Articles

By Stefan Sojka

Ask not what crimes you might commit, but how many different ways you might get caught.

Opportunity seems to be the key factor in any crime.  Like a seagull raiding a bin-full of leftover lunches at the beach, or a cockroach finding that gap in your kitchen wall to dine on the results of your incompetent cleaning, human beings are driven to commit crimes because:

a) they need more than they have (emotional, physical, whatever)
b) the opportunity arises to get some
c) they honestly believe they will get away with it (except, of course for that hardened minority that really don't care)

Try it – try leaving your car window down and your wallet on the front seat.  Without a hardened crim or prison escapee in site, your wallet will be gone in no time.  An ordinary citizen will see a chance to get something for free, and take it.

Now with the Internet, anyone with a computer and a modem could start to thinking that they can build a crime syndicate and make big bucks, or at least wreak a bit of havoc in the corporate world. Think again buster. In the face of all this new opportunity for crime, a new strategy of law enforcement has been devised to stop you in your tracks.

The politicians and crime fighters can finally see the big picture. Rather than running around under-staffed and under-financed chasing criminals down back alleys and following the dust trails they leave behind, the AFP has undergone a systemic revolution to make the whole idea of committing a crime far less appealing. By making the chance of getting caught exponentially higher and encouraging a unified, multi-agency approach to the problem of crime, The Australian Federal Police as a law enforcement agency has become a world leader. Major breakthroughs in levels of cooperation between other enforcement agencies, along with award winning and record-breaking results have set the standard for the future. In case you are sitting there thinking - "yeah but they won't catch me", check out their web page. Read the news. Think again.

The AFP Home Page - www.afp.gov.au , details the extent to which the technological revolution, globalisation and enlightened strategies are changing the playing field irreversibly in favour of the good guys. Organised crime is now up against the biggest organised crime-fighting network in history. It is local and global cooperation on a scale never before seen. Check out the major achievements - record drug busts, smashing international syndicates, a swag full of web site awards! Their Annual Report even won first place at the Institute of Public Administration.

For those of you who might see all this effective law enforcement as a threat to your privacy, you may be surprised to learn that even the cops are recommending alternative approaches to areas such as drug enforcement. The personal freedoms and hopes of rehabilitation for end users have been compromised in the cross-fire with major players. Older strategies have also caused inherently victimless crimes to create victims as addicts rob and steal to pay the exorbitant prices a black market demands. Mr Comrie, the Chief Commissioner of the Victorian Police has commented that that the personal use of illicit drugs is more of an issue for the health system than for the legal system. The AFP is going after the heavy dudes, and leaving a little more lee-way for private, victimless acts of stupidity to be referred to doctors and psychologists.

Meanwhile, the AFP's increasingly trans-juristictional approach to the more universally despised criminal acts such as theft, fraud and violence has meant that slowly but surely our streets, our houses and our bank accounts are becoming safer and safer. 'Crims' used to be able to flee to another state or another country to avoid capture. There was always a chance of "hiding out", and even if found, creating more paperwork than it was worth to be hauled in. The crime-fighting web is now one big trawling net of intelligence that no one stupid enough to challenge it could feel immune from detection.

So, while the temptation to commit a crime in this day and age is becoming infinitesimal, all we have to deal with is the legacy of creating hardened crims who actually like getting caught because they prefer jail to the outside world. Somehow, I think that problem is up to the politicians and the wider community to deal with. Let the AFP carry on their incredibly effective job - "To Fight Crime and Win".

As the devil whispers in your left ear "go on, do it, do it" the long arm of the law is tapping you on the right shoulder, saying "don't bother - it's just not worth it... have you considered counselling?"

Features of the AFP site:
What's new - all the latest major busts, new strategies, awards and job opportunities.
Media releases: news, busts, public interest stories
Publications, Speeches, Links, Client Services
Virtual Tour - takes you through the activities of the AFP, where they operate, how they go about their work.
Crimestoppers

By Stefan Sojka

Born free, as free as a mindless consumer.

What is happening to the Internet? I thought the net was free. When I first got on line in 1995, the whole thing that attracted me to it was that it was pretty much all free. Really free. No one charged for anything. (except the dial up provider) It was real anarchy, real democracy. The mind reigned supreme. Humans with ideas shared them with the world for the sheer pleasure of sharing. Utopian dreams began to crystallise in my mind as I surfed ever on, finding more and more free information, art and ideas and countless friendly nicknames willing to help me find my newbie feet in this strange place. Sure at times I wondered how these kind folks were making a living, but I figured that whatever they did, their web time was after hours and the motivation was pure excitement at participating in the biggest revolution the world has ever seen.

The most common thing I heard back then from people who weren't on line at the time was "you can't make money on the net". How wrong they were eh? Although the net users didn't seem to care whether you could make money or not, the rest of the world, the corporate world particularly, was waiting for the dollar signs to flash before their eyes, before they would even glimpse at a browser, let alone explore the possibilities. Now the Internet is the most talked about phenomenon on the planet and all the big boys are jumping on line and throwing their www's on billboards and TV's everywhere!

Now you don't have to explore the possibilities any more, they are exploring you. You can't help but see opportunity out there. Think of a business, and you have an idea for a web business. Paint? Yeah, a cyber paint shop with virtual colour charts! Pets? A pet product and advice site! Condoms? Why not?! This is virtually an unlimited new market, like a virgin rainforest, rich with potential energy, and resources not even known to us yet. The question is, do you burn it and log it and then turn it into a huge cattle ranch, perhaps destroying rare and endangered opportunities, or do you open it to eco-tourism, making money, yet maintaining the essential beauty and wonder the medium possesses?

It seems the burning and logging road is being taken. After all, it is cyberspace, so you can regrow the original net in no time… or can you? Will the entire concept of the web be permanently altered by the marketing approach. Will new users fail to ever see or feel the same wonder and sense of personal intercommunication the first users felt? Will the corporate demographic-information-reaping consumer-farming turn us all into desperate money hungry fools, addicted to forking out billions on computers and software, whilst dreaming of cashing in big time on an idea that Microsoft or IBM already own?

Enter the freebie phenomenon. A freakish anomaly in the Internet's growth. Small operators, people half basking in the warm glow of anarchy, and half dipped in the thick syrup of monetary need or capitalist greed are seeking out free stuff and offering it for free on their free web sites. All in the hope of earning some free cash somewhere down a long stringy line of HTML that leads to a place where somewhere, someone is actually buying something with money. Well, the net used to be free didn't it? In the last few years, businesses from the real world have jumped on line and dragged with them the old school marketing techniques - which have now fused in a mutated mess with new age network marketing techniques and Internet hit-counting tallies, leading to this very complex web of sites promoting sites promoting sites linking to other sites promoting offers to promote products by promising free stuff, prizes, samples, hosting, even cold hard cash - PHEW!!

This is burning a few old businesses who are getting stung with 20,000 requests for their demo CD or wonder vitamin, booming for others, who are skimming off a bit of postage and packing charges and managing to hook in a few new customers. The ISP's are happy, because they are getting heaps of hits and placing their ads all over the shop. The click through ad sellers are happy, because they get paid anyway, and the little guys - the webmasters - well they get enough money to pay for a dust cover for their PC, and maybe a few jars of coffee to keep updating their links. Is this the way it is supposed to be? How long can this last? What are all these end products that are being given away? Do we need them? Does anybody care?

Take Sandy Kreutter and her web site www.thefreemall.net . She started her site a year ago. She builds it and maintains it herself. Six months of work programming and researching to get it up and running, and a few complete overhauls since.

"When I first started the site I spent about 8 hours a day building it and looking for legitimate free offers to add. I find most free offers in search engines and by going to different 'name brand products' web sites".

Like all the other free site owners, they are all scrambling for the same free offers. An office supply store offers a free pencil for subscribing to their catalogue, and you've got hot news in a thousand free sites all offering that pencil. This puts pressure on the webmasters to stay up to date, just to keep with the pack, and allows smart larger companies to devise strategies to utilise this situation to advantage.

"I definitely do not make a living at this." Insists Sandy. "I make approx US$150 a month from advertisers. I haven't been spending as much time lately as I used to with the site due to lack of time."

"I also added the 'get paid to shop' page, because I was seeing a lot of web sites selling this information, and it bothered me that people would have to pay for the info, when it's right out there on the web, so I started a list of companies that do that." ….Sandy's anarchic, socialist streak is beginning to show.

"I try to check the free offers I list once every 2 weeks and remove the expired ones." The task gets bigger and bigger. "I do send for free offers myself and have received lots of things as far as product samples etc..and I do enter some of the contests..no big win yet though for me."

"I started the site as a hobby and when I started getting advertisers I put more time into it. I have a 5 yr old daughter so I don't work full time outside the house. I would love to continue the site for as long as I can. It's time consuming to look for free offers and I wish I had more time to update my site more frequently."

Being a mum, Sandy doesn't want her child to grow up thinking mummy is a back that makes tapping sounds and has a funny glow coming from a squarish zone behind her.

"I try to only add offers that are completely free (no shipping charges) and it is important to me to keep my site family oriented."

So there you have it. US$130.00 a month. Is it worth it? Quite possibly. How long will it last? Who knows? How much are the people who pay her $130 making? Well, if you read the net scams chapter, you'll know that it must be a lot more than Sandy, otherwise she wouldn't be getting anything.

Meanwhile the freebie phenomenon continues. Newbies get on line, and send away excitedly for free t-shirts or rubber gloves. Where are all the anarchists? Well, they don't have any more free time. They are getting paid bucket loads to build the commercial sites now.

