The International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC), convened to address the
issue of future Internet growth, has just announced a proposed plan for
the future management of domain names. In the process they propose the
creation of seven new domain name extensions (.firm, .store, .web, .arts,
.rec, .info, .nom) and a structure of registrar authorities to handle name
administration. The proposed plan comes after months of public review, and
barring unforeseen political jockeying is highly likely to go into effect
this year. The aim is to have a more efficient and cheaper domain name
registration system but we doubt this will solve all complicated trademark
and intellectual property problems. The press release and report offer a
good exposition of the issues involved.
Release: <http://www.iahc.org/press-final.html>
Report: <http://www.iahc.org/draft-iahc-recommend-00.html>
NEW PHONE SCAM - DO YOU KNOW WHO YOUR MODEM IS CALLING?
This is a good one. Some enterprising hackers put up what was ostensibly
an image viewer on various sex sites. In actuality, the program turns
off your PC's modem speaker, disconnects you from your ISP, and dials
a number in Moldova (10 points if you can point it out on a map) which
then connects to a server in Canada. The victim happily surfs scantily
clad bipeds while racking up hundreds of dollars in long distance
charges. Charges keep mounting after leaving the sex site, because the
victim's still connected to the Internet via Moldova and Canada. Neat
trick. Watch out for files called david.exe and david7.exe and expect to
see more trojan horse programs that play around with your modem behind
your back. The New York Times has an excellent article in their CyberTimes
section. <http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/021197scam.html>
Think Apple's dead? Think Macs are second-class Internet citizens? Here's a
company putting up 10,000 Swedish kronor that say you're wrong. Infinit
Information AB is "so convinced about the quality of the Macintosh
webserver that we challenge all the hackers of the world to attack it." If
within the next two months you manage to alter the content of the Hack URL
below through a network connection (no B and E, kids), you win the cash.
The company wants to test whether the MacOS and WebSTAR combination is as
safe as it is reputed to be - rumor has it, it has never been successfully
hacked. Crashes caused by "ping-of-death" and "syn-flooding" don't count.
Hack: <http://hacke.infinit.se/index.html>
Contest:
<http://www.infinit.se/hacke/crack.html>
SLATE AUTOSUMMARIZES THE CLASSICS
Slate's Karenna Gore has written a fun article on her ultimate boss's new
feature in Microsoft Word 97: AutoSummarize. Basically, it concentrates
text, cutting a document down to a given percentage (as low as two percent)
or number of sentences (as low as 10), like a cruel editor. Karenna uses
the feature to get to the core of several works, including "Beowulf", the
US Constitution, the Ten Commandments, and others. Sometimes it works,
sometimes not. The entire five percent summary of Martha Stewart's salmon
recipe is "1 cup sugar". Visit soon - the article is slated for the
e-shredder Feb. 15.
<http://www.slate.com/Features/cogitoautosum/cogitoautosum.asp>
When was the last time you felt like projectile vomiting, levitating, and
rotating your head 360 degrees? Probably the last time you saw "The
Exorcist", or the last time you were inhabited by a demonic spirit. Such is
the stuff of this informative site, which includes examples of demonic
possession, an overview of the battle of good versus evil (gimme a "G",
gimme an "O"...), the ways and means of exorcism, and a heavy dose of
supernatural Christianity. Check your disbelief at the door.
<http://www.opendoor.com/Higher.Ground/hs.html>
...AND THE BIBLE SEX FACTS HOME PAGE
Wow. We've never seen anything like this. It's another offering from the
people responsible for the Demon Possession Handbook, and draws inspiration
from the Bible. It's against dancing, homosexual sex, and pornography, and
for oral sex ("Continued activity of this type is very likely to cause the
wife to have an orgasm."), birth control, and the word "fuck" ("Within the
bounds and bonds of legal marriage, fuck is the best verb in the English
language for sexual intercourse."). If they taught the Kama Sutra in Sunday
school, this would be the text. We have some problems with the pages'
presentation of fact - the AIDS information is seriously error-prone - but
otherwise this is a rollicking good time. As an aside, did you know that
the Bible nowhere forbids premarital sex?
