Online services have one thing in common with newspapers, magazines and
books. Their offerings vary from provider to provider. The next chapters
will focus on the contents of the offerings. Appendix 1
has details about how to access the major service providers.
 Often, small online services
have interesting offerings in specialized areas, and especially when they
are based on local phenomena or events. These services tend to be more personal.
They often present their 'wares' in a local language, and offer large collections
of free software.
The larger online services
have hundreds of thousands of users. Activity is often high. They usually
attract interesting (and competent) participants to their conferences and
forums, have more free software for download and more news sources and databases
to search. In short, they generally give you a wider choice.
In this handbook, we focus
on the larger international services, and the Internet in particular. These
services are generally available from anywhere without too much effort, and
using them comes surprisingly cheap. Therefore, please remember that this
book just covers the top of the iceberg. Cheaper services may be found elsewhere,
and they may even be better tuned to your particular areas of interest.
Locating game software
There's an overwhelming number of game programs for all types of microcomputers
on BBSes, commercial online services, and in Internet archives.
Many games are free. We call
them "Public Domain" or "Freeware" programs. Others are distributed free.
You do not have to pay to get and try them out. If you want to use them,
however, the copyright owner expects you to pay a fee. We call them "shareware"
or "user supported" programs.
When the game program has
been transferred to your personal computer, you can play without worries
about communications costs, or the busy signal on your phone line.
My favorite game is a shareware
MS Windows solitaire game (patience) called Arachnid created by SP
Services, P.O. Box 456, Southampton, SO9 7XG, England. The desired registration
fee is UKP 15.00 (English pounds). You can download it from
http://home.eunet.no/~presno/bok/wincard.exe.
The distribution file is 106 kilobytes large.
WINCARD.EXE is a special
distribution file, which contains three games and all supporting files. The
EXE extension may fool you into thinking that it is a program, and in a way
it is. The file is a self-extract file, meaning that you just enter "WINCARD"
on an MS-DOS computer to extract the game files from the "package."
Games are usually distributed
in special distribution files. All files used by a game (or several games)
are put into one file by special software, and compressed in size. This makes
retrieval of programs easier and cheaper. You do not have to download many
related files individually. The transfer takes less time. (Read in
appendix 3 about how to extract programs from distribution
files.)
You may want to search the
archives of the
comp.archives.msdos.announce
newsgroup using Deja.com' Power Search feature.
GamesDomain is a central
reference point for all things "games-related" on the Internet. It also points
to information about PBMs, MUDs, MUSHes, Interactive games, and similar
offerings.
GameWeb offers a comprehensive gaming
search engine in addition to a cheats database, reviews, demos, patches,
game software, tournaments, and links to ranked gaming sites on the Internet.
If you just have email access
to the Internet, read this:
Try Archie, a distributed index to all the files available by
anonymous ftp on the Internet. The Archie database maintains a list of millions
of million files containing over 100 Gigabytes from hundreds of anonymous
FTP archive sites. You can search the database by email to find where files
are located. Some Archie systems maintain a list of libraries all over the
world, while others concentrate on a more limited geographical area. Once
Archie has told you where desired programs and files are located, you can
retrieve them by telnet, anonymous FTP, FTPmail, and WWW. Read "File transfers
through the Internet" in chapter 12 for details, and
Appendix 6 about how to use Archie.
Getting programs by email is a three-step process:
-
Use Archie to find file names and where they are stored,
-
Send a message to an FTPmail server to have them retrieved and forwarded
to you by email, and
-
Use a utility program to convert the file to a useful format. (See "Binary
files transferred as text codes" in Chapter 12.)
Chances are that online services in your area also have many programs to
offer. Most free bulletin boards have more software than you'll ever get
around to try.
Usually, there is a natural
specialization between boards. Those using the Unix operating system, have
the largest number of programs for such machines. Those running on MS-DOS
computers, have more programs for such computers.
Some games are trite and bad.
