------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEBSITES OF THE WEEK! | This section is devoted to cool WebSites . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ McDonalds' Trivia!| ------------------- Several websites have space dedicated to people who wish to share their correct answers to the Disney trivia game currently sponsored by McDonald's but by far the best one to my untrained eye is the McTrivia Answer Page. The site claims to have answers to 3,330 questions -- but it does have duplicates. The site has questions as obscure as the name of Walt Disney's wife (Lillian) to the name of the show the character "Unwin" appeared on (Gummi bears), along with the "easy" ones like, "Who is the little boy who is Winnie-the-Pooh's special friend?" (Christopher Robin) It includes many date questions like, "In what year did Mary Poppins take place?" (1910), "In which of the following months and years did Mary Poppins month and year was Mary Poppins filmed?" (May 1963) and "Which Disney film listed won both a 1964 Oscar and a 1964 Grammy for its musical score?" (Mary Poppins). The site is searchable by keyword but with so many questions you should select your key word carefully or you'll wind up with 100 questions and answers to scan. Also, some of the questions are not worded verbatim to the game playing tickets. And with any site relying on contributions from humans who err and have a sense of humor, you are taking your chances. But of the 20 or so I have checked, the answers have been correct so I figure the odds beat random guessing. But hurry! The McDonald's game is over and you only have until May 23, 1996 to get the right answers and redeem your prizes. This site is located at: http://www.storms.com/ ----------------- Multimedia Wire!| ----------------- POTOMAC, Md., April 29 /PRNewswire/ - Phillips Business Information, Inc. has acquired Multimedia Wire, a daily email/faxed business news service, and mmwire.com, a site on the World Wide Web from ProActive Media Inc. Since their launch in 1994, Multimedia Wire and mmwire.com have been recognized as the best daily news source on the multimedia, online and interactive entertainment business. Multimedia Wire is quoted regularly in major media including Variety, Forbes, CNBC and CD-ROM Professional, while the editors of Wired magazine pronounce themselves "addicted to Multimedia Wire." Founder Christopher V. Sherman will continue as editor-at-large. "With a large media and new media business division, Phillips has the resources, talent and experienced reporters to make Multimedia Wire even stronger," Sherman said. "Multimedia Wire will continue to bring its readers - including many of the top players in the business - the day's news on online, multimedia and interactive entertainment by 7 a.m. every business morning via fax or email," explained Phillips Vice President and Publisher Kismet Toksu Gould. "Its companion website mmwire.com will also grow in value." Phillips-related publications include three dailies, Interactive Daily, CableFAX Daily and Internet Week's Today's Hot News Website. Rounding out its stable of interactive/multimedia related publications, Phillips also publishes Multimedia Week, New Media Week, Interactive Video News and Inside Multimedia. Although Phillips has launched several successful Internet and intranet website services, this is its first website acquisition. Phillips Business Information, Inc. is a subsidiary of Phillips Publishing International, Inc., a diversified publisher and content provider, with sales of $186 million in 1995. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nevada Gets Online!| -------------------- CARSON CITY, Nev., May 9 /PRNewswire/ - Long a favorite destination for skiers, hikers and mountain bikers, the desert lows and mountain highs of Nevada have recently won over a new breed of high-tech "athlete": surfers. A growing number of computer users who "surf the 'net" are making travel plans and learning more about the Silver State thanks to the Nevada Commission on Tourism's Internet site on the World Wide Web. Launched Dec. 5, 1995, the NCOT Official On-line Travel Guide - at http://www.travelnevada.com - has grown and expanded into one of the most comprehensive resources of its kind found anywhere in cyberspace, said Tom Tait, NCOT executive director. "With our presence on the World Wide Web, Nevada travel information is available instantly, 24 hours a day, to 35 million Internet users worldwide," Tait said. Initially an electronic version of the 100-page official Nevada Visitors Guide, the Web site is regularly updated and improved. A hypertext link to Nevada Magazine was added in April, allowing 'net surfers to read sample on-line articles from the current edition, and to request a free copy. The Web site's "browsability" was improved in April with the addition of clickable territory maps, allowing users to locate and download detailed information about events and attractions in each territory. Other improvements include hypertext links to the U.S. Travel & Tourism Information and State of Nevada Web sites. In March, the number of photos on the Web site was doubled and graphic interfaces were enhanced, and new features such as detailed territory maps and hypertext links to other Nevada-related Web sites were added. The Official On-line Travel Guide's home page contains welcome messages from Gov. Bob Miller and Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, a regular "What's New" feature, information on "Getting Here" and "Staying Here," and a complete listing of accommodations throughout the state. The NCOT Web site is listed with all the popular Internet directories, including Yahoo, Infoseek and Lycos. ------------------------------------- TUNE INTO THE INDY 500 OVER THE NET!