*** ANSWERMAN INTERNET EXTRA *** Sunday, July 21, 1996 This is a weekly newsletter for the community of Internet users on America Online. It is brought to you by AnswerMan, AOL's area for those learning to use the Internet. Come see what's new at keyword ANSWERMAN. Got comments about this newsletter? We want to hear them! Send 'em to Kevin Savetz, "savetz@aol.com". ||| IN THIS ISSUE || | AnswerMan's Update -- News from the Fez Boy Purple's Picks -- Olympic Fever! Purple's Picks -- Politics as Usual? Upcoming AnswerMan Chats -- Shhh, its private. Is your data? The End -- how to reach us or unsubscribe ||| ANSWERMAN'S UPDATE || | Greetings once again to the throng of you subscribed to the AnswerMan Internet Extra! Well, perhaps you're not a throng quite yet, but there are enough of you that I doubt I'd have enough place settings if all 5,000 of you came over for dinner this weekend. (I guess I'll have to run out and get a LOT of paper plates.) You may be wondering what happened to last week's newsletter. Well, I apologize, but the computer ate my homework. Seriously: I got a blazing fast new computer, but not long after I got the thing plugged in and ready to go, the hard disk proceeded to eat itself from the inside out. The newsletter was one of the casualties, along with far too many hours of my time trying to rectify the problem. As a result, this is a special "double issue" of the AnswerMan Internet Extra. ("Double issue" is newsletter double-talk for "Our last issue didn't come out, so we'll throw all the extra stuff into one fat issue." :-) So, besides hearing me ramble on longer than usual, you're about to be treated to two (count 'em!) editions of CJ Purple's ever-popular "Purple's Picks" column -- one's about Olympics sites, the other about politics on the Net. I've received several messages from folks wondering about various aspects of the newsletter. A popular question is " I like the newsletter, but why am I getting it?" You're getting it because you subscribed: that is, you've asked to receive it by sending a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM, or by pressing the subscribe button at keyword ANSWERMAN. Should you want to stop receiving this weekly newsletter, you can do so easily by sending e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM with a subject line of UNSUBSCRIBE and a message body of UNSUBSCRIBE ANSWERMAN -- but we'd much rather have you stick around :) By the way, 99.9% of the mailing lists you'll find on the Internet are free -- you choose to subscribe, you can later choose to unsubscribe, and there is no cost to you (except the cost of fetching your e-mail from America Online.) Yes, there are rare pay-to-subscribe mailing lists and newsletters out there, but don't worry: you can't be charged for anything on the Internet without your explicit consent. If you like getting newsletters via e-mail, another one that I can highly recommend is IC-HILITES, the newsletter of AOL's Internet Connection. IC-HILITES shares the latest and greatest happenings in America Online's Internet Connection. It will keep you in tune with what's happening in AnswerMan, Pro's Corner, NetGirl and all the other Internet Connection forums. To subscribe, send e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM with a subject line of SUBSCRIBE and a message body of SUBSCRIBE IC-HILITES -- there's also a Web page with more info at http://members.aol.com/ichilites/index.html If you like true-life humor, the other once-a-week newsletter you should definitely subscribe to is "This is True." True is a humorous weekly compilation of strange-but-true news stories. To receive This is True every week via e-mail, send e-mail to listserv@netcom.com with the message "subscribe this-is-true". There's also a Web site with more info at http://www.freecom.com/TrueHome. Next week -- and the newsletter WILL come out this Sunday, as scheduled, I promise! -- I'll take you on a tour of an exciting, free Internet service that sends you customized news, sports and financial reports via e-mail. In the mean time, if you have any comments about the newsletter, please send then to me at savetz@aol.com -- if you have any questions about the Internet (don't we all?) take 'em to keyword ANSWERMAN and press the ASK ANSWERMAN button. ||| PURPLE'S PICKS - Olympic Fever || by Sarah Nehrer (CJ Purple) | Hi again everyone! OK folks, the Olympics started Friday (and runs through August 4), and we haven't even discussed how to get all the information you didn't even know you wanted to know about them! :-) In my opinion, _the_ place to go is Atlanta Games at http://www.atlantagames.com. This site is jam-packed with information and is updated daily. There are eight main sections, and each of these has several links. There are also numerous additional links to things like Cams Across Atlanta -- live video of different sites around Atlanta, including the capitol building, midtown and the airport, updated every 5 minutes -- related news stories, a day-by-day schedule of the games and seating charts for the various venues. You can start with The Games, which includes a Kids Page and a complete schedule and location of the various sports being played, as well as the venues. Then it's off to Let's Talk, where you can find International Pen Pals, or you can learn about the Bed and Breakfasts and hotels in town. The site offers a driving tour of downtown Atlanta, things to do, the weather and an article about Tara (for all you Gone With the Wind fans). Around the South describes getaways, Civil War sites, and a link to the Georgia Web Guide. Food includes restaurants, the Top 10 eateries and catering. Entertainment discusses nightlife, clubs and the Olympic Arts Festival. There are also Search and Index options. The former allows you to search the site by concept or keyword; the latter lists the various topics you can learn about on the site. The entire site is sponsored by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the