General

Moving around this website is actually quite easy, and accommodating to most web browsers. The main pages are accessed by pressing the buttons on the left of each page, and there may be additional buttons on subsequent pages which provide jumps to additional content.

Experiment by moving your mouse over any area of the screen which you think might be a hyperlink.

Hyperlinks on this website are generally not underlined. The reason for this is that it makes for a better printed page. I personally dislike seeing underlined words on a printed page where a hyperlink jump has no meaning. On a hardcopy page, the underlining would convey the impression that the word is emphasized, whereas that might not be the intention.

So how do you know what is a link? Experiment! Oh, okay ... here is a tip. Words which are hyperlinks (as opposed to buttons) are bolded and have different colours -- red if the link is not visited, and blue if you've been there before.

If you need to get back to a previously viewed page, either (a) click on the "Back" button at the top of your browser's window, (b) right click on white space (Windows 95 and later) and select "Back" at the top of the dialog box, or (c) click on the button leading to that page.

Click on the blue triangle () to return to the top of the page. Alternatively, you can also press {Ctrl}-{Home} to get back to the top.

Clicking on the "Home" button results in a jump back to the initial or top page.

Pressing the {Spacebar} has the same effect as a {PageDown}, or clicking below the slider button on the right edge of the screen -- it advances the page once screenful at a time. I find it easier to press the large spacebar button when reading a longer page.

This spot (only on the main/front page of the web site) is reserved for issues that are hot for the shorter term, and for which a dedciated page on the web site has not been developed. Keep checking this area for new items. Check now.

This web site was designed and tested using Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator web browsers. It was also designed for a screen resolution of at least 800 x 600 pixels, with a 16 bit colour depth (over 64,000 colours). If colours look mottled, then there is a good chance that you are running at a lower colour depth, e.g. 256 colours.

The web site looks better using a recent version of MS Internet Explorer, since for several technical reasons, I think that this is a superior browser to Netscape. Best settings are 800 x 600 x 64k colours.

In either Internet Explorer or Netscape, you should set the font size to medium or smaller for best results. In Internet Explorer, go to the Task Bar and click on View > Text Size > Medium. In Netscape, go to the Task Bar and click on View > Increase Font or View > Decrease Font, until a medium size of text is achieved.

Links to external web sites (i.e. not a part of Guyana Outpost) open in a separate window, to facilitate continuity of browsing at this web site. This means that you should have enough computer system and video RAM to enable several windows open at a given time.

Right off the bat, it must be understood that speed and the worldwide web are mutually exclusive. Also, there are many factors that can affect the speed of your browsing experience, and the combinations of factors vary from computer to computer. The quality of the HTML coding, processing power, and net congestion are some of the main factors.

Web pages must be written in an effort to minimize download times. This is accomplished by reducing the size of each downloaded page, and also reducing the size and number of graphics on each page. This web site is written with these parameters in mind.

Since the WWW is inherently slow due to the large amount of data being transferred, it is important that your hardware has enough processing power and memory (RAM and hard disk) to be able to handle all this data. Assuming that your platform is Windows based, a Pentium-class machine with 16 MB and a 28.8 kbps modem is a bare minimum. Moreover, you should have a fast hard drive with sufficient free space to support hard disk caching. The latter feature is especially important when making frequent visits to the same web pages.

Like traffic congestion, Internet congestion slows down your time in getting from "A" to "B". Browsing slower sites at off-peak times can improve the situation.

Finally, choice of browser does make a difference, and at the time of writing, MS Internet Explorer is faster than Netscape.

Printing the web pages from this web site for personal use and reference is not a problem, and can be easily done straight from the browser. The size of the pages are such that they easily fit on a standard 8½ inch sheet of paper. See your browser's help for more details on printing.

Suppose you don't wish to print the whole of a web page. Simply highlight the sentences you wish to print, click on File | Print at the upper left corner of your browser, then choose "Selection" on the Print dialog box. Only the highlighted sentences will be printed. This is especially important when printing a single recipe from the Recipes Pages, or a single news item from any of the news pages. MS Internet Explorer is better at this technique, since it allows the selection of text within tables easier than Netscape does.

The directory of Guyanese on the Internet is not a part of this web site, but is linked to this site for your convenience. Consequently, I have nothing to do with its maintenance and upkeep.

The photos in the Album were taken by me sometime ago. There are also links to other web sites with other photos.

Please feel free to email me a photo of any aspect of Guyana which you feel you would like in the Album. Full credit will be given to you, and the photo will not be re-used by me without your prior consent.

This web site is covered by the copyright terms, limitations and agreement stated on the Copyright Page. Please take the time to read this information (especially important for those developing other Guyana web pages).

As far as the content of the website is concerned, Y2K has no effect whatsoever.

The only aspects of this website that could be affected are the current date (displayed in the left sidebar) and the date that the page was last updated (bottom of the page).

If your computer and/or browser are not Y2K compliant, then the year could show as "1000", "1900", "0", and other crazy numbers. A problem with the display of the year could also occur if the Regional Settings > Date, in My Computer > Control Panel, are set to anything other than the year being displayed as "YYYY" -- or 4 digits -- for the long date form.