Where will this all lead us? It's up to you dear reader. You must choose the fate of your web. Jump in and cash in, or take your time and smell the flowers, whilst examining ways to make money on the net with value added activities. In anarchy, you vote with your actions. Help somebody, get people together, encourage healthy living, join some interest groups. The best outcome of the free site phenomenon is the number of charity and activist groups that are getting exposure by offering free on-line literature about their cause, to people who were really looking for key rings, mouse pads and beer coolers. Christians have always done this by handing out bibles etc. Now anyone who wants to affect change can do it and reach a fairly wide audience.

Birds don't pay rent on their nests or buy their food. Dogs can live in penthouses for free. What is wrong with us humans, eh? The planet is abundant with everything, and it's all tied up in stocks, bonds, real estate and super funds while everyone desperately chases a dollar. The best way to get stuff for free is to free your mind first. Sure if you want a new mouse pad, of course it's yours for the taking! That's what the Internet is all about! ;-)

By Stefan Sojka

I am just old enough to remember when the first personal computers were rolled out of Bill’s Garage. We were told how they’d be such time-savers and that we’d be sunning ourselves in the Maldives while our dot-matrix printers plotted out our utopian dreams: ascii head-shots, primary school arithmetic and DOS commands to c:>defrag [the future] and d:>format [life].

All computers have managed is to give us more things to do in even less time. In a nightmarish glimpse into a Matrix-like future, when machines dominate humanity, our laptops freeload their way to the Maldives, fooling us into believing they are indispensable – while we spend our entire vacation reinstalling everything.

This month, I am going to attempt the seemingly impossible and use the ultimate time-waster – the Internet – to increase my personal productivity. If this column hits the editor’s desk before deadline – I’ll have succeeded!

The glamour façade of Web 2.0 is all FaceBook and YouTube. Yet, this Ajax-enhanced incarnation of interactive computing shines in many unsung and under-utilized arenas. Personal productivity, or GTD (getting things done, for the acronym addicted), is one area where finally technology might give back some of those slices of life it spent the last 10 years stealing. David Allen, www.davidco.com/ , is the father of GTD, so a good place to get started. Get your workflow in place and set those goals… it’s time for some seriously proactive prioritized actioning!

Joe - www.joesgoals.com – figures if his system is good enough for him, it’s good enough for everyone. He has built a life of success on regular flossing, water consumption and meditation. With his timetable app. and a screen full of smiley faces, a perfectly balanced life awaits me. Note to self – thank Joe for providing a great ‘note to self’ facility.

Mac users are generally so right-brained their lives are sheer chaos, so Chronos - www.chronosnet.com/ - have been hammering away since 1993, trying to rehabilitate us artistic types to a life that verges on the barely manageable. I was going to download the software, I really was, but I got this great idea to redesign their home page.

www.tadalist.com , from 37 signals, is a to-do list manager that is now on my to-do list to use. A 10 second set up (15 if you mistype your password) promises to see me join 4,000,000 other desperate GTD wannabes. I just hope it has the storage space for my lifetime collection of unfinished business.

When I finally get round to getting anything done, I must try getharvest.com the online time tracking application. As my productivity increases, I am bound to find time to double my workload by logging everything that I do at 15 minute intervals.

www.near-time.net/ is an enterprise level productivity suite, taking GTD to the boardroom. Way too many features and benefits to cover on this little back page – just put it in your diary to log on, check the feature list and sign up for success.

www.zoho.com - Zoho’s creators have been around since 1996 and what a Swiss army knife of productivity apps they have amassed! This is a classic case of information management information overload. So many tools, so much productivity, so many log-ins, forms, features, functions, alerts… I need a Zoho management application just to run it all!

Well, the deadline has passed, the editor is ropeable, my stress levels are off the dial – GTD Web 2.0 style has helped me, alright – helped me realise how badly I need all these tools! Tomorrow, 9.00am – turn over a new leaf, revisit all these sites and get things done!

By Stefan Sojka

It only seems like yesterday, when the first dot com boom was here – that carnival of crazy ideas that beckoned cowboys, used car salesmen, media moguls’ offspring and PHP-primed pre-twenty-something start-up upstarts to come up with the next big thing. The information super-hype-way was here to stay. Fortunately for us weary web wanderers the bubble burst, sending a million big ideas and a few billion dollars down the drain.

It wasn’t the ideas fault. It was the Internet. Too soon. Too young. Fast forward to now – mega-broadband, mega-infrastructure, a burgeoning netizenry – perhaps it’s time for a new, burst-resistant bubble. All those great ideas might just get enough eyeballs and click-throughs to reap the intended ROI.

Here begins virtual gold-rush part II:

What better way to enhance your narcissistic lifestyle than chalking up a few dares and bets with your peers? www.bragster.com throws down the gauntlet to the entire world. Fun and frivolous (I dare xXxSaRaHxXx to Wash her face with mushy peas.") to philanthropic (I dare Simon Cowell to do something for charity before he dies), this addictive point scoring portal is destined to be bigger than Google within weeks… uh, maybe...
Q. What is French for Entrepreneur? A. Löic LeMeur. A serial ideas homme, LeMeur has blogged himself filthy rich so many times, he’s addicted to it. Look out for Seesmic – www.seesmic.com an evolving video “conversation”. $6 million of venture capital says it’s an awesome idea. Only time will tell if this frog-spawn will grow legs.
In the music business those on the cutting edge never make it big. It’s only when Madonna drops into your back-alley night club and steals all your ideas that ‘vogueing” becomes a household word. Ditto perhaps with web ideas. www.revver.com pioneered paying video-bloggers a slice of the ad revenue, but never quite got the traction to take off. A $5 million sale of the site after $12.5 million of investment is nothing to write home about. Let’s hope the new owners can get Revver revived and revved up again.
Notice anything about the latest dot com ventures? They all have silly names. Domain name scarcity forces dumb spelling, lame puns and made-up words to worm their way into our vernacular. Case in point, www.pownce.com Nice idea, though. “Send stuff to your friends” is the concept. Incubated out of the Digg hatchery and with similar genetic code, it is simple, powerful, flexible and cool.
I know – how about a new social net­working site! As if your mailboxes aren’t full enough with your FaceBook, MySpace and YouTube notifications. www.tangodiva.com is for wanderlust affected females. All you need now is a site that manages all the sites you’ve joined – a multiple social net­working site management site – complete with its own social network site management net­working tools. Sheesh! I’m going to go and watch TV for a while…

By Stefan Sojka

We are the robots.  A computer is messing with the electrical signals in our collective brain.  If we all become one whipped-up sweat drop then this is our heart calling... punters and players alike enjoying the binary finery of computer pulse orgies.

Out on the dance floor we're more wired than we think – while the DJs with their slick slabs of vinyl are widely celebrated as the lords of the dance, the difference between a good night out and a mind expanding experience is often in the hands of the (mostly) unseen wizards at the controls of some very serious light and sound technology.

Geoffrey Rose – Laser Special Events, Sydney

If the technical crews who work to create high energy at dance parties and raves around Australia were to select a Grand Master they would probably choose Geoffrey Rose of Laser Special Events.  A degree in Physics (UNSW) opened his mind to the magical properties of precisely filtered light and its potential to create eye dazzling art.

While his international reputation as a laser artist has been established at mainstream events such as the World Expo in Portugal, Rose gained underground credibility for his art with a very different audience in the rising dance party scene of Australia over the last decade.

His performances with the Laser Goddess (choreographer and dancer) Tracey Burke at numerous events such as Prodigy (State Sport Centre, Sydney), Eclipse (Illicit, Melbourne) and Red Raw (Metro, Melbourne) were about "Elevating of spirits and an appreciation for technical perfection – by taking technology out of the box of the computer and into real space."

Rose has used up to four technicolour lasers in these performances to hit 3" mirrors a hundred metres away on Burke's elaborate RoboGirl costumes and spin a web of light fantastic over mesmerised crowds: "(It's) the purity, the wrap-around effect encompassing the audience," he says, "And with Tracey, the perfection is humanised and reworked with fluid and organic elements."

The future of precise light according to Rose is a collision between lighting and laser technology: "Using lenses on lights like magnifying glasses to intensify it, rather than wasting light to create shapes and colours; creating structures in space with a control on intensity that normal lights allow -- a system with the control of a laser without the fragility and cost. Lasers are really laboratory instruments."

Favourite tech: Aquarius 2 laser system - English + scanning system with computer (worth $100,000) "It has live keyboard control so the operator can interact live and in total sync with the music rather than have preset programs."

Paul Chambers - Beyond the Brain, North Coast NSW

Paul Chambers has a techfetish: "My favourite technology is like my favourite techno music - the latest, freshest and juiciest gear I can find or afford to get my hands on. A lot of lasers, lights and sound are totally great but it's integrating them with other elements in unique combinations that I find exciting."
Chambers is at the leading edge of psycho-spiritual party production through bush trance events in the lush environs of Byron Bay, northern NSW. But it's not all psychedelic doof music and trippy lights up north. Chambers talks with equal enthusiasm about culture jam happenings like Thursday Plantation's Homecoming Ball, which will feature a string quartet before charging into full-blown techno, or the planned Industrial fashion show set to take place during Byron Bay's official New Year's Eve celebration this year.
Whether they're dancing to Vivaldi or DJ Visceral, Chambers hopes his productions "help people have a great time -- and that they can see and feel the connections between all the music and creative expression. The aim is to produce events that are both going-off parties and genuine works of art."
Travellers and locals in Northern NSW can look forward to more electrically-charged celebrations this summer which continue the mystical legend of the internationally famous Beyond the Brain parties.
Mention Beyond the Brain to any trance-traveller and you're likely to hear a passionate manifesto for the global community and the technology which makes it happen. Chambers can't stop smiling when he recounts his epiphany at a recent Beyond the Brain party which starred ethnobotanical guru Terence McKenna: "The event took on a life of its own -- it brought a dance party crew and much of the wider community together in a truly multi-dimensional, multi-media happening. I feel proud to have been a part of it."