Others are brilliant. There are ladder games, racer car driving, flight control,
war, subsea games, electronic versions of traditional games like BackGammon,
Yatzy, chess and bridge, educational games for geography, mathematics and
history, puzzles, fractal programs that draw beautiful pictures on your screen,
psychological tests, text- based adventure games, and more. There is something
for everybody.
If you want to get rich in
a hurry, go for programs that increase your chances of winning horse race
bets, or other "real world" money winning games.
If you are into beautiful
girls, fill your hard disk with picture files in GIF, PCX or other graphics
formats. (Sorry ladies, there are not many pictures of naked boys around.)
There is an abundance of shareware programs that will display the pictures
on your computer screen.
Keen users of the more popular
games often want to swap tricks and discuss experiences: Players of SNES,
Nintendo, Gameboy, Nintendo 64, and the Virtual Boy regularly meet on
the N-Games mailing
list. Also, make a note about
GAMES-L -
the Computer Games list.
The ancient Chinese
I-Ching can hardly be called a game. People use it to tell their fortunes.
Explore the power of prophecy and how it can affect you. Concentrate on a
problem or question facing you now. When you have it well visualized, select
http://www.facade.com/Occult/iching/
to get your reading.
Usenet excels when it comes to games. Here are some newsgroups:
With so much going on, it is difficult to stay current on new programs and
new versions of old ones. For announcements, check out the Usenet newsgroup
called
comp.archives.msdos.announce.
It is probably easier to relate to references like "rec.games.video on
Usenet," than to TOW@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU. References to mailing lists are
made in various ways throughout the book, as is the case online. This is
the basic rule:
On the Internet, mailing
lists are 'managed' by programs called LISTSERV, Majordomo, Listproc, etc.
These programs handle subscription requests, requests for files, and more.
When you see a reference like TOW@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU, then this means that
you MUST send your subscription request to one such program at the
LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU site. Mail to the TOW forum, however, must be sent to
the address TOW@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU to be forwarded to the other members.
(TOW is this handbook's support forum.)
In this book, we typically
provide references to these forums in the following way:
The TOW mailing list (on listserv@listserv.nodak.edu). The SWONDER mailing
list (on majordomo@darkwing.uoregon.edu).
The subscription/signoff addresses are given in parenthesis, and the forum's
name is typically given as upper case text.
You may also find it useful
to read about email addresses in Chapter 7, and about
LISTSERV in appendix 6.
Computer viruses
Few online users ever live to see or experience a computer virus, but they
do exist. So, read this:
A virus is a small, hidden
computer program that can cause the loss or alteration of programs or data,
and can compromise their confidentiality. It can spread from program to program,
and from system to system, without direct human intervention.
The chance of your computer
being infected is small, but you are never safe. Therefore, download a program
for virus detection and identification, like VirusScan from
McAfee Associates. They also have
virus disinfection programs.
For background on viruses,
start by checking The AntiViral Toolkit
Pro Virus Encyclopedia (AVPVE). Consider joining
the VIRUS-L mailing
list. Usenet has comp.virus,
alt.comp.virus, and more.
The good news is that most
large providers of computer programs now have sophisticated virus scanning
programs integrated into their services.
Chess
First, familiarize yourself with the
Chess
Frequently Asked Questions files, and
Chessfaq.
The Chess
Archives include a Beginner's Page, an Opening Library, Logical Chess:
Move by Move, and much more.
To play or watch real-time
chess with human opponents, try the
Internet Chess Club. Here, you can play 24 hours a day with people
from all over the world. Blitz chess and slow chess. Get ratings, watch games,
make friends, play in tournaments, study games with people, search their
database of Grandmaster games. Scheduled visits from internationally famous
Grandmasters. Guest visitors can play unrated games, or watch others play,
for free.
Check
http://www.brokersys.com/~kcyong/
for links to Xiangqi, Weiqi (GO), and Taijiquan.
Bridge
The game of bridge is one of the world's most fascinating card games, with
the same rules all over the world. For good starting points, link to
http://www.okbridge.com. If you don't
mind paying a membership fee, check out
BPlive. Usenet has the
rec.games.bridge newsgroup.
