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Voices

Yes, this page needs updating -- I hope to get to it soon

1. Opinions, Gimmicks, and Subcultures

2. Virtual Communities and Environments

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The Net is a noisy, busy place. Like a marketplace or town square, people assemble to talk, argue, and share ideas, sometimes as quickly as they come to mind, sometimes more deliberately through sustained collaborative effort over a period of time. Three years or so ago, before the explosion of the Web, this pluralism and community-building was largely what was portrayed when the Net was discussed in the mass media, and it still largely characterizes online culture.

Because these voices have to do with electronic free speech, no attempt has been made to evaluate, shape, or weight them. Those few virtual communities that Net citizens in the class should know about are all that have been bulleted. Hopefully, unless the Supreme Court decides to uphold the CDA (see Communications Decency Act), communication on the Net will continue to be heterogeneous and provocative.

1. Opinions, Gimmicks, and Subcultures [top]

Aboriginal Studies -- indigenous down under

Abortion and Reproductive Rights -- resources to help

women decide

AIDS Memorial Quilt -- commemoration

Alternative -- Yahoo's pointers to the otherwise marginal

American Association of Disabled Persons --

physically challenged

Anarchy List -- radicalism

Angelnet -- "welcome to heaven"

Anti-Computer Page -- computers are lame

Anti-Netscape Page -- down with proprietary browsing

Automatic Complaint-Letter Generator -- autogripe

Babes on the Web -- "the Internet's most talked about

World Wide Web page!"

Bandwidth Conservation Society -- dedicated to transmitting

fewer bits

British Royal Family Opinion Survey -- tell People what you

really think

Captain James T. Kirk Sing-A-Long Page -- Hey, Mr.

Tambourine Maaaaaannnnnn . . .

Cara's Madonna Shrine -- crazy for you

Child Advocacy -- Yahoo's pointers

Communication with Parrots -- research with African Grey

parrots leads to larger social implications

Condolence Page and Biography of Israeli Prime Minister

Yitzhak Rabin -- remembering Rabin

Confession Booth -- convenient mea culpa form

Cults -- definitive guide to the fringe

Cynicist's Corner -- "what do you want from me today?"

Dave's Web of Lies -- falsity you can trust

Deep Thoughts of Supermodels -- better keep their day jobs

Diversity Page -- races and cultures

Engaged Buddhist Dharma -- committed to Buddhist politics

Euthanasia World Directory -- right to die resources

FeMiNa -- database of women and girls online

Firearms and Liberty -- supporters of the Second Amendment

50 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time -- schemes, collusion,

and pacts

500 Ways to Annoy Your Roommate -- passive aggression

Flag Burning Page -- questioning patriotic symbols

Gender and Sexuality -- "identity and sexuality in

cultural practices"

Hate Page of the Week -- hemlock

Heather Has Two Mommies -- PC satire

Home Recording Rights -- if you know how to set your VCR

I Am My Own Freak Show -- self-denying self-affirmation

InforM -- women's studies database

Internet Pizza Server -- hungry?

Klingon Language Institute -- for Trekkies

Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson Show -- tune in,

turn on, drop out -- see also Timothy Leary's home page

Life Is a Party -- celebrities not at their best

LifeNet -- pro-life and anti-abortion

Links from the Underground -- what are you doing to yourself?

Moan and Groan Page -- share your bad computing

experiences

Mystery Science Theater -- Yahoo's pointers to MST3k sites

National Coalition of Free Men -- men's rights

National Committee for Public Education and

Religious Liberty -- coalition of organizations that support freedom of worship

Nerdity Test -- oh, you already took this one?

nothingness.org -- "nothingness is always an elsewhere"

Official Alt.Fan.Dan-Quayle Home Page -- great moments

in statesmanship

Operation Right to Know -- activist UFO researchers

Our Lady of Fatima -- witness a modern miracle

Paranormal Phenomena -- Yahoo's pointers to New Age,

astrology, occult, etc.

Patriots Against the New World Order Totalitarianism

Index -- how to avoid being co-opted, from the ACLU and Guns to What They Really Mean

PC Primer -- anti-Political Correctness page

Pink Pages -- gay resource (but black, yes?)

Poly Page -- polygamy

Prayers Heavenward -- beam up your prayers:

absolutely scientific!

