Web Tips #4



*1. ALLONS ENFANTS DE LA PATRIE--LET'S SHOP!            
            
May 28th, 1999            
            
C'mon now: You DON'T want to travel all the way to the Champs 
Elysees and then not know your way around well enough to buy a 
loaf of bread! Before you make the trek to the world's most 
beautiful avenue, prepare--with a visit to 

http://www.champselysees.org 

Here you can find the address of anything on this storied street,
from automobile dealers (where you can test-drive a lovely 
Citroen) to libraries to drugstores to even something so plebian 
as a restaurant. Looks like a fine travel guide to us. The site 
is operated by Le Comite Des Champs Elysees.


*2. A ROSE BY A MUCH CATCHIER NAME            
            
June 1st, 1999            
            
Once upon a time (not that long ago, in fact), 
computer-programmer types turned to a place called 
www.computerliteracy.com to buy books with titles like 
"Professional Active Server Pages 2.0" and "Beginning Visual 
C++ 6.0." Well, the book titles are still the same, but the URL 
is now the ever-so-much-more memorable 

http://www.fatbrain.com 

The discounts look good (we saw them as high as 20 percent), and
the reviews are objective, but the biggest benefit here is 
specialization. If you're looking for a book on DHTML, you don't
need to rummage through novels to find it.


*3. YOUR WEB SITE, IN SYNDICATION            
            
June 2nd, 1999            
            
When a television station wants to fill holes in its programming
schedule, it plays programs in syndication because it knows 
people can't get enough of their favorite episodes of "The Odd 
Couple," "Newhart," and "Mad About You." But where, pray tell, 
can a Webmaster go to fill holes in his or her site's content? 
To iSyndicate, the company whose modest goal is to "syndicate 
the Internet": 

http://www.isyndicate.com 

Thanks to iSyndicate, you can perk up your site with news, 
weather, sports, stock quotes, horoscopes, entertainment, and 
other stuff from a stable of established Web sites. We predict 
it won't be long before you see an entire site made up of 
syndicated content--just like some of your favorite 
television channels.


*4. MARTY'S A STAND-UP GUY            
            
June 7th, 1999            
            
In 1983, Marty Burns' back was killing him; he blamed it on 
sitting for too long at his desk. So he built a stand-up desk 
for himself and was so happy with the results that he started 
building them for others. You can visit Marty's Stand-Up Desk 
Company to learn a little history of the stand-up desk (it was 
in use long before Marty built his). You can also see the 
various models (including a stand-up computer desk, perhaps 
just the thing if your late-night surfing is taking a toll on 
your sacroiliac) and order a brochure. 

http://www.erols.com/standup


*5. WHO SAYS JAVA ISN'T GOOD FOR KIDS?            
            
June 3rd, 1999            
            
Zeeks bills itself as a safe, free Internet site for kids. Here 
kids get free e-mail, chatrooms monitored for behavior, and 
Internet access that blocks out thousands of inappropriate 
sites. And if you're willing to pay a subscription fee, you can 
even have the advertising removed. Zeeks also offers a passel 
of games--available, it seems, to members and nonmembers alike. 
You need a Java-enabled browser to play these games and a 
pretty fast Internet connection to enjoy them. 

http://www.zeeks.com


*6. HUSBANDS: YOUR PASS OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE            
            
June 4th, 1999            
            
While practicing your golf swing, Johnny Carson style, you send 
a coffee creamer--part of your wedding china pattern--flying 
across the dining room and against a wall, where it shatters 
into a million pieces. What stands between you and a month 
on the couch? 
Replacements, at 

http://www.replacements.com 

Replacements carries pieces from more than 100,000 china patterns
PLUS scads of other collectibles you might someday break, such as
Hummel figurines and Franklin Mint plates. About the only 
drawback here is that you have to register your pattern with 
Replacements BEFORE you can receive a list of the pieces the site
has available. Given all the statements that the site makes about
respecting your privacy, you'd expect them to let you search for 
your piece first and register only if you decide to buy.


*7. IT'S A TOUGH JOB--HERE'S HOW TO DO IT            
            
June 8th, 1999            
            
Reading about drywall may be about as interesting as watching 
Spackle dry, but installing it is definitely harder. Which may 
be why the folks at USG--"the world's largest manufacturer of 
gypsum panels"--chose to fortify their site with a primer on 
installing, finishing, and repairing drywall, at 

http://www.usg.com/diydry/drywal01.htm 

If you can work your way past the advertorial (which lists just 
about every USG drywall product available), you can find just 
about all the illustrated instruction you need. 

This information is part of a larger do-it-yourself section 
covering uses of all USG products.


*8. CHOOSE LOOKS OVER PERFORMANCE            
            
June 9th, 1999            
            
Sure, it runs on an outdated processor. Sure, it has only a 
10.4-inch screen. And sure, it doesn't come with built-in 
CD-ROM. So what? It--the Sony VAIO 505, that is--is still 
hands-down the best-looking notebook computer you can buy. Not 
even an inch thick when closed, the notebook looks as though it 
were designed by the same folks who make compact cosmetic cases.
If your chief goal in owning a notebook is to have associates 
and clients say "ooooh" whenever you open it, then this is the 
notebook for you. See the Sony VAIO 505 and Sony's other 
style-over-substance computers, at 

http://www.sony.com/3times


*9. SKIP THE BOOK, SURF THE SITE            
            
June 10th, 1999            
            
Which little bird was it, do you think, that told each of the 
major network news anchors to write a book about the 
just-about-to-end century? And is that bird protected by 
hunting regulations? Our advice is to stop agonizing over which
book you'll choose to read and instead surf to the companion 
site of Peter Jennings' book, at 

http://www.thecentury.com 

By looking over a handful of video clips and point-and-click 
slide shows, you can brush up on highlights (actually, there are
more lowlights) such as World Wars I and II, the Lindbergh 
kidnapping, Huey Long's histrionics, Pan Am flight 103, and more.
Plus, you can read other people's memories (not always edifying, 
we must warn you) or post your own.


*10. LET THE INTERNET KEEP YOUR SCHEDULE            
            
June 11th, 1999            
            
You may have many reasons to consider using Jump as your personal
information manager (PIM). For example, maybe you're sick of 
Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Organizer--one of which most likely 
came installed on your computer. Or you may be looking for a way 
to SHARE your schedule with the other folks working in your small
office without setting up some sort of network to do it. 

Jump fits either bill and many others: It's a Web-based PIM that 
lets you share and or manage your appointment book, contacts, 
to-do lists, e-mail, and more with anyone (anyone you authorize, 
that is) who has an Internet connection. Plus, Jump is free--if 
you don't consider the timely ads that "pop up" in your schedule 
to be a price to pay. 

http://www.jump.com
