By Lisa Greim EverittDenver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

This isn't a beauty contest, a collection of corporate behemoths or a display of whizzy plug-ins. We ask for ideas, but we don't let you vote. This isn't a democracy, it's a fiefdom.

Here's the mission statement: "We look for sites that look good and DO something; sites that provide information not readily available elsewhere; sites that take advantage of the interactive capabilities of the Web; sites that blow our minds with their completeness or coolness."

Save yourself some typing and surf from RockyMountainNews.com, where all 100 sites are hotlinked:

ABYman's Cat House (ares.csd.net/~abyman) -- Cats, cats everywhere, from elegant purebreds to your basic housecats.

www.asiaxpress.com -- News and events for the Denver Asian community.

astrophotographs.com -- Conifer photographer Willis Greiner displays and sells images of celestial events: solar eclipses, comets and northern lights.

Aviation On-Line Network (www.airparts.com) -- More than 35 million aircraft and avionics parts fuel e-commerce at this site, but a RealAudio feed from the tower at Centennial Airport makes it fun.

www.bandwidthmarket.com -- Now that Denver's established as the Bandwidth Capital of the World, it makes sense that the "world's largest catalog of bandwidth" should be based here.

www.bedandbreakfast.com -- Locate, compare, reserve or just dream about getaways all over the world.

Bellco First Federal Credit Union (www.bellco.org) -- Colorado's largest credit union does everything on the Web that it does in its branches, and it's much faster than the drive-through.

www.bid4vacations.com -- Travel auctions and a CEO who's not ashamed to be photographed in a tiara.

www.bluemountain.com -- Any Web site worth a billion bucks deserves to be listed, don't you think? Upwards of 12 million people a month send or view e-greetings from the Boulder card company, which just sold its Web site to Excite AtHome.

Blues Access Online (www.he.net/(~)blues) -- We love Red Rooster's music picks and the chance to build your own custom blues CD at the Boulder magazine's Web edition.

BOTWeb (www.botweb.com) -- The people at Concepts Direct in Longmont aim to make this the premier portal of the Best of The Web.

Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau (www.bouldercoloradousa.com) -- A sleek site to promote visiting and convening in the shadow of the Flatirons.

www.breastfeeding.com -- Started by Joan and Victor Babbitt of Boulder, this site's grown into a community of nursing mothers, sharing ideas, encouragement and tales of parenting.

The BumpStop (www.bumpstop.com) -- More fine rides than you can shake a stick at, from a couple of car enthusiasts in Broomfield.

Celebrity Death Slalom (www.westword.com/extra/cds/index.html) -- Last year Westword killed off Calista Flockhart, Leonardo diCaprio and Howard Stern -- the cartoon versions, of course. The second annual CDS includes a new set of celebrities. Que Viva Kenny Be!

Chartreuse Camera (insidecolorado/chautauqua) -- Living in a cabin in Chautauqua Park may not be everyone's idea of Thoreau-style voluntary simplicity, but it's fostering some good writing at this site.

Christian Science Endtime Center (www.endtime.org) -- An alternative look at the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, put forth by the Denver-based Christian Science Church of Transfiguration.

College Coaches Athletes Tracking Center (www.ccats.net) -- Denise McNulty, Littleton mother of six high school athletes, wants to connect youngsters with scholarship money via the Web.

Colorado Bird Observatory (www.cbobirds.org) -- In between tracking the migratory patterns of birds, the CBO is renovating a 19th-century stone farmhouse near Barr Lake for its headquarters.

Colorado Environmental Coalition (www.cecaction.org) -- Winner of the Nonprofit Webby for best grass-roots site, the coalition's pages prove that Web work done by amateurs need not look amateurish.

Colorado Job Search Page (www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/4790/) -- A programmer friend of a friend of your cousin has a wild hair to move to Colorado. Point him here, where Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group co-founder Dan Murray keeps an updated list of links and jobs.

Colorado LawyerNet (www.lawyernet.com) -- You don't have to be an attorney to take advantage of the vast legal resources here, including research links and downloadable forms.

