Karlin Lillington
Netwatch
So what do you regret? Air yours or read what others are sorry they did or didn’t do at www. regretsonly.com. The site is part of a writer’s project to publish a book of regrets, and he promises not to reveal yours until the book comes out. He features some historical names on regret, as well. Try Oscar Wilde: “Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping, common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.”
Take a tour
If you’re new to the Web or an old timer who likes advice on where to surf, subscribe to the free twice-weekly Internet Tourbus at www. tourbus.com. You’ll need to scroll past a few advertisements but this e-mail list fills you in on odd, useful and interesting sites, updates you on the latest annoying Net hoaxesEand rumours, and offers tips on using the Net effectively. Past editions of the Tourbus are archived on the site so you can check to see if this mlange of information suits your taste before you subscribe.
Bomb ’em
Maybe the service was appalling at a restaurant in Memphis or you endured a grumpy cab driver in St Louis. If there’s an American city you really don’t like, you can detonate a one megaton hydrogen bomb there, then view the damage online at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/
bomb/sfeature/mapablast.html. It’s a chillingly educational site, but the suggestion that “You may want to select a large city or some other possible target near your home” seems a bit too chirpily helpful, given the subject.
Losers.com
For those who have heard just one too many stories about youthful Internet millionaires and who feel the whole galaxy suddenly seems to end in dot com, Forbes magazine takes a wry look at the companies that didn’t end up splashed all over the news. The article “Bomb.com”, www.forbes. com/Forbes/99/0809/6403072a.htm, examines how not to go about setting up a Web business by offering some excruciating examples of Net stupidity.