Steve “Pudgy” De Rose's regular bookmarks

I have temporarily removed the JavaScript code which kicks you out to Firefox.com if I detect you surfing here with Microsoft©® Internet Explorer®. I stress that MsIE is a horrible web browser with buggy code, exploitable security flaws, and numerous “hidden” .dll and .bat files which record every URL you have ever landed on (whether you intended to visit there or not). Those files are extremely difficult to clean properly (They're tied to your registry code. Windows® will object when you attempt to do so.).
Have you noticed how many people have written “advice” columnists relating that he | she was snooping around on a companion's computer, and being shocked by what the browsing history supposedly showed? Besides that the snooper should be dumped immediately (Somebody is looking for ammunition for a future break-up, and has actually just created it.); this is a very common incident which could lead to real-life problems for people who use MsIE! Please cease using MsIE.
Firefox has a setting which will automatically clear your browsing history, download history, cache, and cookies when you close it.

Internet

Ad Hoc I. P. Tools
This is a collection of TCP | I. P. [Internet Protocol] and Internet tools gathered from around the World-Wide Web for anyone interested in tracking down DNS, HTTP headers, traceroutes from various backbones, and more.
I. P. Whois lookups
Here is a Japanese W-WW site where you can lookup the domain record of an I. P. address without it counting against an external limit [such as Ad Hoc's lookup function].
Smart Whois
Here is one site which can obtain the owner of an Internet domain name; & do a forward or reverse DNS lookup.
Online I. P. Tools
This is MSV.DK. The site is administered by Martin Svenningsen. It is an Internet networking utility page which measures your connection speed; and has available options to perform Whois, DNS lookups, and browser checks. It also has a rubric covering site security and privacy, & much more.
DShield
This is another World-Wide Web site where you can look up your own (or another) I. P. Address. Back parse to the virgule and learn more about its distributed intrusion detection system.
The List of Internet Service Providers
If you are looking for a different ISP, here's a superb place to start. I located my current ISP through this.
Broadband Reports
If you are considering upgrading to broadband Internet access, this is a very informative & comprehensive site which will let you know if your local telephone company's central office has _DSL wiring, and from which providers. It has an informative forum where subscribers with _DSL or cable modems relate their experiences. You need to accept cookies to use this site.
Public access newsservers #1
Here is a comprehensive site noting newsservers available to you. Some are inadvertantly open, and will soon close, but some are dedicated to this. Dmoz.org predates Wikipedia. It is still a good W-WW site for exploring topics.
Public access newsservers #2
This is a cracking forum's page with free NNTP newsservers. You can search for a specific newsgroup on the twenty-two newsservers it currently has. Keep in mind that most of these newsservers will not carry all the newsgroups in which you could be interested.
Internet Country Codes
Here is a text file which identifies each country's geographic domain code.
Search IRC
Search IRC features the most complete, up to date and relevant IRC search on the web. Its IRC search engine monitors 2,281 IRC networks to bring you more live IRC channels, more active IRC users, and over 5,000 pages of information on IRC networks, their services, and their servers.
Band “a” & “b” prefices
If you reside in California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, or Wisconsin, and have a non-wireless prefix supplied by A.T. & T.; this W-WW page informs you of the prefices that it considers to be in your Band “a” & “b” (untimed calls) calling areas. Input your area code and prefix. Click through for a printable version. JavaScript|ActiveX® must be enabled.
The FreeSite
Here is a site which collates all types of freebies on the World-Wide Web.
Older browsers
This site is a repository of older versions of World-Wide Web browsers; including, but not limited to, Netscape & Microsoft©®. It is a world community for W-WW developers; promoting the mutual free exchange of ideas, skills & experiences.
Tiny Apps
Tiny Apps is a depot of applications for Windows®-based computers. All of these applications (& programs) are scripted in tight, concise code. The webmaster also maintains a weblog, and offers a free E-Mail newsletter.
mIRC homepage
mIRC is the Internet Relay Channel program I recommend for all users with Windows®-based computers. It has been downloaded over 150 million times. (Please send Khaled the registration fee.)
Still Listener's Corner
Here's an excellent site with links to many significant Internet programs. You can locate utilities about audio | video, compressors, newsreaders, and all kinds of editors, graphics, players, encoders, hard drives, proxies, safety, security, & more.
Digital Digest
This is a site where you can learn about Internet & computer security; and what is inside your computer [cards, drivers, & settings]. It has a rubric orbiting around Linux. Registration is not required.
Boardsmith Total Security
This is Boardsmith's BBS. He has comprehensive security sections. This page has three frames.
Net Tools
This is a hub W-WW site with information about on-line applications and software programs to secure your computer. There is also a forum for which you may register.
PayPal™ Sucks.Com
This is a clearinghouse of information, including a message forum, which alleges that PayPal™ is a corporation that requires its users (in the U.S.A.) to waive their rights to credit card consumer protection laws, and that the user may not issue a chargeback for anything purchased using his | her credit card and PayPal™ account in order to use the service. Withdraw your money out of PayPal™ before it confiscates it. Making matters worse, eBay® now mandates that new users can only pay through it. I submit this is a good time to quit using eBay®.
Real Tech News
This is the weblog of Alice Hill, who, along with Bill O'Brien, for 12¾ years, had a monthly column in "Computer Shopper" magazine. Computer Shopper underwent remodelling, and their column (“The Hard Edge”) was kicked to the curb of the information superhighway after the October 2004 issue. Alice has revolved back to computer coverage with this W-WW site, which aims to bridge the gap between the informal and mostly amateur-run tech weblogs and the polished, but often slow and advertiser-supported, tech portals. This W-WW site had problems with PayPal™.
Shields Up!
Gibson Research Corp. offers this page for PC & Windows® users only. On this page is a service where you can securely test your computer's shields & probe your computer's ports. There are also other solid services for protecting your computer here.
Spybot Search & Destroy
Spybot Search & Destroy is a program which digs deeply into the workings of your computer to find (& eradicate) programs that are stealthily tracking your W-WW surfing behavior. This site has gone missing at times.
Anonymity megasite
This Dutch W-WW site has scores of links to anonymity resources, in several rubrics.
Anonymizing yourself
Here is an excellent site giving specific, detailed information (in two URLs) on how to make yourself less visible to World-Wide Web sites, Usenet newsgroups, and E-Mail address harvesters, while still browsing, lurking, & contributing. The digest version: Disable both Java and JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Stay Invisible
This site provides solid information and news about anonymity & privacy on the Internet. There is now also a message board for which you may opt to register. However, it requires a proxy with SSL capability.
How to bypass internet censorship
This is a Wiki-styled page which provides information about the different methods of blockings and ways to bypass them. The site is available in English, Polish, & German.
Free Network Project
Freenet is a peer-to-peer network designed to allow the distribution of information over the Internet in an efficient manner, without fear of censorship. Freenet is completely decentralized, which means that it cannot be attacked or blocked.
CyberArmy Headquarters
CyberArmy is a group of netizens who believe in a deregulated Internet; free from external control. It supports Open Source. It has a good discussion forum.
Handling on-line vermin
This is the first entry in a series in a weblog by Amy Gahran. It is a superb series of articles about what you and I should do when we encounter someone who, inadvertantly or advertantly, disrupts our on-line experience. The short form is: Take a breather. But it also classifies the disrupters, so that we can understand what he | she ultimately wants.
FastMail.FM
FastMail is a service dedicated to bringing the fastest, most accessible, & feature rich, free E-Mail service on the W-WW. My main E-Mail address is affiliated here. It requires neither Java nor JavaScript|ActiveX®. A new interface has been installed. There are scores of domain names now available. It uses greylisting as a spam-fighting procedure.
Ananzi E-Mail
Ananzi is an E-Mail service which is hosted in South Africa. It has a good virus detector, and does not automatically open E-Mail attachments. It allows 10 MB of storage for non-subscribing accounts. Its hazard: It sends weekly sponsored HTML E-Mails which attempt to execute Microsoft©® Internet Explorer® in order to pull you to a W-WW page. If you open an HTML E-Mail in any browser, you will be tracked, and, while Ananzi would not do such; this is a common trick (including forging the "From:" field to make it seem to be from someone you know) used by virus writers to try and infect your computer.
SpamGourmet E-Mail
SpamGourmet is a free E-Mail service which you can use to protect your real E-Mail address. The concept here is that when you encounter a situation where you need to provide an E-Mail address (a forum, an on-line travel price quote, someone who you do not know), you give it a disposable E-Mail address which will die after a limited number, specified by you, of E-Mails will be forwarded to your real E-Mail address, but the other party will not have your real E-Mail address. This works. I keenly recommend it.
Free E-Mail services
Do you need an E-Mail address to attach to a music or video clip which you are sharing (to comply with state law)? Or do you just want to avoid being spammed when you register for a forum? One method is to use a disposable E-Mail account. This site offers hundreds of companies which will allow you to not use your primary E-Mail account. View its forum.
Be a web hound
This site teaches you how to refine your searches to hone in on exactly the material which fulfills your quest. It will take some time initially, but you will know how to find information very swiftly thereafter.
Scroogle
Scroogle is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose main service is an anonymous search using Google™. The Scroogle scraper randomly grabs a Goo I. P. Address, trashes the incoming cookies and saves the results in a file which is deleted within one hour. Google™ does not get to place a cookie on your computer, does not get your I. P. Address, and cannot tell which searches are from the same person. I send you directly to a non-imaged page with the search box. If you backparse, it is available in 28 languages.
Google™ link search [advanced]
Google™ is a search engine and portal which is especially keen on rejecting URLs which are nothing more than spam traps. This link sends you to the 'Advanced Search' page.
Yahoo!®'s advanced search
I have moved Yahoo!® back behind of Google™ on purpose. Yahoo!®'s deal with Microsoft©® puts it on the wrong side of the search engine privacy & security line.
Getting spammed when searching for something is rough, but not as hazardous as submitting to a “hunting party” from a law enforcement agency which wants identification of everybody who sought on-line information about a certain topic (most of which have nothing to do with terrorism - a leaked list of the terms revealed that "TGP" was one of the topics on the subpoena).
Also, Bing keeps track of whatever an I. P. Address sought for eighteen months. For example, somebody in Bend, OR., on an iMac®, using Safari v4, and with the I. P. Address of 216.228.186.185, searched for "japan adult imageboards" on Bing. [He wound up here.]
I am confounded by the CIO of Firefox recommending Bing rather than Google™. If it turns out that Yahoo!® search is withdrawn and supplanted by Bing, I'll probably leave it on here.
All The Web [video | customized]
All The Web seems to locate image and video content better than the above three. I send you to its ‘Video’ tab; and its “advanced search” rubric. Customize your parameters here. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®, and enable cookies in order for your options to be remembered.
Snip URL
Frequently, as you surf the W-WW, you may encounter a URL which you would like to refer into a forum, weblog, E-Mail message, or Twitter, but which is so lengthy that cutting & pasting it will result in the URL being extended beyond one line, or you running out of characters in your text message. Snip URL is designed to correct that. It will snip the long URL into a much shorter URL which serves as a seamless “gateway” to it. If you register here (which requires cookies accepted), it will store your snipped URLs to illustrate how many surfers have clicked on them.
Tiny URL
Tiny URL is a redundancy for Snip URL; except that you cannot register here.
RingSurf
RingSurf offers easy access to thousands of member World-Wide Web sites organized by related interests into easy-to-travel rings. If you seek other persons who share your hobby, link here. RingSurf is completely free & does not require you to identify yourself in order to maintain a site thereupon.
Domeus
Domeus is Europe's biggest free to use newsletter and mailing list community. It allows you to create, send and subscribe to thousands of interesting newsletters and mailing lists on a variety of topics.
World Birthday Web
Get personal. Here is where you can learn who is celebrating a birthday today. You can send them a private E-Mail message, or perhaps browse their World-Wide Web pages.
On-line language translations [#1]
This is Google™'s on-line translator. You are not seeing things. I moved Google™'s translator ahead of Yahoo!®'s because Yahoo!®'s ceased functioning after a number of pages.
On-line language translations [#2]
Here is a site which provides translations of words, & URLs from English to French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean (and vice versa). It is powered by Systran.
Rikaichan
This is an add-on for Firefox browsers. Download it, and the pertinent dictionary. (I am using it for Japanese - English translations.) Restart Firefox and right-click to enable it. Then, when you mouse over a character in Japanese, a bubble will appear giving the definition of that character in your designated language.
Pig Latin translator
The World-Wide Web is truly universal, now that it has this phenomenal service. This page will translate your designated text into Pig Latin. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.

