This Month's Report:
*** A Quick Note
*** Best of The Year
*** My Crystal Ball

(note: there are so many Url's in this issue, I put the whole list of them at the end of this issue)

*** A Quick Note ****
For all of you who are going through Kleinman Report withdrawal with the move to a monthly publication schedule, this report is for you. Filled to the rim with sites, this one should keep you busily surfing well in to January :) Happy Holidays and thanks again for being a faithful subscriber to this report.

***Best of the Year****
Every year at this time I like to run down the best of the best, sites that I reported on in 1997 that deserve a permanent place on your bookmark list. So without further adieu, here's the best of 1997 countdown:

#10 Randy Glasbergen: http://www.borg.com/~rjgtoons/toon.html
A hilarious alternative to Dilbert. Randy knows how to laugh, and make us laugh at business and technology. Check him out for a daily giggle and I guarantee you'll be printing out the cartoons and sticking them up around your office.

#9 Cosmetic Connection: http://www.kleinman.com/cosmetic/
Now one year old, Cosmetic Connection helps lead the pack as 1997 marks the year of the woman's site. With great information and advice about cosmetics and skin care, Cosmetic Connection shows that you can have a great site and not have to carry ad banners!

#8 Connected PC: http://www.connectedpc.com/cpc/cpc.htm
Ok, maybe I'm biased, but this site gives you all the tools you need to get the most from your PC. If you're a newbie, check out their What You Need to Start section and learn about your PC on the Internet. If you're more experienced, try out an online game, an internet phone call, an online photo album and a multimedia e-mail postcard. Have fun!

#7 Acrophobia: http://www.acrophobia.com
This "You Don't Know Jack" successor is a blast. Shouldn't being on the Internet always be this fun? Compete against others in this addictive game of Acronym mania. IJLI (I Just Love It)

#6 The Mining Company: http://www.miningco.com
Started with a hope and a prayer, this mega guide, search engine alternative is a great resource to find what your interested in. Have you tried searching on Altavista lately - good luck finding anything!

#5 Beatrice's Web Guide: http://www.bguide.com
With so much time and attention paid to its content, Beatrice's Web Guide isn't just a model of great female oriented content, it's a great example of the next generation of search services. A five star in my book!

#4 Pegasus Mail: http://www.pegasus.usa.com
David Harris amazes me as he continues to put out release after release of the best free e-mail client on the Internet. With consistent quality and power, Pegasus Mail easily makes it to my top 5!

#3 Hotmail: http://www.hotmail.com
If you don't have a hotmail account, get one! It's free, a great place to direct mailing lists, check your POP mail when you're away and perfect as a backup address... Hotmail is just plain HOT.

#2 The Trip.com: http://www.thetrip.com
You're probably sick of hearing me rave about The Trip.com, but it's simply fantastic. When they said that the Internet would make life easier, they must have meant this site. If you travel, this is a must visit site. I use it to plan all my trips (even if I ticket through my company's agent or my personal agent).

The #1site for 1997: My Yahoo: http://my.yahoo.com
I'm sure I don't need to convince you of the value of Yahoo - odds are you already go there. What you may not be taking advantage of is one of the best free services on the Internet. My Yahoo brings together a compendium of information all into one easy place: news, stocks, weather, web picks, searches. This is the only site on the Internet that I visit at least four or five times a day. Yippie Yahoo!

***My Crystal Ball***
As I gaze in to my little crystal ball, what do I see in 1998???

The Buddy List - this year we got a peek at some of the early versions of the buddy list with ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger. In 1998, look for the buddy list to become as common as e-mail. With a buddy list you'll be able to know when you're friends and family are online, send them a quick message and maybe even more (internet call, online games, etc). Buddy lists will be big in 1998.

ICQ: http://www.mirabilis.com/
AOL Instant Messenger: http://www.aol.com/aim/

Online Shopping - 1997 was the first year where people really started buying stuff online. In 1998, online shopping will be BIG! Look for online shopping to overtake catalogue shopping in a big way, and look for sites which help you shop smart, get the best bargains, and let you know when things go on sale. A talisman to this is that quietly Consumer Reports finally went online!

Consumer Reports: http://www.consumerreports.org
Yahoo Shopping Guide: http://shopguide.yahoo.com/

America OnLine - Quite simply, 1998 will be the year of AOL, with their new "4.0" strategy and a move on the the web (they already have the hub, the asylumn, and electra). AOL will continue it's reign and roll right over the competition. When the deal is complete, AOL will have not only its own service on the web, but also the newly launch(ing) C from Compuserve. And with Internet Explorer as the browser installed with AOL, Netscape will feel the pain.

AOL: http://www.aol.com
The Hub: http://www. thehub.com
Electra: http://www.electra.com
C From Compuserve: http://www.csi.com

Microsoft - It's old news that Internet Explorer is giving Netscape Navigator a run for it's money, but in 1998 IE will make mincemeat out of Netscape Navigator, which will feel a lot like another OS2, great features but who's using it? But in 1998 the browser war will be old news with Microsoft playing hard to be the #1 stop on the Internet. Look for Microsoft to make their Internet Start site a Mega site (which they just relaunched this week), as well as make MSN "freely" accessible to everyone over the web.

Microsoft Internet Start: http://home.microsoft.com

Finally - You can't look into a crystal ball and not see a slew of predictions, so without boring you with details, here's a list of hot's and not's for 1998.

Hot:
Java, shopping online, e-mail, buddy lists, Yahoo, Women Sites, AOL, Return Visit Benefits (like frequent flyer miles for the web), buying stocks online, online banking and bill payment, force feedback joysticks & mice.

Not:
Push, C|Net, Wired, Lycos, Altavista, IPO's, Banner Ads, Usenet, Spam, Cool sites of the day, C from Compuserve, plug-ins, real audio, and new browsers.

That's all from Swammi Kleinman

Url's in this issue (see I told you there were a ton!):

Randy Glasbergen: http://www.borg.com/~rjgtoons/toon.html
Cosmetic Connection: http://www.kleinman.com/cosmetic/
Connected PC: http://www.connectedpc.com/cpc/cpc.htm
Acrophobia: http://www.acrophobia.com
The Mining Company: http://www.miningco.com
Beatrice's Web Guide: http://www.bguide.com
Pegasus Mail: http://www.pegasus.usa.com
Hotmail: http://www.hotmail.com
The Trip.com: http://www.thetrip.com
My Yahoo: http://my.yahoo.com
ICQ: http://www.mirabilis.com/
AOL Instant Messenger: http://www.aol.com/aim/

Consumer Reports: http://www.consumerreports.org
Yahoo Shopping Guide: http://shopguide.yahoo.com/
AOL: http://www.aol.com
The Hub: http://www. thehub.com
Electra: http://www.electra.com
C From Compuserve: http://www.csi.com
Microsoft Internet Start: http://home.microsoft.com

Whew! You made it all the way through!

Best Regards,
Geoff