free speech online - blue ribbon campaign

Cos Web Starters last updated 2001-05-19 (sort of)

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A collection of some of the most useful links for getting started on the web, finding something on the web, or just using the web. This page concentrates on "high level" links to get you started. If you want a much longer list of interesting things, try the Cos Hotlist

==} Is there a broken or out of date link in this list? Tell me about it.

Table of Contents

  • Web Tools
  • Applications and Resources
  • Web Search Tools - Convenient ways to search the net
  • Internet Indexes - Searchable URL databases and indexes of the net
  • Catalogs and Directories - Organized by theme or subject
  • Reviewed or Topical Selections - Sites that pick out other sites
  • US Government Information
  • Documentation - Tutorials, Manuals, Guides, FAQs...
  • Reference Collections

    • InfoSeek Net Search (search instructions)

    NCSA Mosaic Home Page
    Netscape Home Page
    Lynx Home Page
    Root Gopher Server

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    Web Tools

  • BrowserWatch - guide to web browsers
  • Check your web page's compatibility with different browsers using Bobby
  • A Guide to Developing HTML Documents
  • WebSter, a spell checker for web pages
  • Use WebLint or the WebTechs Validation Service to check your HTML syntax
  • The-Inter.net's Online Form/CGI Creator constructs custom forms and CGI scripts to go with them
  • The Interactive Graphics Renderer lets you design & download bullets & lines for your web page. Kansas State EE no longer hosts it, but there's a mirror in Finland...
  • Submit a URL to many catalogs and search engines using Submit It! or SubmitAll
  • How do they do that with HTML?

    • Applications and Resources

  • The URL-minder sends you email when a web page is updated
  • WWW Archie Services - search Internet ftp archives
  • Snoopie - a faster search of ftp sites than archie, though the results it returns are less useful.
  • Musi-Cal, the Internet concert calendar. Search by artist, venue, genre, location...
  • The Movie Critic recommends movies based on your ratings of what you've seen
  • US Postal Service - National Customer Service Center: look up addresses, ZIP codes, postage rates, abbreviations...
  • The AT&T 800 Directory online
  • NYNEX BigYellow business phone listings
  • AnyWho phone directory
  • List of online telephone directories
  • Train schedules including Amtrak
  • Look up the meanings of common acronyms in the Acronym Expander
  • Roget's Thesaurus
  • English dictionary plus links to various other English dictionaries.
  • Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
  • Weather information - pointers to weather sites on the Web
  • The GNN/Koblas currency converter, and Accu-Rate rate board.
  • Security APL Quote Server - stock quotes
  • Stanford Netnews Filtering Service - search Usenet postings
  • WWW to Finger Gateway at University of Indiana
  • Proximus/Yahoo street maps for any street address in the USA. Zoom in or out for different levels of detail, including street names and one-way arrows.
  • Tiger Map Service - generate maps of the location and scale of your choice
  • Michael Bulmer's calculator web form
  • An OTP calculator in Java
  • The Electric Postcard
  • WWPing - check http servers
  • Replay & Company UnLimited's WWW Anonymous Remailer
  • Links to webcams and videos at the Peeping Tom Homepage

    • Web Search Tools

    Convenient ways to search the net

  • SavvySearch will submit your query to several search engines in parallel and collect the results on one page
  • The Internet Sleuth - combined forms to indexes and databases, organized by category. Can combine search results from multiple sources, like SavvySearch.
  • Find It! - common user interface for over 30 search tools
  • Internet Easy Search Form: Altavista, Inktomi, WebCrawler, Infoseek, Lycos, Megallan, Excite, Galaxy, and Yahoo search forms all on one page.
  • NetStrider - search engines: links, tutorials, reviews, summaries...
  • W3 Search Engines combined forms, at CUI

    • Internet Indexes

    Searchable URL databases and indexes of the net

  • Google - an experimental search engine that ranks results based on how many other pages link there, and how highly google-rated those pages are. Very effective.
  • Northern Light Search organizes your search results into custom folders
  • The Open Text Web Index allows powerful custom searches
  • Find email addresses with Internet Address Finder
  • Digital's Alta Vista
  • DejaNews Research Service - search a large Usenet archive
  • Lycos, catalog of the Internet
  • Inktomi's HotBot search enging
  • WebCrawler free web search at AOL
  • Go2.com, previously known as the World Wide Web Worm (WWWW)
  • Infoseek full text search service (free demo query only searches WWW pages)
  • Excite! NetSearch

    • Catalogs and Directories

    Organized by theme or subject

  • Yahoo! - topical guide to the web
  • O'Reilly & Associates Global Network Navigator
  • Starting Point for web exploration
  • Magellan, McKinley's Internet Directory
  • EINet Galaxy
  • The W3 Consortium's Web Servers Directory
  • The CUI W3 Catalog, and its mirror at VIVE.
  • City.Net international guide to communities
  • The US CityLink project lists cities & towns in the US
  • Virtual Tourist World Map - resources arranged geographically
  • The Commercial Sites Index
  • U Vision Computer ESP (Electronic Search Page) - comprehensive information on computer manufacturers and dealers and their products.
  • Proper Publishing's Internet Computer Index has links organized by platform (Unix, PC, or Macintosh)
  • Subject-Oriented Guides to the Web
  • New Riders' Official World Wide Web Yellow Pages
  • IBM Internet Connection
  • Scott Yanoff's Internet Services List
  • law enforcement sites on the web
  • Gopher Server Directory at UMN
  • The MIT list of gopher resources
  • Promote It! and The Postmaster submit your URL to many indexes and catalogs conveniently.

    • Reviewed or Topical Selections

    Sites that pick out other sites

  • Web Pages of the Day
    (cool site of the day, list of the day, quote of the day, fun fact of the day...)
  • ... and a much longer, categorized list of sites of the day: HMM's OTD site
  • Point Communications web reviews
  • Cool Site of the Day
  • NetCreations MagicURL
  • Mirsky's Worst of the Web

    • US Government Information

  • District of Columbia - links to all online US government resources
  • FedWorld Information Network
  • Library of Congress Home Page
  • Congress' Thomas Jefferson - Legislative Information
  • The USIA's US Information Service
  • US Business Advisor for small businesses
  • IRS Forms & Information

    • Documentation

    Tutorials, Manuals, Guides, FAQs...

  • InterNIC - Information about the Internet
  • The Merit/ISI Routing Arbiter - Internet Routing database
  • The FYI RFC series - Internet related FYI documents from IETF.
  • NCSA's Beginner's Guide to HTML and an introduction to the Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
  • NCSA Mosaic for the X Window System User Guide
  • NN Frequently Asked Questions list (From Usenet)
  • Elm - Electronic Mail for UNIX
  • Seagate Disk Data schematics, disk geometry, etc.
  • Online Drive Definition Database

    • Reference Collections

  • Research It! - common interface to various reference tools
  • Reference Shelf - dictionaries, thesauri, census, facts, maps, etc.
  • PEG, a Peripatetic, Eclectic Gopher
  • The Etext Archives are home to electronic texts of all kinds (zines, books, essays...)
  • The Electronic Library at Book Stacks - thousands of free books
  • Electronic Text Sources
  • Alex: A Catalogue of Electronic Texts on the Internet
  • The CIA World Factbook
  • The SEC EDGAR database of corporate financial information
  • John Labovitz's E-Zine List
  • Electronic Newsstand - browse selections from the printed press
  • IPL the Internet Public Library
  • List of USENET Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) postings
  • CERT Advisories by FTP
  • The Jargon File - hacker glossary and folklore
  • US Geological Survey mapping information
  • Amy Gale's Recipe Archive
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