Just wanted to thank you for your wonderful review of my page. I really enjoyed your comments... especially the one about my page called A to Z. You were right, the list is not alphabetized as the title suggests, so I changed the name to Alphabet Soup. Thanks again.
The Reluctant Gourmet
Thank you very much for your kind words about the mobile.org site in NSD 3.07. I have been a long-time subscriber so it was a rare pleasure to see a submission of mine make it into your pages. As the developer of the mobile.org site I was very pleased indeed with your kinds words of praise.
BTW, we will be adding maps of the Mobile area very soon.... :)
James Hill
Netsurfer is great! Congratulations!
Jefferson
I just want to say "thanks" for the coverage in Netsurfer. I read your newsletter religiously each week, and have used more than a few of your covered sites in my own "Web Picks" section. Keep up the good work, and look for a link in this week's Anvil to your own site.
Kent Lewis - Managing Editor, Anvil
Thanks for the digest. It's both entertaining and informative.
Kerney Lee
I have really enjoyed you e-mail. It's tops as far as I am concerned. This edition was really well written, and I love it.
Just wanted to brighten your day a little more.
Judy Creech
Just a short note to say great work! I really love the variety of sites you review. And there's not one thing blinking or flashing in my face. I've been visiting for 18 months and enjoy it very much.
Jay Phillip Schomer
You review of the Bulwer-Litton contest (NSD 3.09) is a winner in my book and no, I am not even going to attempt an entry. :-)
Joe Milon
Your best issue ever.... This is the whole message.
Drew Wallen
I think you are doing a wonderful job publishing your e-mail jewel. I hope you keep doing it and getting even better. Good look. You have my support and encouragement. Thanks
jlomb
You are providing a great service. Thanks.
Paul Mistretta
I know I reflect the feelings of many others too, in expressing my appreciation for the continued caliber and quality of NSD.
What I find especially useful about it, as someone accessing the Net from Bermuda, is how I can quickly and easily get right into the Web sites you feature. Here in Bermuda, where unlimited Net access costs hundreds of dollars and most people can afford only a one hour a day online, a good reference resource like NSD that keeps you reliably informed and gets you where you want immediately is worth its weight in gold. Especially when compared to the almost total uselessness these days of conducting a "Net Search" via a Web browser and one of the recognised search engines like Yahoo, Alta Vista, InfoSeek, etc.
What really annoys me - and many others in my circle - about them is how they carry so much misinformation, not up-to-date information. Misinformation is an apt word for the out-of-date stuff and broken links these facilities carry - and the renamed and readdressed sites they don't carry, despite having been properly informed not once but several times in ways they stipulate. There ought to either clean up their act or disappear.
Instead of providing a good service, these search engines are providing a rotten one, making life more complicated for people - and putting them to unnecessary online expense in using their unreliable services in Net Searches. Yet they brag they are updated and reliable. No way!
Keith A. Forbes - Publisher and Editor, Bermuda Online
Let me state to begin with that I enjoy your publication. Please do not take this as an attempt to blacken your otherwise good reputation.
However, I cannot let "Sun Dramatically Demos ActiveX Security Flaws" in NSD 3.12, concerning Scott McNealy's comments at JavaOne, go unremarked.
Mr. McNealy has not demonstrated "ActiveX security bugs," as you state in your article. He is merely doing what he always tries to do: attempting to convince consumers in a market in which he has never been able to succeed that the number one software vendor in that market really has no clue and has simply bamboozled its customers, all this time, into buying its software.
If your writing and or editorial staff had bothered to research this item at all (which no one in the trade press seems to have done either), it would have been quickly revealed that all of this "bad behavior" would have been prevented, had the user simply clicked "No" when presented with the warning dialog about a non-certified ActiveX control. There is no fundamental difference between choosing to download an uncertified ActiveX control, and choosing to download any executable code from an unknown source (such as a private BBS). If one visits a dubious site, downloads an executable and his or her machine catches a virus from it, how is that any different?
I cannot and do not hold you responsible for the original spread of this misinformation (after all, you are merely pointing to a site which carries the info). I suppose I thought that in the spirit of unbiased reporting you would have responsibly posted a pointer to the reply from MS or from a number of others who make their living from security consulting, all of whom have publicly stated the fact that Scott McNealy's colorful rhetoric is truly without substance.
