KSFO's Web Wanderer

The Links for August 24, 1996

Conferencing with Internet Explorer

Net Meeting is a conferencing Active-X application for Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The uses for business are immediately apparent, but it's also fun for home users who enjoy IRC, chatrooms, etc.

In my first couple of hours with the product, I:

Did a voice chat with a fellow ham radio operator in Japan
Sketched pictures on the whiteboard with a guy in Washington while voice chatting
Chatted and edited a Word Document with my friend Fred in Livermore.

That last one was really interesting, from a techno-geek standpoint. You are able to take an open application, and consult - give your chat partner the ability to use your software and files. Double clicks on the mouse transfer "control" between the two users.

To get this going:

Get Internet Explorer (and security patch)
Get Net Meeting
Install all of the above
Go to the User Location Server to find someone to talk to.
Meet some new people.

Maybe it's just me, but I find Microsoft's Web site very hard to navigate. It's fine to browse through, but if you go looking for something, it can take a while. The links above are direct - and will bring you to the download pages directly.

BTW - be sure you've downloaded the security patch Bob told us about!

Cool Site of the Year Nominees

Every year, the Cool Sites of the Day are voted on to choose the cool site of the year. The nominees tend to be very interesting, fun, and worthwhile sites.

Be a part of net history. Check out this years nominees, and vote for the ones you like best.

I'm pleased to notice that although Penn and Teller's page didn't survive the cut, the Dr. Science page (webmastered by Dr. Rom) is still in the running for an award. Please check it out. If you enjoy it as much as my family does (Mom thinks it's great), give it a vote.

Chia Pet Zoo

Meet Chia Zadora, Liberachia, Jerry Garchia, a chia twinkie, etc. Proof some folks shouldn't have Photoshop access.

This is a twistedly creative site. Worth poking around a while. The Dead Ford link, for example, contains photos of Dead Fords. The webmaster is apparently a Chevy owner.