My e-mail box has been a little empty lately (until last Sunday, that is, but more on that later).
So I've decided to elicit some by creating the first Enquirer Top 10 Personal Web Pages Competition. Here's how it works:
If you have a Web page that you're proud of, e-mail me the URL along with your full name, hometown or neighborhood and phone number. I'll choose the 10 sites that I think are the most impressive based on content, graphics and technical whiz-bang stuff.
The 10 winners will get lots of local publicity (a half-million Cincinnatians read this paper, although I can't say that for this column), a cute little emblem to display on their site and a link from the Enquirer Web site.
Other rules:
The sites must be personal Web sites - no corporate or business sites.
All sites must be in good taste.
Contestants should be from the Cincinnati area or Tristate region.
Entries must be received by Feb. 15.
For the many of you who have sent e-mail telling me how wonderful your site is, here's your chance to prove it. (But you'll have to resubmit your site to be considered.)
AOL WORKAROUND:
The big computer news the past few weeks has been America Online - or America Offline or AOHell, depending on how angry you are.
Cincinnati is one of many cities that has found the local AOL phone numbers constantly busy since AOL announced a $19.95-a-month unlimited use plan.
The problem is that for many users, AOL is the digital equivalent of the post office. You might want to dump your AOL account, but what about all those clients and friends who think your last name is ''@aol.com''?
Here's one way to get to AOL:
Get an Internet account through a local Internet Service Provider (ISP). It'll cost you another $20 a month, but at least it works. Install the software provided with the account, which usually includes Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer and SLIP/PPP software (such as Trumpet Winsock or FreePPP).
When you're sure that you have a working link to the Internet, open the SLIP/PPP connection, but don't start up your browser software. Start up the AOL software (you should use version 3.0) and go into Setup. Create a new location (call it ''Internet'') and choose ''TCP/IP'' as the Network. Close the Setup window and click on Signon. The AOL program should work through your ISP connection.
(If you have trouble, your ISP can help you create the network connection.)
This is different than going to AOL's Web site (http://www.aol.com). The Web site doesn't let you into the AOL service, but you can send e-mail to AOL from there, or download the latest version of AOL software - which you might need if your current AOL software doesn't allow a TCP/IP connection.
APPLE REDUX:
Last week's column drew some heated response from the Mac faithful, who felt I was declaring the Mac dead (I wasn't).
Some took issue with the sentence, ''First, Apple announced that it was buying Next Software to use as the basis for a new Apple operating system that wouldn't run Mac programs - although the company would still support the Mac for a few more years.''
Backward compatibility has been a big issue at Apple, but at the recent MacWorld show, Apple promised that the new operating system will eventually run Mac programs, will run on PowerPC Macs and will look and feel like a Mac.
The plan is to release the new OS (called ''Rhapsody'') in three phases: the first phase, for software developers, will not support current programs; the second phase will run some Mac programs; and the final release (mid-1998) will include software to run Mac programs in an emulation mode, the way PowerPC machines run older Mac programs now.
Apple will issue upgrades to System 7 through 1998 (System 7.6 is available now), essentially maintaining two OSs.
Will Apple's new OS orphan the Macintosh line? Apple would be crazy if it did.
But Apple's confusing marketing strategy only hurts it by scaring off customers and software developers. It's a sad state of affairs for a company that was once - and plenty of my readers think still is - a brilliant innovator in personal computing.
E-mail Charles Brewer at CBrewer@enquirer.com. This column and Charles Brewer's past columns can be found at The Enquirer's Web site http://enquirer.com/columns/brewer