NETSURFER LAUNCHES NETSURFER FOCUS
To those of our readers not on our mailing list, we are happy to announce the launch of a new e-zine called Netsurfer Focus. Netsurfer Focus is designed to cover a single topic in depth with the usual set of useful and entertaining netsurfing resources. It is backed up by a more extensive database of links for those interested in further exploration. You can expect to see one every four to six weeks, along with an associated commercial Netsurfer Focus Marketplace issue. The first one is all about Computer and Network Security and, as always, is free, underwritten by our kind sponsors. We trust you will find it as useful as the Digest. Netsurfer Focus Home Page: "http://www.netsurf.com/nsf/" Netsurfer Focus FTP Site: "ftp://ftp.netsurf.com/nsf/"
It's official, the new Netscape 1.1 has shipped. You can get copies from the usual FTP servers. The big news, of course, is they got rid of the throbbing "N". The very creative winners of the design contest are available as online QuickTime animations. Other goodies include dynamic documents, remote control of the client, better caching, and the most abused feature since blinking text: the ability to specify window backgrounds. Release Notes: "http://www2.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/1.1/relnotes/" Contest winners: "http://home.mcom.com/home/contest/" Netscape: "ftp://ftp2.netscape.com/netscape1.1/"
AOL SEEKS TO ACQUIRE WAIS, INC.
It seems that the insatiable America Online is on the hunt. They are reportedly negotiating to buy WAIS, Inc., best known for their text search software. No details about the cost are available, but speculation is that part of the price would be AOL stock. No comment from WAIS. "http://www.wais.com/"
The fantastically successful video-over-the-Net software package will shortly have a commercial, supported version. Cornell University has selected White Pine Software as master licensee for commercial development of Cornell's CU-SeeMe technology. According to the press release, free versions of the program will continue to be developed and released. "http://www.wpine.com/cuseeme.html"
INTERNET DISASTER NETWORK BECOMES GLOBAL DISASTER CLEARINGHOUSE
In the wakes of the recent Oklahoma bombing, the Kobe quake, and floodings in the United States, a great deal of information about these events had been made available on the Net very quickly. Such massive dissemination efforts have been useful but decentralized and rather haphazard. In a long overdue move, Internet Direct and Telekachina Productions have created a central clearinghouse for disaster information on the Net. They applied for, and received within 24 hours, the domain name disaster.org (165.247.199.30) and set up a site called the Disaster Information Network. For the moment, the site is full of Oklahoma bombing information. The next time the world ends look here first for the latest news. "http://www.disaster.org/"
DEATH ROW INMATE HAS A WEB PAGE
Illinois death row inmate Girvies Davis is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on May 17. Davis has a page on which you can access articles about his case, his clemency petition, various items of evidence, and audio of Davis himself. The page makes a compelling case, and might well lead you to conclude that he should not be on death row, to which he was sentenced 15 years ago. This somewhat ghoulish idea stretches the reach of the Net even further. One wonders which state will be the first to put up an execution page. "http://www.mcs.net/~bkmurph/girvies.htm"
HOTWIRED, ADVERTISING AGE, AND ORGANIC FORM PROMISING MARKETING SITE
The three image slingers have formed a site dedicated to showcasing marketing, media, advertising, and public relations content on the Web. In the finest tradition of vaporware, they announced long before they had any content to speak of. "Under construction" signs abound, and the site is practically bereft of participants, but we wouldn't be telling you about it if it were a completely lost cause. Some good reasons to visit include "Advertising Age's 50 Best Commercials" under Archives, the start of some good discussions under Forum, and a nice collection of standard web Resources. Give them points for a well laid out design also. "http://www.AdMarket.com/"
U.S. GOVERNMENT SPONSORS NATIONAL ELECTRONIC OPEN MEETING
The U.S. government, in a move of stupefying enlightenment, is sponsoring a National Electronic Open Meeting, May 1-14. "We want to hear from the American people about what they want" was the mind-boggling quote from Larry Irving, assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information. Topics you can address are government services, benefits, and information; participatory democracy; and information technology. You'll be able to participate via e-mail or modem, or slip into a local Kinko's Copy Center. Call 1-800-881-6842 to find a public access site, 1-800-779-3272 via modem. Think of it as a nationwide electronic suggestion box. Could this really be OUR government? Or is this some cruel Netjoke? Nope, looks real. E-mail: info@meeting.fedworld.gov "http://meeting.fedworld.gov/"
THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE WEB BUSINESS
The Hermes research project, an ongoing study of Web users and the commercial promise of the medium, has made available results of its preliminary consumer demographic survey. WWW users are well educated, affluent, and avid consumers, yet we don't seem to be buying much online; rather, we gather purchase information on the Web to use elsewhere. In fact, the use of Web resources for purchase-related info now surpasses direct mail. The meat of the Hermes research is the investigation of current and future applications of commercial Web resources, but the demographic side dishes are even tastier. See how you measure up against the average Webster. "http://www.umich.edu/~sgupta/hermes.htm" "http://colette.ogsm.vanderbilt.edu/hermes/info.html"
CAN INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION IMPROVE US?
