Surfing your way into Las Vegas is smart and easy

Tom Di Francesca

Greetings from the floor of the Las Vegas (Nevada) Convention Center. I and my trusty sidekick “K” (short for Kyocera) — which is actually a combination cellular telephone and Palm Pilot — are here to attend COMDEX. COMDEX is an acronym for “computer dealer exposition” and the event takes place in November of each year.

I have always — forever — wanted to attend at least one COMDEX in my life. I have also always wanted to try and meet some of the staff from PC Magazine — that wish came true here at COMDEX. I got to shake hands and speak with Bill Machrone, vice president of technology at Ziff Davis Publishing, owner of PC Magazine. I have read Bill’s technology articles for years.

If you’d like to learn more about this weeklong, once-a-year opportunity to see, handle and learn about the latest in computer technology, just jump over to http://www.comdex.com/lasvegas2003 and then you can start saving up your pennies for next year — maybe I’ll see you there.

When one thinks of Las Vegas, they don’t normally think of non-gambling related things to do — well, I’m different I reckon. Other than pulling a couple of slot machine levers a few years ago, I lost interest in Las Vegas pretty quickly. I guess the thought of pouring my hard earned money down the proverbial toilet just isn’t my style.

When Miss Susie Q. and I first stayed in “Sin City” — Susie was there on business, I just tagged along — we didn’t have much money and neither of us had any clue about what to see and visit while we were there.

I hadn’t done my homework — but that is not the case now.

Prior to leaving for Las Vegas last week, I surfed my way over to google.com and started searching for free and inexpensive things to do there. I found a veritable cornucopia of Web sites.

First stop was the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce: http://www.lvchamber.com/ You will find plenty of great information there, especially if you click on the “Visitors Guide” link.

Next stop is a Web site entitled “Las Vegas on 25 cents a day” — of course, the title is misleading but it certainly does get one's attention. The Internet address is http://www.bigempire.com/vegas/index.html and although the site title is hype, there is a lot of good information and links contained within it.

Food — I’ve heard about the great buffets in Las Vegas for decades, but Susie and I just weren’t all that lucky in finding good ones. This year, though, I found a Web site that lists the most popular buffets and provides their costs. Just hop on over to http://www.a2zlasvegas.com/food/buf-list.php3 (you’ll have to type that address carefully) and you’ll get hungry just reading through the list.

Finally, although there are many other Las Vegas Web sites that could be covered — this next one is very, very informative and can basically link you to most others. If you go to http://www.allvegasguide.com/ you will encounter the “All Las Vegas Guide.” One of the best links on the site is the one titled “Best of Las Vegas!”

Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance columnist and a resident of Clovis. He can be reached at [email protected] or http://www.trackertom.com