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Vol. 3, No. 33

August 15, 1997

Welcome to the Tripod Insider, sponsored this week by CHRYSLER and the Chrysler Design Conference on Tripod. (Watch for it on Thursday, August 21st -- from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT.) This week Tripod's office gets a visit from a real live VIP, a horse breaks Bruce's heart, and we say goodbye to some old friends. Read the news after seeing what's new on the site.

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Ever wonder what the cars of tomorrow will look like? What will make them go? What they'll be made of? Chrysler's 1997 Design and Engineering interns will show you what the future might look like in car design and technology this Thursday, August 21. They'll introduce six concept cars for the year 2008 developed this summer as part of the Chrysler Design and Engineering internship program.

The excitement begins around 12:00 noon (Thursday, August 21) when updates from a live press conference will be posted to the Chrysler Design Conference page on Tripod. At around 4:00, the chat/conferencing session will begin. Tripod members will be able to send questions and chat simultaneously amongst themselves. Join us to dream, design, and discuss the cars and trucks of the future.
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PLEASE NOTE!!

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Tripod is moving again (sort of)! With the increasing popularity of Tripod's Homepage Builder, our Internet traffic has gone through the roof. To accomodate this massive demand, we're moving our Web servers from their current location in Troy, NY to a state-of-the-art facility outside of New York City run by the nice people at Exodus Communication (who have big fat pipes into the Internet). Some Tripod services, such as the Homepage Builder, Tripod FTP, and Personal Chat, may not be available while we move, but our clever tech crew will make sure that these services are restored as quickly as possible. (Although you will not be able to modify your member pages, they will continue to be served while we move.)

The move will begin at 6 PM on Sunday, August 24, and we expect everything to be back and better than ever by 9 PM on Monday, August 25. After we finish the installation in our new home, Tripod and Tripod members' pages will load faster and more efficiently, which is good news for all of us. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Content And Services

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NEW IN WEB/TECH

Have you ever tried, without success, to cut down on the amount of time you spend online? According to recent theories, if your answer to this question is yes, you may be suffering from "Internet Addiction Disorder." Alyssa Boehm takes a skeptical look at IAD.

We've seen Jeff Goldblum uploading viruses with a Mac PowerBook to a system that may not even be silicon-chip-based (Independence Day). We've seen video-conferencing from outer space (Contact). Are these realistic techno-feats, or total hooey? Tell us what you think.

Got a page devoted to your favorite MUD? Interested in finding other game fans? Well, the Gamesta' Pod is off to a running start, with everything from ruminations over Kasparov's openings against Deep Blue to better ways to eviscerate your Quake buddies. Join in!

— Michelle Chihara, Web/Tech editor

NEW IN MONEY

If you're like a lot of folks these days, you may have been given a densely-worded "option package" when you signed on at your current gig — without having a clue how stock options really work! Would you rather have options or cold, hard cash in return for your labor? Tell the world in our interactive Stock Option Poll.

What the heck is an option anyway, you ask? Ken Kurson, author of our popular personal finance column "The Buck Starts Here," says they're a notoriously tricky financial instrument. Find out why by reading his "Know Your Stock Options."

As always, we give Tripod members the chance to have the final word on the subject. Join our Stock Options conference to ask questions, share advice, or just get thoughts on options off your chest.

NEW IN THE WOMEN'S ZONE

In the Women's Room, you'll find a new Web Filter on Hollywood's notion of a female role model, a new Web review, and new letters in the Editor's Room — my last Web pick seems to have caused quite a stir!

This week's hot topic in the Women's Room Conference is "Moving In Together." One member writes: "As a guy, living with a woman has a lot of ups and very few downs. Living together allows me to be a total scum-sucking loser." Can moving in wreck a relationship? Do tell...

—Emma Taylor, Women's Room editor

NEW IN HEALTH/SPORTS

You've asked our "Ask the Doctors" doctors some tough questions in the past, but one of them seems particularly hard (to answer, that is): What is "normal" size for a penis? This week, Dr. Rob tells you if you measure up — and also gives the low-down on the much-discussed phen-fen weight-loss cocktail, and fat. And Dr. Migdow provides the 411 on holistic treatments for fibroid tumors, and the mysterious valerian root. Something new every day!

Back to the penis question... Why don't YOU tell US which is more important — size or technique — in this week's Health survey? Believe us, there are a lot of people out there waiting to find out!

—Lori Tuckett, Health Editor

PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP

Unbelievable. That's the only way we can describe just how amazing Tripod's new Premium Member Image Library is. Not only do you have access to illustrations from the Art Parts Collection (as in the famous clip art and illustration company), but you can also take advantage of Tripod's Colorizer Technology, which lets you choose from over 200 colors to create just the right look for your Web page. More to come!

These images and the Colorizer Technology are only available to Premium Members. Sign up now!

Tripod Insider

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Jeez, writing these Insiders is becoming pretty easy: I just ask myself, "Who got hired, and which Tripodians got injured at a sporting event this week?" The answers, in that order: Cindi Cadet, unstoppable sales assistant, joined our advertising department in New York; membership's Nicole Mancuso hurt her back playing ping pong (picking up the ball); and Bruce the Beancounter broke his heart when he tried to bet on a horse with the lucky name "Gentleman Bo" but called out the wrong number (yes, the horse won).

This week, for the first time ever, Tripod will actually have fewer employees than it had the week before! We're saying goodbye to our director of Human Resources Susan Roe (her replacement is someone you Insider readers will already know: see next week's Insider!), and Web/Tech editor Michelle Chihara, who's heading back to the New Haven Advocate — the alternative newsweekly where she cut her teeth — to be a reporter and Web editor. Please join us in wishing them both well.

Not much else of note has happened around here this week, unless you count the visit of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry (and assorted other political types) to the Tripod office on Tuesday. It seems that Senator Kerry has taken a personal interest in our struggle to get some bandwidth out here in the Berkshires... perhaps he's planning to become a Premium Member? We'll let you know.

Thanks for becoming a member of Tripod.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me.
My mailbox is always open.

Tung T. Pham
Membership Director
[email protected]

This has been another issue of the Tripod Insider, the weekly newsletter on what's happening at Tripod.. Past issues of the Tripod Insider are also available.

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