The Daily News: Just the Links

Site:
http://www.cs.vu.nl/~gerben/news.html

Category:
News and Information

Review (in 1996):

Newshounds with international tastes will drool over this list of 200 links to various newspapers and information sources from around the globe.  From Poland’s Donosy (in Polish and English) to Costa Rica’s La Nacion, the major and minor electronic news sources are lined up, shotgun style, for your own exploration.  It’s fine for researchers who already know what they are looking for, but you’ll have some leg-work to do if you’re browsing on a particular topic (sites are arranged geographically only).  We’d like to see more than just the links, however; connecting to a site from another country may leave many users confused at best.  But if you already have a sharp journalistic eye, this list can keep you busy for a long time.

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

The World Wide Times

Site:
http://www.aloha.com/~k/

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

This is a beefy online news source for all UFO-related material.  Sightings can be reported using the official Alberta UFO Research Association form, or you can scan the experiences of others, ranging from brief sightings to abductions.  The handy encyclopedia has entries for dozens of different types of space visitors, from Venusians Railoids (does that spell “relief?”), and there’s plenty of discussion about cover-ups, ominous tales of black helicopters, and those MIBs (“Men in Black”): are they supernatural/extraterrestrial visitors, or G-men in formal wear?

Heaps of photos and other images flesh out the stories.  Another fine resource for those who can’t get enough of the UFO business.

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

UFO Phenomena

Site:
http://zeta.cs.adfa.oz.au/Spirit/ufo.html

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

This is about as one-stop as it gets in the world of alien Web surfing.  From info and discussion to pictures, this server from the Czech Republic has all its saucers covered.  Earth-bound terrestrials seeking intimate contact can scope out the Pleiadians (“dimension travellers”), or investigate the more familiar Zeta Reticulis (the little gray hairless dudes with bug eyes).

Abductees will feel reassured by Budd Hopkins’ controversial report on “Implants and Group Abductions”, and visitors can splashdown with the Allagash Four (theirs was not a warm-n-cuddly ET tale).  Many more cosmic particles and full online images will keep rocketeers happy for hours.

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

Whitewater & Vince Foster

Site:
http://www.cris.com/~dwheeler/n/whitewater/whitewater-index.html

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

The “extremely complex, tortuously convoluted” Whitewater investigation is the focus of this valient attempt to get a handle on the most troublesome of the Bill Clinton scandals.  The many alleged transgressions – Swiss bank accounts, drug trades, money laundering, murder, and of course, cover-ups – are divided here into categories of “Suspicious”, “Shocking”, and “Mindboggling”.

The most “mindboggling” we found was a series of allegations that Vince Foster “was being investigated as a traitorous spy working for Israel” and that his death was “arranged” and “necessary” for “national security”.  It says here that “the small band who have accused the government of an elaborate cover-up in the Foster case can no longer be glibly dismissed as conspiracy theorists.  Are you listening, Oliver Stone?

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

Smitty’s UFO Page

Site: 
http://www.best.com/~schmitz/ufo.html

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

Dave “Smitty” Schmitz is a software engineer from San Francisco.  He thinks the government is up to something in the middle of the Nevada desert. There are rumors, in fact, that this is where the Air Force parks all the UFOs it has recovered and hidden from the public all these years.  Do you think Smitty is crazy, or do you agree there’s something out there?

This site merely offers the stories – not as proof, but in an effort to engage others in the debate of what should be proof, if anything.  Because of this approach, skeptics will probably enjoy this page as much as believers.  Smitty’s recaps of his two trips to the Nevada Test Site at Groom Lake are fun road adventures in search of something.

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

Shroud of Turin

Site:
http://www.cais.com/npacheco/shroud/turin.html

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

Whether you believe it’s the actual burial cloth of Jesus, or just another chic headstone rubbing, there’s no denying the world’s fascination with the Shroud of Turin.  The Shroud’s true origins are a mystery, and have been the subject of speculation for some time.  At this unusual site, good photo reproductionslet you get about as close to the Shroud as you ever will, while the excellent question-and-answer file reveals the cloth to be made of linen and just over 14 feet long.

A discussion of the 1988 Carbon 14 dating test (which asserted that the Shroud’s origin is medieval, not biblical) directly contradicts some researchers’ findings that the cloth is a Mandylion relic.  The final decision, as always, must be the viewer’s.

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

Sovereign’s WWW Content Page

Site:
http://www.primenet.com/~lion/

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

This really ought to be called the “Malcontent Page”.  Bring your axe and grind it here, or just watch others rant on about the ATF, AIDS, gun control, and all the other bad dogs that are threatening to wee on the carpet we call the Constitution.  (That metaphor comes from the page’s section “Conspiracy, Control and ?????.)

This is for those who think the U.S. government is “out of control” – or rather, frighteningly in control.  Their motto, “If you don’t believe in something, you’ll fall for anything” is fittingly murky in its meaning, but it sounds terrific. Unsurprisingly, “Sovereign” believes in honoring capitalism – check out the “Freedom Shop”, where a measly ten bucks buys you proof that the limo driver shot JFK.  This is a marvelously packaged bunch of pixilated notions.