Club profile: ARQ, Sydney
Recently opened on Flinders Street (just off Sydney's gay strip Oxford Street) ARQ is a testament to what an almost religious dedication to hi-tech and massive amounts of money can score. A spokesperson for ARQ said the mega-million investment was aimed at "Enhancing the enjoyment of the music -- with a good operator and the best gear you can SEE the energy level. We use colour and varying tempos and key to control the intensity of the crowd." According to ARQ management, the moving head and mirror luminaires, strobes, pinspots, colour washes, lasers and the huge (7 1/2 tonne) hydraulic lighting sculpture will certainly give the crowd something to look at - "but the operator is the crucial element for optimising the energy".

Club profile: QBH, Melbourne

Melbourne's biggest nightclub is committed to mind-expansion through carefully controlled technology. Marcus Johns, General Manager, says you can have the best tools in the world, but they're useless if not used properly. "It's all in the operation," says Johns, "We can have people come here totally straight and just enjoy the lighting and the music and feel great. The show evolves over the night and from week to week -- so each time you come you get another presentation."
Johns believes the public's expected standard for sound has gone through the roof over the last five years with home stereos now featuring surround and mega bass. "They (dance audience) are now very sound aware, and understand the difference between good and bad acoustics.
QBH keeps its crowd pumping with high quality bass orientation through eight double woofer bass cabinets (1,600 watts each), clear Mids and Highs, an EV X-Array System with compressors and processors and Yamaha Equalisers. The whole system was designed in a CAD Architectural application with acoustic properties of the room mapped and speaker positions plotted to maximise efficiency and minimise dead spots and booming areas. Speakers were then hung exactly to spec.
Eye-candy is served up in super doses: Genesis 16 colour laser with Pentium computer control and Intelligent lighting running off another computer. Plus a 5 metre truss lighting ball (1.8 tonnes), Future Lights with 360 degree rotation, Ambient Lighting, dance mirrors. and miles of optical fibre lighting throughout the venue. "It's DMX compatible," explains Johns, "Meaning that the DJ and lighting guy can control it via computer and change the mood of the room. Starts off Red and moves through the spectrum throughout the night".

Oz - Squiffy Vision, NSW
Squiffy Vision creates melting moments with sound and vision at large events throughout Australia including Beyond the Brain, Earthcore and Thursday Plantation's Homecoming Ball. " We create environments that help people get past the drudgery of their ordinary mindstates by relaxing them or shocking them into being open to new mind states," says Squiffy Vision's Production Manager Oz, "Freedom means taking full responsibility for your life. The events we do are a communal vibe."
Oz works with 1970s gear mostly and Digital Video Animators Strobes, Quasars and lasers plus a subliminal neural trigger -- smell: "We use cold fan-forced smells to enhance different colour/sound harmonics," says Oz, "And oil on hot coals to take the audience on a journey."
Colour is an important ingredient too. Oz explains that colour light can balance the harmonics in a room: "Every note has a harmonic in beat, pitch and colour." It's all about deep pulse, binaural coding. Red = Lust or anger, "It depends which way you go especially the vocal and musical content," says Oz, "Shapes harmonise with colour, sound and our chakras. Subliminal and obvious effects are created to induce relaxed states in the audience. Part of the evolution of body/mind/spirit. Mass self organisation evolves to the point of sustainability -- and once people become self organised the mass self organises."

Di James - 4th Dimension Vision Mixing
4di@hypergeek.com.au

Di James mixes vision -- video and still images -- in synergy with the music booming out of soundsystems at underground events such as ODD at Centrepoint in Sydney, Koxbox at Sydney Uni's Wentworth Building and numerous events on the north coast.
What is the 4th Dimension? Imagine a DJ cutting and fading several tracks to create new patterns -- but instead of dropping vinyl or CDs James blends vision live alongside the DJs: "For me, it's a synchronisation of sound and vision to create a space where people feel free to cut loose and immerse themselves in the environment", she says.
Working with a base (bass) of VHS videos she develops in preproduction, James delivers lush 3D animations and a live video feed of the crowd into her mixing desk then out to a projector and its huge screens above the dance floor.
Right now she owns a couple of monitors, a VCR and a VHS video camera -- down from the 4 VCRs and an MX-12 mixer she worked with in Byron Bay. According to Di, vision mixing at parties is still an under-used medium and thus promoters rarely budget for its worth in creating the vibe. "I have to hire most of my equipment when I perform in Sydney," says James, "and the repairs and servicing of this equipment is expensive due to its hitech nature. But, on my big wish list there is a DLP projector, an MX-50 vision mixer, DVD players instead of VCR players, small LCD monitors, a digital video camera and a Non Linear Editing system with a firewire card for pre- and post- production. AND a sponsor!"
Drawn to her art as a means of directly enhancing party goers' moods in real time (rather than the static nature of paintings or the linear flow of film), James believes many of her images mightn't be immediately registered in the audience's mind during the event "but may provide a trigger for a later response to viewing similar imagery. Ultimately the aim is to broaden the person's perceptions of themselves and the universe. People from many indigenous cultures have had traditions of shamanic dancing. And hell, dancing's good exercise."

Urs -- Happy People Productions, Mullumbimby, NSW
www.millenni-yum.com

Whether he's dancing and trancing on the beaches of Goa (India) and Kho Phangan (Thailand) or in Mother Nature's finest playgrounds in Switzerland and Byron Bay, Urs believes the Happy People need powerful bass for a smiling face: "I wouldn't mind a couple more bass bins (sub woofers) so we make even more sound -- the louder we play the better god can hear us!"
You can imagine the dancing in Heaven when the Happy System starts pumping: 16 JBL 15 inch bass bins , 8 AT C 10inch drivers, 8 JBL horns , and 8 JBL bullets --- a compact system by club standards, but powerful all the same. Urs smiles as he explains his list of other toys: "This shows you that we are running this rig with active 4 way crossovers powered with 2 x 3K and 2 x 2K QSCs, 2 x 0.5K Jeils for the tops, a Klark 40 channel graphic mixer and a DBX 1066 compressor gate -- they're all there to make sure we have best HIFY STEREO."
Urs' passion for powerful technology began at formative full moon parties on the beaches of Goa, where he tuned in with up to 5000 "drunken, stoned and tripping hippies and Indians partying together on the beach in South Anjuna". Inspired by these wild beach frolics Urs developed his DJ and promoting skills in Switzerland before landing back on Goan beaches in the early 80s with new sounds to help the hippies and Indians find joy through dance. "(I played at) India's first night club Flying Dragon Jungle Express -- the disco fever was on in Europe and so we disturbed the hippies with their reggae and salsa but in no time they adapted to the new trend and Goa was on the way to becoming the Mecca for experimental dance music." During the last two decades Urs and his Happy People have played for all kinds of crowds, from 100 to 200 in Boracay, several thousands at Australian events such as Green Magiq and Trance-Zen-Dance, right up to 20,000 at the Zoom parties in Switzerland. This New Year you'll find the Happy People in Byron for the Millenni-Yum Clockbuster Groove: "Hope to meet you some time on a rocking dance floor for Happy People Productions and the Millenni-Yum crew, love URS."

By Stefan Sojka

In the space of a few short years, we have all lived through an amazing global transformation – the sudden growth of this thing we all now know as the Internet. It is essentially an extension of the telegraph system, which began to be developed over 150 years ago, but once the power of computers was harnessed to help in the transmission of information, the whole concept of communication leaped into another dimension.

It was a leap that started as a few hazy but fanciful notions dreamed up by research scientists, gained momentum as the potential for networked computers became clearer to everyone involved, and turned into the massive tidal wave of change we are all witnessing and experiencing today. The networks worked, the computers got faster and smarter, and as more and more people discovered the ‘on-line’ experience, the Internet absorbed and continues to absorb more and more participants, taking us on a joyride of possibilities.

For a long time, the general public knew little about the evolution that was quietly taking place inside the laboratories and collective minds of the elite scientists who had ‘plugged in’ to the idea of a switched on and connected world. There was nothing too cool about sitting in front of a computer crunching code, but those involved were secretly getting blown away by just how totally cool the concept of sharing ideas, thoughts and friendships across vast distances was. Free from physical restrictions, and largely free from any legal or political control, the pioneers of the net created their own society, driven by anarchy, coupled with agreed technical protocols, where ideas and information flowed freely and new ways of relating to others began to develop.

They couldn’t keep this world secret for too long, because the word was spreading. The ‘information superhighway’ was beginning to be seen as a potential boon for government and business, and some sectors of society began to get concerned about the morality and potential negative influence of such a medium. At the same time, more and more ordinary people were buying personal computers, modems and ‘logging on’ to find the wealth of information available, and the sense of connection the ‘nerds’ had been experiencing all this time.

By 1994 the “world wide web” had developed - along with the computers used to access it – to provide a total multi-media experience, complete with graphics, video and music, as well as complex searching tools and filing systems that began to make sense of the explosion of available information. It was now a force to be reckoned with, and had the potential to revolutionize the way we carried out our daily lives. At this point the commercial potential became clear and the mad rush to dominate ‘cyberspace’ began. Billions of dollars of capital has since been poured into developing the Internet and there have been winners and losers, and thanks to the collective efforts of individuals, corporations and governments the world over, we all have the potential to benefit from this wired-up world. Using our computers, we can put our brains to work to share ideas, information and enterprise with the rest of the world, using the global brain we call “The Web”.

So how did it all happen? Where did the web come from?

I Have a Dream

Back in 1960, Joseph Licklider (1915-1990) published a paper called “Man and Computer Symbiosis”. He discussed the possibilities and the challenges faced in achieving a smooth working relationship between two totally different entities. At that time, computers were seen as huge central devices, and he looked at ways of allowing multiple access to the same information (time sharing), as well as how to deal with language issues and processing speed restrictions of both man and computer. He later headed the computer research program at ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and set up research programs that eventually led to widespread use of computer time sharing in the late 60’s and net­working by the mid 70’s.

