Net gurus Bob Rankin and Patrick Crispen (aka the "Click and Clack" of the online world) explain Internet technology in plain English, with a dash of humor. Since 1995, Tourbus riders have been getting the scoop on search engines, spam, viruses, cookies, urban legends, and the most useful sites on the Net. en-us http://www.tourbus.com/ Copyright 2000, Rankin and Crispen bob@rankin.org (Bob Rankin) bob@rankin.org (Bob Rankin) Wed, 05 Sep 2003 14:00:00 EST http://www.tourbus.com/tb-butn.gif http://www.tourbus.com/ 88 31 http://www.tourbus.com/cgi-bin/archive.pl/2003/tb011403.htm I have had the privilege of spending time inside the Tuscaloosa County School system, helping their teachers learn more about how to use the Internet in the classroom. In the process, I have developed a list of 21 "essential" Web sites. I have always believed that once someone gives you a list of really good Web sites to start off with, you become a heck of a lot more confident online. And once you have confidence, you start using the Internet more and more. http://www.tourbus.com/cgi-bin/archive.pl/2003/tb013003.htm One of the hardest things about getting onto the Internet is that noone tells you where to go and what to do when finally you get there. This is doubly so for educators. I have been spending time inside the Tuscaloosa County School system teaching the teachers how to use the Internet in the classroom... http://www.tourbus.com/cgi-bin/archive.pl/2003/tb073103.htm Take a break from those big all-purpose search engines for a while and try some online search tools that are designed for specific tasks. Find your answer faster with the special-purpose search sites in this issue of Tourbus! http://www.tourbus.com/cgi-bin/archive.pl/2003/tb010903.htm I like the idea of delivering high tech stuff in a low tech medium. That's why the subject of ASCII (plain text) artwork is one of my all-time favorites! Long before the advent of the Web and all of its glittering graphics, people were creating computer graphics of a different sort that required no special hardware or software to view. This "ASCII art" can be sent by e-mail without encoding or attachments because it's composed only of plain text characters. http://www.tourbus.com/cgi-bin/archive.pl/2003/tb080503.htm Are you thinking about buying a new car? Whether you're buying or selling, new or used, today's TOURBUS will point you to the websites you MUST visit before your trip to see the man in the polyester suit. http://www.tourbus.com/cgi-bin/archive.pl/2003/tb032003.htm Remember back when you were a kid, watching The Jetsons and wishing someone would invent a robot to do your chores? Decades later, I still haven't realized the promise of a machine to run the vacuum or clear the dishes off the table, but nowadays there ARE some useful robots roaming the Internet, ready to help you with shopping, information gathering and other tasks. http://tourbus.com/cgi-bin/archive.pl/2000/TB030900.HTM Did you know that you recycle a quart of mucus a day by swallowing it? Or that not all ear wax is the same (ear wax can be gray, yellow, pumpkin-colored, or brown; moist or dry)? Or that there are probably two million bacteria living on your face right now? Disgusting, isn't it? All these facts come from our featured site in this issue of TOURBUS.