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TopClicks
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Reference
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Computer & Internet
AltaVista Translations - This great Web page is also known as Babelfish. You may not need it right now, but it's a good one to remember, just in case. Say you're exploring the Web and your search engine turns up a resource that looks useful for your school report--at least it looks that way because of the pictures. If you could only understand the language the page is written in! But you don't speak German, or French, or Spanish, or Italian, or even Portuguese. Ask Babelfish. He speaks those languages, and if you give him a Web page address, he will do his best to return a translated page to you. This is fun to try--check it out. Remember, if your original search was using the AltaVista search engine there is a handy Translate button next to the appropriate foreign-language hit. It will automatically take you to Babelfish to perform the translation.
Ask Jeeves for Kids! - Why doesn't someone invent a kid-safe search engine that lets you type in a real question rather than all those plusses and minuses and quotes and other weird terms? So, you could just type in "I want information on the SuperSoaker 3000," and you'd get back just a few targeted sites, not 23,000 choices! And if you weren't the World's Greatest Speller, the search engine would check the spelling of your question, too. You could type in "I need a map of Arizonia," and it would ask you if you really wanted Arizona. Why doesn't someone invent a search tool like that? Guess what, someone did. Why not go and Ask Jeeves?
BABEL: A Glossary of Computer-Related Abbreviations and Acronyms - Sometimes it seems that you can't have a computer anything unless you have an acronym or geeky-sounding term to go with it. If you need to know your GUI (Graphical User Interface) from your ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), look up this site!
Children's Software Revue - There's so much new software coming out, how do you know which ones are worth your time and money? The Children's Software Revue magazine is one terrific way to keep up with this ever-growing marketplace. Many features from the print version are also available here, and you can search a database of thousands of reviews. Also valuable is the selection of links to other qualified review resources on the Web.
Internet E-Mail and Finding People on the Internet - Here's a general introduction to searching for information on people on the Net, and some solutions to finding E-mail, phone numbers, and addresses. Try these ideas if the other sites also listed in this book don't help.
Matisse's Glossary of Internet Terms - Confused by all those Internet terms? Can't tell an IMHO from a TTFN? Don't SLIP in the MUD--come on over to this terrific glossary, and all will be revealed.
NetLingo: The Internet Language Dictionary - When writing e-mail messages, sometimes it's hard to express what you are really feeling. This has been a problem for folks on the Internet for a long time, and to help express emotions, smileys were created. For example, turn your head so that your left ear rests on your shoulder and look at this :-) Do you see this makes a little smiley face? There are many variations of these smileys--to see more, take a peek at this page. A note to parents: There are lots of smiley lists on the Net that are more comprehensive, but this one is family-oriented.
Study WEB - Whatever your homework assignment is, this site is sure to have something you can use, with "over 100,000" research-quality links, listed by subject category. The Reference Shelf is a good place to start, but the brief reviews of each site will also help you select just the right place to look. Tell your parents and teachers about this site too, because there is some neat stuff for them here as well.
The History Index - This page, part of the World-Wide Web Virtual Library, contains history resources indexed by country, region, historical era, and historical subtopics. Some of the latter include Government, Natural History, and Religion.
User Guidelines and Netiquette, by Arlene Rinaldi - Everybody knows that politeness and good etiquette make life easier. Waiting your turn in line, keeping your locker in order, or being nice to your friends helps you as much as the people around you. The same is true on the Internet. There are some basic rules of etiquette (on the Internet it's called netiquette) that help keep things running smoothly. Check out some of these basic rules of Internet good behavior. To find this document in other languages, just click on the words "TRANSLATED VERSION OF THE GUIDE" at the top of the home page.
Web Site Garage - Improve Your Web Site - You've created this wonderful Web page that you're really proud of, but you're getting complaints from some users that the page looks awful. After your first reaction that they must be using some text-based browser on an old DOS system, you realize you're getting so many complaints that something must be wrong. The Web Site Garage offers some free services that could help you through this mess. Try the free tune-up, and run seven different diagnostics on your URL. It will report bad links, questionable HTML tags, cross-platform browser compatibility, spelling, and more. Other services include Web site registration to 16 search engines, a GIF tune-up, and a META tag generator. Some of these are free, but they also have "Plus" services that the garage charges for if you need a complete overhaul. Check it out!
Web66: Classroom Internet Server Cookbook - Wouldn't it be great to have your very own home page on the World Wide Web? You could write funny stories, talk about your pets, or discuss your favorite hobby. Creating a Web page is not too hard--especially if you have one of those newfangled programs that builds Web pages for you. If not, you'll need to learn a simple computer language called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). There are many free tutorials to help you learn HTML, and the Web66: Cookbook is a good one. Now that you have a home page, where are you going to put it? Did you know you can also run your own server? You'll want a direct line to the Internet to do that in the most effective way, and that can be pretty expensive. Maybe you can help your school create its own Web server, instead. The directions are here for Macintosh, Windows 95, and Windows NT.
Yahoo! GeoCities - Here's a place where you set up your own free home page on the World Wide Web. Choose a place to homestead (most kids will be in the Enchanted Forest section), where you'll get a small amount of disk storage space to build your site. There are lots of basic tools to help you, and you don't have to know a thing about HTML to start. If you need help, there is a lot of it available along with graphics, CGI scripts, guestbooks, and more. Upgrade paths are available when you outgrow your storage space or page enhancement requirements. Since Yahoo purchased GeoCities, there are stringent controls on the content allowed at GeoCities and they are trying to clean it up. If you find inappropriate content, please report it at http://geocities.yahoo.com/main/contact/alert_form.html.
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