FREE EVALUATION COPY OF SPRY'S SECURE-HTTP SERVER AVAILABLE
Spry, Inc., has just released SafetyWeb v0.5 into the public domain (with copyright) for evaluation by the Web community. This is a secure Web server based on the new Secure-HTTP (S-HTTP) standard. Interested parties may submit an application to the Spry Web site and receive a free copy of the software. SafetyWEB will encrypt and authenticate data as it's transferred between S-HTTP browsers. Any HTTP client can access the secure server but non-S-HTTP users will not be able to use the secure capabilities. Features include secure public key encryption and authentication, basic password authentication, access control lists, and proxy server support. Dun & Bradstreet is currently testing a version. More information can be found at the Spry web site. "http://www.spry.com/"
MECKLERMEDIA DEBUTS WEB WEEK IN PRINT
What is claimed to be "the first-ever publication devoted to World-Wide Web development" will be patterned after the print magazine PC WEEK. It will provide business to business coverage of all aspects of WWW development including news, interviews with industry leaders, in-depth analysis of product lines, and corporate profiles. Sections of the magazine will appear simultenously on the Web. "http://www.mecklerweb.com"
ROUTER AND SOFTWARE COMBO FROM TELEBIT AND SPRY
The combination, priced starting at $2749, features a NetBlazer router with various combinations of Ethernet and modem ports. It comes bundled with copies of Spry's AIR Series Internet access software (WWW browser, E-Mail, newsreader, and Gopher). It's being touted a product enabling small and medium networks to quickly and easily establish Internet access. Contact Deanna Leung at "deanna@spry.com" for more info.
This fairly comprehensive survey was conducted by HERMES, an academic project designed to track commercial use of the Web. The results for the curious are available at the URL below. As a complement to this excellent effort we also offer the results of our own reader survey, designed to provide reader demographic information for our fine sponsors. HERMES Survey: "http://www.umich.edu/~sgupta/conres.htm" Netsurfer Survey: "http://www.netsurf.com/surveys.html"
GALACTICOMM WANTS YOU TO BE THE NEXT AOL
"Our mission is to give companies and individuals the ability to set up their own graphical online service, along the lines of an America Online or Microsoft Network on a smaller scale." So says Galacticomm, which just started beta testing their new workgroup/online service software. The client is Windows based and able to access the server via modem, LAN, or the Internet. A high-end PC server can support between 64 and 100 simultaneous callers. It's possible to create Visual Basic extension programs to plug into the server. Street price is expected to be $500. If they add Mac support, they may actually have something here. "http://www.gcomm.com/"
A rather cool Toronto paper, "eye", is inviting people to submit their choices for the stupidest piece of Net reporting. You know the type: the usual ignorant mainstream media stories like "Kids Download Penguin Sex Film from Internet!" or "Satan Posts to Computer Billboard!" Winning reporters/news organizations will be asked for comment, and the story and a picture of the reporter (if available) will be immortalized in hardcopy as well as on the Web. Post your submission in alt.internet.media-coverage with the word NOMINATION in the subject line. It would also be helpful to E-Mail a copy to "eye@interlog.com". eye: "http://www.interlog.com/eye/" Contest FAQ: "http://www.interlog.com/eye/News/Eyenet/Awards.html"
That did not make it into Netscape. And you thought that blinking text was bad enough. "http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/~ubcgs7l/netscape.html"
Nowhere is the diversity of the human mind more evident then on Usenet, where you can find unbridled enthusiasm for the most obscure of interests. Consider ponds. To some they are simply large holes in the ground filled with water and various unsavory bits of slimy greenery, and broken by the occasional silhouette of a wayward duck. Not so for the denizens of rec.ponds, where the desire to have a watery abyss in one's back yard is paramount to continued happiness. Can a bog be used as a filter? How does one kidproof a pond? Are there pond products on the Internet? And what about encouraging aquatic arthropods? Vital questions every one, and only answerable in this reservoir of ponderous knowledge (collective groan please...).
If burning questions about sales tax or equity structures keep you awake at night, you might consider posting your vexing inquiries to misc.entrepreneurs.moderated. This newsgroup is all about how to succeed in business, mostly by trying very hard and by asking questions of those who have been there before. Ask here before you take on a franchise, try to motivate your sales force, or try to find a deal on restaurant fittings. A good place to keep an eye on if you're in the market for a bit of networking with fellow entrepreneurs.
Every once in a while one of those special threads winds its way around Usenet striking a twangy chord on the strings of Net-consciousness. You owe it to yourself to plug in to "Re: Least Favorite Nude Celebs", found at finer newsgroups everywhere, more specifically on talk.rumors, alt.stupidity, alt.discordia, talk.bizarre, rec.arts.tv, and alt.society.generation-x. Ed Asner, Martha Rae, Larry "Bud" Melman, and other cultural icons have their souls and other items bared by contributors. There are detours through Kevin Bacon, Zorro, and the evil alcalde. It has all the makings of a classic. Oh, and while you're in alt.stupidity check out "Re: smoking" for some impromptu e-mail reply quote poetry.
