Money
Credit Card: Required for rentals. Up until recently they provided you your best exchange rate. However now you should audit your preferred card (especially Visa & MasterCard) since many banks have begun adding an additional 3-5% on top of the 1% they've been charging. If your not sure consider obtaining American Express which includes many services are not available without a credit card and still charges just the 1%.
ATM: cash-dispensing cards linked to international networks such as Cirrus and Plus, should work in most all Californian machines. The transaction charges vary greatly but are often quite minimal ( $1) at a bank machine with the correct sticker. Much more convenient than traveler's check and with common sense precautions quite safe. Plus System is 1-800/THE-PLUS and Cirrus is 1-800/4CIRRUS

Sales tax of 8.5 percent is added to everything except groceries and medicine.
Emergency Cash: Western Union is most convenient. Have money instantaneously wired to you for 10%. (call 1-800/325-6000 for the nearest location). American Express Moneygram offers a similar service.
BANKS & EXCHANGE OFFICES: Few banks exchange foreign currency and even fewer hotels. some banks charge for cashing traveler's checks. Ask at your hotel for advice. USA Banks are open longer hours these days and often on Saturday.To find the nearest bank that sells a particular brand of traveler's check, or to buy checks by phone, call the following numbers: American Express (1-800/673-3782), Citicorp (1-800/645-6556), MasterCard International/ Thomas Cook (1-800/223-7373), Visa (1-800/227-6811).Local Offices: American Express, 560 California St SF(Mon-Sat 10am­5pm) 536-2600 Thomas Cook, 75 Geary St SF (Mon­Fri 9am­5pm; 362-3452).

Universal Currency Converter(tm)

Safety
Preparing for an Earthquake
Waiting for the Big One? Get some safety tips.

Getting On-Line
coffeenet.net || roastmaster@coffeenet.net
The Greatest Coffee and The World"®744 Harrison St. /3rd
Internet Alfredo
On-Line Access as of Aug.97 by sfbg.com
Internet Cafe Directory by sfbayarea.coms

Day Trips
The Bay Area is the Capital of the great Northwest with more unspoiled natural wonders within a day or two drive than anywhere in the world. For this first edition we focused on the northern Counties of Marin, Sonoma, Medocino and Napa and gave them their own section with home links to wider area web resources
Yosemite.com || Links || Tours ||
Excellent website tells you everything and more about one of the planet's most spectacular wonderlands.
Yosemite by NPS.gov || www.yosemitepark.com
Weekend Getaways by miningco.com
Get away from the City with these weekend roadtrips: The Mystery Spot, the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Napa, Muir Woods, and more.
Bay Area Ridge Trail
Council that's planning and building a 400-mile ridgeline multi-use trail around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Elsewhere in the SF Bay Area
Counties and Regions in San Francisco Bay Area ||
Cities in San Francisco Bay Area ||

Elsewhere in California
CA Metros by Yahoo.com || CA Counties and Regions || CA Cities || California by Yahoo.com ||

Business in the Bay Area
Business by sfgate.com || SF Index ||  Silicon Valley Index ||  Portfolio || Chronicle Business || Examiner Business ||  Chronicle 500...

High Tech
Forum by Slashdot.org || Sexbots ||

News for Nerds Stuff That Matters
MP3 in the Music Section of Carnaval.com's .aForum.com
We use these resources to track web music for you with a special emphasis on Brazilian, Caribbean, Latin and New Orleans notes
Technology by mercurycenter.com
Calls itself SiliconValley.com but covers the world's high tech news & finance

is on the mark with timely insight on high-tech whether its the cult of Apple-faithful "We design objects that are totally seductive"...Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac," or open source software scene of Linux vs. Microsoft 
Technology by eXaminer.com
Becky & Gina combine w/ wire stories consolidated by topic to surpass to create a hot web bookmark
Webby Awards || 99 Review by sfweekly
Each year the web's best are recognized in this gala ceremony at Civic Center

History
CalHist.org || Events

California Historical Society is a great web resource
San Francisco County Historical Agencies || California History Links || California Historical Agencies by county

Enter with a flower in your hair. A fond tour

Why not get started on enhancing your chances for romance on your next trip by sending some e-mail to interested parties. Carnaval.com, in association with Alternative Connections and the One-and-Only Network, bring you the web's largest collection of personal ads sorted by City and featuring photos and FREE listings...Southern California may create most of the sex industry's content but the Bay Area is the leader in deploying hedonistic pleasures of the flesh on the web.

