25 hot webssites: we've scoured cyberspace so you won't have to. Here's our list of 'must stops' to make the next time you're traveling the Net.Tired of getting lost in cyberspace Coined by William Gibson in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer," it is a futuristic computer network that people use by plugging their minds into it! The term now refers to the Internet or to the online or digital world in general. See Internet and virtual reality. Contrast with meatspace. and ending up at Web sites that don't offer a thing of interest? To help you zip straight to stuff you can really use, we've put together a list of hot sites that you'll want to to visit time and again. These sites can help you start a business, manage your finances, close a deal, be a better parent or student, jumpstart your career--in short, be a happier all-round person. Even some of your favorite celebrities are making the most of the Net with cleverly designed sites that market, entertain and educate. And the best part? All of these sites are free. By the way, don't forget to visit our Web site at www.blackenterprise.com, where you'll find, among other interesting information, this article with links to all the sites mentioned. Of course, we think it's one of the best sites on the Web--but we'll let you be the judge of that, Happy browsing! (Reminder: all Internet Web site addresses start with http://) BUSINESS SITES The federal government has information useful to businesses of all sizes, and the U.S. Business Advisor is a very good place to start. It provides a gateway to all kinds of government services that can help an entrepreneur succeed, covering everything from tax tips to how to secure loans and export licenses. It has a nice clean design that loads quickly. www.business.gov The Small Business Administration site has tons of information for those with an entrepreneurial spirit. One of its many links to other government Web sites is to Pro Net, a service that connects businesses with government procurement Government procurement, also called public tendering, is the procurement of goods and services on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. With 10 to 15% of GDP in developed countries, and up to 20% in developing countries, government procurement accounts officers. This site also lists your business in a national database that tells others what goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. you provide. The section on financing tells you how to get a loan from the SBA SBA abbr. Small Business Administration Noun 1. SBA - an independent agency of the United States government that protects the interests of small businesses and ensures that they receive a fair share of government and other lenders. www.sba.gov Knowing how popular its card is among the affluent and successful, American Express American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses. has created a site to help more people become affluent and successful. Clever, hey? The American Express Small Business Exchange features information for the small business owner ranging from making the sale to appointing the right board of directors. The site also lets you pose questions to a small business expert and post free advertisements for your business. You can even apply online for that platinum small business corporate card you've always fancied. www.americanexpress.com/smallbusiness The Smart Business Supersite is a valuable resource for the busy entrepreneur. It features hundreds of informative articles on dozens of business-related topics and has a searchable index that leads you quickly to the knowledge you seek. Experts on marketing, law, computing and other subjects write monthly advice columns, and a message center lets you communicate with other entrepreneurs. There's even a handy automatic e-mail reminder service that'll tickle See Tcl/Tk and tickle packet. (text, tool) Tickle - A text editor, file translator and TCL interpreter for the Macintosh. Version 5.0v1. The text editor breaks the 32K limit (like MPW). your memory about important appointments or your daughter's birthday. www.smartbiz.com PERSONAL FINANCE SITES Tom and David Gardner David Gardner is one of the three founders of The Motley Fool. He is currently co-chairman of the board. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a Morehead-Cain Scholarship. started their investment service, The Motley Fool, on America Online See AOL. in 1993. Now available on the Web, this site is the most popular service of its kind, perhaps because of the way the financial advice is seasoned with ample doses of zany humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was . Aimed at everyone from the first-time investor to serious professionals, The Fool offers more than just numbers and headlines. The School section provides a painless introduction to investing. Also, message boards let you exchange tips with avid online investors from around the world. www.fool.com For some people, the best daily financial briefing is the one they create for themselves. My Yahoo!, a feature of the Yahoo search service, lets you create a personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. Web page that contains up-to-the-minute financial data as well as the latest news, weather and sports. Just go to My Yahoo! and sign up for a free membership. Your password will be e-mailed to you in seconds. You can then choose from a variety of news sources and have your selections displayed automatically on a customized Web page. Lots of good financial information is available, including stock prices and the companies you want to watch closely. It's like having your own private edition of the daily paper--without the ink stains. By the way, if you are a parent who's nervous about letting your child wander around the Net alone, a children's component called Yahooligans! (www.yahooligans.com) provides a controlled environment for children ages seven to 12. It's also a great resource for homework assignments. Consider this one corner of the Net where your kids can safety