From bobrankin@MHV.NET Tue Jan 14 01:55:43 1997 Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 01:45:03 -0500 From: Bob Rankin Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM To: TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: TOURBUS - 14 Jan 1997 - Do Birds Have Lips? /~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~/~~~|~\ | "Why | Surf When / You Can | Ride The | Bus?" / | \ |__________|__________/__________|__________|___________/ | \ / /______|----\ | Try your wits at JEOPARDY PRO, now at WorldVillage |//////| | | Gamer's Zone! http://www.worldvillage.com/jeopardy/ |//////| | | |//////| | ~~~/~~~\~~/~~~\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/~~~\~~~~ \___/ \___/ T h e I n t e r n e t T o u r B u s \___/ TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP: http://www.answers.com There are lots of search engines on the Net. You type in a word or phrase, the computer ponders for a few seconds and then delivers the inevitable result: "38,400 Documents Found." Now it's up to you to refine your search or wade through endless links in search of the real answer to your question. But there's a new search engine now with a significant difference... At Answers.com, your questions are answered by humans, not computers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FREE Coupons on great apparel brands like Timberland, Duck Head, Woolrich, and Calvin Klein. Just sign up at Aardwulf Apparel's web store. Since they're electronic, they'll never clutter your drawers! ---------------------( http://www.aardwulf.com )---------------------- Answers.com is a unique information service that delivers answers by e-mail to personal, business or academic questions. In most cases, their "Answer Advisors" will be able to provide a citation from a reference text or from an Internet site. Sounds Cool! Is it Free? ------------------------- Sort of... When you first sign up, you get $8.00 worth of questions answered for free. After that, you have to provide either a snail mail address for billing or a credit card number. How Much Will My Answer Cost? ----------------------------- That'll be 5 cents, please. (Just kidding -- remember Lucy from the Peanuts cartoon?) When you arrive at Answers.com, there's a box to enter your question and then you have to decide whether your question is "easy", "medium", or "hard". The answer fee is $1.79, $5.00, or $11.99, respectively. So What's A Hard Question? -------------------------- According to the Answers.com help page, a "hard question" is one that requires extended research or a compound answer, like this: - How many modems were sold in 1995? - What are the diameters of balls used in the following sports: golf, handball, billiards, tennis, lacrosse, hurling, and volley ball? A "medium question" requires a bit less research, or an informed opinion: - What is the principle behind the linear aerospike engine? - What is the best restaurant in Nashua, NH? And an "easy question" is one that requires only straightforward lookup of factual data in a reference book or Internet address: - What is the chemical formula for caffeine? - Where can I find an SGML viewer for Linux? How Does It Work? ----------------- Gimme a quarter and I'll explain it. It's pretty simple -- you submit your question at the web site, and a real person at Answers.com sends the answers within 24 hours by e-mail. You can ask questions by e-mail (questions@answers.com) if you have opened an account first. You can choose expedited (5-hour) delivery for an additional $5 if you like. And if they don't agree with your opinion of the degree of difficulty, they'll ask for permission to charge a different fee or give you the option to cancel the request. The Answer Advisors use published information sources, proprietary databases, personal knowledge, and undoubtedly those cold impersonal search engines on the Internet to find an answer to your question. If you have other questions about Answers.com, please submit them to me with a certified check for $100 or send them to comments@answers.com and you'll get the answer for free. Is It Worth It? --------------- It might seem anathema to shell out money when there are free search engines like AltaVista that have indexed a large percentage of cyberspace. But let's face it -- the sum of all human knowledge is not found on Web pages. If your answer isn't available online, in a public domain database or you don't have time do the research yourself, it could make a lot of sense to spend a couple bucks -- for an answer. ------------------- HASADA COMMUNICATION SERVICES ------------------- (1) E-Mail to Fax Services; Exellent Features; FREE trial Period! (2) Save on International Phone Calls; Good rates for all countries. (3) Fax to E-Mail; Start Receiving your Faxes by E-Mail in 24 hours. --------- http://www.hasada.com OR Email: info@hasada.com --------- Stupid Computer Joke of the Week: * DOS Error: Keyboard not attached - Press F1 to continue. I won't swear to it, but I think I've actually seen that one. See you next time! --Bob ======================================================================== Join : Send SUBSCRIBE TOURBUS Your Name to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Leave : Send SIGNOFF TOURBUS to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Archives: On the Web at http://www.worldvillage.com/tourbus.htm Advertising: E-mail BobRankin@MHV.net w/ Subject: SEND TBRATES =----------------------------------------------------------------------= Tired of Technobabble? Here's the cure: --> "Doctor Bob's Painless Guide To The Internet" <-- Send e-mail to BobRankin@MHV.net w/ Subject: SEND BOOKINFO or browse reviews & sample chapters at http://biz.mhv.net/drbob ======================================================================== TOURBUS - (c) Copyright 1996, Patrick Crispen and Bob Rankin All rights reserved. Redistribution is allowed only with permission. Send this copy to 3 friends and tell them to get on the Bus!