Web site reviews
Intris (KCTS) magazine, 1998
by Louis Broome

Futurewerks
For something completely different, enter www.pages.prodigy.net/futurewerks, the fictitious "Korporate ArtwOrLD" of artist Brian Jenkins. According to the mission statement, "As of 9:30 p.m. CST, 1991, all "art" was deklared officially PostMortem. From that moment on the New Artwerld has been under konstruktion." Compelling graphics and essays that balance insightful art criticism with razor-sharp satire keep visitors linking from page to page. Be sure to click on the HumanFactory icon for a list of mantras handed down by Futurewerks' spiritual advisor, Roy G. Biv. Gems include, "For every Werk there is an equal and opposite ReWerk," "Many kopy, but I kopy with authority," "The Lax Life Lacks Lux" and "The Mundane Multiplied Elevates Relevance." If Post Modernism is getting you down, Futurewerks will lift your Artwerker spirit.

Advanced Television Systems Committee
To brush up on the finer technical details of digital television, access the Advanced Television Systems Committee homepage, www.atsc.org. This site contains the blueprints for DTV, everything from "Ghost Canceling Reference Signal for NTSC" to "Standard for Coding 25/50 Hz Video," in the electrifying language of engineerese. My favorite page, "Harmonization with DVB in the use of the ATSC Digital Television Standard" demonstrates the heights to which technical writing can ascend. Visitors can link to the FCC and a Yahoo! Page of DTV-related sites. Files are available as docs, ZIP files and in rich text format.

Current
For a less technical, more user friendly history of DTV, access Current online, www.current.org. For an ego boost, go directly to Digital Television. The first sentence is certain to warm the cockles of your heart: "The first public TV station to broadcast in the FCC's digital transmission standard--KCTS in Seattle--turned on its experimental transmitter in January 1997." We made history and now we can read about it online. Don't miss the Current article about the Overs®. And make sure you check out "Addresses from the Public Television International ATV Workshop," where you'll find  the text of a speech KCTS CEO Burnie Clark gave in 1995, "In High-Definition TV, Will Public Television be a Leader, Follower or Outsider?" Did Burnie hit the DTV nail on the head?

Mapquest.com
Getting from point A to point B is a far sight easier now. Mapquest, www.mapquest.com, will compute the shortest or fastest route between any two places in the U.S., by address, city or landmark, such as a museum, courthouse or sports arena. Visitors can print detailed directions, including maps of the immediate vicinity of each location, and hit the road. Moving? Click on Movequest for help with everything from finding a house in your price range and the best mover for the job to the best schools in your prospective neighborhood. Mapquest's accuracy is impressive. Streets in my neighborhood that fail to appear in the Thomas Guide show up in Mapquest. This site is a must for production crews driving to unfamiliar locations.