ATTACK CRIPPLES INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER
Panix, one of New York's oldest and largest Internet service providers (ISPs), came under crippling attack by a new class of deadly denial-of-service assault late last week. Basically, the attacker flooded their machines with TCP/IP packets from random IP addresses until the machines were paralyzed and unable to accept connections from legitimate users. The attack appears to be based on code published recently in a hacker magazine (no, we won't tell you where). Panix and Sprint, Panix's upstream backbone provider, are attempting to trace the source of the attack. It appears that any machine on the Internet is vulnerable to this same kind of attack, though eventually the attacker can be traced. A terse statement about the situation from Panix is on the Net. At press time CERT did not yet have a security advisory, but look for one soon. Panix: "http://www.panix.com/panix/statement.html" CERT: "http://www.cert.org/"
LEGENDARY ANONYMOUS SERVER IN FINLAND SHUTS DOWN
Perhaps the best know of the anonymous servers, anon.pnet.fi, has closed down. The server carried large amounts of e-mail and newsgroup traffic from anonymity seekers all over the world. Rumors have been circulating about the reasons for the server's demise, ranging from police raids to KGB hacking, but the truth is a bit tamer. Johann Helsingius closed it because it had become burdensome to operate it, and because of the unclear legal status of anonymous e-mail in Finland. You can read his press release for details. A list of anon servers and other privacy tools can be found on the EPIC page. PR: "http://www.penet.fi/press-english.html" EPIC: "http://www.epic.org/privacy/tools.html"
HACK TURNS NT WORKSTATION INTO NT SERVER
This is a juicy bit of investigative hacking on the part of the folks at O'Reilly, the indispensable technical publisher and originator of GNN. It seems that by setting two values in the Windows Registry you can turn an NT Workstation operating system into the much more expensive and capable Windows NT Server. This flies in the face of Microsoft claims that the two are very different pieces of software. They are not. It's the same software with a switch of configurations for control features and performance. Is Microsoft guilty of foul mendacity, or are they just sharp business competitors? You judge. It makes for fun reading, especially the jingoistic and detailed hack article. Expect to see the already written reconfiguration utilities on the Net any day now, even though they do violate Microsoft licenses. The Story: "http://www.pcweek.com/news/0902/06ent.html" The Hack: "http://software.ora.com/news/ms_internet_andrews.html" The Rebuttal: "http://www.zdnet.com/uk/news/ns-322.html"
NBA SUES AMERICA ONLINE OVER LIVE ONLINE GAME UPDATES
This lawsuit is one to watch. The National Basketball Association is telling AOL the service can't post game scores and stats in real-time. It's a confrontation between free speech and intellectual property. The NBA figures it owns the online news about the games, much like it owns the rights to auction off TV coverage. It's the first blatant big-time bid to lock up the new online media market, and the outcome is likely to set serious legal precedents. Interestingly, the NBA won a lawsuit against Motorola, which was transmitting scores and stats via a hand-held wireless device. That injunction says the device, of all things, can't be sold. As you'd expect, the decision is being appealed. "http://www.nba.com/"
The originators of the quite cool "Cool Site of the Day" are soliciting votes for various annual Cool Site awards. This is your chance to register your opinion on Cool Site of the Year, Still Cool Site, Cool Personal Web Site, Cool Design, Cool Site Script, Cool Web Designer, Cool Innovation, Cool Search Engine, and Cool Browser. The Cool Site folks have cool taste so each of the five nominees in each category will provide you with some very cool recreational netsurfing. It's not only cool, it's downright frosty. "http://cool.infi.net/vote.html"
ROCKWELL INTRODUCES 56 KBPS PHONE-LINE MODEM TECHNOLOGY
So you thought phone modems would top out at 33 kbps and you'd have to spring for an expensive ISDN line. Well, not quite. Rockwell Semiconductor has just announced it has 56 kbps modem technology which it will demonstrate at the November Comdex. They'll produce a chip set which will presumably be used in various third-party modems, much like the current 28.8 kbps Rockwell chip sets. The announcement sent their stock up 8%, as well it should. There are also rumors US Robotics will introduce its own 56 kbps phone modems by the end of the year. PR: "http://www.rockwell.com:80/rockwell/whats_new/pr960910.html" USR: "http://www.usr.com/"
The Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) is once again sponsoring the First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony. The sixth edition will take place October 3, at 7:30 pm ET. A good-natured spoof of science, the ceremony honors people whose achievements "cannot or should not be reproduced." In addition to the awarding of the ten prizes, the event will feature the world premiere of a mini-opera starring two mezzo-sopranos as cockroaches and real Nobel Laureates as insects; 30-second Heisenberg Certainty Lectures; a two-minute seminar on "The Taxonomy of Barney"; and more. Best of all, you can see it yourself, for the event will be netcast live over MBONE and CUSeeMe. For more info, see the following pages. Ceremony: "http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/ig_nobel/" AIR: "http://www.improb.com/"
DAVID BOWIE RELEASES SINGLE ON THE INTERNET
He's not the first to put his music on the Web, but "Telling Lies" is perhaps the first recording by a major-label artist which will not be sold in stores or played on the radio. You can download it from David's site, which also has his biography, discography, and the complete lyrics to his new "Outside" album, as well as other Bowie links. Interesting graphic design, too. "http://www.davidbowie.com"
PACIFIC BELL TO OFFER WHOLESALE MODEM POOLS TO ISPS
Pacific Bell has found an interesting way to get a piece of the ISP business. It will provide and run large modem pools for ISPs. The ISPs get to expand into new areas with minimal hardware investment, while the telco gets a new revenue stream and avoids having Net traffic traverse strained voice circuits. ZDNet has an article with more details. "http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/daily/960911a.html"
AOL BLOCKS JUNK E-MAIL, ORDERED TO STOP UNTIL TRIAL
America Online, responding to complaints from users, decided to block five domains responsible for the bulk of the problem (cyberpromo.com, honeys.com, answerme.com, netfree.com, and servint.com). It also announced that later this month, it will roll out customized features allowing members to block mass e-mailings. The very next day, Cyber Promotions, which controls three of the five blocked domains, obtained an injunction against AOL that restored the status quo pending a trial scheduled for early November. This is another big unresolved cyberspace legal issue. Who controls the traffic to your machine - you or the sender? PC Week has a couple of brief articles on this story. "http://www.pcweek.com/news/0902/05maol.html" "http://www.pcweek.com/news/0902/05eaol.html"
If you're ready for a good bit of British cyberculture, dip your toes into the strange waters of Backspace, a site intrinsically linked to the ebb and flow of the River Thames. Really, it is. Stop by any time of the day or night and you'll know just how high the river is... and just how far out Backspace's members are. Just click on the bobbing icons. Fabulous Web effects are to be found here, along with some irreverent creativity and freedom of expression. (Translation: some material may be unsuitable for sensitive browsers). We particularly like the messages in the bottles. Cheers. "http://www.backspace.org/"
The Pittsburgh-based Mattress Factory bills itself as a "research and development lab for artists", and specializes in commissioned, site-specific installations within the museum. Thus far it doesn't appear that cyberspace has been one of those sites, as the museum's Web site only catalogues past and present installations in the Factory itself. The art, though, is interesting, the accompanying text informative, and information on artist and process intriguing. Check out John Latham's installation and delve into his concept of "Evenstruck" - short for event structure - "a dimensionality that subsumes all alleged phenomena." (This is art, remember.) It might be the Mattress Factory, but the site is anything but a snooze. "http://www.mattress.org/"
Dedicated to exploring the limits of a desktop computer, the Hub gathers together like-minded people to exchange ideas on creativity and progress. People who use computers as a means to an end rather than as the end itself would best appreciate the site, which is decentralized and designed to be taken over by the users. Hub Talk offers public discussions, current developments, calls for inventive proposals, and programming hints. "http://www.sonnet.co.uk/hub/"
GO FOR THE GOLD - AND RED, BLUE, AND GREEN
Free animated graphics, free background tiles, free rulers, free buttons, free textures - MediaLink's Free Graphics is a Web designer's treasure trove of graphic freebies. Some of the most colorful creations are accessible in the Gallery which links to offsite collections. Afraid that your Web pages are dead unless they do something? Start with the movie files behind the AVI's link. When you get a load of everything here you may want an extra hard disk. The only catch appears to be that the freebies are for non-commercial use only. This site maintains the free spirit of the early days of the Internet. Bravo! "http://www.erinet.com/cunning1/tiles.html"
WOULD YOU WALK FOR MILES FOR MILES?
