NEWS No More Sugar, Daddy: Internet Venture Capitalists Hit By Falling Economy
The dot.com death spiral continues to spin, and it's not just the high-profile e-commerce sites that are running out of breathing room. VC firms, once the deep-pocketed "sugar daddies" of the dot.coms, are having financial woes of their own. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
MSN Replaces Infoseek as WebTV Search Partner
The (search)King is dead, long live the (search) King. WebTV's search function suffered an unexpected change this week with the unannounced demise of search partner Infoseek. After a brief detour via GoTo.com, WebTV users can now get their search results through Microsoft's MSN. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
Goodbye StarBlvd, We'll Miss You
One of the first and greatest of the WebTV utilities has been closed due to the financial woes of the company which hosts it. Anthony Chu's free transloader, StarBlvd, has closed its doors, and its subscription-based counterpart, TL/2 is in jeopardy as well. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
We Have Seen the Future, and It Looks Like MSN
Nat's in Mountain View for the meeting on WebTV's future. Most of the people are transferring to MSN, but there's one group which may be out in the cold. [Published 03/11/01, Written by G. Nat URL, Agent 007]
Tidbits: CoffeeCams to Naked Wives
Eight years ago we got excited over live images of a coffee pot, and now we have to content with (virus-laden) naked wives? It's the March of Progress through the World Wide Weird. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
WebTV Lists 'Future Features'
WebTV has announced improvements to its service, via their online help page, including the ability to see connection speed and cookie information. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Net4TV Voice News Staff]
Update: Tripod Says Site Deletion 'A Mistake' UPDATE 3/19/00 Tripod has told Net4TV Voice that a technical mistake led to the wholesale deleting of its members' sites over the last two days. It says that sites deleted in error will be restored within the next 24 to 48 hours [Published 03/18/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
eFront's ICQ Nightmare
A security breach exposes thousands of eFront's ICQ messages between executives to the cold scrutiny of the Web, and no one likes what they see. Will the network of affiliated websites be able to recover from the embarassment? [Published 03/18/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
StarBlvd Update: Transloader 2 Limps Back Online
Anthony Chu was forced to shut down his popular free transloader StarBlvd after a catastrophic disk failure. The subscription service counterpart is now partially operational, but its fate still remains unclear. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
iTV: Show Me the Money
A media executive tells Hollywood not to rush into the infant interactive television industry, but rather to wait and let the medium develop its own way. It's good advice, but can the industry afford to take it? [Published 03/18/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
Tidbits: CluePhone Ringing
When the Cluephone rings, is anyone home? Evidently not this week for a couple of our news makers, as we take a look at what's happpening on the Web. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
FEATURES Bug Report On the 2.6 Upgrade
GlimerMann and Dexter report on the latest crop of bugs to infest the 2.6 update. Time for the Raid. [Published 03/11/01, Written by GlimerMann]
Audio Interview With Browser Builder Planetweb
On Monday, March 5, 2001, James Waters interviewed Jim Wallace, Director of Business Development for Planetweb. Planetweb is the creator of browser software for consumer electronic devices, including the Sega Dreamcast and the Japanese version of the Sony PlayStation2. [Published 03/11/01, Written by James Waters]
World Wide Web of Deceit: Catching the Cons
It's a new millennium, but the con artists are still using tactics that have been around for centuries. We explore some points to watch out for to avoid being victimized by the Internet-enabled version of "Never give a sucker an even break!" [Published 03/11/01, Written by WebTV Addict]
Net4TV Presents: FITNET 78
Get up off the couch and let physical activity energize you for a new outlook on life! [Published 03/11/01, Written by Tim Lane]
iTV Review: Good Weather (Channel)
Dexter takes a look at The Weather Channel's Interactive Television programming. Is it a sunny spot or a dreary, blustery mess? Everyone talks about iTV. The Weather Channel is doing something about it. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Dexter Davenport]
Second Thoughts on Neon Tech's SurfReady
James Waters takes a second look at the Neon Tech SurfReady and finds that it isn't as good a deal as it once was. [Published 03/18/01, Written by James Waters]
How to Search the Web
This article will put an end to frustrating, time-consuming, often fruitless Internet searches. If it's out there in cyberspace, you'll find it. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Rogi Riverstone]
Hoax Report: Going to the Dogs
Our Inbox overfloweth with dire warnings, virus alerts and the flotsam and jetsam of the Internet. Check here first for the ones NOT to forward. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Nancy McPoland]
Astronomy: The Sky is Falling
Mir is coming down, Spring is about to begin, Captain Kirk is having a pre-birthday and there's a Lion in the Eastern sky. [Published 03/18/01, Written by RainSong]
Add a Color Button to Your Webpage
Have you ever wanted to see what different color backgrounds look like on a webpage but got tired of jumping back and forth to view it? Now you don't have to. Here is the easy way! [Published 03/18/01, Written by GlimerMann]
Surfari: Prepare To Garden
Spring is just around the corner and it's time to start thinking about a garden. Here is timely information how how to start seeds inside, root cuttings and buy seeds and plants. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Rogi Riverstone]
Surfari: Patrick of Ireland
St. Patrick wasn't Irish. He was Welsh. He worked his way up from indentured servitude to the Church hierarchy where he was first ordained as a deacon, later as a priest, and ultimately as a bishop. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Rogi Riverstone]
COMMUNITY A Tale of Two Leprechauns
Long ago on the Emerald Isle, there was a leprechaun who was known far and wide as Seamus the Talemaker. Seamus was very close friends with the Good Green Fairy of the Forest who helped him obtain a small black box from the future to aid him in preparing his tales for the telling. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Morgaine O'Faery]
Aurora's Irish Blessing!
