Special notes on the websites: I've corrected several of the URLs. Some sites only work if the www is included before the domain name. Also, I have a strong distaste for emarketer.com because they encourage the practice of spamming users - a tactic likely to bring in a few idiots to look at your products but likely to REALLY piss off 95% of the receivers. People don't like getting junkmail in their real mailbox, why would anyone want to clutter up their email box with more crap? They also sell a lot of demographic information - much of which is collected without the permission of users - and resell it. Yet another practice which leaves a bad taste in my consumer mouth. However, businesses love that crap and are willing to pay through the roof for it... I'm just the bum writing the review (of which I'll remain neutral) and its inclusion is up to you. I really wish businesses would learn to be more consumer friendly - it would really help them in the long run. Now, if I keep this up, I'm going to need to make this into a rant on my page... ROTFL :) In fact, I just wrote it down on my topic list. Also, of note, several of the sites were horribly repetitive (bizrate and mysimon for example) and made me utter a loud sigh upon reviewing it. www.sba.gov The home of the Small Business Administration, this site provides most of the necessary information to find out how to start or expand a business. Also provided is a contact information for local bureaus of the SBA as well as a searchable database of forms, regulations and other publications. www.monster.com One of the hubs for online hiring, Monster.com provides a solution for employers looking for skilled workers capable of filling a number of demanding positions ranging from health care to technology to sales. Job seekers can come to Monster.com to find tips on how to land a new career, search for available jobs or post their resume. Employers can either post a new job or browse through the seven million resumes available to contact a potential employee directly. www.irs.gov From statistics to forms to how to fill out the forms, the IRS website provides everything someone would need to know about filing their taxes. The IRS offers a plethora of information on business and personal taxation as well as warnings on what items the IRS considers to be a red flag for an audit. www.usps.com If snail mail is your game, this is the place to go to for all your postal needs. The United States Postal Service site offers a variety of information from zip codes to current postal rates. They also offer forms, tracking and confirmation, and postal supplies and stamps. google.com Using their patented reference technology, Google offers one of the most reliable search engines on the internet. Free of all the distractions and ads on the other portals, google provides a quick, accurate search for the information being sought without having to wade through dozens of unrelated pages. weather.com The Weather Channel provides a comprehensive amount of information at weather.com. Find out current conditions or the ten day forecast. Browse local weather maps using doppler radar or satellite photography or find out about the weather in other cities. Weather.com also provides information on how weather works and how to prepare for various weather conditions. score.org Score.org, an organization made up of retired executives, provides consulting for small businesses. As partners with the SBA, they make a large number of brochures, tips and guides available for anyone looking to manage their own business. bigstep.com If you want to get your presence on the web, bigstep.com provides a one-stop solution to build your home. For free, this site allows you to build a website, create a catalog, maintain a customer database and gather statistics about who is visiting your site. For an added cost, they allow sites to accept credit card payments. bizrate.com Bizrate.com provides a portal to online shopping. Whether you're looking for clothing, computer parts, office supplies, music or pet toys, they provide a broad selection of items. More importantly, however, is they actively rate all of their affiliated merchants so that online shoppers can buy with confidence knowing what type of service they will be provided with. biztravel.com The folks at Biztravel.com offer several services to people looking to travel. Not only can you plan your trip, including buying tickets and booking a hotel, but you can find out all about the city of your destination. This detailed information includes general business attire, crime, recommendations on hotels and restaurants, and where to go for business services. hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey Webmonkey is the place to go to find out how to develop webpages. They offer example javascript code, guides to HTML layout, and ideas on how to neatly design webpages. For people looking how to create dynamic web content, they also provide tutorials on how to choose which database is right for the job, how to access the web pages through server side scripting and how to secure your system from attackers. travelocity.com Airline tickets, car rentals, hotel reservations and cruise tickets are just some of the products and services offered by Travelocity. Travel tips, a fare finder, and detailed information about popular cities are also provided for your perusal. mapquest.com Mapquest provides free online, though printable, maps. They provide tools to help navigate these maps as well, such as an address locator and driving directions. A broad range of city maps and local information is also available, as is general information for business travelers. libraryspot.com Libraryspot.com is a portal to a plethora of reference material on the internet. If you need to do fact finding or research, this should be one of your first stops. Some of the topics include almanacs, calendars, legal information, quotations, statistics and phone directories. mysimon.com Mysimon.com offers consumers ratings of retailers who sell a wide variety of products online. Search their database for particular items you are looking for or browse through departments for product comparisons or estimates. quicken.com From Intuit, the makers of the popular Quicken product, comes Quicken.com. On this site, you can see breaking stock news, get current quotes and see the latest financial news. Also available is information on mortgaging, insurance, banking, retirement and taxation. They also provide tools to file income taxes online, get mortgage estimates and planning for retirement. usatrade.gov Foreign trade can be a complex matter. The US Commerce Department has made available information for businesses looking to expand their operations to a global level. Find out about international shipping, tariff rates, and export regulation. If the information provided isn't detailed enough or you have other questions not covered, they offer consulting services in most major cities and provide directions to find an office near you. www.freetranslation.com Not everyone speaks multiple languages but there is often interesting information available in another language elsewhere in the world that you would like to read. Freetranslation provides a means to translate webpages or other text from spanish, german and french into english. It's also possible to translate from english into six other European languages. phonespell.org For a brief humorous break from boredom, check out phonespell.org. Enter from three to ten digits and see what words can be spelled from the associated letters on a phone's dialpad. ciac.llnl.gov Computer security is an important issue for businesses today. The threat of crackers, virii and other malicious attackers can cost a business millions of dollars in downtime. The US Department of Energy provides the Computer Incident Advisory Capability to keep users alert of the latest vulnerabilities and virii which could corrupt their systems or leave them open to attack. time.gov Thanks to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, it's possible to read the time off from the atomic clocks to provide the ultimate in accuracy. Unfortunately, only United States timezones are provided. refdesk.com As the name implies, refdesk.com is a portal to factual information on the internet. A massive multitude of categories are included, as is current newswire reports. They also allow users to search Webster's Dictionary, a thesaurus and the Encyclopedia Britannica. emarketer.com eMarketer provides prospective internet startups information on how to get started. For a fee, they give statistical information on internet demographics and tips on how to get your presence known. onlinewbc.org The Online Women's Business Center provides information for women looking to create their own businesses. From tips on starting and growing a business to management and marketing, it is a wonderful resource of information. They also provide forums to discuss whatever business topic is on your mind and feature experts who are happy to answer any questions you may have. lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business/guide2.html The Entrepreneur's Reference Guide to Small Business Information is hosted by the Library of Congress. In it, find an enormous sorted bibliography of where to go for information about your current business questions. ceoexpress.com CEOExpress is a website dedicated to putting the information business leaders need at their fingertips. You'll find links to all the major newspapers, tips on investing and financing, handy reference tools, popular shopping sites and pages designed to give you a break from the stress of management. This article is Copyright 2000, Ken Witherow. All rights reserved. For questions or comments, email phantoml@rochester.rr.com