Procrastinator's Creed -- check it out later

Pronoia -- don't be paranoid, get zippy

Protecting Children in Cyberspace -- child abuse prevention

Race and Ethnicity -- pointers from the American Studies Web

RainbowNet -- multicultural groups and resources from c|net

Richard III Society -- he was not a crook

Right Brain Works -- let those creative juices flow

Robot Wisdom -- "home of the new conservative-left

responsible party"

Romance-Related Resources -- take it slow

Safe Sex Page -- talk about it

Seniors Computer Information Project -- Canadian program

introduces seniors to online services

Sexuality -- Yahoo's pointers

Size Issues -- Yahoo's pointers on height and weight concerns

Slacker Updates -- for those Gen-X blues

Society for Human Sexuality -- celebrating our bodies

Sophasphere II Project -- use the remote

Stop Prisoner Rape -- convicts' rights

Subliminal Messages in Windows 95? -- play it backwards

Suicide -- online intervention hotline

Tobacco Control Archives -- breathe free

URouLette -- where the Web stops, nobody knows

Useless Pages -- Yahoo's pointers to time sinks

Vomitus Maximus Museum -- S&M

Watch Bill's House Grow! -- "the house that Windows built"

Weird Places on the Net -- really

Weird Science -- actually, some real gems can be found here

We Love Homosexuals -- Christians support gays

Why America Online Sucks -- AOL is a rip-off

Why the Web Sucks II -- it's not the greatest thing since

sliced bread?

Yecch! -- strangely familiar interface

2. Virtual Communities and Environments [top]

Berkeley Virtual Community Project -- online and offline

community initiative

Boondox -- "a country place in cyberspace for cosmic

bumpkins"

Bulletin Boards -- Yahoo's pointers

Catacombs -- Christian community

CMC People -- part of the Computer-Mediated Communication

Study Center

c|net Community -- part of the Computer Network

CollegeTown -- "a virtual academic community"

Communication -- Yahoo's pointers to live chat groups on

the Web

Communities in Cyberspace -- "perspectives on new forms of

social organization" from the Center for the Study of Online Community

Chuck's Virtual Ranch -- for cyber cowboys

CyberCottage -- a weekend site

Cyborganic Gardens -- "such a fantastic paradox -- a cool

place to geek out"

CyberPlace -- Internet presence providers in New Zealand

Cyber Reef -- online hangout

Digital City -- exhibit and database for cyber pioneers

Downtown Anywhere -- a commercial "city in cyberspace"

Duke Class of 1997 and 1998 -- are you virtual?

Duke Home Pages -- individuals affiliated with Duke

Durham Online -- from the Convention and Visitors Bureau

Electric Communities -- "cyberspace design and

development company" with links to Habitats and Cyberspace Papers on VirCom topics

Ethics and the Internet -- are we virtual?

Faherty Family -- the Faherty's multimedia home on the Web

Families -- Yahoo's pointers to "home pages"

Global Business Network -- select visionaries, known as

GBN People

HCI People -- designers of human-computer interfaces

Internationale Stadt -- Berlin-based community network and

virtual community

Internet Association of the Carolinas -- local Net users and

development group

Internet Roundtable Society -- talk about the Net on the Net

Internet Town Hall -- home of the 1996 world's expo

LambdaMOO -- famous because of Dibbell's article

Lara's MOO Page -- MOO research at UVA

Mailing Lists -- Yahoo's pointers to listservs, majordomos,

and other lists

Maqom -- an interactive "cyber-hevruta" Talmud study program

Media MOO -- "a professional community for media

researchers"

Miller Genuine Draft Tap Room -- virtual tavern

Mindvox -- NYC-based Net service

MUDs, MUSHes, and MOOs -- Yahoo's pointers

Netizens -- from the Global Network Navigator,

see also their Match.Com online dating service

Netscape Community -- including their White Pages and Netscape NUGgies

Online Services -- Yahoo's pointers, including:

America Online, CompuServe, Delphi, and Prodigy

Outside Online -- the world outside your monitor on

your monitor

People -- Yahoo's pointers to selected individual's pages

Regions -- Yahoo's pointers

Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals in Networked

Communities -- from the National Academy of Sciences

RTPNet -- local online community

Shopping Centers -- Yahoo's pointers to virtual malls

SinPar Cafe -- meeting place for single parents

S.P.Q.R. -- recreation of third century Rome and

interactive game

Sprawl -- virtual environment multimedia MOO

Sunsite at UNC-CH -- see also other Sunsites

Sunsite Communication Archives -- info on online talk

and environments

TecfaMOO -- "virtual space for educational technology" in

Geneva, see their MOO Education page

Triangle Area -- Yahoo's pointers to information on

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill

TRIVR -- Triangle Virtual Reality Group

Usenet -- Yahoo's pointers with Newsgroup Listings

User Groups -- Yahoo's pointers to users who learn

technology together

VINE -- Venture Information Network for Entrepreneurs

Virtual Communities Page -- from Howard Rheingold

Virtual Environments Group -- Georgia Tech's Graphics

Visualization and Usability Center

Virtual Memorial Garden -- for the digitized dearly departed,

including pets

Virtual Society -- a Sony project with Related Links

WAX -- surrealistic MOO

Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link -- the WELL is the granddaddy

of the VirComs

Women's Resources in the Triangle Area -- comprehensive

index

WWW Collaboration Projects -- collaborative research and

resources on virtual groups