Switching to Packets

MIT Professor Leonard Kleinrock wrote a paper in 1961, entitled “Information Flow in Large Communication Nets” where he virtually laid out the fundamental concepts upon which the Internet is now built – the idea of dividing data up into small packets then sending them down the line to be reassembled at the other end. This enabled computers to speak to each other on an equal two-way basis, rather than ‘dumb’ terminals plugged into a mainframe. This set up the decentralized, anarchic model of computer based communication networks. He continues to be at the forefront of Internet development, at UCLA.

The Stage is Set

During the early 60’s the experiments of the early pioneers began to be emulated around the world and the language and protocols were slowly refined to allow more and more connectivity between computers as the needs arose, the possibilities envisioned, and the funding was forthcoming. The fundamentals of computing were established very early on, but took a long time to become mainstream. Doug Engelbart in 1963 invented the “X-Y position Indicator for a Display System”, which we now know as a ‘mouse’. Gordon Moore, back in ’64, claimed that computing power would double every 18 months, creating “Moore’s Law” which has pretty much held true ever since. Moore went on to start Intel in 1968.

Uncle Sam Wants a Slice

Of course all these exciting new concepts stirred the imagination of the US military, and Paul Baran from Rand Corporation was commissioned by the US Air Force to write up a report on the possibilities. His paper, “On Distributed Communications” examined the potential for a decentralized network to withstand a nuclear attack. In those chilly cold war days, this was a revelation, causing a huge increase in resources directed towards developing this network. In conjunction with a number of Universities, the ARPANET evolved.

Sharing the Vision

By the end of the 1960’s man landed on the moon, and the giant steps forward were being made in the computer world as well. Companies, governments and educational institutions pooled their resources as the networked world came to life as if by some kind of grand design that the participants were merely mapping out as best they could. The collective consciousness took control, as Steve Crocker created the first RFC (Request for Comment), opening the door to global collaboration. The ARPANET had established its first IMP (Information Message Processor) at UCLA, followed by Stanford (SRI), Santa Barbara (UCSB), and the University of Utah. In October 1972, the first international conference was held to establish agreed protocols, giving birth to the InterNetwork Working Group, chaired by Vinton Cerf.

Are You Talking to Me?

The 70’s saw huge leaps forward in standardising network communications. Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn established Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and later Vint, Steve Crocker and Danny Cohen developed Internet Protocol (IP). TCP/IP is still with us today and computers hooked up using this protocol became what we know call the Internet, establishing a standard for net­working. Other network standards were still in use. Significantly, on January 1 1983, the APRANET switched to the new standard.

The Geeks Come Out

Meanwhile more and more students, hobbyists and technicians were plugging in and the popularity of exchanging information through computers began to build. Email, Message Groups, Bulletin Boards and MUD’s (Multi-user Domains). Ted Nelson conceived “Xanadu” – a pay-per-document database as a global library. Many networks developed, emulating the ARPANET model, giving access to a huge diversity of citizens. Usenet, Fidonet and BITNET (Because It’s Time NETwork) which sprang out of New York, providing the Internet culture its underground, independent, collaborative nature, and the culture exploded. The “Smiley Face” was born :-) and the number of Internet hosts began doubling every few months or so - from 200 in 1982 to nearly 200,000 by the end of the 1980’s. Madness and mayhem erupted among the excitement as viruses and hackers began playing in their new found playground.

Peace Rules, Man.

Because of the open protocol of the Internet, security was low, so big business, although widely adopting the computer as a business tool, was afraid to jump on-line for fear of attack by the wily and subversive hackers. This allowed the anarchic community to flourish for quite some time. It was the domain of the Cyberpunk, the electronic guerrilla, and the switched on new age peace loving hippies, who saw the net as one big global group hug. Stuart Brand, of the Whole Earth Catalogue created WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) with Larry Brilliant, providing Internet access to anyone with a personal computer. Meanwhile the professors and scientists continued their never-ending refinement of the code.

All Hyped Up

Up to the 1990’s most of what was being shared over the Internet was in the form of text messages, Q & A conversations, postings to threaded discussion forums, with some people sharing software and files via FTP and Gopher and other systems. After Apple released Hypercard, in the late ‘80s, a personal authoring system where files could be linked and correlated in complex ways, it wasn’t long before Tim Burners-Lee proposed a ‘hypertext’ system for the Internet, allowing a mere click of a mouse to take users to the next file, or related document. This was the genesis of the “World Wide Web” and Burners-Lee followed up with some dedicated WWW software. Although security was still a big issue, this triggered the explosive exponential growth of the net. Personal computers were widespread, modems were cheap and easily available, so the stage was set for the average person, not just the technically minded, to ‘surf the net’. 1993 saw 2 million Internet hosts, the White House and the UN went ‘on-line’ and the proliferation of HTTP servers began.

KABOOM!

With all the necessary protocols in place, and web browsing software like Mosaic being released, the web was poised to take over the planet. Phenomenal growth rates of all indicators pointed to nothing short of a global revolution. In 1994 the web grew at 341,000%. Traffic exceeded 10 trillion bytes per month. There were 3 million web hosts and the race to register domain names began. Hypertext and increased speed had enabled the Internet to become what the pioneers had dreamed – a multi-media global information exchange such as humanity had never known. Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) pointed the way to fully immersive web experiences and the creative minds ran wild. Web sites were still fairly crude as HTML was in its infancy, but through the well-established chat networks (IRC), newsgroups, mailing lists and now web sites, the global brain began to dream.

The New Gold Rush

Finally after all the formative years, the realisation that the Net could be profitable took hold. The first ‘cyberbank’, First Virtual opened its doors (or windows) and the big players moved in. As people signed up for Internet connections by the million, ISPs, software developers, hardware manufacturers, content providers and search facilitators all stood to gain big time in the race for supremacy. Netscape led the browser race for quite some time, providing an easy to use solution to the general public, whilst companies like AOL, Compuserve and MSN began trawling the world for subscribers to their services. Unfortunately many companies underestimated the anarchic nature of the net and the free will of the users, and failed to provide what people wanted. Surfers didn’t want to be told what to do and where to go, they were happy to click away and discover things they’d never seen before, meet people they would never have met otherwise, and generally feel completely uninhibited in their quest for the cyber-experience. Consortiums like Tim Burners-Lee’s W3C, the Federal Networking Council (FNC) and the Internet Society (ISOC) were formed by the founders of the technology, to try to steer and manage the rapid growth and hang onto standards, whilst allowing for future developments.

Love rules.

By 1996, chat channels were heavily populated and new concepts arose, like IRC addiction, cyber-sex, flaming and spamming. Trans-national love affairs blossomed. “Newbies” started showing up in places where once only hardened tech-heads hung out and everyone had to get used to getting along together. People took sides as to which browser, which operating system, which political system, which rock group, which gender was better. Others became concerned about the free flow of ideas and it’s impact on society, triggering attempts to control the Internet on grounds of decency and censorship, while the Blue Ribbon Campaign gained much support, advocating free speech on-line. Of course one of the big controversial issues was that of pornography. Anyone with a modem and a computer could download pretty much anything, and that concerned a lot of people, especially since it seemed that’s all anyone was doing on the Internet, if you believed the press at the time.

The New World

Internet Telephony, Video Chat, Streaming Audio and Video, Browser Plug-ins, Conferencing, Virtual Reality - the avid surfers wanted more of everything and the developers were quick to respond with a plethora of products. Unfortunately the web was still rather slow and clunky, and while we all imagined a perfect virtual 3D world of electric dreams, the reality was that for the average person, just getting around the basics was hard enough. Configuring your dial-up connection, email settings and browser settings required expert assistance. VRML failed to grow as quickly as basic 2D browsing. Artists and self-styled entrepreneurs wanted their piece of cyberspace so web page creation and domain registration became the big focus. Adobe released Page Mill and Site Mill, and Netscape released Netscape ‘Gold’ which allowed the editing of web sites. Early adopters were quick to establish commercial ventures, register cool names, even registering the names of big companies in an attempt to challenge the established real world business practices. By and large the Web was still the domain of the creative and the technically minded, though the consumers were gathering.

The Geeks Sell Out

The inevitable arrival of e-commerce came quickly and the last three years of the 1900’s saw a fundamental shift towards the commercialisation of the Internet. Department Stores, Banks, Insurance Companies, Real Estate Agents, Book Shops, Car Manufacturers, CD Stores, Magazines, Football Clubs – everyone was getting an Internet ‘presence’. Web Addresses began appearing on TV ads, billboards and press ads. Whole new industries emerged to search for sites, provide how-to information for surfers, list businesses in directories, forecast trends and develop each successive generation of web site to keep up with the state of the art. Those who were once amateur enthusiasts found themselves in extremely high demand by big business to help explain to them what this Net thing is all about, and help guide their on-line enterprise. Coders, designers, writers and experts on Web culture suddenly found themselves in gainful employment.

Dot Com Madness

What was once established as a convenient way to exchange ideas among university researchers had by the end of the 1900s become the single most notable phenomenon of modern times. The big money moved in. Venture capitalists got behind any idea that seemed like it had half a chance of taking off, and the financiers and stockbrokers began playing their games with the vulnerable and naïve developers and general public. Internet expos sprang up across the globe, inviting industry leaders to ride the Web train even before anyone knew where it was heading. It was all changing so fast. Surfer behaviour was not completely understood, hardware was evolving too fast to track, so countless web sites appeared and disappeared, along with the money that funded them.

