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>>> November 6, 1997 Clean filth? We've all read about it a dozen times: the Internet is full of smut. Women and children with modems are in constant peril. The risk of happening upon an all-too-yucky crotch shot is constantly looming behind every click of the mouse. But what about those of us with sex drives who don't need to see pink? We've got Nerve (www.nervemag.com)! It's a site dedicated to "literate smut" with fiction, essays and pictures. The stories are explicit but not gross and the essays deal with contemporary sexual issues, including "The Art of Celibacy" by Quentin Crisp. There are reviews, live chats and erotic excerpts from famous books. The picture gallery is enticing but verges on the artsy-fartsy. If pornography offends you, don't go there. If a good dose of kinder, gentler smut is what you're looking for (and that means ladies, too), check it out. --Catherine Leconte |
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>>> October 30, 1997 Frankly, they don't give a damn Canadians have always been somewhat irreverent when it comes to politicians and the media (think This Hour Has 22 Minutes). But there's one particular word that makes politicians run screaming from the room: Frank. The magazine's Web site (www.achilles.net/frankmag/index.html) will make you howl at its shameless mockery of our nation's personalities. No one is spared in Frank; disrespect is their specialty. There's the Frank Dead Pool, where you get to guess which prominent Canadians will be six feet under by year's end, and the "Name (CTV's) Craig Oliver's Hair Dye Contest." Some of the content is hopelessly out of date but the humour is timeless. If you really must stay on top of Canadian celebrity shenanigans, there's subscription info on the site. --Catherine Leconte |
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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 |