| ------------------------------------- HOUSTON, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever, sports fans all over the world will be able to hear the actual track announcer's call at this year's Indianapolis 500 race, thanks to The Auto Channel (TACH), an Internet supersite which offers a wide spectrum of content on motorsports and other automotive topics. TACH is sponsored by Pennzoil Products Company. TACH will break new media ground with its exclusive cybercast of continuous reports of the Indy 500 from the Brickyard on May 26, 1996. The live audio reports will emanate directly from the track announcer's booth. Tom Floyd, chief marketing officer for Pennzoil Products Company, says he's excited about the TACH cybercast. "We are proud of our heritage of market leadership. Through our sponsorship of The Auto Channel, we are promoting exhibitions of this emerging communications technology." Floyd says that the Internet presents "a whole new world of communication and marketing opportunities," and that by supporting the Pennzoil brand in this emerging media, the company is demonstrating the leadership its customers have come to expect. Bob Gordon, president of TACH, said the cybercast is a tremendously exciting first for everyone involved. "It's the first time that motor sports fans all over the world will be able to hear the actual track announcer's call," he pointed out. "It's the first major auto race to be presented live on the World Wide Web, and its the first of a series of live events we'll be covering throughout the year." TACH's audio coverage of the Indy 500 begins on Saturday, May 18, with live interviews, track-side reports and practice results. It will also cybercast live feeds from local Indianapolis sports radio talk shows that are discussing this year's race and Indycar events. In addition, TACH will use VDOLive technology to present Internet users with video highlights of past Indy 500 races. TACH went on-line earlier this year and is already recognized by USA Today, Mecklermedia, Multimedia World Magazine and the Magellan and Yahoo Internet guides as one of the world's best websites. Users can reach the TACH supersite through its global on-line address -- http://www.theautochannel.com. ---------------- CREATE A CHECK!| ---------------- SALT LAKE CITY, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Create-A-Check Inc., a leading developer and provider of check-writing and negotiable document- printing software and systems, today announced it has finished construction of its homepage on the World Wide Web. The page is up and running and can be visited at http://www.createacheck.com. According to John Bechard, vice president of sales and marketing for Create-A-Check, the web site is another sales and marketing tool Create- A-Check is using to sell and promote its products and services. "Due to the recent explosion of the Internet and the World Wide Web, and since Create-A-Check is a technology-driven company, we needed to augment our marketing scope with an electronic marketing vehicle to leverage our sales and marketing ventures," Bechard said. "Not only will we use the web site as a marketing tool, but more importantly we want it to be a leading site in educating web browsers on check- and negotiable document-printing issues that help organizations save money and secure their check- and document-printing processes, as well as providing information related to check fraud and MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) printing." Visitors to Create-A-Check's Homepage will find seven informational sections: Check Fraud in the News, a database of published check fraud and forgery articles; Common Causes of Check Fraud; American Banking Association (ABA) Information, facts on check document standards and testing and a hyperlink to the ABA's web site; Tools for Fighting Check Fraud, Create-A-Check's total security solution; Conferences and Seminars, a listing of conferences and expositions on banking and security; Will Checks Die, a white paper on the check-printing industry and MICR printing; and Create-A-Check Information, product and service information about Create-A-Check. Bechard said Create-A-Check developed the Homepage to be more information-driven than sales-driven in an effort to educate browsers on the extent of check fraud and the need to combat it. "We wanted to address check fraud upfront since that is what drives our industry and is such a damaging criminal enterprise," Bechard said. "The site is actually titled `Fighting Check Fraud,' and it displays an exact daily updated calculation of how many billions of dollars ($3,654,889,332.83 as of May 17) have been stolen since Jan. 1, 1996 due to check fraud." Create-A-Check is a market leader in the developing industry of check writing software and related computer products. Create-A-Check customers use their existing accounting package, a standard laser printer, a special toner cartridge with "magnetic ink," and blank check stock to produce their checks. As a leading developer and provider of check-writing and negotiable document-printing software, Create-A-Check provides high quality software solutions to businesses and organizations that print checks and other "Magnetic Ink Character Recognition" (MICR) documents with laser printers. For more information on Create-A-Check and its products, call 800-621-5720 or visit its World Wide Web site at http://www.createacheck.com. þ