Although search engines are really useful, the fact of the matter is that even they don't have convenient links to nice places because, well, they have too many sites. Here, I'll include a couple of non-search sites I have found immensely useful whic h you might want to try out.

By the way, particularly good sites are denoted with a !

There are HUNDREDS of links to places where you can obtain useful information or pictures for the purpose of creating web sites. Here are a few you will particularly like if you are in the process of creating a web page. Note that some of these h ave introductory information, so if you are not too familiar with HTML publishing, but if your school provides the opportunity to do so, check some of these out to see if Web Publishing is for you.

• Bob Allison's Web Masters page is simply the most essential page for Web publishers. It contains hundreds of links as well as interesting information for those planning to become a true Master of HTML.

• If you want a counter on your home page, check out my information on setting up counters. HOT!

• NetWatch's Top Ten Tools contain useful Web tools. Some are directly involved with publishing, while some are just for those who want to know more about the World Wide Web and the Intern et.

• If you're looking for little icons to spruce up your Web page, Geoff's Icon Page contains some great little buttons, icons, and borders. Make sure you have a reasonably fast connection, or be patie nt to see all of these little gadgets.

• For more icons, try Icons & Images Collection. It's lacking in some areas, but some of the things you'll find in there are pretty good.

• For those who are NetScaping their web pages, Pattern Land has all the backgrounds one could possibly desire. Most of MINE came from here!

• COLORS!!!! If you are having trouble finding colors to use, check out the RGB Hex Triplet Color Chart A must!

• Finally, if you want to create your own Web Page in Windows, check out HotDog for Windows. It is an easy-to-use yet powerful editor. You can also download a free 30 day trial!

There are a few good links to get the scoop on today's news. These include places such as Yahoo and CNN; other sites are developing news info too. I'll add them here, as well as some other categories in a few days.

• If you forgot to buy the New York Times today, check out CNN. It has the latest, up-to-the-minute news, replete with pictures and sounds. And it's quite fast!

• Another great service is NewsPage. They have up-to-date news as well, but to get full stories you'll have to subscribe (with money). But for news briefs, it's a great solution to find almost any piece of new s out there.

• If you don't like the above two, I'll give you one more. Yahoo's News Summary is also particularly useful.

• For USA Today readers, USA Today also has a news page.

• Sports, Sports and More Sports: ESPNet SportsZone is the answer for you sports fans!

• Finally, for local news, try News of the Day. Refreshed every hour, it strikes a little closer to home.

Unlike the "Web Design"section, this section is primarily devoted to obtaining client applications. Some of the websites listed here, however, also contain some design applications.

• If you're using Windows, the best web page to obtain Internet applications, BY FAR, is Stroud's Consummate Winsock Apps List. It has information on EVERY Internet app that's ou t there, as well as some non-Internet apps that act as "Helpers"to Internet applications. The catch? Stroud's list is for Windows applications only.

• If you're not using Windows, the best page I've found so far is Yahoo's World Wide Web Page. Be sure to check the page "above"that one for non-WWW specific Internet apps.

• For information on how to get chatting on the 'Net, check out this IRC information page. The graphics are a little wierd, but other than that, this is the best reference on IRC.

• For chatting thru Netscape or through your WWW browser, you really should check out WebChat. This is REALLY COOL STUFF!

What are Multi-Purpose sites, anyway? Simply put, these sites contain more than one kind of information -- they may include news, but may also include other features, for example. Many of these sites are the entrance for other sites and stuff.