Colorado Public Radio (www.cpr.org) -- Ever wonder what Dan Drayer looks like? Satisfy your curiosity here.

Colorado Springs/Pueblo (colorado.about.com) -- Brian Newman, your About.com guide to southern Colorado, piles up the links and adds articles about alligators in suburban Alamosa. There's an About.com guide to Denver, too.

Colorado Tourism (www.colorado.com) -- Judged the No. 1 state tourism Web site by the Travel Industry Association of America, Colorado.com pulls in business from the four corners of the world.

Colorado Water Knowledge (waterknowledge.colostate.edu) -- Attention Colorado newcomers! Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth, for heaven's sake. Visit this site to find out why.

Colorado's Ocean Journey (www.oceanjourney.org) -- In a related story: fish!

www.companylogos.com -- Fast, easy, inexpensive logo design on the Web, from a Fort Collins designer.

www.content-exchange.com -- Career empowerment for free-lancers, courtesy of Editor & Publisher's Steve Outing and Amy Gahran of the Web zine Contentious.

Contractor.com) -- Start your next remodeling process with the help of this Denver e-business, which runs a comprehensive search service and also provides marketing tools and ideas for contractors.

CU Business Advancement Center (www.colorado.edu/cubac) -- Resources for the technology community, including contract research at modest rates, from the University of Colorado.

Delightful in Denver (www.delightful-in-denver.net) -- Ernest Thompson presents one man's view of Colorado, take it or leave it, from Best Dentist (Merril Rowe) to Best Polar Bears (Ulaq and Berit).

Denver Center for the Performing Arts (www.denvercenter.org) -- In its first month of e-commerce operation, the arts complex sold 404 ticket orders online, 95 of which went to new DCPA customers.

DenverGov (www.denvergov.org) -- The revamped Web site for the city of Denver offers info for citizens, businesses and visitors. Until Jan. 31, you can contribute to an online time capsule here.

Denver Urban Gardens (www.dug.org) -- How can you not love a site whose e-mail link is dirt@dug.org?

Digital Education Systems (www.digitaled.com) -- Now owned by Chicago-based Paragon Systems, DigitalEd creates Web-based training for information technology and human resources.

www.donornet.com -- E-commerce solutions for the nonprofit industry, with links to charities.

www.driveoff.com -- Englewood-based Navidec presents this automated way to buy a car, 100 percent online.

www.ebags.com -- Suitcases, purses, backpacks, gym bags, bundles, barrels, firkins, anything you can put stuff into, for sale at this Greenwood Village e-business.

www.echoppers.com -- Devoted to "tireless men and women who, with blow torch in hand and wrench in teeth, turn the commonplace into rolling works of art." Online classifieds for bikes, bike parts and, soon, bike companions.

www.eklektix.com -- Everything Linux, including training courses and the Linux Weekly News, by a group of Boulder open-source proponents who aren't zillionaires -- yet.

www.epidemic.com -- Now, consumers can make money by "viral marketing" -- inserting advertising into their e-mail. Yes, way, as the LoDo start-up says in its dripping-with-attitude Web site.

www.esniff.com -- A Littleton start-up offers plug-and-play software to bust employees who use company time and network resources to check out the other 99 sites on this list.

www.flatrateinfo.net -- We use this fast-growing site almost daily to look up public records -- from state and national archives of property, people and money -- without stirring up our dust allergy.

Focus on the Family (www.family.org) -- A huge multimedia site enjoyed by the many fans of James Dobson.

www.4Work.com -- This Greenwood Village recruitment site didn't buy any ads during the Super Bowl. Instead, 4Work launched a site for volunteers (www.4LOL.com), rolled out a slick new redesign and registered almost 300,000 people who are looking for work. Are you listening, stressed-out hiring managers?

www.frontierairlines.com -- Get out of town on the hometown carrier with Spirit of the Web discount fares, posted and e-mailed every Wednesday.

