The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 34

Monday, September 20, 1999 Dio Editor: Judy Rosenfield E-mail: cjtechC" louisvil.gannett.com Phone: 582-4221 Fax: 582-4360 11 I eople don't want a combination device. Every time you try to get a computer to do many things, it ends up doing none of them well." Ken Dulaney, Gartner Group, a market-research firm www.courier-journal.comtech WHAT'S NEW By Richard Des Ruisseaux KID TECH: Tips and tricks for kids and parents ulMflDF oi mnrmfo' ES. Li 7 i Math tool eases students' tasks, challenges teachers and the rules Sis-boom-bah! If you follow a major college sports team, you've got a sports Web page to call home. Rivals.com Inc. launched more than 350 team sports and specialty channel Web sites last month with sites dedicated to most of the larger universities in Kentucky and Indiana and the rest of the country, of course.

Fan Web sites have been around for ages but not necessarily the professional-looking sites prepared by Rivals. com. They include team news and message boards. Rivals.com serves the larger schools, such as the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Indiana University. In fact, in today's Favorite Bookmarks column, a Cardinal fan gives a thumb's up to the of offering.

RivaTs.com also has sites for the Murray States and Butlers of the world. In Kentucky, Morehead I I '1 "vtl I I By JENNIFER LEE I II 1 ft The New York Times ike hundreds of thousands of other high school students, Greg Myers, 16, began using a graphing calculator SAT and advanced placement exams and other standardized tests. These calculators, which cost about $100, bear little resemblance to the calculator of the 1970s. These sophisticated devices can run small computer programs and draw the graph represented by complex equations in an instant. "I use graphing calculators all the time and am a big enthusiast," Greg said.

"In my math class last year, I was known as the expert." Like some other high school peers, Greg has found another use for his calcula in tresnman algebra. In the past few years, they have become mandatory in many high school math classes and can be used on the 111 i i I 1 tor, a Texas Instruments TI-83. He has gone into business with his brother, Douglas, 17, writing 20 programs that can be fed into graphing calculators to help solve math problems in the SAT exam and SAT II subject tests. "There is no work in volved, you just run the program, plug in the known values and watch your an State is the only regional university not served. Just visit www.rivals.com.

AOL adds TV Guide America Online will soon carry TV Guide's television listings and content on AOL, its CompuServe 2000 online service, on the AOL.com Web site (www. aol.com) and the Netscape Netcenter site (www.netscape TVGuidesaid it expects to gain revenue through online advertising and electronic commerce, and the two companies said they'll create Web sites for AOL services accessible through TV Guide swers appear, says their Web site. Their entrepreneurial endeavor highlights some of the If -1 ju 1 I 1 i controversy about the calculators. Graphing calculators, proponents say, are the greatest innovation in math classrooms in a generation. They say they lift students' confidence, cultivate their analytical adeptness and make mathematics more But they have also given students new ways to one-up their teachers and the rules.

In response, adults have been forced to See GRAPHING Page 9, col. 2, this section The ups and downs of crunching numbers Seniors Natalie Crow, Anna Marshall and Abby Stocker have used their Tl-82s since they started at Presentation Academy. In their view, calculators are useful tools but no vw iyfe substitute for understanding the principles underlying mathematics. Camcorder f- I Vl atticianados I s. ft I 1 While we're on the subject of I 11 IX I technology tools in the classroom, i I' Ii jr we'dlike to hear ways students have jm used camcorders for school projects.

It helps you do stuff quicker, said Abby, at right. "You can't use it unless you know what you're doing," said Anna, center. This semester, in a Calculus I class the two are taking at Spalding University, Online. Draw, pardner Students in grades K-12 who are interested in computer art can hobnob with the experts and get tips, critiques and career advice Saturday at the Art Software Group meeting from 1 to 4 p.m. at the University of Louisville Natural Science Auditorium, 215 Eastern Parkway.

Youngsters also are invited to enter this year's Student Digital Gallery, with a first prize of either Apple Final Cut Pro software (worth $1,000) or a Pentium III 500 megahertz hardware upgrade. Entries, on 8'2-by-ll-mch printed stock, must be brought to the auditorium by noon. A panel of five graphics professionals will judge them. More information: Randy Jarnagin at 895-3811. Delay of game Online gaming via Sega's Dreamcast Network which was expected to be available within a month of the Sept.

9 launch of the company's modem-equipped Dreamcast game console won't happen until the second half of next year. Sega didn't explain the delay. However, it said that Web browsing, chat and e-mail functions would be available before year's end and that playing simple puzzle, board and card games online would be supported in the first and second quarters of next year. calculators are not allowed. Their teacher, Larry Lewis, says he's "very passionate" in his view that calculators can give "a false sense of confidence" to students who haven't achieved "mathematical maturity." Drawn to the "visual intrigue" of a blinking screen, he said, they may be shortchanged into thinking they have skills even though they can't do simple arithmetic.

