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Save this premiere edition of WebSkulker because it is guaranteed to become a valuable antique.  Just think: ten years from now you can dig this out of your saved mail, offer it for sale on eBay, and retire!  If a friend forwarded this copy to you, please subscribe to receive your own copy by email every day.  If you know anyone who would enjoy WebSkulker, please forward this to them, or fill out the form to invite them to subscribe.

WebSkulker will normally be issued every Monday through Friday and possibly some weekends, but the next edition after this one will not be until Monday, 9/13/99, to give us a chance to read your feedback and possibly make some changes to the format.

Please try all the links in the left column and visit our web site and try all the links there.  Send us your feedback if anything doesn't work or if you have any suggestions about the formatting or content.

WebSkulker is lazy and loves it when readers send him information worth publishing, which you can submit easily using the links on the left.  If you submit a joke, WebSkulker may publish it as-is.  If you submit an interesting web site or shareware program, he will take this as a suggestion to visit the site or download the program.  If he likes it, he will write his own independent review.
 

http://www.allwhois.com

You think you can find out who owns a domain name by using the whois command in Unix or the whois link on www.networksolutions.com, don't you?  WebSkulker owns webskulker.com, .net, and .org .  Do a whois search and you will find the .com, but you will not find .net or .org even though these are assigned and work.  Why?  Because there is a now a second company besides Network Solutions who can register .com, .net, and .org domains and the two companies don't share the same whois database.

Whois on Unix defaults to Network Solutions.  Do  whois dddd  first, then if the dddd domain isn't found, force a check of the other database by:
whois  -h  whois.register.com  dddd .
Or use the web site www.allwhois.com which will check both databases automatically, and also includes links for whois checks of domain names assigned to other countries.

In future issues WebSkulker will tell you the advantages of registering your domain through the new company and how to host a web site with the name "http://www.yourdomain.com" free of any ISP charges (just the $70 registration fee).  Please subscribe so you won't miss that information.  (This will NOT be an ad; WebSkulker really knows these things!)

One of the continuing themes in WebSkulker will be to trash Mac's and those who use them.  We especially love to point out Internet facilities that Mac users can't access (more about that subject in the next issue, so you had better subscribe).  A Mac bigot friend made the mistake of telling WebSkulker that Apple was very innovative in the design of the new iBook (their toy notebook computer made apparently for 10 year olds who don't know any better).  Innovative WebSkulker's ass!

Let's compare the iBook with the average PC notebook of a similar street price.  Here are the innovations: (1) Leave out the floppy drive or zip drive.  (2) Leave out the serial and parallel ports.  (3) Leave out the PCMCIA ports!  (4) Leave out the ports for external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. (5) Leave out the infra-red (IRDA) port.  (6) Leave out one speaker so the iBook has monaural sound while PC notebooks have stereo sound.  Brilliant innovations, Apple.  Charge the same price for a stripped-down machine and add some cute colors to sucker the kids into buying it.

Here are the innovations Apple claims:  (1) Cute translucent colors.  (2) No latch to keep the notebook shut because supposedly it will stay shut without one.  Who cares: wouldn't you be more comfortable with a latch to make sure?  (3) A carrying handle built in.  This might be useful, although it is not an Apple innovation since WebSkulker knows of machines made many years ago with handles.  (4) Built-in 10/100 Ethernet port.  This is nice, but keep reading.  (5) A proprietary slot for installing a wireless LAN adapter called AirPort, which lets the iBook travel up to 150 feet from an AirPort Base Station which connects it into a LAN and possibly the Internet. 

Note well that the iBook does not contain an AirPort adapter, only a slot for an add-on card.  AirPort and the wireless LAN concept are not Apple innovations.   WebSkulker has seen similar wireless LAN's on sale in Fry's for some time, in both PCMCIA and desktop formats.  The AirPort itself uses technology from Lucent similar to a product Lucent has been selling for years under the name "Wavelan".  So you can buy a PC notebook and wireless LAN adapter and have the same capabilities as the AirPort for a lower price.  For example, Fry's sells an Aviator package for $199 which includes two wireless adapters for PC notebooks or desktops and has the same wireless Internet sharing capability as the AirPort.

PC notebooks all have two PCMCIA slots for your choice of peripherals.  The iBook gives you an Ethernet adapter whether you need it or not and a proprietary slot for AirPort only.  Why be locked in to the two specific adapters on the iBook when a PC notebook gives you the choice of any two out of hundreds of adapters?  And a floppy or zip drive.  And ports for serial, parallel, infrared, monitor, etc.  For the same price.

As for the translucent colored case which people associate with the iMac and iBook, even that is not an Apple innovation.  WebSkulker has a friend with a vacuum cleaner purchased before iMac's came out that has a sculptured translucent blue case looking very much the same.

WebSkulker knows a gaping flaw in the ticket-taking process at the AMC 1000 and Kabuki Theatres in San Francisco that makes it easy to see movies for free.  He and friends have done this many times except that WebSkulker has scruples and always buys a ticket first, then sneaks in to prove he could do it.

Help this newsletter grow by passing it on to your friends and encouraging them to subscribe.  When our list reaches 500 people, the next edition will tell all!

A blonde in Poland went into an international phone center to call her mother in America. When the man told her it would cost $100.00 she cried "I don't have that much money, but I would do ANYTHING to get a message to my mother!"

The man arched an eyebrow. "Anything?" "Yes, anything" the blonde promised.  With that, the man said "Follow me!" He walked into the next room and ordered her to come in and close the door. She did. He then said "Get on your knees." She did. He then said "take down my zipper." She did. He said "take it out."

She grabbed hold of it with both hands. The man closed his eyes and whispered, "Well, go ahead!" The blonde slowly brought it close to her lips and said loudly: "HELLO....MOM?"

WebSkulker is a daily newsletter in html format. To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to our web site at http://www.webskulker.com  or send email to listserv@webskulker.com with precisely the following: "subscribe-webskulker" or "unsubscribe-webskulker" as the only words in the SUBJECT.  Leave off the quotes and be sure to include the hyphen.  Before you even think about unsubscribing, we strongly suggest you go to our web site, click on "unsubscribe", and read the story of the two farmers.  You will be shocked at the consequences!

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This newsletter is copywrited 1999 by The WebSkulker.  You may use any material in this issue for any reason provided that you attribute it to the WebSkulker Newsletter and include the URL to our web site: http://www.webskulker.com .