BEST OF THE WEB
 The VRML Repository |
VRML (Virtual Reality Markup Language) is one of the most interesting of the new Internet technologies; it's an evolving standard for describing and interacting in a three-dimensional world that lives within someone's Internet site.
If you're interested in interactive 3D worlds, or if you're just curious about what's up-and-coming, the VRML Repository is the place to visit. Althoug
h this is a rather business-like site -- not what you'd visually expect given the topic -- the repository contains the information computer professionals and users need to get started with VRML. There's a bibliography, so you can learn more, and job posti
ngs, you can exploit your new knowledge. You'll also find press releases, so you can stay up to date. Developers will appreciate the technical specifications and white papers about VRML.
The VRML Repository has links to many of the currently available VRML browsers. Download and use them, especially those marked alpha or beta, at your own risk. Then check out the repository's sample VRML worlds, or go to Intel's Web site, and you're re ady to ride the edge: virtual reality over the Internet.
 The Geometry Center |
Computer-generated geometric figures are cool, right? Even if you're math-phobic, The Geometry Center's got stuff to captivate, entertain, and educate you about the cutting edge of mathematical research.
Sponsored by The Center for the Computation and Visualization of Geometric Structures at the University of Minnesota, this site includes the usual suspects found at academic sites, such as lab materials and news about upcoming workshops. Check them out , but that's not what makes this site great. It's the visual math that's the real value.
The Geometric Research Archive is a place where you can download those fantastic math images -- fractals, wireframes, renderings, and more -- that only supercomputers can generate. How about an "exploration of the dynamics of three interconnected rings ?" Sounds boring, looks beautiful.
Let's skip right to the best stuff: the Gallery of Interactive Geometry. It is a powerful example of client/server computing, since your desktop PC can be controlling a powerful math-oriented server in Minnesota. Ignoring the jargon, you can use the Qu asiTiler to explore ways of tiling a plane. You can play pinball in negatively curved space. You can view 3D objects. Or work with Riemann surfaces. Admit it -- haven't you always wanted to do that? And in the privacy of your home, who's going to know?
 Welcome to Intel |
This is undoubtedly the most extensive computer company site on the World Wide Web. You'll find it all here.
Interested in microprocessors, such as a Pentium or the new Pentium Pro? In the Processors section, you'll find not one, but two online magazines, PC Explore for home users and Directions for advanced computing trends; both will help you understand not only Intel's processors, but also how PCs work, upcoming technology trends, and more. You'll also find lots of information about Intel's other products, including mobile PCs, motherboards, and chipsets.
Forget enjoying the Intel site with anything slower than a 28.8Kbps modem; it's really only interactive if you have a faster ISDN or T1 line available at work. On the other hand, this site's so cross-organized that it's easy to find what you want witho ut paging through information you don't need. A configurable keyword search engine makes finding what you want even faster and easier. You can also browse through tech-support notes for solutions to a real-world problems.
There's more. For example, you can interactively render a picture on a Pentium Pro machine, and download the image. You can download a free intelligent agent that searches Usenet newsgroups. My favorite: a VRML-based tour of the Pentium Pro processor. Even if you don't use an Intel processor, you'll learn from the Intel Web site.
![[Best of the Rest]](bestrest.gif){kind=small}
| 4. HALsoft HTML Validation Service |
Such a simple concept: A Web-based resource that'll test out your own Web pages to ensure they're compliant with the HTML standards. Why should you care? Because not everyone uses the same browser you do. So what should you do? Go to the free Validatio n Service page, provide the URL of the page you're designing, and let HALsoft tell you how it works. If you have a simpler question, copy-and-paste bits of HTML code into a test window, and get an instant answer.
| 5. Dylan Greene's Windows 95 Starting Page |
Looking for information about making the best use of Windows 95? This site offers practical information and resources that will prove useful. Cleverly organized to resemble Windows 95's task bar, this easy-to-navigate resource has plenty of links and F AQs, documents to read, software to download, and suggested communications setting to help your Web surfing.
| 6. The Best of OS/2 on the Worldwide Web |
This site truly lives up to its name: It's the best source of information about OS/2 Warp, IBM's alternative to Windows 95 and Windows NT. You can learn where to buy OS/2-compatible hardware and software, check out Web-based magazines, read the latest IBM news flashes, and more. You can even link to various OS/2-related celebrities. If you're an OS/2 user, this is the first non-IBM site to explore.
| 7. Autodesk Homepage |
Autodesk is the home of high-end computer-aided design and graphics products like AutoCAD and 3D Studio. But once you're past that, you'll be able to browse or search for company news, interviews, and product information that's genuinely useful and eas y to find.Don't try this site with less than a 28.8Kbps modem.
| 7.(tie) The Complete Conflict Compendium |
Conflicts are a way of life on the Macintosh. Even though Apple controls the hardware, incompatibilities between software and specific Mac models are all too common. You can search this unique database by either hardware or software; find your configur ation, and discover what problems have been reported, their symptoms, and cures proven by fellow Mac owners. If you don't have a Mac, don't bother; if you support Macs, you need to be here.
