Cybertricks

Sure, you can tell the tax man that "office homework" justifies your $2000 computer write-off. But we all know that playtime is the real reason people are buying PCs these days. Whether you're spinning a CD-ROM adventure, surfing the Net or going 18 holes online, fun is now just a mouse-click away. To show you how to get maximum entertainment mileage out of your PC, we've devised a list of ten top computer tricks. To enjoy them, you'll need a fairly powerful system—that is, one with a Pentium or Power PC processor, a sound card, stereo speakers, a CD-ROM drive and a high-resolution monitor. You'll also need a modem (the faster the better) and a Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Armed with these tools, you can boost both sides of your brain, save yourself money and satisfy all kinds of curiosities—wholesome or otherwise. Here's how.

Get Published

The hippest thing you can do with your computer these days is to publish your own home page on the World Wide Web. No longer a novelty, the Web has become a way for artists, activists and average Joes to share their interests and their work on a global scale. Until recently, publishing a home page meant mastering the arcana of HTML, the Web's programming language. Fortunately, a host of new software programs make it possible even for novices to create interesting sites. Several word processors, such as Lotus' Word Pro '96 and Claris Works, now include functions that automatically format documents for the Web. Adobe appeals to creative types with Pagemill and Sitemill, two desktop publishing–style programs for the Mac. Sophisticated yet easy to master, both allow you to view your page as you create it (unlike HTML, which forces you to wait until after the site is online). You can also download simple Web-authoring software from America Online, Prodigy and CompuServe. We recommend Home Page Wizard by the last.

Of course, it's not enough just to put (continued on page 146) Cybertricks (continued from page 128) words on your Web page. You have to dazzle with graphics. The latest wave of paint programs, such as Painter from Fractal Design ($549), puts an infinite variety of brushes, colors and textures at your disposal. Create your own paintings on the screen or alter creations you made on paper by scanning them into your computer. Low-cost color scanners, such as the Canon IX-4025 (about $600), let you doctor anything that exists on paper—including color photographs—on your computer. Adobe's Photo Deluxe ($89) lets you manipulate photographs. You can fix the tears in antique prints, adjust sunsets, add multiple moons to your nightscape, insert your new wife into the Thanksgiving portrait, or remove your ex-wife. Once your page is designed and in order, you need to talk with your Internet service provider about the cost of putting it online. Although prices vary according to the size of the document, most personal Web pages cost less than $5 per month.

Get Smart

What used to be referred to as correspondence school is now called distance learning, and it gets delivered by electrons instead of postmen. A connection to the World Wide Web brings instruction on hundreds of topics, from how to work with computers to how to speak Hindi. Use the Web to find a tutor, or to take degree classes at an accredited university. At least 75 institutions of higher learning provide some instruction over the Web. California State University (http://dolphin.csudh.edu/~hux/intro.html) offers courses toward a Master of Arts in the humanities. The Cyber Ed program of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (http://www.umassd.edu/cybered/distlearninghome.html) has a number of traditional university classes along with a slew of courses dealing with the uses and social impacts of technology. Tests, lectures and readings all get posted on the Web, and papers are turned in via e-mail. Make sure that the institution you sign on with has the approval of an established accreditation board, as the Web has also proved to be a happy home for some dubious diploma mills.

Get Informed

Why would you want to turn a $2500 computer into a $5 transistor radio? Because you can listen to whatever you want—when you want. It's called radio-on-demand, and it's available over the World Wide Web in a variety of formats. The best, so far, comes from Real Audio (http://www.realaudio.com). Call up Real Audio's Web site and download the player software for free. From there, you can link to National Public Radio's site, which stores all of NPR's major news stories and radio documentaries from the past six months.

If you prefer the written word, you can assemble a daily newspaper on the Internet. With Personal Journal from Dow Jones (http://bis.dowjones.com/pj.html), you choose the types of stories you want to read. The news service then culls related articles from its news wires and delivers them to your computer in a form that looks something like The Wall Street Journal.

Get in Touch

Yes, you can terrify the phone companies by rigging your computer for dirt-cheap long-distance calls. Several new software programs allow you to use a local Internet connection to dial anywhere in the world. That means those calls to Ilse in Amsterdam will cost the same as those to Jane down the street. All you need is the software, a fairly recent model sound card, speakers and a microphone. But there is a minor catch: The party you're calling has to be using the same software package as you are. Since the software costs around $70, you will still come out ahead over the long run. Choices include Internet Phone (the leader, with the most users and a thoroughly tested product), Digiphone (which offers more features, including caller ID) and Web Talk (a package that comes with software for two users as well as a microphone).

A worldwide group of volunteers also has launched Free World Dialup, an effort to integrate Internet telephony with mainstream telephone lines. Using Free World, you'll be able to use your Net connection to call anyone—whether they have a computer or not. For more information, check out Free World Dialup's home page at http://www.pulver.com.

Get Excited

Online sex used to mean dirty talk and grainy digitized pictures passed around electronically like cheap swill—but no more. Vendors of adult entertainment are among the most sophisticated techies on the Web. Phone sex is now teleconferencing sex—complete with video connections. Both keyboard and voice conversations take place during New Age phone sex. There are also gentleman's clubs, where cameras turn their lenses to live strip shows. With a click of the mouse, you can meet the dancers afterward for a private teleconference. Some sites worth visiting are Virtual Dreams (http://www.virtualdreams.com) and Adult Playground (http://www.adultplayground.com).

