PLUGGED IN : BROWSER.SURF WATCHING:On the Internet, information wants to be free. But not everyone wants children to roam freely in the Digital Age's Wild West. Concerned parents and those who provide the public with free access to the Net - like schools and libraries - are using WebSENSE to screen out inappropriate on-line material. Developed by San Diego-based NetPartners Internet Solutions Inc., the software works with a continually updated database of more than 50,000 Web and newsgroup addresses. Net users can download a free copy of the software from NetPartners' Web site http://www.netpart.com/. Closer to home, SafeSurf Inc. in Van Nuys specializes in making sure employees aren't wasting work time on X-rated Web sites. SafeSurf Internet Filtering Solution is placed on the company's server. The service costs an initial fee of $5,000, plus $2,000 a month for regular database updates. LIGHTING THE WAY: A Valencia couple have devised a way to light up your life. The Lite Task Master is a small light device that illuminates both a PC keyboard (1) Any keyboard made for the PC. (2) The keyboard introduced with the first IBM PC in 1981 that provided a dual-function keypad for numeric entry and cursor movement. It was severely criticized for its non-standard shift key placement, which was corrected with the AT keyboard in 1984. Regardless of key placement, users have always loved the feel of IBM keyboards. See PC keyboards and Avant Stellar keyboard. and paperwork on your desk. It fits into most keyboard drawers A sliding drawer that holds a keyboard under the desk when not in use.; its base, a magnifier bar, acts as an enlarger and is perfect for those working on detailed CAD work. The Lite Task Master costs $59.95. For more information, call Ron Morton at (800) 579-1167. WEB LINKS EWORLD An online service from Apple aimed at the consumer market. It was introduced in 1994 and closed in 1996. REVISITED: Several former Apple Computer Inc. executives have joined the competition for the hearts, minds and on-line musings of Internet users. Former Apple Chairman John Sculley, ex-Chief Financial Officer Joe Graziano and one-time executive Peter Friedman have raised $9 million in venture capital to fund a Web-based chat site called TalkCity http://www.talkcity.com. It picks up where Apple left off when it shut down its eWorld on-line service in March. CHRISTMAS SPIRIT:A few sites on the Web are more interested in giving - information or entertainment - than selling. Here are some examples: Christmas96: This Web site bills itself as the gateway to Christmas on the Web. The creator, Epicenter Communications of Sausalito, Calif., last year sent photographers to 35 countries around the world to take pictures of how various cultures celebrated Christmas.Address: http://www.christmas96.com. Christmas.com: When your children ask you how much longer until Christmas, sit them down in front of the computer and aim them at this Web site. It offers a ``Countdown to Christmas'' that shows the weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Address: http://www.christmas.com. Planet Christmas: This Web site is devoted to the holiday display of one house in a Nashville, Tenn., suburb. The house will have more than 66,000 computer controlled lights. Address: http://www.planetchristmas.com. RANDOM ACCESS DIALING DONATION: MCI has ceated a custom-designed, preparid clling card that captures the true spirit of giving during the holiday season. A percentage of all card sales will be donated to the National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities handle child abuse. The phone care is a 60-unit card and can be purchased for $20 by clling 1 (800) 556-6617. One unit is equivalent to a domestic minute of long distance calling to any place in the United States any time. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) No caption (MCI prepared calling card) (2--Color) No caption (The Lite Task Master) |
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