Germinal Stage Denver (www2.privatei.com/~gsden/) -- You could go blind reading this site, but persevere to find out more about Germinal Stage, "the runt stepchild of small nonprofit theatres -- a 25-year-old, 100-seat corner grocery of Thespis holding its own against the supermarkets."

www.gifts.com -- StarTek, a Colorado company, runs the back end of this enormous e-commerce site; Reader's Digest runs the front end.

www.gogaga.com-- Internet radio before Internet radio was cool. Of course it started in Boulder.

Greater Denver Hispanic Guide (www.denverhispanic.com) -- Tons of resources for the huge and growing Latino community.

Hemlock Society (www.hemlock.org) -- The oldest and largest right-to-die organization in the United States is based in Denver and uses the Web to update members on patient rights, court news and support for families and the terminally ill.

www.homespace.com -- Real estate, mortgage and service information from yet another Tech Center dot-com.

I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County (www.ihadboulder.org) -- The foundation, based in Lafayette, is helping 197 low-income children to learn, be self-sufficient, dream big dreams and have fun.

Internet Chamber of Commerce (www.icc.org) -- We are the new economy, hear us roar. Terry Freeman saw it coming and got it organized.

www.ipopros.com -- For the past year, TheStreet.com's been running Ben Holmes' commentaries on public offerings. They liked this site so much, they bought the company.

JeffcoNet (204.98.1.2) -- Jefferson County Public Schools' home page is designed to be a start page and resource center for the district's constituents: staff, parents, taxpayers, kids.

Johns Manville (www.jm.com) -- Building Products magazine named the Denver company's Web pages one of the construction industry's best, for its specs, environmental data sheets and list of installation contractors for its products.

www.kickstart.com -- A commercial site to funnel rebates from online shopping to groups who need it -- anybody from the Arapahoe High School marching band to the Ayn Rand Institute.

www.leaguelink.com -- Free software at this new Web site enables sports league administrators to put down pencil and paper and automate scheduling, rosters and uniform orders.

localstation.com -- A music site with audio and videos of DJs around the country showcasing local music to a worldwide audience.

www.menstoys.com -- Besides the $117,000 sailboat, we found the store a little thin on merchandise at this Boulder site, which boasts "No foo-foo shopping experiences here." Just what the world needs -- another place for guys to buy gear.

Morris Animal Foundation (www.morrisanimalfoundation.org) -- This Webby winner has raised thousands of dollars for its foundation, which focuses on animal health.

www.mountainlake.com -- Dream about disappearing to Grand County or just play with the star-trail cursor at this site.

Mountain Web Sports (www.mountainweb.com) -- If you can do it on a mountain, this site covers it: climb, hike, bike, board, ski, camp and the rest.

Movie Index (www.koaa.com/movieindex/) -- Think of this Colorado Springs-based Web site as a nutrition statement for films, with numerical ratings for violence, sex and crudeness.

Mushkin Memory (www.mushkin.com) -- Mushkin makes memory modules, darn good ones, in fact, and they're sold on the Web and in a former bank lobby right across the street from this newspaper.

National Endowment for Financial Education (www.nefe.org) -- In an era when the high net-worth individual is glorified endlessly, here's a financial Web site for the rest of us, encouraging people to save, educating kids about money and helping teach financial skills to immigrants and the disabled.

National Cattlemen's Beef Association (www.beef.org) -- The domain name says it all. Beef as an entree, as a business, as a political force, as a way of life.

National Jewish Medical and Research Center (www.nationaljewish.org) -- Respiratory and immunological disease resources to help patients, families and professionals breathe easier.

www.netbuffs.com -- Everything about University of Colorado football, followed by Buffs fans around the globe and policed, er, moderated by Ted Smith.

nikkeiview.com -- Gil Asakawa writes a weekly column about life from a Japanese-American perspective and packs his Web site full of resources.

Nina's Aqua World (www.dimensional.com/~dln) -- Leonid Yevseyev, Diana Meier and 3-year-old daughter Nina built a family Web site that won a prize from US West. The site's lovely; so's Nina.

