There's a new way to surf the Internet. It doesn't take a 800mhz processor or a 19" monitor to do it, however. All you need to jump on the newest wave of Net technology is a 150 x 150 pixel black and white screen.

It's interesting to look at the last 2 years of development in the Internet technology world. Even now, one of the fastest growing trends is the push for more multimedia on the web. More recently, that trend has been pushed aside in favor of portability and the ability to surf the Net from anywhere. You may have seen television commercials advertising the ability to surf the Web and send email through a digital phone or other mobile device.

AvantGo is one such program that enables handheld users running either the PalmOS or Windows CE to surf the web. In addition, if you have one of the newer handheld devices like 3Com's Palm IIIc color-enabled device, you can view the web in 256 vivid colors.

Ok, so maybe the screen isn't so vivid, but imagine the possibilities. If you're a busy student, you may not have time to visit all of your favorite websites before they change. With AvantGo, you can view your Web pages anywhere you like-even while you use the restroom. If you've already graduated, and you're stuck in some boring meeting, pull out your handheld and see who won the basketball game last night, or find out what's happening at RU on the Tartan Online. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination. You can even fill out forms, including the interactive feedback forms on every article on Whim.

So, once you have downloaded the software and installed it, now what? AvantGo has more than 900 channels that are mirrors to the regular Web content that you surf every day. These channels include everything from local movie listings from Hollywood.com to your local weather from The Weather Channel to USA Today's headline news. And if they don't have a specifically-created channel that mirrors your website of choice, you can easily create your own; all you need to know is the URL of the site.

So how does it work? Well, if your mobile device doesn't have a wireless network card or modem installed, then it updates your chosen channels every time you sync your device with your personal computer. It connects to AvantGo's server and their server downloads the pages that you request, slices them down to fit on your smaller screen, then sends them to your device. Wha-lah!

So, why hasn't Whim created a AvantGo channel yet? Don't worry, if you have a mobile device and are craving to read your favorite Web magazine anywhere you go, we are currently exploring the possibilities of creating a mobile-sized version of Whim for our readers on the go. If you don't have a handheld device, maybe this will finally convince you. If you already own a PDA, go check out AvantGo. It's the best thing I've ever downloaded for my device.