Beware of the 100 kB home page and the need for either high-speed Net access or a lot of time on your hands, but the rewards are info, sound clips, and video of Miles Davis in action. Great for the curious and the dedicated fan alike, this site includes info on sources of articles, albums, and CDs, including bootleg and gray market albums. You can also find photos and images of Miles Davis along with info on the site itself. "http://miles.rtvf.nwu.edu/miles/milestones.html"
THE JAZZ PHOTOGRAPHY OF RAY AVERY
Here you'll find photos and art from the jazz scene of the mid-1950s. A brief biography, "About Ray Avery", provides background information on the photographer's career and a list of his credits. The exhibition is grouped into four major areas: The Lighthouse All Stars; Nightclubs, Festivals & Concerts; Recording Sessions; and Stars of Jazz - TV Series. There is also a special exhibition store featuring Jazz books and CDs from the period. Groovy. "http://www.book.uci.edu/Jazz/jazz.html"
A NASTY LITTLE E-ZINE DEAR TO OUR HEARTS
Want to know what's really going on? SurReview features an honest perspective on alternative news, like the group who exchange the voice boxes on GI Joes and Barbies and turn Cheerleader Barbie into Theme Hooker Barbie with just a new sticker. The CD that turns two mean old drunken bastards from next door into argument entertainers of the highest order. The Fisher Price Pixelvision camera that inspired grainy porn. In sum, SurReview's a fantastic insight into stuff you're really interested in. "http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/Web/People/SurReview/"
Departing from the pedestrian fare offered by a vast swath of e-zines, Feed Magazine attempts to present articles with a certain quantity of depth. Netsurfers visiting the site will find well-crafted dissertations on a variety of academic, social, and political issues, as well as discussion groups dedicated to the complexities and nuances of life in the evolving technological society we live in. The content seems directed at a scientifically, or at least sociologically inclined audience, something to keep in mind when browsing the site's contents. "http://www.feedmag.com/"
Out-of-towners may frequent "Roger Ebert on Movies" more than other sections of the Chicago Sun-Times Online, but Chicagoans now have free Internet access to their two major dailies. (The other is the Chicago Tribune.) Ebert's extensive, useful section includes a database of his reviews along with his current reviews and handy summaries. Some may argue that prose in other sections is not as good as prose in the Trib, but unlike some news sites, the Sun-Times is not graphics-intensive, and you can download most stories quickly. Navigation of an online newspaper can't get much easier. How 'bout those Cubs? "http://www.suntimes.com/"
Renowned for its journalism and meaty feature articles, this site is easy to browse and respond to. National and World news, editorials, and everything you need to grasp the action quickly come without all the fuss and recycling problems. "http://www.smh.com.au/"
THE AMERICAN JOURNALISM REVIEW
Read all about it - The American Journalism Review Newslink puts a plethora of newspaper, magazine, radio, and TV resources right at your fingertips. If you don't know where to begin your quest, "Take 2" is a clever feature that selects an odd article for you at random. "http://www.newslink.org/"
SF AND FANTASY IN ELECTRONS OR INK
Cosmic Visions, presented by the Web design firm Pegasus Press, promises to bend your mind with art and stories in the SF and fantasy veins. While the inaugural issue is a bit light on the mind-warping, there are two SF serials that may turn into some kind of mind-bending or at least mind-flexing kind of thing. For those who prefer the printed page to the glowing screen, Pegasus offers Cosmic Visions as a PDF file. You could always practice some mental aerobics with a crossword puzzle while waiting for the file to download and then bend your mind at leisure with hard copy. "http://www.cosmicvisions.com/"
ANOTHER PROMISING SCREENWRITERS' SITE
So you need advice on how to go about writing the script for that incredible movie you've got brewing in your head? May the muse be with you. And may you stop by this helpful resource created especially for writers such as yourself. Here you'll discover biographies of real screenwriters. And best of all, a glossary of terms that are essential if you want to be an industry insider - or at least get your foot in the door. "http://theinkwell.com/"
"Hurricane: Storm Science" is a great resource for kids who want to explore the scientific and human aspects of these raging autumn storms. Presented by the Miami Museum of Science, the site offers all its information in kid-friendly terms, from first-person accounts of surviving a hurricane to the nitty-gritty details of what makes a hurricane tick. Much of the site is interactive; all of it is involving. This outstanding site also includes a teachers' guide and a "hurricane hotlist" of links to nearly a dozen other hurricane sites. Both students and teachers would be well advised to breeze on over to this site before the next storm. "http://falcon.miamisci.org/hurricane/hurricane0.html"
