BARNES & NOBLE DEBUTS WEB SITE, SUES AMAZON.COM
Who'd have thought that the genteel world of book shopkeeping could be so
rough. In a spectacular example of sharp business, Barnes & Noble (BN)
decided to spoil mega-gigantic online book retailer and media darling
(yeah, we like them too) Amazon.com's imminent IPO. Not only is BN opening
their own giant Web site the same week as the IPO, but they're also suing
Amazon for false advertising. Amazon, "Earth's Biggest Bookstore",
allegedly claims to stock more books than BN, which bills itself as the
"World's Largest Bookseller Online", and BN is pissed. It's quite a ballsy
leap into cyberspace for a bookstore chain that's reputed to be the world's
largest chain of caffeinated pick-up joints. Incidentally, Amazon, unfazed
by the competition and watching the red ink dry on last quarter's $3
million loss, just upped the price of their IPO. Compare and contrast.
BN: <http://www.barnesandnoble.com/>
Amazon: <http://www.amazon.com/>
EXPLORER PLUS NORTON OR POWERPOINT EQUALS SECURITY EXPOSURE
Microsoft's Explorer browser, when combined with a couple of popular
applications, spells trouble. In both cases, a rogue Web site can run
programs on your computer by invoking features which permit the execution
of external commands in Norton Utilities and PowerPoint. If you have this
combination of software you should probably read these pages for details.
PowerPoint: <http://andrewsmith.webcafe.net/ie.htm>
Norton Utilities: <http://www.zdnet.com/wsources/content/current/sec0.html>
HOW MUCH IS A SEARCH ENGINE AD WORTH?
The answer to that question seems to depend on the search engine. A recent
somewhat-less-than-rigorous study of visits to 132 sites indicates that
Yahoo gives the biggest bang for the buck at an average of $0.31 spent per
visitor. Yahoo is followed by AltaVista $0.23, Lycos $0.21, and a bevy of
other search engines at $0.10 to $0.15 per visit. The survey taker, Viaweb,
markets online store software, and the study considered only sites which
use their online store setups. Study results can be found at this site,
though we'd prefer more info on methodology.
<http://www.viaweb.com/vw/search.html>
NEW PENTIUM FLOATING POINT BUG AND OTHER INTEL SECRETS
If you pay any attention at all to technology news, you've probably already
heard about a new obscure Pentium bug that plagues recent chip designs. Two
sites dealing with the problem are of interest. Noted Intel antagonist
Robert Collins broke this story first; his site (covered in NSD 2.28) has a
complete description of the flaw along with test programs which demonstrate
the bug. You may also want to check out his irreverent Intel Secrets site
for some entertaining takes on everyone's favorite silicon factory. Intel,
of course, has a support site dealing with the bug which includes possible
workarounds for Pentium vendors.
Bug: <http://www.x86.org/secrets/Dan0411.html>
Secrets: <http://www.x86.org/>
Intel: <http://www.intel.com/design/news/flag/>
No, it's not what you think - though there are places to get that on the
Net, too. Get your mind out of the gutter and consider this philosophically
provocative story. Some enterprising hackers in Norway set up a Web cam and
aimed it at the door of an alleged establishment of salubrious
entertainment ("horehus", in Norwegian). The object of the exercise is to
show that with a $75 Web cam and a Net link, you can keep public tabs on
what or whomever you like without permission or knowledge. Netsurfers with
a fetish for brownstone buildings will be beside themselves with erotic
frenzy, but the rest of us will appreciate the pictures at this site with
mainly philosophical interest. We are, however, starting a pool on when
barnyard cams will become the latest Net fetish of the hour.
<http://www.sel.ikke.no/horer/>
HOLD THE PRESSES: INTERNET "NOT JUST A FAD!"
