Web Tips #1



*1.   20 RMS RVR VW--$3MIL+            
            
April 12th, 1999            
            
Want to see how the other half house-hunts? Check out 

http://www.corcoran.com 

the official Web site of Barbara Corcoran's Manhattan real estate
brokerage. Corcoran's detailed information and online floor plans
would be more than enough to impress the likes of you and us. But
to catch the attention of the well-to-do, Corcoran offers 
panoramic online tours of several of their more expensive 
properties (from $399,000 to over $3 million) using something 
called the IPIX ActiveX plug-in, which you can download in a few
minutes. Which means you can check out some of Manhattan's most 
exclusive residences, without tipping the doorman or wiping 
your feet.


*2.   GUARANTEED TO SAVE ONE MILLION REPEATED KEYSTROKES            
            
April 13th, 1999            
            
Tired of typing in the same information in one Web registration
form after another? Register with eCode, at 

http://www.ecode.com 

and you may only have to type that info ONE MORE TIME. With eCode,
you create a "universal Internet ID" that lets you fill in entire
registration forms just by typing a username into any 
eCode-enabled Web site. Though you won't find a lot of these 
sites now, the mere chance that there might be is reason enough 
to support the venture. (The site also lets you create your own 
graphical Web business card that you can include in your e-mails 
and Web pages, but this feature seems to be more sizzle 
than steak.)


*3. BEFORE YOU GET ANOTHER CAT OR DOG . . .            
            
April 14th, 1999            
            
"In the past several years, due to its relative intelligence, 
strong human bonding characteristics, and trainability, the 
potbellied pig has become an increasingly popular companion 
animal. This surge in ownership has led to many problems, 
including legal battles, human-pig conflicts, and the general 
lack of healthcare knowledge among owners and 
veterinarians alike." 

The kind people at 

http://www.potbelliedpig.com 

want to prevent these problems through education, which this 
site offers in cyberreams. Unfortunately, the site offers no 
footage of the aforementioned "human-pig conflicts," but it does 
feature a page entitled "Who is more annoying--Jim Carrey or 
Remington the potbellied pig?" Potential owners should take this 
test, because it's NOT an easy call.


*4. WHAT PEOPLE WON'T DO FOR A STATUS SYMBOL            
            
April 15th, 1999            
            
You want a Rolex watch, but you don't want to pay Rolex's price.
And above all, you don't want to conduct business on a New York 
City sidewalk with a man wearing an especially large parka. What 
to do? Have your cybercake and eat it, too, at European Replicas: 

http://www.topreplicas.com 

Everything here looks nice enough, and the prices, while higher
than "street," are significantly lower than those charged for the
genuine articles. Still, we didn't test the site ourselves and 
must admit that to do so would involve a leap of faith: There's 
no way to tell if the items pictured are the real things or the 
replicas, and there's no way to know what kind of quality you're 
getting. Those, after all, are the comforts you get for paying 
full price for the real thing.


*5. DOES ANYBODY REALLY KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS--IN GREENWICH?            
            
April 16th, 1999            
            
You can find out, if you have access to Time Zone Converter at 

http://www.timezoneconverter.com 

Just choose a location from the scores listed, and you get the 
current time there, plus the current Greenwich Meridian Time 
(GMT). You can also use the site to answer questions like "If 
it's noon in Boise, what time is it in Morocco?" If they could 
only find a way to put this kind of technology on your wrist, it 
would make you a real hit at parties.


*6. GOT AN HOUR TO KILL?            
            
April 27th, 1999            
            
You STILL may not have enough time to solve the 3D Maze at 

http://www.facemaking.com/3dmaze/ 

All you have to do is click your way left and right through a 
snow maze--as if you were actually trapped inside it. It was 
impossible for us to solve it (even with occasional reference 
to the overhead "cheat" view), but the "game people" among you 
might have better luck. The only price for playing is that the 
game's creator asks you to forward the URL to two friends; we 
heartily recommend forwarding to two enemies instead.


*7. NO HIDDEN AGENDAS HERE            
            
April 19th, 1999            
            
Ever get the idea that politicians, and even news reporters, cite
only the polls that support their point? Public Agenda, at 

http://www.publicagenda.org 

is one place to go to get the results of many, if not all, of the
polls taken on issues running the alphabetical gamut from 
abortion to welfare. Though we were surprised not to see any 
polling about the recent presidential crisis in particular and 
politicians' behavior in general (about which so many polls have 
been cited in the past two years), we found the information here 
enlightening and sometimes even surprising. Don't miss the "A 
Nation Divided?" sections for each topic, which tell you 
something (not necessarily encouraging) about both the way 
polling questions are framed and the skill with which Americans 
answer them.


*8. A SECRET IDENTITY YOU DON'T WANT            
            
April 20th, 1999            
            
Yes, the Web is a great way to heighten your company's 
visibility. Unfortunately, there are folks out there who might 
try to heighten it in ways that may be detrimental to your 
business--like having searches for your company turn up other 
less savory sites as well. Find out what we're talking 
about--and what you can do to prevent it--at CyVeillance: 

http://www.cyveillance.com 

Yes, the site may scare you, and yes, CyVeillance has something
to gain by scaring you; but the fact is, your company, 
especially if it's big and well known, may have something to 
be scared about.


*9. BECAUSE THE ONLY LINK THAT MATTERS IS THE ONE TO *YOUR* SITE            
            
April 21st, 1999            
            
Having trouble getting the search engines to notice you? All I 
Know About Specific Search Engines, at 

http://www.geocities.com/~laisha/ 

is one Web designer's volumes of experience on how to get your 
site "ranked" on the big-name portals. By all means, read the 
detailed instructions, but we also encourage you to heed the 
Webmaster's plea for rationality: "While it is important to be 
listed, it is equally important not to mislead. Keep in mind that
searches are actually more for searchers than submitters, and if 
you misrepresent your pages in order to rank high, you ultimately
degrade a large part of the Internet." We couldn't agree more.


*10. MAYBE YOU'D READ THE PAPER MORE IF YOU KNEW *WHEN* TO READ IT            
            
April 22nd, 1999            
            
Let's face it: Spending a half-hour with the morning paper, once
considered a daily necessity, is now a rare luxury. Fortunately, 
NewsAhead, at 

http://www.newsahead.com 

lets you pick your spots by telling you which news stories are 
coming up in the next month. Naturally, the service can only warn
you about "scheduled news," such as rocket launches, upcoming 
elections, festivals and parades, and so on. But if you make a 
note to read about these items, who knows what "actual news" 
you'll run across? We liked the idea.
