Business users of the Web seem to fall into two camps: either you can't live without it, or you can't figure out what everyone else is doing on it. If your are one of the latter, perhaps you have only tried to get online now and then, and have grown tired of trying to figure out how to find anything that is actually useful. That is easy to understand - learning to roam productively takes time.
But there is plenty to discover out there. People who jump online frequently soon find places they like to go regularly, which they will "bookmark" on their browser (learn to do this if you don't know how - it's easy). Those sites then tend to offer other good "links".
The following sites are excellent starting points for people who are looking for some basic Web business resources. All are online, or "new media", versions of print magazines and newspapers ("old media") well-known to any business person. If the Web is still alien to you, it can be enormously encouraging to find a familiar corner.
Also, all of these sites offer Web-only features, like daily online stories, searchable archives, and links to stock reports. These sites are useful "content aggregators". Why bookmark 20 different Websites for stocks, business news, financial indices, and so on, when you can link to them easily from just one of these sites?
The following are some sites which might gain boss-approval if you're caught surreptitiously Web-surfing.
Business Week Online (http://www.businessweek.com)
The entire current issue of the magazine is available online, including international variations. (So why buy print? Because it's incredibly tedious to read a magazine by calling up one story at a time.) The Silicon Valley Report, a special issue from earlier this year, is excellent. Other features include a daily briefing of financial information, news on the international markets, and a link to Standard and Poor's index.
Forbes Online (http://www.forbes.com)
Just as feisty as the magazine, there's a range of stories from the print issue, special online pieces, and a Forbes Toolbox with resource lists like the Forbes 500 and Forbes 40 financial index. You can track your investment portfolio, read mutual fund surveys, or if you're feeling particularly aggressive, download a version of the Forbes Corporate Warrior game, "a futuristic business arena in true 3D" with "realistic cut-throat business tactics" (I'm serious).
The Economist (http://www.economist.com)
The venerable British publication has some stories from the print magazine as well as archives and special online content.
Upside (http://www.upside.com) and The Red Herring (http:// www.redherring.com)
Two sister publications that are must-reads if you're interested in the ins and outs of Silicon Valley. Both irreverently cover the business of technology, with Upside being the more heavily business-angled. Red Herring is supposedly Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's favourite magazine.
The Financial Times (http:// www.ft.com)
You need to register, which is free, but then you have access to most of the content of the daily FT, plus some excellent business links.
The Irish Times (http://www.irish- times.com)
And not forgetting Ireland's leader - the first Irish newspaper on the Web - bringing you each morning's edition from 4 a.m., including unrivalled business news coverage, regular updates and a searchable archive.