That's our favorite goofy quote from the obviously surprised authors of
this digital dial survey of 1000 Internet users and 1000 non-users. The
obvious findings of the survey include revelations like Net use is up, the
Net is indispensable to lots of people, and online use is approaching
gender parity. Interestingly, the survey found that netsurfers love online
news and that the traditional news media are losing mind-share to the
Internet. Also, experienced users who've been wired for longer have a
higher rate of click throughs and purchases on the Net. It's all here in a
bunch of pretty graphs and figures.
<http://etrg.findsvp.com/internet/findf.html>
A BACK DOOR INTO QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY
As a landmark bill which would criminalize certain types of cryptography
winds its way through the vapid US Congress, science continues its
relentless assault on cryptosystems. In this case, it appears that there
may be a back door into a new and promising area of crypto science dealing
with quantum cryptography. To vastly simplify the situation, it seems
possible to break a certain crypto schema called bit commitment, in which
two people who don't trust each other can swap data without revealing their
hands. Check out this reasonably readable account of the situation in
Science magazine. The article notes that this hole could compromise "a
range of protocols, notably the 'post-Cold War' ones in which you don't
trust your friends." Would that include our elected officials?
<http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/html/970506d.htm>
TAMAGOTCHI, NORNS, AND OTHER ARTIFICIAL LIFE
The appeal of the artifical lifeform has throughout history exercised a
vaguely threatening yet oddly thrilling grip upon the world's cultural
testicles (or ovaries). The latest wigglings portend a media frenzy dealing
with artificial creatures. First, the abominably cute Tamagotchi,
essentially electronic keychains with an attitude coming soon to a store
near you, are already the subjects of a series in the New York Times. One
level up the food chain are the spiritual descendants of Microsoft's
ill-fated Bob, the Togglethis Interactive Characters. Picture Bozlo Beaver
with a gleam in his eye chasing the dancing Intel bunny people around your
screen in a postmodern version of the online ad. Moving up the a-life phyla
are the more interesting though still silly looking Norns, subjects of an
intriguing and addictive game called "Creatures" which comes recommended by
actual science geeks from the artificial intelligence <comp.ai.alife>
newsgroup.
Tamagotchi: <http://www.bandai.com/release.shtml>
Togglethis: <http://www.togglethis.com/>
Creatures: <http://www.cyberlife.co.uk/welcome_frameset.htm>
If you like photography, stock photos are some of the great freebies of the
Net. Usually, though, you only get enough to wet your whistle and keep you
hoping for more. So it is with Black Star Photo Resources. The site claims
that parent Black Star is "the world's largest and most comprehensive
photographic agency." Black Star has a worldwide network of photographers,
some of whose well-composed work is catalogued here in three slick
sections: commercial assignment photography; photojournalism; and stock
photography. Each section is a tight slide-show brochure. We liked the
photojournalism section: mini-essays look at prostitutes' daughters who are
learning karate, a sculptor who exhibits on a highway, a one-legged
teenaged dancer, elephant caretakers, and others whose deliberate lives
might someday trigger action films. Selections from the stock photo archive
load fast, but the long partial list of archive contents suggests the best
of Black Star is not on the Net. Yet. <http://www.blackstar.com/>
WANT TO LEARN TO TAKE BETTER PHOTOGRAPHS?
If your own pics just don't measure up to Black Star standards, help is
just a click away. The New York Institute of Photography offers tips on
techniques, answers to common questions about photography, contests, and
information on their training videos and home-study courses. We saw a good,
comprehensive analysis of their Picture-of-the-Month, explaining good photo
techniques. A great site for beginning and advanced photographers alike.