Agreeing on a time for your meeting
Interactive games, like bridge and chess, chat, and use of Internet phone
technology, often lead to the inevitable question: "When should we meet?"
If your partners live in your
country, a quick "Let's meet at 20:00!" may be enough. It may not be that
easy if they live elsewhere. Terms like "My time" or "Your time" are often
misinterpreted because of differences in local daylight savings times (also
called "summer time").
Local daylight savings times?
The Worldwide
daylight saving page may provide an answer.
The solution is to use a time
that does not change by season and location. Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT) is one such number. It has long been used as a basis for standard
time around the world, and is also called Universal Time Coordinated
(UTC), Zulu time and World Time. Normally expressed in 24-hour
time.
Many services provide the
time right now expressed in GMT. My favorite is at:
http://www.kidlink.org/cgi-bin/gmt.
The real thing is at
http://www.greenwich2000.com/time.htm.
You may also find
The World
Clock Meeting Planner and
World Time Server useful.
Now, just say: "Let's meet
at 20:00 GMT." Connect to the Web address above to find out what this
means. If your local time right now is 14:00, and GMT is 13:00, then you
have a meeting set for 21:00 your time.
Other online games
Why not investigate online adventure games? There are many alternatives.
On the World Wide Web, Nintendo is at
http://www.nintendo.com . Among the
offerings is a "chat room." Here, online gamers can talk with other gamers,
Nintendo's Game Play Counselors, invited guest speakers, and video game
celebrities. You'll find BackGammon at
http://www.bkgm.com/.
On
Exec-PC, play Startrek. Select an identity and
"play it out" according to its character. If a real aficionado, check out
rec.arts.startrek.info on Usenet.
MUD is also a popular game.
Multi-User Dungeons (MUD) is a structured and user-modifiable online
environment. It allows users not only to interact with each other, but to
do role-playing, build and furnish living areas and interaction areas, extend
and create the interactive "space," and make rules for using that space.
As programmers create
new types of MUDs, new names appear. These include TinyMud, DUM, MOO, MUCK,
MUG, and many others.
For information, including
addresses to places where you can try them out, consult
the Frequently Asked
Questions files. Perform a keyword search for "mud."
Then, check
http://www.godlike.com/muds/
Chat
Chat, or "keyboard talking," is a popular attraction, and in particular on
the large online services.
Your first attempt will probably
be a strange experience. Your monitor will look like an unfolding screenplay,
with you speaking one of the several parts.
When many people talk
simultaneously in chat, incoherent sentences seem to fly over your computer
screen. It takes some training to be able to read what each of them is saying.
Some users are serious about
chatting. Several large companies are heavy users, and it also has educational
applications. Although this kind of talking is a slow process, it has advantages.
It is easy to document the discussion. People from places geographically
far apart can meet and talk at a low cost.
Jokes
The India Humor, Jokes & Fun
Site is filled with jokes, cartoons, funny facts. For South African
humour, jokes and fun, visit the za.humour
newsgroup. For the occasional joke, visit
The Barking Spider.
My hobby
There are online forums for most hobbies: collection of stamps and coins,
genealogy, music, holiday travels, skiing, purchase of consumer electronics,
video, filming, and more.
The people you meet in these
"clubs" share your interests. They come there to exchange information and
experiences, to listen, swap stamps or coins, participate in club auctions,
and exploit favorable group discounts when buying things for their hobby.
The main attraction is the
open messages that people write to each other. Many clubs also have libraries
filled with special software, like database programs for collectors, and
information files.
You'll find links to stamp
collectors organizations world-wide at
http://www.stampshows.com/clubs.html.
Also, check out the alt.stamps,
rec.collecting.stamps and
rec.collecting.postal-history
newsgroups.
The GoSKI Network World Resort
Database lists over 1,500 mountain resorts, with skier and snowboarder
reviews, facts, contact information, and snow conditions. It said this about
Hemsedal in Norway (1996):
Hemsedal, Norway [IMAGE]
240 km northwest of Oslo
(about 4 hours by train/bus).
