PLUGGED IN : WEB LINKS.

THE INVENTION DIMENSION: This Massachusetts Institute of Technology site highlights an American inventor every week with a biographical sketch covering his or her accomplishments and impact on society. Subjects range from historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin through living legends such as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, of Apple Computer fame, the brains behind the original Apple computer.

http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/org/i/invent

DIVE IN: Shipwrecked on the Internet. This site, created for divers by divers, aims to become the most comprehensive info depot for shipwreck divers. Low-downs on shipwreck locations, articles on wreck diving, gear, techniques, etc.

http://www.rust.net/(tilde)sps/shipwrecked

NEWS BYTES INTERNET LOGJAM: The Internet is in a ``disastrous state'' and is impeding some high-level research for scientists at big national laboratories, a group of researchers has charged in a memo. The memo, complaining about ``very slow'' access and ``catatonic'' connections, was sent to the Federal Networking Council in Washington, a government group that looks into such matters. The memo is one of the most heated complaints yet about the Internet, the global computer network that is experiencing growing pains as more and more people log on. The network, once the domain of scientists and researchers, is becoming a mass medium.The research involves high-energy physics experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center at Stanford University, Fermilab near Chicago, Cornell University in upstate New York, and the European Nuclear Energy Center in Geneva, Switzerland.

RANDOM ACCESS LITTLE CD CRITTER: Author and illustrator Mercer Mayer has set up his own production company and created a new Little Critter CD-ROM called Just Me and My Dad, based on the book of the same name published in 1977. Just Me and My Dad is almost as good as Mayer's Living Books, which makes it an outstanding purchase for parents with children ages 3 to 6. The CD-ROM's 12 on-screen pages faithfully reproduce the book's text and artwork.Each page comes alive in an opening animation sequence, as the voice of Little Critter reads the words. Then children can click characters and objects to get short surprises. Click on Little Critter in one scene and he blows bubbles that magically turn into an airplane, an elephant and a snake. Children also can click individual words on the screen to hear them pronounced. The CD-ROM comes with a print copy of ``Just Me and My Dad.'' Mayer and his new distributor, GT Interactive Software Corp. at [phone], also deserve credit for holding the line on price, selling the new CD-ROM for the same $39 as the Living Books. (For more information on Living Books, which are available for both Windows and Macintosh, call [phone]).

BIG BOSS IS WATCHING: Sequel Technology has devised ``Net Access Manager,'' which allows the boss to monitor what employees do in cyberspace while at the office. That means that everything we do on the Internet, the boss will know about. E-mail to your significant other, confirming that yes, you'll pick up the laundry on the way home? The boss will know. A quick peek at the ESPN SportNet Web site to check on how Cal Ripken did that day for your rotisserie baseball league? Careful, the boss may be watching.