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>>> October 23, 1997 Smile! You're on Montréal Cam Just when you thought there were enough reasons not to pick your nose in public, the Greater Montreal Convention and Tourism Bureau officially launched Montréal Cam (www.montrealcam.com). Every 20 seconds, 24 hours a day, you can check out what the penguins are doing at the Biôdome or how many cars are stuck in traffic on the 20--all with a click of the mouse. Best of all, you can tell your overseas' buddies to log in at a specified time and moon them while standing in front of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Ain't technology a hoot? Montréal Cam's makers claim that "this action demonstrates our dynamism and leadership in the sectors of both tourism and technology." Well, whether you believe that or not, when you next pass the Museum of Fine Arts, aim for the target on the north side of Sherbrooke. --Catherine Leconte |
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>>> October 16, 1997 ICQ, you seek me, we all seek ICQ Gone are the days of the quaint BBS, when you could see if your pals were mucking around on the same server and engage them in one-on-one chat. IRC software can be fun, but your novice user isn't likely to configure it without at least 12 hours of swearing and cursed manual reading. Enter ICQ, software so cool you'll wonder what the hell you've been doing on the Net all this time. Available free (www.icq.com), ICQ allows you to know when your friends are connected, have private or group chats with them or simply send them a message. Other features, like transferring files directly, will have you squealing with delight. Plus, it's easier than making Jell-O. Although the Mac version is still at the beta stage and lacks the live chats and file transfers, any new user will be tickled by the new functionality of their Internet connection. --Catherine Leconte |
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>>> October 9, 1997 mIRClE on Berri St. Vidéotron has re-launched InfiniT (www.infinit.net) with a new look, new content and a lot of pomp. InfiniT is a "communauté virtuelle" or, more accurately, a big honkin' site. Mainly in French, it has up-to-the-minute news, weather and sports, as well as lifestyle content ranging from Coup de pouce and Elle Québec articles to personal financial tips. But the best aspect of InfiniT is its chats--they house the most popular francophone chat site on earth. Offering 23 different chat rooms, you're bound to find at least one animated conversation any time of day. Java-capable browser or IRC software (mIRC for Windows or IRCLE for Mac) not included. For those already versed in IRC, the address is chat.infinit.net and the port is 6667. Not the hippest site, InfiniT's chats are worthwhile and, patriotic or not, supporting a massive local web effort will mean more content for us in the long run. --Catherine Leconte |
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>>> October 1, 1997 Return of the BBS Montrealers who have been using modems since 1200-baud days are wont to muse about the legendary popularity of our city's long-gone Bulletin Board community, a virtual city teeming with activity. They blame its demise on the advent of graphical-interface browsers and Java eye candy, which led people astray from local BBSes and on to far-away, corporate-run sites. If you share the nostalgia, point your loathed browser to http://www.hotlinesw.com and download Hotline in a hurry. It's client software with file-transfer and chat capabilities that allows people to set up a BBS server on the Net, track other active servers and chat with other Hotline users. Post and download cool warez! Make virtual friends! Just like the good ole days. Mac users only--for now. --Philip Preville |
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>>> September 25, 1997 Do you know the dope? Do you have a job? Do your parents like you? Have you done right by them? If your answer is "yes," read on. Have you ever inhaled? When someone uses the word "blow," do you know not to reach for a tissue? If you also answered "yes" to these questions, then Drugnet (http://wkuweb1.wku.edu/~drugnet/Home.html) needs you. Western Kentucky University is using the Internet (due to its relative user anonymity and demographic reach) to survey educated, affluent adults about their drug use. This vast, candid survey aims to debunk the media-driven stereotypes that paint drug and alcohol users as Crimestopper poster children and witless prostitutes. Here's your chance to prove that you're not the person your parents told you to be afraid of. --Catherine Leconte |
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>>> September 18, 1997 Pure-laine internauts RISQ (Réseau interordinateur scientifique québécois) is a division of the Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal, which is dedicated to promoting the Internet in Quebec. Aside from the use of French on the net, they also encourage the widespread use of new technologies throughout the province. Granted, RISQ is not a where you'll find wowey-zowey, Java-enhanced, Shockwave-laden KEWL!!! stuff but, hey, it's for us (the distinct ones). This month they are conducting the 4th RISQ Survey of Quebec Internauts (www.risq.qc.ca/survey/4/). Since March 1996, they have surveyed thousands of surfing Quebecers every six months in order to examine how many of us pretend we're hard at work while we check out the cool site of the day, if we ever stumble into Quebec-made sites and how fast our modems help us waste all this time. Be the statistic you always wanted to be. Results will be posted on December 1, 1997. --Catherine Leconte |