Site seeing

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 15, 2001

Looney humor

looneytunes.warnerbros.com/web/all_new_toons/

home.jsp?ID=matwix

Flash is evil. Well, it's mostly evil, in my humble opinion. The animation program that's oh so popular on the Web has spawned countless bad user interfaces. Designers sacrifice function over form and leave the browsing public feeling like fools. But obviously it does very well in certain areas, such as animation. Occasionally, I'll come across something that tickles my funny bone and just have to pass it on, such as this parody of the sci-fi movie The Matrix. Even if you've been living under a rock and haven't seen the original, this animation short should give you a few giggles

Welcome back

www.TheOnion.com

By the time you read this, the Onion should be back to its old sarcastic, ironic self. I've found one of the best ways to deal with stress and angst is to laugh at it. Obviously this doesn't hold true for all people. But if you lean in that direction, the Onion's off-kilter pseudo news might be a dose of what you need. If you're still traumatized by the events of Sept. 11, stay away.

Trite but true

www.FilmSound.org/cliche/

A recent, rowdy, beverage-fueled discussion with some tech chums let Hollywood have it. You've surely noticed that all computers in movies make odd sounds when they operate in a way they just can't in the so-called real world. Their mute real-world cousins also are incapable of having passwords cracked in seconds by typing in override codes, much to the chagrin of anybody who's locked himself out of his e-mail. Here's a fabulous list of other cliches that subliminally get under one's skin. Scant ravaging of computers, interestingly.

eGov

www.FirstGov.com

Getting Uncle Sam online continues to be a focus of those we elected to power. And, of course, it's a really good thing. Finding what you want can be hit and miss because, like the government itself, the information base is large and sprawling. This site does a grand job of pulling the disparate sites together, and its Yahoolike hierarchy gives you better access to what you buy with your tax dollars. Well done.

Land Mail Art Objects

www.Nervousness.org

Chat room fools will recognize LMAO at first glance but not be familiar with its art-oriented meaning. In this case, it's well over a hundred art objects that are mailed out to willing participants. Each person in the chain adds a splash of her creativity and sends it along for further modification. Eventually it returns to the site owners for display. It's a groovy slant on collaborative art in the age of e-mail and faxes.

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