Proxy Judges & Proxies

Proxy judge #1
This is a numeric I. P. Address judge. It is in Japanese only. I have modified all of my links to proxy judges & environmental checkers with the anonym.to [c.v.] link anonymizer referrer. This will allow you to click on these URLs and not be declassed in the result by the HTTP_REFERER {sic} variable.
All the proxy judges to which I link are version 2.35. AnonyLevel 1 is the most secure. Most non-proxied, "closed" (versus "Keep-Alive") connections will judge Level 2. What is most important is whether your actual Internet Protocol [I. P.] Address is displayed anywhere on the output screen. If you know of any more version 2.35 proxy judges, please contact me.
This is a numeric I. P. Address judge. These are particularly useful for detecting CoDeeN | PlanetLab proxies. Those proxies, while promising swift performance, filter out [i.e.: will not let you view the content thereupon] all sites with numeric I. P. Addresses & many sites orbiting around particular topics (including how to find non-CoDeeN | PlanetLab proxies). Its FAQ page also notes that it monitors all users and the World-Wide Web sites surfed using its proxies. If you view a list of anonymous proxies; all of the Port 3124, 3127, 8888, and many (but not all) 3128 proxies are CoDeeN | PlanetLab proxies.
I would never use a CoDeeN | PlanetLab proxy. I consider this the equivalent of entering your motel room and discovering there is a recording camera in the ceiling light fixture.
For personal World-Wide Web anonymous surfing, I recommend using a proxy judged Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3. If you use Firefox, the HTTP_CACHE_CONTROL or HTTP_KEEP_ALIVE variable, when detected, lowers a Level 1 or Level 2 [“elite”] proxy into Level 3. Test your proxy to see if it can handle SSL connections. If it cannot, you may elect to use a different one for SSL. You need check your proxy against only one of these judges.
If you search for proxy judges via a search engine, clicking on "Cached" on the result screen will show you the information about the bot(s) that search engine uses to spider the World-Wide Web. [black on white]
Proxy judge #2
This is a numeric I. P. Address judge. However, it also generates a 403 Forbidden error message if your proxy is from an unauthorized country. [black on white]
Proxy judge #3
The CGI code which was used to create these proxy judges was scribed by someone in Japan. Proxy judges consume a goodly amount of CPU time on a server. If a series of judge requests occur, it slows the response time for other W-WW pages hosted thereupon. This is another reason webhosts prohibit them.
Proxy judge #4
[black on white]
Proxy judge #5
[black on pale cyan]
Proxy judge #6
[black on white]
Proxy judge #7
[black on white]
Proxy judge #8
Some proxies will not technically reveal your actual I. P. Address; yet will show its octets in reverse order. I prefer to discard a proxy like that and test the next one on my list. [black on white]
Proxy judge #9
[white on black]
Proxy judge #10
This is in Japanese only. Ads will appear if you surf here with JavaScript|ActiveX® on. [black on white]
Proxy judge #11
[black on white]
Proxy judge #12
[black on white]
Proxy judge #13
Ads will appear if you surf here with JavaScript|ActiveX® on. [black on white]
Proxy judge #14
[black on white]
Proxy judge #15
This judge has non-standard output. It does not output an AnonyLevel.
I do not link to the proxy judges which were inaccurate. (I tested all of these proxy judges with a Level 4 anonymous proxy. Some of the proxy judges did not check enough variables, and rated it a Level 3 or 2 proxy.) [black on white]
Environmental checker #1
I have added environmental checkers here. All are version 1.04. The presumption is that they are just as accurate as determining whether you are anonymous as a cgi-bin proxy judge, but are not as intensive a use of CPU time on a host server. This is a resolved numeric I. P. address environmental checker.
Environmental checker #2
This is a resolved numeric I. P. address environmental checker.
Environmental checker #3
This is a resolved numeric I. P. address environmental checker.
Environmental checker #4
This URL did not resolve numerically. It has banner ads if you surf here with JavaScript|ActiveX® on.
Environmental checker #5
This URL did not resolve numerically. [HTML output]
Environmental checker #6
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #7
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #8
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #9
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #10
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #11
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #13
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #14
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #15
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #16
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #17
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #18
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #19
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #20
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #21
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #22
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #23
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #24
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Environmental checker #25
This URL did not resolve numerically. It duplicates many of the variables' fields.
Environmental checker #26
This URL did not resolve numerically.
Link referrer anonymizer #1
Anonym.to is an interstitial screen which is useful when you want to visit, or send traffic to, a World-Wide Web site which you do not want the site to know from where it was linked. It can be used dynamically by prefacing the "http://" in the destination URL [& you must include the destination URL's "http://" in your text] with "anonym.to/?".
Link referrer anonymizer #2
As a redundancy scheme; here is another anonymizing interstitial.
Anonymous proxies #1
Why should you configure an anonymous proxy in your W-WW browser?
A vocal minority always claims that you must be doing something “illegal” if you prefer to remain anonymous. There will always be those who abuse certain privileges or liberties, but those few cannot ruin an entitlement for the rest.
There are many factors why privacy is important. First: There are repressive governments (now including Australia) that forbid access to certain sites, censor the World-Wide Web, and then monitor users who show interest in particular topics. Second: There are people who want to tell the truth without fear of repercussion, such as corporate whistle-blowers and bloggers. Third: There are intelligence needs, in both corporate and government sectors. Fourth: An on-line stalker can pinpoint the precise community where his | her prey resides by deciphering that user's I. P. Address. (Many internet service providers in the U.S.A. put their host server's city & state in the REMOTE_HOST variable.)
Finally: We live in an age where our names, identity characteristics, telephone numbers, dates of birth, credit reports, buying habits, demographics, and surfing tendencies are traded like commodities amongst corporations.
When I want to let a W-WW site know who & from where I am, I disengage the anonymous proxy. Otherwise, it is not entitled to that information.
This is Samair.ru. This page is the first with anonymous proxies. You might need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX® to view the port numbers of the proxies.
Anonymous proxies #2
This is the first page of the NewNet Time Group's HTTP proxies. They are in order of the most recently checked. A reasonable guess is made of its country of location (which is not always accurate). Socks proxies are available (a link on the foot of the page). You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Anonymous proxies #3
Here is a proxy collation site with the 30 fastest proxies of all nations, and separately, China, the U.S.A., the Republic of Korea, & Japan. You can click on a country's name to get other proxies from there.
Socks proxies are also available.
It is one matter to have a proxy from a specific country. However, if the proxy in that country is registered to (for example) an elementary or middle school; or an anti-filesharing organization [these are referred to as "honeypot" proxies]; you will still be filtered from some W-WW sites, and probably monitored wherever you surf. I would discard that proxy and test the next one on my list.
Anonymous proxies #4
This is Proxy Forest, a multi-faceted W-WW site, available in English or Japanese. The columns on the page which you should note are "Anonymous", "Time" (lower is better), & "Rank" (“A+” is best - but beware that some of these might be a CoDeeN | PlanetLab proxy). Its script has a problem which results in some proxies being duplicated. There is also a Japanese-language (only) BBS here.
Anonymous proxies #5
Here is a forum, administered by Lorissa, where members post exclusive lists of proxies they have detected. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX® and register in order to view the proxies.
Anonymous proxies #6
This webmaster took down his proxy judge; but he now offers a guide to anonymity here. Proxies are available via a link near the top of this page.
Anonymous proxies #7
This is another comprehensive security W-WW site with a link to a proxy judge; a list of anonymous proxies; and information on how to secure your computer to withstand incursions of privacy, & repel spyware or malware. Note the "Anonymous surfing" box on the upper left.
Anonymous proxies #8
I found this through delicious.com. This W-WW site's list gets updated throughout the day. It also has its own tester, but that only checks to see if the proxy is still extant. The bulk of the proxies are hosted in "unknown" countries; so I insist you run it thereafter through a "WHOIS" lookup. It also has a forum, and an IRC channel.
Anonymous proxies #9
This site has transparent, anonymous, and highly anonymous proxies, including the country to which the I. P. Address range is reserved. I send you to the first page of proxies.
Anonymous proxies #10
I found this W-WW proxy site through Dmoz.org. It is sorted by latency, and has a dynamic function which you can use to refine your proxy selection. A column identifies if the proxy supports SSL. To prevent spiders or bots from raping its bandwidth, it now utilizes a visual identification code which needs to be replicated before it displays the proxies. It is available in English or Russian.
Unfortunately, our webmaster now attempts to collect money for access to alleged “VIP proxies”.
CGI Proxy #1
I have been investigating PHP & CGI proxies due to the dwindling number of browser-based anonymous proxies. This is a proxy server which lets you specify which browser variables you want to pass on to the specific website. It bypasses most W-WW filters which attempt to keep you from accessing any number of websites which somebody deems "non-essential".
CGI Proxy #2
This is a CGI proxy which offers a way to access ".onion" W-WW sites and other services available via Tor.
You may also try changing a URL ending in ".onion" with ".tor2web.com".