Official U.S. Time (www.time.gov) -- At the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Boulder lab, they know the exact time, and they share it with the world on this Java-enabled site.

www.planetoutdoors.com -- Gear to get you out of the house: hiking stuff, cycling stuff, tents, shoes, you name it, from this e-commerce startup in Boulder. WomenOutdoors launched this fall, with gear for grrrls.

Primal Productions (www.primalpost.com) -- Independent filmmakers and musicians can offer their works for sale to the public on this Denver studio's site.

www.privaseek.com -- You control your personal data at this Louisville "infomediary."

Q.home (www.qhomefax.com/) -- Click to fax, anywhere, cheap, part of a cool suite of services from Qwest Communications.

www.quartersofthestates.com -- The best two-bit map on the Internet.

www.rockiesavenue.com -- "American brands at American prices" for Japanese consumers, from Boulder entrepreneur Kei Izawa.

Rocky Mountain Mapping Center (rmmcweb.cr.usgs.gov/) -- The U.S. Geological Survey's crack cartography team, based at the Federal Center in Lakewood, shows off its geographic information systems data and other tools.

www.servicemagic.com -- Do you know a good plumber? Most people don't, which is the impetus for this Golden start-up's site to link people to competent service providers.

www.servicemetrics.com -- Less than a year after launch, this Boulder start-up got snatched up by Exodus Communications. Take a look at its cool tools for measuring user experience on the Net and you'll see why.

SkratchLand (www.hapiskratch.com) -- The online home of Fort Collins-based Hapi Skratch Records.

www.skywarn.net-- The national association of tornado-chasers with amateur radio licenses.

Sled City (www.sledcity.com) -- A virtual community for snowmobile enthusiasts, developed by "hardcore snowmobilers" in Arvada. Included: legislative updates, trail maps, suppliers and a trip planning guide.

www.sonnenalp.com -- Ballot-box stuffing aside, the venerable Vail lodge boasts a good-looking site.

www.spiremedia.com -- This LoDo interactive agency designed a whole bunch of the sites on this list. Their own page is a kick and includes some great games.

www.splittrader.com -- Free analysis and commentary about stocks that are likely to split, brought to you by the Littleton group that also does OptionInvestor.com.

Support Source 2000 (www.supportsource.com) -- Support Source, based in Boulder, wants to be the go-to Internet resource for every help desk. More than 200,000 technical documents can be searched here.

TaxTrax (www.pcwright.com) -- Now here's a great idea: a downloadable trial of software that knows the sales and use tax rates for every address in Colorado.

True Direction Coaching (www.coachlee.com) -- Play "The Values Game" and the results may surprise you. Subscribe to an e-mail list for a self-improvement suggestion a day.

www.twistandshout.com -- Who needs CDNow when we have Twist and Shout, Denver's best independent record store?

www.usa.net -- Free e-mail for life from this Colorado Springs netco is but one of the services it offers.

Vacation Rentals by Owner (www.vrbo.com/vrbo) -- Out in Aurora, these folks got the great idea to connect people with rental property in cool places with people who want a good place to stay.

www.vantagepoint.com -- A suite of Web-based agribusiness tools, including mapping, crop management, grain storage tracking, weather, market news and specialized searches, from a new company in Fort Collins.

www.vstream.com -- "Everything else is so Twentieth Century," sez the home page. Boulder-based VStream offers Net-based conferencing and fun voice tags for e-mail.

Women of the West Museum (www.wowmuseum.org) -- Start your tour of this virtual museum at the Story Quilt, where women are invited to add their stories of the Western experience.

www.workingassetsradio.com -- Working Assets, which builds support for progressive causes through products like long distance and credit cards, bought a Boulder AM radio station last year. Renamed KWAB, the station broadcasts to the world in RealAudio.

www.yellowribbon.org-- Teen suicide prevention tools and support, in memory of Mike Emme and his yellow Mustang.

January 10, 2000