Stamp Column Archives

The Glassine Surfer Column Archive

This column originally appeared in the American Philatelic Society's monthly magazine, "The American Philatelist." Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

February 2000

Non-English Web

Languages are still a barrier on the Web.  Stamp sites in German or French largely remain a mystery to me, but that need not stop us when we've found a particularly attractive site.  

I've mentioned web language translation services before, and I'd like to add another to the list.  FreeTranslation.com renders translations of eight common European languages, and provides a good outline of what exactly machine translations are.

The other well-known service is Bablefish, which now has a browser plug-in for Explorer or Navigator that may well become one of your essential tools.  

Download and install the plug-in, then go to the page that needs translation.  A few clicks and the page's text is displayed in the language you selected.  

FreeTranslation
http://www.freetranslation.com/

Bablefish
http://babelfish.altavista.com

# Design Errors

Emmanuel Delperdange's site is about mistakes, or rather philatelic design errors.  I like design errors, and the more egregious the better.  It's nice to see that even while in pursuit of perfection, bureaucracies and philatelists are nothing if not purely human, and what's more the errors go unnoticed by 98% of us, which makes me wonder about the other 2%.

Delperdange's site is a gallery of design errors and opens with the well-known, six-fingered President Roosevelt of Monaco.  Some other outstanding errors are Denmark's math errors, the old GDR's Schumann issue highlighting the music of Schubert, and the seven legs for four horses on the US' Ft. Kearney issue.

Delperdange is on the lookout for more errors to add to his site, so if you're one of the 2% and have a few tucked into your cap, post him an e-mail.

Design Errors at
http://user.glo.be/~edelper/genhtm/page3.htm

#
Here are the facts.  First, Steen Hartman is a stamp collector in Denmark.  Second, his homepage hosts his hobbies, of which stamps is but one.  Third, Hartman is a professional web designer of some talent.  And together they add up to a wonderfully designed personal web site of particular promise.

Hartman's focus is Denmark and localities related to Denmark, like the Faroes and Danish West Indies.  You'll also find a lot a pages on Danish history from the 10th through 21st century, as well as several sections of anecdotal material, which rounds out the site nicely.

The custom graphics and intergrated look and feel of the site is first rate and a great philatelic web site design.  Collectors of Scandinavia will appreciate this site, but this is a site for everyone.  Oh, and it's all in English.

Steen's Residence
http://www.residence.dk/

#
Philatelic Software Reviews Available Online

"The Compulatelist" software reviews are now online.  This is the journal of the Philatelic Computing Study Group which studies how computers can help stamp collectors with their collections.

Seven stamp programs are reviewed, ranging from "EzStamp for Windows" to "U.S. Stamp Collector's Database."  The site is also stocked with an inventory of all known stamp programs information, articles from past journals and membership info, as well as sources for basic Web information.

Philatelic Computing Study Group
http://www.pcsg.org

Free ISPs

In the October column I mentioned Alta Vista's free Internet access service, which is good to have ready when your regular ISP goes to the ICU and you must put in a last minue online bid and e-mail your boss.

There are other free Internet access companies that you might want to investigate, each offering a slightly different free access plan.

FreeWWWeb has no questionairre or banner ads, and they verify age by a credit card number that they don't bill.  

FreeWWWeb
http://www.freewwweb.com/