Michael Devitt

Whatis.com and Learn2.com

By the most recent estimates, there are more than 59 million (that's right, million) World Wide Web sites in existence, and the number keeps rising every day. If you decided that only the top 1% of those pages were worth looking at, you'd still be left with nearly 600,000 websites to explore. Even if you were to view 100 sites a day, it would take more than 16 years to look at all of them.

That's where I step in. As a member of Dynamic Chiropractic, my job will be to make sure that you are kept up-to-date with the best of what's out on the World Wide Web. This being my first article, I'd like to start small and recommend two websites for your enjoyment.

For my money, one of the best sites the Web has to offer is Whatis.com. Admittedly, it doesn't have all the eye-catching bells and whistles of other websites, but it's designed for speed and accessibility, and I'll take substance over style any day.

Whatis.com is a self-described "Internet glossary."  True, the site does contain some 400 definitions of computer-related terms (and the list is updated daily), but there's a lot more here than meets the eye. For instance, the "Handy" page is divided into 20 items of useful information, from a program that gives you the current exchange rate of 69 different currencies, to a page that provides the current world population every 30 seconds. And the "Where" page provides links to search engines and other sources of information.

Besides providing an alphabetical search, Whatis.com divides its definitions into several categories, such as Hardware, Using the Internet, Writing HTML (for web pages), and New Technology. There's also a Comments section, a New section for terms just added to the Whatis list, and an Add-a-word page if you have questions or suggestions about a new glossary term. Whatis.com's address is http://www.whatis.com.

Another page that's not as computer-intense, but is nonetheless a great site for helping you learn things that can make life more interesting, is Learn2.com. Dubbed "the ability utility," Learn2.com (http://www.learn2.com) contains tutorials on a variety of subjects, from the practical (avoiding junk mail, changing a flat tire) to the just plain fun (using chopsticks, spinning a basketball on your finger).

Tutorials are broken down into nine loosely arranged subjects, such as "Bon Appetit" (for food, drink and entertaining), "Rugrat Wrangling" (for topics on parenting and child care) and "Look Sharp" (for personal care and hygiene). There's also a "Technowise" section that provides tips on computer topics, like keeping your computer clean and connecting external devices, such as hard drives and CD-ROM players. Besides being arranged by subject, tutorials are also broken down numerically and alphabetically.

Learn2.com has its own search engine if there's something you have to learn immediately (like creating a diaper or fixing a zipper). In addition, there's a News section that shows upcoming topics, a Help section if you can't find what you're looking for, and a Talk section where you can add your own tips, correct errors you may have seen, or give comments to the Learn2 staff.

Next issue, we'll be reviewing a number of sports-related websites. If you have any questions or comments, or if there's a particular website or subject you'd like to see reviewed, feel free to e-mail me.

Michael Devitt
Huntington Beach, California

Reference

Total number of addressable web pages tallied by Lycos as of 9/15/96.