Laura Victoria's Exotic City

If it can turn you on, I'll turn up - and turn out the info. And I'll do it all for you….Come one, come all.  
sfbg.com/asc/  By Andrea Nemerson
Ask Andrea Anything
Sex Matters by Louanne Cole Weston, Ph.D || Sex Forum by eX & webx
Savage Love by Dan Savage for sfweekly.com
Safe-Sex web guide by boulevards || how-to || hiv/aids || contraception
Good Vibrations || sex-positive links
Women run sex toy store,a SF Mission institution & much admired model
?404?bayswan.org/edaindex.html?Exotic Dancers Alliance? || Exotic Dancer page || Prostitute's Rights Web Ring List || WhoreChurch.org/
E.D.A. founded in 1991 to help female exotic dancers  obtain rights within the sex industry.
Hundreds at Meeting On Prostitution in S.F. Disagree
Despite being a center of sex worker rights the local police are not interested in any liberal experiments. In Oakland, Johns have had their vehicles confiscated

A collection of the twisted and weird
Days of Darkness
The Jim Jones story staring purple jungle Koolaid is the most twisted
The abduction of Heiress Patricia Hearst ||  Berkeley Statue proposed
This SF Chronicle update looks back 25 years later
Martyrdom of Mayor George Moscone

and gay Civil rights hero Harvey Milk. Fascinating  true story of explosive culture clash was written by Mike Weiss

Government
ABAG Online Bay Area Commerce || Data Center inc. Population & Ethnic Association of Bay Area Governments

Lots of Links
San Francisco Travel Resources by travel.yahoo.com

Trade
BAYTRADE.org || TradePort Assistance Centers || Links || Bookstore ||  info@hq.baytrade.org || Export Statistics is an export promotion and international trade program initiated in 1996 by then Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris in consultation with the Mayors of San Francisco and San Jose to address regionally the loss of 12% of jobs in the region because of federal reductions in military spending. Attempting to bring order to the dozens of bureaucracies promoting trade in order to assist job creation and small business formation for the metro area represented an unprecedented regional partnership among the U.S. Department of Commerce; the California Trade and Commerce Agency; the Bay Area Economic Forum; the three metro cities and the many international trade associations and service providers in the 12-county Greater Bay Area. LATrade a 5 county regional effort is also participates in Tradeport
Trade Events powered by TSNN's Global Network
Africa Initiative by sfgate.com 10/98
Bay area seeks promote business development in sub-Saharan Africa. PortOfOakland.com || Index || Commissioners
The Port is in the process of doubling capacity to keep up with demand. There are a half dozen smaller ports on the Bay but only Oakland has competitive intermeddle capacities to rail, road and sky.
World Affairs Council of Northern California
Leading sponsor of dialogue concerning current foreign policy issues

California Council for International Trade
California business .org providing an effective and unified voice in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento on trade policy issues.
Commerce.Ca.Gov/International
Well poised to help exporters with offices in California and ten foreign locations. The Bay Area is the center of the information technology center boom with the world's largest concentration of  the software industry. Biotechnology, food processing and ?404?commerce.ca.gov/international/ofi/ifs-healthcare.html?healthcare? are also of interest to investors

BayEconFor.Org||| BayAreaFirst.org || 9-county Map || info@bayareafirst.org ||
We possess "unparalleled culture of entrepreneurialism, world-class research institutions, thousands of technology industries and a highly-skilled and innovative workforce. The Bay Area is proud of its past and ongoing economic successes, its outstanding quality of life, and its diversity of cultures.  The key to achieving even greater successes is in our hands.  The region must work together." The Forum is a group composed of  business, academic, and elected officials.
Bay Area Council || info@bayareacouncil.org  
For over 50 years has been the leading representative of the 200 largest employers in the Bay Area and by default has often been the only staff supported voice on regional planning issues. Long-time recently retired CEO  Angelo J. Siracusa is still active as a consultant.  Sunne Wright McPeak is the current  CEO
All 3 of the above offices are at 200 Pine Street in San FranciscoJointVenture.org || Economic Prosperity Council & Economic Development Roundtable || OVERVIEW FROM JOINT VENTURE CEO, RUBEN BARRALES || 1999 Index ||
Mission:To enable sustainable growth and retention of Silicon Valley's technology cluster companies and industries. Goals: +Articulate, educate and advocate issues critical to Silicon Valley's sustained economic success +Celebrate and nurture relationships with Silicon Valley's Technology Leadership +Foster continuous improvement in the delivery of government services +Grow and retain a world-class workforce.