<http://www.opendoor.com/Higher.Ground/bsf.html>
SEARCHING FOR SOFTWARE JUST GOT EASIER
This new search engine focuses on FTP sites rather than WWW pages and
claims users can search over 60 million files for specific titles. We can't
verify the number of files, but this page is convenient for tracking down
sites that have specific programs. Category headings let you limit your
search for titles to Windows, Macintosh, OS/2, and other platforms.
Searches can be performed for software updates and many other headings.
<http://www.filez.com/>
This extensive, natural language chatbot site features heaps of
growing-knowledge personality programs. Fred, a study in conversation, will
do the argument routine from Monty Python with you and can converse in
multiple languages. He even questions why the starship Enterprise was a
non-smoking ship (what a geek). Robitron's Barry DeFacto, on the other
hand, is a clever bastard who corrected our grammar and doesn't leave the
house much to see what the weather is like (we can relate). Dawn is a
confused multiple personality with shy, hot-headed, and old goat personas
replying in turn. Bizarre but entertaining.
<http://www.student.toplinks.com/hp/sjlaven/>
Troma Studio is the hatchery for some of the most deliriously demented
films. With titles like "Femme Fontaine: Killer Babe for the CIA" and
"Class of Nuke 'Em High Part 3: the Good, the Bad, and the Subhumanoid",
you know Troma employs only the creme de la creme of screenwriters. Well,
now's your chance to join the esteemed Troma team as a contributor on the
script of "Class Of Nuke 'Em High Part IV: Battle Of The Bikini
Subhumanoids". Every two weeks, the Tromen plow through entries to the
Great 1997 Troma Script-Writing Contest and select a winner. All you need
to do to enter is deliver two pages of script that has some basic
relationship to the previous pages. The winning author gets paid $50 and
the pages get posted to the Web site. Last we checked they were up to page
28 and the script was, well, pretty demented and thoroughly indescribable.
<http://www.troma.com/contest.html>
THE REAL REASON WE WATCH TOO MUCH TV
Can't get enough TV? Check out The TV Rundown on the Web, the online
version of a weekly review published since 1981. This site is
informational, not promotional, so if you like PBS, you're in for a treat.
"Case Histories", for example, includes several how-to articles on how to
create successful TV news (forego flames, flash, and floozies, folks) and
others on the use of polling to rate health care. The academic flavor of
the prose may remind you of beef jerky - dry but nutritious - but there's
no meanness in its leanness. You may want to bookmark the section that
links to TV stations on the Web, too. In sum: more signal, less noise. Oh,
wait - that slogan's already taken. <http://www.tvrundown.com/>
AMNESTY WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU
Amnesty International's new Internet campaign centers around musician Bob
Marley's "Get Up Stand Up" song, which is viewed by some as Amnesty
International's anthem. New versions of this song are available from the
Amnesty International site, and site visitors are encouraged to contribute
their own versions. You can also link to info on Amnesty International,
details on human rights issues, and related sites. No charge to visit the
site, but you do get the option of making donations online.
<http://www.getupstandup.com/>
Few people have heard of Eadweard Muybridge and even fewer can spell his
name properly, but this early pioneer in the field of moving pictures now
has a Web site dedicated to his accomplishments. When we visited, the site
seemed to be under construction and only a couple of pages were viewable,
but they seemed to promise interesting content for anyone curious about the
early history of photography and moving images. Two demonstration images
are accompanied by sound files. <http://www.linder.com/muybridge.html>
IS THERE A BLIP ON YOUR HORIZON?
Don't let your boss catch you at this Internet Playground. It aims to amuse
with animated games and interactive art. You'll need Shockwave and other
plug-ins, a frames-capable browser, and time. One activity, Spir-O-Matic,
is a Shockwave version of vector-based line art that may remind you how
cool the first animated screen savers once seemed. It's fun to mess around
with. Alas, the Spir-O-Matic gallery had only three screen shots from
contributors when we visited. Why not submit your own and prove your
cyber-Dalihood to the world? While you're at it, you can sumo wrestle, play
chess, or engage an offline pal in a Luddite game. Feeling influenced by
sunspots and geomagnetic fields? Check out Space Weather. If you're at the
office, tuck away the URL. <http://www.theblip.com/blip/>
THE SOCIETY FOR CREATIVE ANACHRONISM CREATES ANACHRONISM
If you like mead but hate the plague, then the Society for Creative
Anachronism (SCA) may be the place for you. Where else can you slap
somebody upside the head with a rattan sword and be liked for it? Hey,
they're not just a bunch of kooks with a chainmail fetish, they're
historical recreationists... and they're everywhere, including the Web.
