A Compendium both Useful and Useless

The Mid-Hudson Mensa Handy Reference

The Fine Print:

Opinions expressed on these pages are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of any other individual, or of any official Mensa body. Mid-Hudson Mensa is not responsible for the content or links provided by any home pages we link to. Mensa does not hold any opinion or have, or express, any political or religious views.

Hoaxes, Scams, and Urban Legends
(plus actual Virus Reports)

Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability - Internet Hoaxes
When an e-mail message "alert" urges you to "forward this note to everybody you know," it's virtually certain to be a hoax. Unlike computer viruses, which rely on the weaknesses of operating systems, these hoaxes propagate themselves by exploiting the good intentions of humans. Nonetheless, they still spread rapidly, wasting a tremendous amount of our time and resources.

Most of the major anti-virus vendors also maintain lists of hoaxes:
Data Fellows Virus Information Centre - Hoax Warnings On the Run
McAfee Associates Virus Information Center - Hoax Viruses
Dr. Solomon’s Virus Central - It’s the End of the World (as we know it)
Symantec AntiVirus Research Center - Virus Hoaxes
Authoritative information on current viruses can be found at the CERT® Coordination Center.
AVG Free Anti-Virus Software - Excellent FREE Program with Monthly Data Updates
The San Fernando Valley Folklore Society's Urban Legends Reference Pages
Please, if it sounds unbelievable, well... before you panic and pass on a hoax, check here first.
A comprehensive, up-to-date, and entertaining guide to urban legends-- those usually grotesque stories, related as having happened to an acquaintance of a friend of a relative (et cetera), that are just a little too dramatically perfect (and scientifically implausible) to be true. The Usenet discussion group is alt.folklore.urban; its archives are at www.urbanlegends.com. Also see The Mining Co.: Urban Legends and Folklore.
Internet ScamBusters™
Protect yourself against scams and ripoffs (and e-mail hoaxes, and urban legends) by being informed. Also see The National Fraud Information Center.

HTML and Web Design

NCSA Beginner's Guide to HTML
A solid introduction to the basics of HyperText Mark-up Language. The writing style is a bit dry-- which means it's blessedly unencumbered by cuteness.
The World Wide Web Consortium
The keepers of the specifications. This is the place to look up those obscure keywords used in HTML tags. The HTML 4.0 spec is pretty well implemented in most of the common browsers now, and so makes a good starting point. XHTML 1.0 is still a little beyond the "least common denominator."
Jeffrey M. Glover - "Sucky to Savvy"
A talented graphic designer-- who writes clearly! Follow his advice on the pitfalls to avoid and the niceties to include, and your site will earn the gratitude of weary web surfers everywhere.
Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox
Sound, well-researched information on how the web is really used. A persuasive advocate for efficient design. ZD Net also maintains a shadow copy of his articles.

Shareware and Freeware

ZD Net Software Library
One of the major libraries of shareware. Good search capabilities, and useful reviews of each download.
Other repositories include: File Mine, Shareware.com, and Tucows.

[ Top | Home ]

This Page Copyright ©1999-2003 by Mid-Hudson Mensa. All Rights Reserved. Mensa® and the Mensa logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by American Mensa, Ltd., and are the registered marks of Mensa International, Ltd. in other countries. Mensa does not hold any opinion or have, or express, any political or religious views.