It's pretty obvious that a punk zine on AOL isn't going to be too caustic, so don't be scandalized when you see this is DIY with cute cat cartoons and a blink tag. It's not bad at all, despite the problems distinguishing among "punk" and "adorable" and "seizure-inducing." It would be much better if Guilt Trip had updates at least every six months (particularly since it claims updates every two or three weeks). But you'll find interviews with The Mr. T Experience and five other bands, plus columns on the popularity of ska-punk, the joys of tormenting dumb jocks, the strange notion of Christian punks, and a rambling defense of punk against the terrible rising tide of something or other. - Gary Barker
Serving and selling bands from Chicago, Chicago Psyberview is preparing at press time for major revisions of an undisclosed nature. Come here to learn about Chicago-area unsigned and indie bands (best band name among them: The Elvis Diet), including audio clips in AIFF format, and e-mail and snail mail contact information. Some of the design is strong, but other parts, particularly the section of tech tips for musicians, are hard to read. See lists of upcoming live performances, search the database of gigs by date or band name, and visit the undernourished BBS area. - Gary Barker
There's really nice design here-professional-as is the quality of the writing. Citizen Poke is (or was-there's a warning at press time implying something drastic is about to happen to the site) an edgy humor zine that's neither sophomoric nor highbrow; it'll appeal to most people with frontal lobes. My favorite writing here is in the autobiographical piece by a middle-aged man losing a bloody war against his copious nose hair, but the site offers plenty of other columns of similar quality about such things as shoddy prizes in cereal boxes, the art of nodding at your neighbors, geek retro chic, and the wit and wisdom of Courtney Love. - Gary Barker
From its startling and evocative splash screen to its range of subject matter, Catch-A-Fire is full of surprises. You'll find a recipe for cornbread near a basic course on meditation near a comparison of racial differences in long-term breast cancer survival rates. But it's not just some disorganized jumble of factoids; the site is obviously the result of careful planning, designed to emphasize things of probable interest and importance to African-Americans. You'll find fiction and poetry near a promotional piece about aromatherapy near the text of the "Desiderata" near the Afrocentric online store. And you'll find political analyses next to spiritual affirmations next to fitness video reviews. The graphic files are huge, though, and make for burdensome waiting. - Gary Barker
Mixing stunning graphics with Java and a little Shockwave, oFFbEAt opens a window onto the bizarre and the inexplicable. From Dr. Weirde's tour of the more colorful areas of San Francisco to the weekly Buzzcuts section on the paranormal, the whole site reads like an online companion to "The X-Files." Somebody spent a lot of time with oFFbEAt's graphics, which on their own provide a good reason to visit. It's a shame that there isn't enough filling here yet to make this a full meal. - Mike Hase
Glow's motto, "the Net magazine for expanding minds," evokes images of acid-eating masses foolishly toying with their computers.... Forget it. Glow is an incredibly literate, well-rounded publication resting somewhere between The New Yorker and Harpers in the periodical spectrum. The zine covers topics in entertainment, culture, and politics with well-written, well-researched articles on subjects ranging from Jim Morrison to politics in Nigeria to the Second Amendment debate. Glow also takes advantage of the multimedia nature of the Web and, later this year, will host the world's first video call-in show. Anyone interested in the world around them should not miss this fantastic zine. - Mike Hase
Sponsored by The Gainesville Sun, Eclipse provides nauseatingly in-depth coverage of Gen-X pop culture, while throwing in enough weighty articles to keep the magazine from being silly. The pieces range from the serious (Why are so many Gen-Xers uninsured?) to the ridiculous (Mosh Pit Etiquette). The magazine's layout is extremely attractive, and the site is easy to navigate, even if some of the icons are a bit cryptic. Although a Gen-Xer myself, I'd rather read Glow (reviewed in this issue), but if you're a pop culture junkie or you can't get enough of the twentysomethings' ceaseless wailing, then Eclipse has got you covered. - Mike Hase
Modest Proposals is one of three weekly columns prepared by the staff of Nua (provenance Dublin). Nua's objective: To explore, monitor, and document emergent opportunities on the Internet. Links in every column provide hearty portions for thought. I'm always curious about how our neighbors across the pond relate to the consumerism taken for granted over here, and the wonderful essays provided here satisfy. But I don't think I'll be subscribing, because previous issues are well archived and free. Be warned that not all pages are open; your hosts will require a name and password before you can brief yourself on Nua Standards. - Ismael Marrero
Sponsored by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Circuit Breaker is a wannabe hipster's guide to San Francisco night (and day) life. A few features, sparse club listings, and gimmicky pages (a photocopy Rorschach test, "cyber Ouija game, and so on) are what you get. Any site with a guide to tattoo shops that uses a sentence such as, "Wanna cover that canvas most people call 'skin?' " in the intro makes me shudder. Any corporate guide to night life that uses the word "party" as a verb makes me click away. - David Pescovitz
Site of the month!!
Every day for nearly a year, I made a pilgrimage to www.bitchmag,com, the online sister to the paper 'zine Bitch. And then, one dreary day last November, my Mecca ceased to exist. The page loaded, those familiar kicky green and pink icons popped up, but instead of a juicy rant or grrl-centric editorial piece, I found myself being asked to choose the "good news" or the "bad news." I confronted the horrible truth head on. The Bad News: My beloved Bitch was reorganizing-not disappearing, it promised-only stopping briefly to prepare for a metamorphosis. I returned regularly, always hoping with an innocent's faith that Bitch would be reborn. My visits ended when I could no longer bear to look at the corpse of another dead site. Then, six long months later, word on the street said that Bitch was now Maxi. So I paid a call, expecting to find an infant version of Bitch, but instead Maxi seemed to be the mature older sister. With a classier, more subdued design; more sections to choose from; and best of all, editorial content focused on positive issues for women (and less on overly simplistic male-bashing), Maxi won a new place in my heart. Two original Bitch staffers, Janelle and Heather, remain. Thankfully, so does Raw Nerve, Maxi's sound-off against the inanity of popular culture and how society engenders females-always providing interesting insight and a laugh. Imitates Life (art), Current (news), and Consume (what and why women buy) complete the new departments and add depth to the commentary. While you won't find a wide diversity of experience in Maxi (each staffer is straight, white, and career-oriented), you'll still find the reading appealing and worthy of a bookmark. (I should note that the Maxi staff recognizes this limited viewpoint, and invites readers to submit works for publication.) What has always set this zine apart from its competitors is not that it discusses ideas pertinent to women, but that it does so with panache. Maxi advances this tradition with themed issues, delving deeper into subjects and giving more perspectives. June Brides, for example, covers four staffers' exploration into the dogma of being the blushing bride, and each woman's take on the tradition. You won't find socio-political posturing or mindless drivel about the latest diet here-just savvy women talking about their lives in their own voices. An exhilarating change from what the world thinks women want to read on the Web. - Clary Alward
Maxim wants to know, "is it too much to ask to have the bra match the underwear?" The men's magazine "sensation that's sweeping the nation" oozes an offensive editorial aroma and revels in it-like a dog rolling in the carcass of a dead animal it found on the beach. Feminist-Bating Screen Savers ("Watching the playoffs is spending time together.") and the Maxim Manifesto (rules for women including such gems as, "Whenever possible, please try to say whatever you have to say during commercials.") logically leap to the top of this dung pile, but burrow through the shallow top soil and you'll unearth far more wormy journalism. You'll have to purchase the print version to actually read any of this, since the site is just an advertising front. Gee, is it too much to ask for content that's not both loathsome and non-existent? - Clary Alward