Online giving can include aid to those facing poverty, hunger Dec. 17, 2000   By JIM BROOKS Christmas is a time for giving, and the Internet brings to your home plenty of ways to buy or send your loved ones the perfect gift. Several of my co-workers have done an extensive amount of their shopping online. I'll admit that I haven't shopped much online this year -- not because I don't like doing so, but primarily because I'm avoiding using credit cards. There's another category of Web site that focuses on those with needs greater than sweatshirts, toys or another ugly tie. These sites are working to raise money to help feed the needy both here and abroad. TheHungerSite.com was the first "click-to-donate" Web site, and its mission is simple. Advertisers pay a fee for each visitor who clicks on the donation button, and that money is donated to America's Second Harvest and the Mercy Corps. to buy food for the hungry in the U.S. and 25 other countries. The site has been running since last June, and has had more than 100 million visitors. It costs nothing to visit the site and click to donate; the site prevents you from clicking the donation button more than once per day. It's worth mentioning that TheHungerSite.com is not a non-profit organization, and the site's owners, GreaterGood.com, say about 25 percent of the donations go to upkeep and administration of the site. That's probably not too far out of line, especially when you consider that the only thing it costs is a click of the mouse. Visit TheHungerSite.com for additional information. STOP THE HUNGER. StopTheHunger.com is a very similar sort of click-to-donate Web site, with all of its proceeds going to America's Second Harvest. While TheHungerSite.com works to feed the hungry internationally, StopTheHunger.com is focused on meeting the needs of the hungry in the U.S. StopTheHunger.com receives approximately 28 percent of donations for site administration costs, according to its ad rate sheet. Like TheHungerSite.com, StopTheHunger.com is not a non-profit site, and depends on the honesty of its advertisers to send the donations to America's Second Harvest, according to the site. Visit the site for additional details (and don't forget to click the donation button) at www.StopTheHunger.com. AOL STILL GROWING. In 1995, Net pundits questioned America Online's future. At that time, America Online was a proprietary system -- Internet access wasn't a part of the package. AOL users got AOL content -- which did not include anything outside of their closed system. This isn't saying AOL wasn't a good system -- it attracted users by the millions even then. It had content you couldn't get anywhere else, even on the Internet. Critics of the day used to refer to AOL as "the Internet on training wheels." Of course, getting on AOL was much, much easier in 1995 than getting a PC running Windows 3.1 setup to surf the Web. Five years later, ease of use and strong content are still two of the top reasons why AOL continues to flourish and maintain its stronghold on the title of world's largest Internet provider. AOL's growth shows no signs of stopping, with more than 26 million subscribers worldwide. The company credits the new AOL 6.0 software for helping add a million new subscribers in the past couple of months. Overall, AOL subscribers have grown by 27 percent this year. MICROSOFT SALES SOFT. Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system powers more than 90 percent of the computers on the planet. Microsoft's fortunes are built not just around its operating systems, but also its software applications, which includes the top-selling Office software suite. But Microsoft may be discovering it has too many versions of its software for businesses and consumers to choose from -- and too little difference between versions. The company recently announced its quarterly earnings would be lower than anticipated because of slow sales of both Windows 2000 and Office 2000. Analysts believed that nearly 20 percent of PC owners would upgrade to Windows 2000 when it was released in February. As the year comes to a close, the real figure is about half that. Other versions of the Windows operating system have sold slowly, analysts say, partially due to a slowdown in computer sales. And for many businesses, their Windows 95/98 systems -- having survived the threat of Y2K last year -- are just plain good enough. SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME. If you are e-mailing holiday greetings to a Kentuckian who lives out of state, you might want to include an Internet address for a scene that will hit certainly hit home. The Bardstown Tourist and Convention Commission Web site, www.bardstowntourism.com, has a wonderful scene of Federal Hill at My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown, complete with animated snow. Simply e-mail the URL for the site and let them click on the link for the snowy view of Federal Hill. It's a scene that will warm the heart of any native (or adopted) Kentuckian. Visit www.bardstowntourism.com for more information. Comments and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com, or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com on the World Wide Web. | HOME |