Resources

Internet Archive
This is the most amazing resource you shall ever find on the World-Wide Web! The Internet Archive is a U.S.A.-based 501(c)(3) public nonprofit that was founded to build an Internet library, with the purpose of offering free and permanent access to historical digital collections for researchers, historians, and scholars. I found my “lost” Chicago POWER results & statistics pages archived here, and there are a lot of Grateful Dead concerts as well.
Wikipedia
You have probably heard about this. Wikipedia is the free on-line encyclopedia which any registered user can edit. This is the main page of the English-language section.
American Memory
A comprehensive site from the Library of Congress. It has documents of America's past, including sound recordings.
American Civil Liberties Union
This is the W-WW site of the U.S.A.'s most important voice on behalf of individuals. You do not have to agree with all the positions it supports in order to understand its importance. I deduce traffic to this site is being monitored by the F.B.I., C.I.A., and | or N.S.A.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The EFF, one of whose founders is John Perry Barlow, is an organization promoting freedom of expression in digital media. It is the entity responsible for the "Blue Ribbon Campaign for Online Free Speech".
Free Speech Internet TV
Free Speech Internet TV is the first audio | video hub on the World-Wide Web created and defined by the people who use it. Free Speech Internet TV's commitment is to offer services. It is available on Dish Network® direct broadcast satellite (channel 9415).
U. S. Government information
Fedworld is the entry point to a vast number of U. S. Governmental World-Wide Web sites. It is a program of the U. S. Department of Commerce.
National Address ZIP + 4 server
This site will yield the ZIP + 4 ZIP Code for virtually any address serviced by the United States Postal Service. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Currency converter
Here is a good interactive site which will provide the exchange rate between your home country & the recipient country. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX® to use this site.
Fight Spam on the Internet!
Even a luddite knows what is the technological definition of "spam". This is a valuable W-WW site which is a clearinghouse of information on how to combat spam, from your own E-Mail inbox, all the way back to the reprehensible & loathesome cretin who sent it.
On-line hoaxes & urban myths
This is Snopes. Since 1995, it has been a W-WW site which debunks the mentioned topics.
Before you forward that E-Mail, or recirculate the URL which purports to disclose a life-changing message, please check here.
Cease receiving “pre-approved” credit solicitations
Are you tired of getting mailings from banks offering you another credit card, mortgage, or line-of-credit offer? This SSL W-WW site, maintained by the U.S.A.'s “big three” credit reporting bureaux, is where you can terminate receiving those offers in the mail. This may not be 100% effective; because there are some financial institutions which do not use the big three's services; but it should significantly curtail the onslaught.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Across the U.S.A., some houses of religion are dabbling into something expressly prohibited to them by the U. S. Constitution: Partisan politics. This organization exposes which ones are, and offers actions which can be taken to cease this.
Who's A Rat?
The World-Wide Web has many sites on which miscreants are annotated. Here's a site which identifies the miscreants whose “day jobs” are being paid snitches for entrapping other individuals (who may not be contemplating any “illegal” activity). It strives to be the largest online database of informants and agents. There is also a forum for which you may register.
Reference sources
This W-WW site is a combination spelling, thesaurus, and rhyming dictionary.
Community Savings Bank [Chicago, IL.]
This is the W-WW site of the financial institution in which the majority of my funds are deposited. It has been on the corner of Belmont Ave. & Cicero Ave. since 1944. It is FDIC insured. It is a bank I can highly recommend to everyone in metropolitan Chicago, especially those not wanting to entrust their money to a multi-national corporation. It offers many banking services for free; and has consultants who speak English, Spanish, or Polish.
It now offers a Visa® credit card with quite reasonable terms. If you're looking to dump a national bank credit card, inquire here.
Surplus & Salvage directory
Looking for items inexpensively? This site will alert you to the companies and stores which sell discontinued and | or distressed merchandise.
PriceSCAN
PriceSCAN is the unbiased guide to the lowest prices on books, computers, electronics, movies, video games, & more. Link here before you buy.
mySimon
mySimon is a service of CNet® Media. It is a World-Wide Web site which turns its shopping bots loose on the Internet to find prices of items for which you are seeking. For something eminating from a W-WW behemoth, it is extremely good.
got apex?
This is a W-WW site which collates deals, coupons, rebates, & special on-line offers. It concentrates on computers and electronic gear. It strives to be your portal to the hottest deals.
Reseller Ratings
This W-WW site allows you to compare product prices across a spectrum of on-line purveyors. It also has a keen forum where you can learn about the sites surveyed herein, as well as technical aspects of computing and the Internet.
Amazing Bargains
Here is another W-WW site which compounds discount and free offers on the Internet. The moderators of the Bidding For Travel BBS [c.v.] urge everybody to use this site's link to Priceline® to submit their bids.
Savings-Center
This site also collates “coupon deals” on-line. Savings-Center has nineteen categories, with over 1,300 stores, which are searchable on several variables.
Consumer Now
ConsumerNow was created as a public service for on-line consumers and shoppers. I send you directly to the page with the on-line coupons. If you are a newbie to on-line shopping, back parse and then select the links labelled "5 Easy Steps to Online Shopping", & "10 Commandments of Online Shopping".
Google™ product search
This was formerly Froogle™. It is a search engine which spiders on-line catalogs. It supposedly accepts no funds to artificially elevate a particular purveyor's placement in the results. I send you to the advanced_product_search page, where you can change the result order to ‘Sort by price: low to high’.
Twitter
Twitter is a method by which to communicate rapidly with other persons on its network. I am registered as "pudgym29". All my interests are on display here.
Its hazard is you need to check who has decided to follow you every time you logon. Spammers, and people whose interests may be diametrically opposed to yours {prevalently termed “haters”}, will try to follow you for their own nefarious purposes. They figure you won't notice. Get on them and block them. (Never admit to having committed, or desiring to commit, an “illegal” act on Twitter!) I now send you directly to the SSL page where you logon.
Mr. Tweet
Twitter has attracted many widgets and auxiliaries. This looks at the roster of the users you follow, and goes through the entire Twitter roster to find additional users in which you may be interested; and not merely those who follow you - but who you haven't yet opted to follow.
Its hazard is you may wind up following a bunch of people who do not reciprocally follow you; such that your following|follower ratio may appear that of a spammer.
Share maps & places on Twitter
GeoTweeter is a widget which enables you to provide a link displaying a point on a map within the 140-character message limitation on Twitter.
Craig's List [Chicago, IL.]
Craig's List began as a cooperative forum in San Francisco, CA. It matured into an on-line campus compounding social and business spheres, for communities across the U.S.A., and around the world. The communities are on the right side of the screen. Despite the negative coverage it has recently attracted from “mainstream” media, there are solid deals and valuable services available here. I obtained my replacement Brother HL-1440 laser printer from someone who offered it on Craig's List.
Craig's List prefers you browse with Firefox.
Yelp [Chicago, IL.]
This is along the lines of Craig's List, but featuring registered users relating experiences in a spectrum of products and services, and local flavor. Should you wish to register (which is required to post), you need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®. My reviews begin at http://snipr.com/yelp1.
The bloom of Yelp's rose is gone. It has reached critical mass, which unfortunately also means it has attracted a solid percentage of users whose reviews are tainted, and should not be relied upon.
There are also been credible reports alleging that Yelp occasionally skews the display of a venue's reviews to put a “negative” one, quite frequently from a question mark head {QMH} Yelper, atop the list, and then soliciting the venue to become a Yelp sponsor with the promise of burying the “negative” review.
People are definitely trying to game it. I mention both sides in the interest of egalitarianism.
It can be adapted to serve as a personal networking W-WW site along the lines of Insane Journal [c.v.], MySpace®, & Facebook®.
Watch out for its E-Mails. It sends only HTML E-Mails; which are the top method miscreants use to damage or capture your computer. I have opted out of all its promotional E-Mails.
It is not that Yelp is a computer memory hog, but rather the Google™ maps which backfill to illustrate a user's reviewed venues. If you are on a modem connection, you may wish to block (or have NoScript do this) "maps.google.com" in your browser for Yelp. I now send you directly to the SSL page where you logon.
M o b o g
Mobog began as a W-WW site where people could submit a photograph they had taken with their mobile telephone. It has modified to a photograph sharing community. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®, & accept cookies to register here.
Edward R. Hamilton, bookseller
I have ordered books from Edward R. Hamilton, of Falls Village, CT., for over twenty years. It started out as a remaindered-only, mail order company. It keeps its prices low by not accepting credit cards or doing any billing. The ultimate payoff is at the conclusion. It charges only $3.50 for postage & handling, regardless of the number of books which you order.
Dial-around telephone rates
If you are perplexed by the panoply of "10-10" long-distance dialing services, here is a valuable W-WW site which has information on many of them. Intrastate, interstate, & international rates are annotated.
In North America, the telephone number you dial to learn who is your default long distance carrier for that line is 1-700-555-4141.
Long distance telephone plans
Here is a more thorough W-WW site presenting inexpensive long distance (& intraLATA | “local toll”) telephone companies and plans.
The Amazing Cat Collection
This is a World-Wide Web site featuring the funniest, cutest, & some very amazing cat pictures. If you opt to register, you may also rate the pictures.
I Love Cats
Here's a good W-WW site with lots of information and resources for cat lovers. You can even obtain a semi-anonymous E-Mail account ending in "@i-love-cats.com".
Chocolate
Here is the trove site for chocolate lovers. There are delicious links available. It is a very good resource. I like milk chocolate with crisped rice.

