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http://www.internettrafficreport.com

This site has scores and graphs showing average Internet response times around the world right now and in the past 24 hours.  You can click on a region of the world to get detailed information down to the backbone router level.  Their FAQ page explains how they get the data:  "A test called 'ping' is used to measure round-trip travel time along major paths on the Internet. We have several servers in different areas of the globe perform the same ping at the same time. Each test server then compares the current response to past responses from the same test to determine if the response was bad or good on a scale of 0 to 100. The scores from all test servers are averaged together into a single index."

http://www.myfreeld.com

This site lets you make free long distance calls from your PC to anyone in the U.S.  It's similar to the http://www.dialpad.com that WebSkulker discussed in the 10/27/99 issue.  DialPad is a lot easier to use because it is purely web-based.  MyFreeLD requires you to install the Microsoft Netmeeting product and interfaces with that.  You tell MyFreeLD what number you want to dial, then theoretically it contacts the Netmeeting program on your PC, you go to Netmeeting and answer the call, then the phone call goes through and you talk and listen with Netmeeting.  We were starting to get discouraged with DialPad because it has only a limited number of circuits to place calls and they seem pretty busy in the daytime.  MyFreeLD is much worse; it's telling us that the circuits are busy most of the time, even in the middle of the night.

The bottom line is that MyFreeLD seems pretty useless, but we mention it because those of you jr. skulkers who like to play with phones will want to know about every site like this and might want to play with it.

http://www.megagames.com

WebSkulker and his cat are busy skulking and have no time for games.  Those of you jr. skulkers who play computer and console games should like this site.  It has interesting sections such as cracks (but we won't talk about that); how to "backup" PlayStation games; trainers, i.e. ways to modify a game to make it easier to play or give you more lives, etc. to help learn the game; and emulators for classic video game systems.

http://www.newgrounds.com/cat/mission.html

Jr. Skulker Tracy Airhead submitted this site about modifications to cats to make them stronger and replace broken parts.  This is pretty obviously (hopefully?) a hoax, but it's fun to look at in any event.  Check out their R&D page with a sneak peak at their future projects:
http://www.newgrounds.com/cat/rd.html
As Tracy says about the cat in the first picture, "he not only wouldn't come running at the sound of an electric can opener... he could be the electric can opener!"

Submitted by Jr. Skulker Giovanni Navarrete

Once upon a time there lived three men: a doctor, a chemist, and an engineer. For some reason all three offended the king and were sentenced to die on the same day. 

The day of the execution arrived, and the doctor was led up to the guillotine.  As he strapped the doctor to the guillotine, the executioner asked, "Head up or head down?" 

"Head up," said the doctor. 

"Blindfold or no blindfold?" 

"No blindfold." 

So the executioner raised the axe, and z-z-z-z-ing! Down came the blade -- and stopped barely an inch above the doctor's neck. Well, the law stated that if an execution didn't succeed the first time the prisoner had to be released, so the doctor was set free. 

Then the chemist was led up to the guillotine.  "Head up or head down?" said the executioner. 

"Head up." 

"Blindfold or no blindfold?" 

"No blindfold." 

So the executioner raised his axe, and z-z-z-z-ing! Down came the blade -- and stopped an inch above the chemist's neck. Well, the law stated that if the execution didn't succeed the first time the prisoner had to be released, so the chemist was set free. 

Finally the engineer was led up to the guillotine.  "Head up or head down?" 

"Head up." 

"Blindfold or no blindfold?" 

"No blindfold." 

So the executioner raised his axe, but before he could cut the rope, the engineer yelled out: 

"WAIT! I see what the problem is!". 

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