CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: LOOKING FOR THE BEST OF THE BEST? VARIOUS FIRMS RATE INTERNET SITES (COLUMN 19)

Cybertip: Tune in next week when we check out some of the oddest sites on the web via a new book about the world's weirdest web pages and the people who created them.

How do you know what the best sites are on the Internet? Well, you can take someone else's word for it. Several organizations and companies devote their work to evaluating web sites.

As you surf, you probably will notice stars and other emblems at the bottom of great pages. We usually agree. The more awards, the better the site.

Most are companies involved in the Internet. But on the other hand, they have staff out there scanning the net and looking for the best sites.

One of the awards we often see is Magellan's four-star site designation.

http://www.mckinley.com

Peggy: Magellan goes for a "lively mix" of sites -- from the familiar to the newest of the new. Reviewers judge depth of the site, ease of exploration and the net appeal.

Joni: For example: Is it funny? Is it hot? Is it hip? Is it cool? Magellan also determines if the site offers new technology or a new way to use technology. Sites can earn one to four stars.

Peggy: What's nice is that you can search Magellan by keyword if you are looking for a topic. You can also type in a specific URL.

Joni: They also have a designation called a green light. At the time of review, the site included no content intended for mature audiences. Magellan also has a vast database of yet-to-be-reviewed sites.

Peggy: It takes its name from Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who navigated the Strait of Magellan in 1520, but it probably wasn't called the Strait of Magellan in 1520.

Joni: I'm sure you knew about Ferdinand without looking. Your eighth grade history teacher would be proud. Sometimes it's hard to tell what's good and what's not. People don't have a lot of time. I say, let other people waste their time figuring out what are the good sites.

Peggy: Magellan sites are grouped in 26 categories. Let's look at the rated sites in Kid's Zone. Here, we picked the toys and games category and got 105 choices. You can send e-mail postcards to friends and support the World Wildlife Fund at the same time. Hey! Here's our Mr. Edible Starchy Tuber Head.

Joni: Magellen gives a description, keywords, audience, language, sponsor, e-mail contact and cost for each reviewed site and hot links at a couple places.

Peggy: Under Fun and Funky, we found four-star favorites such as Mr. Bad Advice, Addicted to Stuff, and a Guide to MRML, a parody of the programming language of the web.

Joni: This site has given us a lot of ideas for future columns. But let's move on to PointCom, another web page rating company.

http://www.pointcom.com

Peggy: Pointcom is brought to you by Lycos and is the home of the Top Five Percent of the Web. Pointcom also categorizes sites. Let's take a look at the Top 10.

Joni: This week's Top 10 is a list of audio sites, spots that let you listen to music on the net.

Peggy: They have lots of Top 10 sites from the past -- Top 10 shopping sites, Top 10 audio sites, Top 10 Strange and Paranormal Sites. There's plenty of them out there.

Joni: We were having a hard time getting around the Lycos and Pointcom sites. Our computer was having a bad day. Maybe theirs was too. Another familiar rating group is

http://cool.infi.net

Peggy: Monday's Cool Site of the Day was something called www.upside.com. It seems to be some sort of web-'zine providing insider information and news about the Internet. Good for geeks, I guess.

Joni: Some sites are still cool, and you can check them out in the Cool Site Archives dating back to 1994.

Peggy: Last month, the Nancy Drew, girl sleuth, girl wonder site was cool. Nancy Drew has always been cool. Find Nancy at http://sunsite.unc.edu/cheryb/nancy.drew/ktitle.html

Joni: Another cool site in December was for the movie "Mars Attacks." The address, as you might suspect, is http://www.marsattacks.com.

Peggy: InfiNet also solicits nominations for the Cool Site of the Year. It comes as no surprise to me that The Discovery Channel Online was the Cool Site of the Year for 1996. It's my personal favorite.

Joni: Discovery Channel also won Cool Design of the Year. You can check it out at http://www.discovery.com

Still Cool Site of the Year was Hot Wired at http://www.hotwired.com

The Personal Website of the Year was the Timothy Leary homepage at http://www.leary.com:8081/

Cool Site Script of the year was Ask. Dr. Science. He knows more than you do. The page best combines theme function and writing into an enjoyable experience. Take a look at http://www.ducksbreath.com

Peggy: People often ask us how you can be sure what you're viewing would be appropriate for kids. One way would be to look for the Net-Mom Approved symbol.

http://www.well.com/user/polly

Jean Armour Polly calls herself the Net Mom and is author of the Internet Kids Yellow Pages. She also hands out endorsements for pages, marking them Net-Mom Approved.

Joni: Polly wants you to buy her book, which lists her approved sites. But she does give lots of examples from the book including 50 extraordinary experiences for Internet kids.

Peggy: Some experiences she recommends include connect with other kids, share writing and artwork with other kids, save the world, tread water in a kelp tank, look inside the human heart, check out a cello, dig up some dinosaurs and find out what famous people share your birthday.

Joni: It says this page makes a good handout and she says feel free to copy and distribute it.

Peggy: OK, it's not up there with the best of best, but it's among our best of the rest, The Centre for the Easily Amused.

http://www.amused.com

These folks pick the top site each week for those with short attention spans. Their motto: Life's too short to take seriously.

Joni: Last week's choice was Mars Attack. This week's choice is Callahan Online, billed as a place "where you don't have to feel guilty laughing at the maimed, sick and unfortunate." It's very, very strange. Find it at http://eyescream.com/callahan/

What's your favorite web site? E-mail us at movnldd.net.

See you in cyberspace.

~Joni Adams is managing editor and Peggy Scott is graphics editor at the Southeast Missourian.