If the Regional Settings > Date are okay, and all your other programs and the computer calendar shows the correct year, then the problem is likely the browser. Either time for a browser upgrade, or ignore the dates.

Click to Upgrade:

• MS Internet Explorer
• Netscape Navigator

Downloading Files

All files available for download from this site will be compressed in .ZIP format.

When the download is complete, the file will need to be uncompressed using a program such as WinZip before it can be used. If WinZip is installed on your system, then simply double click on the downloaded file, and WinZip will be invoked. Then you have the option of extracting the file(s) to the folder of your choice.

News from various sources are provided in an effort to provide a balanced viewpoint of Guyana. The monthly "Guyana Update" from the Guyana Embassy in Washington, DC is also available.

Stabroek News was carried on Guyana Outpost in the past, but that service is no longer supported.

The commentary page usually carries discussions on issues which pertain to Guyana and Guyanese society. Although in the past I have been the only one to use this page, I now invite guest commentaries.

If you have something to say, please email me the piece and I will review it for possible publishing on this page. I reserve the right to publish or withold, edited or in its entirety, any piece so submitted. The commenter must provide his/her name and address (email is fine) for the article to be considered.

Wayne's Guyana Mailing List (WGML) is an offshoot of Guyana Outpost: Wayne's Guyana Page, and is great fun.

It is a moderated mailing list, in which issues of interest to Guyanese and friends of Guyana are freely discussed. Everyone is welcome, regardless of nationality, age, or other factors.

As with all mailing lists, the postings come through your email software. It is like a private club, where all the postings are public only to List participants -- private to anyone else. When you post/reply to a message on the mailing list, all subscribers are automatically copied.

It also may be used, from time to time, to bring subscribers up-to-date on the latest happenings on this web site. It will not be used to disseminate news or commentary otherwise available on this (or any other) web site.

Since it is a public forum, viewable on a world-wide basis, the image of Guyanese should be important to participants in WGML.

There is only one guiding principle: Be nice, stay on topic, and don't waste bandwidth.

Please refer to the Mailing List Page for full details.

Mailing List Status

The status of WGML is posted on the List Page as a service to its members.

Information on the Status Page is primarily of interest to WGML members, who might wish to check why they are not getting any mail. There could be a problem with the server, or there could also be a problem with a member's email address, which they are not aware of.

The email address of members whose mail is bouncing for one reason or another will be posted here, if I am unable to get word to them by email. Problems such as "mailbox is full", or "user is over quota" means that WGML mail is not getting through but are bouncing back to the WGML server. Likewise, I can't email these people for the very same reasons. Our goal is to have no entries in this listing!

List members whose addresses keep bouncing mail (in spite of notices being placed on the WGML Status area) are removed from the Mailing List. If and when those members correct the situation, then they are free to re-join WGML.

Polls are a way of getting a snapshot of viewers' opinions on issues. Many factors can affect the outcome of polls from time to time, including the way the question and possible responses are phrased, and whether people pad the online polls by voting more than once. Consequently, these variables should be accounted for when assessing the results of polls, here or anywhere else.

Regarding the padding of the votes -- polls on this website are set such that they are supposed to be one vote per IP address. This means that it could be conservative if there is more than one person using the same computer. Only one would be allowed to vote since the polling software can't really tell if there are two persons, or if it is just one person voting twice. On the other hand, if a computer's IP address changes often, as is the case with many dial-up services which use dynamic IP addressing, that computer would be able to vote more than once, leading to a possible padding of the vote.

This is where the use of cookies comes in. Cookies are also enabled on Guyana Outpost polls, and they restrict that computer to one vote in 2 weeks after which the cookie expires. So regardless of the possible dynamic IP address, the cookie is another measure to try and reduce the error in the result.

Finally, I am sure that if one is determined enough one can hack the polling software so that the poll is "rigged". Who cares? I don't. It is just entertainment.

These are hosted on an external site, i.e. it is not part of this web site, but is linked to this web site for your reading enjoyment.

Guyana has a rich tradition when it comes to folklore. Many can remember the tales of Old Higue, Bacoo, Massacouraman, and others. This is intended to be a repository of Guyanese folklore -- artwork, tales, definitions, etc.

If you can help me with this endeavour, please email me.

With over 400 recipes online, this is the largest collection of recipes from Guyana and the Caribbean on the Internet.

Navigating in the recipes section is straightforward -- the main page leads off into either the alphabetical listing, or a category listing of recipes, as well as to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. This means it is not difficult to find a recipe.

As stated on the main recipe page, I do not email recipes to individuals. The recipes are already publicly available on the worldwide web for viewers to "help themselves".

If you have an unlisted recipe to share, please email it to me and I will post it with full credit to you. There is also a "Recipes Wanted" section on the main recipe page, so if you can help out then this is much appreciated.

This listing is obviously only a subset of all the web sites on the Internet. The total number of web sites and web pages created by Guyanese is growing daily and it is not my intent to provide a directory service for links.

Web sites are listed based on content, and what the web site has to offer the Internet public.

Please advise me of any broken links you may come across.

If you would like Guyana Outpost to link to your web page/site, a few simple guidelines should be met:

If your web page/site meets these guidelines, then please email me the URL.

To send us an email click here.