From crispen@CAMPUS.MCI.NET Thu Jan 16 22:53:57 1997 Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 20:48:54 -0600 From: Patrick Douglas Crispen Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM To: TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: TOURBUS -- 16 JAN 1997 -- BEST OF THE WEB, VERSION TRACKER, AND MACINTOUCH /~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~/~~~|~\ | "Why | Surf When / You Can | Ride The | Bus?" / | \ |__________|__________/__________|__________|__________/ | \ / WIN FREE SOFTWARE! Join WorldVillage and become a /______|----\ | Citizen. Monthly drawings for software prizes, |//////| | | as well as special offers, cool sites, and more! |//////| | | http://www.worldvillage.com/join.htm |//////| | ~~~/~~~\~~/~~~\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/~~~\~~~~ \___/ \___/ T h e I n t e r n e t T o u r B u s \___/ TODAY'S STOP: BEST OF THE WEB, VERSION TRACKER, AND MACINTOUCH TODAY'S ADDRESSES: http://botw.org/1996/awards.html http://www.versiontracker.com/ http://www.versiontracker.com/pcupdates.shtml http://www.macintouch.com/ Hi, kids! Today's TOURBUS is late (and a tad bit on the short side) because your fearless bus driver has been infected with the plague. Actually, the doctor tells me that I only have a flu, but he's *lying*! I have the bubonic plague. Before I return home to collapse into the warm confines of my bed, I want to take a moment to thank the folks who are making today's TOURBUS post possible. If you are looking for a way to add some life to your desktop or Web pages, today's sponsor may be able to help! +----------------------------- DIGITIZE IT! -------------------------+ Send your photos to PixPro for high-quality color scanning, and get an image to dress up your Web site or documents. Mention TOURBUS for 20% off first order. Come visit the free Pixel Pop Art Gallery! +---------------------- http://www.pixpro.com -----------------------+ BEST OF THE WEB '96 ------------------- Over the past few years, hundreds of "Best of the Web" sites have popped up. Annoying "Best of the Web" graphics litter the Information Superhighway, and I think we have all visited pages that have had more awards than content. It wasn't always this way. When I first started exploring the World Wide Web in early 1994, one of my two favorite sites on the Web was the Best of the Web '94 page (my other favorite site was GNN). The Best of the Web '94 page was unique in that it the awards that it gave were *REAL* -- the "winners" were announced at the International W3 Conference in Geneva on May 26, 1994. Well, your fearless (albeit plague-ridden) bus driver is proud to announce that the Best of the Web awards are back, and you can find a list of the 1996 winners at http://botw.org/1996/awards.html The Best of the Web awards were given out in the following categories: - Best Campus-Wide Information Service - Best Educational Site - Best Commercial Site - Most Important Concept - Best Design - Best Entertainment Site - Best Use of Interaction - Best Logo - Best Multimedia - Best Navigation Aid - Best Professional Site - Most Technical Merit The Best of the Web page is rather Spartan in design, but don't let that fool you. These awards are *WIDELY* respected, and a quick review of the winners (and even the runners-up) will give you a look at the absolute best that the Web has to offer! :) VERSION TRACKER --------------- If have been on the bus for any amount of time, you will no doubt know that I have a habit of occasionally pulling our little bus of Internet happiness into sites that are not quite finished, giving you a sneak peek at some of the coolest sites on the Net before *anyone* has ever even heard of them. For example, in the past we have paid surprise visits to Yahoo's beta page (3 Aug. 1995), The brand new New York Times homepage (25 Jan. 1996), and Yahoo's new search engine (19 Dec. 96). Continuing in that tradition, our next stop is at a site that is only half finished. The site is called "Version Tracker" and you can find it on the Web at http://www.versiontracker.com/ Version Tracker lists the current versions of over 450 major software titles, and they update this list hourly! Want to know what the latest version of Eudora Pro or After Dark Online is? Version Tracker will tell you! Wait ... it gets better. Version Tracker's homepage also has links that point you to the places where you can actually download the files necessary to upgrade your software! The bad news is that Version Tracker only lists Mac software updates (I *told* you that the site is only half finished!). However, on or about February 1st, the folks at Version Tracker are going to roll out a new page for PC software updates at http://www.versiontracker.com/pcupdates.shtml If the PC updates page is half as useful as the Mac page is, this site is rapidly going to become one of the most popular -- and useful -- pages anywhere. Remember: you heard it here first! :) MACINTOUCH ---------- Our final stop is designed solely for Mac users. If you are looking for the absolute BEST site for news about Mac hardware, software, and vendors, you *have* to check out http://www.macintouch.com/ As a loyal Mac user, this site is one of maybe half a dozen Web pages that I go out of my way to visit on a *daily* basis. MacInTouch consistently provides the latest Mac news and information, without all of the "cheerleading" found on other Mac new pages and without all of the "fatalism" about Apple found in the general media. ... well, that's it for this week. I am going to go home, take a handful of plague pills, crawl under the covers, and sleep until it is time for me to write my next TOURBUS post. :) Have a safe and happy weekend! -------------------------------- TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE DAY -------------------------------- CLINICS (noun). A brand-name paper tissue. Usage: "I'd best git me a box of clinics before I sneeze agin." (Special thanks goes to Adam Joshua Smargon, Vince Sabio, and the kind folks at HumourNet for today's wurd.) YOU CAN FIND ALL OF THE OLD SOUTHERN WORDS OF THE DAY ON THE SOUTHERN WORD HOMEPAGE AT http://ua1vm.ua.edu/~crispen/word.html ====================================================================== Join : Send SUBSCRIBE TOURBUS Your Name to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Leave : Send SIGNOFF TOURBUS to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Info : On the Web at http://www.worldvillage.com/tourbus.htm Advertising: E-mail BobRankin@MHV.net w/ Subject: SEND TBRATES =--------------------------------------------------------------------= For info on my new book "Atlas for the Information Superhighway" send an e-mail letter to LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU that says GET ATLAS INFO F=MAIL in the body of your e-mail letter ====================================================================== TOURBUS - (c) Copyright 1997, 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! (\__/) .~ ~. )) /O O ./ .' Patrick Douglas Crispen {O__, \ { The University of Alabama / . . ) \ crispen@campus.mci.net |-| '-' \ } http://ua1vm.ua.edu/~crispen/ .( _( )_.' '---.~_ _ _& Warning: squirrels.