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The website that I'm writing about is Amazon books located at www.amaxon.com.
This is an amazing website that will certainly give all traditional retail
book stores a run for their money. This site boasts over a million titles
that one can browse electronically (including interviews with the authors,
articles from critics, and a bulletin board of comments from "real people" who
have read the book) and the ability to order the book electronically at a 30%
discount with a variety of ways to ship it depending on the cost you want to
incur.
The site is laid out intelligently with spotlighted "Book of the Day"
selections, featured offerings from the New York Bestseller list, and titles
that are of topical interest, e.g., love books around Valentine's Day. There
are also all kinds of links to interactive activities such as writing verse,
posting critiques of books, and chat rooms with other readers of similar
tastes. The title catalog is set up by author, title, subject, and keyword to
facilitate searches. Another neat feature is a personal notification service
that sends you an e-mail when a new book in a topic that interests you hits
the shelves.
The incredible accessibility of information on virtually any book that you
might want is an excellent use of Internet technology. This site has obvious
interest to the student who needs to easily identify topics in a particular
field, or to just about any individual who wants to easily narrow down the
almost endless possibilities of finding a good book to read without spending
hours picking through stacks in a library or in a book store. Also, the book
review links and reader comments are offer a real benefit to the online
shopper who wants to "see what he is getting." Finally, this site is noted as
a case study example of how to effectively use the power of Internet
technology for electronic commerce. Many other book vendors are starting to
take notice. In fact, Barnes & Noble plans to start selling books on AOL and
this will extend to the Internet sometime this spring. Discounts of 30% will
be offered. Sound familiar? Also, Simon and Schuster has announced the
launch of a "super site" (http://simonandschuster.com) which will offer free
content, including full text, of many books and subscription services. The
company plans to bring in more than $100 million in revenue through 1997.
Apparently, there's big money to be made in on-line books stores.
colleenpowers@msn.com
URL: http://www.pimall.com/digdirt
This website is a bit spooky from the standpoint of the incredible mass of
information that is out there about you and me and can be bought and sold for
a small price, regardless of the confidential nature of the information or the
pains you have gone to make sure it remains confidential. This website is
basically an investigative records firm which accesses an incredible number of
databases to develop reports based on the needs of the customer. Some of
these databases are available only to agencies such as law enforcement,
private investigative firms, and insurance companies, but a shocking amount of
information can be obtained by anyone willing to cough up some money. Fees
range from $35.00 on up to get just about any kind of information you need.
Examples of what's out there:
* $69.00 to find any unlisted number, name and address. How's that for
stalker material?
* $59.00 to trace a cellular phone number to owner's name and address.
* $63.00 for a 1-800 Sting Card which allows you to find out who the subject
is calling, where they are calling from, and the date and time of the
conversation, all within 24 hours.
* $75 for complete employment traces (could be highly useful to daycare
centers, for example, before they hire the out-of-work pedophile)
* $25.00 to get a report of someone's college record
* $35.00 to identify complaints, civil or administrative proceedings against
real estate agents (again, useful information for anyone who has been burnt
before)
* $69.00 for a personal profile of an individual incorporated from a number of
Dig Dirt search engines
* $50.00 to pinpoint all of an attorney's clients from both civil and criminal
court files. What happened to confidentiality?
And it goes on and on. There's even a service called Credit Peeper that for
$30.00 allows you to turn the tables and find out everyone who's been spying
on you. As with so much else on the Internet, the vast wealth of information
out there can be of immense use (identifying known crooks before you hire
them) or of incalculable harm (aiding and abetting the stalker from your prior
life in tracking you down). It all hinges on the scruples and the motives of
the person using the information. It was a shock, however, to realize that
the most intimate details of my education, employment, finances, and even
family life, may exist in virtual databases which can be combined at the
stroke of a key and sold for a few bucks. This doesn't give me a warm and
cozy feeling.
URL:http://www.vjf.com
The Virtual Job Fair site was one of the most interesting sites that I
have browsed lately. This job site is integrated with high tech careers
from around the world. Many companies post a detailed list of career job
opportunities currently available at their company to the Virtual Job Fair
site. Systemized time-phase programming assures the viewer that the jobs
listed are current. This site also provides a detailed job description
stating the minimum requirements needed to fulfill the position. I feel
that the job fair site has a balanced approach for gainful employment.
Information such as employer directories, resume centers, human resource
centers, and on the job strategies are among the listed.
Anyone looking for a job may benefit from this site. People such as
graduating college students, high tech career people as well as retired
people can gain beneficial information from this web site. Additional
helpful information for job seekers can also can be obtained on this site.
Information such as recommendations and solutions for resume formats,
information on the company that one may be applying to and company
philosophy are only a few of the interesting facts one can obtain from this
site. The impressive thing to remember about this site is the large number
of job listings that are available to you. One would have to hire multiple
head hunters to receive this kind of market exposure. Job opportunity
listings change frequently, so its a good idea to browse periodically.
Happy hunting!
http://pathfinder.com/@@t8fRngUAx4U4hWKc/thrive/health/lookitup.html
The web page listed above is only a fraction of the entire site. The
title is "Thrive @ Health" and it is a site devoted to healthy living.
