Star-Telegram
Columnists
Dedicated to helping you untangle the World Wide Web
Volume 2 - Number 2
March 1, 1999
This issue of "Your Web Connection" is being brought to you live from the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown San Antonio. We came down to attend the wedding of the son of one of Terry's good friends. The wedding was very beautiful and the dinner afterward was very elegant. It was served at an exclusive club by white gloved black tied wait staff. We got here early afternoon on Saturday and went to the Alamo. This also happens to be the anniversary weekend of the famous battle that changed Texas history for ever back in 1836. Due to such an important weekend, the shrine and the grounds were more crowded than I've ever seen it. For anyone who knows the history of the battle, it is an awe inspiring experience. Even with a huge crowd in the shrine, you can close your eyes and feel the presence of the spirits that gave their lives for freedom. If you listen carefully enough, you can still hear the battle cries and the bullets whizzing by. Every time I visit the Alamo, I amazed at the effect it has on me.
As I write this early Sunday morning, we're getting ready to play tourist. We're going to visit "Natural Bridge Caverns" outside of San Antonio, then head to Liberty Hill, Texas, outside of Austin. Two of Terry's best friends live there and we're going to have lunch with them. I'm sure we'll have a great time seeing their children and their new home. We'll then be headed back to Fort Worth to get back for the start of the work week.
Being a Cyber-Columnist does have it's advantages. Every once in a while you get to attend some pretty nifty dinners. On February 15, we were all invited to celebrate the 1998
"Columnist of the Quarter" award recipients. The unique thing about this dinner was that 3 of the award winners were from out of town. Well, you say that is not too unusual except in the way they attended the banquet. Due to the diligence of Jim Boughton, the out of town award winners were able to attend via a chat room and a watch the proceedings via a web cam. Pretty cool!! All of us at the banquet took turns at the keyboard chatting with our out of town winners. What fun!! Unfortunately, Terry was still feeling pretty puny so she wasn't able to attend. Hats off to Jim Boughton, Ernie Moran and everyone at Online Services for a first rate evening.
At we mentioned, we've got a couple of really neat sites for you to visit this time. The first is "World's Smallest Web Server" followed by the "Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Organization". We'll end with a regular dose of what we call, "Net Humor." It's our eclectic collection of jokes, funny readings and life's ponderances. Don't worry, only a few of the jokes are computer related, we only call it "Net Humor" because we normally get the jokes via email.
Lastly before we get into the "meat" of the column, we have some figures to share with you. There is an organization that tracks how many individuals are on the Net. Right now, the estimate is around 153.25 million people. That's a lot of folks. Here's how the number breaks down:
Welcome to a new edition of "Your Web Connection". Terry and I are glad you stopped by. We hope you enjoy our efforts. We've got a couple of really neat sites for you to take a look at. More about those later, it's time for a bit of news.
Africa: 1.14 million Asia/Pacific: 26.55 million Europe 33.39 million Middle East: 0.78 million Canada & USA: 87 million South America: 4.75 million
For more detailed information, check out "How Many Online?" at:
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/index.html
World's Smallest Web Server
This is a really fascinating site. A direct quote from their site serves as the best introduction.
"Fifty years ago, a computer with less computing power than a modern pocket calculator filled a whole room, and ran programs consisting of only a few hundred instructions.In the intervening decades computer hardware has continued to shrink while computer software has continued to grow, so that today we can fit the extensive software needed to drive a World Wide Web server into a computer the size of a box of matches."
Yes, if you access the site the pages will be "served" from the small match book sized computer pictured above. I'm not going into all of the technical specs of the system, they are all available at the web site and really interesting if you're into that sort of stuff. The server is averaging around 40 hits a minute. To see where computing is headed, point your browser to:
http://wearables.stanford.edu
What's cool is that the people at Stanford provide you with the step by step instructions how to build the system yourself. The site makes very interesting reading.
Ellis Island Organization
This is one of those sites that make the Internet such an invaluable resource. You hear constantly about the bad and dark side of the Net. There are some real success stories and this site is one of them. This is an incredible site for anyone interested in America's history at the beginning of the century. At the site you can research your family's arrival in America. There is an extensive History Center and a virtual museum site. They have also included a wonderful list of links pertaining to the history of Ellis Island. This is one of those "run-don't walk to" sites. Point your browser to:
http://www.ellisisland.org
NetHumor and Life's Ponderances
It's time to smile a bit with our regular dose of humor that my friends pack my email box with. We've got some good ones to share with you today. Enjoy.
Some of Life's Ponderances
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.Last night I played a blank tape at full blast. The mime next door went nuts.
If a person with multiple personalities threatens suicide, is that considered a hostage situation?
Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?
Isn't Disney World a people trap operated by a mouse?
Whose cruel idea was it for the word "lisp" to have an "s" in it?
Since light travels faster than sound, isn't that why some people appear bright until you hear them speak?
How come abbreviated is such a long word?
Why are they called buildings, when they're already finished? Shouldn't they be called builts?
Why are they called apartments, when they're all stuck together?
If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?
Why is it, when a door is open it's ajar, but when a jar is open, it's not adoor?
If "con" is the opposite of "pro," then what is the opposite of progress?
Why does lemon juice contain mostly artificial ingredients but dishwashing liquid contains real lemons?
Why do we put suits in a garment bag and put garments in a suitcase?
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
The Engineer
A group of managers was given the assignment of measuring the height of a flagpole. They go out to the flagpole with ladders and tape measures, but they continually fall off the ladders and drop the tape measures - the whole thing is just a mess. An engineer comes along and sees what they're trying to do, walks over, pulls the flagpole out of the ground, lays it flat, measures it from end to end, gives the measurement to one of the managers and walks away. After the engineer has gone, one manager turns to another and laughs. "Isn't that just like an engineer! We're looking for the height and he gives us the length!"
God Created Cat
- On the first day of creation, God created the cat.
- On the second day, God created man to serve the cat.
- On the third, God created all the animals of the earth to serve as potential food for the cat.
- On the fourth day, God created honest toil so that man could labour for the good of the cat.
- On the fifth day, God created the sparkle ball so that the cat might or might not play with it.
- On the sixth day, God created veterinary science to keep the cat healthy and the man broke.
- On the seventh day, God tried to rest, but he had to scoop the litterbox.
That's all for this issue. Thanks for stopping by. We'll be back next month. If you'd like to be added to our email notification list that will let you know when our column is updated, just let us know. We'll be glad to add your name to our list. If there is a topic or site you'd like to see covered in the future, let us know and we'll take a look at it. See you the first Monday of next month!
Created by Chuck and Terry Mencke
Send mail to Chuck & Terry"Your Web Connection" was last modified: December 24, 2000
URL: http://www.star-telegram.com/archive/webback/1999/conn0301.htm