Surfing the Web (Internet World Wide Web) is fun and exciting. A few tips
and pointers can make your surfing more enjoyable and keep you from learning
lessons the hard way. Let's look at some hot Web sites you can visit.
The URL, or address needed to visit the described site appears in bold
type. Just type the URL into your Web browser and press
Stock quotes
Want to keep up on the stock market? Why limit yourself to the market quotes
in the newspaper? You can get much more and get it more timely on the Web.
There are dozens of quote-providing services, but most charge a fee (how
else can they pay for the service they are doing?). A service that will retrieve
five stock quotes a day for free is
Interquote. A free, more limited
coverage service is the
MIT stock quotes.
There are many others, including services that will: specify the stock quotes
you are interested in and have them e-mailed to you each day; e-mail a message
to you with any breaking news relating to companies of interest to you; provide
you a full, detailed company history with stock price and earnings reports;
simulate a "day on the
NYSE floor" as an educational tour; and give you the price and current
news on
Fortune
500 companies . There are dozens more stock market-related
Web sites.
Software companies
You can check the latest developments on major programs (Windows, Word Perfect,
Norton, etc.), check out job opportunities with software companies, get tips
on getting more out of your program, and even download bug fixes directly
from software houses. Most of them have an Internet Web page. If I haven't
listed the one you want here, just use a search
engine to find the URL (address) you need. Some of those you may want
to look at include:
Art museums
There are some excellent museums on the Web. A museum's Web page shows you
a list of their artist (often with a bio) and a list of their artworks with
small photos (called thumbnails). You can click on the thumbnail to receive
a full size picture. High quality artwork takes up a lot of disk space and
usually takes time to download in anything other than small size. Using
thumbnails means you only have to wait for large pictures that you choose
to view. The longest established electronic museum is the Louvre's WebMuseum
in Paris. Click here to visit the
Louvre. You will need to select the closest mirror site (usually
California or Ontario) then enter the world's finest art museum. Other museums
include the "Internet I am free
museum" and the
Smithsonian
Institute (this one alone could take weeks to explore!).
Online banking is on the Web. You may want to
have an online bank so that you can check your balance, get account information,
balance your checkbook, and transfer funds 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Or you may want a Web account because you can never remember to make your
payments on time. I once intended to send a payment two days early, but took
two days to get my checkbook and my memory together and get the check written.
Then I didn't have an envelope. Three days later, I finally had an envelope
but forgot what I did with the check. When the envelope and the check got
together, I didn't have a stamp. Anyway, the payment reached the company
fifteen days late and I had to pay a late charge. If you are absent-minded
and pressed for time like me, you'll like online banking because your payments
can come from your checking account on a certain day each month. You don't
have to write a check, find the address, locate an envelope, or even use
a stamp. You don't even have to remember to do it--It gets done automatically.
There are several banks that offer online banking. Before selecting one,
ask for their advertising brochure, compare a few services, and check it
out. So far, online banking tends to be a little more costly. Wells Fargo
Bank, Bank of Santa Monica, and Salem Five Bank are aggressively looking
for new online customers, but there are 107 banks and 27 credit unions you
can check out from the online
banking and financial services homepage.
Internal Revenue Service is one of many Web sources
of information from the US government. Use the
IRS Webpage to get
help with your taxes, see FAQS (Frequently Asked Questions), get copies of
instructions (forms or booklets), get the address for filing tax returns,
or download IRS tax forms (in Adobe Acrobat format--the program is also available
free). A list of other government
services is also available.
Photo-processing is now available via the Web.
One exciting new site is Seattle
Filmworks, which will process your film (photographs or slides) and mail
your prints to you along with a diskette containing your photos as digitized
images to display on your computer screen. Your first order includes a free
Photoworks program, which will display your photos as a screen saver, and
save them in groups called albums. SF sends new customers a roll of
film, a prepaid mailer, and free software for $5.95. I've received my first
order back, and it's great!
Grab-Net is a hot
new Internet application from Forefront Group. This program will allow you
to "grab" snippets of information you select from Web pages, including pictures,
icons, text, and URLs. See something you really like on a Web page you've
browsed? Grab-Net the portion you want and save it on disk, even if it's
only one icon. At the present, this program requires you to use Netscape
as a Web browser, but Forefront is looking at making it compatible with other
Web browsers.
These are current Internet HotSpots. You can try them out by typing the URL
given in bold type into your Web browser. Try it, and you'll be an
Internaut (experienced Internet navigator) before you know it.
Microsoft
Corel
Borland
Lotus
Symantic
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