<http://www.nyip.com/>
NORWEGIAN ARCHITECTURAL FIRM BUILDS NIFTY SITE
Snohetta is an acclaimed Norwegian architectural firm with a Web site worth
mentioning for its impressive renderings and cool projects. Included are
photo updates, a VRML model of the Alexandria Library the firm is
constructing in Egypt, plus a portfolio of other work. <http://www.snoarc.no/>
Remember how awful it once seemed to write ten pages on "A Separate Peace"
or "Catcher in the Rye"? We bet Joanne just couldn't get enough. Here come
reports on the much-needed "Net Lessons: Web-Based Projects for your
Classroom", "One-A-Day Web Page Wake-Ups!", "Teach Yourself Great Web
Design in a Week", and "Investor's Web Guide: Tools and Strategies for
Building Your Portfolio". <http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/books/book.03.16.html>
Internet Daily News has little news but good columns. Cool Pick Hotel looks
at several Web sites from a personal perspective. (We can hardly imagine
why you'd need to read reviews written by others, but this prose makes for
a nice sorbet after a Netsurfer feast.) Movie Madness, a much larger
collection of opinion pieces, covers new and current flicks and releases
for home video. Web Music is, frankly, Web fluff, with links to relevant
sites (heavy metal stuff, at our most recent visit). When we passed
through, News Nots consisted of a satiric piece on federal involvement in
snail farming. Other features include Multimedia Reviewer, a gallery for
writers, resources for job hunters, and the Web Publisher's Dream Contest
and Book Giveaway. A small staff strives with savvy and vim to make this
site an alternative to NetDay and HotWired. <http://www.tvpress.com/idn/>
WHEN THEY SAY JAVA, THEY MEAN COFFEE
The Coffee Review is an online guide to all things bean-related. You'll
find coffee reviews written by "leading coffee experts" (hey, Ma, that PhD
in philosophy really paid off!), details on everything from coffee tasting
to coffee products, coffee ratings, coffee grinding, coffee roasting, and,
of course, coffee purchasing. And you'll learn trivia guaranteed to win you
friends - did you know that "roasting is perhaps the single most
influential factor contributing to the cup characteristics of a coffee"?
Awesome, no? And those wine aficionados think they're so hot.
<http://www.coffeereview.com/>
Purdue University researcher Samuel Wagstaff uses volunteers with spare
computer cycles to help him factor really, really big numbers. Recently,
they managed to factor a record-setting 167-digit number derived from the
form (3 to the nth power-1). Since we know you couldn't sleep tonight
without memorizing the number, here it is: (3 to the 349th power-1)/2 =
1637901955805366239217413015467044958392396568483270402498378170923969
4686351321204156509649226080541971824707555797144568969073877772973038
883717449030628887379284041.
<http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/9705.Wagstaff.number.html>
SUPERCOMPUTER TEST RUN SIMULATES COMET CRASH
What else can you do with processors in your spare time? The folks at
Sandia Labs decided to simulate a comet crashing into the ocean. Take a
comet 1 km in diameter weighing around a billion tons, send it screaming at
the Earth at 60 km per second, and grab your surfboard for one hell of a
ride on the resulting tsunami. The pictures and MPEGs are not overwhelming,
but kind of neat all the same. <http://www.sandia.gov/1431/COMETw.html>
DEWEY DECIMALS COVER THE UNIVERSE
The circumstances surrounding the Hale-Bopp comet may increase the number
of amateur astronomers on the lookout for their own place in history.
Expanding Universe is a Web resource for such nocturnal hopefuls. The Metro
Toronto Reference Library has modified the Dewey decimal system to arrange
hand-picked astronomy links in a logical fashion. You can also pull up an
alphabetical listing, which might be faster if you know what you're looking
for and you don't want to wade through 10,000 links. A vast subject such as
astronomy needs a robust classification, and Expanding Universe looks
better than other heavenly gateways we've seen. Science teachers should add
this to their list of recommended sites. It's an excellent starting point
for stargazers young and old.