When she's not busy breeding and showing dogs, Aurora is on-line, looking for great graphics, assembling new web pages or visiting with the good people she's met on the Internet. [Published 03/11/01, Written by BeeBee2]
Diva's Story
This Diva has a webpage to help "newbies" create their webpages, and she also has her own Cable TV show in Manhattan, called The Diva Show. She is one busy lady and since she created her own newsgroup in December 2000, she already has 100 members. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Morgaine O'Faery]
Better Homes: March Collection
Our Better Homes and Websites features a site with on-line newspapers from all around the world; a site that helps WebTVers use virtually any freeware fonts available on the net; a page with a collection of poetry to comfort those who have lost a loved one; and a site to help troubled teens by someone who's been there. [Published 03/11/01, Written by RainSong]
The Zoo: Rite of Spring
Every spring, Polish-Bellied Sap Suckers gather up hammers, taps, drills and buckets and traipse around the yard in their quest for tree sap. They are so crazy for the stuff that they will even drink it straight from the tree! [Published 03/11/01, Written by Lady Zurk]
The Blue Fox
Richard became interested in HTML (page building) when he received an e-mail from another WebTV user that had music in the background and a banner in the signature. That's all it took. Now he's addicted like the rest of us. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Bud]
Barb's Story: A Profile in Courage
Barb's courage and cheerfulness in the face of a 15 year battle with cancer has been remarkable. She has maintained her sense of humor, her love of life, and her determination to live each day zestfully, and has proved to be one of the best friends a person could have. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Morgaine O'Faery]
Rochelle: One Thousand Sigs and Climbing
Here is a wide assortment of pre-made sig designs and an automatic sig maker to help you create either a header sig design or a standard sig design. Eventually there will also be special sigs for each major holiday and general ones for everyday use. [Published 03/18/01, Written by sman]
The Zoo: College Daze
Lady Zurk lives in a college town where one might (mistakenly) assume the people would be enlightened and educated. Unfortunately, even in the hallowed halls of higher education, intolerance and ignorance can rein. What are we teaching our children, and each other? [Published 03/18/01, Written by Lady Zurk]
OPINION AND EDITORIAL Welcome to Issue 78
With the probable demise of the Transloader and the e-mail indicating a sense of misplaced entitlement at an all-time high, we thought it might be good to explain: Money=goods and services. No money=no goods and no services. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Dexter Davenport]
Best of Dexterity: Luddites Unite!
Dexter was beginning to talk to himself (swearing under his breath?). So, we told him to take a day or two off before he started answering himself. Being a up-and-coming dot.com takes its toll. We hope you will enjoy this "Best of Dexterity" in which Dex explores his inner Luddite. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Dexter Davenport]
Would You Pay a Dime?
Dudette considers the problem of paying for the Internet, and wonders if the numbers everyone has been thinking about are too big. Would you pay a dime for your favorite site? [Published 03/18/01, Written by Dudette]
Taming The Beast
In the beginning the Internet was used primarily by scholars, scientists, the military, and corporations. What was once a technological wonder used for the exchange of information, is now a behemoth of barely restrained anarchy and an avenue of exploit. [Published 03/18/01, Written by James Waters]
NextGen: The Next Generation of Computer Users
Our GenNext correspondent is comfortable with using WebTV and her home computer, as is most of her generation. She looks at how things have changed since her first computer use, and wonders what it will be like in a few more years. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Bronwyth]
VOX POP -- Reader Opinions WebTV: Shut Up!