Definitely the coolest logo of the week - a strolling caribou. And where would you find a caribou but up north at the Arctic Studies Center, just one small bit of the Smithsonian Institution's Web site. The Center studies Arctic peoples, their history, and their environment. The site features a virtual museum exhibit entitled "Crossroads of the Continents", Myst-like in appearance but still harboring a slightly musty museum gestalt. The site also features "The Living Yamal", a tale of native Siberians coming face to face with one of the biggest oil companies on Earth. The outcome isn't quite what you'd expect and the telling, through journal entries, makes for an interesting read. "http://nmnhwww.si.edu/arctic/"
Imagine running an airline and having to toss away your planes after each flight. OK, now imagine it if you're not working at ValuJet. That's akin to what launch vehicle operators feel when they launch ELVs - Expendable Launch Vehicles - to orbit. The buzzwords these days are RLV, Reusable Launch Vehicle, and SSTO, Single-Stage-to-Orbit. They're the next direction (aside from up) for anybody who wants to get themselves or a package into Earth orbit and beyond. NASA's RLV Technology Program home page highlights three programs chasing the dream. News bits, technical specs, images, and videos are available for the DC-XA, the X-33, and the X-34. So far, only the DC-XA has flown, and then only in hops across a desert. By 1999, though, the X-33 should be blasting along at Mach 15, ready to demonstrate that what goes up can indeed come down, and in one piece. "http://rlv.msfc.nasa.gov/"
Although it isn't flashy, the Web site of the American Medical Association (AMA) is one of the best in medicine. It has something for everyone - physicians, journalists, medical students, and consumers. You can read portions of JAMA (the society's flagship journal) and research articles in specialty journals as well as the AMA's newspaper. There are searchable databases of members, residency programs, and continuing medical education courses for health professionals. You'll also find announcements and speeches, of course. Check out the catalogue: "We've got everything from medical publications to chocolate hearts!" You have to register for access to AMA holdings, but you won't need a password. Whatever your views of the medical profession, you'll probably enjoy this site more than your doctor's office. Reserve time for this. "http://www.ama-assn.org/"
We last visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization Web site in NSD 1.23, but it's grown enough since to be worthy of a re-review. In expanding its functionality and content, the site has created a virtual lobby and floors to initiate visitors into the history and mystery of the vast country looming north of the United States. All the old good stuff is still there, but more has been added, much of it archeological in nature. Also on hand is the Canadian War Museum but the promised Museum of New France doesn't seem to be quite ready yet. "http://www.cmcc.muse.digital.ca/cmcchome.html"
WE'RE TALKING BIG, ROBOTIC DINOSAURS
Dinamation International Corporation (and its non-profit affiliate) are in the business of creating scientifically accurate representations of dinosaurs. Over 700 of their creations are on display across North America at zoos, museums, and other dino hot spots, including Devils Canyon Center in Fruita, Colorado. Stop by to learn about the company, the research society, and the monsters themselves. "http://www.dinamation.org/"
NETSCAPE RELEASES NAVIGATOR GOLD 3.0
Navigator Gold is the browser with built-in HTML publishing features. The release notes tell you all you need to know. "http://www.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/gold/index.html"
WEBMONKEY VISITORS DO NOT NEED JAVA OR REGISTRATION
We were gently reminded by the Webmonkey marketing staff that you do not need either Java or registration to enjoy the content at this ambitious Web hacker site. The registration link is for HotWired only. Only those with Java browsers will be able to view some of the technical demos, but the rest of the content is available to all. "http://www.webmonkey.com/"
PEZ, PEZ, PEZ, PEZ, WONDERFUL PEZ, WONDERFUL PEZ
Waaaaay back in NSD, 1.35 we reviewed a Pez page with an article so short, here it is: "Paul Telford's Pez page not only hosts a FAQ and two (!) mailing lists, but you'll also find info on three (!) annual conventions." The URL has changed. "http://pobox.com/~pez/pez.html"
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