Vertical Drop: 800m/2,624'
Lifts: 15 (5 chairs, 10 surface)
Trails: 30
Marked Runs: 40 km
Cross Country: 90 km groomed
Snow Conditions: 32 06 22 55
Tourist Office: 32 06 01 56
Looking for something special for your kid? What about the
Beginner's
Guide to Shortwave Radio?
Music
Sony Online has an Internet-based
service providing data from its music, movie and electronic publishing companies.
Here, users can retrieve or watch music video clips, and hear brief sound
samples from current and upcoming projects.
The Musical
Instrument Encyclopedia lets you experience a sampling of instruments,
complete with images and music samples.
If you prefer classical music,
and have a sound card in your computer, point your Internet browser at
The WebMuseum
Auditorium. Offerings include Johan Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and
Fugue in d Minor," Johann Strauss's "Le beau Danube bleu," and Beethoven's
"Hymne a la joie." Visit
The Classical Music
Pages for background information.
Operabase hosts a database of
500 opera houses and festivals, searchable by keyword or browseable
alphabetically or via clickable maps. Database entries feature full details
on each house, including contact and booking information, accessibility,
neighboring venues, a link to the house's Website, and details on current,
past, and future seasons. Travelling opera fans can click on a calendar icon
and receive details of other performances within seven days and 125 km. Strong
on North America and Europe.
Then, there's
Ludwig van Beethoven's
"home page", The Asian
Classical Music MP3 Home Page, and
the Classical Music
Navigator.
The Classical MIDI Archive
offered Classical Music files in MIDI Format from Composers (January 2000).
Let it be said: J.S.Bach; Beethoven; Brahms; Byrd; Chopin; Debussy; Handel;
Haydn; Liszt; Mendelssohn; Mozart; Scarlatti; Schubert; Schumann; Tchaikovsky;
[Others > 16th C.]; [Early Music]; [Inspirations and Aspirations];
[Encores...], and more.
Frank Sinatra is at
http://www.sinatraclub.com.,The
Michael Jackson Internet Fan Club is at
http://fred.net/mjj/.
The Official David Bowie Site
is a "shocked" homebase of the versatile musician/actor. If Bruce
Springsteen is your choice, check
http://www.mcs.net/~kvk/luckytown.html.
There is a comprehensive Beatles page is at
http://www.sonic.net/~custom/beat.html.
The Internet
Bandsman's EVERYTHING WITHIN provides "Links to Brass Band related
Web Sites, contacts and reference information. Band websites across the world,
brass ensembles, people, suppliers, music, books, recordings, organisations,
history, humour, and more!" The Brass Band WWW Page is at
http://www.smsltd.demon.co.uk/
.
You want to buy music, preferably
at a low price. CDnow! has hundreds
of thousands of CDs, cassettes and videos at discount prices , accepts credit
card payments, and ships around the world. Search for artist name, like "Bjork"
to order this Icelandic artist's "Debut" CD, or "Venus as a boy," and charge
it to your credit card. My wife wanted classical music by Albinoni, Vivaldi,
and Pachelbel played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. (By the way,
Bjork is at
http://www.bjork.co.uk/bjork/.)
You may buy at even lower
prices at the
Used-Music Web.
Tablature/chords for guitar
is available from several archives. To find the Online Guitar Archive
(OLGA), check the newsgroups
alt.guitar.tab, or
rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature
for a list of archive locations.
There are several Lyric/Music
Servers, including the one at
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Menu/mus_archs.html .
For Chinese music,
visit
http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/multimedia/chinese-music/
. Choose between Model Beijing Opera, Ceremonial songs and music, Songs during
the "Cultural Revolution" (mostly for Mao), Dream Of Red Mansion, Folk songs
and local opera, Historical Voices, Pop songs after the down- fall of "Gang
Of Four," Post Liberation, Pre Liberation, Current Hits, Chinese traditional
music (various instrumental). Also included are some music from Taiwan and
the Hong Kong area.