I realize that it can be rewarding (perhaps sometimes even fun) to pick on Microsoft. We are certainly a large target. That does not excuse the fact that there is another side to this story which, due to lack of "shock value," has gone mostly unreported. Who likes to admit that they made a mistake?
It is a shame that a periodical with an otherwise stellar reputation should have to resort to this sort of "me too" reporting to keep its readership entertained. Not to imply that your staff stands alone - quite a few periodicals covered this speech, and they all took the same tone (immediately assuming that Mr. McNealy's statements were Gospel truth, and that ActiveX was somehow a dangerous security breach).
If NSD has the slightest inclination to appear unbiased, then you should publish followup articles with pointers to Microsoft's response to Mr. McNealy and note that the "trust model" method of certification which is employed by ActiveX is almost identical to that which S un proposes to use with Java to extend its security, once Java leaves the "sandbox".
I have heard it said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - and if this is so, then Java flatters ActiveX, despite Mr. McNealy's statments to the contrary. To quote the Microsoft response, "Please don't just take our word" for it - look for yourselves and see whether or not what I say is true.
In closing, I will simply state that in all other respects, I appreciate the value that your publication brings each week and I am not (at this time) planning on cancelling it.
Sam Felton - Microsoft
Legal Disclaimer - Despite the fact that many of my co-workers may agree with my statements in this letter, it does not nor was it intended to represent the official views of Microsoft Corp. or any of its employees. It represents my viewpoint and none other.
In NSD 3.07, you called a page of troubleshooting tips for Macintosh owners "a must for diehard Mac owners with occasionally cantankerous Macs."
The little article is great, except for the "diehard" written in front of "Mac owners". PC owners have more than their share of problems with their systems, sometimes even getting basic things like sound to work. And I know there are trouble shooting sites offering the same for PCs - yet people who want to figure out why their particular system is acting up are diehards? Or are they diehards simply because they own a Mac? That line is getting old, it's been used for the last 8 years without causing Macs to disappear.
Please be more conscious of your whole readership - I don't really appreciate the handy link while apparently being criticized for my choice in computer.
Grace Sylvan
Relax! Untwist your knickers. I've been a Macolyte since 1984 and NSD is put together on my PM7200/90. Furthermore, I'm a T-shirt-wearing Evangelista subscriber to the Macway mailing list. And I'm danged proud to be a diehard. - LN
The Unix Gods laugh at you puny PC/Mac mortals! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha..... Pills. I need my pills.... - AB
Well, I'll be a son of a gun. I was one of those asking for a link back to the top of NSD. Someone pointed out that you could use the HOME/END keys. It turns out that using the CTRL-HOME takes up top and CTRL-END takes you to the bottom. Thanks to whomever pointed that out. I had no idea. It works better than I had a right to expect.
Dan Johnson
In the end, it looks like we added those "to the top" buttons anyway. Nobody tells me anything around here. - LN
When I have the HTML version of NSD up in my Netscape mail program, and I click on a link to visit one of your referenced sites, the HTML in NSD jumps me back up to the top. When I'm done surfing and I go back to mail to look at the next paragraph, I'm stuck back at the top, or clear at the bottom. Couldn't you just set your text and links to leave me sitting right where I am when I click on a link, wherever that may have been?
It's a small thing, but it's really annoying to have to find my place again every time I check out one of the links you've so graciously presented to me!
Thanks. Been enjoying Netsurfer Digest for ages. It's the first list I joined, back in 1994.
Kathy Carey
It would be helpful if the back issues page gave a synopsis of the articles covered in each back issue - even if it only one major topic that was covered. I am trying to research a particular subject (Java), and am faced with time constraints. Going through each issue was time consuming and irksome.
Mary Lee
I recently visited NSD's site for the first time and could not locate a search engine to search through the archived digests. Does such an engine exist?
Greg San Martin
No, but you know something? It should. Fat lot of good that does you two.... - LN
Why use CompuServe (or AOL, for that matter) to get on the Internet? It's kind of like parking in your neighbor's driveway and walking through his house to get home, isn't it? Why not just find a provider and log on directly?