Not surprisingly, Playboy's Home Page (http://www.playboy.com) is one of the Web's most popular attractions, with more than 4 million hits a day. It offers plenty of what Playboy loyalists love—including photos of Playmates—and the content changes monthly, just like the magazine.

For those desiring a more lasting relationship, the Web has become the world's largest singles joint, with traditional matchmaking services promising to pair the lovelorn with whatever kind of person they desire, from girls (and boys) next door to mail-order brides from the Philippines. The more complete matchmakers, such as the for-fee Cyberdating Service (http://www.cyber dating.com) and the free Match.Com (http://www.match.com), let you scroll through dossiers with pictures.

Get Rich

When personal finance programs such as Intuit's Quicken Deluxe and Microsoft Money first appeared, they were little more than souped-up checkbook organizers. Now they are the whole bank. Using either program can radically change the way you spend and save money. Our favorite, Quicken Deluxe, comes crammed with features that should satisfy the most rigid control freak. It allows users to monitor investments along with the household books and includes a custom version of Netscape that takes you to the Quicken Financial Network on the Web (http://www2.qfn.com/quicken). There, you'll be able to track financial news, stocks and mutual funds and access the data of Morningstar, the leading mutualfund rating service. You'll also find links online to a growing list of banks that will handle your account and bill payments by computer and modem.

Get Rolling

Cybercasinos are currently illegal in the U.S., but there are strong signs of online gambling's imminent arrival. Witness the growing number of Net casinos beginning to spring up offshore. The biggest, Caribbean Casino (based in the Turks and Caicos Islands), already does a brisk business. (Antes and debts are paid with e-cash, a fancy name for credit-card transactions.) Stateside, there's everything but real risk to please the gambler. Virtual Vegas (http://www.virtualvegas.com) lets you play slots and a variety of table games with play money. It will soon showcase entertainers and showgirls. Handicappers online offer a link to the real Vegas. Look for them at Rolling Good Times (http://www.rgtonline.com).

Get Cutting

Camcorder users who shoot hours of monotonous backyard barbecues and kids' soccer games are turning their PCs into editing studios. Until recently, this cost a bundle and required intense vocational training. Now, for less than $200, Video Director Suite 2.5 lets you take equipment you already own—a camcorder, a computer and a VCR—and perform sophisticated edits on hours of tape. Once your tape is edited, Video Director lets you add sound effects, music and voice-overs. Snappy Video Snapshot is an easy-to-use tool for capturing pictures off your TV, camcorder or VCR and putting them on your computer. It also comes in handy when you can't decide whether to shoot still photos or video: Just shoot video and then use Snappy to make digital stills. Or string stills into a video with Video Director. Snappy also comes with its own cool software that lets you change and morph your pictures. Show friends how you starred in that lost episode of Baywatch. You were the beach bum who got lucky with C.J., remember?

Get Even

OK, so computers are great for Man the Creator, but what about Man the Destroyer? No problem. When you're in demolition mode, there's nothing more satisfying than a network game. Doom and Descent are classics. You can also launch one of the newest flight simulators, which let you scramble against other "pilots," testing out the latest military weapons. Some, like EF 2000, are so realistic that governments use them for training. Take any of these games to work for play on the office network and see which of your colleagues covers your back—or stabs it.

If you'd prefer to wipe out opponents using capitalist tools, one of the best network games is—believe it or not—Monopoly. Each of the animated pieces dances around the board to music, and railroads, hotel construction and jail have appropriate sound effects. You can play this one alone, but it's better to call a friend who has it too and try to wipe him out.

Other great network titles to try include Descent 2, Into the Void, Mortal Kombat 3 and Quake, coming later this year from the creators of Doom.

Get Points

Thanks to a number of online services, you never have to miss a sporting event again. ESPN has migrated to the Web with Sportszone (http://espnet.sportszone.com), a site that feeds fans with scores, stats, news, features and schedules. Another comprehensive jock stop, Sports Line U.S.A. at http://www.sportsline.com/, offers an equally abundant selection of news and statistics, plus cool contests. Prizes have included trips to major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, as well as cash awards totaling more than $275,000. There's also Game Cruiser (http://www.learfield.com), which archives the radio broadcasts of games at ten of the nation's college powerhouses, including Oklahoma and Purdue.

On the software side, amateur sports statisticians and historians can now reel off numbers like pros with CD-ROMs such as Old Time Baseball (about $60). Created by EA Sports, this Windows title presents info on 12,000 players past and present, and allows you to compete in "what-if" games pitting chronologically disjointed rosters against one another. On the gridiron, Sierra's Football Pro '96 ($60) lets you coach the actual rosters of NFL teams. You can play other coaches and teams over the Imagination Network, a dedicated games and entertainment service that plans to move to the Web in the next few months with the introduction of Cyber Park, a virtual-reality environment. Three-dimensional graphics and animation make Imagination Network's first football game look more like the real thing than an animated board game.

And speaking of the real thing, Microsoft Golf 2.0 lets you take a swing at two PGA courses: Torrey Pines in San Diego and Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. You can tee up solo or go modem-to-modem with as many as four friends. The price: $45—with no rain checks.

Where & how to buy on page 168.

You can terrify the phone companies by rigging your computer for dirt-cheap long-distance calls.