Check out the SCA chapter nearest you by searching the map at:
<http://www.sca.org/>
Do you lie awake nights wondering how the world will end? Want to know if
your midnight musings are on the mark? Come here and take a look. There are
the traditional religious points of view from Buddhist to Baptist. There
are those who predict, from Nostradamus to plague theorists. Don't forget
the artistic point of view either, represented in a section devoted to
movies and books that deal with apocalyptic themes. Take a ride with the
Four Horsemen. <http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1140/end.html>
Studies show that safety is a major concern in the United States. If you
feel the same way, the Safe Within site can help you avoid an ulcer. On the
other hand, if you haven't been a worrier before, visiting the the site
just may make you one. Updated daily, the site provides an amazing variety
of links to every aspect of security and safety imaginable. Personal,
travel, car, child, pet, home, and more areas are covered. In addition, the
site offers interactive newsgroups and daily news bulletins on safety
issues. <http://www.safewithin.com/>
Casino Royale, by Funscape, is reportedly the world's largest Internet
casino. Although you won't find nearly the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas
here, you can apparently win cash prizes. And while we weren't quite so
fortunate in the few games we played during our visit, that doesn't mean
you won't be. Simply open an account to try your luck at poker, slots,
roulette, black jack, lotto, and more. Go on, give it a whirl.
<http://www.funscape.com/>
INTERNET RESOURCES PLUS AMUSEMENT FACTOR
If you want links to Internet resources and like to take entertainment
breaks between research tasks, Eggleston's Jumpgate to Selected Internet
Resources should please you. Features such as "Whattzits" ("flotsom,
jetsom, junkyards, landfills and strip-mines along this path through the
information woods that the powers that be call a 'Highway'"), the "Latest
Rant", links to a guide on Net etiquette, the Windows 95 FAQ, guidelines on
developing a successful Web site, aand Web authoring resources are sure to
please somebody. To quote the Web page owner: "Give me ambiguity or give me
something else." <http://www.access.digex.net/~nuance/>
I LEFT MY MAP IN SAN FRANCISCO
At first glance, MapWest looks like just another online travel brochure,
partly because of its big, colorful graphics. The first screen invites you
to request a free visitor's map of San Francisco. Get the map and go on -
the best portions of this site are "Plan Your Trip", which provides gobs of
links to gobs of names, addresses, phone numbers, and other stuff you may
need in San Francisco, and "Cool Links". Browse a few moments in "Cool
Links" and you'll wish your hotel in San Francisco had a Web connection in
your room. Too bad you'll have to wait a few years to have it displayed on
cable cars, taxi dashboards, or in rental cars. Pack printouts or haunt Web
cafes while you're in town. You'll miss a lot without MapWest.
<http://www.mapwest.com/>
LIGHTHOUSES OF NORTH CAROLINA AND BEYOND
Dedicated to the lighthouses on the outer banks of North Carolina, this
site was crafted by people who have a serious passion for these essential
seaboard monoliths. While some of the images are a bit slow to load, your
patience will be rewarded with some striking and diverse photos of East
Coast lighthouses. Equally impressive is the comprehensive alphabetical
directory of lighthouses throughout the US and the world.
<http://www.outer-banks.com/lightkeeper/index.html>
If you love to ski, or would just like to learn, you must stop at the Big
Ski Page. Find out everything you'll ever need to know about skiing in one
locale. There's info on resorts all over the world, ski conditions, reviews
of facilities, recommendations for hot spots, and detailed reviews of
equipment. Find out where to go, how to get there, what you'll need, and
where to recover afterward. The northern hemisphere's vivacious spring
skiing season is almost here. <http://www.goski.com/>
ISLANDIA, YOUR GUIDE TO ICELAND
A well organized and attractive site about the nation of Iceland, this
collection features history and official information but the sections on
the People of Iceland and Tourist Information are perhaps more interesting.
