SERIOUS SECURITY FLAWS IN MICROSOFT'S EXPLORER AND WEB SERVER
Microsoft has recently had to face a faceful of bad news about security
flaws in its Internet products. First off, the Internet Explorer 3.0
browser (for various flavors of Windows) allows Web page writers to use
.LNK and .URL files to run programs on your computer (Yikes!). The second
bit of bad news concerns Internet Information Server 3.0. That software
contains a major security breach through which it could reveal passwords
and other database information to online attackers. This bug permits Web
browsers to download Active Server Pages (ASP) files, potentially exposing
user IDs and passwords. Fixes for both bugs can be found on the Web. We
suggest you use them immediately.
Explorer: <http://www.cybersnot.com/iebug.html>
Server: <http://www.genusa.com/asp/patch/sechole.html>
NEW BETA RELEASE OF NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR
For those who are not paying attention in class, this is the second beta
version of the next generation browser from Netscape. This version
introduces Communicator for the Mac and various Unix platforms. The most
interesting bits are the collaboration components. Collabra is a
roll-your-own newsgroup application, and Conference is a Net phone and
whiteboard package. The professional version adds a calendar and
auto-administration capabilities. The guide has a good summary of new
features, not all of which have made it yet into this release.
Download: <http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/index.html>
Guide: <http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/guide.html>
The English royal family gets no respect. Just days before the debut of the
official Buckingham Palace Web site, the Daily Mail upstaged them with
their own site uncov... - er, covering the royals. Even more obnoxious, you
have pony up nine bucks to read about Fergie's toe sucking fetish. No such
problems at the Queens official site. There's nary a toe in sight, though
you do get 150 pages of turgid history. Ah well, everyone's entitled to
their 15 minutes of fame. Even the Queen.
Buckingham Palace: <http://www.royal.gov.uk/>
Daily Mail: <http://www.royaltyuk.com/>
LAWSUIT OVER PROPOSED ".WEB" TOP LEVEL DOMAIN
The recent report from the International Ad-Hoc Committee (IAHC) for the
creation of new top level domains (TLDs) has run into the inevitable snag.
A company called Image Online Design (IOD) claims that it owns the rights
to register the .web domain, and has sued the IAHC over its right to do so.
Image Online Design is one of a handful of outfits which offer domain name
registry alternatives to InterNIC, but most ISPs don't recognize such
"third world" domain servers (though it's technically trivial to access
them, you can do it by changing your domain name server IP address). You
can find out more about the .web TLD and the actual lawsuit at these sites.
Complaint: <http://www.iodesign.com/complaint.html>
IOD: <http://www.webtld.com/>
RSA CRYPTO CRACKING CONTEST, NML HACKING ATTACKS, AND HOTWIRED
There are so many juicy aspects to this, you'll have to check out the
source sites for the whole story. In brief, RSA (of public encryption fame)
is running a contest to crack various cryptographic keys. New Media
Laboratories (NML) is coordinating a few thousand machines over the
Internet in an effort to crack the codes. Due to some internecine rivalry
among crackers, NML came under a denial-of-service attack. HotWired jumped
on the story with zeal - too much zeal misdirected, if you believe the
howls of erudite protest HotWired's report elicited from the NML crowd,
which used phrases like "fluff article" and "mindless static". Trust us,
it's worth a look.
RSA: <http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/97challenge/>
NML: <http://zero.genx.net/>
Article: <http://www.wired.com/news/technology/story/2335.html>
Follow-up: <http://www.wired.com/news/technology/story/2350.html>
IDITAROD DOGS TURN SNOW TO MUSH
What's worn out and smells like a dog? No, not another Hollywood
blockbuster, but the 900 intrepid mushers who brave the cold and and snow
in the Iditarod dogsled race. From Anchorage to Nome, it's 1,049 frosty
miles of Alaskan wilderness and canine confusion in the "Last Great Race".
