be awed/odd. "http://www.dfw.net/~soulmate/"

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK

Based on the perky good times of sing-along education blip-verted into ABC Saturday morning cartoons between 1973 and 1985, this page reminisces, has a few songs (I'm just a bill/Yeah, I'm only a bill/and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill"), and features an interview about the off-Broadway production based on the clips that's been running for a few years. Apparently, the show makes "audience members giggle with recognition and... sing along nostagically". Probably for die-hard fans, but not our parents, who were at the time too busy making breakfast for us little tykes. "http://hera.life.uiuc.edu/rock.html"

ELVIS LIVES ON THE WEB

Just when you were hoping Elvis had finally succumbed to the steak in his heart, along comes another Web site devoted to the King. This one has excellent original photos of Graceland, Elvis's internal combustion stable, and a jumpsuit-o-rama of Presleyan excess. The site also includes connections to other Elvis pages. Supposedly, one can see the King's image in the background of one of the pages, like that Jesus in the tortilla thing. We'll let you decide for yourself. Thank you, thank you very much. "http://www.neosoft.com/~kcderr/elvis/elvis.html"

S.P.Q.R.

A three-dimensional computer-generated simulation cum game of ancient Rome, S.P.Q.R. was originally designed to recreate the crumbling city for people who never got a chance to see the real thing. Cruising the site seems kinda scary at first, but the user-friendly format and graphics ease your way in. At the start, you wander the streets, searching for various characters. Most intriguing, and difficult to find, was Calamitus, the master spy of the Vandals. With over 150 computer-generated renderings hyperlinked to clues and mysteries in Chapter One (of 12) alone, this could be cool if you're into ShadowGate style adventure games or Roman history. "http://www.pathfinder.com/"@@d2e3v0DJ0QIAQC0v/twep/rome/

SEND A LETTER TO PRINCE CHARLES, OR STOP YOUR JUNK MAIL

Outpost is an impressive service whose time may have come. Choose a card or letter, type your message, and have it snail-mailed to just about anyone, anywhere in the world. The Outpost database is complete; you can send your thoughts to Colin Powell, Prince Charles, Dear Abby or pretty much anyone else you can think of. You can even have a love letter sent from a "secret admirer" in Seattle (like the movie - get it?). This is too great for words. The service can also help manage your non-virtual mailbox. Outpost can get you off mailing lists, catalogue lists, and telemarketing call lists, and can make sure you get the mail you want by sending change-of-address notices to all your regular magazine subscriptions, etc. This is really nifty. "http://www.outpost.net/"

MOVIE CLICHES

Sex, booze, guns, monsters, danger, prison, sex - this and much more awaits at the Movie Cliches List, a must-visit for aspiring screenwriters and a good read for anyone who's ever felt they've seen it all a thousand times on screen. "Bars/Drinking", for example, is right on the money: "Likelihood of fight increases if country music is playing in the background.... When men drink whiskey, it is always in a shot glass, and they always drink it in one gulp." That's the spirit! Hollywood bigshots could learn a lot here and have a good time doing it, too. You're invited to submit your own common logic flaws. Siskel and Ebert (who has a book of his own about this sort of thing) would love this. "http://www.well.com/user/vertigo/cliches.html"

JOE COOL

Isn't coolness something unofficial? Judge for yourself at "Who's Cool In America," an "official registry" of those whose coveted status is granted by the CoolBoard, a group of potentates who want to fund research to discover the coolness gene. You can submit your name to join more than 1,200 individuals from 35 countries who have registered for inclusion in a scrollable list of wannabes. Every month, a pair of sunglasses is awarded to a different winning registrant. Cynics may agree with one winner who remarks, "Cool? Been there, done that." Optimists may embrace another opinion: "My future is so bright, I'll need the free shades." Get yours and bask in a glow of hotlinked hyperbole. "http://www.getcool.com/~getcool/"

ISRAEL'S ATTACK ON THE USS LIBERTY - 28 YEARS LATER

During the Six Day War in 1967, Israeli air and sea forces attacked the USS Liberty, an American intelligence ship on a mission in the region, leaving 34 dead and 171 injured. While not a "grudge" page, this site, maintained by two crewmen who survived the attack, provides evidence to refute Israel's claim that the episode was an accident provoked by the Liberty's resemblance to an Egyptian vessel. In addition to a riveting chapter from the book "Assault on the Liberty", the site features personal testimonials, photos, and extracts from public discourses on Prodigy and Usenet. Curiously, while visually pleasing, the site is mostly one huge page, navigated by named links. "http://www.halcyon.com/jim/ussliberty/"

CNN INTERACTIVE

Like its cable inspiration, this site has the latest breaking news from around the world along with much more. In a well designed and easy-to-browse format, CNN also presents sports, technology, food and health, and other special articles. When we dropped in they had features, with photos, of pets dining with their owners at a restaurant in Japan and of a fashion show for dogs in New York. The photos and graphics are high quality and there are a liberal number of video clips, including a video vault of clips from showbiz, sports, and news. Great off-site topical pointers, too. "http://www.cnn.com/"

ONLINE TRAVEL

Click your mouse and see the world

STRIPLING'S GUIDE TO BEACH STRIPS WHERE YOU CAN SAFELY STRIP

Tired? Droopy? Overworked? Ready to let it all hang out, figuratively or literally? The Civilized Explorer Web page promotes vacation hotspots in the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, Martinique, etc.), with special attention to topless and clothing-optional beaches. The page's author, Phil Stripling (if that is his real name), provides an enthusiatic, helpful tour of the islands and beaches, even warning potential beach-goers of a band of net-wielding thieves which stalks the beach at Pointe Tarare, Guadeloupe. The site contains nudity - duh - so be forwarned, and links to other naturist sites. So there. "http://www.crl.com/~philip/ntrst.html"