Beer

Beer Me!
Beer Me! is a W-WW beer site maintained by Richard Stueven, who is a brewmaster at the Gottberg Brew Pub in Columbus, Nebraska. This site is the most complete source of brewery and beer information available on the Internet.
The Real Beer® Page!
The concept behind this W-WW site is that beer can be so much more distinctive than the industrial megabrews excessively advertised on television. Taste these. Your perception will be altered (for the better).
American Breweriana Association
If you collect beer coasters, labels, crowns, neon signs, glasses or steins, bottles, or cans (the Brewery Collectables Community of America is a more concentrated organization if you primarily have those), join the A.B.A. I am member #1727. I shall attend ABA XXIX in Bloomington, MN. this June. Contact me to share the expenses.
American Homebrewers Association | Brewers' Association
The BA now encompasses the American Homebrewers Association, Institute For Brewing Studies, (former) Brewers Association of America, Brewing Matters, & Brewers Publications. Even if you are not a homebrewer [I am not.], you should join the A.H.A. for its "Pub Discount Program".
I shall attend the AHA National Homebrewers Conference {also linked from here} in Bloomington, MN. this June. Contact me to share the expenses. A $109 | night hotel room is beyond my price range. A $55 | night hotel room is fine.
Brewing News
Brewing News is a panoply of beer newspapers covering much of the U.S.A., and portions of Canada. It has core articles common to all the regions, and customized columns for each of the states [or portions of a state] in each regional newspaper. It also offers an E-Mail list which you may opt to join.
Ale Street News
Ale Street News, published bi-monthly by Tony Forder & Jack Babin, has been around since 1992. It is the most widely circulated beer publication in the U.S.A. It is centered upon the northeast and the east coast, but includes coverage of beerworthy events worldwide. There is also a forum for which you may register.
(Rick) Lyke2Drink
This is the weblog of Rick Lyke, another member of the now-defunct North American Guild of Beer Writers. Rick has scribed articles which appeared in a spectrum of brewspapers; and now he brings his perspective to the on-line universe.
Molecular expressions
I love close-ups. Here are some close-ups you would not expect to view. This site features photographs taken through an optical microscope of some of the world's most famous beers.
Beer Mapping forum
This is a Web V2.0 forum, and repository of beer-worthy venues reported by its forum members. I have broken out the Chicago Beer Map separately [c.v.]. The webmaster is Jonathan Surratt. He is infusing a number of widgets and twitters into the site. You must turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Beer Advocate
This is the World-Wide Web gateway to Jason & Todd Alström's network which strives to give beer consumers a voice; provide beer education; empower consumers to learn, share, and advocate; rally to support the beer industry; & put the respect back into beer. It also publishes a print magazine. There is a forum here in which you may be interested (requires JavaScript|ActiveX® should you want to register & post). If you register for it, you will receive frequent E-Mails begging you to buy a subscription to the print magazine.
Beer WebRing
Some of the World-Wide Web sites on this WebRing are in need of revision (& some are gone), but this has good information on the sites which are current.
Homebrew Digest
This is the World-Wide Web site of the legendary Homebrew Digest E-Mail list. It is maintained by Karl Lutzen & Pat Babcock. If you prowl its archives, you can find here one of my first ever E-Mail messages, sent to here back in June 1994. (When I was using a Commodore 64 on an Amiga BBS.) I break out of the frame for you.
Single malt whisky
This site will lead you upon a tour of all of Scotland's malt whisky distilleries.
Beer in the Evening
This is a W-WW site which aims to help you find an interesting pub in the U.K. It has reviews from both staff and its registered users; encompassing 40,000 venues. It is the U.K.'s biggest and busiest pub, bar, & club guide. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Happy Hour
Here is a W-WW site which informs you which taverns (in those states where it is permitted by law) offer discounts on beverages, et cetera; and when they do so. It does not have a lot of cities, but those it has are thoroughly covered.
Drinktown
This is another comprehensive W-WW site striving to collate beer and food specials for taverns in five metropolitan areas: Chicago, IL.; Milwaukee, WI.; Bloomington, IN.; Baltimore, MD.; & Washington, DC. Use its ‘search and crawl’ functions for a more thorough hunt. You must turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®. This site has four frames.
Centerstage Chicago
There are many aggregators compiling this data, including Drinktown, but this W-WW site seems to have the most frequently updated database of bar & food deals at venues in Chicago. I send you directly to the "Bar" specials rubric. (It is affiliated with the Chicago Sun-Times®.)
Delilah's
This answers my most FAQ. Delilah's, at Lincoln, Diversey, & Racine on Chicago's north side, is the tavern which is as loony and eclectic as me. It scores on multiple levels (beer | music | movies). Mike Miller is the proprietor. I hope, but I doubt, that the metropolitan area where you live has a tavern as enthralling as Delilah's. Delilah's has been around for 16 years.
Risqué Café Chicago
This is a newish bar at 3419 N. Clark St., very close to a b**eball park, which offers U.S.A-brewed craft beers, whiskies, and barbequed cuisine, along with provocative recorded entertainment nightly. I show a movie from my library here each Monday night at 10:00 pm.
This is a 2½-block walk north from the Red | Brown | Purple Line “L”'s Belmont station. (Jaunt up Sheffield Ave., or the short cut underneath the “L” tracks.)
Nobody has asked me this; but I think I have deduced why non-sports bars do only fairly in Wrigleyville. City people perceive that the area is the magnet for trendy suburbanites and tourists. The former feel they would be unwelcome if they turned up at a bar in suburbia; so their attitude towards the latter is on the curmudgeon side. This causes the former to limit their exposure to the area, at the expense of bars like Risqué, & Sheffield's, which strive to be distinctive.
Twisted Spoke Tavern
The Twisted Spoke is a friendly “biker” bar at Grand & Ogden [501 N. Ogden Av.] in Chicago. It has superb beers as well. I am drawn to have the $2.00 "Butch's Beer Special". It is presented as the one selection which it feels is unworthy of being served there {"We carry 52 good beers and one that really sucks. It's usually best not to ask too many questions like, “What is it?” What it is is only two bucks."}, but you should not believe that. It has included some great beers from breweries such as Atwater, Left Hand, Oasis, Pyramid, Portland, Summit, Stoney Creek, Victory, Lakefront, MacTarnahan's, New Belgium, Anchor, & even Affligem Abbey Ale.
If you drive here, I can recommend you try to park on Elizabeth St., which is a one-way northbound street north of Hubbard, west of Racine, & east of Ogden. If you take the Blue Line “L”, the closest stop is Chicago; not Grand (walk south-southwest down Ogden).
The Chicago Beer Map
This is a spectacular customized Google™ map which plots practically all of Chicago's beerworthy venues [Brewpubs, taverns, breweries, package stores, & homebrew supply stores] over the street grid. Additional information about each venue may be discerned by clicking on the dot, or the text link on the right side of the screen. The map will take a long time to load completely. You must turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®. In 2009, Chicago went from five breweries and brewpubs up to ten, and now eleven.
Chicago Beer Society
The Chicago Beer Society has been around for thirty years. In this span, the universe of beer has greatly transformed (and it may be transforming again); and much of that transformation can be traced directly to its members. It is an organization for both homebrewers and beer enthusiasts, with events occurring every month in the metropolitan Chicago area. I recommend joining it.
Quenchers
Quenchers Saloon has been Chicago's premier beer bar since 1979. It is located in one of the most vital neighborhoods of Chicago, at the northeast corner of Western Ave. & Fullerton St. [2400 W. & 2400 N.] There's no telling what beers it will have. Its prices are less expensive than other taverns. It has live music six days a week. Its proprietor is Earle Johnson.
Empty Bottle Tavern
Another great music & beer venue in Chicago. This one has two things which push it beyond the normal: Cheap beer, and an eclectic booking policy which traverses all musical genrés. {Radley, the luscious black cat, passed away on 25 August 2009.} I send you to the non-Flash® version.
Hideout Tavern
This tavern, shoehorned into an old manufacturing district of Chicago [at 1354 W. Wabansia], features good beers and enthralling live music acts. It is a 2½-block walk north-northwest from the Throop bus stop on North Ave., east of Elston Ave.
Map Room Tavern
This is a solid beer bar on Hoyne Ave. (@ Armitage Ave.) If you have heard about a new, or obscure, beer which may be available in the U.S.A., this would be one of the venues which would have it. The selections are superb, & the waitstaff are devoted. (Some have earned the CicerOne certification.)
FitzGerald's
FitzGerald's is the Chicago area's most eccentric indoor concert venue. It is in Berwyn, a west border suburb, at 6615 W. Roosevelt Rd. From “fat” music; to rhythm & blues; to big band jazz; to touring national acts: All of them play here.
It needs a night time bus route connecting it with the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line “L”.
Metropolitan Brwg.
This Chicago production brewery is the undertaking of Tracy & Doug Hurst. They are dedicated to brewing lagers, which have been under-represented in the craft beer movement. (Ales can be brewed and released quicker, which can be more important to the finances of the craft brewery.) I love their Dynamo Copper Lager.
The brewery is in the Ravenswood neighborhood on the north side of Chicago.
They also maintain a weblog at http://metrobrewing.blogspot.com/
{Too bad they couldn't get a west side location. Then they could have relaunched the name of Chicago's original electric “L” line.}
Argus Brewery
Nearly everybody in Chicago missed this one. This brewery began having its beers appear in a select number of beer bars in the collar suburbs of Chicago in December 2009. It is located on Chicago's far-south side in what a century ago was a Schlitz® distribution stable. It is the undertaking of Robert & Patrick Jensen.
Revolution Brwg.
This is the brewpub at which everybody in Chicago was gawking awaiting its opening. It has as its main employees Josh Deth & Jim Cebak. Both of whom have had connections with metropolitan Chicago breweries since the mid-1990s. It is located at 2323 N. Milwaukee Ave.; within a two-block walk from the Blue Line “L”'s California station.
Minhas Craft Brwy.
Here is the W-WW site of one of my favorite regional breweries. This is the second-oldest brewery still operating in the U.S.A. It is now owned by a Canadian corporation which has introduced some intriguing 'bridge' beers to its house brands [Huber Bock, Rhinelander]. I bypass the Flash® introduction page for you.
Lakefront Brewery
My favorite Milwaukee brewery is Russ & Jim Klisch's Lakefront Brwy. I especially like Eastside Dark. It is located on Commerce St., northeast of downtown. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Goose Island Brewpub & Brewery
Chicago's Goose Island Beer Company brews & bottles several ales & lagers from two locations both serendipitously numbered 1800. Thanks to the real estate mortgage crash, its landlord on N. Clybourn had to relent and extend its lease. [A hard closing date had been announced.] It also operates the former Weeghman Park Brewpub at 3535 N. Clark St. John Hall is the president.
August Schell Brwg. Co.
The August Schell Brewing Company has been operating in New Ulm, MN. since 1860. It brews some of the finest beers in the entire U.S.A. It is the prime example why small, regional breweries which also devote part of their production capacities to "contract beers" must not be allowed to go out of business. I will do everything I can to ensure that this does not happen.
St. Louis Brwy. & Tap Room
This is the long name of the Schlafly Brewpub, St. Louis' largest American-owned brewery. When I visit St. Louis, I wind up spending some time at one of its two locations (The brewpub near downtown, or the Bottleworks in Maplewood.). I love its beers; I agree with most of the viewpoints expressed by Tom Schlafly; and this World-Wide Web site regularly makes me smile and chuckle.
St. Louis' foreign-owned brewery seems to prefer that the Schlafly beers are unavailable where its beers are offered, as there are frequent reports of Schlafly losing a tap handle, or being precluded from being purveyed at a public festival, which, by law, the festival organizers should not be able to do. (Read the small print at the bottom of the “home” page.)
Falling Rock Tap House
This is an astounding beer bar in downtown Denver, CO. whose motto is, "No crap on tap." Denver is so beerworthy [its mayor is a former brewpub owner]; it is difficult to suggest just one venue you should visit. If you are here during the Great American Beer Festival™, this is where you will find the special beers of which brewers could not dedicate enough kegs to be able to serve them there. It now has a streaming webcam which you may enjoy.
Toronado
This has nothing to do with a classic automobile. The Toronado is a diminutive tavern in San Francisco, CA. (in the Haight - on Haight St.) Latitude: -122.43014 N; Longitude: 37.77215 W. It is most famous for its annual Barleywine festival (in February). {It really needs to update its beer lists; or at least change the date which appears on the page.}
Buzztime
N T N is now Buzztime. It remains the live interactive game played primarily in taverns (although it is now available on Dish Network® dbs for a monthly fee). This is why I have it under this rubric. One Sunday night in June 2002 in Irving, TX., at a Humperdinks, I scored 14,229 [out of 15,000] in one game of Wipeout. In Chicago, my “home” base is the Lion Head Pub on N. Lincoln Ave. (between Fullerton & Webster) using the registered nickname 'ZENITH'.

