Site of the Week -- March 19, 2001
uried deep in NASA's network of Web sites is a page that proves a picture's worth not only a thousand words, but millions of dollars as well. Astronomy Picture of the Day highlights a new stunning piece of stellar photography every day, accompanying each image with a short description describing the phenomenon.
The features cover a variety of subjects, from deep space shots of galaxies to the backyard beauty of Earth's own moon. Current space events are chronicled as well--the site goes out of its way to explain major happenings like the landing of the NEAR Shoemaker probe on the asteroid Eros. Supplementing the daily picture is an extensive archive, a glossary of space terms and space education links.
The site is the creation of the folks at NASA's Laboratory for High-Energy Physics at Goddard Space Flight Center. Authors Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell do an excellent job of picking pictures that dazzle the eye, while supplying text that feeds the brain. The late Carl Sagan, who urged scientists to share with the public their passion about their work, would have been proud.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- March 12, 2001
s the price of seeing a movie continues its inexorable rise, filmgoers are finding themselves less and less willing to shell out for those "iffy" pictures, the ones which are as likely to be abysmal as to shine. Faced with a choice between, say, Monkeybone or Shadow of the Vampire? To solve the dilemma, some movie fans are surfing to Rotten Tomatoes.
Unlike more conventional Web databases which exhaustively catalog objective movie data such as stars, crew members and credited screenwriters, Rotten Tomatoes glories in opinion and irreverence. Their source--movie reviewers from across the world. When surfers look up a recent movie, they find a full page of review quotes, both favorable and unfavorable. What's more, the site provides an overall rating of the reviews. If more than 60% of the Tomatoes sources liked a movie, it earns a rating of Fresh. If it blows, on the other hand, look out for a Rotten rating, complete with a logo of a splattered tomato.
Links to the full text of reviews are provided whenever possible (although these are rarely accessible after a movie is a few months old.) Even a quick glance at the quotes, however, gives surfers excellent insight into dozens of filmgoers' reaction.
For those who couldn't care less what a bunch of journalists have to say about Battlefield Earth (94% rotten), Rotten Tomatoes has many other appealing features. It is an excellent source of pre-release information and official movie Web site addresses. It covers video and DVD releases as well as big-screen film news. It provides flipbooks--short collections of frames from movie trailers available on-line. Users with slower Internet connections will appreciate being able to check out trailers without necessarily committing an hour to downloading them. Finally, Rotten Tomatoes is currently showcasing its second annual Rotten Awards, which compile the best and worst movies of 2000 as broken into numerous categories.
Rotten Tomatoes may not be the place to learn who played Jedda in The Wrath of Khan, but for up-front information about new films, there are few sites as informative and useful. Why settle for a "two thumbs up" movie recommendation? With this site, surfers can instantly count the thumbs of dozens upon dozens of reviewers.
-- A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week -- March 5, 2001
he glory that was Robotech has been recaptured by a newly launched official Web site dedicated to the 1980s series. Robotech consisted of three anime series imported from Japan, combined into one, dubbed into English and then syndicated around the United States. It was wildly popular and introduced a generation to Japanese animation, including the legendary Macross saga,
the first major story arc in the Robotech series.
Long-suffering Robotech fans--who saw a sequel to the series fail and have had to make do with novels, comic books and Macross imports for years--will salivate over the new site's features.
The "official news" section finally provides a place for fans to find out the real deal about upcoming Robotech releases, especially the new DVDs and re-released soundtrack. Those who thrive on gossip and rumor will find plenty of it in the site's discussion forums, where folks analyze every aspect of the series and speculate about what else might be coming down the pipe. There's also an encyclopedia, mecha write-ups, an official timeline and an episode guide. The encyclopedia and mecha write-ups are works in progress, but more content is promised.
Robotech.com also encourages fan interaction, awarding points for logging into the site, posting fan art work and other activities. The entire site's easy to navigate and even easier on the eyes. It's all more than enough to bring in new fans while reminding old ones of the series' heyday.
-- Kenneth Newquist
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