In the tourist section, you'll find the usual info on accommodations,
travel, geography, and weather. You'll also find an interesting narrative
on what to expect as a visitor, how the local people live, and other useful
tips on how to be a tourist without being obvious or offensive.
<http://www.arctic.is/islandia/>
FIND THE RIGHT WEB SEARCH ENGINE FOR YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS
Concentrating on business owners' needs, this site contains good, brief
descriptions of how to get the most power from your searches on 13 of the
most popular search engines available.
<http://home.earthlink.net/~fpearce/engines.html>
If your idea of music begins and ends with John, Paul, George, and Ringo,
this is your Mecca. You can hear any number of Beatles tunes through the
jukebox option. Or perhaps you'd like to find the best Beatles sites on the
Web? The links are here. <http://www.wisdom.com/fun/jb.htm>
Hanna-Barbera's guess at the future, "The Jetsons", has a loving home on
the Net that chronicles all episodes. There's a pic gallery, a trivia
section, lists of related books and movies, and the requisite links.
<http://www.cybercomm.nl/~ivo/>
ARE YOU A RELATER, SOCIALIZER, THINKER, OR DIRECTOR?
Find out by taking the personal evaluation quiz from the Platinum Rule, a
temperament sorter based on the book of the same title. It only takes a few
minutes to fill out the survey, and voila - you have been defined. Not
recommended for people who can't tolerate being categorized.
<http://www.platinumrule.com/>
EARN COLLEGE CREDIT IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME
If you want to return to college but dislike uncomfortable chairs, the
Internet University may fulfill your wish. There are more than 300 college
courses to choose from, with topics varying from art and aviation through
legal and psychology. Not surprisingly, numerous computer-related classes
are offered, too. <http://www.caso.com:80/iu/courses.html>
WANT TO GET A NEW COMPUTER AND SELL YOUR OLD ONE?
The Computer Searcher lists computers for sale in an easily browsable
format. Post a listing for your old computer system, then search for a new
one. The service is free and easy to use, with nicely organized drop-down
lists that speed up your search. <http://www.computersearcher.com/>
HOTSAUCE APPROACHES WILLIAM GIBSON'S CYBERSPACE
Apple's trying to make Web navigation a mite easier with HotSauce, a
multiplatform Netscape and Microsoft Explorer plug-in that lets you
seemingly fly through the mounds of data at a HotSauced site. HotSauce is
based on Apple's Meta Content Format (MCF), which is basically a method of
organizing and representing a wide range of content. Leave the explanations
to the eggheads - the end result of MCF and HotSauce is something that
looks like the view from the bridge of the Enterprise as you to swoop
through a universe of brightly colored folders and tags. It resembles the
cyberspace of William Gibson's "Neuromancer", without the flesh jacks, of
course. With 30,000 sites sauced you should have no problem finding one to
take HotSauce for a spin. <http://hotsauce.apple.com/>
Here you can find the tools to create and maintain a Web site. They have
links to every type of tool that you might want to use as a Web designer or
webmaster. You can browse by indexed titles, each with a short description
of their operation. Then you can follow the links to learn more, or in most
cases download the software for a trial run.
<http://www.acute.com/promote/graphics/1toolbox.htm>
Netsurfer Digest Home Page: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/index.html
Netsurfer Digest FTP Site: ftp://ftp.netsurf.com/pub/nsd/
Subscribe WWW form: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/subscribe.html
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
Unsubscribe and other FAQ info: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/ndfaq.html
Submission of Newsworthy Items: pressrm@netsurf.com
Letters to the Editor: editor@netsurf.com
Advertiser and Sponsor inquiries to: sales@netsurf.com
Netsurfer Communications: http://www.netsurf.com/
General Information: info@netsurf.com
Letters to the editor may be printed unless you explicitly tell us not to.
Writers and Netsurfers
NETSURFER DIGEST © 1997 Netsurfer Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
NETSURFER DIGEST is a trademark of Netsurfer Communications, Inc.