Sure, you could freeze your butt off in Anvik and watch the sleds go by,
but it's much warmer to follow the race by the glow of your monitor. Skip
the slow official Iditarod site and sled on over to the excellent iDog site
for the best race coverage and all your Iditarod culture needs. Mmmmm, it's
like getting a doggie treat!
iDog: <http://www.starfishsoftware.com/idog97/index.html>
Iditarod: <http://www.iditarod.com/>
JEANNE'S 122-YEAR JOURNEY, FROM VAN GOGH TO THE WEB
Jeanne Calment recently celebrated her 122nd birthday, making her the
oldest documented living human. She is currently blind, almost deaf, and is
confined to a wheelchair, but she apparently still posesses a razor-sharp
wit. How many people can say they met Van Gogh, recorded a CD, and had a
Web page dedicated to them? Yes, there is a betting pool on whether she'll
make it another year but let's not focus on the morbid, as entertaining as
that may be. Jeanne's just an interesting lady, and we should all live so
long. <http://www.aeiveos.com/longevity/jlcinfo.html>
What would you think if we told you Leonard and Bubba, powered by pork
rinds, whiskey, and beer, were using a bunch of impractical and
occasionally illegal weapons (including an alien arm-gun - to pull the
trigger, yank on the tendon) to retrieve their pig, Bessie, from aliens
amid the rustic, quirky charm of the deep, deep South? Friends of Bill
invading Area 51? Nope, it's a new redneck riot of a game from Interplay.
The Duke Nukem 3-D engine renders your inbred ass into locations such as
the Eden Court trailer park (under perpetual barrage by tornadoes),
abandoned uranium mines (inhabited by aliens), and J. Cluck's Poultry
Processing Plant (home of the cream-filled chicken eclair). "This demo
contains adult language and is recommended for mature audiences only!" But
would "mature audiences" even want this game? We sure do!
<http://www.interplay.com/games/redneck.html>
NETSURFER "HONCHO" INTERVIEWED IN GEORGE JR.
OK, so he's only about a quarter the age of Jeanne Calment, but NSD's own
editor does have a "dandy sense of humor" to match Jeanne's razor-sharp
wit, and they both speak French (sort of). Intrigued? Want to know more?
Surf over to George Jr. to read a Q-and-A session. It was grilling, but he
made it through without a change of underclothes. <http://www.georgejr.com/>
If the George Jr. bit doesn't cure your desire for virtual contact with our
editor, visit NSD's latest Letters to the Editor page for your fill of
dandy humor and razor sharp wit. Watch out for those sharp edges. Ow!
<http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/letters/letter.03.08.html>
Looming like a giant microchip (or pyramid, or space station...) over smog
and cash-enveloped Silicon Valley, Fry's Electronics figures prominently in
the mythos of this blighted land. It was here that the two Steves baught
parts for the first Apple, and here that someone affiliated with Netsurfer
bought a SCSI cable and a can of Jolt. Anyone who's anyone in the computer
industry has udergone the Fry's shopping rite of passage by being ignored,
misinformed, and exposed to monumental incompetence and low, low prices
among the hallowed aisles. And we all go back for more. No one has ever
captured the pure, viciously addictive essence of our beloved Fry's as well
as Jim Nelson. In this grand work of invective and cynically brilliant
flamage he captures the very heart of this computer industry shrine.
<http://www.crl.com/~jnelson/nauseam/verbage/seven.htm>
The Magellan search engine has a kinky page that lets you see 20 randomly
selected real-time searches other users are currently doing. The favorites
list when we peeked included bunny brains, free download nudist software,
dolly buster, pantyhose, Command and Conquer cheats, terrigenous biology,
and the ever-popular virgin sex. Don't get your panties in too much of a
bunch: "the McKinley Group reserves the right to not present searches that
fall outside of our editorial guidelines." Spoilsports.
<http://voyeur.mckinley.com/voyeur.cgi>
Bewildered by Netspeak? Stunned by your inability to download images?
Confused by all the choices you don't seem to be able to access? Surf
School is a handy, simple resource for newbies with answers to basic
questions and information on IRC, newsgroups, and setting up browsers.
<http://www.zdnet.com/yil/filters/surfjump.html>
The Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies is a nonprofit organization
for scholarly study. It seeks "to foster a community of students, scholars,
teachers, explorers, and builders of cyberculture, and to showcase various
models, works-in-progress, and on-line projects." Thumbnail book reviews in
the Annotated Bibliography section provide guidance for those with a
theoretical bent. Courses in Cyberculture links to dynamic syllabi of
university courses. There are also links to event and conference listings
and, in Featured Links, a collection of links to community networks in the
United States. If you're into sociology, communication, or American
studies, this will be a good resource for you. <http://otal.umd.edu/~rccs/>
Both classical music maestro and moron will find something at Classical
Insites. Sure, it's a slick way to sell classical music discs and its
search engine will undoubtedly always bring you Bach here, but it's also a
decent information resource for enthusiasts and professionals and a good
educational resource for those just delving into the classical music world.