hang out. www.my.yahoo.com Bloomberg Financial News, one of the world's most respected sources of financial data, has signed onto the Net with Bloomberg Online, a must stop for investors. Although spending some time there might help a beginner make sense of the market, the depth of information provided is best suited to the experienced investor. The site features the latest news headlines plus detailed data on financial markets. You can get a free subscription to Bloomberg Online's Personal Finance magazine, which provides quotes, company profiles and data on more than 18,000 stocks and mutual funds. Use RealAudio to get live reports from Bloomberg's radio network. www.bloomberg.com Another good source for investment news is the CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. Financial News site, which offers information on personal investing, news, stock quotes and research help. Although it's not for the beginning investor, the site will help give you a leg up if you have some experience beyond dialing your broker. www.cnnfn.com CAREER SITES The Monster Board is a great place to visit if you're looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a job. This is perhaps the best known career resource on the Internet. Many of the nation's biggest companies post job openings here. The resume-builder section helps you design and post your resume for hundreds of recruiters to see. You can pull up company profiles and even get help finding a new home if your new job requires you to relocate. About the only thing you won't find on this site is the key to the executive washroom. www.monster.com Another site listing thousands of job openings is the Online Career Center. Employers pay to post openings, which keeps the listings current, while job seekers job seeker also job·seek·er n. One who seeks employment. can search the database for free. Because the site also lists jobs at a company's overseas locations, it's the perfect place to look for opportunities to work abroad, especially if you have the high-tech skills most in demand. www.occ.com It's unfortunate that most people only come into contact with their state employment service when they have to file for unemployment insurance. You may be missing out on thousands of job listings your taxes entitle you to know about. These agencies have pooled resources to form the Public Employment Service, which operates America's job Bank. While each state has its own Web site, this Internet resource consolidates the listings to let you search for employment anywhere in the country. Or you can limit your search to a particular state or region. Also, pick up good job search tips and news about "hot" industries. www.ajb.dni.us The CareerPath site combines the classified ads from more than 50 of the nation's top newspapers. You can customize your searches, selecting, for example, the five cities where you'd most like to five. You can also create and post your resume online and research potential employers, who often search the database for likely candidates. You have to register to use CareerPath, but it's free and you can restrict how much information you want to divulge about yourself. www.careerpath.com TRAVEL SITES If you're looking for travel information, City Net should be your first stop. The site is maintained by Excite, one of the top search engines on the Net. City Net has information about 5,000 locations worldwide. Type in a city and up comes a list of everything you want to know about it, including restaurants, local attractions, music and theater. The site also gets you to your destination with detailed driving instructions, travel and a map of your route. www.city.net Travelocity is an Internet travel agent plus. You can find bargains, book flights and make hotel reservations online. You also can get information about various cities, catch up on travel news and tips and check flight schedules. The service will even send a message to your pager notifying you if your flight has been delayed. Not the only travel agent online, it's the first and works hard to keep you coming back. There seems to be something new at each visit. www.travelocity.com Another site that gives nightmares to traditional travel agents is Preview Travel. With a Web browser The program that serves as your front end to the Web on the Internet. In order to view a site, you type its address (URL) into the browser's Location field; for example, www.computerlanguage.com, and the home page of that site is downloaded to you. and a credit card, vacationers and business travelers can take care of just about everything from buying plane tickets to renting a car. The site's Farefinder service helps you find the best ticket prices between any two U.S. cities, and also lists bargains in overseas travel. There's plenty of advice to make your trip more pleasant and productive. www.previewtravel.com American's best-known travel writer brings his informative and pungent pun·gent adj. 1. Affecting the organs of taste or smell with a sharp acrid sensation. 2. a. Penetrating, biting, or caustic: pungent satire. b. style to the Internet in Arthur Frommer's Outspoken Encyclopedia of Travel a site that's a delight to visit even if you're not planning a trip. Along with plenty of tips and travel bargains, it also features Frommer's prickly prickly many sharp spines protrude. prickly black rolypoly sclerolaenamuricata. prickly jack emex australis. prickly lettuce lactuca serriola. commentary on everything from incompetent airline personnel to tourists who don't have a due about the places they're visiting. His writing alone will keep travel buffs coming back for more. www.frommers.com CHILDREN'S SITES A great place for youngsters is the Kids Corner--not so much for what's at the site, but for what it links you to. The section called Web Surfin' has first-rate and mostly noncommercial links to other, mostly educational, sites on the Net that adults; also will find interesting. Even the featured commercial site, Crayola.com, set up by the same company that owns Kids Comer, tones down its