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Net Gains (Jun 25, 97) |
If you've been following the comic strips in this paper, you would
have seen the effect cyberspace has had on life - specially Archie's.
When he was in a dilemma about taking Veronica or Betty to the
prom, he asked junta who read the strip to give him their
opinions via e-mail ! It would be interesting to find out which
lady won the opinion poll.
Even MTV has realised that it can use the Net. Every weekday at
6 p.m. India they have a show called MTV Interactive. Log into
the MTV Asia web site (http://www.mtvasia.com) and you
can chat online live at MTV Interactive. So make yourself heard
- and make sure your computer is next to the TV, so you can even
see your stuff on TV !
We've all heard clichés - in fact it's often the closest people in your life who tend to give you an overdose when you least need those sayings. To help you be at the giving end instead of the receiving end, The book of Clichés (http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/sybev/cliche/index.htm), has sorted clichés for almost every general disaster possible. Take the broken hearts for instance - it has a list of the most commonly spewed maxims :
- There are plenty more fish in the sea
- There will be another one
- Love hurts
Then, for when you're dead (?!) :
- You see? I told you I was sick!
- Well, at least I tried …
The book of clichés has 17 other catastrophic categories
for you to revel in - and if that's not enough for you, there
are links to other home pages that dole out clichés. Forgive
me if I sound clichéd, but after browsing thorough all
those categories all I can say is - "Live and learn"
!
Even though I'm an inexperienced & infrequent visitor to watering
holes, I find the variety available pretty pathetic. I logged
on to the Net to see if there was a solution awaiting download.
Sure there were sites that some of our pubs could visit to learn
about making mocktails and cocktails. Incidentally, both the sites
that follow have warnings that the site is intended only for people
of legal drinking age and over.
The first was the Malibu Beach House (http://www.malibu-rum.com).
There are enough recipes here - in the bartender's recipes section,
and the party recipes section to keep you sloshed for weeks on
end. Their "free postcard" section has subtle advertising
involved - through the message that promotes the site. But the
most interesting part of the site by far was the "Hey Dude!"
section that acts as a dictionary for surfing lingo - the only
catch being you have to segregate the real surfer slang from the
electronic surfer slang (the Net, yaar). There's also an
online shop for you to buy watches, caps, t-shirts, jackets etc…
Not to forget the tour of Hawaii, Barbados, Bahamas, Bermuda and
other islands that's waiting for you when you drop in on the "permanent
vacation" section.
The spicier, and naughtier site was the Smirnoff Pure Thrill
Hotel (http://www.purethrill.com).The site is designed like
a hotel, complete with a manager and a concierge - in fact, to
enter, you have to go to the check - in desk and register (for
free). Now that you're a guest, you can visit the casino, club,
lobby, bar, any of the suites, and even visit the Smirnoff International
Fashion Awards (SIFA) - which is a full blown fashion show on
the site with entrants from 30 countries (India included). The
images of all 30 models take about 6 minutes to load on a 14.4
connection. You can even vote for the three designs that are winners
according to you.
The image in the bar is in keeping with the transformation theme
of the Smirnoff television adverts - in front of your eyes, the
calm bar scene transforms into one with generous helpings of Sadism
& Masochism.
Be warned though, that the PureThrill site has the drawback of too many cookies all around the place - so be prepared to get those irritating messages popping up all the time.
And all you mamas with sons & daughters of marriageable age,
make sure you read Net Gains next week - you may end up with a
child - in - law - courtesy the Net !