JAZZ: THE 1950S - RECORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY
This online exhibition is a must see for fans of jazz music and scholars of the genre's history. The presentation, by the UCI bookstore, consists of the jazz photography of Ray Avery, with numerous JPEG images of famous figures like Chet Baker, Miles Davis, and others. A superb index of musicians featured in the photographs leads you to copious music samples, jacket art, and a discography. Full recordings are available on CDs which can be purchased from the bookstore along with selected books on the subject of jazz. A well crafted online exhibition with killer content. "http://bookweb.cwis.uci.edu:8042/Jazz/JPRA2.html"
WORLD ART TREASURES FOR YOUR ONLINE VIEWING PLEASURE
Just point and click. If you've got Mosaic or Netscape, that's all you have to do to view historically significant artworks and artifacts at the "World Art Treasures" site in Lausanne, Switzerland. An interactive map allows you to select the country of your choice; you can view works from exotic locations such as Egypt, India, China, and Japan. Note: although much of the text at this site is in English, some is in French. Quel dommage! "http://sgwww.epfl.ch/BERGER/index.html"
Dialect is the name for a group of artists interested in expressing content via electronic technology. Each artist has a page on which they describe themselves and exhibit some art. These folks have obviously put a lot of effort into their presentations, whether or not they attain the lofty status they desire. Worth a peek for their creative approach to Web page design and some interesting art. "http://www.art.uiuc.edu/Dialect/common.html"
The announcement of the Windham Hill record company site was long on PR hype but the site is just...long. If you have the time, sound card, and bandwidth you can hear some really cool sounds in their "listening room". The home page consists solely of a clickable image map, so text-only browsers need not apply. The available catalogue features 25 artists and 43 selections in a very long page that cries for a contents section, or to be split into separate pages. The hype says it's "even better" than a record store. You be the judge. "http://www.windham.com"
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE WEB GUIDE
Yet another of those indispensable and exhaustive topic specific Web pages. This gold mine is dedicated to children's books, but you'd have to be a pretty far gone adult not to appreciate the breadth and scope of the links available here. You can find links to home pages of children's authors like C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll, a list of recommended books (like Favorite Teenage Angst Books), info about fictional people and places (Nancy Drew, Girl Sleuth, Girl Wonder), links to online electronic books (Scottish Folktales), various publishers pages, current movie tie-ins, parents' and teachers' resources, and of course, a selection of children's writings. "http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html"
Urban Desires touts itself as an interactive magazine of metropolitan passions. Whew! At only issue #2, it still has a way to go before proving worthy of that moniker, but with erotic book excerpts, editorial rantings on voter apathy, and even food reviews and classifieds thrown in, it's trying really hard to encompass the City gestalt. The contributors are a set of underemployed New York writers who describe themselves as "renaissance men" a little too often for our tastes. Definitely an insider item, but it might be worth an occasional glance, especially if you're from the Big Apple. "http://desires.com/ud.html"
CAREER MAGAZINE HELPS JOB SEEKERS
The job seeker and job networker will find a good choice of resources at this clean, well organized Web site. A forms-based search finds jobs which are posted to Usenet news. They also offer employer profiles, a discussion group for job seekers and HR pros, news, articles, a list of executive recruiters, and classifieds. They are also looking for news and articles from authors. The two URLs take you to the same place. "http://www.careermag.com/careermag/" "http://www.jobline.com/jobline"
THE NET EFFECT IN TRADE MAGAZINES
"TRADEWINDS" is a monthly roundup of Internet coverage in trade and industry publications, from Nation's Restaurant News to Direct Marketing. The January issue, for example, contains abstracts of articles such as "Beware of newcomers selling Internet expertise", "Wells taps Cybercash for secure Internet payments", "Del Rey creates 'cybercommunity'", and so on. This is an excellent resource for those trying to keep up with the many commercial uses of the Net. "ftp://ftp.std.com/periodicals/TRADEWINDS"
NEW ONLINE BOOK STORE FEATURES "EXTRAORDINARY" BOOKS
A virtual bookstore, the BookZone claims to offer "the best selection" of hard-to-find books. Subjects available in this "store" include the arts, business, career, children, self-help, sports, animals, religion, and fiction. An online "coffee shop" features new titles, information on where authors are appearing for signings, and a "corkboard" (the classified section). Ordering information, as well as details on placing books in this store, are also available. "http://www.ttx.com/bookzone"
In March 1995, more than 90 world leaders will gather in Denmark for the World Summit for Social Development. The UN has designed an exhibition at this summit, equipped with computers connected to the Internet, where presidents, prime ministers, kings, and queens can read and respond to the voices of young people around the world. Young people can participate by by voicing ideas on the three themes of the summit: poverty, unemployment, and social conflict. If you are under 25 years of age and want to chat up royalty, check the sites below for more details. "http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/un/youth.html" "gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org"
KAUA'I FLOWERS FOR YOUR VALENTINE
This weeks corrections take us around the world. We start with Hawaii and an apology Kaua'i Exotix flower shop for mangling their E-Mail address in the last Netsurfer Marketplace. You can reach them in time to send flowers to your Valentine at kexotix@aloha.net or on their Web page at: "http://www.netsurf.com/nsm/v01/02/kauai/emkauai.html"
Now going half way around the world we apologize to Scotland. Some issues of the HTML version of Digest #08 were mailed last week without the URL for the fair city of Edinburgh. Here then is the URL that you can use as a gateway to that beautiful city. "http://www.efr.hw.ac.uk/EDC/Edinburgh.html"
Netsurfer Digest Home Page: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/index.html
Netsurfer Digest FTP Site: ftp://ftp.netsurf.com/pub/nsd/
Subscribe E-mail: nsdigest-request@netsurf.com
Include one of the following commands in the BODY of the
message:
HTML Format version: subscribe nsdigest-html
Plain ASCII version: subscribe nsdigest-text
Submission of Newsworthy Items: pressrm@netsurf.com
Letters to the Editor: editor@netsurf.com
Advertiser and Sponsor inquiries
to Arthur Bebak: ad@netsurf.com
Netsurfer Communications: http://www.netsurf.com/
General Information: info-request@netsurf.com
NETSURFER DIGEST (c) Netsurfer Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
NETSURFER DIGEST is a trademark of Netsurfer Communications, Inc.