Site of the Week -- March. 22, 1999
'hraarn, the author of several planetary guides--including
the popular Guide to Andamar IV--visited Earth in the 1990s and,
as usual, compiled his field notes on the inhabitants. But his Guide to
Earth damaged his reputation: No one could believe that these specimens
could be as self-destructive and short-sighted as K'hraarn described.
His astonished observations range from humans' myopic view of their
bodies ("Earth people are actually confident that they wouldn't exist
without these packages of meat and circulating fluids") to notes on a
justice system that allows criminals to go free and an all-powerful
media that's obsessed with the salacious.
The Alien's Guide to Earth, available to humans on the World Wide Web, is a well-organized site with interesting but unobtrusive graphics and music. Though "K'hraarn" occasionally sounds a bit more like an outraged human than an alien (he clearly feels for his benighted subjects), some of his Guide excerpts are trenchant and provocative. One of the site's best areas invites visiting aliens to share their own experiences on the "Garbage Planet." The lack of credits maintains the illusion of an alien's work, but unfortunately it leaves the clever site designer anonymous.
-- Mark Wilson
Site of the Week -- March 15, 1999
rgon Zark! is an online graphic novel that blasts all its competition into oblivion. The site's centerpiece is a sharply drawn "virtual comic book" that chronicles the adventures of Argon Zark, a computer geek, inventor and all-around fun guy. In the first episode, Zark invents a device that allows him--along with his new friend Zeta Farlight and his robot pal Zybert--to teleport into the Web a la Tron. Once there he and his cohorts run into the horrific monster Bad Nasty Jumpjump, who proceeds to chase them through cyberspace.
What separates Argon Zark! from the rest of the online comic books is its crisp graphics, fun story and snappy dialogue (which is filled with running jokes and science fiction movie references). The artwork also loads quickly considering the content, something that's not often true of similar endeavors. Site creator Charley Parker, a confessed Mac fanatic and computer artist, has created a project that the comic big boys at Marvel and DC could learn a thing or two from.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- March 8, 1999
t may have started by going where no "man" had gone before, but women have always played an important role in Star Trek too. The Trek Women Web site documents that role, from the mysterious Number One in "The Cage" to Voyager's de-Borged Seven of Nine.
Trek Women treats its subjects like queens, with biographies, Star Fleet career overviews, memorable quotes, images and sound files. It lists most of the female characters that appeared in the four Trek TV series as well as the various motion pictures.
Trek Women's strongest coverage is of the original series, where almost every female character has a detailed entry. The number of entries declines with the newer shows, but most of the principal characters are covered. And rather than just serving up sterile character descriptions, the site's creator writes the reviews from the point-of-view of supervisors and friends. It's a nice touch that makes the site more than just a dry collection of lists and pictures.
-- Kenneth Newquist
