ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090034
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: computerbits
Right now, there are probably company executives hunched over computer keyboards punching their way through PLACES LIKE PALM BEACH GOLF COURSES!
On Wednesday at about boardroom coffee time, you couldn't even access The Good, The Bad & The Ugly category of Golf Travel Online.
The G,B&U section of http://www.gto.com reviews "Holes of renown and ill repute." It is one of several choices for on-line information at this site, which debuted in mid-February and now has 50,000 visitors a month.
When you tap in there, one of the things you'll want to do is register with Golf Travel. It's free, and it allows you to get e-mail alerts about special travel packages in places where you like to play.
Expect this page to take awhile to load, too, because it is graphically endowed. If you want a quick hit, though, you can select a "low graphics" load and you'll get mainly text.
This site also has a continuing contest, a listing of where the pros are and links to other golf spots on the Internet.
See you on the links!
Virginia Western Community College's on-line page is still under construction, but the opening photograph of the Roanoke campus is worth peeking at now. The college, on-line since March 7, had 3,785 visitors as of Wednesday. The address: http://www.vw.cc.va.us/.
While you're at it, you could also visit New River Community College's page at http:www.nr.cc.va.us/. There you'll find some interesting links, including one to the National Weather Service page. This site also is still being built, but eventually will include resumes of students in its computer information services program.
Over the past three years, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been requiring larger publicly owned companies to file quarterly and annual reports via computer in stages, leaving the smallest outfits for last. But Monday, the agency told some 16,000 smallish companies that it was their turn to file electronically.
The SEC's computerized filing system, known as Edgar, is 13 years old and was built at a cost of about $111 million. It is considered one of the most valuable corporate databases in the world because it includes financial data, contracts and executive pay details of the nation's major public companies.
Now the SEC is examining the future of the Edgar system, asking for public opinions on how to modernize it and how quickly and whether the operation should be privatized. The outcome will be significant for individual investors, many of whom view corporate documents free on a delayed basis on the SEC's World Wide Web home page on the Internet.
Part of the reasoning behind making Edgar a private enterprise is that owners outside government would be more able to adapt to rapidly changing technology. The SEC's EdgarLink software remains in the old MS-DOS format and hasn't been updated in a form designed for Microsoft's Windows operating system.
Even so, the agency gets 80,000 hits on its page daily, impressive except when compared with 1 million to 2 million hits on the Playboy magazine page.
You can connect to SEC at http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm. |n n| Using a page that promotes the Roanoke Valley business climate, out-of-town companies and locals get an idea of what it would be like doing business here.
You can look up power costs and transportation systems on the home page, launched last week by the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership.
The new Web page at http://www.roanoke.org was designed by SymWeb Inc. of Max Meadows, which markets organizations and companies on the Internet.
The page opens with a logo and links on a blue-green backdrop. There are short summaries of the latest corporate expansion announcements and pictures of construction and completed buildings. There are links to the home pages of more than a dozen area businesses and companies that donate to the partnership, such as mail-order merchant Orvis, Hollins College and WDBJ (Channel 7).
Other than the local business links and some others to wineries and entertainment, there's not a lot for locals here, but the page shows how this area is being portrayed to the world. |n n| You're sitting at home late one night, and you're suddenly struck with the urge to redecorate your living room. For some decorating ideas and furniture-care tips, check out the new Web site by Bassett Furniture Industries Inc., at http://www.bassettfurniture.com.
The site includes a company history, tips for caring for your furniture and photos of Bassett's lines. If you type in your name and address, it will even tell you where the nearest Bassett dealer is. And you can e-mail questions or comments to the Bassett marketing folk directly from the Web page.
This isn't the furniture company's first foray into cyberspace. In midsummer 1994, Bassett became a member of CompuServe's Electronic Mall, where it posted photos and product information. But the new Web site is open to all Internet users, not just CompuServe customers.
You can comment on or contribute to this column by calling 981-3393 or 981-3237 or through e-mail to skelly2180@aol.com.
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LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:graphic Web sites in today's columnby CNB