Site of the Week -- Oct. 2, 2000
ust as they did with The Blair Witch Project, Haxan Films once again blurs the line between fact and fiction, this time with the official Web site for the television series Freakylinks. The storyline features the adventures of Derek Barnes as he compiles information on the paranormal for his underground Web site. Supposedly, viewers will be able to follow the series simultaneously on the Web once the show premieres on October 6, 2000.
Freakylinks (the site) is dedicated to "the weird, the unusual, the occult, the paranormal and the just plain silly." Its vast compendium of information is well organized, thoroughly researched and painstakingly detailed. The depth of the site is amazing, considering that its creator is a fictitious character.
The "Diary" section features almost daily entries by Derek, going back to 1998. There are three live "freak-cams," which seek to capture mythical creatures like the "Okeechobee Ogre" on film. A section called "Friend or Foe" offers free screen savers and desktop themes as well as a discussion board where visitors can share their stories of the unexplained. Other features include an FAQ, which introduces Derek and some of the other characters from the show, an online store and the "Freak-A-Dential," an email newsletter that notifies subscribers when the site has been updated.
If the ratings for Freakylinks aren't stellar in the first few weeks, both the show and the Web site could become a mere footnote in cultural history. That would be a shame, considering the effort that has been poured into the site, which shows the promise of becoming more interesting as the series progresses.
-- Cindy White
Site of the Week -- September 25, 2000
erhaps one of the biggest questions anyone can ever ask is "What if?" And it's from this question that the genre of alternate history (also known as uchronia, allohistory and a number of other names) arose, encompassing stories that explore such questions as "What if the Nazis had won World War II?" or "What if Babbage's analytical engine had actually worked?"
Uchronia is first and foremost "an annotated bibliography of novels, stories, essays and other material involving the 'what ifs' of history." It is lovingly and intelligently compiled, and arranged in a no-nonsense manner. The site includes, among other things, a searchable database of allohistorical works in print, with separate lists of anthologies and collections, series, reference materials and works published in other languages; the entries for the works themselves also contain a great deal of information, including brief synopses. The site also provides a "divergence chronology" (a timeline of dates/periods addressed in all the listed works), a large cover art gallery and a heap of good information about how to obtain alternate history books.
And "what if" visitors are still having a hard time figuring out exactly what alternate history is all about? Well, the smart and accessible essay the site offers as an introduction to the genre is, like the site as a whole, a great resource.
-- Matthew McGowan
Site of the Week -- Sept. 19, 2000
ene Roddenberry's Andromeda begins syndicated play the week of Oct. 2, 2000, and it already has science fiction fans speculating, criticizing and anticipating. The show stars Kevin Sorbo as Dylan Hunt, Lisa Ryder as Beka Valentine and Keith Hamilton Cobb as Tyr Anasazi. The story begins with Hunt awakening from suspended animation. A relic from pre-stellar civil war times, Hunt turns the mercenaries who awakened him into a new crew and continues his duties as a protector of the splintered Commonwealth.
Fan sites for the show have already sprung up, and one of the best is SlipstreamWeb. The site is information-heavy, and provides access to official press releases, episode guides and news about the stars. SlipstreamWeb's information is augmented by a thorough system of links to the official Andromeda Web site, to the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and to other news sites.
SlipstreamWeb depends on fans submitting leads and stories, and the site's creators do an excellent job of giving credit to the folks who contribute stories. Good stories, rapid updates and an active community of fans make SlipstreamWeb worth a look.
-- Jesse Decker
