NETSURFER DIGEST has been around since 1994 (yes! Five years) doing what many of the portal sites do one better: it not only gives you a canonical listing of valuable sites, it also provides brief well-written reviews of each one. It combines breaking news about the net with Web site and resource referrals in an interesting, engaging and often humorous format. I think you'll love the site and the newsletter, if you haven't bookmarked or subscribed already.
With five million (and counting) Web sites out there, it's good to know there's still a place to go to get the skinny on the behind-the-scenes action like Netsurfer Digest. There's no way that they or anyone else can cover all the great, weird and funny places to surf to today, but ND has the years of continuous publication and the built-in savvy to cover lots of them.
I personally like the fact that they mix their reviews and commentary with background information, like the fall-out from the recent cracker attacks on the FBI Web site and how it impacted many of the commercial clients on IBM's servers. You might like it for the topical coverage, like their recent piece on the passing of DeForest Kelley. Other surfers will like it for the straight ahead Web site reviews. No matter what your taste, this is a place you'll find something of interest.
Here a sample listing from a recent newsletter:
"Jesus Is Coming - Look Busy
"Its clean layout, strong writing, and unique niche market combine with a sharp wit to make Ship of Fools quite possibly the best GeoCities site we've seen. Consider it a sardonic take on the things that make you go "hmm" if you're a Christian - perhaps more so if you're not. The site looks at the definition of Christianity today in light of such activity as sites that claim that 'homosexuals are wicked' and Jerry Falwell's Tinky Winky fiasco. You've heard of Mystery Shoppers? Try the Mystery Worshipper column, which runs down the vital facts about local (mostly UK) parishes from the comfort of the pews to the aroma of the after-service coffee. Although the humor often borders on irreverence, the passion of the staffers reveals the publication's true cybermissionary bent. They're even taking their show on the road, presumably to teach congregations how to fish for young Christians not easily caught in the widely-cast nets of the What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) marketing blitz.
Ship: http://www.geocities.com/~ship-of-fools/
WWJD: http://www.wwjd.com/"
NetSurfer Digest is a classic example of how some Web efforts get better with age. Recommended.
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