| 9. Microsoft on the Web |
Like many, but not all, corporate sites, Microsoft's home page is focused directly on the company and its products. Much of the content covers -- no surprise -- Bill Gates. But you'll also find plenty of useful stuff, including free and beta software, developer tips, and access to Microsoft's tech-support database.
| 9.(tie) Operating System Project Information |
If you think that the only operating systems are Windows 95, OS/2 Warp, or MacOS 7.5, think again. There are dozens of operating systems in use today, from real-time operating systems used in embedded processors to special-purpose ones used for paralle l supercomputers. You'll learn about them all -- in more detail than you'll ever want or need -- in this exhaustive and exhausting academic treatment of the topic.
| 9.(tie) Adobe Systems on the World-Wide Web |
Adobe's site is no-nonsense; you can learn about this graphics company's products and services, see what's new, and grab the latest version of its Acrobat electronic-publishing reader for Windows or Macintosh. Adobe's site is most useful to Adobe custo mers, with a wealth of free product extensions ready to download.
| 12. Apple Computer Home Page |
Apple Computer's site is extensive and graphics-intensive; if you don't have a high-speed link, forget about it. If you do have at least a 28.8Kbps modem, you'll learn a lot about Apple's technologies and company values, see some interesting art, and m aybe even download a QuickTime VR viewer for Windows.
| 12.(tie) The IBM Home Page |
IBM Corp., home of mainframes and Aptivas, high-tech research, and databases, has a state-of-the-art Web site filled with stock info, press releases, and audio greetings from CEO Lou Gerstner. Download the OS/2 Nuns commercial in .AVI format, or learn about speech recognition; this extensive site's a mixed bag of content that's worth digging through in order to find valuable pearls.
| 12.(tie) Screen Savers from A-Z |
I probably spent more time downloading files from this site than any other in this survey. As its name implies, this site links to more than 260 shareware and freeware Windows screen savers. Organized by topic, with a quick "top 10 most recent savers," this is one site that pure fun, and pure content.
| 15. Linux for the PowerPC Macintosh |
Linux, the freeware version of Unix, only recently appeared on the scene, but it's already receiving acclaim for its speed and stability. This site details the port of Linux to the PowerMac, with helpful FAQs, links to source code, and more. It's not a very deep site, but it's exactly what this special-interest group needs.
| 16. The Well Connected Mac |
The Well Connected Mac claims to be your online guide to everything Macintosh-related, and it comes close to serving that need. Grab FTP site lists, view FAQs, see trade-show calendars, read hardware and software reviews, get onto a few mailing lists, or link to other Web sites.
| 16.(tie) FAME Home Page |
Forecasting the Application of Multimedia and its Environment (FAME), from Scotland's Edinburgh University, covers its topic to the year 2010 and beyond.This includes links to various multimedia studies. Although dry, it's a good example of academic re search made accessible outside the academic environment.
| 18. The Macintosh Advocacy |
Macintosh enthusiasts will love the Mac advocacy page. Definitely a labor of love for the Mac community, it provides links, links, and more links, as well as a sense of community not found on most Web pages. Although I don't use a Mac as my primary mac hine, this site had me looking at my Quadra with new enthusiasm.
| 18.(tie) Ghostscript Home Page |
Ghostscript is a freeware version of the PostScript page-description language, and you'll learn all about it at this no-nonsense site. This is where you'll discover where to get the right version for your system, and how to integrate it with you Web br owser to provide online viewing of PostScript documents.
| 18.(tie) Windows 95 32-bit Shareware |
Yeah, there's www.microsoft.com, but that's the official stuff. Nearly as professional in appearance as Microsoft's server -- and far more diverse -- is this informal site, which provides links, technical FAQs, and downloadable files galore you'll neve r find from the folks in Redmond.
| 18.(tie) Walnut Creek CD-ROM |
Walnut Creek publishes a wide variety of specialized CD-ROMs filled with shareware and data files. But why turn to a disc product when you can access its incredibly diverse files right through your Web browser?
| 18.(tie) MidiWeb User Supported MIDI Web Site |
The MIDI Web Site is the self-proclaimed home for folks interested in using computer-controlled musical instruments. This site stands out in offering a wide range of MIDI utilities and music data files, technical information and FAQs, and links to usef ul electronic-music resources.
| 18.(tie) Welcome to Sun Microsystems |
Clearly organized and attractive, the Sun Microsystems home page is a resource not only for users of Sun workstations, but also for people interested in hot new Internet technologies. Probably its most compelling part for most of us its information on Java.
| 18.(tie) Desktop Publishing Internet Resource Jumplist |
If desktop publishing's your game, then the DTP jumplist's the place to go. Not only is there a lot of information on this site, neatly organized by topic (like graphics, clip-art, fonts, printers, or by product or hardware), but lots of links. Use thi s site as a base, and build from here.
| 25. Ash Nallawalla's Master User Group Page |
User groups are incredible resources for learning, for asking, and for sharing. But how can you locate one? If you're in the market, Ash Nallawalla's site is the best resource for finding a user group that suits your interests. You can find user groups in your geographic area, by platform, and by brand; find resources for setting up a group, and even pointers to user-group newsletters on the Web. There's no other resource like it.
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