Amblin' on the Net

Everyone talks of the Internet being an information superhighway. While there can be little doubt about that, it must be said that the most interesting sights and sounds are all to be found in the bylanes and alleys of this vast ocean of information and entertainment.

While strolling down these paths, the eye catches all sorts of cyber stopovers. This week's cyber picks are just the kind you are bound to run into in one of the myriad cross streets on the Net.

www.backwash.com

Surely, anyone who's visited the Internet has done a search. You have tried all major and some of the minor search engines. You've tried to find sites using directories and by category, topic or subject or person.

Have you ever tried searching for a stubborn cigar-smoking sceptic or a spoiled European intellectual? This is the place to do so, a site that indexes sites based on personality types. You can choose from many inconsistently updated profiles, or even set up a personality type of your own (you know, grumpy old men or militantly offensive shrill activists, for instance).

The site allows surfers to index their own preferences based on their interests. But to do so, you need to register. The site's neatly divided into sections where you can search by speciality, in alphabetical order or subject.

In subjects, you get to choose from such topics as curious mind knowledge, cyberpunk graphic novels, earthy crunchy alternative medicine and horn-rimmed glasses.

www.wherewereyou.org

Yeah, where were you on September 11, 2001, when a bunch of terrorists brought down the WTC twin towers and changed the world forever? Were you at home, what were you doing, were you in a skyscraper or in a submarine, how did it feel? This site wants to know all about how that day affected the common man from every corner of the planet.

Put up by three enterprising youngsters (none more than 20 years old), this awesome Web site is growing exponentially by day as more and more people of all ages and from the far corners of the earth put down their reflections on where they were on that day that will live in infamy. The layout is incredibly good-looking and the site is remarkably easy to navigate. You only need to submit your name, country of residence, and age to start recording your thoughts.

You can browse through other submissions by country, age or American State. The folks behind the site have even created a couple of graphics that you can print out for use as flyers. The site will accept submissions till September 11, 2002 after which it will become read-only. It is easily one of the best memorials to the day and the events that it triggered, and is certain to serve as a resource of great historical significance. So, what are you waiting for? Click on the site and record your memories of the day for posterity.

Compiled by C. Ramesh

Please e-mail us at eworld@thehindu.co.in if you have queries on computer usage or if you find an interesting way of using the computer.