Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 00:25:40 -0500
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Sender: The Internet TourBus - A virtual tour of cyberspace
Comments: Resent-From: crispen@netsquirrel.com
Comments: Originally-From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
Subject: TOURBUS -- 29 APRIL 1999 -- WHATIS.COM / PC'S MUST-READ LIST
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Free Subscription Info and Archives at http://www.TOURBUS.com
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
WhatIs.com / PC's Must-Read List
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://whatis.com/
http://www.newsscan.com/
http://www.infobeat.com/
http://www.slate.com/Code/TodaysPapers/TodaysPapers.asp
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/reports/gmsv/index.shtml
Howdy, y'all!
TOURBUS remains free thanks to the financial support of our sponsors.
I want to thank the folks at "LifeMinders," "eRock," and
"Cyberbaskets" for making today's journey of our little bus of
Internet happiness possible. Please take a moment to visit today's
sponsors and thank them for keeping TOURBUS on the road!
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+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
On with the show ...
----------
Whatis.com
----------
Have you ever noticed that most computer gurus speak in an alien
tongue? For example, ask a guru to explain how the GIF file format
works, and she is likely to tell you that
LZW is a lossless compression algorithm and
compression/decompression times are symmetric. LZW is a
repeated-string compressor, it uses a data dictionary ... to
represent linear sequences of data in the uncompressed input
stream
Uh-huh. Any questions?
Clearly, we need some sort of guru-to-human translator. Fortunately,
such a translator exists. It is called "WhatIs.com":
http://whatis.com/ .
WhatIs.com is an online dictionary of computing terms. Best of all,
WhatIs.com explains complicated computing terms in plain and succinct
language. Well ... sort of plain language. I still wouldn't
recommend WhatIs.com to newbies.
The WhatIs.com site itself takes a little getting used to. The
WhatIs.com Web page is broken into five different frames:
1. The left-hand frame, which has navigational links to all of
the stuff that WhatIs offers. [Spend some time exploring
these links. Believe me when I say there is gold in them thar
hills!]
2. The top-right frame, which is sort of an "A to Z" tab. Click
on the letter you are interested in, and all of the computing
terms that begin with that letter are displayed in ...
3. What I call the "scolling dictionary" frame. This frame shows
all of the computing terms you can access. Just click on a
particular term, and its definition and a brief description of
everything you need to know about that term are displayed in
...
4. The "body" frame. And, of course, below the body frame is ...
5. An ad. :)
While it is easy to focus on all of WhatIs.com's definitions, don't
forget to look at the left-hand frame to see all of the other stuff
WhatIs offers. In fact, I particularly recommend:
- "The Speed Of ..." which tells you the speed of everything from
a regular telephone connection to an OC-256. This is the most
complete list of modem and network speeds I have ever seen
(although I am a little disappointed that they did not take the
time to show you how fast these connections are in kilobytes
and megabytes per second -- they only list the number of *bits*
per second.).
- "Learning Paths" which lets you read (and learn) a series of
definitions related to the same topic in sequence, one
definition at a time. This is a GREAT learning tool!
As I said earlier, the WhatIs.com site takes a little getting used to.
However, once you figure out how the site is organized, you'll see
what a wonderful resource WhatIs.com really is.
-------------------
PC's Must-Read List
-------------------
Last week I mentioned that NewsScan now holds a proud position on my
ever-shrinking "must-read" list. My "must-read" list is a list of
Internet newsletters, newspapers, and Web sites I go out of my way to
read every day.
A few TOURBUS riders asked to see my list. Well, my list changes from
month to month as I discover new Internet sites and resources, but
here is my "must-read" list as of now:
NewsScan Daily
http://www.newsscan.com/
------------------------
NewsScan Daily is a free, 5-day-a-week summary of significant
information technology news. If you liked Edupage, you'll love
NewsScan Daily. For more information, see our 22 April 99 post at
http://listserv.aol.com/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9904D&L=tourbus&P=R205
InfoBeat News (Morning Coffee Edition)
http://www.infobeat.com/
------------------------
InfoBeat News is a free, customizable service that delivers a daily e-
mail summary of news topics, including U.S. news, international news
and special events. I've seen a lot of online newspapers, but
InfoBeat News is still my favorite (probably because it is so
customizable). For more information, see our 16 July 98 post at
http://listserv.aol.com/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9807C&L=tourbus&P=R226
Today's Papers
http://www.slate.com/Code/TodaysPapers/TodaysPapers.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Today's Papers is a free digest of the day's biggest news stories.
What makes this a must-read is Scott Shuger's spot-on observations (he
catches stuff that no one else seems to catch). For more information
on Today's Papers, see our 3 September 98 post at
http://listserv.aol.com/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9809A&L=tourbus&P=R114
Good Morning Silicon Valley
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/reports/gmsv/index.shtml
--------------------------------------------------------
The address may have changed, but GMSV is still my favorite source of
tech news. For more information, see our 25 June 1998 post at
http://listserv.aol.com/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9806E&L=tourbus&P=R145
That's it (I told you my list is "ever-shrinking"). Have a safe and happy
weekend, and we'll talk again next week! :)
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
WhatIs.com / PC's Must-Read List
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://whatis.com/
http://www.newsscan.com/
http://www.infobeat.com/
http://www.slate.com/Code/TodaysPapers/TodaysPapers.asp
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/reports/gmsv/index.shtml
---------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE WEEK
---------------------------------
WAFFLE (contraction).
Usage: "Yew better git home, bubba, 'relse yer waffle be real mad"
[Special thanks to Ellen Lee for today's wurd]
You can find all of the old Southern Words of the day at
http://netsquirrel.com/crispen/word.html
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(\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen
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