An interesting report examines how electronic communication can "enhance harmonious and functional communities at all scales worldwide." This thought-provoking perspective looks at current stresses affecting political, economic, and ecological systems, and how the growing presence of interactive technology can play a role in discovering solutions, particularly by enhancing broad, informed participation in problem solving. The paper also analyzes positives and pitfalls of the new medium. You can find more info at: "http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~rich/aspen.html"
It has been said that the British Empire ran on ships and tea, and that the most civilized time of day is tea time. A recent visit to rec.food.drink.tea turned up some support for that notion among genteel discussions of teas and tea lore. You can read about tea books (try "The Book of Tea" by Okakura Kakuzo, circa early 1900s), check out the periodically posted world-wide Tea Vendor List, and ponder the immortal question, "Milk and sugar in tea: an abomination?" Two particularly nice threads to visit were "Re: Your origins of tea drinking?", to learn how tea buffs were hooked, and "Re: What served, when 'tea' ordered", to find out what you'll get when you order tea in restaurants and tea houses around the world. Also, try this URL: "http://www.pt.hk-r.se/~di92jn/tea.html"
ELEGANTLY COMPOSED CLASSICAL MUSIC PAGES
Whether you're in awe of his Fifth Symphony or intimately familiar with Fur Elise (remember piano lessons?), be sure to stop by the Beethoven page, which gives a comprehensive overview of his amazing life and analyzes some of his works in detail. A few other major composers have recently been added. If you prefer the obscure, visit the Unknown Composers Page. This unusual site pays homage to those uncelebrated classical musicians whose works, although not heard or even considered very often, stand up to scrutiny. Short audio clips are available so you can actually listen to the music, along with software (for Mac and Windows) that will allow you to listen to the .wav files. Beethoven: "http://www.ida.his.se/ida/~a94johal/beet.chtml" Unknown Composers: "http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~jimmosk/TOC.html"
PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE HOMELESS
John Decker, a photojournalist, lived and ate with homeless people in Covington, Ky., over a ten-month period while producing this photo documentary. He came out with some striking pictures you can view, and he has generally kept the image files under 8 KB. Decker includes informative and interesting notes about the individuals shown in the pictures, as well as some personal comments. "http://www.iia.org/~deckerj/"
WEIRD, WILD IMAGES FROM A PRINTMAKER GONE DIGITAL
You'll find the art of Bill Curr at his Web site, with links to some other art sites as well. He presents his own creations in reasonably sized thumbnail images, with the option to load larger images if you choose. Curr's work is an interesting treatment involving scanned photos and some original art done directly on the computer. "http://www.cyberspace.com/billcurr/"
HINTS FOR CREATIVE COMPUTER ART NOW ONLINE
Deborah Miller, a computer graphic artist and author of "CorelDRAW!5: Professional Reference", has set up an online demonstration that shows how to create professional quality graphics. Entitled "Creating Eyelevel: Power and Printing", the site contains exquisitely detailed graphics and explanations of how they were created. "http://www.mcp.com/general/news3/dmiller.html"
HYPE! (don't you just love cap abuse?) is a kind of psychedelic, kind of funky, and definitely visual e-zine. It changes before your very eyes. Well, not exactly - but it does change on a daily basis. Typical items du jour include movies, music, TV, nostalgia, comics, and video games. It first caught our eye because it was gathering info for a nostalgia item on the Banana Splits, a late 1960s live-action TV show that featured actors in oversized colorful animal costumes running around an amusement park, and whose image had namelessly haunted our editor's brain for the last 26 years. Now he knows he wasn't hallucinating. HYPE! is HTML3 positive. "http://www.hype.com"
A NEW DIMENSION IN FICTION - THE ENTERZONE
This is what happens when an unsuspecting group of creative types ventures into the mysterious depths of the Web. The Enterzone is a unique forum for hyperfiction (you choose the story's direction) and all sorts of other written stuff. The style borders on chaos, but it's chaos with a purpose. "http://enterzone.berkeley.edu/enterzone.html"
KUDZU: POETRY, ESSAYS, NON-FICTION
This quarterly is yet another stab at an online literary journal. The requisite poetry section, with a selection of a dozen poems and a few haiku, will either thrill you or make you shrug, peoms being such a personal experience. The three fiction pieces don't seem particularly absorbing, but a critique of Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on Ice" does offer some meat for those into literary dissection. Curiously - or maybe not - the "Contributors to Kudzu" page is the most interesting of all, giving brief bios and addresses of the aspiring literati. An interesting bunch to engage in correspondence. Next issue comes June 1. "http://www.etext.org/Zines/Kudzu/"
