TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPIC: RIDER'S REVENGE #23

Hi all... it's time for another Rider's Revenge issue, where I share sites that your fellow Tourbus riders think are useful, fun, cool or otherwise worthy of attention. If you have a favorite site that's of interest to an international audience, send it along for the next Rider's Revenge!

EVER WANT TO BEAT YOUR CALCULATOR?

Betty (who has been a Tourbus Rider since 1996!) wrote to tell me about BEATCALC. No, it's no violence directed at our little plastic and silicon friends...

> BEATCALC will wake up your brain on Monday morning with *free*
> instructions how to do math computations mentally faster than
> someone using a calculator. For example, learn how to square 65
> or 95 mentally faster than a friend using a calculator.
> To subscribe to the free BEATCALC newsletter send e-mail request
> to BEATCALC@aol.com.

DISPOSABLE CREDIT CARDS

Murray from Ilinois wrote with some good advice:

> Hey Bob, I really enjoy Tourbus and have been a rider for several
> years. I finally get to make a contribution. After reading today
> about Credit Card Safety, I thought I'd pass on a new technique
> being offered by at least 2 different credit card issuers. Both
> do the same thing and utilize the very same software. Discover
> and MBNA will issue you a one-time-only credit card number and you
> can even place a maximum amount and expiration date if you choose.
> I've been using this for some time and it works great.

For more information, check with your credit card issuer or visit one of these sites:

http://www.discovercard.com

http://www.mbnashopsafe.com

HOT TALK ABOUT TRAVEL

The mysterious "L" from the state of Washington says:

> Some young friends of mine started a set of message boards related
> to travel, because the message boards at TheTrip.com were going to
> die. The boards are a good place to post travel related questions,
> opinions and information. There are participants from Australia,
> Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Great Britain and the US.

> The "hot" in Hot Talk refers to the heat generated by the occasional
> disagreement over seat pitch, or whether pilots should carry guns,
> what is "packing light?" and so forth. Occasionally some person
> finds us who thinks that Hot Talk refers to something else. They
> usually go away after one posting. The high school students who
> moderate the boards do a very good job of allowing heated debate,
> while watching for the occasional tiger roaming among the lambs.

http://pub5.ezboard.com/bhottalk

CARTOONLETS

Denis from Venice (California, that is) wanted to tell me about his nifty cartoon site.

> Dear Dr. Bob, I'm enjoying my ride on the bus. I just wanted to
> let you know about my site, HippoWorks, to see if you would
> consider telling fellow riders about it. I'm a cartoonist who
> creates 'cartoonlets,' or bite-sized animations. AOL recently
> saw them and are starting a test run of them on their site.

http://www.hippoworks.com

At first glance, you might think it's a site for small children, but the cartoons can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

BUG ZAPPER?

Judy from Egypt wrote to tell me that your PC may also function as a bug zapper...

> Hi Bob. Thanks for the fabulously useful Tourbus which finds it's
> way to me on the Red Sea coast of Egypt!

> I have been sent a site which you might like to pass on to the rest
> of the bus riders. It's from Thailand and is free software which
> is said to emit a frequency which paralyzes the wings of mosquitoes
> within 2 metres of the computer! Might be worth checking out.

http://www.thaiware.com/software/util/UL00608.htm

I downloaded the software, but didn't have any mosquitoes to test it on. If you have Windows 95/98/ME and it works for you, please drop me a note!

That's all for now, I'll see you next time! --Bob Rankin