Levelling the Playing Field

The Internet presented unforseen problems. Traditional business practice didn’t necessarily work. With the click of a mouse a potential customer would vanish from a site in seconds. Banner ads, modelled on newspaper ads, actually encouraged visitors to leave the site that displayed them. Surfers were basically in control of their on-line destinies and weren’t as easy to manipulate as TV viewers or radio listeners. Not only that, but when all it takes is a domain name to identify your place in cyberspace, tiny one-man operations could stand alongside giant multinationals, with their homepages on equal footing. A ‘cool’ site was worth far more than a big site. Big companies tried to make themselves ‘cool’ but often failed.

A Whole New Ball Game

Once again creativity and ingenuity rule supreme in the world of ideas and information. As the conglomerates and start-ups merge, split, fold, expand, breed, seed and float, the on-line community of real people expanded and continues to expand. Competition between companies and individuals has given way to cooperation. Strategic alliances, net­working, affiliation, multi-level marketing. An example of this is the celebrity fan site phenomenon, where fans of big recording artists build their own shrines to their favourite star, but are rewarded with commissions on record sales, if they direct their visitors to buy CDs. Individuals and corporations are banding together, sharing resources and customers. The giants still have a lot of power, as they have the resources to not only do the market research, but also to provide the rich content, but everyone now has the ability to create their own space and turn it into something of value.

Services Rendered

As the novelty wears off, Internet users begin realizing that you can only surf the web so much before you start to realize that your life is slipping away fast, and no matter how hard you try, you will never see all there is to see out there. A trend is emerging for usefulness. Sites that help you find stuff. Sites that help you make a good purchasing decision. Sites that help you manage your ever-increasingly complex life. Sites that provide information you really want and filter out the junk. Mailing lists that keep you up to date with your subjects of interest. Meeting places. Events. News. Interaction. Personal empowerment. Industry specific sites managed by experts in the field. Search engines that don’t bring up every site that contains the word you typed in, rather a carefully chosen selection of relevant sites. Sites that know who you are and don’t patronise you, but respect you and your position in life.

Your Internet

From the earliest visions of computer/human interactivity, the idea of people sharing their lives with the help of technology has persisted. While the Net is a great way to make companies and governments more efficient, its true value is becoming more and more clear to be the ability for computers to manage complex information to make our lives more enjoyable. Joseph Licklider’s ‘Symbiosis’ concept is becoming ever more realised. We are moving to wireless systems, web-enabled wrist watches and wearable devices of all description. All the while, the fundamental principals established by the pioneers hold fast. Email, chat, discussion groups and file sharing are our staple information diet. We can carry on our day-to-day business, work, play, social interaction, while the Internet and all its contributors and developers continue to make life easier, faster, smarter and more customised to our needs and wants. We are all ‘Webmasters’.

By Stefan Sojka

There are certainly some similarities between Webmasters and Master Builders, though I am always envious knowing that my home pages are un-insurable against fire and flood, yet can be destroyed with one push of a “delete” button, while your buildings last for decades! Still, the feeling of satisfaction of clicking through a newly launched website with its proud owner might almost, I imagine, be as rewarding as taking a prospective homeowner on the first walk-through of your latest residential or commercial masterpiece.

One thing we can be sure about the web now is that it is a great communication tool and a great marketing tool. Regardless of how big or small your business is, a website is the best way to show the world what you do at the least, and can be used to maximize your marketing and transform your business at the very most.

A web site can now be much more cost effective than printing glossy brochures or other expensive marketing mediums (mail outs, catalogues, trade shows, promotional videos, CD ROMS) and when it comes to more complex web sites that process and manage information, there is nothing that can compete.

Whether you already have a website that’s in dire need of renovation and extension, or have not even begun to think about it, I hope this article can shed some light on some of the things you need to consider and hopefully get you motivated to make it happen. We’re talking “Clicks and Mortar” – ie how to make a website compliment and enhance a real world enterprise.

As a web design firm, we have a 4-step process to get a website established. It doesn’t matter how big or small your company or your website is, you still need to go through the same basic process in order to succeed. Since we began this article with a comparison of homes vs. home pages, why stop now?

Four Steps to Building a Master Home Page

1)The Foundations – Getting started – decide on a domain name, choose a web designer, have them help register the name and set up a basic “under construction” page.
2)The Floor Plan – The pages, the links, the content. Decide what the site will be used for and work out a plan that accommodates the visitors, and your business the way you want.
3)Construction – Everything from the wiring to the plumbing, to the interior decorating, functionality, trimmings, doors (links), appliances (database connections, content management systems), cladding and insulation (keywords, code to help the site get found by search engines, disclaimers and privacy statements)
4)Marketing and Maintenance – Launch, and promotion. Ongoing adjustments and reworking, the occasional coat of paint and looking for ways to increase traffic to your virtual cul-de-sac.

The Foundations

An email address and basic web address are two fundamental ways to establish an online presence. As phone bills get bigger and bigger, people are realizing how easy it is to whip off an inquiry or response via email.

Also, even though it is great PR to respond to emails instantly, it is not absolutely expected, so you can get on with your life, and set some time aside to manage all your emails at once, rather than fielding phone calls at inconvenient times.

By registering a domain name that suits your business and sticking to it, it becomes your permanent address, no matter who you connect to the internet with, or even who manages you website hosting. It is merely a matter of redirecting it if you change providers. It is best to arrange your domain name through your web developer, since they know all about the processes and requirements, and can advise on suitable names, as well as managing them as they come up for renewal.

Very early on, you may as well arrange for your web developer to set up a basic “under construction” page – at least it can be a point of contact while the site is developed, as it can take some time to finally launch your dream home page.

The Floor Plan

A successful website needs a lot of planning. Too many times we come across sites that have been hastily thrown together to some kind of imaginary deadline set by the eager owner, completely ignoring some of the obvious prerequisites – ease-of-use, intelligent architecture and lots of keywords for search engines.

Like designing a good home, you need to look at the functions you want the home to perform and accommodate them appropriately. Rumpus rooms and studies, or many bedrooms and a granny flat? There are so many things a website can do – a perfect showcase of a master builder’s capabilities and achievements. What better way to show off your awesome constructions than a photo gallery? Video footage even – of your team in action? Virtual walk-throughs? Detailed photos showing close-ups of workmanship and finish? The colour and splendour of properties and building works can be captured perfectly in a well designed website.

Above and beyond the visuals, a website allows your company to communicate your standards of excellence, your design philosophy and your commitment to customer service, by having the text and layout of the site reflecting the way you do business.

Don’t forget testimonials on your site either – always a great boost to your credibility. Then there are your awards, industry affiliations and preferred suppliers and products – all reassuring your potential customers that you are knowledgeable, experienced and trustworthy. Why not add a mortgage calculator while you are at it? They are everywhere.

This kind of expanded brochure-style website is ideal for potential clients to discover what you are all about and to help them make a decision to hire your services or buy your creations, even before they have spoken to you. This is a common scenario these days. If the website has worked its magic, a couple of emails later and a buyer or investor is hooked. Even if a client has short-listed you from a selection of competitors’ websites, it is a lot easier to make the sale when you talk to them if you have an impressive website to back you up.

All this information, and more, needs to be mapped out on paper and then worked into a design that takes into account the scale and variety of information. Ideally all the primary pages or sections should be available from every other page, and subsections should be available from all other pages in a subsection, with a simple link back to the main section.

You also need to work out how the site will actually function, like if you have customers logging in, how is the log in processed, and where do they get directed to, what information do you want to bring to their attention? Do you have a lot of data to manage? Are you wanting to have e-commerce facilities? What about harnessing information from other sites and plugging it into yours? By taking your time at this crucial stage, you can work out the perfect operation, layout and design of your site.

You should show your designer sites you like and sites that do the same kinds of things you want to do, so you can work together to get the optimal look and feel for your site. We usually give our clients a “Website Workbook”. They find it very helpful in thinking through the project.

Construction

This is where it is time to let the experts do their thing. The usual method is to use a “staging server” where the site can be uploaded and reviewed along the way, making any adjustments, whilst physically (well, with not much more than lifting an index finger) building the pages, files and images of the site. This is where the Webmaster takes over for a while to make sure all the technical and artistic aspects of the plan are carried out as expected.

There will be much to-ing and fro-ing, but amazingly the plans start to fall into place according to the timeline set out, and a fabulous new website begins to take shape. During the testing phase, there will be unexpected issues. You should always allow for the fact that this will happen. Hopefully all the planning will be enough, but as it falls into place, refinements are inevitable. A well quoted website will allow for these changes, and it is one of the great things about websites, that they are so changeable.

To run a website it must be hosted by a company that allows it to stay online 24 hours a day. Larger companies can host their own sites, but it is usually best left to specialists, especially with security issues and many other technical concerns. Economy of scale dictates that larger, well-established web hosting companies should be able to offer good services and technical support for a very reasonable price. Once again your website developer/designer would usually have a choice of hosts, depending on your needs. Once the site is approved for launched, it can be set up properly on its server and the champagne corks pop!

Marketing and Maintenance
Unless people know about your site and what it can do, it can just sit there idle. You must make sure your site is optimized to be found in search engines (there are a few tricks to this) and is listed in any industry directories (eg www.mbansw.asn.au ) and other places where you think your potential customers might go looking for you. This may involve a bit of research and legwork on your part, emailing other sites and chasing up links, but it will be worth it. You might set aside a certain amount of time each week or month to ensure your site is as available as possible. Or if your budget is more extensive, you can get a marketing company involved.

Off line, you have to get your site “out there” – put the web address on your vehicles, in your adverts, on business cards, invoices, letterheads, work shirts, caps – anywhere!

Meanwhile you should have a plan to maintain and improve your site to keep it fresh – add photos of your latest work, news, updated services and contact lists, as well as the possibility of adding whole new sections and functionality. Some changes can be set up to be done by a staff member using software or a content management system, but larger updates would most likely require your developer’s services. By tracking the success of the site, in terms of sales, inquiries, hits, downloads etc. you can make appropriate changes based on budget and anticipated returns.

