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Café Reviews (1995-97)

We haven't yet been reviewed in our new incarnation under our new name. Nor have we listed ourselves in any active way with any search engines. So our current level of traffic -- as indicated above -- results from web searches by our visitors, word of mouth, and such. But we've found ourselves -- unsolicited -- on some very prestigious Links lists. Among them:

Our thanks to these supporters.

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The Nearby Café Reviewed by Magellan

magellan logo

Under our previous name, The B.Y.O. Café, the Café received several responses from on-line sources. Its first review from the people at Magellan, the noted but now-defunct search engine, whose logo you'll find toward the bottom of our menu page. They gave us a rating of two stars (out of a possible four); recommended us to "Photographers, Artists, Writers, [and the] Arts Community"; and described us as follows:

"Part entertainment magazine, part scholarly journal, part digital gallery, the eclectic mix of art, texts, and silliness at the B.Y.O. Café makes for hours of reading and clicking. By far the strongest area of the Café is the Visual Identities Gallery, where recent features have included word art by Richard Kostelanetz. Photography is a favorite medium at the B.Y.O. Café, and a great number of both the articles and the visual features deal with either traditional or experimental photographers. But the text is nothing to sneeze at. The B.Y.O. Café also houses Cover Magazine online and The Photo Review. The design of the site leaves a lot to be desired, and some sections are under heavy construction (read: empty). The content that the B.Y.O. Café does have is surprisingly strong; it's not that there's not much here, it's more that the editors are ambitious. Bookmark this site -- we expect great things from it in the future."

We thought that was a fair and honest response (though we liked our design just fine), and a reasonably accurate description of the Café in its then-current state of evolution. We thanked Magellan for it, and looked forward to their comments after future visits. Seems we outlasted them.

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The Nearby Café Reviewed by Luckman Interactive

Luckman Interactive logo

The Café's second online review came in the winter of 1996-97 from Luckman Interactive, another long-departed service, which gave us a rating of four stars! We assumed we were doing something right.

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The B.Y.O. Café Featured in American Photo

American Photo cover

Meanwhile, we also received our first print-media review, a highly favorable one. The issue of American Photo, datelined March/April 1996 and devoted to the subject of photography on the 'Net, referred to and discussed The B.Y.O. Café in no less than three separate articles. Additionally, the Café's director, A. D. Coleman, provided a meditation on Bill Gates's recent acquisition of the Bettmann Archive as a feature in the same issue. Check it out if you can dig up a copy -- lots of good links and other info included, Naomi Campbell in cyber-drag on the cover.

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All contents © copyright 1995-2004 by A. D. Coleman except as indicated. All rights reserved.