James Craven wishes his WebTV would just shut up. Every thing he does, some part inside whirs to life after the upgrade. What's going on? [Published 03/11/01, Written by James Craven]
Back to the Retrograde
Rodney Mumford thinks WebTV's big ideas may exceed the meager capabilities of his box. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Rodney Mumford]
Feeling Like a Guinea Pig for WebTV
doelion is feeling a bit like a guinea pig for WebTV. She shares her list of bugs. [Published 03/11/01, Written by doelion]
Worst Upgrade: Loss of Tools
Tom Landrum thinks the 2.6 update is one of the worst. WebTVers lost a lot of tools that relied on JavaScript that no longer works. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Tom Landrum]
Information Is Not Worth Paying For
VS hopes that the pay for information model will fail just as quickly as the free information model has. Or faster. All business care about is the bottom line, he says. [Published 03/11/01, Written by VS]
QOW: Bundle Things I Like and I Might Pay
SLAN pays for WebTV and Domania, but wouldn't pay a red cent for Net4TV Voice. *Sniff* Unless it were part of a bundle. SLAN investigates the idea of the cable TV model of Internet in response to our Question of the Week. [Published 03/11/01, Written by SLAN]
$24.95 Is Enough to Pay
A reader puts a value on her surfing, sharing what is worth something and what is worthless to her. [Published 03/11/01, Written by A Net4TV Voice Reader]
2.6 More Upgrade Woes
Readers report problems and bugs with the recent WebTV 2.6 update. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
2.6 Even More Upgrade Woe
Our readers are having problems and they keep finding creepy crawlies in the code. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
Mail Bag HP Tantrums, Questions on AOLTV
This is where we answer our mail. One reader liked Dexter's HP Scanner tantrum, while another couldn't quite believe her ears about the capabilities of AOLTV. Nor should she. [Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
MSN: The Future or the End? pt. 1
Our readers have some concerns, and hopes about MSN's takeover of WebTV. What will the future hold? Is this the end of WebTV, or the beginning of something better? Or more of the same? Pt. 1 [Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
MSN: The Future or the End? pt. 2
Our readers have some concerns, and hopes about MSN's takeover of WebTV. What will the future hold? Is this the end of WebTV, or the beginning of something better? Or more of the same? Pt. 2 [Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
QOW: The Effects of MSN on WebTV pt. 1
In our question of the week, we asked, "What effect do you think MSN will have on WebTV?" Our readers respond. Some think it will be okay. Others think it's horrible. Others are undecided.
[Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
QOW: The Effects of MSN on WebTV pt. 2
In our question of the week, we asked, "What effect do you think MSN will have on WebTV?" Our readers respond. Some think it will be okay. Others think it's horrible. Others are undecided. Part II [Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
QOW: Pay?! No Way! Pt. 1
Most readers don't see any need to pay anything more than the $24.95 they pay to WebTV each month and bristle at the idea of paying one penny more. Others understand that it's just business. Pt. I [Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
QOW: Pay?! No Way! Pt. 2
Most readers don't see any need to pay anything more than the $24.95 they pay to WebTV each month and bristle at the idea of paying one penny more. Others understand that it's just business. Pt. 2 [Published 03/11/01, Written by Vox Pop]
Poem for a FWDer: Golden Friendship
DraculasBryd shares a poem for a friend who is being too forwarded. [Published 03/18/01, Written by DraculasBryd]
Concerned About 2.6
JmljAqdj shares concerns about the 2.6 WebTV update. [Published 03/18/01, Written by JmljAqdj]
The Bugs Ate My WebTV!
Beverly Bishop is sure the bugs ate her WebTV. She shares her tale of tech trouble and telephone calls. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Beverly Henry-Bishop]
WebTVers Report Tripod Page Purge
WebTV users are filling our mailbox with stories of benign websites being purged from Tripod for supposed Terms of Service violations. Here is a sampling. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Vox Pop]
Goodbye, Transloader... Thanks!
Readers express their grattitude to Anthony for the Transloader. It was good while it lasts. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Vox Pop]
2.6 is Da Bomb... errr... a Bomb
Readers aren't very enthused with the latest update from WebTV, 2.6. Some report more bugs. Others give work arounds. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Vox Pop]
Mailbag: Parody, Jeopardy
We read our overflow of mail, including the loss of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, a Parody of Microsoft TV that raised some alarm, and a music professor wants to teach a lesson on remote linking. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Vox Pop]
QOW: Library Filtering? Yes!
We asked readers if they thought public libraries should be required to install software on computers to prevent access to inappropriate material. Your responses were split down the middle. Here are the people who said yes. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Vox Pop]
QOW: Library Filtering? No!
We asked readers if they thought public libraries should be required to install software on computers to prevent access to inappropriate material. Your responses were split down the middle. Here are the people who said No. [Published 03/18/01, Written by Vox Pop]