COOL COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE STUFF
Several supercomputer centers have banded together to create the "MetaCenter Computational Science Highlights", a repository of multimedia science articles. When we looked the stories included: modeling blood flow in the human heart; simulating the behavior of cancer genes; the comet SL9's tete-a-tete with Jupiter; and the discovery of the first planet known to exist outside of our solar system. You can also see a high resolution animation of the circulation of the northern Atlantic Ocean. Surf around to find your area of interest. Five sites have the same info, but we're stingy so you only get three. "http://www.ucar.edu/docs/MetaSoft" "http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SCMS/Metascience/Home/welcome.html" "http://www.sdsc.edu/MetaScience/welcome.html"
THESE SLUGS WERE MADE FOR SLIMING
The Banana Slug Home Page contains a variety of facts that you've probably spent a lifetime waiting to learn. Haven't you spent endless hours pondering what a banana slug is? Always wondered why the banana slug was named the nation's top college mascot? And aren't you just aching to know how the banana slug became the UC-Santa Cruz mascot? Well, at long last, here are the answers to all your sluggish questions. The site highlights the mollusc's noteriety in the media and popular culture. There's even a bit of science, though the site sorely needs photos of the gruesome beastie. It looks exactly as you think it does. We know. "http://www.iuma.com/slugweb/slug_home_page.html"
The Institute and Museum of History of Science in Florence, Italy, offers a virtual exhibition of Galileo Galilei artifacts. When you reach the site, go directly to the "Multimedia Catalogue of Galileo's Room" link. The other links lead to dull museum background, but Galileo's room is simply and spectacularly designed, with an interface that puts you right in the room. Click on what you want to see up close and read the explanatory text, which in turn is fraught with exceptional explanatory links. The pages take a bit of time to load, but it's worth it. The finger? One of the exhibits is Galileo's right middle digit. "http://galileo.imss.firenze.it/index.html"
DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT DEM - DIGITAL ELEVATION MAPS
Here's a site with some neat imagery created with the help of U.S. Geological Survey digital elevation models. Enjoy a bird's-eye view of the Grand Canyon, Crater Lake in Oregon, and Marin County in California in still form (JPEG and GIF), or as a "fly" over with the slick animations (MPEG and QuickTime). "http://www.match.com/~tlod/dem.html"
Ontario's University of Waterloo brings to the Web an extensive examination of the paleo people of the North American Arctic. While the terminology is technical to a slight degree, the site is accessible to all. One dig is given special focus, and becomes a good case study of real-life, non-Indiana Jones archeology in action. A wealth of information about the ancient inhabitants of the Arctic can be found here, but massive images - and several per page - of sites, vistas, and artifacts slow it down considerably. "http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/ANTHRO/rwpark/ArcticArchStuff/ArcticIntro.html"
EARTHQUAKE PROGNOSTICATOR CLAIMS 70% SUCCESS
A new Web site has the latest quake predictions from the site's author, a copy of his newsletter, a couple of mildly interesting gifs, some links to other earthquake related sites, and - surprise - his picture. As for the claim of 70% accuracy in predicting earthquakes over the past year, you'll have to go and decide for yourself. "http://198.120.7.17/~rshannon/index.html"
PARTICIPATE IN BETA TEST OF NETCHEX
The folks at NetChex, another over-the-Net payment system, are looking for people to help them test their software. They just released a version of their DOS-based software and need testers. If interested, please contact them at mailto:inhbeta@netchex.com or by phone at 1-602-277-6555 or 1-800-344-6381. Check out their page for more info on the system itself. "http://www.netchex.com"
A rapier wit, a well lubed mouse-click finger, and some writing experience can lead you to an exciting career as a Netsurfer. Oh, yeah - a reliable capability to deliver five to ten digest articles per week for the rest of your natural life (or until you get sick of it) wouldn't hurt. Our e-zine line is expanding so other opportunities beyond the Digest loom ominously on the horizon. Not a full time job, this'll buy you some Pizza and beer every now and again. Or tea and crumpets. Or more mouse-click finger lubrication. Or whatever. Send a plain ASCII text resume outlining your previous writing or journalism experience (yep, it's a test) to mailto:resumes@netsurf.com. Writers interested in online technical matters are also welcome to work on an upcoming e-zine.
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