POINT OF VIEW COLUMN: Website reviews
By JOHNNIE SPANRAFT
My last column dealing with the parking lot generated only four responses, so I have decided to extend the offer for you to come up with solutions to the long walk from the lot to the school. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, see the previous issue of the Apache, "No Place So Close Can Make You Walk So Far." Send you ideas via e-mail to Johnnie72@hotmail.com.
I’ve decided to lighten things up this column with reviews of websites that are very interesting and entertaining.
Wrestling fans know there are official websites run by the WWF and the WCW, but these are produced by the companies and very biased to selling their product. If you want up to date wrestling news and well-written commentaries on the "sports entertainment" business, go to www.scoopscentral.com.
This site is updated daily and most of the inside news can be trusted. Be sure to check out Chris Hyatte’s Mop-Up column for a hilarious recap of the Monday night shows.
A site that almost guarantees a laugh is www.hecklers.com. This site has some of the best jokes ever, but some humor is of an adult nature and may be offensive to some people. Readers are also encouraged to submit their own jokes.
It’s no secret that the only remarkable part of the Illinois Valley landscape is the horizon. Now you can see other parts of the country and the world from your desktop. Go to www.earthcam.com and see hundreds of different areas.
You can look live at the waves at a beach in California, watch live traffic from Ireland or see live images from Times Square in New York City. Make sure you check out the area entitled Weird and Bizarre Cams.
If you can remember video games before the Playstation or N64 were invented, then go to www.classicgaming.com. Here you can find the history of video games. This very information site will fill you in on the first video game ever, the disposition of five million copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600, and the history of just about every arcade game and home console ever created.
The greatest thing about this site is the access to emulators. Emulators allow you to play recreations of most of these games on your home computer. I recommend the Mame32 emulator. It’s free, and it supports over 1,000 arcade games.
The ROM’s (the programs you need to play the games) are also available at this site and need to be downloaded separately. It you played these games in the arcades, you will be impressed with the almost 100 percent duplication for the emulators. It is very important that you read the Read Me text in order to install them properly.
Please keep in mind that IVCC prohibits the installation of software on their computers. DO NOT download or install any software mentioned in this column on IVCCs computers. If you have a computer at home, install the software there.
Let me know what you think of these sites or if you know of an entertaining or interesting site.
April 8, 1999 the Apache