Tuesday, December 08, 1998

www.internetinfo.com

www.internetinfo.com
By Steve Plunkett

Welcome to the second year of bringing Tyler to the world wide web, or is it bringing the web to Tyler? Well...... I guess it's already here, so off we go to cyberspace. First we showed you how to get a whole lot done before 8 a.m. using the Internet, well since then, my alarm now goes off at 5a.m., I still have my apple computer, but now also my wife's PC. (I have to turn the PC on by pushing the power button, it doesn't just wake up and scream at me like the Macintosh does.) I almost get as much done, but I now have more e-mail to answer, from the http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.ktyl.com/, and http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.kktx.com/, (96x) websites. Listen to both on Monday mornings, or just check out their websites.
Just in case you were confused by the first article, we then told you about the world wide what.. er web, in simple terms from the beginning. We have gotten many e-mails, and it seems there are actually more people getting on then Internet today as there was a year ago. We have had articles on "Cyber-Courting", (dating on the Internet), and how to do all your travel planning in only hours using the world wide web. These articles are posted on the http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://tylertoday.com/winter98/index.html web site, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. As will this one and the ones to follow. We could write the same article over and over and it would still be new to many people. So if your not on the Internet yet, be sure to drop by a local bookstore and pick up a copy of "Internet for Dummies". I have had at least 4 copies, unfortunately all loaned out to Ballistic customers never to return again. For those of with Internet access be sure to check out, http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.yahoo.com/, and click on the help button for a "newbie" tutoring page.
Now, for the URLs U Can Use...... oops, URL (Uniform Resource Locator) like for example http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.tyler.com/. A URL is an address for a webpage that is the only one of it's kind in the world, usually a name with a ".com" at the end.
I guess I am grown up now, and I figured this out by what December means to me. When you are young December means Christmas, and TOYS!!!!!!!!!! Now that I am married and a grown up, (yeah , right!!), December means I can wear my warm clothes and FOOD at Christmas. Whether you are shopping for Holiday gifts, buying for your self, or just looking for recipes, the Internet is where it's at! My favorite subject, FOOD, let's try http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.food.com/, nope, no website, hmm. Well this is the south, go to; http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.southernliving.com/food , and since your in that same kind of mood check out http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.marthastewart.com/. Men's clothes, try http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.tyler.com/suitclub, or http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.masimms.com/ for men's and women's clothes locally, plus the M.A. Simms web site has, you guessed it .. FOOD!!.
For those of your under 21, please skip to the next paragraph. Recently a friend in Austin, sent us a thank you gift of chocolate, it was from the web site, http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.virtualvineyard.com/, has great food and wine, also don't forget http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.wineweb.com/, also if your are looking to buy some Texas wines, check out the search engine http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.excite.com/ and look for "central Texas wineries". Llano Estacado Winery is kind of buried in there but I found a way to order some of their Marinara sauce, YUM!!.
Tip on ordering things on line, look for 800 number, fax # , e-mail, and also make sure the website incorporates "SSL", (secure sockets layer), if it doesn't have these things be careful on ordering, unless it is a recognized brand, and be sure to call the 800 number to see how they answer the phone. Just in case you are wondering, ordering from a website that has those criteria is safer than ordering over the phone. Well if you are on my Christmas list, guess what you got wine for Christmas and will be getting in time to enjoy during the holidays.
January, first thing, New Year's Eve, where to party.. hmm. Let's see place to stay in Dallas , http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.doubletree.com/, DoubleTree Hotels, place to eat, hmm. Found a great one, you can get it all at http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.dallas.com/. UT Oh, wife says it's Austin, this year, so check out http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://austin.yahoo.com/. For supplementary information be sure to look at, http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.austin360.com/, whatever you plan for the big day, you can make your plans now. For you sports fans January means SUPERBOWL!!!! yep, go to http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.superbowl.com/, you can find out all the info, buy tickets, TV schedules, who the half-time act is, etc.
February means two things, Valentines Day and Mardi Gras. buying sweets for the sweetheart? Be sure to check out http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.valentines.com/ , while writing this article, I went there, and I know I wont be in trouble Valentines Day, already have flowers and candy on the way, it was secure, so I figured why not do it now? So If you see my wife don't tell her you read this. Then I will probably have to get her some jewelry like can be found at, http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.adiamondisforever.com/ , so please shhh. The Mardi Gras party never ends, go to, http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.neworleans.com/, or http://web.archive.org/web/20010520063428/http://www.mardigras.com/. For any other trips be sure to check out the TylerToday website, past issues for the travel article. Everyone in New Orleans has a website, you just have to find it.