Insites serves as the online home for station WQXR and as the official
online site for information on the late Leonard Bernstein. The site
reflects its subject: big, sprawling, deep - a spot you can get lost in for
a while and emerge more knowledgeable and a bit happier.
<http://www.classicalinsites.com/>
THIS GUY THINKS HE'S NOT ENTIRELY HUMAN...
A near death experience has led Tom Repasky to believe he inhabits a body
that the previous soul left at his death. Therefore, he claims, he does not
have emotions, his "intelligence was easily noticed", and the whole
traumatic transition caused him to perceive a kaleidoscope world of
ever-changing energy patterns, which explains his liberal use of colour on
this site. Containing over 200 pages of 3-D images, other art, writing and
philosophy, this could just be the white light at the end of the tunnel for
some. <http://repasky.vte.com/>
This refreshing page features women at the forefront of technology and
multimedia design. Interviews with women in high profile jobs, links with
impressive industry sites like DreamWorks/SKG , Digital Domain, and
SIGGRAPH, and the forging of a mentorship plan, all help make these pages
brilliant inspiration for anyone ambitious in the field.
<http://www.animation.org/animation/women/>
TenEyck Design Studio is an exhibition of the work of theater set designer
Karen TenEyck. Gorgeous graphics fill every page and choked our modem line,
but for those with a curiosity about what set designers do and how they do
it, this site shows the portfolio and projects of what looks to be one of
best. <http://www.inch.com/~kteneyck/>
The ShadowMoon Creative Arts Center and Cybernetic Gallery is still in its
infancy, but holds promise for the future. It features a wide range of
offerings - sounds as well as sights are included in the gallery - and
hosts a wing devoted to programming as artwork. Navigation is fluid and
there are some nice Java touches. At the moment, though, it appears to be a
gallery looking for artists as well as art lovers. Given time, ShadowMoon
should shine. <http://www.shadowart.com/>
This week Netsurfer reviews "HTML 3.2 for the Internet and Intranets",
"College Connections Web Directory 1997", "JavaScript Primer Plus", and
"Internet 1997 Unleashed". <http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/books/book.03.08.html>
PEOPLE WITH TOO MUCH TIME, OR ART?
A deserted crossroads, a body in 15 pieces, and a boy who stabs himself to
death. A medical text book, a German spy, and a plan to cover the Amazon
with golf courses. These snapshots come from stories embedded in a
patchwork body, copied from Gray's Anatomy, in a hyperfiction project which
is sometimes difficult to read over the background. This is a collaborative
product that will be viewed, read, and experienced as living art by those
who enjoy the different and even the bizarre.
<http://www.cat.nyu.edu/graymatters/>
If you're hearing wedding bells, or wishing you were hearing wedding bells,
Wedding Bells could be the site for you. This pre-marital sourcebook, which
is targeted on primarily the female of the species, brings together a host
of ceremony ideas, dress options, wedding tips, and more, in an elegant
magazine format. It's not quite as juicy as a four-inch-thick copy of
Modern Bride, but it appears to be a good online reference.
<http://www.weddingbells.com/>
Pop culture updates in brief bites is the weekly Pop Rocket zine's
raison-d'etre. Movies, comics, and other entertainment news get covered in
short blurbs that give the scoop on "The X-Files" and Scully's brain tumor,
Sinatra's new champagne, Batman's new costume, and more. Throw in a few
reviews, the weekly National Enquirer cover, and the weekly top ten in
entertainment, and you get a nice fast read that won't tax your already
overworked brain cells. <http://soho.ios.com/~nexus1/>
BRETTnews, the brainchild of Brett Leveridge, is a pithy NYC e-zine filled
mostly with the author's ramblings on life and events in the City. Very
well constructed, with retro graphics, pessimistic horoscopes,
so-obscure-they're-hip music reviews, two advice columns, and articles on
such topics as Men My Mother Dated, it's something you'll either love or
hate. <http://www.brettnews.com/>
This small weekly offers the latest news in Internet design, marketing, and
technology. We learnt that Disney is buying a third of Starwave, the Web
design company (ESPNet SportsZone) for $80 million. The scams, the online
crime (like e-mail forgery), the tips, the competitions, and the best
services are presented here in quick regular updates.