Some of the categories to pick from are:
Eats, Health, Sex, Shape, Love & Look It Up
The Look It Up page is really a database and tool to give information
on medically related issues. It starts off by asking the user to type
in any sort of medical problem, question or drug. (I typed in
"Bronchitis")Then it will ask you what types of information you want
the database to search for (i.e. Fact Sheets on symptoms & conditions,
drugs, surgical procedures, Resources and books, Summaries of articles
and medical journals). Then the user hits the "FIND" button and the
details will look something like the following:
Your search of bronchitis turned up:
A total of 170 documents. On this page:
-4 matching documents in illnesses: Bronchitis, Acute or Chronic
-2 matching documents in resources: Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema
or Asthma
-14 matching documents in article summaries:
+ listing medical journal articles with a one sentence
abstract from the article and a date of publication.
Anyone with access to the internet could use this great, FREE service
as a researching tool. Considering the high cost of health care, it
pays to do the research at home first. This site is useful for
personal, academic or business purposes making it an all-around great
web site to bookmark.
Stephanie Hoffman (sandbar@interaccess.com)
Although this site took a minute or so to download it was well worth it!
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art's web page is one of the most
beautifully produced site I've visited on the web. I was completely
surprised that its collections include over two million works of art
spanning the past 5,000 years.
In addition to viewing actual art collections located at the museum's
galleries, a floor plan is provided with a detailed map and description
of each floor's works. The option exists to become a member on-line,
visit their Gift Shop, view their events calendar or visit a Frequently
Asked Questions page for answers to the most common inquiries.
The beauty of the internet is really captured in this site because,
realistically, not everyone can afford the time or expense to fly to New
York to visit this most amazing place. From the comforts of home or
work we can travel to New York, and visit each and every floor in this
museum, taking as long as we want to view the artwork for leisure's sake
or art history research or business purposes as well. If I had a web
page I would definitely put a link to the Museum's home page.
Stephanie Hoffman (sandbar@interaccess.com)
Site: URL: http://www.crc.ricoh.com:80/people/steve/kids.html
Searching for web sites is an excellent assignment. Since I often find
myself surfing the net during all hours of the night, I am eager to share
with others some terrific places I've been. Recently, I stumbled across the
above referenced web site. Without much experience on the internet, this
location proved to be educational to me and the children it is intended for.
I highly recommend this site for children and those adults new to the
internet.
This home page (URL: http://www.crc.ricoh.com:80/people/steve/kids.html)
created by Stephen Savitzky offers a multitude of information. The most
informative category I found is titled "Finding Your Way Around the Web."
This web site allows the user to find their way around more efficiently and
is very user friendly. This site can explain what a search engine is better
than most books. Not only does it explain search engines, but offers
hyperlink words to connect the user directly with the tool itself (i.e.
yahoo). Several subjects of interest, wanted by most children, are located
on this home page. Subject titles hyperlink you directly to academic sites,
posted artwork by children, movies, and even school districts for families
moving.
As wonderful as this site may sound, it still comes with a parental
discretion warning. The page is designed for the 11-year old daughter of the
creator. However, what may be appropriate for one child, may not be
appropriate for another. As with all web site locations, parents should
always be alert and control what their child views. The creator gives good
advice to children using the internet such as "Always remember, if thinking
about doing something makes you feel uncomfortable, it's probably wrong. You
may also see things on the net that are upsetting, confusing, or just plain
stupid. The ``back'' button is your friend--nobody is making you look, and
nobody will complain if you change the channel." His home page uses three
different types of warnings for kids and their parents so they are aware of
the level of parental guidance. I hope you enjoy your experience at this
site and find it as informative as I did.
Site: http://www2.elibrary.com/id/27/171/search.cgi
It is difficult to select only one web site to share with the class. Of the
many sites I found this week, "The Electric Library" appears to have the most
to offer. This site provides students and families with an efficient and
safe method of obtaining information over the internet. This site is great
for any person who wants to conduct research at home. The service is also
used at public schools, academic institutions and libraries. The Electric
Library is only available with a subscription, however, a 30-day free trial
is offered.
Any person can simply type in a question and within seconds, the results
appear in order of relevancy. The Information retrieved is drawn from a
database consisting of over 150 full-text newspapers, 2,000 classic books,
hundreds of maps, thousands of photographs, and major works of literature and
art. Advanced search options allow the user to limit searches by dates,
titles and other specific requirements. Once the information is received, a
click of the icon will download the information.
If you are thinking that your search engine acts in the same manner, you are
incorrect. There is from twenty to fifty million pages of data on the web
and some contain both illicit if not illegal sources. The Electric Library
offers two million pages of data that is continually updated, cataloged and
put into a discrete database of preapproved publications and images.
The Ethical Spectacle is site on the Internet I used to find articles on
the media. This was helpful for the journals on the media required for my
college writing class. This site could be considered a "media watchdog"
site. It works well as an electronic newsletter with contributions from
people critical and supportive of the media. The site provides insight about
the controversy of free speech versus censorship-- especially on the
Internet. The Ethical Spectacle also references other Internet sites dealing
with issues of legality, morality, and politics. Some related sites I found
when I used Ethical Spectacle were The National Civil Rights Museum, The
ACLU and EnviroWeb.
I think that anyone that has ever found a great Internet site will have the
experience of "branching" further and further to related sites. Sites like
this are great for finding written works on problems and issues. As stated
above, and as I feel, you may be critical or supportive of certain issues--
especially surrounding the media. Here is a good place to gather insight.
Roy Carlton
rcarlton@shrike.depaul.edu