HTML | JavaScript

Bare Bones Guide to HTML
You don't need a pricey HTML (HyperText Markup Language) editor to write HTML. This is where I learned HTML. All my pages are maintained using regular, old "WordPad®", and utilize the commands included here. The instructions are available in twenty-four languages.
Broken link checker
Enter the URL of the World-Wide Web page whose links you want to check into the query box and click 'Submit'. This site will save you a lot of time; however, I recommend clicking on the URLs it shows to be broken. Some sites do not want to be remotely spidered, so there is a possibility for false positives.
Color specifier
If you do not need a nearly-infinite color selection, this URL illustrates the 390 non-dithering colors which can be reproduced in many browsers, including older versions of Netscape.
Media Gods' color picker
Here is a site where you move your mouse to a specific pixel on the screen which most closely represents the color you desire. Click thereupon, and the shade shall be broken out for you, along with its hexidecimal code.
This page also has some perceptive links to Internet technology weblogs.
Colour Scheme Machine
This site has three, well-thought-out frames. This allows you to interactively test out text, background, & link colors. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Color Picker
This W-WW page allows you to only choose “safe” colors.
VisaBone's Color Lab
These three URLs were found in moonsliver's Insane Journal [c.v.]. This is an interactive page (requires JavaScript|ActiveX® on) which outputs the color value (a 216-color webmaster's palette) in both RGB and hexidecimal. There are four frames on this page.
Colour Lovers™
This is a weblog and forum where designers, both on-line and off, experiment and present color tableus & palettes. It strives to be a resource that monitors and influences color trends.
Color scheme designer
This W-WW site helps one compose a particular color scheme; with five base sets comparing and contrasting ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ colors. A drop-down box allows for schemes for infrequent human vision ailments [e.g.: protanopy].
Pursuing page publishing
Here is where Justin Hall lets you in on the big World-Wide Web secret. (It's a secret because profiteers do not want you to know the truth!)
JavaScript applets
The first page for a compendium of JavaScript & DHTML applets. Don't re-invent the wheel. Obtain a duplicate here.

Zines | Diverse Culture

Quimby's Zine Store
Quimby's is Chicago's most comprehensive zine store. Many of the zines which I read are obtained here. It mails zines within the U.S.A. (International postage rates are now exorbitant.)
Insane Journal
Live Journal was dumped for capitulating to a gang of vigilantés; effectively turning a cold shoulder to free expression on the World-Wide Web. The underlying reason: The “bean-counters” hoping for a buyout of the corporation figured whomever took over would not be able to place advertisements on Live Journal pages where a weblogger expressed controversial viewpoints. It “solved” the problem by "permanently suspending" the webloggers expressing those controversial viewpoints. (Having a Paid or Permanent Account did not save them. If anything; since Live Journal knows it will never get another dollar from a Permanent Account holder, it has every incentive to find an excuse to get rid of that account.)
It is now owned by SUP, which was its administrator in Russia. Both organized criminal syndicates, and Russian governmental departments have been known to encroach on an internet user's personal identity. {There are credible reports of webloggers in Russia being “outed”, and arrested for something they scribed in their weblogs.}
This is Insane Journal, another weblog service utilizing the Zanga interactive free source software. "Squeaky", the major domo behind Insane Journal, has gone on record that he will only remove content from a person's weblog if he is presented with a genuine order from a legal entity. Insane Journal has potential, but it needs faster servers. Without those, it can't expect to handle the additional traffic from other bloggers abandoning Live Journal.
B-Videos101
These are the “Berne Convention purveyors” to which I refer on my "Adult-Oriented" bookmark page. Here is an organization which manages to scarf up some obscure videos released beyond the U.S.A. Its prices are low. It also works the “B”-movie event circuit.
Exploitation Journal | Cinefear
Keith J. Crocker's "Exploitation Journal" is dedicated to the serious study of exploitation and drive-in cinema of the 1960s & 1970s. Keith J.'s video service is Cinefear.
Keith J.'s latest movie is "Blitzkrieg: Escape From Stalag 69".
Film Fanaddict
Shocking Images is now Film Fanaddict. It is shifting its focus from video, T-Shirt, and soundtrack sales toward a printed magazine. It is the official World-Wide Web site for Rudy Ray Moore [R.I.P.], & Jean Rollin.
Luminous Film & Video Wurks
Luminous' goal is to offer rare & unusual films from Europe. All genrés are presented. The basis for its availability is the power to entertain.
Atomic Cinema | Cine Bizarre
In his own description: "This is an anachronistic crazy-guy-on-the-internet site disguised as a DVD store." He is the essayist who scribed the "anti-censorship" essay to which I link on the adult bookmark page. I browsed his 'Classic Erotica' rubric, but it is insufficient that I would place the entire W-WW site on that page. I think his prices are slightly above average; but I will keep looking for something I can potentially order from him. This page has a frame.
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
This is the organization which defends illustrators of comic books, & the stores which sell them. Some judges and juries have been convicting comic book store owners for selling a comic book intended for "adults only" to an adult.
The latest attack against comic books was an indictment of an individual person (Christopher Handley) in Iowa for purchasing lolicon manga from Japan.
The worse news is: He threw himself under the bus. He pled guilty (to the chagrin of CBLDF). So now the authorities have a conviction precedent to use against everybody else who may possess any illustrations of “young-looking” characters committing a lewd act.
Somebody in Tennessee has now been charged with this “crime”.
Loop Distro
This was the Chicago-based distributor of several metropolitan zines, including "Incendiary Words". In the malaise relating to print media losing its advertisers, and | or zinesters migrating their content to the World-Wide Web, it ceased operation. Billy Roberts is still active in zine culture; participating in readings & conferences at venues throughout the midwest U.S.A. This site has three frames.
Zine World: A Reader's Guide to the Underground Press
"Zine World" has been around a long time. It is a concentrated & thorough review publication. It is written, edited, published, and mailed out by an all-volunteer staff who believe free speech is for everyone, not just multi-national corporations.
Shock Cinema
Steve Puchalski's "Shock Cinema" website. "Shock Cinema" is a zine, published four times a year, which reviews some of the most bizarre, illusive films ever made. It is a superb read. I recommend subscribing to it ($18 for four issues).
Cashiers du Cinemart
"Cashiers du Cinemart" is a movie review zine published by Mike White. Mike has strident opinions on today's corporate movies. This site has a frame.
Copp Films
I met Andy Copp at a Cinema Wasteland [c.v.] exposition. Andy is reviving his video production efforts. His newest release is "Quiet Nights of Blood and Pain". He posts frequently on AV Maniacs' [c.v.] forum. He also maintains two weblogs.
Liquid Cheese
AoL shut down the entire 'Hometown' webhosting feature one year ago. Now, Dave Kosanke's "Liquid Cheese" fanzine's World-Wide Web presence is a MySpace page. Dave enjoys all genrés of movies, and attends or staffs tables at select movie expositions.
AV Maniacs' forum
This is an informative forum orbiting around DVD releases of obscure movies of the past. All genrés are represented. Mentions of “Berne Convention purveyors” are allowed. I recommend signing on to its forum (requires JavaScript|ActiveX® on, and cookies accepted). It directs you to register with a First and Last Name (or First Name and Last Initial). I am here under a pseudonym. The main site offers links to data and reviews of contemporary releases.
Sections thereof are not safe for work [NSFW] due to uptight adults who are okay with the raw carnage (and the blatant political dogma) of "Rambo" movies, but can't handle an exposed female nipple.
McBeardo's Midnight Movies
McBeardo's Midnight Movie Mayhem is a resource for cult film news, reviews, & bloody boobs. (I suspect sections hereof are not safe for work [NSFW].) Those films, and their tangential attachments (books, soundtracks, nudie-magazine layouts) are what it covers, ranging from the dawn of cinema, through the grindhouse era, to today's latest direct-to-video releases.
McBeardo is the defining moniker of the Brooklyn-born miscreant occasionally still known as Mike McPadden and Selwyn Harris. You may also follow him on Twitter as "mcbeardo".
Cinema Wasteland
This W-WW site has a dual orbit. It promotes a twice-annual movie & memorabilia exposition by Ken & Pam Kish, in Strongsville, OH. [a suburb of Cleveland]; of which I have attended more than a few and always had an intriguing experience. The next exposition will be the second weekend of April 2010. Its other orbit is the sales of DVDs, posters, and trading cards of movies, at prices lower than other purveyors.
Kitley's Krypt
This is where Jon Kitley expounds on horror movies. He has gotten quite deep into this. He seeks to educate, expand, & entertain his browsers' knowledge of the horror genré. He lives in Aurora, IL. He also works the “B”-movie exposition circuit. This page has a frame.
Atomic Books
This store is in Baltimore, MD. It is the epicenter for alternative books, comics, & zines in the mid-Atlantic area.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
I should not have to explain too much about this troupe. So I won't. This World-Wide Web site is comprehensive, accurate, & includes the dead parrot loony.
Have I mentioned I am the chairperson of the local chapter of the "Society For Putting Things On Top Of Other Things"?
Bill Owens
This is "Buffalo" Bill Owens' weblog. It encompasses photography, beer, publishing, & distilling. I like Bill a lot.
Censored Cartoons
Many classic theatrical cartoons have been cut or edited in order to be shown on television (and even when re-released on videocassette or DVD). This site serves as a guide to those lost moments.
"The Simpsons" archive
This is an absolutely comprehensive clearinghouse of the animated television show "The Simpsons". This site has guides, news, and information. It is where to head if you have any queries.
Mediamatic
"Mediamatic" magazine has been published since 1985. It provides a perspective on, and participation in the culture where art & technology merge.
Gauntlet
"Gauntlet" is a zine which explores the limits of free expression in the U.S.A. It is published twice a year, in May & November. It is a valuable resource in the face of paranoia, hype, & the spin given against free expression by those who seek to censor it.
H i t c h
"Hitch" is "The journal of pop culture absurdity". Its articles are a spectrum of fascinating and amazing subjects. It still has the most informative section on Brentwood Communications' movie DVD box sets.
Carbon 14
"Carbon 14" magazine is a superb print magazine which features content both original to it, along with edgier material rejected by other publications (to their discredit). It is published twice a year. This W-WW site is very sparse, because it prefers its print issue. I recommend subscribing to this magazine. [Four-issue subscriptions are $20. Tell it you're at least 18 years of age.]
A guy with a ‘"V"-in-a-crown’ logo
This guy (Stuart Helm) is a freelance artist & illustrator, now residing in Asheville, NC. He has a weblog now as well. He used to have a registered trademark before the corporate bullies at Kraft® Foods decided they didn't like some of his illustrations. They sued. The CBLDF [c.v.] tried to negotiate. They managed a settlement which confiscated his trademark [Why did Kraft® not object when he was applying for it?], but he did not have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and he is allowed to parody the name of Kraft® in the future. {There may be an anti-Kraft®-parody on this page now.}
View the documentary about this litigation by Brigid Maher, titled "The King, The Lawyers, & The Cheese".
I make a conscious effort to not buy anything manufactured by Kraft® Foods. Kraft® Foods deserve all the bad karma they receive, on both the corporate and individual levels.
Roctober
This site is the World-Wide Web site of Jake Austen's & Jacqueline Stewart's "Roctober" zine. Roctober [n.b.: There is no "k" in its name.] covers many topics, including music, comics, monkeys, masked performers, skateboarders, & Sammy Davis, Jr. View the "Chic-A-Go-Go!" wing.
A "Chic-A-Go-Go!" book will be published soon. Jake will be travelling for months thereafter. Tapings of the cable access television show have suspended. The next issue of the print zine will be Summer 2010.
Arthur magazine
"Arthur" is a free, progressive, tabloid magazine available at independent book shops across the U.S.A. It had some distribution snags.
S c r a m
Since 1992, Hollywood's "Scram" magazine has been chronicling “unpopular culture”. The editrix is Kim Cooper. Kim is doing a lot of other things now {including getting married}; and so, the print zine has gone on hiatus after issue #22. This site, and her weblog (linked from here) shall continue.
B u s t
"Bust" magazine nearly bit the dust after its publisher went bust in 2001. To all you males who land on my bookmark page: Buy this. (It costs $19.95 for a six-issue subscription.) This is the stuff females wish you would know.
Giant Robot
"Giant Robot" is a zine self-described as "Asian Pop Culture and beyond." It deals with Asian & Asian-American pursuits. It is published six times a year. This W-WW site has a frame, and parts of it require Flash®. It also has retail stores in Los Angeles, in San Francisco, & in New York City; as well as a restaurant ("GR-Eats") in western L. A. I like "Giant Robot" enough to donate to its foundation.
Perhaps that is how you found your way to this W-WW page.
Razorcake
What happens to punk rockers when they get older? It has been attributed that they read "Razorcake" magazine. It is a bi-monthly publication, published by a certified non-profit organization in southern California, which still has a strong spot for hard-driving music (& politics) which has a resist message embedded therein. I recommend subscribing to this. A six-issue subscription costs $16.50 [bulk rate] | [$22.50 = first class {U.S.A.}]. Ask for freebies. I like "Razorcake" enough to donate to its foundation.
Gray Areas®
Here's a zine which looks at the contemporary world in which we live and provides insight on the edges and wrinkles that make up our id. Some sections of this site are recommended only for those at least 18 years of age.
Mother Jones
A W-WW site espousing progressive ideas for dealing with today's world. Subscribing to this magazine may result in you being refused a U.S.A. Governmental security clearance.
Music Box Theatre
The Music Box Theatre on Chicago's north side is one which is not afraid to show films which have bypassed the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system. With the increasing concentration of ownership of movie theatres by large corporate entities, theatres like the Music Box are very important.
Troma Entertainment
Mr. Lloyd Kaufman, the President of Troma, has been involved in filmmaking-on-the-cheap, for over 35¾ years. I had the honor of meeting him when he appeared at Quimby's [c.v.] on a publicity tour for a book of his, and I keep encountering him at any number of movie expositions. Check this W-WW site regularly. Lloyd was interviewed for an issue of "Ultra Violent" magazine [#10]. He feels Troma is being economically suffocated by multi-national media conglomerates. Troma's newest movie is "Poultrygeist". It shall be released on Blu-Ray® DVD.
One Sheet Index
This is a superb W-WW site which was personally recommended to me one Saturday evening. It is a repository of posters and lobby cards for a vast spectrum of motion pictures. It has special sections for selected movies & performers. JavaScript|ActiveX® is needed if you wish to use the 'Search' function. Because of all the graphics, sections of this site will take a while to completely load.
Record Research
Do you need an answer about a certain record? You would do well to reference one of Joel Whitburn's tomes. He acquired "Billboard" magazine's permission to publish works based on its charts' data. This W-WW site has a frame.
Find-the-Spam®
I strive to be tolerant and egalitarian. Maybe you actually do like Spam®, despite the harsh name it has somehow acquired on the Internet.
Aleksandar Dovragovic's bookmarks
Here is another very comprehensive bookmark page [1,329 links]. However, only the rubrics impart any idea of what is found at each W-WW site. There are no annotations.
Mr. Double's link list
Mr. Double has links which are very comprehensive & annotated.
Free software downloads
This is a W-WW site which links to a spectrum of sites from where free versions of computer software programs can be located.
Flashback
This is a W-WW site which is the international extension of www.flashback.se, which is the extension of the Swedish magazine “Flashback”. It covers international news, & many, many more topics.
Worldwide Hash House Harriers home page
Hash House Harriers are people who compete in a foot rally, and whom afterward consume lots of beer and comeraderie. They are "The drinking club with a running problem." Registration is requested to view some parts of this W-WW site.

