2 Wednesday March 29, 1995 |

|\BETYOU |
DIQNT
YNOW WE
WERE BERE!

Phone us to get your
name on our contact list
for upcoming Doom
Tournaments (!) and get
on our list for shuttle
service to and from the
Campus at night?

Johone: 563-4583
Fax: 563-4280

L-Mnil:

russ@vortex.nethistro.com

* Com Computers Warehouse, hooked to a

Bringing the world north

Sippin’ ’n’ surfin’ in Prince George cafe

Well, if | ever find myself in Prince George, I’ll
certainly know where to go for a quick latte or
two. Actually, they just may be a little drawn
out. You see, Prince George now boasts its own
Internet Cafe. And this is no little installation.
Proprietor Russ WinterBotham has networked
eight computers into the Net for custormers to
“sip ‘n surf.” For demonstrations, he has a
Pentium 90, sponsored by the local branch of V-

In case you haven’t guessed already,
Winterbotham sees his cafe as a way of
connecting the people of prince George with the
rest of the world through a number of media as
well as a way to promote local performers and
artists.

In fact, he has an online magazine n the works
which will feature native artists who find things
a little slow in the winter.

46-inch TV. Sounds good, eh? But there pi iy | However, you don’t have to got to

is much more -Winterbtham obviously is nde of ge Prince George for a taste of the Internet
not a man to do things in half measures. eof ee Cafe’s Offerings. The Cafe has a

He has also set up his own commercial tall World Wide Web site at

Internet provider -Synaptic Communi- i ee http://vortex,netbistro.com/cafe.html
cations. This guy’s not slow. Cafe ein) ee which was set up by Kris Benson.
customers pay $5 an hour to explore the 5 eh It’s an interesting spot in its own right,
‘net or play networked games like Descent TERRY | with links giving information about
and Doom but he allows free access to the TAYLOS prince George and area activities. You
Prince George Freenet. 5 Cybertaik can even listen to song clips by local
And he also allows free time for newbies guumemees = Performers.

“until they know what they are doing and
{ are hooked.” At that point, of course, they can
sign up for their own dial-in accounts on

Synaptic -a great marketing move, if you ask me.

Again, there is more. The cafe is a big place
(6,000 square feet -it can seat 80 people but has
room for 200, Winterbotham said) so, if you
have to wait for a machine, you can always
browse the Third World items he has for sale
though the non-profit organization Self-Help
Crafts of the World in the arts and crafts store.
(Self-Help Crafts, by the way, helps
underdeveloped communities establish
businesses to pay for food, education, health
care and housing.)

Or maybe you will be lucky enough to be there
when he has entertainment on. He is always on
the lookout for multicultural or ethnic
performers and artist to entertain or display their
artworks:

If you are already in Prince George or are
planning a trip there (in this case, a visit to the
cafe’s Web site is a must before you go), you'll
find the Internet Cafe Downtown at 1363 Fourth
Ave.

As interesting as all this is some of the people
involved are even more so. you see,
Winterbotham is actually Dr. Winterbotham, a
44-year-old clinical psychologist who is also
director of the Prince George spousal assault
treatment program.

And Kris Benson? He’s a 15-year-old “whiz
kid” high-school student who works pert time
for Synaptic. They have a lot of big plans and
I’ll pass them on in future columns.

If you have any comments or suggestions for
Cybertalk or would just like to say hello, [’m at
terrly.taylor@deepcove.com or
ttaylor@wimsey.com

1363 4th ae Downtown, J).G-

7 emporarily: (only)
OPEN
9:00 am to 6:00 pm

YYVjon to Sat
Sunday 12:00 pm to 5:00