(If you can spare time to enjoy clean intellectual fun, then check out the links that I will share with you in this article.)

All you need is a little too much time on your hands, a bookmark option (to remember where you were), and a sense of humor.

Your sense of humor can be downloaded from the Microsoft Web site and don't forget to register your copy so you can be on their mailing list.

- Two places to find people ­ http://spruce.evansville.edu/~jj33/search/email.html and www.switchboard.com. The spruce address contains e­mail addresses for everyone, including, American On­Line. Switchboard contains the US white pages, so if they have a listed phone number, it will be in here. So, after everyone is asleep in your house, go look up your ex from high school.

- The Bob Dole Home Page ­ http://www.dole96.org From the Dole campaign HQ. Sort of.

- The Republican Central Committee ­ http://www.republicans.org From people who think about Republicans.

(In the interest of balance, here is the Clinton home page -http://www.clinton96.org/ )

- IQ Test On Line ­ http://world.brain.com/index.cgi/UN/iq/ After the disclaimers about these sort of tests do not reflect actual intelligence, biased against gender/race, etc., etc., you still take the test. I'd tell you my score, but then I don't believe in these sort of tests.

- World Domination Review ­ The Journal of Amateur Paranoia http://www.globaldialog.com/~larryt/aindex.htm In this web site, you can learn Gallagher, the comedian, is suing the group "The Smashing Pumpkins" for stealing his act. I get those two mixed up all the time.

- Alta Vista Web Site Search ­ altavista.digital.com/cgi­bin/query Alta Vista is one of the premier web searching tools. It will find the occurrence of any words in web sites throughout the world. It's very easy to find too much information in the search. A simple search on "Dallas Cowboys World Communism" found those words on over 10,000 sites. Really. Are you surprised?

- If you hate the San Francisco 49ers, check out http://www.scruznet.com/~nhs/49hater.html. You can bond.

- Bruce Springsteen News ­ http://www.mcs.net/~kvk/news.html The latest on "The Boss." Fans of almost anyone put up little mini shrines to their heros, some have news, some have pictures, some have ten year old kids programming HTML to honor Madonna. You laugh, but that ten year old will graduate college with twelve years of heavy programming experience. What color is your resume?

- Two business are worth noting ­ http://www.cdnow.com and http://www.amazon.com. CD now sells CDS and Amazon sells books. By not having to stock books, run stores, sell coffee, or act trendy, these two companies can track down almost anything in the music or book business. Open twenty four hours a day. One of the last places where you can shop and smoke.

- Nasa ­ http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/NASA_homepage.html A great site. NASA will transmit live pictures during planetary flybys. A good place to visit when you need that little extra something on that term paper. Isn't that due tomorrow? And you let it go until the last minute again?

- DejaNews ­ http://www.dejanews.com These folks will search across all the newsgroups for text or a user. If you are interested in finding a newsgroup of interest, this is a good place to start. The discussions can vary from favorite musicians, sports teams, the Bible, various religious groups and discussions, and so on. Since there is no real "official" list of newsgroups, DejaNews is effective in finding the newsgroup that contains topics of interest for you. They are part of the Austin Technology Incubator, which provides small companies support and guidance to survive into their terrible twos.

Newsgroups include lots of alt.fan newsgroups, generally in the format of alt.fan.firstname­lastname. or alt.fan.groupname. No spaces. Music is generally in rec.music.name. Check it out, everyone in the world wants to know what you thought of that last episode of "Friends". And you can tell them and still get back to The Single Guy. Way cool.

Alt.humor.best­of­usenet has postings which people found amusing. Unfortunately, you have to nominate yourself.

Alt.conspiracy.jfk will help you finally figure out what really happened on November 22, 1963, because these folks know and they will explain it all to you. Several years ago, Omni magazine ran a list of the Top 100 Rumors of all time. Number 8 was "Oswald did it by himself."

And, finally, register your Elvis sighting at alt.elvis.sighting.


Earle Hager is an Account Manager for Entex Information Services, a nationwide provider of computer systems and consulting services. He recently joined the Seguin Internet Club and can be reached at ehager@hager.com.



This article and all articles published in this column are posted in the Internet, in the web site of the Seguin Internet Club: http://lonestar.texas.net/~weersjt/club/home.html To contribute to this column, contact column coordinator Gloria Rivera. The purpose of the column is to contribute to the Internet literacy of the community.

The monthly meeting of the Seguin Internet Club will take place this Saturday November 9 at Century 21 D&D at 10 am. Please bring Internet information to post, show, or share. The purpose of the club is to facilitate communication between Internet enthusiasts. Membership is not by invitation, but by Internet interest, regardless of proficiency or provider; there are no dues involved. The club meets monthly on the second Saturday at 10 am, at Century 21 D&D. Members of the Seguin Internet Club are invited to write for the Internet Beat column.

To join or to offer ideas for the club, contact Jerry Weers, Gloria Rivera or Alton Hierholzer, at weersjt@texas.net, riverag@connecti.com or altonh@connecti.com; 303-0818, 303-4764, or 303-9260.