Don Peterson
I'm receiving NSD again (finally). Thanks for all your help. I'm sure you've heard of Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame comments. I'm wondering how much time I used seeing my name in NSD 3.08. Boy, was I surprised. I would have never seen it if I hadn't downloaded issues 7-9 from your Web site. Be sure to thank those hundreds(???) of hard working(???) experts who solved the problems. Thanks again for your help and patience with me. Keep up the great work.
Rich Kempter
Any clue what got it working? - LN
I thought you guys did something. Does this mean CServe helped me??? Wow. I should let them know.
Rich Kempter
In your review you said "We have some problems with the pages' presentation of fact - the AIDS information is seriously error-prone...."
I reviewed all the references to AIDS and don't see anything that the author has made comment to, in reference to AIDS, that seem to be error prone. I'm wondering what you see that made you react in that manner!
All references to AIDS are in one of two contexts: either he states an expert opinion or he states something that is in this age politically incorrect. Which leads me to the authors reference on chastity and AIDS. One undeniable fact is you cannot get AIDS if you don't have contact with the fluid of one who does! Period! This is not a political statement it is a scientific fact.
In, closing I'd like to thank you for the really cool NSD. I look forward to every issue. You and your folks do a great job! Keep'em coming!
Nino Seritti
The site states: "If young men and women remain virgins until marriage as the Bible teaches, the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases, including the deadly AIDS virus, would be wiped out in a single generation."
Wrong. What about drug use? Also, the disease is called AIDS, but the virus is called HIV.
Also: "Some government medical experts are saying that a cure for AIDS will not be found until we have found a way to change the color of our eyes. According to this theory, AIDS attacks the DNA molecules with damage which cannot be undone, any more than a doctor can change the original color of your eyes."
First, I'd like a citation. Second, this is an extreme minority view. Mainstream opinion is that HIV does not attack DNA specifically any more than any other virus. It destroys the T-cells of the immune system, allowing opportunistic infections to attack and kill the victim.
"In fact, some experts believe the AIDS virus was released into the human race through lesions worn in the anal wall while homosexual men were having anal intercourse."
Citation? Besides, this is a paradox. Homosexual men are part of the human race. How can HIV infect humans for the first time if it already infects humans?
I do not deny that "you cannot get AIDS if you don't have contact with the fluid of one who does", but I believe the above is ample reason for our statement. - LN
I am offended and appalled at the publicity NSD has given this Web site.
If Booth's rants were anti-semitic, anti-Catholic, or his site contained racial, cultural or gender-based slurs, you would be loathe to give him such visibility (one would hope).
Please note that I am not a "right wing republican" religious fanatic - so I am not coming from the intolerant angle of the Falwell/Robertson set - but I am, nonetheless, a Christian.
I am saddened to see those of the Christian faith openly ridiculed and attacked in public. And I cannot withhold my anger and disappointment over this blatant display of prejudicial, discriminatory intolerance.
Shame on you.
Charlie Lester
I am appalled at the tattoo guy, myself. I questioned very thoroughly the inclusion of the site. In the end, I decided his tattoo artistry was enough to make up for his bias. In fact, because his art draws so much from that bias, I think it is integral to the background.
I judge each case of a potentially derogatory Web site individually. As I said, in this case, I decided that because his art relies on his beliefs, it was worthy. I didn't exclude him for the same reasons I didn't exclude the pro-Bible Rembrandthuis site. They are just opposite sides of the same coin.
Just for the record, we have in the past included a Web site that displayed WWII posters, including blatantly anti-Semitic German posters. That art too draws from its context and is valueless without it.
I believe your wrath should be directed at Booth, not us. I'm not claiming that NSD is objective - it absolutely is not - but I do feel this is a viewworthy site. - LN
I read your so-called book reviews. Those are not reviews, just book summaries. I was looking for real critiques of Java books, not just summaries of what they contain. I still don't know which one to buy. What a disappointment!
Steve King
Address your letters to
editor@netsurf.com.
Letters and signatures edited for clarity and brevity.