Web Surfing
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 15, 2000 9:00 p.m.
 www.amihotornot.com
Am I Hot or Not? www.amihotornot.com
The Internet, among its zillions of uses, is now a self-esteem
booster ““ or breaker. Forget online dating. Say goodbye to
those pesky little Web cams. And say hello to www.amihotornot.com,
a new site that allows users to become a beauty pageant judge, a
contestant, or both. The name of the site says it all: “Am I
hot or not?” A viewer has the choice of judging men, women or
both in a one to 10 style rating on their “hotness.”
After clicking on the chosen score, one is immediately given
another brazen beauty or beast to judge. It is a vicious cycle
that’s totally addicting. Users never know what type of
picture will appear next, so the urge to just keep clicking away is
omnipresent. For people not afraid to let random strangers decide
if they are a “hottie” or not, they can upload their
own mug shot and be thrown to the wolves for rating. Those falling
in the one to three rating range are sad sights to behold, but the
true hotties, up the in the 9.5 range, make weeding through the
lower ratings time well spent. Be forewarned, however; 9.5 pictures
tend to be those where clothing and modesty are practically
non-existent. This site may exploit the superficiality and
pettiness of our society by encouraging people to judge a book by
its cover, but that seems to be what makes the site so much fun for
viewers. It affirms that people come in all shapes and sizes and
provides an anonymous place to rail on complete strangers and boost
one’s own petty self image. Viewers can also sign up for a
weekly e-mail supplying the top 10 hottest people of the week. To
round it all off, the site provides a forum to post messages and
chat with other users, as well as to compare pictures and express
grievances. Simple and easy to use, amihotornot.com offers a
welcome break for those midterm blues or late study nights. With an
abundance of new pictures from across the globe, the site is the
ultimate destination to feast on a delicious coupling of cruelty
and vanity.
Sarah Monson Rating: 10
Farts www.farts.com
A fart smells and makes noise, but on the Internet, the act of
“breaking wind” is limited only to varying octaves. At
farts.com, users can listen to just about every varying type of
fart, ranging from the high-pitched to the long and disturbing. The
site also provides access to expert fart advice, fart jokes and
stories, and even the opportunity to have a fart.com e-mail
address. The farts that users can listen to on the site are
authentic gases that people have submitted to to the site.
Currently under way is a contest searching for the best fart.
Whatever qualities that fart may entail is left up to the creator.
The various farts are then voted on and the winner’s fart is
crowned “Fart of the Day.” Viewers can learn the name
of the fart and the foods that were eaten prior to the fart, in
addition to personal comments about the fart through the
“Rank-O-Matic,” an informational graphic which appears
below the winning gas. For instance, one fart struggling for the
title of “Fart of the Day” was entitled “The Big
One,” and was the result of a mixture of plain cheese and
peanuts. Comments from the emitter walked on a thin borderline
between funny and just plain sick, saying, “It almost hurts.
Don’t do that at home with your children.” Though
entered fart recordings are supposed to be real, some actually
sound as if they are computer generated, while others contain
comments from victims of the flatulence. Additionally, the true
gaseous tales sometimes seem to not be recounts of actual
experiences. Some of the stories are also completely uninteresting.
The following “joke,” for example, leaves the reader
wondering where exactly the point of the tale is, while at the same
time potentially providing a bit of nostalgia: “One day I was
sitting in class when this guy behind me did a huge fart, it was
really funny, everyone started to laugh, then the teacher told him
to control himself. The guy started to go bright red.” The
site proves itself to be useful in sharing the laughs it provides
to site visitors as well. Users are given the option to e-mail
various toots and jokes through “Fart Greeting Cards.”
Under this option, a user can select the fart sound or joke they
wish to send, in addition to the cartoon that will travel along
with it to its unsuspecting recipient. Dr. Rex Breefs, a
self-proclaimed expert on the act of cutting cheese, is also
available through the site to answer any questions a confused
farter may have. While questions pondering whether farting really
cleans the colon seem genuine, others asking for advice on the
silent but deadly genre of gas seem just plain silly. While
farts.com really isn’t useful in helping people get over
their fears of smelly gas, the site is cute in its unabashed
treatment of the embarrassing topic that some can’t even
discuss among close friends or family without turning red. With
screen savers, gifts for mom and dad and even a downloadable
“Fart Machine” that contains many great fart sounds,
fart.com is great for a smile.
Barbara McGuire Rating: 8