<http://www.anvil-media.com/>
Unless you've been too busy with your low-tech autocolonoscopy, you know
Scottish researchers have cloned a sheep from udder cells (why do you think
the clone's called Dolly, anyway?), that Oregon scientists have cloned
monkey embryos, and that the press has made a Big Fuss. We're not too
sheepish to admit we're fascinated by the ability to monkey around with
genetic mechanisms in this fashion. Naysayers have attacked the methods,
citing potential abuse, but such potential exists whether or not the
technology does and that is no reason to limit research. Ultimately,
medicine primarily will benefit from these advances, but one word keeps
resonating in our thoughts: mammoths. Here are the initial Dolly press
release and the Virtual Embryo, a keen developmental biology site with a
link to a story about the Oregon monkeys.
Dolly - <http://www.ri.bbsrc.ac.uk/library/research/cloned.html>
Embryo - <http://www.ucalgary.ca/~browder/>
The Sheep Brain Dissection Guide sounds like another grisly, morbidly
fascinating slice-and-dice Web affair established in the name of science.
While sheep brains do abound, the focus here is on the word "guide".
Instead of merely showing you a dissected sheep brain, the guide tells you
how to go about the procedure. The guide supplies the instructions with
clearly labeled photos of sheep brains and an instruction manual that
careens between soporific ("On the ventral side of the brain, about midway
between rostral and caudal ends, locate the pituitary gland.") and cheeky
("Now you get to do some real slicing!"). A visit to the guide may have you
at the butcher's in no time.
<http://academic.uofs.edu/department/psych/sheep/>
"The Ridiculously Enhanced Pi Page Number Two!" is in place to help you
celebrate Pi Day (March 14 - 3/14 - also Albert Einstein's birthday). The
pages admit they "are ridiculously enhanced and lack content." The site
highlight is a "pi'mote" that reels off pi's first 100 digits and let's you
click your way to pi sites across the Web with the ease of a TV remote.
You'll need Netscape 3.0. <http://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/pi97/>
EL DORADO OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
We found Medical Matrix to be one of the best medical resources on the Web.
It's peer-reviewed (which means medical professionals have evaluated the
sites to which it links), comprehensive, and organized by specialty and
disease in a directory structure that may remind you of Yahoo or Magellan.
Every medical librarian should be familiar with it. Maybe you should, too.
Whether you're interested in sports medicine or laboratory medicine, news,
journals, discussion forums, prescription assistance, or job openings in
this vast field, Medical Matrix has much to offer. It's superb.
<http://www.slackinc.com/matrix/>
The Mayo Health Oasis, another high quality medical index, offers links to
medical topics such as cancer, diet and nutrition, and pregnancy and
children. There's also a Newsstand section with stories that range from
"New data on complications in breast implant surgery" to "Condoms: a users'
guide" to "Shy but not cyber shy - Can the Internet reduce social phobia?"
The Oasis includes a search field, and the variety and depth of resources
are most impressive. The diet and nutrition resources, for example, offer
the opportunity to ask a Mayo dietician, search through articles, and
access links throughout the Web. <http://www.mayo.ivi.com/>
This site is designed to promote diagnostic imaging referrals from
Washington, D.C., area physicians by providing information on the
capabilities and exams that are available from the site sponsor. However,
the patient and pre-exam information on the site can be valuable for anyone
preparing to have one of these diagnostic imaging procedures. Anyone can
visit and make use or fun of the information. <http://www.wrapc.com/>
COMPUSERVE, WE MAY HAVE A PROBLEM
No matter what we do, we can't keep Rich Kempter, a CompuServe user, subscribed to NSD. A few other CompuServers also seem to have that problem. We - not without trepidation - would like to ask our CompuServe NSD subscribers to write if you are not getting NSD on a regular basis or if you've had problems in the past. Thanks. mailto:editor@netsurf.com
In our last issue we wrote that the discussions to be heard at Ann On-Line
were recent and archived editions of radio interviews. We goofed. Ann
On-Line content is created exclusively for the web and is not available
anywhere else. <http://www.annonline.com/>
The Semi-Existence of Bryon, an old favorite of ours, has a new Web home.
You can check out the daily trials and thoughts of Bryon Sutherland at this
new URL. <http://www.geocities.com/~semi_bryon/>
The Mary Rose, a refloated Tudor warship, has a domain all to herself now.
<http://www.maryrose.org/>
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