COMDEX
The Lowdown on Comdex: Every year, computer industry professionals complain that Comdex is getting too big and inconvenient--and every year it gets bigger. Between 190,000 and 250,000 attendees are expected for this year’s event, which runs today through Friday in Las Vegas. They’ll be checking out the wares of some 2,100 exhibitors.
If you’re interested in attending, call Softbank Comdex at (617) 433-1500 or go to the Comdex Web site (https://www.comdex.com), which also has hotel information. Tickets and hotel rooms are scarce, though, at least until the later part of the week.
If you can’t attend, the Web is definitely the second-best place to be for what’s happening. For news, information and hot products updated daily, there’s https://daily.comdex.com. Live cybercasts of speeches will be at https://webcast.comdex.com. CNet (https://www.cnet.com) also will have daily updates.
The CRN Comdex Test Center is online with a schedule of it will be testing 65 different video products at the conference. For results and other information, go to https://techweb.cmp.com/crn/issues/709/testcenter_splsh.html
The Comdexters’ Guide to Las Vegas, at https://comdexvegas.com, has a map of the city, attractions and activities for off-convention hours. Gato’s Underground Comdex Guide (https://ga.to) has the skinny on parties and “trading vile gossip and unbelievable stories.”
ComDeluxe’s Gates-o-Matic (https://www.lasvegassun.com/comdex/gatesomatic.html) has a strange tribute to keynote speaker Bill Gates: You get to dress him for the trade show.
CYBERSPACE * Breathe Easier: Get ready, get set, quit. OK, you can wait until Thursday, the annual Great American Smokeout. With all that newfound free time (no more cigarette breaks), you’ll be able to check out the American Lung Assn. (https://www.lungusa.org).
* Don’t Go in the Attic: “Scream” put horror movies back on the map, but for some they never left. And those are the people for whom National Horror Movie Day, which is Sunday, was made. You’ll find a tribute to the modern horror B movie at https://www.smackem.com/horror. The Horror Hotel (https://horrorhotel.com/) is a horror flick site for fans, by fans. And check out the Horror Movie Survival Guide (https://www.parrett.net/~rralston/survive.html) if you dare.
* Jonestown: This week marks the 19th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre. For a history and an analysis of Jonestown, check out Making Sense of the Nonsensical at https://jmcneil.sba.muohio.edu/Private/Jones_Private.html. The Cultic Studies Journal (https://www.csj.org) is a resource for people whose lives have been affected by a cult. For an alternative view of what happened and who Jim Jones really was, check out https://www.peg.apc.org/~newdawn/29a.htm. Here’s a hint: It involves the CIA. (Surprised?)
* Kennedy Assassination: Speaking of CIA plots and conspiracy theories, the mother of them all also has an anniversary this week. President Kennedy was killed 34 years ago Saturday. At the National Archives and Records Administration (https://www.nara.gov/nara/jfk/jfk_search.html) you can search and view assassination-related material in the National Archives. For other links to assassination-related sites, check out https://www.willamette.edu/cla/rhetoric/courses/argumentation/jfk.html
* Rising to the Occasion: You might not be getting the day off for it, but it is National Homemade Bread Day. Lots of Bread Recipes is at https://members.aol.com/meadowscd/recipes/bread00.htm, and you can pretty much guess what you’ll find there, right? Suzie’s Virtual Bread Page has a variety of recipes, including one for sourdough that is complete with instructional photos and a history of bread. Suzie can be found at https://hubcap.clemson.edu/~bmedder/
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