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Hobbies on the Net

Bytes and Pieces - Column - by Aliza Sherman

as published in the Resident Paper, NYC - written 1995

Just when you thought it was safe to turn off your computer and do something with your life, we found another reason to surf the Internet and World Wide Web. Whether you like photography, building model airplanes, cooking or collecting stamps, going online can give you access to information about your favorite hobby.

For the hobbyist, newsgroups include rec.models.rc (for radio-control models), rec.models.rockets, rec.photography, rec.skydiving, even rec.nude for "naturists and nudists". There you can talk to other people around the world with similar interests, trade baseball cards or pogs, find rare coins or parts to your model train. These discussions take place on posting boards on the Internet called Usenet Newsgroups, and each newsgroup on a particular topic. You can access newsgroups through your favorite commercial online service (America Online, Prodigy, etc.) or directly through your Internet account and even through the World Wide Web.

Through the World Wide Web, you can access an array of hobby-related Web pages. For the Reef aquarium hobbyist, stop by http://www.ReffScience.com and order clams, soft or hard corals, live rock and live sand. They also have a page of other aquaria-related links. If fowl is more specialty, the Up at Six Aviaries home page at http://www.upatsix.com/upatsix.html has information on birds of all kinds as well as links to other bird related sites. Find out how fruits and vegetables fit into your bird's diet, join the National Cockatiel Society, or view birds owned by other netizens (people on the 'Net). Birdlovers can talk to other feathered-friend lovers at the Usenet Newsgroup rec.pets.birds and read their FAQ at the Up at Six pages (a FAQ is a list of Frequently Asked Questions that help you learn the rules and guidelines for the newsgroup). And don't forget to check out the Official Parrot's Page.

As long as you are 21 years or older, you can partake in the fine hobby of making beer or wine and can start your search for materials and guidance at http://www.eca.com/BeerAndWineHobby.html which is the home page for a beer brewing and wine making shop in Massachusetts. Their page of links for beer resources online is quite extensive including the Brewery Information Server (http://alpha.rollanet.org) and the Brewers Guild for Mail Order Beer (http://www.Brewersguild.com/Brewersguild/). A hobby for all ages, however, is building dollhouses and a How-to Manual on building a miniature dollhouse is available at http://www.miniature.com/ as well as a builder's supply catalog.

For those with an interest in re-enacting battles, there is always re-enacting one of the World Wars which is discussed at the World War II Re-Enactor's page (http://www.smartlink.net/~reenactor/WW2/) which asks "why merely read history when you can live it." Find out what was happening exactly 54 years ago today or any other day of the war or go to the page totally dedicated to D-Day (http://192.253.114.31/D-Day/Table_of_Contents.html). You can also join the Historical World War II Mailing list or the list for the Re-Enactors of World War II.

For a little more mellow entertainment, stop by the Hobby Center Interactive which is a good place to start for links to information on everything from role-playing and strategic games; model trains, cars, and boats; comics and collectibles and radio-controlled aircraft and vehicles (http://ww.comprez.com). And the Hobbies Homepage at http://www.cs.fsu.edu/projects/group12/hobbies.html covers amateur radio, aquariums, comics, cooking, games, homebrewing, Internet surfing (hobby for the 90's), and model railroads.

Actually, it seems that model trains is the most popular hobby, at least among the Internet set, with dozens of links to home pages about miniature railroads including Live Steaming page which acts as a clearinghouse for the Live Steam and Model Engineering hobby around the world and the page for the National Model Railroad Association (http://www.nmra.org). And if you are searching for a particular model airplane or car or other collectible, you can read through the classifieds at http://www.hobbytyme.com to find what you need or to email a request. There you can also find a Hobbytyme dealer near you just by clicking on a map of the United States.

So when you're looking for something fun or interesting or unusual to do besides surfing the Net, you can find what you're looking for...on the Net! (All of the above links were found in Yahoo at http://www.yahoo.com - the favorite directory on the Web).

HOT TIP OF THE WEEK:

For those of you addicted to 777-FILM, you can now access movie information (but not yet purchase tickets) at http://www.movielink.com. See you at the movies!

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A. Sherman
©1996
Cybergrrl Internet Media