Mailing lists:
For an overview of music oriented mailing lists, check the Entertainment
| Music category at
http://www.topica.com.
Usenet has
rec.music.country.western
rec.music.bluenote (jazz)
rec.music.indian.misc
alt.music.enya
alt.punk
alt.rap
alt.rave
alt.rock-n-roll.hard
alt.rock-n-roll.metal
Genesis is at alt.music.genesis
rec.music.beatles
and over forty other music groups.
Pets
The web has Frequently Asked Questions
information about dogs page. The Dog
Information page also has interesting information.
The Cat Fanciers Home Page has a plethora
of frequently asked questions about all issues cat-related.
Mailing lists:
-
The CANINE-L mailing
list covers a wide variety of dog-related topics.
-
The FELINE-L
mailing list is for people who have cats as companions in their lives
-
DOM_BIRD is for owners,
breeders and farmers of domesticated birds. Topics include anything from
the nutritional requirements, to the shows and events held for displaying
the many variety of fancy breeds of domesticated birds. If you wish to discuss
equipment used for incubating eggs, the veterinary care and management of
adults or chicks, or find the best way to handle any aspect of domesticated
bird ownership, you can be expected to be welcome.
-
Discussion forum
for Horse fanciers
Usenet has:
| rec.pets |
Pets, pet care, and household animals in general. |
| rec.pets.birds |
The culture and care of indoor birds. |
| rec.pets.cats |
Discussion about domestic cats. |
| alt.pets.rabbits |
Coneys abound. |
| alt.pets.hamsters |
Pretty popular rodent pets |
| alt.aquaria |
Fish and Aquarium discussion |
| alt.aquaria.killies |
Killifish, members of family cyprinodontidae |
| sci.aquaria |
Scientifically-oriented postings about aquaria |
| rec.pets.dogs.activities |
Dog events: showing, obedience, agility |
| rec.pets.dogs.behavior |
Behaviors and problems: housetraining, chewing |
| rec.pets.dogs.breeds |
Breed specific -- breed traits, finding breeders |
| rec.pets.dogs.health |
Info about health problems & how to care for dogs |
| rec.pets.dogs.info |
General information and FAQs posted here |
| rec.pets.dogs.misc |
All other topics, chat, humor, |
| rec.pets.dogs.rescue |
Information about breed rescue, placing and adopting |
For more on pets, try Pets
World. It has over 1400 pet related links covering 19 subjects (1997).
Wine and food
Some people prefer to fill the stomach rather than their ears. If this sounds
right, what about some French culinary art? Visit chef Paul Bocuse at the
Lyon Life
Gastronomy page. Learn how to make Truffles Soup Ilysie, and read
Paul's wise words about cooking:
"Memory and hunger are the main ingredients of cooking. I still think
to the roast calf that my grand mother used to make. I still see her digging
a small well in the mashed potatoes to pour the sauce whose inimitable taste
still makes me salivate. Cooking is the dish that one places on the table,
which steams, which smells good, which one serves twice. There is only one
cooking, the good one."
While his web address may be hard to remember, not so with the taste of Paul's
truffle soup!
Too advanced? OK! Here are
some nice bread and
soup resources.
Visit the Global Gourmet site.
Browse an abundance of recipes in this file archive:
ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/recipes/,
and check the Kitchen Link,
a cooking index with links to recipes, cooking pages, cookbooks, and more.
However, if your kitchen works
like mine, there's some fish you'd like to cook, or some ingredient that
you'd like to include in a meal. Visit SOAR, the
Searchable Online Archive
of Recipes, enter "cod" or "mackerel" to get overwhelmed by excitement.
In September 2000, the database contained 67,784 recipes...
The
World Wine Web and The Wine
Encyclopedia has French and English language details about vineyards,
viticulture, winemaking and aging by producer and vintage. Wine information
by area:
Mailing lists:
-
OZWINE is
for the discussion of Australian and New Zealand wines.
