Web Tips #2



*1. SEEM LIKE YOU'RE WITTY            
            
April 23rd, 1999            
            
Ever wonder how your friends come up with those little facts and
witticisms they include in their e-mail signatures? Perhaps they
subscribe to Coolsig, home to--when last we checked--some 2,439
signature files: 

http://www.coolsig.com 

Sign up, and every Wednesday you'll receive a list of
ready-to-use signatures, culled from the thousands submitted 
weekly to the site. If you have a Web site, you can also 
download something called the Coolsig Randomizer--which, if 
you're not afraid to cut and paste a little HTML code, will 
display a different signature on your home page every time 
someone "hits" it. Even if you couldn't care less about 
signatures, you can have some fun just reading through 
this site.


*2. IT'S ABOUT TIME            
            
April 26th, 1999            
            
What, no Web site? We don't blame you. Building one can be a real
pain in the nether cheeks. But Verio's One Hour Website, at 

http://www.onehourwebsite.com 

may be just what you need to get over the hurdle. Just by 
pointing and clicking, you can build a pretty sharp Web site, 
complete with slick graphics, in much less than an hour. There's 
one catch, though: You have to host that Web site at TABNet, 
Verio's ISP partner, whose $49-per-month price is competitive but
certainly not the best you can find. On the other hand, if you're
not on the Web yet, this site's handholding approach could be 
worth almost any price.


*3. LEGGO MY JANDEE'S            
            
April 28th, 1999            
            
Portland baker Jandee's began selling waffles from street carts 
in 1995. "For the first time, Portlanders could nibble on a 
delicious hot waffle as they strolled the streets without the 
mess of syrups or butter." (Ending decades of frustration, no 
doubt.) Anyway, now you can enjoy Jandee's famous 
waffles--without walking the rain-butter-syrup-soaked streets of
Portland--by mail-ordering them direct from 

http://www.jandees.com 

True, the order form is much more complex-looking than it needs 
to be, but the waffles sure look good. (If anyone out there does 
order some, please let us know how they survive the trip.)


*4. GOOD DOG            
            
April 29th, 1999            
            
If you've used a laptop, you know its chief drawback: It takes up
your hole dang lap, leaving no room for papers, pens, books, or 
anything else you might need to use while working. The Lapdog, 
available at Shaun Jackson Design, at 

http://www.sjdesign.com 

solves this problem. A stylish carrying bag for your laptop, it
unfolds on your lap to reveal side pockets that hold all your 
stuff while you work. If you can't afford to increase the size of
your lap with a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet, the Lapdog is 
definitely the next best thing. Jackson has other products in 
development, each of which leads one to believe that he's spent 
countless hours in planes, trains, and automobiles, wrestling 
with portable computing devices.


*5. EVERY STATE BUT CONFUSION            
            
April 30th, 1999            
            
Who's the governor of Kentucky? What bills are pending in the 
Rhode Island State Legislature? Will Arkansas be ready for Y2K? 
What are the most recent winning numbers in the New Hampshire 
State Lottery? The answers to these and other questions 
await you at 

http://www.unitedstates.com 

the only Web site we've found so far with direct links to every 
official state Web site (and to sites for Canadian provinces, 
Puerto Rico, and other places, too). Just click the state of your
choice, then click the state's flag, and presto--there you are. 
Actually, "presto" is not always appropriate: Some of these sites
are actually slower than the governments they represent.


*6. WOE UNTO THOSE WHO FAIL TO HEED THE TAX PROPHET            
            
May 3rd, 1999            
            
The Tax Prophet is the Web home of Robert L. Summers, who calls
himself by this name in his biweekly San Francisco Examiner 
column. While we didn't find any prophecy here, we did find all
sorts of preparation checklists, Q&As, and even business 
expertise (such as how to grow your company through 
acquisitions). Sure, the latest tax season is past us, but it's
never too early to prepare for the next. That's a hint. 

http://www.taxprophet.com


*7. HANG IT UP            
            
May 4th, 1999            
            
If you employ people, we strongly recommend a visit to the 
Department of Labor Poster Page, at 

http://www.dol.gov/dol/osbp/public/sbrefa/poster/main.htm 

Here you can download Adobe Acrobat versions of the mandatory 
notices that the DOL requires you to post in your workplace. 
And if you're employed by someone who needs to post these 
notices and DOESN'T, well, here's your way to take action. This 
site is one of the growing number of examples of the government 
using the Web to give you access to paperwork you might otherwise
wait months to receive. We applaud.


*8. GET FOUND            
            
May 5th, 1999            
            
Many Web services offer to register your site with as many as 
100 search engines; heck, we've even referred you to a few such
services. Did-it.com has a different approach: Instead of 
listing you with 100 search engines, it makes absolutely sure 
you get listed with the top 10. The site also lets you know 
how your site ranks in searches based on certain keywords and 
provides tips for improving that ranking. Try out the site and 
let us know if it helps. 

http://www.did-it.com


*9. And now for today's tip...          
          
COOKIE RECIPIES            
        
If you want to know more about cookies than you ever thought 
you'd need to, check out the cookie reference page. You can 
find it at the Netscape home page: 

http://www.home.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html


*10. MAKING OF THE GREEN            
            
May 6th, 1999            
            
Want to sell--or sell more--to customers on the Emerald Isle? A 
site run by Bates Ireland Advertising, called "The U.K., the 
U.S., and US," describes and quantifies Irish attitudes toward 
marriage, self-image, materialism, and other emotional hot 
buttons that advertisers and arketing weenies want to press. 
It's interesting and often surprising reading--and perhaps a 
useful tool for expanding your market overseas. 

http://www.iol.ie/resource/bates/index