Travel

MapQuest
MapQuest provides driving directions, maps, & live traffic reports. It includes much searching criteria. It is affiliated with America on-Line.
Maps On Us
Maps On Us is a free route map planner. If you register (free), it gives you additional options. It is a service of Switchboard.com.
MapBlast!
MapBlast shorn most of its intrusive ad banners which rendered attempting to print out your map an absurd challenge. It is affiliated with Microsoft©®.
Speed Trap Exchange
If you're out on the highway, you see them everyday. Traffic is moving safely and expeditiously, but not legally according to the posted speed limit. Link here to learn where are the speed traps out on the highways of the U.S.A. It is sponsored by the National Motorists Association.
Aircraft flight tracking
Is your flight delayed? Are you at the airport right now wondering if the airline's gate agent is telling you the complete truth? Link here for the real answer. This site collects data from air traffic control across the U.S.A. Select by specific flight, airport, or aircraft type.
O r b i t z
This is the controversial W-WW site founded by five then-major U.S.A. airlines. I have found some solid travel bargains here. It has temporarily suspended its service fee for airline tickets bought via it. Otherwise, you can avoid that by seeing which airline has the lowest price here, and then visiting that airline's own W-WW site.
All these travel reservation sites work swifter if you use a direct connection to the Internet, turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®, & accept cookies.
Priceline®
Priceline® is an aggregator of airline tickets, & hotel rooms. Practically all of its business now is in hotel rooms. [For hotel rooms, you specify the star-level you desire. Here are the minimum bids per star-level: 1¤ = $15; 2¤ = $17; 2½¤ = $19; 3¤ = $25; 4¤ = $40; 5¤ = $55; Resort = $40]
Registration is required in order to use this service. The concept is that you name the price you are willing to pay for the airline ticket, or hotel room, in a specified area.
Bidding For Travel
This is a BBS where you learn how users of Priceline® bid for travel, including the prices which were accepted. This is a valuable BBS which has reached critical mass: i.e. There have been enough accepted bids to have a reasonable idea of how low you can offer. I have used it to obtain hotel rooms in cities. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®, & accept cookies. Bidding For Travel was mentioned in "Consumer Reports".
Sheryl, the main moderator here, has been away due to illness since June 2009. The quality of the forum has been slipping. It is a member of the Yuku network of fora.
Better Bidding
This is another BBS dealing with the same topics as Bidding For Travel. I would not call it a rivalry, but there are a clutch of registered users at each BBS which feel that that specific BBS is ‘better’ than the other. So I will present both of them. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®, & accept cookies.
FlyerTalk Forums
Bidding For Travel links to Trip Advisor; but this is the travel forum which I found most educational when researching my trips to Tokyo, Japan. This forum has over 153,050 members around the globe. It began as a resource for airlines' frequent flyer program members to provide key data. It has now expanded to include specific recommendations within popular destinations. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®, & accept cookies.
Hotwire®
Hotwire® is a site which searches other travel W-WW sites searching for low fares from the cities & on the days you indicate on its form. You must register in advance with it.
Travelocity®
This is the on-line travel agency associated with American Airlines. It has the "FareWatch" program.
One Travel
One Travel is a W-WW site consolidating airline, hotel, & auto rental companies' "Internet only" specials.
Johnny Jet
This is a site with stories, tips, destination information, & hundreds of links to travel W-WW sites. The most poignant one is likely that to "Auction Advice".
Airfare Watchdog®
This is a W-WW site, in the format of a weblog, which believes it is the only airfare alert and comparison site that includes fares on all airlines, including Southwest, Skybus, Allegiant, & JetBlue.
Y a p t a
This is a W-WW site which monitors airfares on designated routes. If you sign up for it, which I can recommend, you tell it the routes, and it will send you an E-Mail when there is significant price movement on any of those routes.
Southwest Airlines
This was my favorite airline. But I haven't been flying anywhere these days. If you are, sign up for Rapid Rewards®, and collate sixteen credits in two years. You shall earn a free round trip anywhere Southwest flies. More significantly, you will be able to find a seat when you attempt to claim your award flight.
Simply Quick
Simply Quick, domiciled in New Zealand, provides unbiased, independent information on World-Wide Web shopping, discount, coupon, & travel sites.
Digital city guide
This site is especially good at locating the spectrum of “last-minute” airfares from select cities across the U.S.A. The best time to begin looking for cheap airfares is 1:00 am ET [GMT - 5]. The best day is Wednesday. It is affiliated with America on-Line.
Roomsaver
Here is another compounder of hotel & motel coupons. This site also allows you to print out coupons from its guides on-line. This corporation publishes the “green guide”.
Megabus
This is a World-Wide Web site where Chicago is the midwest hub for some amazingly low motor coach fares to other cities in the midwest. It also has a northeast hub out of New York City. If you reserve sufficiently in advance, it could cost only one dollar (depending on the day of the week) [+ a 50¢ processing fee]. Watch out for promotional codes which could award you a free trip. (It has begun being blatant about the promotional codes. One may appear in a banner ad on this page.) It also has a wing for the U.K. You may register if you wish it to save some of your data.
I-95 exit guide
Interstate 95 [I-95] is the main highway on the east coast of the U.S.A. Portions of it are a toll road. If you do drive I-95, here is a World-Wide Web site which lets you know about food, lodging, gasoline prices, shopping, & more along its route.
Motel 6®
Motel 6 is the U.S.A.'s lowest-priced national motel chain. I began staying at Motel 6 in 1987. On-line reservations are available. You may register if you wish it to save some of your data. Seek the "Click 6" Internet specials.
Hostelling International
When you travel, staying at a hostel puts you in touch with people who are very interested in sharing their journeys with you. It is also one of the least expensive ways to sleep. This is the central site of HI-AYH. It is available in four languages. You don't have to be under 30 years of age to stay here, either. Bring a towel.
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago is one of the easiest cities (in the U.S.A.) to traverse without an automobile. Unlike some cities [Tokyo], its system does not shut down at midnight. Link here for routes, maps, & schedules. On-line transit card ordering is available. You need to obtain a "Chicago Card" [linked from here] to get the lowest fare [$2.25 bus | $2.50 “L”], and to be able to transfer to one or two buses or “L”'s in a two-hour span [+ 25¢]. Otherwise, each route you ride will cost you $2.25.
Click through from here to the CTA Bus Tracker, which can indicate when a bus on a selected route shall arrive at a particular stop, or display all the buses in operation on a route [up to five routes at once]. [Google™ maps take a while to completely load.]
A Google™ map with the Chicago “L” system overlaid
This is an impressive user-generated W-WW page which depicts each Chicago rapid transit station over the street grid. For further information, click on the station dot, or the text link on the right side. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®. [Google™ maps take a while to completely load.]
Chicago “L” history
This is the World-Wide Web's largest resource for information on Chicago's rapid transit system. It encompasses transit history; advocacy; and technical data. It is a member of the "Chicago & Northern Illinois History Ring".
Central Electric Railfans' Association
I have been a member of C.E.R.A. since 1978. It is the longest-lasting conglomeration which has not yet dissolved, or extruded me from its membership rolls. C.E.R.A. has been around since 1938. It is a railfan organization orbiting around the metropolitan Chicago area. Since Chicago was a railway, and an electric railway hub, it includes any number of "inspection trips" of other electric railway properties of the midwest & eastern U.S.A.; and even portions of Ontario, Canada. Monthly meetings of the organization are held at the University Center at 525 S. State St. in central Chicago on the fourth Friday of each month [at 19:00 hours].
Chicago Bus forum
This is an unofficial W-WW site maintained by an individual who is a fan of motor coaches; especially those used by the Chicago Transit Authority [c.v.]. It encompasses both text and images.
I now send you directly to its forum, for which I can recommend signing up. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®, and accept cookies.
CTA Tattler
This is a weblog which began as a place where surfers could describe the unusual elements of their ride on the CTA. But it has amended to where thoughtful discussion of the day-to-day operation of the Authority is most frequently presented. It is now under the aegis of the Chicago Tribune®'s “Chicago Now” W-WW presence. Registration (which requires JavaScript|ActiveX® on & cookies accepted) is required in order to respond.
San Francisco underground travel
It's a lot different being shown around by a friend in San Francisco than navigating the foggy maze on your own. This is the best independent guide to what is worth seeing, and what is just a tourist trap. This site has three frames.
Market Street Railway
It is overshadowed by the city's cable cars, but San Francisco also has a fleet of electric streetcars running along Market Street seven days a week. Here you can learn more about San Francisco's transit history, the postwar P. C. C. (Presidents' Conference Committee) streetcars used to provide service, and how to become a member of the organization.

