- Lyndon Cerejo.

Site of the week : A unique 2torial - Learn2.com
Suggested login : Using a TCP/IP would make more sense
Download times : Average ...
Claim to fame : Teaches you the essentials of everyday life
What's new ? : The Troubleshooting section at the end of the column

Are you one of those who has to suffer the affliction of having your lady love put her arms around you each morning, helping you tie your tie ? Well, if you've got an Internet connection, you've just run out of excuses - hard luck buddy ! But then every good thing has its disadvantages and drawbacks, so grin and bear it.

Learn2.com is "the ability utility." - a unique information site available free of charge to anyone with access to the World Wide Web. The site provides step-by-step instructions -known as "2torials" -on a wide spectrum of skills, activities and tasks. The site uses friendly, simple language and graphics, for everyday use by just about everyone who needs to do something, and needs to learn how to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Learn2.com - the ability utility - has over 80 2torials as of now, the number increasing by the week. These 2torials can be viewed alphabetically, by topic, or by number ( which for some weird reason start from #0429). They also have a search engine available to facilitate quick searches for a particular concept or idea. Their site has the 2torials grouped by loosely defined topics, but I'd rather review the sites under different headings as follows :

The Dangerous 2torials

These would be the 2utorials that have titles like Defrost a Freezer, Sew a Button, Iron a Shirt, & Make a Bed. Once your mum realises you have the know how at your fingertips, you can no longer evade housework with the standard excuse of "I dunno how …"

There are also tutorials that jeopardise your future life : Burp a Baby, Clean Fish, Change a Diaper & Tie a Necktie/Bow tie. You'll get away lightly during your courtship days, but once the marriage scene befalls you, my sympathies lie with you. No prizes for guessing who's gonna be unanimously elected to moonlight as the baby - sitter.

The Fun 2torials

Apply Eyeliner, Shave (her) Legs, Capture a Mouse, Fix a Zipper (depending who's) - imagine how much fun you'd have implementing them !

The Sports 2torials

How to Play Chess/Poker/Checkers, Understand Football, Spin a Basketball, Throw a Flying Disk.

The Useful 2torials

Help a Hangover, Cope with a Crying Child, Make Potpourri, Parallel Park Your Car, Remove a Stain, Change a Flat Tire, and Fix a Leaky Faucet.

The Missing 2torials

Heal a Broken Heart, Connect to VSNL in One Try, Surf Without Getting a NO CARRIER.

Incidentally, the guys behind the site are looking for help for a 2torial that will take care of a problem sent in by a V Ramamrutham, an Indian - that of aluminium cooking vessels getting black stains. So if you can help go to the site and contribute your two paise worth !

Learn2.com is a production of Panmedia, a four-year-old multimedia studio based in California, and has been on the Net for hardly 10 months now. This baby was born when Jason Roberts, director of Panmedia, was varnishing his floor, and came across an ambiguous - 'finish with brush tipping'. Being too late to visit a library or bookstore, he fired up his modem and searched the World Wide Web for relevant information. He didn't find any.

What makes Learn2.com outstanding is that it is easy to use & useful, offering substantial content while keeping the site simple.

Check it out - I'm sure you'll bookmark the page once you visit it.

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Dr. Ph.D.-On-the-Net, when I log onto the Internet, I keep getting this "NO CARRIER" every few minutes. Why does this keep happening ?

A NO CARRIER, indicates that your phone line is set free to receive calls from other humans. This is all part of a top - secret plan to ensure that we Indians do not become Net addicts and spend hours online, losing out on human company, resulting in the gradual weakening of our rich culture and heritage. So even if you end up paying huge phone bills, re-dialing VSNL time and again, remember that it's for the good of our country !

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Send in your suggestions, feedback, and favourite sites to Lyndon at :
E-mail : [email protected]
WWW: http://lycerejo.home.ml.org