The Navigator: Typing Back By Linton Weeks Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, May 7, 1998

(Illustration by David Brion for The Washington Post)

A friend of mine in Colorado, David E. Kahn, offered last month to design a Memorial Web page to honor my father. It has brought joy to our hearts and smiles to our faces. It celebrates his life and allows us to mourn his death in a unique and rewarding way. Photographs are posted, as is information regarding a memorial service and gymnasium dedication at the elementary school where my father taught for more than 30 years. Visitors can post comments and anecdotes on the Web page and read about his life and those whom he touched.

Your article sheds light on the subject and informs other mourners like myself of this wonderful vehicle to honor the loss of our loved ones. It allows us to share, via the Internet, photos, precious memories, untold stories and experiences. If anyone wants to view my father's Web site for ideas or inspiration, it is located at http://www.site-central.com/billcooper. — Scott Cooper

Dear Navigator: I have had a couple of people write me with tire ashtrays to sell already (April 16). :-) Like insulator collectors, there are many of us "tray-heads" out there. Most of us like automotive advertising, but some collect tire ashtrays because they collect other kinds of ashtrays or smoking collectibles. I guess I do it because I have always enjoyed antique advertising.

I have never smoked but think also that cigarette advertising will be a really good investment in the near future. It has already risen dramatically in the last few years. My brother used to collect barbed wire! — Jeff Koenker

Dear Navigator: Where do you get the idea that Bill Gates (April 9) is respected by real geeks? He's greatly respected by Wall Street, and he is considered the alpha-god of marketers, but geeks? The real ubergeek is Linus Torvalds, the man who wrote the Linux Kernal. That's something we all respect. — Jean Stanford

Dear Navigator: Gimme a break. Gates is a geek like Gingrich is a Democrat. Linus Torvalds is a geek. Richard Stallman is a geek. Donald Knuth is an ivory geek. You have to earn alpha-geek status. There is no evidence that Gates has written any code for years. That's an automatic disqualifier for any serious kind of geek status.

Geeks will do the right thing, technically and usually morally, while Gates/Microsoft and the former IBM would do anything to anyone purely to make a buck and have control.

Microsoft would never have created the Internet. — Stephen D. Williams

Dear Navigator, To me the ultimate Bill Gates site is: http://www.webho.com/WealthClock. If this one doesn't give you pause, then you should check to see if you are still breathing. — Jim Cobbs

Linton Weeks can be reached at
  weeksl@washpost.com

Click: Frogsex.wav Ah, the sounds of spring. The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing and the frogs are well, let's just say that once you hear this sound file, you'll be left breathless with laughter while one particular frog will be just plain breathless. (Note: Kermie sounds off only for those with speakers and sound card). —Dan Pacheco panchecod@futureforecast.com Found something intriguing, improbable, insane or especially useful on the Net? Send it to Joel Garreau or Robert Thomason

Surfing: Perturbations, pleasures and predicaments on the I-way

Beach + Whale = The Bomb
It's not every day a dead, 60-foot whale washes up on your beach. In fact, it's sufficiently rare that getting rid of one is still an experimental art. This is one of the amazing things you discover by watching the video available at these Web sites. Another thing you discover is that while putting half a ton of dynamite under such a whale produces a very satisfying boom, unexpected consequences occur over very great distances. Downloading this clip or this clip can take more than half an hour, but it's a wonderful thing to have. — David Kane and Joel Garreau

Follow That Psychopath!
Everyone's heard of Web rings, right? These are groups of Web sites that have some common bond – graphics, sounds, political persuasion, etc. – and one can follow the ring to visit site after site in a similar vein. I have stumbled across "give me pigs," a Web ring that quite neatly answers the question: "Are the Canadians and the English capable of the goofiness and the nerdier qualities of American Webheads?"

The sites range from the cute to the very bizarre; of particular interest are "Psychopaths Student Union," "Land of the Monkey King," and "The Magically Chocolate Page" (where, as an added bonus, if you find the little man, you get a pot o' gold and a lesbian!). Also, visit "The Pyrokinetic Gerbil" page for your amazing (and free) software Easter egg. It has to be tried to be believed; I mean, what else has Bill Gates hidden inside your computer? — Jeff Hyde

Found something intriguing, improbable, insane or especially useful on the Net? Write it up and send it to Joel Garreau or Robert Thomason.