local newspaper, and is really comprehensive and easy to use. Well, hope today's column satisfied all you sports fans that were _truly_ bored by my last column on cultural arts. :-> Next up? Politics! ||| PURPLE'S PICKS - Politics as Usual! || by Sarah Nehrer (CJ Purple) | Hi folks! As promised, this column's topic is politics. The Democratic and Republican conventions are coming up next month, and we regular folk need to know all the latest information leading up to those big events and the election in November. So here are two sites that will tell you just about everything you need or want to know. The first is CNN/Time's site called All Politics (http://www.allpolitics.com). Besides all the helpful information and news stories linked to the home page, you can click on the following options: News - headline news, AP political news, and sound bites from the candidates and their campaign people; Issues -- pick a topic dear to your heart, anything from abortion to affirmative action and read about the stands each candidate has taken on that issue, even read an explanation of the flat tax proposal. Candidates -- a description of Clinton and Dole plus of any independents running, a student mock election, various ads from the various campaigns and a discussion of the funding of the candidates; Analysis -- links to CNN political programs and transcripts, and Time magazine archives; Games - lots of fun things to do to waste more time on your computer, but this time, while learning about the political process; Polls -- of all kinds; and States -- detailed state by state information including information on elected officials, state and district profiles, an analysis of Congressional members, and primary and caucus results. The Dialogue link hooks you up to a huge message board on which you may post messages related to hundreds of already existing topics (all right, I didn't actually count how many, but there were a lot ) or create a new topic of your choice. The only down side to this site is that I came across several broken links. :-( The second site is a joint effort of ABC News, the Washington Post, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times and the National Journal and it's called Politics Now (http://www.politicsnow.com). This site doesn't appear to be quite as extensive as All Politics, and for some, that might be a good thing.:-> The links here include News -- extensive in-depth political news coverage; Views -- analyses of all sorts related to the political scene; Campaign 96 -- discussions of the race for the White House, the House of Representatives, Governors, State campaigns, and a calendar; Issues - as with All Politics, this is a list of various topics you can click on to read the various points of view; and Inter-Action - which includes a Voter Booth, a link to the Congressional Record, a petition to send to Congress members etc. The Resources link seemed to me the best offering at this site because it has links to the Almanac of American Politics, a Web Guide, information on campaign finance rules, link to something called The Capitol Source that has lots of insider information about Washington, the Federal Election Commission's primer on participating in the elections, and most importantly, links to online copies of the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the Magna Carta. Whew! Well, that's it for this week! Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, and I'll be back next week with some other helpful and informative Web sites for you to check out. Don't forget that you can e-mail me at cjpurple@aol.com with any questions or comments. ||| UPCOMING ANSWERMAN CHATS || Chat live with AnswerMan in these hour-long sessions | Pick an interesting topic & bring your questions | How do you participate? Just log in a few minutes before the session is scheduled to begin, then go to Keyword: AM CHAT. (To go to a keyword, just pick KEYWORD from your GO menu.) Then press the button to enter the auditorium. Privacy on the Net - Sunday, July 28, 6PM ET Who is reading your e-mail? What can Internet users learn about you and your personal life? Are your computer files safe from crackers on the Net? Just about everyone who has used the Internet has asked one of there questions--this hour, AnswerMan will discuss the issues, debunk the myths, and explore the problems of Internet privacy. Questions and discussion encouraged! Get a job! Finding employment on the Net - Sunday, August 4, 6PM ET Back by popular demand -- If you've been looking for work in all the wrong places, here's your chance to learn all about Internet sites that specialize in helping folks find gainful employment. You can explore free jobs databases, post your resume, or even attend an electronic job fair. AnswerMan will show you where these sites are, and will give hints on using the Net for your job search. Open Forum Internet Q&A - Sunday, August 11, 6PM ET Have questions about the Internet? Can't browse the Web? Need to find a site, but don't know where to look? Need to find a friend's e-mail address, but don't know how? Bring your Internet questions--AnswerMan will help you get online, findinformation you need and get surfing the 'net in no time. Have questions about the Internet? Can't browse the Web? Need to find a site, but don't know where to look? Want to find a friend's e-mail address, but don't know how? Bring your Internet questions--AnswerMan will help you get online, find the information you need and get surfing the 'net in no time. ||| THE END || | That's all for this week. Please send any comments or suggestions about the AnswerMan Internet Extra to "Savetz" (from AOL,) or "savetz@aol.com" (from the Internet.) To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an e-mail message -- To: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE Body: UNSUBSCRIBE ANSWERMAN This newsletter copyright 1996 by America Online and Kevin Savetz. All rights reserved. Made from 100% recycled electrons.