Internet Information

The best Internet tips on the Web

From time to time we'll post useful web sites and tips on this page. We hope they help you keep your computer running more smoothly and make your internet travels more enjoyable.

August 1 , 2004 Skin Deep : http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/browse_products.php Search the Skin Deep database to see whether your shampoo, lipstick, or baby lotion are safe. "EWG's Searchable Product Guide lets you see what's known about the potential health risks from the personal care products you use every day."

July 1 , 2004 Makeup Alley : http://www.makeupalley.com Great resource! Reviews of all types of beauty products, cosmetics and related appliances. Read product reviews or swap cosmetics and other products with members. Useful and lots of fun!

March 1 , 2004 Gas Buddy : http://www.gasbuddy.com Their site says it best: Who GasBuddy.com is the portal site to more than 170 gas price information web sites operated by the non-profit organization known as GasBuddy Organization Inc. What Each of GasBuddy Organization's web sites provides a live forum for consumers to post local recent low and high gasoline prices. Why Since gasoline prices change frequently and may vary by as much as 20 percent within only a few blocks it is important to be able locate the service station with the lowest priced fuel. GasBuddy Organization web sites allow consumers to both share information about low priced fuel with others as well as target the lowest priced stations to save at the pumps!

February 1 , 2004 Board Game Geek : http://www.boardgamegeek.com Fun Again : http://www.funagain.com I'm definitely showing my geekiness now! I love collecting board, card and dice games. Board games are a wonderful way to spend an evening actually *interacting* with your friends or family. They're an excellent parenting tool to help you teach your children how to take turns and how to lose (and win) graciously. It also teaches patience, perseverence and a sense of their own abilities. These sites are the best resources I know for finding games you won't get at Toys R Us. Visit for a little nostalgic trip down memory lane or for reviews to help you buy a unique gift.

January 15 , 2004 Miniclip : http://www.miniclip.com Play free games online. A great way to waste time at work <cough>.

December 8 , 2003 Search Engine Watch's Shopping Search Engine List : http://searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php/2156331 Some shopping search engines compare prices. Some let you search print catalogs. All of these are designed to help you find the perfect holiday gift.

November 5 , 2003 Pollution Locator : http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/cap/community.tcl Enter your zip code and find out how polluted your community is. The fun never stops!

August 10 , 2003 Trading Pages : http://tradingpages.5u.com Once a month you receive another member's address and profile. You send them any book you think they'd like. Your info is sent to a different member to send you a book too.

July 15 , 2003 Book Crossing : http://www.bookcrossing.com Book Sale Finder: http://www.booksalefinder.com Paperback books don't bring much at used book stores these days. BookCrossing.com gives you something fun to do with them! Sign up for a free account* (they don't give out your info) and then register a book you'd like to give away (they call it "releasing the book into the wild"). Leave a message stating where you plan to leave the book. You're then given an ID number for the book that you place inside the front cover. You "release" the book and wait to see if someone "catches" it. You may go "hunting" for released books in your area as well. BookSaleFinder.com allows you to search for book sales in your area. You'll need a replacement for the book you just released! * Tell em "webvira" sent ya!

June 6 , 2003 Fieldwork Market Research: http://www.fieldwork.com/joinourdatabase.asp?frmFid=29 Ask Southern California: http://www.asksocal.com/group.htm I made $150 sitting in a room for 10 minutes last night. Just thought I'd share these links to sign up for market research groups. They call you and ask questions about your preferences for various products. You meet with them, in a group or alone, and tell them in person what you like or don't like. You make money. It's that simple. If you know of any others, please email me and let me know! I'd like to add to this list.

May 1 , 2003 Answers That Work - Task List Programs: http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm These are some solutions from a support service's in-house database. They are designed to provide guidance on the usefulness of certain programs that run in the background on your computer. It also shows you how to remove the programs when necessary. Thanks to Ilka for providing this great link.

April 15 , 2003 Volunteer Match: http://www.volunteermatch.org/ "VolunteerMatch is the nonprofit, online service that helps interested volunteers get involved with community service organizations throughout the United States. Volunteers enter their ZIP code on the VolunteerMatch web site to quickly find local volunteer opportunities matching individual interests and schedules."

March 1 , 2003 PDF995: http://www.pdf995.com/ "PDF995 is the fast, affordable way to create professional-quality documents in the popular PDF file format. Its easy-to-use interface allows you to create PDF files by simply selecting the "print" command from any application, creating documents which can be viewed on any computer with a PDF viewer."

February 10 , 2003 Google Catalog Search: http://catalogs.google.com/ Yet another cool tool from Google. This engine allows you to search print catalogs online. Like you still have money leftover from Christmas <eyeroll>.

January 2, 2003 Magportal: http://www.magportal.com/ Search for Magazine Articles. Find individual articles from many free magazines by browsing the categories or using the search engine.

December 1, 2002 Girafa: http://www.girafa.com Girafa is a FREE downloadable toolbar that shows you visual previews of web sites without the need to visit or load the sites. It's cool! Get it!

November 24 , 2002 Parents for Megan's Law: http://www.parentsformeganslaw.com/ Search nationwide registries to see if there are registered sex offenders living in your neighborhood or near your child's school.

October 2 , 2002 TyperA : http://typera.net Ignore the music! Or better yet, turn it off at the bottom of the page. This is still the best typing test I've seen online. Use it to find out how fast you can type, and to compete against other typists.

