Let's all open the book again and mark off our favorite Web addresses
Earlier this summer, I told you about my favorite bookmarks for finding government information and conducting government business on the World Wide Web [GCN, June 16, Page 55]. I asked you to share your favorite bookmarks--not necessarily the flashiest sites but ones that draw you back to relevant information presented in an understandable way.
Earlier this summer, I told you about my favorite bookmarks for finding government
information and conducting government business on the World Wide Web [GCN, June 16, Page 55].
I asked you to share your favorite bookmarks--not necessarily the flashiest sites but
ones that draw you back to relevant information presented in an understandable way.
Here's some of the feedback you sent.
The year 2000 date code problem was on several readers' minds. A good starting point
for an overview and suggested solutions, they said, is http://www.year2000.com/.
There were other popular sites:
If viruses are causing you woe, some must-have bookmarks include the HitchHiker's Web
Guide to AntiVirus Resources at http://www.hitchhikers.net/av.shtml,
the National Computer Security Association's virus alerts page at http://www.ncsa.com/alerts/ and Stiller Research's
paper on how viruses work and virus myths at http://www.stiller.com/.
Several readers said they have bookmarked specialized sites of the General Services
Administration, such as the Office of Information Security at http://www.gsa.gov/irms/ki/ois.htm. The site
deals with secure information services for federal organizations with classified,
sensitive, diplomatic or military missions.
Also mentioned was the Federal Systems Integration and Management Center site at http://www.gsa.gov/iti/division.htm. It has
suggestions and resources for topics such as systems acquisition, security and
maintenance.
A Justice Department reader suggested that anyone involved in Web server administration
should bookmark http:// www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/, Matt's Script Archive. It contains more than 900
downloadable Common Gateway Interface scripts for everything from interactive forums to
Hypertext Transfer Protocol cookies.
I've been guilty of snagging a couple of scripts from that site myself.
A similar public-domain CGI library appears at Selena Sol's archive at http://selena.mcp.com/Scripts/.
An Air Force reader said he's bookmarked a site with the unfortunate name of Sucky to
Savvy at http://www.glover.com/ss.html. He
stops by occasionally to see what does and doesn't work on a Web site. The savvy tips are
valuable for creating great-looking Web pages that display well in different browsers. The
site is updated often enough to make it worth a return trip.
One reader was in a hurry to upgrade his site to Hypertext Markup Language 4.0. The
best place to go for information on this is right to the source, http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-html40-970708/,
to see the full draft specification that was approved this summer.
Ever suspect that your network slowdowns and other problems are created by your
Internet service provider?
An Agriculture Department network administrator has found a good way to investigate.
Visit http://www.software.net/netstat.htm,
where you'll find a service that pings several large networks to measure their response
times.
It offers up-to-date charts that show whether failures are occurring at MCI
Communications Corp., PSINet, Sprint Corp. and other carriers.
While you're there, look for the pointer that does an automatic traceback to your
Internet host.
Finally, one site that's both fascinating and aggravating is http://www.bigeye.com. It's a list of lists, similar to
Yahoo. The federal employee who suggested Big Eye complained about its lack of
organization, but there are gems to be found.
It's a good place to make serendipitous discoveries. My pick: the Speedtrap Registry at
Entry 206.
Your feedback was positive enough to make this a recurring feature every few months. If
you have a valuable bookmark to share with other GCN readers, please mail it to me at smccarthy@cahners.com.
Shawn P. McCarthy is a computer journalist, webmaster and Internet programmer for GCN's
parent, Cahners Publishing Co. E-mail him at smccarthy@cahners.com.