Even though the building of a website is quite a complex challenge, by breaking it down into four basic steps, as we have done here, and attending to the steps methodically, the whole process can be demystified. With the help of a professional developer, what at first can seem like a mammoth job, can be built brick by virtual brick into a virtual residence any webmaster, and master builder, would be proud to call home.

Other Essentials

•Check your email regularly! Some of your biggest contracts could come through a simple email and although an emailer may wait a couple of days, the certainly won’t wait weeks.
•Visit your own site and test it regularly. Technical problems do happen and the sooner you are aware of them the sooner you can have them fixed. Maybe your inquiry form stops working, maybe there are broken links or images.
•While you are there you should also review the content and see if it might need a little updating now and then. There is software now that allows easy updating yourself, or for more complex sites some kind of content management system could be required. You might be happy maintaining an ongoing relationship with your web developer who can update your site and keep you informed of any new trends in technology and web marketing.
•Check your search engine listings. If you slip down the lists, you will not be found, so you will need to rethink your site’s use of keywords and other search engine tricks.
•Make sure you have antivirus software running on your email program. There is nothing worse for customer relations than giving all your clients a major viral infection!
•Have a plan in place for expanding and improving your site as your business grows. There are many extras you can add to your site when budget and time allows it - but remember it is only worthwhile if you can see a measurable ROI. Databases, file downloads, video, mailing lists, resources, links, affiliate programs, sponsors, humour, news, charity involvement, staff profiles (employee of the month), loyalty schemes – the list is endless and growing every day. Just as mobile phones have evolved into PDA’s, cameras and entertainment devices, so your business presence on the web will constantly change.

Website basic content must-haves:

Home Page
About Us
Services/Products
Gallery
Testimonials
Contact Info/Inquiry FormSome Optional Extras:

Colour Charts
Floor Plans
Materials Samples
Downloadable files
Links to Appliance Manufacturers
Contracts
Video
Voice Narration
Panoramas/Walkthroughs
Flash Animation
Staff Profiles
Mailing List Join Form
Subcontractors sub-sites or links

By Stefan Sojka

Name of Site: DiveOz
URL: www.diveoz.com.au
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Review: If scuba diving gets your outboard motor running, there's a good chance DiveOz is going to become your homepage. The site has everything: a beginners 'Learning to Scuba Dive' section, discussion forums, a 'buy, swap & sell' directory, plenty of info, events, news, links, galleries and plenty more. Interestingly, DiveOz is also the home of the new 'sport' of Australian Extreme Underwater Ironing! "What the heck is that?" you ask. Well it's the act of taking an ironing board and electric iron (minus the electricity of course) and setting it all up, somewhere interesting on the bottom of the ocean and taking the photos to prove you did it. I guess all that pressure really does play with your mind! - SS

Name of Site: Penrith Whitewater Stadium
URL: www.penrithwhitewater.com.au
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Review: It's funny that the Olympics seem like they just happened yesterday, when in reality Athens 2004 is just around the corner. If you want to relive some of the excitement or are just keen to try paddling about in the foam, then Penrith's Olympic artificial white water stadium in Sydney may be the place for you. The site lets you view activities, prices, learn about upcoming events and download wallpapers to get you in the mood. So if you want to try something adventurous, get a group of friends or go solo, kayak style... Aquaphobe that I am, I'll stick to paddling about in the bathtub. - SS

Name of Site: ModernBoating
URL: www.modernboating.com.au
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Review: It was difficult to accept that this was a mere addendum to the newsstand magazine, more an entire web-zine in itself. The lads at the helm here have hoisted the spinnaker and let the wind billow the content to cup-winning extremes. Videos galore, a forum, a well-stocked shop, boat tests, articles and editorials - archived and constantly updated - will have you basking on the top deck and surveying the land ahoy with smug sea-loving pride. You're going to subscribe to the mag in a fit of guilt at how much you got here for free. The very model of a modern boating magazine. - SS

Name of Site: Australian Swimming
URL: www.ausswim.telstra.com.au
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Review: While most water sports require you to have some kind of equipment, real tightwads can always go in for the cheapest water sport around: swimming. And if you need some inspiration to get you started you can check out this site, home of the national swimming team and full of info on the squad, their records, events they're participating in, audio interviews and video footage of swim meets. The whole site made me feel quite patriotic and strangely enough I experienced a strong urge to change my phone over to Telstra, but I can't think why. - SS

Name of Site: Cyber Diver News Network
URL: www.cdnn.info
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Review: If you're after a good honest source of cutting edge information about diving, you can't go past CDNN. This site is huge! With tons of news through it's UES Global Online Publishing parent (who run some 30 publications around the world), in depth articles on things like 'Shark baiting' and 'Night Diving', Travel tips, Scuba Polls, Forums, newsletters and lots more reading material, it's the sort of site that you can get lost in for hours. So if you have some time to kill grab a snorkel and go find Nemo! - SS

Name of Site: RecFish Australia
URL: www.recfishoz.com
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Review: This is the peak national body for sporting and recreational fishing in Australia, so you'd better bookmark it, even though at the time of writing it is sadly a little too under construction. I can see that the site is mapped out ready to become a major resource for fishing boating enthusiasts across the land, with resources, habitat info, environmental info, likns, R & D and all kinds of other things, but at this stage it seems the Webmaster has, yes, you guessed it - gone fishin'! I'm sure he'll be back soon with a bumper catch, a few that got away, and the renewed enthusiasm to throw this site into the 'big pond' and hook a few more visitors. - SS

Name of Site: Waterways
URL: www.waterways.nsw.gov.au
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Review: Bob Carr and Co. give you their portal to the rivers, harbours and seas around this fabulous country. Waterways Authority has a huge responsibility, managing these massive assets and all the activities that happen in and around the water. Safety, environment, mapping, licensing, mooring - the list goes on. Like any good government department, they have gone to a lot of effort to spend your tax dollars wisely on this site to provide you with all the information and help you need before setting sail. Now boating is not only good for you, it's good for the country. - SS

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URL: www.yachting.org.au
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Review: If you want to get an idea of just how big Yachting is in this country just take a look at the site map here - gigantic! The yachting fraternity would be mightily proud of this site, providing everything they need, from race results and event calendars to a complete personalised portal - where the site knows your club, your preferences etc, and helps sort through the ocean of info for what you need. Whether you have a little dinghy or an America's Cup contender, this is your home when you're not out there catching the sea spray. - SS

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URL: www.safeboating.org.au
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Review: Sometimes its hard to remember, when you're out there kicking back in your skippers chair, knocking back a few cold ones after the slap up barby of the marlin you caught earlier, that boating can be a very hazardous past time. The ocean is an unforgiving mistress at times. Supported by a consortium of organisations, this site aims to arm you with all the safety know-how you will need, from pre-trip planning and preparation, to equipment guides and emergency response training. They have managed to make the site easy to use, friendly and appealing to all age groups so that everyone can benefit from being properly trained and aware of the safest ways to enjoy life at sea. Arr me hearties. - SS

Name of Site:
URL: www.lonelyplanet.com/theme/watersports/water_index.htm
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Review: From those kind folks who bring you the ultimate and definitive tourist guide books, comes their little adventure guide to the best water sports across the globe. It is by no means a comprehensive guide, more a sampling of what the world has to offer - shark baiting, swimming, kyaking and white water rafting. Each theme is described in some detail then links are provided to the respective country in the guide-proper - the main LP site. Now your appetite is whet, it's time to get really wet. Start planning your adventure now - its not such a lonely planet after all, the world is full of fun crazed people just like you. - SS

By Stefan Sojka

(This full-page article appeared in the Trading Post and published nationally.)

If you’re running a small business and you don’t have a website, then now is the time to take the plunge.

An email address and a website are two useful and cost effective additions to any company’s marketing toolkit. In fact every small business can benefit from displaying their wares online and taking inquiries by email, says Stefan Sojka, Creative Director of the Cyrius Media Group, a company firm specialising in web design.

Surprisingly, there are still a large number of businesses without a website, even though more and more people are now using the Internet as a first port of call to find the goods and services they need. The Trading Post’s own website is a prime example of an on-line presence supporting the “real world” version. Your own website can compliment your business perfectly.

“Above and beyond the visuals, a website allows your company to communicate your standards of excellence, your philosophy and your commitment to customer service by having the text and layout of the site reflect the way you do business,” says Stefan.

“If you sell products or ongoing services to your clients, a simple online store and list of services can entice them to do more business with you. Don’t forget testimonials on your site either – always a great boost to your credibility. Then there are your awards, industry affiliations and preferred suppliers or products – all reassuring your potential customers that you are knowledgeable, experienced and trustworthy.

“This kind of expanded brochure-style website is ideal for potential clients to discover what you are all about and to help them make a decision to hire your services, even before they have spoken to you.”

While not recommending that anyone jump on the technology bandwagon just for the sake of it, Stefan advises all small business to seriously consider the benefits of having a website – or upgrading the one they have.

“Sadly, many a website has been created without much thought to how it will function as a marketing tool,” he says. “Not only that, since there are no official standards of website design a site costing many thousands of dollars can actually harm your business because of badly planned content or annoying technical issues. The best sites are simple, concise, easy to use, visually appealing -- and built to an appropriate budget.”

To help you make sound decisions, Stefan has prepared the following planning checklist:

Domain name: You should have a domain name (website address) that is either your business name or a shortened form of it. It can be .com.au, .biz, .com or whatever, so long as it is easy to spell and give out to people. It can also contain a keyword or two (good for search engines), but shouldn’t be too long or hard to type. You can register domain names directly, but it is wise to consult your web professional.

