A Column by Andy Anderson
Special Collections, Ekstrom Library

Information technology will make tremendous changes in the world—in the way we work and communicate, e ven in the way we think. Its effects will be earth-shaking, revolutionary, transforming and expensive. But it doesn't have to be serious.

Humor has kept Internet connections humming from the beginning. What good is a communications medium, after all, if you can't use it to exchange jokes. For a throwback to the early days of the ‘net, see "Jokes of the Day" (http://comedy.clari.net/rhf/) from the archives of the newsgroup rec.humor.funny. What was missing at the beginning, though, was graphics capability. Now, thanks to the World Wide Web, humankind can at last reach its full potential—exchanging cartoons. Here are some of my favorites.

Since it's not possible to get through a day at the office without a dose of Dilbert, I'll start there. Dilbert is distributed by United Media and can be found on their site at http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/. The site currently features a press release on the upcoming prime-time animated Dilbert TV show. United Media's other cartoons can be found (in Spanish, French and Japanese) at "The Comic Zone" (http://www.unitedmedia.com/)

Go to "Ten Laughs a Day" (http://www.obryan.com/10Laughs/) and click on "Computers" when you just can't face another Windows 95 "fatal error" message or lost WordPerfect document. For other frustrations, try their "Business," "Law," or "Politics" categories.

Two of my all-time favorite cartoons are Patrick McDonald's "Mutts" (subject: the meaning of life) at http://www.kingfeatures.com/comics/mutts/index.htm and "This Modern World" by Tom Tomorrow. TMW's political/social humor is found at Salon magazine (http://www.salonmagazine.com/comics/tomo/.)

Finally, for the humor equivalent of a Big Mac Attack, link to all the cartoons in the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/comics/front.htm) or, if that's not enough, go to to Stu's Comic Strip Connection (http://www.stus.com/5daily.htm). This site displays cartoon panels from five or more cartoonists each day and each panel is hotlinked to more of each artist's work.