ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200043
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
AND THE BEST THING of all is that no one will try to sell you anything. Scout's honor.
Even if you aren't in the market for insurance right now, you really should visit SafeTnet's insurance directory on the Web.
For one thing, it's an exhaustive, well-researched, easy-to-use guide to the thousands of insurance-related Web pages out there.
SafeTnet - http://www.safetnet.com - directly links you to 400 pages of insurance topics, ranging from how to choose life insurance to a list of the safest cars. The site uses frames all the way through, which means you can move through directories and content areas without ever leaving SafeTnet and its easy-to-use guideposts.
The site also includes directories of insurance representatives and companies arranged by ZIP code, with an e-mail option so you can write directly to agents in your area.
Right now, the list of agents includes fewer than 10 names, and searching by company brings up not a thing. Jim Kaufman, one of SafeTnet's founders, figures it will take three to six months to compile an even remotely thorough list, since most of the agents they've talked to have never been on the Net.
SafeTnet was designed by a group of current and former insurance agents, who sort through all the insurance Web sites and offer links to the best ones. But the site doesn't sell insurance, so you won't find any partisanship here.
But the page is also a lot of fun.
Don't leave the site without visiting the Ship's Library, where you can read the (mostly fictional) "Illustrated Pseudo History and Development of SafeTnet: A tale as old as the sea and almost as passionate as a rerun of Melrose Place." The three-chapter saga traces the history of the company, from the humble beginnings of its founder, Horatio Safetnet, a man burdened by a "life-long resemblance to the band members of ZZ Top."
And you should play Voyage, a short insurance trivia game. But make a point of losing the first time you play. We can't tell you why, but just remember that this is insurance with a sense of humor.
The site requires a browser that is capable of framing. Currently, Netscape 2.0 and higher, and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 fit the bill. If you don't have a compatible browser, you can reach the download sites for both Netscape and Explorer from the SafeTNet page.
Hillary's hair, part 2
Hillary-watcher alert: We've found the real Hillary's Hair Web site - thanks to the folks at SafeTnet. A couple of weeks ago, we looked up the address we thought would take us to a photo gallery of Hillary Clinton's rapidly changing hairstyles. But, you may remember, the address instead connected us to the Web page for a computer board recycling company.
But a directory of the SafeTnet crew's favorite Web sites - part of the Ship's Library - includes a link to the hair page at http://www.hillaryshair.com. It's worth a visit. Where else can you watch our First Lady change hairstyles 40 times through the magic of computer animation?
Atomic time
Got a call from Howard Chilton at Smith Mountain Lake re: the "Keeping Time" item in last week's column. He has a program called "Atomic Clock for Windows" from Parsons Technology that costs $19 and he says it takes care of the time problem very well, even compensates for Daylight Savings, etc. It will connect to Greenwich if you want, and will update any program you have on your computer for the right time. The number for Parsons is (800) 223-6925.
Library `l'
We have had so much trouble knocking the l out of the Roanoke County Library's Web Page address, that we asked the library's web master, Michael Ericson, to explain why it's there in the first place. Ericson, also known as the electronic services media specialist, went to Roanoke Valley Christian High School and Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Tenn., and has been working with computers for 15 years.
If you missed it in the past two columns, the library's address - co.roanoke.va.us/rclibhp.htm - has incorrectly been printed as ending in html. It's an honest mistake because most Web addresses we're used to end that way. Not the library's and Ericson explains why:
"HTML simply stands for HyperText Markup Language, which is a formatting language used by World Wide Web servers. HTML documents are just documents or text files with formatting and other media objects embedded within them.
"For a variety of reasons, documents on the Roanoke County's Web Site were named following the MS DOS convention for filename extensions and have only three-letter filename extensions."
"A filename extension simple tells you what type of file you are working with. A word processing file could have an extension of .DOC for document or a database file could have an extension of .DBF and a HyperText file .HTM as is the case with Roanoke County's Home Page."
If you don't have a home computer, you can get on the Web at the library. If you don't even know what the Web is, the Hollins Library Branch is offering a "First Look at the Internet" class July 13, a Saturday, from 9-11. Call 561-8024 for details.
Ericson will be running some special interest classes in geneaology and gardening and as soon as we know the dates, you'll get them.
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