And, in a larger sense, he says calculators foster a superficial view of math as a "tool in everyday life" rather than a system of reasoning "an exercise of the mind mental calisthenics." PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MIKE COVINGTON, HV THE COURIER-JOURNAL i'' favonte (7 5 TECHNOPHOBE: By Lauren Willoughby Steve Daugherty Age: 28 Web turns new page for book lovers Occupation: Loads and unloads aircraft at UPS. Online: Three hours a day. Home-brewed system: Intel Celeron 300 Mhz processor, 64 mg RAM, 8 gig HD, 16 mg Creative Labs TNT video card, Turtle Beach Daytona PCI sound card. E-mail: volleymeister bluegrass.net No charge 'tci! 1 Inn. 'inTiiJ -ifnji-f I irtmifc ir J--l I.

A i ''-v i vr ill SITES Author Orson Scott Card's Web site is www.hatrack.com. When I found out that Orson Scott Card, one of my favorite authors, was going to be in town today signing copies of his new book, "Ender's Shadow," I did what came naturally: turned to the Web for more information. A quick search at online bookstore Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) yielded info on the book not a sequel to Card's "Ender's Game," an award-winning science-fiction novel from 1985, but a parallel novel, relating the same events from a different character's point of view. OK, that piqued my interest. A visit to Yahoo (www.ya-hoo.com) pointed me to Card's official Web site (www.hatrack-.com), where I confirmed the details of his appearance (pssst! Card fans heads up): tonight at 7 at the Shelbyville Road Hawley-Cooke.

Satisfied I had the correct time and place, I took a look at the rest of his long calendar of appearances, only to be disappointed to learn I had missed his CNN online book chat. I shouldn't have worried, though, because CNN's book site (http:llcnn.comlbooks) archives transcripts from its au- www.classicgaming.com If you've never checked out a video game emulator, you've got to see these. This site offers the most comprehensive collection I've found and not just arcade classics. Fire up an Atari 2600 emulator and Pac-man looks exactly like it did on a floor model 15 years ago. gemm.comindex.cgi Just type in a musical artist or CD you're looking for, and GEMM will search its database of 2,000 dealers, then list everyone who has it in stock.

Many dealers have used CDs as well. I've purchased hard-to-find CDs for $5 to $8 that I couldn't find anywhere in town. www.station.sony.com This incredible entertainment site has dozens of free multiplayer games, from card games to crossword puzzles, chess and bingo even Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune! louisville.rivals.com I've got to keep up with my Cards, and this is the best University of Louisville site on the Net. It has lots of insider-type info from the same people who publish the Louisville Sports Report. www.sandbox.net If you're looking for fantasy sports online, start your search here.

It offers various fantasy football leagues even stock market simulators for those who enjoy financial games. Check this site out to learn more about 'tracker' programs that can help you make professional-quality music on your PC. Download a player and listen to tracks made by others, or get a tracker and make your own. My favorite is 'Buzz," at www.buzz2.com. Each week Kirk Kandle's Favorite Bookmarks column shares top stops on the Web from a different Louisville-area resident.

Tell us yours! Go to www.courier-journal.comltechl bookmarkslsurvey.html, or send e-mail to kirkii iglou.com. thor chats. While it was too late for me to ask a question, I was able to read what Card said in reply to other fans. I was also able to read the first chapter of his book. And had I been in the mood, I could have sampled chapters from books by John Grisham, Ann Tyler, Stephen King and others.

What began as a simple quest for information on a book signing led to a greater discovery that the Internet can enrich the reading experience for any book lover. Offering online book clubs, book reviews, sample chapters, authors' Web sites and chances to interact with authors themselves, the Internet offers a compelling reason to turn from the printed page to the screen and an even more compelling reason to turn back again. Want to know why Patricia and no ads So far, "free" Internet access has always come with a catch: a chunk of your monitor eaten up by a box where ads keep flashing. Still, that hasn't stopped NetZero Cwww.netzero.net) from becoming the nation's sixth-largest Net service provider. AltaVista (www.alta-vista.com) joined the fray last month, offering its FreeAccess software.

(We prefer it to NetZero.) In October, online shopping site WorldSpy (www.worldspy.com) promises to one-up the rest with free Internet access, free e-mail and no ads. As far as we can tell, there's no catch. Register in advance at the site. Cornwell says "Black Notice," her latest crime novel, is the most painful book she's ever written? Visit her Web site (www.patricia-cornwell.com). Want to brush up on the acronyms used in Tom Clancy's novels? Try the Tom Clancy Information Centre (www.multi-mania.comlaldocluslindex.htm), built by a dedicated fan.

There's a glossary along with book summaries and profiles of major characters. Hankering for a look at "Hannibal," the sequel to "Silence of the Lambs?" Surf over to BookBrowse.com (www.boofe browse.com) to check out a sample chapter. The site features excerpts from current hardback and paperback bestsellers, fiction and non-fiction. Reviews and author See INTERNET Page 9, col. 2, this section 1.