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Trolling the inbox

Hot on the Web

This column originally ran in ComputorEdge on October 6, 2000
(Issue 1840, Making Money in Cyberspace)

It's almost as reliable as the law of gravity: You post your address, you get e-mail. But, heck, I figure you all probably have more good leads on interesting Web sites than I do ...

READERS WRITE

Krimmel.net

Mary Krimmel sent a nice message pitching her family's portal site, Krimmel.net. From here, you can get to several family members' sites, including that of guitar maker/artist Max Krimmel. Max's page may well be, as Mary argues, "The only place on the web where you'll find lessons on metronome practice – and reasons for practicing. The only place on the web where you'll find the history of the unadorned guitar – and why the maker worked so hard to produce it. The only place on the web where you'll find out how to turn alabaster vessels – and where the most beautiful ones can be seen." And perhaps not the only place, but certainly one of the few, with lessons on how to play the mbira.

You can also visit David Krimmel's site, where he pitches his commercial exhibit designs. And family member Bonnie Carol's dulcimer site, where you can order your own four-string mountain dulcimer (which is, frankly, a beautiful instrument both to hear and see).

And on the page of Sarah C. Hunter (another family member), you can learn (quite quickly) more than you ever wanted to know about fatty acid biosynthesis.

Other family members also have links off the Krimmel.net site, and they are an interesting bunch. If you're at all into handmade guitars or other musical instruments, bookmark this page and start saving your money.

Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics

Ms. Krimmel also sent along this URL, which touts itself as "The Web's Most Extensive Mathematics Resource." A bold claim, and ultimately unprovable given the vastness of the Web, but there is a ton of information here, and links to more info on just about any topic math-related you might come up with. Hard-core geeks will love this site.

eGenerosity.com

This Web site allows you to designate your favorite charity and then generate donations to it by browsing, sending e-mail and buying online – if you do all these things through eGenerosity.com, of course. The list of charities isn't all that complete, but the site is easy to use. Perfect? Nah, but an easy if weird way to help your favorite charity.

Jinx Pfingst

This is a message board for those who don't like San Diego District Attorney Paul Pfingst. The welcome message admits that Pfingst's election was in reaction to outrage with former D.A. Ed Miller, but concludes that Pfingst is no better. Agree or disagree, it's kind of a neat grassroots use of the Web to try to get local voters motivated – not that there's been much traffic, or at least many folks posting their thoughts.

Bio-Synaptics

Paul S. Rhines seems a modern version of Dale Carnegie. His Bio-Synaptics site promises to help salespeople improve their skills in making pitches and closing deals. There are videos for sale (of course) as well as other training materials. There is also info on signing up for live training seminars (starting at only $4,500 per). Seems kinda hokey to me, but then, I'm not a salesman ...