The Internet

This section is maybe a little dated. There are lots of things I should add here, and some that I should revise.
I intend to include links to useful places or services on the net, as well as information on what the Internet is, as far as people "living" and interacting in it are concerned.

Here is what I have for you now - more will come someday. And if you would like to suggest a topic or make a contribution, you are welcome!

You'll find a list of sites I visit regularly and find valuable on the sidebar of my weblog. I've also put online a few reviews of great sites which I encourage you to visit.

If you are more interested in the HTML, CSS and web design stuff, you want to see the coding section.

Humans in Cyberspace

First, a book (a real one!), that is a must for anybody who spends more than a couple of hours a week hanging out in cyberspace, surfing, chatting, emailing: Silicon Snake Oil by Clifford Stoll (available at Amazon) Neither flaming nor apologetic. Lucid and intelligent. It really gave me to think about, and it's rather pleasant to read...

The Internet is a great place to interact with people. But things don't exactly work out like "in real life" (IRL). For an overview of the subject, go and have a look at the excellent work of Dr.Suler, who has published a comprehensible on-line book on the Psychology of Cyberspace [read review].
Here is the chapter you might want to check out directly if you think you could be concerned by Internet Addiction.
And for those who forget to answer my email *wink wink*... please read the Black Hole of Cyberspace.

Forwarding

Check the Urban Legends Reference Pages before forwarding incredible stories!

I have received hundreds (if not thousands) of jokes via email. I have received an equal number of chain-letters, friendship pages, jokes and rumors through ICQ. Of course, I know they are sent with good intentions. But... But! Thinking of it... the jokes rarely make me laugh, I know the people who send me the friendship pages are my friends already, and as for the rumors and chain-letters... (no comment on those!)

There are two things I would like to say about the word "forward":

The net is a cluttered place, everybody says it. It is slow, and emails get lost, partly because servers are overloaded by huge amounts of "information" passing through them. Now, an important part of the traffic on the net (email, visiting sites) is made up of what I call this "very low quality communication". I have no illusions, the net will always be too slow, like american highways: too many cars, so build bigger. Bigger highways, so more cars... see the idea? But I'm an idealist, and I believe in doing what I can around me to make the world I live in a little better. So...why not try to unclutter the net a teeny bit...?
Receiving and deleting a joke or a chain-letter takes time. My precious time! (Egoistic comment. Maybe the most convincing?)

So! For ICQ users, and all those who suffer from compulsive forwarding... here is the ICQ rumors page. Of course, I don't mind being forwarded an occasional joke or url...

Oh! I was about to forget! The only joke I have received until now that really made me laugh: How to spot a mad cow (thanks Joe!)

Virus Alerts

In a similar state of mind as for the above statements, here is a guideline about virus alerts. If it is really a serious alert (like Melissa was), then forwarding the url of the MSN or IBM or CNN page which announces the news makes much more sense than sending a long explanatory email. If you receive one of these long emails and it worries you, make a quick search with Google, About.com, Altavista or Infoseek, and you will most certainly discover that your virus alert is a hoax.

Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date!

Linux

If you are tired of the microsoft hegemony and would like something more flexible and more stable than WinSomething, consider trying Linux. It is free and will always be so (have a look at the GNU "copyleft" terms of service to see why); the most popular version nowadays is Red Hat Linux. You can have both Windows and Linux on your computer, and decide at each session which one to boot.

Spamcop

I used to link to Operamail as the best free e-mail service I knew. Unfortunately, their new policies aren't that great anymore.

The main problem with free e-mail addresses is spam. If you get a "good" e-mail address at hotmail or yahoo, you will get spam, even if you keep your address secret. Why that? Because spammers know that all the good addresses are taken. So they just target their spam blindly at all the "good" addresses and hit the mark almost each time.

Spamcop offers you very reasonable spam-free e-mail for 3$ a month. That is not a lot, and their filtering system is very efficient. It also has an in-built system which allows you to easily report any spam that might still reach you.

You just have to be aware that their default settings are pretty high, so some of the "good mail" is bound to get caught in the spam-traps. It isn't a big problem, because the sender receives a notification of this and can free the e-mail himself (spammers use machines to send their e-mail with fake return addresses, so they won't release their spam, no worry). You can also check your "held mail" once a week to release any trapped messages, if you like.

All in all, it's a really great service which is really worth the price. Check it out!

Search

Try Google and About.com.

ICQ

Here is a little tip for all of you who hate having to start their contact list all over again each time they reinstall ICQ:
In the ICQ directory (usually C:\\Program Files\\Mirabilis\\ICQ) you will files named *.dat, *.uin, *.idx ("*" being your ICQ number). If you need to hunt around for them or can't find them, simply do a "Find".
Make a copy of those files.
Once you have reinstalled ICQ, copy them back to their original place, and there you are! Your contact list is just how you left it!

Gandi

Gandi is the place I recommend for registering a domain name. You pay 12 euros per year, and the service is good.