Monday, June 08, 1998

Summer Surfing Expedition

Summer Surfing Expedition...By Steve Plunkett

It seems almost everyone I know is taking a vacation, or planning one. One of my co-workers is the cheap airfare Queen, she can find airfares for next to nothing and all she uses is the Internet. If you don’t know by now, the EASIEST way to find things on the Internet is to put “www.” before something and “com” after it. So check out http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.bestfares.com/. Believe it or not, she also told us about the most obvious, http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.reservations.com/. Some other great airline travel sites are, http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.aa.com/ (American Airlines), http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.iflyswa.com/, (Southwest Airlines), http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.funjet.com/, a general bargain trip site. These are just the sites, which someone could rattle off the top of their head. Now it is summer and there is real surfing, so if you want the scoop on the Hawaii surfing scene, check out, http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.h3o.com/. Now if you’re not planning on leaving the house, be sure to check out http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.easttexasbrick.com/, for some killer bar-b-que grills, and patio furniture. Better yet, if you shall be golfing this summer, (who isn’t), take a look at http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.cheapgolfballs.com/.
I know you are saying, “Yeah right, Steve, how am I supposed to find all these things?” Well, let me show you, need a walk in the park? Try http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.centralpark.org/, if putting “.com” or “.net” in front of the domain name doesn’t work, try “.org”. Give up? Pick a search engine, as you know search engines are like the card catalog at the library, just places for web sites to be cataloged.
The most popular search engine is Yahoo, and they have many links for travel of all kinds, look at, http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.yahoo.com/Recreation/Travel/. An important top, capitalization after the domain name (the .com part) is important to remember to capitalize the “R” and “T”. Excite is the second most popular search engine and can be found at http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.excite.com/. Several friends and myself play an online game at http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.moongate.net/. Sometimes people from all over the globe will meet in one location, after talking to each other online. This year the “Moongate Gathering” is in New Orleans. Having only been to New Orleans once, and that was only for about 8 hours, I decided to do my homework.
Time to get a pen if you are reading this in a waiting room, or go to Brookshire’s and pick up a copy of your own. Shall we take a quick trip in cyberspace, step by step?
Step One. Figure our where you want to go. (We are using New Orleans).Step Two. Once you are at the Excite home page, click on “travel”.Step Three. Click on “Destinations”.Step Four. Pick continent.Step Five. Luckily on the next page they had spotlighted New Orleans, but you can pick the state or country at this point. Then select the city.Step Six. Look or print, everything you need to know is on this page or linked off of it.Step Seven. At this point I found hotels, restaurants, and other places to go. This is where all the good stuff is. Luckily the hotel we are staying in had a Red Star next to the name. “The Inn on Bourbon”, now I haven’t been there yet, but this is a vacation not a drinking expedition. This particular hotel sits right on Bourbon Street and is the favorite for people during Mardi Gras. The hotel has a balcony famous for throwing beads off of during the parades. A good friend of mine, however is partial to the Hotel Monteleone on Royal Street near Bourbon Street. She says staying at the Hotel Monteleone is the best way to experience the French Quarter.
Speaking of expeditions, a friend of mine called Ballistic and needed help on a Microsoft web site, http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.expedia.com/. I walked her through the registration and registered for myself while I was there. I couldn’t find any info about “The Inn on Bourbon” at this site so I decided to change search engines. The main reason why you want to look in more than just one search engine is because some web sites don’t submit to all the search engines. It would be really hard to submit to ALL 753 search engines. I gave up after 4 days of trying. There are search engines that search other search engines, they are called “meta” search engines. The best one is http://web.archive.org/web/20010524032330/http://www.metacrawler.com/, it searches the most popular search engines for the top results. If you are trying to search quickly, this is a tool you will use everyday. Metacrawler allows you to select “any”, for example on the words “New Orleans”, it will find web pages, with the word “New or “Orleans”. If you select “all” it will find only those web pages that contain both “new” and “Orleans”. The best part is searching using a phrase, when you click on this choice it shows those pages, that contain only the words “New Orleans” in sequence. This will save you time and headaches, the reason you are taking a vacation after all.