-
Tasting
is the Wine Tasting's List
Usenet has rec.food.cooking
rec.food.recipes,
rec.food.restaurants,
rec.food.drink, and
rec.food.veg for vegetarians. For links to
European recipes, try
http://www.goodcooking.com/euro.htm.
Bon apetit!
Outdoor life
As usual, Usenet has a lot. These are some examples:
Scoutnet
offers a list of scouting mailing lists. Supplement with the official
web site of the World Scout Movement.
SCUBA-L
is the Scuba diving discussion list .
Photo enthusiasts may want
to start with The ACE Indexes
"Reading Room". It has links to almost 100 online photo and digital
imaging magazines from around the world, describing each in detail. Here
is also information on over 500 photographic commerce web sites, including
camera stores, and manufacturers.
If you're into 3-d (stereo)
photography and closely allied subjects, enroll in the
PHOTO-3D
mailing list. Here, they define 3D as the presentation of separate and different
single images for the left and right eyes.
There are clubs for all popular
outdoor hobbies.
"Contact 3d-request@bfmny0.bfm.com" above means that you must write a
message to this Internet email address with a subscription request, or to
receive further information about how to join. This mailing list does not
have automatic subscriptions.
Roots
Tracing family history used to be difficult. In the days before personal
computers and data networking, performing the necessary record research in
far-flung libraries, courthouses and cemeteries could take a lifetime. Sometimes
logistical barriers prevented the proper research from ever being carried
out.
With data networking capabilities,
researchers can exchange information, tips and family records. Now, a genealogy
buff in Toronto or Wien can ask a favor of a comrade in Buenos Aires or Sidney
to look up a record or two, check out a graveyard or provide some missing
bit of information about local history and family names. Sometimes these
networking hobbyists even discover that they are related!
ROOTS-L, and the many
Usenet newsgroups in the soc.genealogy hierarchy (like
soc.genealogy.misc for starters), are
all about genealogy. Here, you will get tips about tools and techniques.
You can exchange information about ancestors, and find new friends and partners
for joint research, and learn about genealogical Web sites.
On the World Wide Web, start
with the following genealogy links:
Him and Her
Members of the female sex have their favorite meeting places. Usenet has
alt.feminism and
soc.feminism.
The LIBFEM mailing
list describes its purpose as follows:
LIBFEM (liberty & feminism): The mailing list for Liberty and Feminism;
individualist feminists -- feminism based on an individual rights approach
to feminist issues, supporting liberty, diversity and social cooperation.
The focus of LIBFEM is
the classical liberty and individual rights perspective as applied to feminist
issues, such as issues about ideology, politics, culture, gender, etc., to
create a network for information, discourse, cooperation, encouragement and
consciousness raising. There has always been an element of individualism
in the various women and feminist movements, although this element seems
to have been somewhat neglected in recent movements.
There is also the
FEMISA mailing list
, and remember to check this Web site:
http://www.igc.org/women/feminist.html
Bisexuals have
"Sappho". There are
also BIFEM: "a social and general
mailing list for online and real life Bisexual and Lesbian Women and their
friends",
BISEXU-L, and
others.
Spanish speaking users can
subscribe to ARENAL
(Lista de discussion para hispanos/as que desean acabar con la homofobia).
Usenet has lots of it: soc.motss,
alt.politics.homosexuality,
alt.sex,
alt.sex.bondage,
alt.sex.pictures.d,
alt.sex.motss, and
alt.sex.pictures.
Conferences called "SEXUALITY"
are alive on The Well. CompuServe has
a Human Sexuality Adult Forum and a Human Sexuality Open Forum.
Finally, there are many pictures
of nudes in all possible and impossible positions. Most of them are childish,
some are decidedly pornographic, a few are beautiful and erotic. Then there
are Penthouse Magazine
and Playboy Magazine, of course.
The online services' policies
vary about what kind of pictures and picture programs to make available.
The larger the service, the more conservative they tend to be.
