CommerceNet

Site:
http://www.commerce.net/

Category:
The Internet

Review (in 1996):

CommerceNet is a non-profit consortium that provides "the first large-scale trial to support electronic commerce via the Internet". The point, in other words, is to help make the Internet an easy-to-use and secure tool for businesses. Here you can explore this new business frontier and even join a subscription program to get your business up on the Web with an electronic storefront.

For most users, the best resources here are the directories of companies providing Internet services; the "Getting Started" Web design tutorial is also quite helpful. You'll find plenty of menus before you get tot he main course; we'd like to see a search engine to make it easier to get around. Still it's a valuable service if you're looking for examples of the Net's commercial sites.

As reviewed in the 1996 "World Wide Web Top 1000" - a review of the Top 5% of all Web Sites in 1996.

NetPhone

Site:
http://www.emagic.com/netphone

Category:
The Internet

Review (in 1996):

Your Macintosh could soon be "ringing off the hook" with this software in hand. NetPhone enables most Mac users with a microphone and a Net connection to place calls to other NetPhone users across the world, and talk as long as they like for no extra cost (beyond the cost of your Net account). You can get a free online demo of the software to believe it for yourself. Audio quality varies; you probably won't hear a pin drop (sometimes it's more like a faraway AM radio station).

For fun, you can visit "NetPubs", where NetPhone users gather to shoot the breeze. In our travels so far, this is the best effort we've found to creatively integrate Web sites with the Internet phone calling concept. Of course, several others are in the works.

As reviewed in the 1996 "World Wide Web Top 1000" - a review of the Top 5% of all Web Sites in 1996.

Lotus Development Corp.

Site:
http://www.lotus.com/

Category:
Computing

Review (in 1996):

Even though Lotus is now part of IBM (Big Blue paid $3.5 billion for it), you still have time to get Lotus's opinion at this site devoted to products like the critically acclaimed Notes. Meanwhile, Lotus proves it's still knocking heads together by offering an excellent online support area, with extensive FAQs and file updates to calm nervous customers, plus industry-specific tips on using Notes (for banking, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications). The View from Lotus injects a little corporate culture and fun; it lists lots of Boston-related links in case you wanted to drop by the headquarters for a visit (how 'bout those Red Sox?).

Don't miss the exemplary Lotus Selects product catalog for Lotus upgrades and paraphernalia. Highly recommended fro business PC users.

As reviewed in the 1996 "World Wide Web Top 1000" - a review of the Top 5% of all Web Sites in 1996.

Fluxes Online

Site:
http://anansi.panix.com:80/fluxus/

Category:
Computer Art

Review (in 1996):

When we first cruised this page sponsored by artist Nam June Paik (the wall-of-televisions guy), we asked "Are people still doing Fluxus?" (It was an offbeat 1960s movement that believed art should reflect the modern world's unpredictably mutating nature.) Doing it they are, and now with more electronic multimedia elements than anyone knew existed 30 years ago.

Fluxible flyers can spin Fortuna's cartoonish wheel to experience a 3D video installation "Yuppie Ghetto With Watchdog" or the moving (literally) "Fat Heart Video". The giga-normous JPEG files offer hours of viewing (and waiting for downloads). And in keeping with the Fluxus mandate, things here change and rearrange in perpetuity.

This is mainly for art students still floundering in that "New Genres" department.

As reviewed in the 1996 "World Wide Web Top 1000" - a review of the Top 5% of all Web Sites in 1996.

The Museum of Bad Art

Site:
http://sashimi.wwa.com/mirror/orgs/moba/moba.htm

Category:
Art

Review (in 1996):

Here's a fine collection of work by "talented artists that have gone awry", and "works of exuberant, although crude, execution by artists barely in control of the brush". MOBA's exhibit features such unwieldy entries as "The Athlete", acquired by online curators from a Boston trash bin and described as "a startling work". Or feast your eyes on "The Circus of Despair", another garbage retrieval with an odd Fauve-like appeal. But it would be silly to wax too poetical here. The curators promise continued exponential growth, and invite viewers to join the burgeoning legions of "Friends of MOBA", a group of tireless patrons who endeavor to bring "the worst of art to the widest of audiences".

This is a welcome respite from the world of artspeak.

As reviewed in the 1996 "World Wide Web Top 1000" - a review of the Top 5% of all Web Sites in 1996.

The Diabetes Homepage

Site:
http://www.nd.edu/~hhowisen/diabetes.html

Category:
Health and Medicine

Review (in 1996):

This is the single best spot for diabetes information on the Web. Not only does it have detailed information for the layperson (like a careful explanation of insulin, or what "juvenile onset" means), but it's presented in an entertaining (if jarring) graphical format.

The offbeat tone takes a little getting used to (diabetics are initially referred to as "those whose Pancrei have opted for early retirement"), but the well-organized links to the world's major diabetes sites are worth hunting for. (Many of the links are gopher sites.)

What's really strange (and interesting) about this site is the Virtual Diabetic game, where you try to get Derwood the Diabetic through one adventure-packed day without ending up in the hospital. (It's hard!)

This comprehensive site even offers links to data on diabetes in cats.

As reviewed in the 1996 "World Wide Web Top 1000" - a review of the Top 5% of all Web Sites in 1996.

Political Babble Generator

Site:
http://www.webcorp.com/polibabble.htm

Category:
Politics

Review (in 1996):

"Haven't you always suspected that a randomly selected bunch of hackneyed phrases might have as much insight as the daily political babble?" asks this site. The Political Babble Generator tries to prove it through the "same distribution of three-word phrases as real speeches by Clinton and Gingrich". Sometimes it doeesn't make sense, but then, the same is true of most speechmakers. If the computed speech is understandable in any way, you can submit that text to the Book of Knowledge, a collection of sensical quotes spotted by other viewers.

One favorite Clinton bit: "Tip O'Neil never forgot who he was, where he came from, or who they voted for change in our regulations? You bet we do. But we all agree that the real credit belongs to the fire".

New random speeches are cranked out every 10 minutes.

As reviewed in the 1996 "World Wide Web Top 1000" - a review of the Top 5% of all Web Sites in 1996.