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--FREE GAMES FLIPSIDE www.flipside.com Play your favorite games against others. Flipside features traditional pastimes, from bridge to backgammon to blackjack. Die-hard game addicts will also want to check out Pogo.com and Yahoo Games games.yahoo.com)
--FUNNIEST SITE THE ONION www.theonion.com Dead-on deadpan satire of current events (MILITARY PROMISES "HUGE NUMBERS" FOR GULF WAR II: THE VENGEANCE) and pop culture (BOOK-CLUB MEETING DEGENERATES INTO DISCUSSION OF OSCARS). Warning: not for the irony impaired.
--GENEALOGY ROOTSWEB.COM www.rootsweb.com Everything one needs for researching a family tree, including a free database of 181 million ancestor names.
--HEALTH HUB WEBMD www.webmd.com Hard to beat for basic medical info. Get the lowdown on the condition that ails you, locate a doctor in your area. You can also check out the drug and herb directory for the latest news and discoveries. Or consult MayoClinic.com
--NET RADIO SPINNER www.spinner.com The free player program is a snap to download and easy to customize, with plenty of channels to suit any musical taste, from new indie and mod punk to bossa nova and jazz. (Owned by AOL Time Warner.)
--NEWS AND DISCUSSION FARK.COM www.fark.com Links to the day's strangest, silliest and scariest news stories posted on the Web, with message boards inviting users to comment. Lots of fun.
--OVERSEAS-TRAVEL HANDBOOK U.S. DEPT. OF STATE www.state.gov/travel Even when the U.S. isn't at war, it's a good idea to check whether the government has issued any travel warnings for the country you're headed to. The site also posts global crime rates, traffic reports and hospital ratings.
--PARTY PLANNING EVITE www.evite.com Take the headache out of organizing potluck dinners and other casual get-togethers. Send out snazzy e-mail invites, post maps and directions, and keep track of R.S.V.P.S. (Not recommended for weddings or formal dinners.)
--PC AWAY FROM HOME GOTOMYPC www.gotomypc.com For a monthly fee ($14.95 or $19.95, depending on length of contract), this service lets you access and remotely operate your work or home PC from any Windows computer with a Net connection. Try it for free for 60 minutes online or 30 days, whichever expires first.
--PEOPLE FINDER CLASSMATES www.classmates.com Locate former school sweethearts and chums by designating the school you attended. Registration required but free.
--PHOTO SERVICE OFOTO www.ofoto.com Share your snaps online by mailing in a 35-mm roll or uploading your digital images. Do some minor editing and order Kodak prints at decent prices.
--RARE BOOKS ALIBRIS www.alibris.com Virtually no out-of-print book is out of reach for Alibris, an emporium of rare, first-edition, foreign and otherwise hard-to-find volumes.
--RELIGION BELIEFNET www.beliefnet.com Thank God: Here's a multi-faith community open to talking about whatever's on your mind or in your soul without proselytizing. Religion shopping? Key your credo into the Belief-o-matic to find the closest-fitting faith.
--SHOPPING BIZRATE.COM www.bizrate.com Comparison shop online for everything from apparel to electronics to housewares. BizRate.com also provides user-submitted ratings of merchants. Also check out DealTime