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

The Stupid Homepage

Site:
http://metro.turnpike.net/S/spatula/

Category:
Personal Home Pages

Review (in 1996):

Also known as Spatch’s Homepage (“Spatch” is short for spatula), this is a collection of amusing oddments, including some spoofs on the “things that do useless stuff” craze so prevalent on the Web these days: the Page That Tells You Where It Is tells you the site is still at metro.turnpike.net (“Reload this page after a few moments and find out where it is then!”) and the VCR Clock page, which Spatch has painstakingly programmed so you can see exactly what time his VCR clock says it is (which reveals a blinding “12:00” – groan)

There’s also a collection of text files (mostly culled from alt.stupidity, appropriately enough).  The content may be stupid, but it’s a smart site, if you know what we mean.

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

The Great Web Candianizer

Site:
http://www.io.org/~themaxx/canada/can.html

Category:
Web Gadgets

Review (in 1996):

Many Canadians are concerned about American cultural dominance.  This silly site takes direct action against the “hosers” (that’s Canadian parlance for “Americans”, it seems) by taking the average “hosehead” page and “Canadianizing” it.  Beauty, eh?  You just enter the URL of your favorite site, and this gadget “translates” the page by adding well-placed burps and back bacon references.  For example, a visit to the White House now begins with “G’day, eh, and welcome to the House of Commons”.  Then you can link to “The Hosehead’s Cabinet”.  Beauty, eh?

Some of the funniest results can be obtained by aiming the translator at serious Canadian sites, like the Molson brewery (carin’ for your brewski BURRRP!  Scuse me eh?).

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

The Spot

Site:
http://www.thespot.com/

Category: 
Weird and Wonderful 

Review (in 1996):

The Spot is a fun sort of online soap about twentysomethings, supposedly emanating from a seven-bedroom beach house with infamous history of wild partying and debauchery.  Typical resident: Tara, a 23-year-old film student trying to make it as a director.  Zany pet: Spotnik, a “Cyberian Husky”.  It’s a “microcosm of a generation”, so naturally there’s always a party cooking!  Visitor’s can read regular postings from the residents, see the snapshots (“Love on the Beach”), and read the diary entries (“Did Jeff realize I had missed my plane… the morning I found him in bed with Tomeiko?”).

It’s pretty much like your own life, probably, but you may enjoy visiting anyway.  This exremely glossy site is the brainchild of Fattal & Collins, a California advertising agency that is perhaps now deciding what to do with all the fans it has attracted.

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

Spirit-WWW

Site:
http://spirit.satelnet.org/Spirit.html

Category: 
Weird and Wonderful 

Review (in 1996):

Spiritual seekers may well find they’ve hit the motherlode at this site, which is a virtual encylopedia of strange phenomena and alternative realities.  Selections available on this “personal, not-for-profit” home page include channeling, astrology, faith healing, meditation, and UFOs.  The site points out that “the term alien or extraterrestrial shows our ignorance of the interconnectedness we live in”.  (At last, political correctness comes to the galaxy.)

Thoughts on reincarnation ponder the meaning of karma and “How Past and Future are perceived and realized finally by the Soul”.  Contortionists will enjoy the Yoga page, which provides an overview of the different practices, including Karma, Bhakti, and Vedic movements.  Plus New Age art, movies, audio clips, and more.

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

Tarot Resources

Site:
http://www.iii.net/users/dtking/tarot.html

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

This extensive list of tarot resources will please expert readers and curious amateurs alike.  Besides laying out the basics, the page offers a few tips on finding a professional reader: questions like “What deck do you use?” and “What is your basic approach?” may help you weed out those with which you won’t be comfortable (assuming the answers will make sense to you in the first place).  There are other, more obvious tips, like “don’t bring your life savings with you”.  Seasoned pros may want to browse “Tapestry”, an e-zine for forecasters.  Among the more colorful links, are the pictures of the Rider-Waite deck (a popular tarot deck style), and instructions for waxing your tarot cards when their coating gets worn down.

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

Taos Hum Homepage

Site:
http://www.eskimo.com:80/~billb/hum/hum.html

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

“The ‘Taos Hum’ is a low-pitched sound heard in several places across the U.S. and U.K.”, earning its name from the many reports received in New Mexico beginning 1991.  It is usually heard only in quiet environments, and is described as sounding like a distant diesel engine (its common “signature”).  “Since it has proven undetectable by microphones or VLF antennae, its source and nature is still a mystery”.

Wait, don’t laugh!  This quirky Web site isn’t much to look at, but the blend of solid scientific inquiry and off-the-edge speculation is fascinating.  Reports from “hummers” reveal as much of the mystery as they can (bio-iron in the brain tissue?), but it remains a big question mark.  There are clippings from both the straight and the “unconventional” press, revealing a sincere effort to help those unfortunate few who “sense” the hum.

