Welcome  to the premiere editions of COLORADO-DIRECTORIES.NET and COLORADO-ARTS.NET.  These are free public services that have become major sources of information about entertainment, the arts, cultural activities and other public services and opportunities throughout Colorado.  This is an extensive project and enormous undertaking that is now in its second year of operation .

           This service is advertiser supported.  Advertising includes expanded listings that provide detailed information about a listing, updated calendars, display ads and some banner ads.  The empty yellow space on the right side of directory pages is reserved for display ads and also other free benefits for people visiting these web pages.  No obtrusive pop-ups will be included.  Businesses listed will also be offered various web design services including building and maintenance of full web sites, and also individual web pages that are hosted and updated by COLORADO-DIRECTORIES.NET, and various website promotions.  These various commercial services will enable COLORADO-DIRECTORIES.NET and COLORADO-ARTS.NET to continue to be free services for Colorado residents, tourists and visiting business people, and to afford being promoted in other media, ranging from fliers and ads in commuter buses to magazines on airlines, public service announcements and television spot ads.

           The main focus is to present a collection of information that most people, including residents, tourists and visiting business people are interested in.  

            Many major improvements have occurred over the past year of development.  Colorado-arts.net has essentially focused on the arts, music, dance, dance and adult entertainment.  Colorado-directories.net has focused on public service information, lodging, dining, tourism and general entertainment.  These are both portals with dozens or hundreds or website-like web pages and sub-directories, and thousands of hyperlinks and address/phone/email links to other websites.  Both portals remain cross-linked together.  Some of the new innovations include hyperlinks to webpages for several hundred movies (along with links to reviews, theaters and showtimes), hyperlinks to the websites for most or all television shows, events and concerts calendars, telephone directories, people finders, maps etc.  The initial focus was on the Denver-Boulder-Golden-Aurora-Centennial metro area, and most directories have now expanded to statewide.  In development now are extensive employment links (to job banks, agencies and temporary work, employment assistance centers, advice and training sites), an extensive directory of information and hyperlinks focusing on health and medical issues, and an extensive directory focusing on free education (including free dictionaries, language translators, encyclopedias, virtual online libraries, etc.)  Colorado-directories.net is also now launching extensive directories of global news media and magazines with online ezine editions.  The global news media currently focuses on newspapers around the world with online English editions.  These extensive sub-directories focusing on health and medicine, education, employment, magazines, and news media are currently provided free.

           There are fundamental changes happening in how the public accesses information.  Many of the current print media are becoming progressively overly expensive as the available supplies of disposable paper continue to dwindle, and most newspapers now have online editions.  Telephone directories are already becoming obsolete because they only serve those who lease proprietary telephone lines, and there are now many telecommunication opportunities and more occurring including cell phones and Internet telephone services that the phone company telephone directories are overlooking.

           The nature of retail marketing is also undergoing considerable changes.  There were general stores in olden times, and then specialized mom-and-pop stores, and then chain stores and malls and now mega-stores that are like the olden day general stores only vastly larger and surrounded by parking lots the sizes of small lakes.  There are also now electronic and virtual stores and telecommuting and also an ailing and struggling national economy that is forcing resurgence of self-employment, small business and individual entrepreneurship.  These directories promote businesses, including storefront and virtual businesses, and also promote professionals and entrepreneurs, including individuals who are one-person businesses and independent professionals.  In these difficult times, when businesses are curtailing health benefits and retirement benefits for employees and are requiring free overtime work, self-employment is becoming not only a necessary alternative but also a preferable alternative for anyone who can manage being an entrepreneur.

           There are also now many opportunities for shopping and buying merchandise online and for bill paying online.  Most banks now offer online access to account information.  Credit Card companies, utility companies, and businesses that charge regular monthly rates now have automatic pay options, use electronic checks and online banking services, and there are now many and still growing options for making purchases online.

There is no directory listing service like this.  Telephone directory yellow-pages provide restrictive listings for businesses with business telephones leased from them at premium costs.  In the past, the telephone directory was a complete listing of anyone doing business, but now there are dozens of competing telephone services, at least four different telephone directories in the Denver metro area, and many entrepreneurs with home businesses or Internet businesses who are not being served.  Newspapers and community magazines have token listings of businesses in certain potential-advertiser categories, events, and groups, but these are token gestures and are at best marginally accurate or up-to-date, but are not necessarily comprehensive and are sometimes printed in such fine print that they are difficult to read without a magnifying glass.  Radio stations with serious Internet identities also offer some of the best events information concerning music, special events, and public services that relate the radio station's format.  COLORADO-DIRECTORIES.NET and COLORADO-ARTS.NET are providing 21st century comprehensiveness with 24/7/365 availability.

COLORADO-DIRECTORIES.NET and COLORADO-ART.NET are brand new and still under construction.  COLORADO-DIRECTORIES.NET launched in 2004 with 28 directories, and COLORADO-ART.NET initially hosted 32 directories.  There are now hundreds.  I apologize for typos, out-of-date incorrect information, obsolete listings that are no longer in business, omissions, or broken links, and will correct these as soon as they come to my attention.  Any group, organization or professional listed is being requested to submit a request to be listed, and those that do not and are no longer in business will be edited-out.  Additional directories are being added on a regular basis.  The broad focus of these extensive directories encompasses the arts, cultural activities, music, dance, entertainment, tourism, food, and accommodations and a host of related topics of interest to Colorado residents and visitors, including tourist and visiting business people.  Initially the primary focus is the Denver-Boulder-Aurora-Centennial metro area with the directories expanding to cover the entire state.

These directories are provided free to use and basic listings are provided freely to businesses, organizations, professionals and entrepreneurs who belong in each of the directories.  I desperately need advertising to help keep this web service alive and well and continuing to develop.

          I also provide basic training and instruction in how to get the most from your computer, how to optimize performance, how to enhance security and virus protection, and a host of other topics.  This training is provided in the GENERAL INFORMATION sub-directory. 

          The GENERAL INFORMATION sub-directory and other subdirectories will also provide free software that you can download to your computer to improve performance and enhance the capabilities and security of your computer.  I strongly recommend that you know the system capabilities of your computer system and the system requirements of software to be downloaded before doing the downloading in order to prevent downloading software that your computer cannot accommodate.  This is generally not a problem, but can be in some cases.