*** ANSWERMAN INTERNET EXTRA *** For the week of October 14, 1996 This is the weekly newsletter for the community of Internet users on America Online. Come see what's new at keyword ANSWERMAN. To unsubscribe from this newsletter, scroll down to the end of this message for instructions. *This week, AnswerMan's Focus is Comics and Humor on the Internet.* =*=*= IN THIS ISSUE =*=*= AnswerMan's Update -- Need to LOL, ROTFL or just plain chortle? Here's help! Purple's Picks -- More Comics and Humor Sites Upcoming Weekly Focus & Chats -- What's on Tap in AnswerMan? The End -- How to contact us or unsubscribe =*=*= WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK WITH ANSWERMAN =*=*= Go to keyword: For: ANSWERMAN Internet message board, daily tips, other good stuff. AM FOCUS Links to useful sites organized by topic AM CHAT Read transcripts of Internet chats that you missed AM GLOSSARY Find out what LOL and ROTFL mean :-) NET HELP Get quick help for your Internet questions Here's a direct link for AOL 3.0 users: Go to keyword AnswerMan. =*=*= ANSWERMAN'S UPDATE -- Need to LOL, ROTFL or chortle? =*=*= Q: How many jugglers does it take to change a light bulb? A: One, but it takes at least three light bulbs. If you haven't had a good, deep-belly laugh lately, read on. The Internet is home to a ton of wonderful humor sites -- from Dave Barry, to the definitive light bulb joke archive, to the Sunday comics. This week, AnswerMan focus is comics and humor sites on the Internet. Which basically means that I get to spend this week visiting lots of hilarious Web pages, and I can rationalize that I'm working. Another reason that I love this job! There are Internet sites for every sense of humor. I'll show you a few of my favorites, and CJ Purple will share some of hers. Fair 'nuff? The "light bulb" joke that I pilfered above came from the Barking Spider Light Bulb Jokes page at http://www.dakota.net/pwinn/humor/litebulb.shtml. There are 102 more there for your amusement. If you like weird humor and you have a relatively fast connection to AOL, try Doctor Fun at http://sunsite.unc.edu/Dave/drfun.html. Doctor Fun is a daily cartoon...one that you won't find in your newspaper. It offers zany humor and a beautiful color cartoon (which is why you'll want that fast modem.) And, if you're a fan of Monty Python (it's a dead parrot!) check out The Spam Club, a wacky web site just for Python fans. http://www.pythonline.com/spamclub/index.htm If you enjoy Dave Barry's irreverent essays, you'll want to visit Dave Barry in Cyberspace at http://www.randomhouse.com/features/davebarry/. This site is an elaborate marketing ploy to got you to buy his new book of the same name, but that's forgivable. You'll find lots of Net toys, contests, and some chuckles. If all this doesn't satiate your need for laughs, try the Rainbow Humor page at http://www.columbia.edu/~sss31/humor.html. It's a fantastic index of funny stuff on the Internet. That'll keep you busy. And if that doesn't do it for you, go to keyword AM FOCUS for more humor sites. -.-.- CORRECTION: Instant WeatherVane -.-.- Sometimes I just wish the Internet would sit still for a couple of days. Everything's always changing! Thanks to those of you who sent e-mail about the Instant WeatherVane service I mentioned last week. If you tried it, it may not have worked for you: they changed the rules. Sorry. Try this: send a message to instantwv@merc.com by picking COMPOSE MAIL from your MAIL menu. In the subject line, enter the ZIP code of the place you want the weather for (not the name of the city.) Type anything in the message body then press "Send Now." Very soon (perhaps in less than two minutes,) you'll receive an e-mail message telling you the weather and forecast for that area. Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: AnswerMan Focus. Light Bulb Jokes Doctor Fun The Spam Club Dave Barry in Cyberspace Rainbow Humor page Instant WeatherVane =*=*= PURPLE'S PICKS -- Comics and Humor Sites =*=*= Hi again everyone! Nope, I haven't had the baby yet....just took a week off last week. I'm back again this week to tell you about comics and humor sites to be found on the Web. Let's start with the comics - I know this is how I start my day in the morning. :-> At http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Comics_and_Animation/Comic_strips, you can find a list of *hundreds* of assorted comic strips, something for every sense of humor and every age. Most of these are *not* published in your local paper, but, rather, are smaller, more personal types of comic strips, published only on the Web by people who have something to say. Browse