Dial In. Log On. Have Fun!

Up to now, almost every edition of @Work has focused on using the Web to do, well, work. But let's face it: Lots of people spend lots of time online doing things that few of us would mistake for work -- getting a daily dose of "Dilbert," chatting with friends, fantasizing about a tropical getaway. Many companies have noticed these extracurricular activities and have issued an edict: Stop the party! Some companies have even installed software that blocks access to frivolous Web sites.

Our motto: Party on! Dismiss it as "multi-slacking," if you like. But what good is hard work if you can't have some fun once in a while? That's the attitude of Thomas Dolby Robertson, president and CEO of Headspace Inc., a music- and multimedia-development company based in San Mateo, California. Robertson is a serious businessman and an avid windsurfer. (He also wrote and performed the 1980s pop hit "She Blinded Me With Science.") He likes to take time out of his workday to check Call of the Wind (www.windcall.com), which gives members real-time wind reports for the San Francisco Bay Area (and for other areas too). If he likes what he sees, he'll leave his office to surf in the waters off the San Mateo Bridge. "I met one of my programmers by windsurfing," Robertson says. "We emailed each other for about six months. Then I told him that he should move to the Bay Area and write software in the morning and windsurf in the afternoon."

In this edition of @Work -- renamed @Play -- we suggest ways to play on the Web, by yourself and with others, as well as resources on the Web that will help you get out of your grim office and into the great outdoors. So dial in, log on -- and have fun!

Unit of Fun

Surfing the Web (unlike windsurfing) can be a lonely experience. You sit in a cubicle or an office, eyes glued to a computer screen, searching for a piece of news, a statistic, a nugget of background information on a potential business partner. The next time your surfing begins to feel like a grind, treat yourself to a quick dose of humor, a bite of entertainment, or even a trivia quiz.

The Finger (www.thefinger.com) has been "putting the digit back in digital" since 1997. Produced by Sam Pratt, a New York City-based journalist and cultural critic, The Finger offers an almost-daily blast of caustic commentary on current events, on celebrities and other cultural icons, and on uses of the word "finger" in literature. It also points to other entertaining sites, such as Freakypants' Tribute to Worms (http://prairiedog.cs.indiana.edu:29701/home1.html). Some of the writing by Pratt and his contributors can be a little over-the-top, but it's always hilarious. Think Suck (www.suck.com) -- only smarter.

Cardhouse (www.cardhouse.com) is another edgy Web site where contributors always have something to say. Its creator, Jeff Hansen, a writer and designer in Hayward, California, offers wicked commentaries on topics such as credit-card applications and truck soccer (which is a lot like ordinary soccer, except that it's played with remote-control trucks). The site also archives back issues of Hansen's X Magazine and will soon archive Dryer, another zine of his. One of the site's most amusing features, "All About All About," is a listing of books, periodicals, and clippings with titles such as "All About Tipping" and "All About Mobile Homes." And be sure to sign up for Missives, Hansen's email newsletter. The quick jabs that he sends to your inbox are as funny as his Web writings.

If you don't like your humor and commentary to be short and sweet, then peel back the layers of The Onion (www.theonion.com), the electronic version of a weekly humor tabloid based in Madison, Wisconsin. Updated every Wednesday, The Onion offers a blend of "Saturday Night Live" and the Weekly World News. "It's a brilliant satire of the average U.S. newspaper," says Bill Sandoval, an assistant professor at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Sciences -- and a huge Onion fan. "The stories are completely nonsensical, but the writing is perfectly journalistic, making it a brilliant mockery of what passes for real news writing. Sometimes I laugh out loud while I'm reading it."

Of course, there's more to fun than humor. IQ tests and trivia quizzes offer a wonderful break from the routines of office life. Puzz.com (www.puzz.com) includes a superb assortment of brainteasers, riddles, and games. Its table-based layout can be distracting, but Puzz.com is a great place to see what kinds of puzzles and quizzes are available online. For example, the "Chimera Test" claims to be one of the most difficult IQ quizzes ever created. Another feature, "Trivia Blitz," is a weekly Java blast of pop-culture trivia.

If you get so good at online trivia that you think you're some kind of genius, then wrap your head around Mensa Workout (www.mensa.org/workout.html). The interactive intelligence test requires you to answer 30 challenging questions in 30 minutes. A good score won't get you into the genius club ("This quiz is provided for entertainment purposes only," reads a disclaimer), but it will expand your mind.