KSFO's Web Wanderer

The Links for January 17, 1998

Steve sent in a site this week. It contained the message "I'm sure you've already reviewed it, but just in case here it is.....". I love that phrase. I've seen it many times, and so far EVERY TIME it's been something I haven't seen yet. This time was no exception.

If you find cool stuff, and don't sent it to me because you fear I've seen it before, please send it anyway. The web is too large for one, or several, people to see everything. So please send in the sites you like!

WebTurbo: Steve turned me on to a cool web surfing tool named "WebTurbo". WebTurbo streamlines searching and surfing by combining two features--a Web Previewer and a Search Tool. WebTurbo, when opened, sits on your left hand side of your browsing screen, like a navigation frame. in 800x600 mode, it isn't too intrusive.; This frame provides a search engine. You enter your terms, and hit enter. You get to pick the search engines you want to you - multiple are ok, and hit enter. The frame then shows the results. You get a very compact, efficient display of the finds. (Note - take the 2 minute tutorial, and you'll be an expert in no time).; The previewer is cool. When you position your mouse over the link, a preview of the text pops up. Very simple. If it's what you are looking for, click on it, and the mail window will fill with the page.; Don't need web turbo at the moment? Close it, and get your full screen browser back. You can restart WebTurbo with a click of your mouse - it "lives" on your toolbar so it's always handy.; Steve - I like this software a lot. Thanks very much!
CHP "Incidents" Real Time: Listener Leatherhead found this one.; Real-time reports from the California Highway Patrol on freeway problems. The first few minutes I tried it I saw accidents, people on the freeway, animals running lost, and traffic lights not functioning. Status is either "pending" or "active". I suspect pending means they have yet to respond to the scene - items change from Pending to Active.; If you're into listening on a scanner to police calls and things like that, you might enjoy this site. Or - use it for a quick peek when plotting your route to a place - it's current and very fast.; Thanks, Leatherhead, I'd rate it "kinda cool." Worth a look.
The Driver Drive-Thru: This is another find by Ranman.; Ranman says "This is a real good site which provides links to drivers for most companies hardware(video, sound, CD-ROM etc...). Recently I have had trouble when working on some older computers and workstations. For some reason people don't save hardware drivers or the OEM doesn't provide them with the drivers. In any case when reloading the OS, at pre-installation time the CD-ROM drivers are not available. This site has been a savior to me."; This site looks quite extensive, and worth a bookmark.; Finding old drivers can be difficult, and it helps to have 2 or 3 good sites to try when you're hunting. This is one of those. In the past, I've featured other sites as well - use my search engine, and you'll find them as well.; Thanks, Ranman, this one will be very helpful!
Stolen Computer Registry: This is yet another fine Nerdly find.; "Planning to buy a used computer? Use this free online database to be sure that you're not unwittingly purchasing stolen merchandise. If you are the victim of computer theft, list your serial numbers here to aid law enforcement authorities in recovering your property. You can also buy, sell, and donate computers here. - Nerdly"; I'm not sure how useful this site will be, but I like the idea. I'll be sure to give it a shot if I purchase a machine. As Mom used to say - "It can't hurt."; Thanks, Nerdly!
Dancing Baby: Taxi Mike has done more "Dancing Baby" research than anyone I know. He'd probably be called a "Dancing Babyologist."; I first saw the Dancing Baby when I was sent it via email. It's a pretty big file, by email standards. I think it was the original version. Just a computer generated baby dancing. It's about a meg. I've put it on my ftp site, for you to download easily.; A little while later, I was mailed a copy of the dance repeated twice, once forwards, and once backwards, set to Blue Suede's "Hooked on a Feeling" - the Oooka Chuka song. Now, that's art. The baby dance fits the music well.; It took off from there. People edited the dance, changed the music, and created their own versions. Now there are dozens out there. Dozens.; You see - everybody loves the baby. The sites are swamped. In addition to the original version, people have added all sorts of different music to it. Now you can watch the baby do a dance to over 20 songs. If you're lucky. Getting on to these sites is very hard.; The baby was recently featured on the Bryant Gumble show, featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles, and even made a television appearance on the January 5th, 1998 episode of FOX's "Ally McBeal." The second half of this two-parter airs on Fox FOX, January 19, at 9:00pm.; It's so popular you need to fight your way onto the site. Taxi Mike suggests a yahoo search for "Dancing" and "Baby". I suggest you give WebTurbo a try with it.; When you do find a dancing baby link, right click on it, and download it to your disk. Files can be large, so when you couple that with a busy site, you're waiting a long time. It's best to download to your disk, and view offline.; Thanks, Taxi Mike, for the suggestions and all the great research!