Soccer

Sam's Army | Mark Wheeler
The site of Sam's Army (the U.S.A. soccer booster club) and Mark Wheeler's links to North American Soccer World-Wide Web sites. There are links to just about every soccer link site out here.
Travelers' Guide to U. S. Soccer
This is a significant and important World-Wide Web site with information which is intended to provide soccer boosters interested in soccer in the U.S.A. information on the top soccer spots throughout the country.
U. S. Soccer history archives
Dave Litterer's excellent compendium of soccer leagues' champions.
Fédération Internationale de Football Association
F.I.F.A. is the most significant organization on the planet. It is the administrator overseeing all the efforts of its member associations which operate in soccer [football]. Its mission is to reach out and touch the world, using football as a symbol of hope and integration. This W-WW site is available in English, French, Spanish, & German.
Confederation Of North American, Caribbean, & Central American Football
CONCACAF is the confederation, similar to UEFA [Europe], overseeing its member nations in this hemisphere. This includes the U.S.A. Its prestige event is the CONCACAF Gold Cup™, held every two years in the odd-numbered years. It also presents annually the CONCACAF Champions' League®, whose winner qualify for the F.I.F.A. Club World Cup in December (which I have covered). A Spanish-language version of this W-WW site is available.
United States Soccer Federation
Here is the official site of the United States Soccer Federation. The U.S.S.F. affiliated itself with F.I.F.A. in 1913. Besides all the National Team programs, its marquee event is the annual Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup Tournament.
OurSports Central
This was the swiftest I have ever added a bookmark to this page. It has lots of articles about the sports which do not command a plethora of media attention: i.e.; the “minor leagues”. This W-WW page has not been updated in a while.
Rockford RAMPAGE official W-WW site
Somehow, this franchise, which had been playing only exhibitions versus the Chicago STORM, Milwaukee WAVE, travelling select teams, and universities, were admitted to the “Major Indoor Soccer League” [III]. The M.I.S.L. shall have a league schedule for 2009-10. Rockford are in with Milwaukee, Monterrey [Mexico], Baltimore, & Philadelphia.
What happened to the Chicago STORM? Why should I speculate? Ask somebody who was drawing a paycheck from them - if you can find any of them. What a shame. Indoor soccer's popularity in Chicago has been surpassed by women's flat-track roller derby.
Milwaukee WAVE official W-WW site
Since Chicago does not have professional indoor soccer any more, I figure I should put this franchise on the page. Peter Wilt is now the President here. Considering that this franchise nearly bit the dust in July 2009, I think it could use some support. Check Megabus [c.v.] for ultra-low (or free) bus rides from Chicago to Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Center Arena is a five-block walk from the Megabus stop. Buses from Chicago leave at 11:30 am & 3:00 pm; and the evening bus from Milwaukee departs at 9:45 pm.
Oh ~ one more thing: Art Kramer is the real genius on the coaching staff.
U. S. Soccer Hall of Fame
Did you know that the U.S.A. has a National Soccer Hall of Fame? Its physical location was in Oneonta, New York. But due to the downturn of the economy causing fewer customers to visit the hall, it closed down in August 2009. Everything is in storage. A new venue is the probable outcome. Here is its W-WW site. The site has lots of data about its inductees.
Chicagoland Soccer News
Here is a good W-WW soccer site orbiting around metropolitan Chicago's soccer scene.
Pitch Invasion
This is a blog webmastered by Tom Dunsmore, but featuring many guest commentators, which digs underneath the surface of professional soccer (mainly in North America) to educate and inform soccer supporters, and those intrigued by them.
The Offside
This is a soccer blog spanning the globe, with pertinent and informative posts from scores of columnists worldwide.
(old) N. A. S. L. homepage
This site is administered by Christopher Page. It has many links (in its top frame). If you are seeking information about the N.A.S.L. [I], here is a place to begin.
United States National Team Players Association
This somewhat obscure site orbits around the players on the U.S.A. Men's and Women's National Teams. It has a good array of articles, games, puzzles, playing tips, coaching tips, and other support functions for soccer boosters in the U.S.A. There is also a message forum for which you may register.
Soccer on videocassettes
This is the W-WW site of Dave Brett. Dave has recorded and | or traded for an impressive number of soccer games on VHS videocassettes. If you are searching for a specific game, visit here.

Music

WFMU-FM
Michael J. Weldon, the editor of "Psychotronic Video®" [R.I.P.] magazine, raved about this freeform FM station in Jersey City, NJ. [U.S.A.]
To what do I listen now? The Dish Network® dbs system which we have here at the domicile gives us the Sirius-XM® commercial-free music channels [Sirius® system]. I've been listening mostly to classic jazz, and changing to "The Loft" on weekends.
KUSF-FM
KUSF-FM 90.3 is the free form radio station associated with the Univ. of San Francisco. It has been broadcasting on the Internet since January 1996.
America's Jazz Station
KKJZ-FM 88.1 (Long Beach, CA., U.S.A.) describes itself as “Where jazz and blues live”. Its former call letters were KLON. You can listen to the station in your browser by linking here. The C-Band {big ugly dish} audio feed is at Telstar 7 (129° W); transponder #15 (H); subcarriers 5.58 & 5.76. It is a broadcast service of California State Univ. - Long Beach (CSULB).
Steely Dan
Walter Becker & Donald Fagen are musical genii. There is no musical approach they cannot succinctly assuage. They finally earned both the acknowledgment of their peers in 2000 by being elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and winning four Grammy® Awards for "Two Against Nature". Donald Fagen anticipates releasing a solo album in 2010.
“Hoops'” Steely Dan fan site
This is Jim McKay's original Steely Dan fan internet resource. It was founded in 1993. A popular venue for Steely Dan fans to chat is in here, linked from the ‘bluebook’ rubric.
Grateful Dead Net Central
I was not waiting for Jim Egan to get an Internet account before adding this link. (As far as I know; he still has access only at the university.) This site was conceived as where those who dig the Grateful Dead could gather to discuss the concerns of our common interest group. Registration is recommended to post or respond in the forum. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX® to fully utilize this site.
Grateful Dead lyrics
This World-Wide Web site, by David Dodd, annotates Grateful Dead lyrics (their originals only). The site provides links for words or phrases which might benefit from some elucidation, without attempting to give definitive "interpretations". There are also links to other thematic essays.
Art Laboe
If you have ever spent any time listening to the radio in Southern California, you have probably tuned in to a nightly show hosted by Art Laboe. Art was a savvy businessman as well; as he never sold the masters of the records which he released in the 1950s & 1960s on his record labels. You can now hear his show by visiting this W-WW site.
Evil Beaver #1
Rock & Roll! "Evil Beaver" were a two-grrrl power punk duo from 1999 to 2004. The two grrrls composing the act had a fractious falling-out. Laura Ann Beaver managed to retain access to this World-Wide Web site. She feels that Evie Evil is using the "Evil Beaver" name to get bookings for her new group. Lawyers became involved. You can purchase the entire catalogue of Evil Beaver songs with Laura Ann at iTunes®.
Evil Beaver #2
What is Rock & Roll without rebellion? The two grrrls involved with "Evil Beaver" had a fractious falling-out. This is the W-WW site maintained by Evie Evil. She has glommed the name "Evil Beaver", and is touring with another female (Judy Beaver), & two males (Scott & Garry Beaver).
I prefer to be tolerant & egalitarian, so I present both W-WW sites.
Motörhead
Yes! It's the official Motörhead World-Wide Web site. This is a great site, with links to both official and fan-hosted W-WW sites.
"If it's too loud, you're too old!"
The Big Takeover
"The Big Takeover" is the pinnacle zine covering the independent pop music scene. Its writers care about music, and support the bands & musicians who pioneer, rather than rest on their laurels, or are thrust at the public through brainwashing marketing techniques. There is now a forum here for which you may opt to register. Jack Rabid is the editor. Four issue subscriptions are available for $20.
Home Grown Music Network
This site's mission is to seek out the best music being made today & spread it across the universe. Visit here to learn about the people, organizations, independent bands, venues, stores, representatives and others all working together.
Art of the Mix
If you have a record collection, I suspect you have either duplicated some of the songs thereupon to another medium, or have considered doing so. Here is a W-WW site which is dedicated to notating mixed tapes, CDs, DVD-Rs, iPod® playlists, et cetera. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®, and accept cookies in order to post or respond here. My mixes are under "PudgyM".
Dr. Demento
If you are a fan of loony tunes and crazy comedy, you probably already know about Dr. Demento. The core is a two-hour syndicated radio program.
Classic Arts Showcase
This is a non-commercial, free, public service channel available to terrestrial, cable, and satellite services. On Dish Network® dbs, it is channel 9406. It is on C-band satellite Galaxy 15; transponder #5. It features performance, orchestral, and visual arts. It is funded by The Lloyd E. Rigler - Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation.
Link TV
Link TV is an international & interactive channel that brings the world's events, issues, and cultures to audiences in the U.S.A. It is under this rubric because of its music programs. It is available on both DirecTV®, and Dish Network® dbs systems.
R F D - TV
RFD - TV ["Rural America's most important network"] is a satellite channel dedicated to serving the needs and interests of rural America. It is under this rubric because of its diverse music programming (It has the broadcast rights to videotapes of old syndicated country music programs, which it obtained from Willie Nelson's personal library.). It also has regular series about railroads, both real and model. It is available on both Dish Network®, & DirecTV® dbs systems.
8-Track Heaven
Have any 8-Track tapes? Don't be queasy; visit this site and learn much more about this misunderstood music medium.