September 1 , 2002 G2MX : http://www.incog.freeserve.co.uk/g2mx.html Imports Napster servers to your WinMX. WinMX: http://www.winmx.com/

August 1 , 2002 Audiences Unlimited : http://www.audiencesunlimited.com Get free tickets to watch the taping of popular TV shows.

July 1 , 2002 Hoaxbusters : http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/ Once again I'm suggesting Hoaxbusters as an excellent place to check up on those questionable emails we all receive from family and friends. Is Bill Gates *really* giving away free vacations if you email 10 people? Check Hoaxbusters to find out!

June 16, 2002 Voice Chasers : http://www.voicechasers.org/search.html For advanced users only Use this search to find out which actor that does your favorite cartoon character's voice.

May 16, 2002 Startup Content : http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm For advanced users only This site offers advanced users a comprehensive list of spyware and startup filenames and what they do. Also see Ad Aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/aaw.html

April 10, 2002 "/." (Slashdot): http://slashdot.org "News for nerds. Stuff that matters." A zillion of the greatest minds (read nerds) on the Internet trolling for the freshest, most interesting news stories available, then posting them for all to read and discuss. Add the thrill of scoring points (karma) for the most entertaining and informative comments on those news stories ... that's the /. community. Often you can read stories on /. *well* before I hear/read the same story from other news sources. It's completely customizable.

March13, 2002 CatchUp: http://catchup.cnet.com/ "It's never been easier to manage your PC. From software updates to security fixes, CatchUp automatically finds what you need to keep your PC up-to-date." Download their software and run it to find updates for your software and important security patches. Warning! Some of the upgrades are really "trial versions" of the latest version of the software. They will not allow you to use all the features, or will turn off after a certain period of time. If you have the full-feature version of the software you should not "upgrade" to the trial version. Don't forget to run their Adware Detect or download your own here: Ad Aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/aaw.html

February 8, 2002 PC Pitstop : http://www.pcpitstop.com/ "Our automated mechanics will put your PC safely through a battery of tests to check its health, configuration and performance. In many cases, if our testing detects a problem you can direct our mechanics to fix it while you're online." Try running the full test anonymously by clicking the link above.

January 1, 2002 KaZaA Lite: http://www.project-insomnia.com/kazaa.html NeoModus: http://www.neo-modus.com/ WinMX: http://www.winmx.com/ G2MX : http://www.incog.freeserve.co.uk/g2mx.html (Napster Servers for WinMX) Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/riaasubpoenas/ (Check to see if your username is targetted for law suit by the RIAA) Try these to download MP3's and music videos. You can share other files w/ these as well. We recommend you try Musicmatch to organize and play your MP3 files.

December 1, 2001 AirSafe: http://www.airsafe.com/ Airline accident and safety information for passengers and aviation professionals.

November 2, 2001 How much memory do you need?: http://www.crucial.com/library/howmuch.asp The type of software applications you’re using has a direct correlation to how much memory you need on your system to run them effectively. This site offers a simple chart that shows how much RAM you need according to how you use your computer.

October 18, 2001 Images: http://images.google.com/ Searches for images on the web. If you need clip art, this is the best way to find it. Groups: http://groups.google.com/ Searches news groups. This is the best way to find an answer to your computer problems. Using quotes, type in the exact error message. Use the info at your own risk of course! Local: http://local.google.com/lochp Searches your area. Government: http://www.google.com/unclesam Search for information on government sites Catalogs: http://catalogs.google.com/ Search print catalogs. Froogle: http://froogle.com Search for the best prices online Translate: http://www.google.com/language_tools Translate a portion or all of a Web page.

September 10, 2001 Google Groups (formerly Deja/DejaNews): http://groups.google.com/ This is the ultimate resource for finding *any* information on the web. Search newsgroups for information on anything from "Which flowers bloom in the shade" to "how do I fix a .dll error on my computer". (Using quotation marks narrows the search results to *only* those articles containing that exact phrase.) Hot tips: Use Google Groups to search for a cure for what ails your computer. Use quotation marks and type in the exact error your're receiving, then click "Search" and you should find information on how to fix your problem. Use Google Groups to search for the best links to what you're looking for. Use quotation marks and type in the exact phrase. (i.e. "best movie reviews") Use Google Groups to search for information on a product you'd like to purchase. Find out ahead of time if that DVD player is all it's cracked up to be.

August 9, 2001 Trillian: http://www.trillian.cc Trillian helps you communicate with friends and family by allowing you to chat with anyone using AOL IM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, IRC, or Yahoo! Messenger. With Trillian, all these chat networks are combined into a powerful, easy to use program.

July 10, 2001 Music Match: http://www.musicmatch.com This is one of the coolest freebies I've found on the Net. Music Match creates a very useable library of all the music on your computer. Sort it any way you like. It has an "Auto DJ" which will choose a playlist for you according to information you put in about that song. Don't forget to click the little "i" while the song is playing to learn all about your favorite artists. The "Music Match" part offers you a list of other artists you might like if you like the one you're playing at the moment. I originally got it to convert .wav files to .mp3's or vice versa. You can also record from your CD's, very quickly I might add! Or burn a CD from your current playlist. It has so many features that I doubt I could list them all here. My advice is to download the basic version and click around a bit. You'll be happily surprised!

Use at your own risk! We will not be held responsible for any damage caused by the use or misuse of the information posted here or information posted on the web sites listed here. As there is no way of knowing the current condition or configuration of your system, guaranteed results can only be attained by contacting the manufacturer of your hardware, software etc. prior to making changes.

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