By Christina Fisher

One thing I like to do is keep my eyes open for new websites to investigate. Whether it’s informative, helpful, unusual or quirky, I am often interested in the undiscovered territory - the new places to land - that makes up the Internet. So why not share my discoveries?

Sites To See is a new feature of our quarterly newsletter that will offer sites for you to explore. The primary goal is to offer online resources that may be helpful or useful to you as a construction writer; however, don’t be surprised by the odd site or two - G-rated of course (sorry, Woody) - that are thrown in as general human interest - or just for fun.

If you know of an interesting site to share, by all means pass it along. Just send the link to Christina Fisher at cmfisher@reedbusiness.com. Although I learned of these websites through reputable resources, please remember to research each site for yourself and to download intelligently.

The Internet Archive: www.archive.org — The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library, with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in the Presidio of San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages in its collections. This is a great place to search for sites that may have been removed from the web.

Get Human: www.gethuman.com - You’re trying to get help on the phone, and you have to wade through layer after layer of automated prompts. All you want is a live human voice on the other end of the line. Gethuman.com is the answer. Gethuman.com has a database of customer service numbers and shortcuts to a human at more than 450 companies and agencies. For example, hit 0-0 after each prompt to get a human at Bank of America; for Sirius Satellite Radio hit 1 and then 2 after the initial prompt. The site isn’t perfect. It’s maintained by volunteers based on tips. While information is checked, it is possible that prompts are changed or information is faulty. Nevertheless, it is a great place to start searching for a little human interaction when you’re trying to fix that error on your credit card statement.

K9 Web Protection: www.k9webprotection.com - K9 software filters websites based on content; it is free. Blue Coat Systems, the K9 creators, claim that you can block 55 categories of content based on Blue Coat’s database of rated sites. K9 blocks 18 site categories by default, including porn and gambling, but it is easy to configure K9 to block what you want - religious, pay-to-surf and peer-to-peer for example. While K9 only works on Windows XP and 2000, you can use any browser once it’s installed. When you download K9, you’ll be asked to give your name and an e-mail address. Blue Coat will e-mail you a free license key. Consider carefully which e-mail address you give Blue Coat. (I use three e-mail addresses for different types of applications.) K9 has many setting options to explore, including the ability to deny access to the Internet completely. This could be a useful tool if you are trying to limit your child’s access to the Internet when they should be doing homework. No filtering site is perfect and K9 also has its limitations, but it is a good - and free - tool.

SiteAdvisor: www.siteadvisor.com - You’re searching for a website on your search engine, and several possibilities come up. Which ones can you trust? That’s where SiteAdvisor comes to the rescue. SiteAdvisor is a free plug-in from McAfee that helps you make informed decisions about where to go online. It has its limitation like all filtering software, but once it’s installed - and it only works with Internet Explorer or Firefox - you’re ready to go. When you search for sites using Google, Yahoo!, Ask, AOL.com or MSN, just look for a red X (danger), a green check (safe), a yellow exclamation mark (beware), or a gray question mark (not rated yet). McAfee uses an automatic testing system that browses sites, downloads files and completes forms just as you would. The system then checks for spyware, spam, viruses and browser exploits. Once you’ve downloaded SiteAdvisor, you can also get more information about a site’s rating or submit a site for testing. What SiteAdvisor cannot do is examine content. A porn site can get a green check if it poses no danger to your computer. Again, SiteAdvisor does not replace other security tools, it just adds another layer of protection.

The Ms. Dewey search engine: www.MsDewey.com - Speaking of search engines…Tired of the same old search engine options? Looking for a little sass? Then give Ms. Dewey a try. Played by actress Janina Gavankar, Ms. Dewey stands sharply dressed and ready to help with your Internet research. If you don’t type in anything, she becomes annoyed and will say things like, “Hellooo! Type something here!” Each search prompts a comment. Type in “election reform” and Ms Dewey says, “With all due respect, Senator, you’re a moron.” Type in “football,” and she says, “There is nothing more exciting to me than listening to a middle-aged man describe to me what I just saw.” Wait too long to type, and she may tap on your monitor screen and ask if anybody is there. While the search isn’t fast - or as good as the more typical search engines - Ms. Dewey is a nice break from the sometimes boring world of Internet research.

Until next time…Happy Surfing!

Note: Most of this material was compiled from The Charlotte Observer.