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

Web-o-rhythm

Site: 
http://www.qns.com/html/weborhythm

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

Web-o-rhythm creates a swell color GIF of your personal bio-rhythm chart.  You might remember biorhythm machines from amusement parks in the ‘70's: you put in a quarter, enter your birth date, enter the month for which you want your biorhythm, and it prints it out for you.  Web-o-rhythm is essentially the same, but you save the quarter.  The computed chart shows you when you’re supposed to be up and when you’ll be done in the month to come.

Biorhythm fans will notice the addition of a new cycle – intuitive – to the traditional three of mental, physical, and emotional.  (Does Biorhythm Local 329 know about this?)  As an added bonus, after your chart is computed, you’re provided with a direct link to your horoscope at another site.

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

Vampyres Only

Site:
http://www.vampyre.wis.net/vampyre/index.html

Category:
Weird and Wonderful

Review (in 1996):

Coming to you direct and undead from the Vorld Vide Veb… it’s Vampyres Only.  The entries here are alternately spooky and funny, and host Vlad III is given to puns likely to stick in your craw, such as “Thirsty for more? Here are links to similar veins of interest…”.  The hefty catalog of vampirobilia includes a collection of movie and sound files, from Orlok and Dracula to Barnabus Collins (from TV’s “Dark Shadows”) and, of course, Lestat.

A list of shops from around the world is helpful to those creatures of the night who feel the burning desire to … accessorize.  The Vampire Vulnerability Test is a fang-in-cheek check of your Draculattractiveness.  As they say back on the farm, this page puts the “ick” in slick".

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

Employment Opportunities and Job Resources

Site:
http://www.wpi.edu/~mfriley/jobguide.html

Category:
Business and Investing

Review (in 1996):

Whew!  If you STILL can’t find a job after using this home page, something may be wrong.  (Have you checked your breath?)  Help-wanted servers, recruiter links, professional societies, government job listings… they’re all here.  Margaret Riley (this is also called “The Riley Guide”) maintains this employment resource out of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. 

A fine introduction explains how to use the Net to find an employee or a job; this is also a mini-course on Internet usage in general.  From government and business through arts and humanities, this guide tries to cover all the bases, with special emphasis on high-tech and computer employment.  It used to take days in the library to dig this kind of stuff up.

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

Solid Space

Site:
http://www.teleport.com/~shojo/Solid.html

Category:
Personal Home Pages

Review (in 1996):

A campy collection of oddments, this site offers diversions about music and pop culture artifacts.  The Fabio Page serves up typical pictures of the male model, replete with hokey romance-novel-inspired audio clips spoken by Fabio himself: “Your caress is my command”, “I listen to a solo, and I think of a duet”.  Learn of the sinister trimmings surrounding PEZ candy dispensers, or visit a mini-museum on ViewMaster slide viewers.

There’s also a monthly offering called “Awful Music”; on our last visit it lambasted an album called album called “Switched-On Bacharach”.  (“Every song on this alum should have “in outer space” added to the end of the title”, says the Webmaster.)

Even with the insults, this is much more amusing than offensive.

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

The Unofficial Haitian Home Page

Site:
http://www.primenet.com/~rafreid/

Category:
Global Village

Review (in 1996):

Ralph Reid, a film student from Northridge, California, does an excellent job of conveying the essence of his native country with this site.  His “virtual tour” of Haiti takes you to the crowded Iron Market, to a Port-au-Prince boulevard during rush hour, and on a beautiful beach stroll, where you can practically smell the millions of discarded conch shells.

You can also check out Carol Guzy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs of Haiti, and groove to musical selections like Reginald Decastro’s “Pou ou Ayiti”.  History buffs will want to take this site up on its Haitian history course, while others may be more inclined to gravitate to the Voodoo section.  (Discover special days on the Voodoo calendar, like Legba Zaou, when “eating consists mainly of a black goat”.)

A fascinating page with a very strong flavor.

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

WEB Personals

Site:
http://www.webpersonals.com/

Category:
Romance

Review (in 1996):

WEB Personals is a user-friendly site for anyone seeking love or just heavy friendship.  Date seekers and seekees are categorized in the appropriate straight or gay directory – you’ll even find a guide to what the initials mean when DWM seeks DDFW (there’s an abbreviation for cross-dressers, too).  The site enables you to browse or submit your ad, and the Love Hound will notify you of any suitable matches in case you don’t have time to check for yourself.

(Anyone who’s worried about good, clean dating fun on the Internet will be interested to learn that this site’s Open Forum was taken offline because “it had evolved to a point where the discussions offended too many people who prefer a more professional experience.”)

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

Web Journal of Current Legal Issues

Site:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nlawwww/

Category:
Law

Review (in 1996):

Here’s an example of the legal profession using the Web to its full potential.  This journal from Britain’s University of Newcastle has everything one would expect from a respectable paper journal, from articles to case notes to book reviews with hypertext footnotes.

Typical topic for study: the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and its attempt to establish rules for corporate electronic data interchange.  Most articles are similarly on the cutting edge of information law, though not all fit that mold:  The Marginalisation of Gypsies was a lengthy dissertation on the prejudice against gypsies in the United Kingdom.  This is filled with interesting essays that will easily consume more time than you have.

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