Hospitality on the Net

The Net can be a very lonely place. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a good way to meet people, but it’s so crazy that you tend not to use it so much. You need a more regulated community on the Web. Here are some sites that I have found to fit this mold quite well.

The first is from Apple Computer, Inc. This is the Personal Home Page Launcher (http://www.myhome.apple.com). In order to use this site, you must have a “Cookie Capable” browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer. A cookie file is stored on your hard drive and can hold any information that a site may need at a later date.

The first visit to the site entails a one-time setup for your site. Be prepared, you need information such as the make and serial number of your computer. You get to choose up to five interests that you want links to as well as the look of the site. When this is done you are greeted to a warm site that is full of links categorized according to your specifications.

New Web users will find this to be very useful in starting your surfing, including directions on how to make this your home page in your browser. It is meant to be used by “newbies” but has a lot of great links updated daily for every user. It is set up so that you can change any categories or the look at any time. This isn’t really a community, but it definitely makes you feel good.

Another by Apple for the youth of America is called Youth Central (http://youthcentral.apple.com). This is very large and has discussions and lots of message boards. It has links to many sites including some on the upcoming presidential election. Like always, you need to register to get the full affect. After the simple registration, you can post messages and join the discussions. There are a lot of these in just about any topic you can think of. There is large computer oriented section called the Tech Triangle. It is quite fun and has a nice interface.

If you already have a Web site, then you don’t need this next site. For the rest of us that don’t have our own site, enter GeoCities (http://www.geocities.com). This service gives away free Web server space. Plus they give you a lot of things that you can add to your site such as a counter, image maps and forms. Although you only get one megabyte of server space, it is better than nothing.

To get this space, you have to register for a spot on a “street” in a specific neighborhood. There are many neighborhoods to choose from. You choose a neighborhood to “live” in according to what your site will be about. For instance, I have a site in Silicon Valley because my site is about Macintosh computers. There is a neighborhood for every possible site topic, so you don’t have to worry about having an obscure topic. With your site, you can also get a free email address for no extra charge.

There have been many sites geared toward the younger generation. A very large one is made by Pepsi. Pepsi World (http://www.Pepsi.com) is a high tech community geared for teenagers including Shockwave games and its own email and chat system. The interface is designed to be to look like a futuristic computer terminal. This is the main screen that links one to the entire Pepsi World.

These should help those of you who think you have nothing to do on the Web. Many of these sites open whole new worlds of interactivity and intercommunication to the masses. I recommend these sites to everyone of all ages. Happy Surfing!