BRANCHEZ-VOUS: L'HYPERGUIDE D'INTERNET

You want French language sites? Voulez-vous Z Mag et HotWired en francais? It's a global culture, and you'd have to be pretty philistine to ignore its non-English nooks and crannies, or crooks and nannies. Branchez-Vous is the place to start if you are interested in the French language corner of the Net. This brand new site is your one stop guide to French sites and French language resources on the Net. Customized software, news feeds in French, sites in Quebec and France - it's all here. Brush up your language skills and go surfing off the Cote D'Azur. Product of the Province (still) of Quebec. "http://www.branchez-vous.com/"

HOUSTON BY POSTCARD

In fewer than a hundred years, Houston grew from a cow outpost to become the fourth largest city in the US. Carl Seiler, a geography grad student who grew up in Houston, has cobbled together a unique tour of the city through time and space. The Houston Postcard Page displays Houston postcards dating from 1907. Carl's superb accompanying text lends to the feel of a coffee table book. The page is divided into "downtown" and "around town" pages, and offers a bibliography for the enraptured. It links to other Web postcard collecting sites, but like Carl says, "You don't have to be a seasoned deltiologist to enjoy these pages and links." "http://geog.tamu.edu/~lcseiler/houtoc.html"

MESSING ABOUT IN BOATS

What could possibly be more romantic and exhilarating than taking that special someone on a cruise through the canals of a picturesque city? According to George's Canal Boating in the UK and Europe Web page, not much. This site is intended as a means of introducing more people to the romance and relaxation of canal boating, with links to locations in Europe and North America that offer this time-honored means of locomotion. Canal-surfers will find tips on hiring boats, information on canal boating publications, as well as comprehensive listings of vacation spots where a canal cruise can be easily organized. "http://swan.automata.com/users//george/canals/"

FISHING IN FINLAND

The Korkeakoski Angling Center, in Finland, uses a Web site to inform interested salmon and trout anglers. The page describes the 200-yard-long pier built at the Center, only miles from the Baltic Sea, to facilitate summer and fall fishing, and contains info on fishing lures and commonly used equipment as well as photos of the area. The Fishing Log displays statistics on the largest recent catches of salmon, sea trout and whitefish, and indicates which lures were used to bring in the fish. What really blows us away is that someone would do this at all, or do it so well. Go figure. "http://www.kotka.fi/~huusko/index2.html"

FLOTSAM & JETSAM

Random acts of online reality

MORE BLOW-UP FUN

Tired of waiting for the coals in your barbecue to heat up? Try adding three pounds of liquid oxygen. A single briquette presoaked in the stuff resembles a stick of dynamite. Learn more in text and pics here. "http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/"

RUSH TO JUDGMENT

Rush Limbaugh isn't always right, and some of his truth-bending has been meticulously documented by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, a media watchdog group. If you listen to him, you must read this for yourself. "http://www.igc.apc.org/fair/limbaugh-debates-reality.html"

IF YOU WANT PETS, HAVE PETS, OR LIKE PETS

Dogs, horses, fish, gerbils, frogs, llamas, hedghogs, pigs, even sugar gliders. Chat room, bulletin board, classifieds, cool pet site of the day, even a search function. Wow. Acme Pets earns the Acme label. "http://www.acmepet.com/"

A BIT OF FRY

Stephen Fry, a name fans of British comedy should recognize, has a Web page that brings his own particular brand of wit to the Net. The site's currently a little threadbare, but he promises more in November. UK: "http://www.gbnet.net/~stephenf/" US: "http://www.phantom.com/~stephenf/"

SOFTWARE SPOT FOR NETSURFIN' TOTS

Tigger's Children's Shareware Page offers a great collection of freeware and shareware for Macs and PCs organized with an eye to your kid's age. You'll also find Sylvan's Kidspace, a safe jump-off for children who want to wander the Web. "http://remarque.berkeley.edu/~tigger/sw-kids.html"

NOT SO SPOOKY PEZ PAGE

Paul Telford's Pez page not only hosts a FAQ and two (!) mailing lists, but you'll also find info on three (!) annual conventions. "http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~telford/pez.html"

THIS CALLS FOR THE OL' BILLY BARULE

All the best sound snippets from Caddyshack, possibly the funniest movie ever about golf. Listen to Ted Knight, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase in their primes. "http://www.ee.duke.edu/~ceh/caddy/caddy.html"

NEWTON'S APPLE FOR THE TEACHER

"Newton's Apple", an educational science show, has aired on PBS for 12 seasons now. Its Web site includes activities for kids to try as they learn science hands-on, just the thing to show that science is about wonder and amazement. "http://ericir.syr.edu/Newton/welcome.html"

ONLINE SERVICES

What's new with the commercial services

Prodigy says it's sorry, and Stratton Oakmont Inc. has dropped its lawsuit. Prodigy faced a $200 million libel charge brought by Stratton which held that because Prodigy screened messages posted on the service, it was liable as a publisher for any message content, including texts posted October 1994 that Stratton claimed were defamatory. We reported in May that judge Stuart Ain had ruled Prodigy should be considered a publisher instead of a mere distributor of messages because it screens posts. As yet, there is no indication whether Ain's ruling will stand or not, despite the plaintiff's decision, with serious consequences for future cases of this sort.

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CREDITS

Publisher

Arthur Bebak

Editor

Lawrence Nyveen

Production Manager

Bill Woodcock

Writers and Netsurfers

Peter Barnes
Kirsty Brooks
Lisa Hamilton
Caroll Houser
Jay Mills
Kenneth Schulze
Richard Wagner
James Weissman

Netsurfer Communications, Inc.

President: Arthur Bebak
Vice President: S. M. Lieu

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