through the above-mentioned site to see if there's something that catches your eye. However, if you want to view your favorite widely-published comics, there are a few places you can go. http://www.uexpress.com/ups/comics is the home page for all of United Press Syndicate's comic strips. These include Fox Trot, Bizarro, Garfield, Cathy, For Better or For Worse, and Doonesbury. A new strip called Stone Soup is also featured. http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/ covers United Media's strips: Alley Oop, Dilbert, Peanuts, Jump Start, Nancy, Marmaduke and a number of others. There are even a few unofficial sites dedicated to now-defunct but once very popular strips. For example, a tribute to the Far Side, featuring a different (but recycled) strip daily, can be found at http://www.ausweb.com.au/FarSide. A list of available Calvin and Hobbes sites (which actually has some coverage at the United Press Syndicate site mentioned above) is at http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Comics_and_Animation/Comic_Strips/Calvin_and_Hobbes, while Bloom County fans can find sites devoted to this old-time favorite at http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Comics_and_Animation/Comic_Strips/Bloom_County. Probably the most asked about humor site is David Letterman's Top Ten List. Did you know you can also look it up on the Web? Well, you can - at http://www.cbs.com/lateshow/ttlist.html. This site allows you to search by day or by topic, or to browse the entire archive by year. While you're there, you can click on links for various other aspects of Dave's show, including how to get tickets and a list of upcoming guests for the next couple of weeks. One of the Net's oldest and most popular newsgroups (by it's own claim) is rec.humor.funny and it now has it's own home page at http://comedy.clari.net/rhf/. Not all of the humor linked to this site is suitable for children, so parents, be forewarned. Other links from here include information about the newsgroup, current jokes of the day, and lots of information about Communications Decency Act (which I guess can be funny, depending on your point of view ). Finally, to see a list of hundreds, if not thousands, of humor sites on the Web, point your browser to http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Humor_Jokes_and_Fun/. At the top of the page, you'll see a list of categories, ranging from Animals to Food to Words and Wordplay, and lots of stuff in between. If your sense of humor centers around a particular topic, click on that topic and view the Web sites available to tickle your funny bone. Below that, you'll see a LONG list of individual sites, most of which include a short description of what the site is about. This is the way to go if your sense of humor is more eclectic. Remember, you can reach me at cjpurple@aol.com. I hope to be back next week with my last column before maternity leave. See you all then! Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: Yahoo on comics United Press Syndicate strips United Media strips The Far Side Lettermen's Top 10 Lists rec.humor funny archive Yahoo on jokes =*=*= THE WEEKLY FOCUS & CHAT =*=*= Every week, AnswerMan focuses on a particular facet of using the Internet. Here's what's going on this week. Live chat on Sunday, October 20, 6PM ET - Comics, Cartoons and Humor on the Internet. Need a laugh? Internet users are a creative (and sometimes downright silly) bunch. This hour, AnswerMan will share his favorite Internet sites this show the hilarious, creative side of the Net. From the inspired anonymous prose of the Usenet Oracle to classic newspaper fodder like Peanuts, the Internet is filled with resources to keep you smiling. And, here are the Weekly Focus topics we'll be covering in the near future: Oct 21 - Oct 27: Usenet Oct 28 - Nov 3: Music sites Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: Go to the AnswerMan Chat. AnswerMan Focus. =*=*= THE END =*=*= That's all for this week. Got comments about this newsletter? We want to hear them! Send 'em to AnswerMan. The e-mail address is "AnswerMan@aol.com". There are two easy ways to unsubscribe yourself from the AnswerMan mailing list. You can use either. #1: send an e-mail message -- To: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE Body: UNSUBSCRIBE ANSWERMAN #2: If you are a Windows AOL user -- Go to keyword ANSWERMAN Press the 'Internet Extra Newsletter' button Press 'Unsubscribe'. Here's a direct link to the unsubscribe page for AOL 3.0 users: Go to the unsubscribe page. Copyright 1996 by America Online. All rights reserved. Made from 100% recycled electrons.