Web site we like

By TOM ZUCCO

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

Just browsing . . .

http://www.howstuffworks.com

How does your computer work? No, really. How does it work? You turn it on, click the mouse and get the latest stock charts or even a major league baseball game that's in progress. But how does that happen?

What's going on behind that screen you stare at?

You can get a basic education on the workings of computers -- as well as toasters, ice rinks, tattoos, stocks and a whole lot of other things -- at www.howstuffworks.com. The site tackles everything from televisions to toilets, and there are helpful links with each topic. The best part, besides the fact that it's free, is that there's a limited amount of techno-speak; the text is complete, but it's in language you and I can understand.

How popular is this site? According to PCDataOnline.com, more than a million people visited the site last month.

How Stuff Works got started -- where else? -- at someone's kitchen table. Two years ago, Marshall Brain (his real name) was kicking around the idea of writing about how things work. Raised on Popular Science magazine, he was one of those kids who took things apart and put them back together. So he wrote an article on car engines, put it on the Web and attached links to the article so readers could learn more. Brain, a computer science teacher and author, started adding articles on weekends and in his spare time. Before long, he had nearly 100.

The site now employs 35 writers and editors (they're looking for more), and there are even plans for a How Stuff Works theme park in Orlando.

"I think people are by nature curious and love to learn about things," says Brain, 39, who lives outside Raleigh, N.C., with his wife and two children. "And one thing I really enjoy is making things clear and understandable."

Sounds like a very good match.

If you'd like to nominate a site, drop me an e-mail at zucco@sptimes.com.