Other hobbies
The Popular Mechanics magazine
(USA) has a great Web site.
KUNGFU
is an open, unmoderated discussion list about Kung Fu and the martial
arts. KUNG Fu, Tai CHi and other martial art styles and techniques
are likely to be discussed. Click "home" for lots of information from Kung
Fu Online.
A Barbie Doll fan? Not me,
please! However, if interested, hear this:
The official Barbie Doll web
site for fans of all ages! For young girls there are activities to play,
create and learn new things. For our collectors we have hundreds of photos,
facts and doll information.
Programs for hobbyists
It is no rule that a service need to have a conference about a hobby, to
have interesting programs available for downloading. Programs float around
from service to service much easier than conference items. Still, the best
programs for a given hobby are normally found on services where hobbyists
meet to discuss.
You will find:
Chess and bridge programs,
Morse code training programs for ham amateurs,
Astrology programs,
Database systems for keeping track of music cassettes or records, video
cassettes, books, stamps, coins, etc.
Information systems for wine lovers,
Recipe programs (tell me what you've got, and I'll tell you what you can
make), and much more.
On the Internet, search
the Virtual Shareware
Library for things of interest .
Online shopping
Online, you can buy almost anything : video cameras, books, music, Bonsai
plants, golf equipment, canned cakes from Gimmee Jimmy's Cookies, Levi's
trousers, a four-door Nissan Pathfinder SE-V6 car, air tickets for Mexico,
and computer equipment (see "Buying computers and stuff" in
Chapter 5).
Shoppers who let their modem
do the "walking" are already a few steps ahead of people still stuck shopping
the old-fashioned way. Experienced online shoppers know that you can tap
a world of stores without ever leaving your keyboard, and that you can browse
and buy with very little effort.
Some services present their
wares "for your information only." It is like reading newspaper ads. You
must contact the seller to buy. Other services have large online supermarkets
with many stores, and you can by while you visit.
There's a directory of links
to U.S. Shopping Mall
Retailers.
BMW-DIGEST
Links is for fans of BMW autos. There's an
ITALIAN-CARS list, and
click here for links to
British
Cars resources. If you're into
Skoda cars, visit their Czech
Republic Web site.
Then there is
Alfa Romeo (Italy), the
Porsche Net home page,
Roadsters Muscle
Cars. PartsVoice
lets you find auto parts online, and
100hot claims
a list of the Top 100 Automotive websites. Last, but certainly not least,
make sure you visit the Bugatti
pages.
Planning your vacation
Click here for this part of the chapter.
Politics
Start by visiting the Links
to Government Servers and Information page. It is long, but very
comprehensive. The
Parliamentary Elections
Around the World page offers an extensive database by country on
election results and parties.
The Politician Government Address
Directory offers addresses of most nations' leaders and provincial
governors on the planet.
These newsgroups are filled
with political discussions:
Amnesty International is at
http://www.amnesty.org/, and
Greenpeace International at
http://www.greenpeace.org/index.shtml.
The Fourth World Documentation
Project documents important documents about the social, political,
strategic, economic and human rights situations being faced by Fourth World
nations. They have a historical archive of the political struggles waged
by Indigenous Peoples in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, Melanesia and
the Pacific to assert their rights as sovereign nations.
The European Union's Europa
site has a
" European
Governments on-line" page. For the fifteen EU member states, it provides
annotated links to the executive branch, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and
sometimes other important national civil service sites, as well as several
unannotated links to other governmental bodies. For each of the non-EU nations,
one annotated link is offered, generally to the main governmental server,
executive branch, or Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ah, and then:
The White House (U.S.A.),
The Tasmanian Government
Web Server, the Australian
Commonwealth Government, The
Government of Pakistan, Iceland's
Althingi, the Japanese
Government, the Government of the
Republic of Croatia, and
Albania's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. For more, try
http://www.soc.umn.edu/~sssmith/Parliaments.html.
Finally, take a look at the leads in Chapter 9 and
11. |
