So, What's it All About?

Hi, I'm Carlton, your driver. I guess they figured I didn't have enough to do driving this bus, so they asked me to tell you a bit about this site.   Well, I'm actually very happy to do that.  Welcome Aboard!

This site is intended to be a web portal that will provide both amusement and information. Our hope is to give our subscribers and visitors a place to come for a few minutes or more each day where they can catch their breath, pick up a few interesting facts, and find a few moments of diversion and amusement.

Advertising.  Perhaps the first thing we should address is the ads.  This is a free website - the site is free, and the Newsletter is free.  In fact - it's better than free: we pay you! (more about that later.).  Since we are not supporting this site by charging you, the only other way to support it is to host ads from other people and companies.  We hope you will not mind them too much - in fact, if you enjoy the site, we hope you will help support us by patronizing the merchants whose ads appear on the site.  We can only succeed if they succeed, so your patronage will be appreciated by all concerned.

Prizes.  As described on the Subscribe page, we give out three kinds of prizes to our loyal fans (you are loyal, aren't you?).   First, a $100 prize to each 1000th new subscriber; second, $100 each month to the subscriber referring the most new subscribers for that month; and finally, $100 to a random subscriber each month drawn from all the daily Register sign-ins for the month.   Full details are provided on the page.

Now, we realize that winning $100 is not likely to rock your world - but it might buy a nice dinner for two.  (On the other hand, how much are the other sites you visit paying you??).  No, the prizes are not huge, but it's a start.  Our hope is that the site will grow enough that we will be able to offer the prizes more often, and eventually in larger amounts, as our revenue grows. We will set aside a fixed percentage of net revenues to fund the prizes we award each month. So, tell everyone you know about this site, make certain that they list you as their "Referred By" source, and we can all do well.

Content.  Now, as to the content of this site.  If you are interested in the latest gossip and celebrity news, this is not the place to find it.  There are plenty of other sites covering those areas, and - quite frankly - the subject bores us to tears. What we are trying to present to you here is material that will amuse, inform, and entertain you in a meaningful way. While some of the subjects we cover may be a little bit technical, this is not a site designed for (just) Engineers or Scientists.

Our intent is to present the subjects we cover (including Science and Technology) in a way that most people will relate to.  We live in an increasingly tech-driven world, and there is a lot of really neat stuff that happens every day, that most people simply never hear about. There is a world of information that does not get any coverage in the mainstream press, that can be fascinating, useful, and informative.  There are some truly interesting things going on in the world today, and it is our hope that we will be able to share at least a few of them with you in a way that you will find worthwhile.

Links.  We will try to maintain a consistent behavior with links on the site:   links which navigate to other pages on the site will open in the current window, but links that navigate to a page elsewhere on the Web will open in a new window (or new tab, depending on your browser settings).   We may not manage to keep all of them consistent with that policy, but we will try. If you find a link that misbehaves, let us know and we'll correct it.

The Marketplace.  The Marketplace (which hasn't actually opened yet) is sort of an on-site shopping mall.  As you browse through it, you'll find an array of publications and merchandise available in a range of categories, offered by a variety of merchants. It's still in its early stages, so it is not too impressive yet, but we're working on it. We expect that, over time, we will be featuring a wide variety of products that we think our subscribers might find of value. We will do our best to be selective, and to weed out any products or services that are of questionable value or benefit.

Updates.  It is our intent to update pages on the site by noon Eastern Time each day (especially the comics - we know what's important!), and on most days we should be able to do that.  There will undoubtedly be times when it can't be done on that schedule, so we will beg your patience in advance whenever that occurs. The Blog  will, hopefully also be updated daily, but again, no guarantees "either express or implied".

Subscriber Input.  We can't overemphasize the degree to which we encourage your input and participation in this site. It will evolve over time, and a good part of that evolution and development will be guided, hopefully, by input from our Subscribers and Visitors (Of course, if you are a Visitor, you should also become a Subscriber - it's free!!).  If you have a comment, suggestion, complaint, or idea, just go to the Contact page. If you are communicating about a particular Station, then by all means direct your comments to the link for that page. Otherwise, just use the "General Comments" link.

It should also be noted that, while we encourage your input of general ideas, or specific stories or items to be included in the site, we can't pay you for any of them. We will be happy to provide an acknowledgement of your input, if you desire (or it can be totally anonymous - your choice), but that's the extent of what we can offer in the way of "compensation".

Articles.  One of the primary offerings on this site is the large Library of Articles, which may be accessed from the Nav buttons in the center section of the Home Page.  Temporarily, these articles will appear in a format that is different from the main site. We are working on getting them integrated into the "look and feel" of the rest of the site, but there are hundreds of articles, and getting the task done will take some time.  Again, your patience is appreciated.  You can also find a complete list of the articles on the Sitemap.

Finally, a word about the Masthead on this page (the graphic at the top). The only phrase we can be certain is correct is the one in English. All the others were obtained from a variety of machine text translators that are available on the Net (for example, Yahoo! Babel Fish). At best, this is suspect technology - in every case the translations failed the "round trip" test, which is to translate a phrase from one language into a second language, and then translate it back again. So, if you are a native speaker of one of the languages in the illustration, please do not take offense at any improper grammar or phrasing - it is just intended as a graphical element. On the other hand, if we have ended up with something improper or obscene, by all means please let us know about it!