Make a quick visit to bargain site before shopping online

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 6, 2005 | by JIM BAINBRIDGE THE GAZETTE

Want to save money? OK, silly question. At the Quick to Click Web site, you can purchase gift certificates at half price or less and get bargain rates on rental cars, substantial discounts on office equipment or free shipping from Sony.

If you're planning on doing any online purchasing, it's in your best interest to stop by Quick to Click first. You can browse by type of product, alphabetically by brand name or with the site's internal search engine.

Our favorite link is Restaurant.com. It lists 13 Colorado Springs restaurants where you can purchase a $25 gift certificate for $10.

www.quicktoclick.com

HISTORY

Thanks to the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, it is possible to listen in on American history online. The White House Tapes Web site has almost 5,000 hours of conversations of every chief executive from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, from 1940 to 1973.

Almost half the collection comes from the Nixon years and, yes, there is Watergate material aplenty. Rated PG.

www.whitehousetapes.org

MOVIES

Having just celebrated the best of 2004 with Oscar night, it's time to look ahead at what's coming our way in the weeks and months ahead.

The coming attractions pages at RottenTomatoes.com is one of the best things it does, offering a chronological listing that tells us the opening date, plot synopsis, rating, director and cast of every new release. Click on the movie title and it delivers much more detailed information, including news, reviews and a link to the film's official Web site.

www.rottentomatoes.com/movies/upcoming.php

PLAYING CARDS

If you love card games and, more than that, love the infinite variety of card design, you have a kindred spirit in Bob Lancaster. His online Gallery of Unusual Playing Cards not only displays rare decks of cards including "La Traviata by Ert" and "Beavis and Butthead," but also has links to online playing card museums, other collectors' sites and places to purchase cards online.

members.aol.com/rslancastr/ blgupc/blgupc.htm

BOOKS

A book reviewer himself, Ron Hogan has always been fascinated by the process. And the outcome. His Beatrix site serves as a sort of review of book reviews, discerning "patterns of taste and/or critical strategy, and sometimes... (following) a book through the review matrix to see how opinions coalesce or wildly diverge." The latest entries seem to indicate that a favorable New York Times review might not carry as much weight as we all thought.

www.artsjournal.com/beatrix

TELEVISION

Hobbyists Jerry Lerma and Terry Hogan have created a highly detailed map of Springfield, hometown of "The Simpsons," which is useful for resolving questions about episodes of the popular animated TV show. It can be viewed online or printed out as a large, highquality download.

www.mapofspringfield.com

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0126 or bainbird@gazette.com