So you’ve had enough of the corruption and gross mismanagement of our current government, and you’ve decided that world domination is the best option, starting here. It’s not as easy as the movies would have you believe, though. For assorted helpful hints on how to do it, try A Beginner’s Guide to Taking Over the World: www.envy.nu/dictator/
Ever heard of the official and vast email snooping program called Echelon that’s been in operation for some time, or the equally mysterious Tempest program, which can grab data from you via the leaking electro-magnetic radiation from your PC? Maybe it’s time you browsed a site filled with assorted real secret documents. Put on your spy hat as you slink towards Cryptome: http://cryptome.org/
And because the US is a real democracy, unlike ours – why not browse through an online book dealing with once very secret military spy units. Slink over furtively to The Pentagon Spies…
And staying with the general sneaky tone this week, take a look at a really clever site that someone should think about doing a local equivalent of. Using slick and fairly streamlined Flash, you too can get the chance to Nuke the Hamptons!: www.nukethehamptons.com/launch.html
Then seeing as Mike Tyson failed in court bids to keep his psychiatric evaluation out of the public arena, the good folks at the whistle-blower site known as The Smoking Gun have happily posted the entire 10-page report. So for a glimpse of Tyson deeper than any sports page gave you, go to Mike Tyson’s Psych Evaluation!: www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/tysonpsychev1.shtml
If you happen to be a fan of The Sopranos, then why not listen into real online audio files of assorted wiretaps by the Feds of real-life New York gangsters chattering. Settle in for some listening to the ongoing telephone conversations of two mobsters dealing with life, the universe, their bosses, food and women. Go to The Frank and Fritzy Show: www.wmob.com/
And then as a counterpoint, why not look take a look at a site dealing with what happens when cops themselves go bad? Check out Gangsta Cops: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/bare.html
For some fairly strange cartooning that comes over like Gahan Wilson on acid, why not browse through some of the comic strips online, at The Cute Little Dead Girl: www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/5630/
And sticking with the visual for a moment, if you’re curious about the Internet – why not take a look at a large quantity of maps showing aspects of the Net in ways you’ve never seen before at An Atlas of Cyberspaces: www.cybergeography.org/atlas/topology.html
Remember that horrid but justifiably famous photograph from the Vietnam War, of the young girl running screaming with napalm burns? Well, for an article on who she was, and how she is now, go to The Power of an Image: cbc.ca/news/indepth/kimphuc/
If you’re an armchair traveler, you could do worse than follow the online articles about a trek through the heartland of Russia, a few years back. Send out for pizza and dip into The Russia Chronicles: www.f8.com/FP/Russia/
Then this next site gives a glimpse of how a real economy operates. Browse at length through the fascinating wealth of info available at Consumer Reports Online: www.consumerreports.org/main/home.asp
And if you finally want to take the leap and learn about your PC on the quiet, theres no better place then at The Complete Illustrated Guide to PC Hardware: www.karbosguide.com/.
By the way, the new Japanese Prime Minister now has his own e-zine; for the story, go to Lion Heart — and then, for an interesting look at Japan in English, try The Japan Times: www.japantimes.co.jp.
And finally, to end on a serious note, be amazed and afraid at the somewhat academic study called Feline Responses to Bearded Men: www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
Until the next time, if spies and our government don’t get me.
Ian Fraser is a playwright, author, comedian, conspiracy nut, old-time radio collector and self-confessed data-junkie. Winner of numerous Vita and Amstel Awards, he’s been an Internet addict and games-fanatic since around 1995, when the Internet began to make much more sense than theatre.