Hosting: To run a website it must be ‘hosted’ by a company that allows it to stay online 24 hours a day. Larger companies can host their own sites, but it is usually best left to specialists, especially with security issues and many other technical concerns. Economy of scale dictates that larger, well-established web hosting companies should be able to offer good services and technical support for a very reasonable price. Once again your website developer/designer would usually have a choice of hosts, depending on your needs.

Web developer: You should look for a firm that understands your business requirements and has a proven portfolio of successful and satisfied clients. You should try to obtain ball park quotes, but if you have no idea what your site will be like, a quote will be impossible. You should find out what kind of process the developer will use to help you plan your site and arrive at their quote.

Planning: Look at your competitors’ websites as well as any other sites that you find appealing to get an idea of what you like and dislike. It’s getting cheaper every day to do the tricky stuff, but some things are still out of reach for most of us – remember some sites may have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Having collated all the information you require you will then need to employ a writer to tie it all together into a uniform style and the have the site professionally designed and mapped out.

Consistency: This is a great opportunity to marry the look of your website with your off-line material (business cards, logo, letterheads, etc). It is also a good time to get some great photos done of your work or products and to request testimonials from past clients.

Marketing: Your site will sit there doing nothing unless people know about it. You need to make sure your site is optimised so it can be found in search engines (there are a few tricks to this, including coming up with the right keywords) and is listed in any industry directories and other places where you think your potential customers might go looking for you. Off line, you have to get your site “out there” – put the web address on your vehicles, in your newspaper advertisements, on business cards, invoices, letterheads, work shirts, caps – anywhere and everywhere.

Ultimately, the key to success is to ask yourself what you want to achieve with your site. “Maybe you have more work than you can handle at present so your website will be mainly a branding exercise, keeping you in the public eye. Maybe you plan to market yourself aggressively and target specific groups – if so your site must reflect and support these goals,” says Stefan. “above all it is a reflection of what you are doing off-line and as such need to present you in the best possible way – professional, informative and visually appealing.”

For more information, including free initial consultation and planning advice, phone the Cyrius Media Group on (02) 9877 5544 or visit their website at: www.cyrius.com.au

By Stefan Sojka

Warfare In The Ancient World
www.lisp.wayne.edu/JamesMaclean/Jim.htm
Whether you are studying for a school project, or merely curious to investigate ancient warfare, this is an excellent place to begin. Essentially it is a set of links, mostly on Greek and Roman warfare, but including Egypt, the Near and Far East. It is well organised with brief overviews of each link. By collecting material from all over the web, the result is a rich and diverse study, with many surprises along the way, from detailed discussions by professors, to journals, maps, weapons, tactics and for you a rewarding journey into this most fascinating aspect of the human phenomenon.
Verdict: It's all yours to plunder and pillage. - SS
NetWorth: ****

Armouries.com
armouries.com
These web designers with a passion for Medieval times have created a great museum of life in the days of knights, kings and castles. It seems some good has come out of all those endless hours of role-playing and gaming. A genuine interest in the subject has inspired the creation of this rich and colourful resource. Detailed descriptions of every aspect of attack and defence are presented with excellent supporting graphics. Being created by someone with a genuine affinity for the times makes this site more appealing than most educational sites. The creator has successfully transmitted his sense of connection with the time, and will certainly pique your enthusiasm as you journey back in time.
Verdict: A conquest of historical proportions. - SS
Net Worth: *****

The Battle Of Hastings 1066
battle1066.com/~tamarix/index.html
An epic website by any scale, this one-man effort has captured 10 megabytes of text and graphics to cover every conceivable angle of the famous battle. Hailing from the town itself, the author is such an avid fan of its history, he has accumulated a definitive coverage, and acknowledges the strengths and weaknesses of even attempting to take on such a project - sketchy and heavily biased historical records being one major obstacle. Nevertheless, he battles on, and continues to refine - with your help - this amazing Internet resource. Time lines, genealogy, glossary, background, maps and extraordinary detail provide a wealth of easy to read information on this formative time in our history.
Verdict: All hail Glen the Webmaster! - SS
NetWorth: *****

The English Civil War Society
www.jpbooks.com/ecws
In 1642, England plummeted into Civil war as King and parliament divided the country along religious and political lines. This turbulent time (did England ever not have a turbulent time?) has been burned into the memory of many a modern day pom, and now the regular re-enactment of the battles of the day are a popular pastime for weekend warriors the land over. With meticulous historical detailing, everyone in the society assumes a role according to the military ranking and structure of the day. It all sounds very exciting, the notion of pretending to be in a war seems so much safer than being in a real one. Check the links, this is a very popular activity.
Verdict: This may just be your cup of tea. - SS
NetWorth: ***

Homepage of the November Coalition
www.november.org
America is fighting a massive civil and global war right now. Gangs, guns, cops, terrorism, disease. There are 1.8 million citizens in jail and 80% of them are there because of the prohibition of a select group of drugs. A lot of these people are completely innocent victims, caught in the cross fire of users trying to get lighter sentences by dobbing in their neighbours, and laws that are so tough, a citizen can get 40 years & all their possessions confiscated without any hard evidence. Meanwhile the streets are soaked with blood, and families are torn apart, while the drug trade continues to boom. The November Coalition has been formed by the victims of this craziness to change the laws that created this mess. Read the personal accounts of imprisoned citizens, the alarming facts, and then do something about it.
Verdict: A touching and heartfelt call for justice. - SS
NetWorth: *****

An Iraqi Lieutenant's War Diary
www.msstate.edu/Archives/History/USA/GulfWar/diary.iraqi
This is a first hand account of an Iraqi soldier right in the middle of the hi-tech barrage inflicted on him and his countrymen during the oil war. As expected, (perhaps) there are lots of prayers to God of "why?", "help!" and "please protect my family" as the God that George Bush prayed to supplied the superior fire-power and military education, in order to teach the God this poor dude believes in a lesson. This is a lesson you won't forget as you learn what it was like to be on the receiving end of those CNN pictures.
Verdict: Literary shrapnel from the gulf. - SS
NetWorth: ****

Gulf War Photo Gallery
users.aol.com/andyhosk/gulf-war.html
The contrast between this site and the last is phenomenal. Here we have a highly educated commander, who takes us every step, manoeuvre, slip-up and conquest in his action in the gulf. The level of training is amazing that not only did this guy carry out all that hi-tech warfare, but that he details it so methodically and meticulously on this site. There are lots of holiday snaps of captured tanks and command posts, and at one stage he almost feels sorry for the poor Iraqi's on the receiving end of the immense allied firepower. I nearly didn't finish writing this chapter, as I became engrossed in this incredible tale.
Verdict: Brutally frank, and frankly, quite brutal. - SS
NetWorth: *****

Desert Storm.com
www.desert-storm.com/About
Initially created by one student as a small memorial to the troops that went to the Gulf, this site has grown to require a small staff, dedicated to providing support and information for veterans and the general public alike. It is now virtually a complete run down on the entire Gulf operation, with weapons, detailed maps, time lines, casualties and links, along with a vast network of veterans' resources, including ICQ lists and free home pages for returned soldiers, and tribute pages for those lost in battle. A fitting memorial, and a wellspring of Gulf information.
Verdict: A storm in an FTP cup. - SS
NetWorth: *****

Global Movement to End the War Against Iraq
leb.net/globalmewi
Coloured black, in mourning for all those who have suffered and/or lost their lives as a result of the conflict with Iraq, the growing global grass roots movement is working to highlight the exact nature of the situation, and bring an end to the suffering as soon as possible. While the war effort seemed quite justified in the light of the evidence presented to us about the evil Saddam, the case put forward here suggests Iraq is paying a very high price for having different beliefs and threatening to challenge the oil industry.
Verdict: Bridging the gulf between truth and propaganda. - SS
NetWorth: ****

What Uncle Sam Really Wants
www.worldmedia.com/archive/sam
Noam Chomski provides us with a very cutting look at the alleged immorality and sheer megalomania of the US foreign and domestic policy. In one quick read, you will have an overview of the entire world situation and the way that big business and government work hand in hand to maintain their powerful positions using economic and military might. It may be heavily biased against the capitalist system and it's methods, but it is a call for common sense and true democratic process to bring about change to end the suffering caused by a system that has been raging out of control. It may be time for a different kind of war, a war against ignorance.
Verdict: "Highly Recommended" reading - SS
NetWorth: *****

The Australian War Memorial
www.awm.gov.au
Whether you are for or against war, whether you believe any particular war should have been fought, you can't help but have the deepest respect for the individuals that risk and sacrifice their lives in combat. This award-winning site takes us through a complete run down of the activities and features of the very substantial War memorial in Canberra. It also gives you access to a rich collection of documents, artworks, events and merchandise. Dig deep, there is a lot to uncover here about our proud history on the world stage. Students, friends and family of military personnel and general web tourists will find plenty to see and do here.
Verdict: A fitting tribute to our war heroes. - SS
NetWorth: *****

Australian Defence Force Academy
www.adfa.oz.au
In keeping with the rapidly escalating need for highly educated personnel within our defence forces, the ADFA was established. Essentially providing a learning curve right through the University ranks to PhD., our military personnel are being trained to exacting levels. War has changed a lot, from the technology used to the kind of threats to our safety we may need to be prepared to face. This site covers background, courses, maps, facilities and recruitment. All in all this is an informative introduction to any prospective student. The site itself isn't too colourful, but I guess all the fun begins once you knuckle down to your studies.
Verdict: Here's the drill, no frills. - SS
NetWorth: ***

