Master's Degrees to Fit Your Busy Schedule Madonna University, our At Enroll Today! 734/432-5667 email: muinfo@smtp.munet.edu web: www.munet.edu master's degrees in business are designed for working adults. Classes are offered during the evening and on weekends, complemented by on-line courses. MBA Master of Business Administration MSBA Master of Science in Business Administration "The business progam prepares students to take leadership roles in their organizations, giving them a sound business philosophy and vision," — Leslie Rose, chairman, Fidelity Bank; Madonna University trustee emeritus Madonna University • 1-96 & Levan Rd. • Livonia NEED BRAKES? Slig •MOST CAB AND LIGHT IMS 95 PER AXLE CAR TECH 1 5 5 0 6 6 9 2287 West Maple Commerce Township Manor Motorcar Company 39500 Grand River Avenue • Novi, Michigan 48375 (248) 426-9600 • Fax (248) 426-8686 6/4 1999 Mike Dega 1998 Salesman of The Year • FASTEST AVAILABILITY IN METRO DETROIT! Cyber Spot reviews and Web site addresses are now on JN Online: www.detroitjewishnews.com Content Design Ease of use Another Portal he Jewish portal wars are heating up. Internet portals, for cyber-neophytes, are all- purpose homepages that serve as a kind of directory aimed at mak- ing sense out of the chaos of the World Wide Web. Many users now set their Web browsers to automatically load the portal of their choice every time they get on the Net. Yahoo! is the best-known all- purpose portal, but there are a growing number aimed directly at Jewish cybernauts. The latest: Zipple, a cute, graphi- cally sophisticated index to Jewish stuff on the Internet. But the cuteness doesn't make up for the uneven con- tent — although that hopefully will change as it gets up and running. Zipple was created by Jon , Rozner, a 30-year-old Chicago CPA and real estate professional who got the online itch two years ago and never looked back. Zipple borrows its basic model from Yahoo! The universe is broken down into broad categories — arts and humanities, food, education, life- cycle, organizations, people and poli- tics, with some special-interest choices thrown in for good measure. But some of the categories are painfully thin. A "peace process" sec- tion links visitors to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, but that's about it. There are links to Jewish organizations, but only- a small handful of the dozens have their own Web sites. A section on Jewish religious streams offers links to Reform, Conservative and Orthodox organiza- tions, but are only the most obvious ones. On the other hand, the Holocaust section is filled with links and effi- ciently organized. One section pro- vides a list of major concentration camps with links to sites that provide more information; another offers dozens of links dealing with Holocaust art and music. A "global communities" section T •-- • • /•.••• ■ •,, CbAl. • • . ••••••••,•li !Fa 7. •••I, 1,1•1 provides information about Jews in about a dozen countries, from Argentina to South Africa; a "global directory" provides links to syna- gogues, Hillels, Jewish community centers and even mikvaot (Jewish ritu- al baths). Zipple has a big singles focus. An area with a name right out of the `60s — The Scene" — offers chat rooms, directories of Jewish events around the world and extensive connections to singles' services. It's free but registra- tion is required. The fill-in-the-blanks forms are irritating. For non-singles, there are also chat rooms and bulletin boards; again, reg- istration is required, and again the application form is intrusive and cum- bersome. The portal has extensive links to online Jewish shopping, and Zipple provides coast-to-coast Internet ser- vices, with over 6,000 access numbers, for $19.95 per month. How does Zipple stack up against other Jewish portals? The shmoozing stuff may be your cup of borscht, but if not, the portal called Maven (wvvw.maven.co .i1) may be a better all-around choice because of its clean- er design, more extensive resources and powerful search engine. Ditto for the Jewish Community Online's Internet page (www.jewish.com ). But Zipple is a new service with a lot of promise. Let's just hope the glitz and the commercialism doesn't get in the way. II — James D. Besser