sales pitch by using a crayon crayon, any drawing material available in stick form. The term includes charcoal, conte crayon, chalk, pastel, grease crayon, litho crayon, and children's wax colors. to alert you to ads on the site. http://www.kids.ot.com Once chided by viewers about its heavy focus on World War II documentaries, the Discovery Channel cable TV network now boasts a wide and lively lineup of science and nature material for all ages as well as a high-quality Web site. Discovery Channel Online serves as a companion to the programs, offering in-depth information about the topics presented. So, after you and your child watch that documentary on the wilds of Alaska, log on to the site for more facts and even online chats with wildlife experts. Find fascinating and amusing reference material on science, technology and history--including World War II. www.discovery.com When your kids get stuck on a homework assignment, send them to the Homework Help Site, where children can get assistance with math, English, social studies, science and other assignments. Volunteer teachers are on hand to answer questions and help unravel tough problems. Or they can scroll through answers to questions other students have already asked. The site is sponsored by the Minneapolis Star Tribune For the Wyoming newspaper, see . The Star Tribune (also Star trib or Strib, as it is often referred to) is the largest newspaper in the U.S. newspaper. It's best suited to children ages 10-13. www.startribune.com/stonline/html/special/homework AFRICAN AMERICAN African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. SITES In 1994, The Afro-American Newspaper was one of the first black-owned publications to go online. Today, the site still serves as a good starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point terminus a quo commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the for information on African American history African American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are the descendants of African slaves held in the United States from 1619 to 1865. and national news of interest to black readers. You'll especially enjoy the site's online black history museum, presenting fascinating exhibits and information about key historical events such as black resistance to slavery and the exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen Tuskegee Airmen Black servicemen of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) who trained at Alabama's Tuskegee Army Air Field in World War II. They constituted the first African American flying unit in the U.S. military. during World War II. The Afro-American sent correspondents to cover the war-reviewing the writings of these pioneer journalists alone is worth the visit. www.afroam.com NetNoir, one of the first online communities for black people, is still considered by many users to be the leader of the pack. Once available only on AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. , NetNoir now has its own Web site and plenty to offer, from entertainment news to job listings to live online chat. Through a link with the PlanetAll Web service, NetNoir can help you reach old friends or make new business contacts. Also, each section of the site features links to other locations on the Net--a good way to explore a world of black resources. www.netnoir.com To keep up to date on the Motherland moth·er·land n. 1. One's native land. 2. The land of one's ancestors. 3. A country considered as the origin of something. , check out Africa Online Africa Online was started in 1994 by three Kenyan students at MIT. It developed from an online community hosted at MIT called KenyaNet. KenyaNet was one of several Africa-focused online communities (the others were Okyeame (Ghana), Naijanet (Nigeria), and Salonet (Sierra Leone) , which has links to everything African African pertaining to or originating in Africa. African buffalo includes black Cape buffalo, red Congo buffalo and red-brown varieties from Abyssinia to Niger. See also buffalo. . The home page headlines major stories from the continent. If you click on the news and information fink fink Slang n. 1. A contemptible person. 2. An informer. 3. A hired strikebreaker. intr.v. finked, fink·ing, finks 1. To inform against another person. , you get one of the most complete lists of online African publications anywhere, arranged by country. Also, using your RealAudio device, you can link to radio broadcasts from the Kenya Broadcasting Corp. A component for children, called Kids Only, offers interactive quizzes, games, a Kenyan children's magazine and intercontinental chat. Both sites are dean, crisp and designed for easy navigation. www.africaonline.com To cover the entire African Diaspora The African diaspora is the diaspora created by the movements and cultures of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, to places such as the Americas, (including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America) Europe and Asia. , click on to The Black World Today, an online publication that covers issues involving the international black community, including Africa, Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. , the Caribbean and the U.S. Daily sections include the latest news and sports, guest columns from prominent lecturers and in-depth articles. You'll also find profiles on black countries, and links to other sites of related interest. www.tbwt.com Melanet: The UnCut Black Experience is another seasoned online pioneer with much to offer. This deep, rich site combines commerce and culture, and walks a fine line between being progressive and capitalist. You can research businesses, plan an African wedding or buy books with African American themes. The UnCut Chat series features five talk with prominent guests on provocative issues. www.melanet.com Don't let the name fool you. Buppies Online is a serious source of information aimed at everyone, not just Black Urban Professionals. Its stated mission is to bring "Black America Together in Cyberspace." The site's layout maneuvers you through a range of topics, involving politics, art and entertainment, computing, family life, finances and education. www.buppie.com RELATED ARTICLE: A '90S KING OF PARTY LINE "WHEN I WAS young, I just wanted to blow up stuff," recalls Sinbad, a former high school chemistry buff and would-be inventor. Truly one of the early adopters of the Internet, Sinbad got his first computer in 1986 and went online shortly after, when CompuServe and bulletin board systems were the only things of note. "I didn't go online right away because it's like a drug," quips the comedian and host of Vibe, the late-night television talk show. "[The Net] will take people away and their families will never see them again because they're so engrossed en·gross tr.v. en·grossed, en·gross·ing, en·gross·es 1. To occupy exclusively; absorb: A great novel engrosses the reader. See Synonyms at monopolize. 2. ." All jokes aside