World War I - Trenches on the Web
www.worldwar1.com
A brilliant one-man effort at bringing a piece of history in full hi-tech glory to your monitor. This explosive episode of the planet's past, which is slowly fading out of living memory, comes alive again here, thanks to some very painstaking work. By collecting trunk loads of information in the form of paintings, photos, VRML images, maps, audio clips, databases, (the list goes on), and setting it out in a tasteful sepia-toned historical masterpiece for you to browse, the creator has managed to capture the war and all it's guts and glory. An exemplary war site by any accounts.
Verdict: You will really dig this site. - SS
NetWorth: *****

WW11 Living History
polarbear-enterprises.co.uk
Here we have a slightly more active approach to the whole war remembrance experience. This is living history, where the spirit of the 1940's continues in the from of re-enactments, themed corporate events, film services, technical advice for authenticity of events, education services and replication and sale of artefacts from the time. There is a magazine, and the chance to hook up with other enthusiasts. If it weren't for the really annoying scrolling text at the top of the pages, this would be an all-round great site, useful and informative, with a touch of gritty realism. After all, it wasn't really all that long ago. My own parents were right there amongst it, as I'm sure most of your parents and grandparents were too. Pity there are no links to psychological counselling services.
Verdict: WW11 still rocks our world. - SS
NetWorth: ****

The Falklands Conflict
met.open.ac.uk/group/cpv/falkland.htm
In a straightforward manner, this site bring you a fairly good round-up of that little skirmish in the South Atlantic that cost 1000 human lives to rescue a few sheep from the clutches of an evil dictator. Still under construction, it features a run-down of the ships involved, a chronology of events, aircraft, weapons, and the key people. A few good UseNet postings are offered, as well as links to some interesting sites, including a reconciliation page - the Falklands/Malvinas Forum, and the shocking accounts of torture and death in "The Vanished Gallery"
Verdict: Nurturing a better understanding. - SS
NetWorth ****

Victory in Vietnam
www.magna.com.au/~c41/viet.html
The folks at Corner41 bring you a documentary style web page, from the perspective of the Americans losing the war. An intro piece of dialogue between a few soldiers takes you through a background on the situation, which seems to have started back in Napoleon's time. Following this, a time line of events from 1941 to 1975, with some key links to resources and a few classic 'nam photos, document a whirlpool of violence where the body count just gets higher and higher. It paints war as function of life on this world, but points the blame for the huge human cost squarely at the politicians.
Verdict: A real lose-lose situation. - SS
NetWorth: ****

War Child Home Page
www.warchild.org
Patronised by such celebs as David Bowie and Pavarotti, War Child aims to raise the alarm over the amount of suffering innocent children are subjected to during war, and to provide a conduit for aid, rehabilitation and sustained support for their growth and repatriation well after the conflicts are resolved. 80% of war casualties are now civilian. In the last decade 1.5 million children have died, 4 million disabled and 10 million traumatised by the ravages of war. Founded by two film-makers who witnessed the tragedy of Bosnia, the network is growing rapidly. Find out what you can do to help this appalling situation.
Verdict: Do something. - SS
NetWorth: *****

Soldiers' Songs - A Collection of 13 Songs from 8 wars
www.soldierssongs.com
Vietnam Veteran and singer Mike McCann has teamed up with a couple of accomplished musos, to bring a heartfelt collection of war songs to your home. The web site delivers samples, background of each tune and its place in military history, and of course the chance to send off a mere $15.95US for the CD.
Verdict: Songs from a man who knows how it feels. - SS
NetWorth: ***

Bosnia Homepage at CalTech
www.cco.caltech.edu/~bosnia
With such a devastating conflict as the one we have all heard bits and pieces about in our mainstream media, you would expect a great deal more information might be available on line - and it is! This site encompasses all angles of the human and political sides of the war in Bosnia. From a brief background, you can click through photos, reports, articles, interviews, letters and artwork. A incredibly well-established network of activists tracking missing persons, war criminals, news and culture, is yours to investigate as you attempt to get a grip on the profundity of such a bloody battle.
Verdict: The human spirit survives. - SS
NetWorth: *****

Join The Fight Against Spam
www.cauce.org
While most people are concerned about real bloodshed and the challenges involved in defending your life against armed hordes, the more cloistered cyber-citizens of our world see the real threat to our safety, freedom and sanity as being unsolicited commercial emails. An ad hoc organisation has sprouted, giving hope to victims everywhere that one day this foul pestilence will be eradicated and people everywhere will be free to check their email each morning with the certainty that each and every one will be a dumb joke and not some evil advert. How these people get to work each day past all the billboards I just don't know!
Verdict: Email is hell. - SS
NetWorth: ***

2000 Without Wars
2000nowars.org/sfdocs/sfhome.html
Sound unrealistic? Well, they don't think they can stop war altogether in a year or so, but what this organisation is trying to achieve is a two week cessation of all military action in May 2000, as a demonstration of what is possible if we all work together. This gathering of Academics and Scientists, rallying the support of major political and social figures, will try to have an international law passed that prohibits war within that two week period. The movement is growing rapidly. My only doubt about its success would be that the cessation of conflict would, by its very action, reveal who is behind it all. Perhaps we can force their hand....
Verdict: The planet goes "cold turkey" on violence. - SS
NetWorth: *****

Arab-Israeli Wars History
www.toptown.com/office/holyland/wars.htm
When you arrive here, you will find a very concise run-down of the Middle East conflict from 1948-1991. Very helpful in gaining more understanding about what is going on there. Follow the link back to the creator's home page and you find a Palestinian National living in the UAE, and offering a very detailed site about Palestine. From the nice zoom-in map to the very easy to follow index, you are taken on a magic carpet ride through the history, people, places and events in this volatile part of our world.
Verdict: Thank God we live in Australia. - SS
NetWorth: ****

Karl and Alex's Military Page
www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/7370
Karl and Alex are to military equipment what Beavis and Butthead are to MTV. They know what rocks and what doesn't and they are here to show the world in this "under construction", camouflaged page of hardware info. Unfortunately, I think they are watching a few too many war movies on cable TV to get round to finishing this promising web presence. The list of weapons is extraordinarily extensive... no wonder there are so many wars going on with that much merchandise out there. I'd suggest you bookmark the site and call back in a couple of years' time, or email them and kick their butts along a bit.
Verdict: Yeah yeah. Weapons. Cool. Huh huh huh. Yeah. - SS
NetWorth: **

Military Site
www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/3780
The previous site's creators must be khaki with envy knowing that on their very same server sits a site where most of the work has been done to give us the technical specs on all the weaponry on earth. Besides the annoying "Geocities" ad window that keeps popping up, surfing the info here is rewarding as the specs of everything from a hand gun to an aircraft carrier are dished out. Handy, if you are about to invade a neighbouring country, but also not bad for a school project, or good old curiosity value, but not too much eye-candy to support the figures.
Verdict: It's all here in black and white, unfortunately. - SS
NetWorth: ***

IDEX '99 - '00
www.idex-uae.com
Here, at the business end of the defence industry, is where mainly military officials from 30 or 40 countries, but also, oil sheiks, crime bosses, drug cartels, terrorists, CIA agents, rebels, merchant bankers, investors, spies and religious fanatics meet with weapons manufacturers for an annual talk-fest and expo. Facilities are second to none, with demonstration zones, a nearby wharf for the submarines and aircraft carriers to berth, and a fully interactive system to facilitate net­working with exhibitors and help you choose the right technology for your needs.
Verdict: This is where it all happens. - SS
NetWorth: ****

The Project On Managing The Atom
ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/BCSIA/MTA.nsf/web/Home
Advances in chemical and conventional weapons have moved ahead so much, that the humble atom bomb doesn't seem to rate much of a mention these days. It wasn't that long ago that the whole world was gripped with fear of a Nuclear Winter, or at least the odd liquidated city or two. Nuclear power is still here and the proliferation of weapons a very real threat. The issues and risks are complex, and are discussed in detail as the Cold War legacy continues while the New World order problems arise.
Verdict: Radiation - It hasn't gone away. - SS
NetWorth: ****

The Non-Violence Web - A Guide To Contemporary Peace
www.nonviolence.org
It's time to get involved in the peace process. This is a difficult thing, since there are always aggressors, and there is of course a historical pattern of war, that is hard to break in these enlightened days of information exchange. Here gathers a diverse group of peace movements in the one location to inform, inspire and provide a forum for discussion and dissemination of peace-motivated thought. Defence is like a nightclub bouncer. The old fashioned way was to beat the crap out of anyone who looked or acted out of place, but the more successful approach seems to be to check each potential trouble maker for weapons, and then negotiate them into behaving themselves. This is tough, as it requires new skills and understanding. It's also tough if the bouncer sold the thug the weapon in the first place.
Verdict: Imagine all the people, living life in peace. - SS
NetWorth: ****

Waging War Against The Anti-Christ Spirit
home.earthlink.net/~eleganthomes/WWAAS
I was going to review this site, which is in fact a book scanned into the computer and published on the web. Unfortunately, the subject matter is so controversial, and so many wars have been fought already over the words quoted in this site, that I think it's best that you read it and make up your own mind. There is a lot of very strong Christian ideas presented here, and a total rejection of everything non-Christian as being the work of Satan. The war is aimed at forcing all those possessed souls who are guaranteed to lose, to burn in an eternal fire, while the winners bask in the glory of God forever.
Verdict: War is Heaven, Man. - SS
NetWorth: ***

U.S. Out Of The Gulf - Committee Against U.S. Intervention
www.antiwar.com
There is no time for cool graphics and hi tech wizardry here. What you get is a straight set of text links to News, Views and Resources. Everything on this site is about stemming the addiction to war the US seems to have. Discussions about alternatives to conflict, explanations about the motivations behind U.S. actions, groups, committees and movements rallying to the cause, and a few poignant cartoons and satire thrown in for good measure. Plenty of good reading, and a call to action to anyone on the planet who sees reason to try something different, like getting involved on a grass roots level.
Verdict: Writings to right the wrongs. - SS
NetWorth: ****