Photography | Videography

Cu-SeeMe information
If you have Cu-SeeMe, or are considering getting it {you have to look deeply, but you can find it}, this page will answer many questions about what to do with it. If you opt to register for the forum, you will need to accept cookies and turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Cu-SeeMe frequently asked questions
This has good technical information on setting up your computer (regardless of operating system) to use the software. The links along the left side of the screen contain additional information.

Pinball

Pin Game Journal
This is the zine which has original articles, and keeps tabs on the other on-line and print publications covering pinball. There is now exactly one company in the entire world manufacturing mechanical action pinball machines: Stern Pinball of Melrose Park, IL. [U.S.A.]
Stern Pinball
Here is the W-WW site of the one company in the entire world manufacturing mechanical action pinball machines. If you have an older W-WW browser, click on the 'site map' link in the lower right corner of this page.

Japan

Japanese <-> English dictionary
Did you link to a page which seemed to have the information for which you were looking, but it had those unfamiliar Japanese katakana characters on it? Here is a World-Wide Web page which can come to your assistance.
PhotoGuide Japan
You will find much informative data here. I point out to you the Japan Photos section. As you proceed, you may opt for a framed or non-framed presentation. It has been online since March 1996.
Tokyo Pinball Organization
This is the English-language home page for the above named organization. There are more pages in Japanese which refer to the general history of pinball.
Tokyo Brews News
This is an English-language W-WW page, in which beerworthy pubs, restaurants, and shops in metropolitan Tokyo are reviewed. There is also coverage of beer festivals and craft breweries in other areas of Japan.
Beer Club Popeye
This is Tokyo's (and probably Japan's) number 1 beer bar. It has seventy beers on tap, including real ales. It is off the beaten path in Ryögoku, an east-central area [Sumida-ku] of Tokyo. The closest train station to it is the JR Sobu Line's "Ryögoku" stop [west exit]. (If you catch it in Akihabara, or at Ochanomizu, it will cost ¥130.) It is also within four blocks of the #33 Toei bus route [¥200], which runs northbound nightly until 22:54 hours, and which runs directly to | from the Khaosan hostels in Asakusa [c.v.]. If you order designated beers (indicated on the menu with a crown) during “Happy Hour” (17:00 - 20:00 hours daily), you will receive a free pub snack. (Try the pizza.) Click through from here to the "CUPON" {sic}; print it out, and present it. You will be automatically enrolled in Popeye's frequent guest program, which earns you discounts on your tab. I break out of the frame for you.
Boozelist
These are three of nineteen English-language blogs maintained by Chris Chuwy. He visits lots of taverns in the metropolitan Tokyo area. This weblog attempts to annotate all the beers on tap at the various venues he has visited. Because of all the pubs being covered, as well as the limited images (including one Google™ map), it will take a while to completely load.
Hoppy Hours
This weblog tracks all the discounts, deals, & nomihodais of Tokyo taverns. Consuming beer is a good way to meet other people, especially in another country.
Drinking My Brains
This weblog is where C. Chuwy postulates on the beers he has drunk, and the taverns (& festivals) to which he has been in Japan.
Beer in Japan
Here is a weblog where our blogger comments about the general atmosphere of beer production & consumption in Japan. It is a lively blend of serious and irreverent posts. You may also follow him on Twitter as "hopjuice".
Good Beer and Country Boys *
For a limited time, this is the English-language weblog of D.H. He lives in Japan, but far away from Tokyo {south & west}. He has been scouring Japan for the finest brews that it has to offer.
The limited time is until April. D.H. is getting married and moving back to Kentucky.
{* = Nate already moved back to the U.S.A. - but D.H. isn't changing the page's title.}
Ramen Adventures
Here is a better blog rating ramen shops in Tokyo. I submit it is better because you and I can actually respond herein; and, he gives a more specific location of each shop. Eating at ramen restaurants is another way to economize when in Tokyo.
Go Ramen
Here is a weblog which has just had an incredible twist. Our blogger originally reported on ramen restaurants in southern California. He reviewed a solid number of them. But when he began travelling to Japan and eating at ramen shops there, he caught the ‘bug’ and wanted to move to Japan. He convinced the American guy running the Ivan Ramen shop in western Tokyo to let him work there. So he has moved to Tokyo and is now reporting directly from there.
Ramen Tokyo
This is a weblog for English-speaking people who are planning to visit Tokyo, love ramen, and do not read enough Japanese to be able to understand Japanese ramen W-WW sites. It is worse than Ramen Adventures.
Hamburgers in Tokyo
I strive to be egalitarian and tolerant. So for those who want to eat beef in Tokyo, here is a blog maintained by W-Ice. It reviews independent hamburger stands in metropolitan Tokyo, including the Tama Area, & Kawasaki.
He hasn't updated this blog since May 2009.
Shibuya 2-4-6
This is a general-topic English-language Japanese weblog covering a spectrum of activities in the metropolitan Tokyo area. Most of the blog posts are photographic. Because of all the images on this W-WW site, it will take a while to completely load. You may also follow him on Twitter as "shibuya246".
the qUirKY jaPan HomEPage
Here's a great site pointing out all the non-touristy things in Japan, and especially Tokyo. Note the links for "Budget Travel", & "Really cool places no one ever visits". The page's author sporadically has a column in "Japanzine", a free monthly English-language Japanese magazine.
English-language maps of Japan
Diddlefinger is an adaptation off the Google™ Maps platform which allows you to type in an address in Japan, in a four-step process [which is balky at times], and receive output of a savable and printable map of that address. You need to turn on JavaScript|ActiveX®.
Tokyo Damage Report
This is a fascinating site maintained by Steve Schultz, an English-speaking person who was deported from Japan, but managed to return six months later. The link herein which has the data which caused me to add this here is the one to the dictionary of the words used to describe Japanese pornographic books and videos. This will help you if you land on a Japanese W-WW site where the only use of English characters is in the linking URLs. The bulk of this site orbits around music.
A Google™ map of Tokyo Damage Report's venues
Somebody from Europe went and placed all the venues that S. Schultz mentioned in his Tokyo Trip Report [linked from above] on a Google™ map. Here it is.
Khaosan Tokyo hostel group
This is the W-WW site of the hostel group in whose properties I have stayed when I have visited Tokyo. Its rates are very low. It provides free Internet access for its guests. Its Asakusa properties are a short walking distance from a Tokyo subway station on the route which serves Narita Airport. It has another property in a nook of Chüö-ku near the Asakusa-bashi bridge. Khaosan's keenest aspect is that it has surveyed the neighborhood to denote the shops, clubs, & restaurants which provide similar values for the money.
It also operates hostels in Fukuoka and Beppu.
Japan train route & fare calculator [Hitachi]
Here is [| are] the World-Wide Web site[s] which will decipher the ‘hidden code’ known by residents thereof, but not by overseas visitors there. Hyperdia is Hitachi's foray, which I submit is now much better than Jorudan's [c.v.]. It is now available in Japanese, English, & Chinese.
What is the mystery?
The Japanese Railways (JR) line is not the only interurban train line serving densely-populated areas. JR likes to present itself as such, and it makes an effort to attract English-speaking riders. The other private train lines seem to consider non-Japanese-speaking customers as secondary. JR is almost always the most expensive train you can ride.
You begin by inputting the station names which you want to transit in Japan. It notes what you are typing and suggests the station(s) beginning with those letters. If a station name includes a hyphen, omit it. You do not need to include the diacritical marks of a specific letter. (The stations for Narita Airport are "NARITA AIRPORT" [Terminal 1] & "AIRPORT TERMINAL 2" [Terminal 2].) (If you are staying at a Khaosan Group's hostel in Asakusa, the station name you want is "ASAKUSA(TOBU)".) Indicate whether the time you enter is your desired departure or arrival time. Click on the "SearchDetails" link for more key options; including where you may optionally include a station or stations through which you wish to pass en route. This is where you specify the types of conveyances you want included ("Walk" is an option.), such as extra-cost trains like the "Shinkansen", "Airline", or "Limited Express"; the number of routing options [up to ten] you would like; and now having an option which will include, or exclude, JR trains. (I recommend you select "Money" as the sort order.)
Hyperdia will let you click through [new browser windows] to investigate the train's run, the service schedule for a specific station, and even a (Japanese-language) map of the area of the station. The results will let you know how much it will cost; how many times you need to transfer (& where); and how much time will be consumed. This is one of those very rare W-WW sites in which its usefulness makes it fun to play with, even though some of its alternate routings are exasperating. I give this service my keenest recommendation.
Japan train route & fare calculator [Jorudan]
While doing background search on Hyperdia; I found this other interactive W-WW site maintained by Jorudan. The concept is the same. Its output is lengthier and less interactive than Hyperdia, but its results should be the same. A Japanese-language version is available. I break out of the frame for you. Compare and contrast the two of them.
A basic rule to help you determine fares in Tokyo is: Tokyo Metro lines are the least expensive, then the Toei lines, then the non-JR private lines, and lastly the JR lines.


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