in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. (Internet programming languages), encourages everyone to get online. "It's like the '90s equivalent of the party line," he says. The informational aspect is what he enjoys most about the Web, although he also recognizes the Net's more commercial uses. He has a Web site for his Soul Music Festival and is the driving force behind the site for Vibe TV. This year, he's planning to use the soul music site as more than a marketing tool. "I'm gong gong, percussion instrument consisting of a disk, usually with upturned edges, 3 ft (91 cm) or more in diameter in the modern orchestra, often made of bronze, and struck with a felt- or leather-covered mallet or drumstick. to hook up a T1 line in the Caribbean so we can use the Internet to get around the outrageous long-distance rates," says Sinbad, who has plans to create the ultimate black online community. "It'll be called something like Sinbad's Funky World and it will be like the one-stop-shop for blacks in cyberspace." www.soulmusicfestival.com www.vivetv.com RELATED ARTICLE: THE NET'S EN VOGUE En Vogue is a Grammy nominated American female R&B vocal quartet assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy. En Vogue has sold over 20 Million albums and singles worldwide. EN VOGUE'S Terry Ellis
Terry Lynn Ellis (born September 5, 1966 in Houston, Texas, U.S.) is an African-American R&B singer. has been giving her public something they can use, a little Terry Ellis Southern Exposure, the name that adorns both her new fragrance and the Web site she has created to promote it. Ellis is one of a growing number of celebrities who are embracing technology to promote their music and other ventures, stay in touch with their fans and manage their business affairs. "Before, I was scared to touch the computer. I though I'd mess it up or break it because I didn't know what I was doing," says Ellis, who only recently added the Internet to her arsenal of high-tech tools. Now she travels proficiently over the Net, using her laptop to access various services to purchase CDs, airline tickets and other products online. "[The Net] provides a venue for people to access the mall without having to go to the physical location," she says. "It's convenient--and really kind of fun." Her own site, created with the help of Virtual Melanin melanin (mĕl`ənĭn), water-insoluble polymer of various compounds derived from the amino acid tyrosine. It is one of two pigments found in human skin and hair and adds brown to skin color; the other pigment is carotene, which contributes , a Web site design firm in Brooklyn, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , offers easy access to her line of Southern Exposure products, which also includes candles, bath teas, lotions lotions, n.pl nonoily treatments intended to be applied to the skin for a variety of cosmetic or medicinal purposes. and body creams. The only drawback to online marketing? "You can't smell my fragrance over the Net," she quips. Terry Ellis Southern Exposure www.southerngal.com RELATED ARTICLE: FUSING HIGH-TECH WITH HUMANITY PIANIST HERBIE Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12 1940 in Chicago, Illinois) is an award winning American jazz pianist and composer. Hancock is one of jazz music's most important and influential pianists and composers. is perfectly at home on the Internet. Originally an engineering major, Hancock switched paths and became one of the first jazz artists to fuse technology with music. Recently, he folded a third factor into the mix--humanity. Two years ago, Hancock founded the Rhythm of Life Organization (ROLO), a San Francisco-based organization dedicated to helping bridge the gap between the technology "haves" and "have-nots." "The future looks so bright with entertainment, education and communications merging together--but if you don't have a computer of some sort, you'll be out of the game," he says. ROLO will operate a community technology center to help people become computer literate computer literacy n. The ability to operate a computer and to understand the language used in working with a specific system or systems. computer literate adj. and better able to compete for high-tech jobs. "When I show people who have never been on the Net how easy it is, it blows their mind and they immediately want a computer," Hancock says. His first visit to the Web three years ago lasted for three straight days, because it was so "fascinating." He uses the Net to browse, shop, visit home theater An audio/video entertainment center that has a large-screen TV and hi-fi system with three speakers in the front (left, right and center) and left and right speakers in the rear. Starting in the early 1990s, video inputs were added to stereo receivers and preamplifiers. and entertainment sites, and check airline schedules and the weather, among other things. "The Net gives you access to the world from your living room or laptop. In a sense, wherever I go, I carry the world with me," he says. To learn more, drop by Hancock's new Web site. Rhythm of Life Organization www.rolo.org |
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