<http://www.mtrl.toronto.on.ca/centres/bsd/astronomy/index.html>
Following the trend of Web sites that preview movies or complement TV
shows, NOVA Online has created "Inside 'Avalanche!'" to prepare us for
another of its fascinating documentaries on natural disasters. This site is
clearly the opposite of a disaster: it's wonderful. In addition to
first-person accounts by members of the film crew as they work in Colorado,
Montana, and Switzerland, you learn about the elements of a slide and how
to stay safe in risky terrain. You can also pull down some nifty preview
clips, some silent and some with sound. Of course, there's also a page of
links to weather forecasts, avalanche centers, and featured scientists.
Overall, it's pretty cool. <http://www.pbs.org/nova/avalanche/>
Not what you might expect in the current cultural climate, this site
featuring epidemics, pandemics, and other outbreaks of disease is neither
hysterical nor paranoid. It's not fueled by conspiracy theory, but - not to
minimize its considerable scientific and medical underpinnings - it's not
driven by the purely clinical, either. In many ways, the authors speak more
to the politics and economics of aid than to matters of science. All too
aware of the human cost of disease among marginalized people, they are
clearly weary of incompetence, indifference, and economic and political
self-interest. There's a lot more going on than we read or hear about in
mainstream media. This site helps us count it up.
<http://www.outbreak.org/cgi-unreg/dynaserve.exe/index.html>
Got bad gums? Want to know more about TMJ? This friendly dental site
invites visitors to submit dental questions via e-mail. Responses to
selected questions are posted on a searchable database, which currently
contains several hundred answers addressing such diverse dental topics as
tongue piercing, x-rays during pregnancy, nitrous oxide allergies,
baby-bottle tooth decay, bad breath, fossilized teeth, dental insurance
coverage, and swallowing toothpaste. <http://www.smiledoc.com/dentist/>
If you or a loved one - in a society less enlightened about health care -
tends to suffer from ear, nose, or throat problems, Dr. Grossan's online
advice is definitely an inexpensive alternative to your family physician.
Got sinus problems? Learn about a treatment with the enchanting name of
pulsatile nasal irrigation. You can also learn how to prevent and treat
dizziness, get information about cystic fibrosis and sinusitis, and read
about topics ranging from post-nasal drip to allergies to snoring to
nosebleeds. Don't leave out the charmingly titled "Morning Sneezing and
Hacking". Whether it's "itching and irritation on the outside of your ear"
that's making you cranky, or the tactfully phrased "breath problems
(Halitosis)", get thee to this doc. <http://www.ent-consult.com/>
NEW BETAS: COMMUNICATOR FOR WINDOWS 95, EXPLORER FOR MAC
Netscape has the fourth beta release for Windows 95, while Microsoft weighs
in with the latest Explorer 3.01 for the Mac.
Communicator:
<http://home.netscape.com/flash4/comprod/products/communicator/index.html>
Explorer: <http://www.microsoft.com/ie/mac/>
This is neat software for a neat service. Active Worlds 1.2 allows you to
create a virtual reality environment in 3-D and link it up with others
hosted by the developer. This latest release features simplified world
entry, increased object visibility, increased frame rate,
password-protected content and other enhancements.
<http://www.activeworlds.com/>
Better reliability, better quality, better firewall handling - serious
Internet video junkies will want to play with this.
<http://www.real.com/products/realvideo/whatsnewb2.html>
Here's a Java application that lets you advertise your online status to
people and have them do the same with you.
<http://www.activerse.com/HTML/Products/ding-intro.html>
SO THE ISLE OF MAN WASN'T PART OF THE UK ELECTION...
OK, we admit our knowledge of British geography comes from staring at a Kingmaker board. That's probably why we thought the Manx were represented in the British Parliament. Dr. Johnson (no, not that one - this one's name is Roger) writes: "The Isle of Man is internally self governing and has its own parliament - Tynwald - the oldest continuous parliament in the world!!" We scurry off this stage without our tail between our legs.
How many of you know the difference between an anagram and an abbreviation?
Didn't think so. The IBM country-specific information URL from last issue
was missing its WWW. Here's the correct version.
<http://www.global.hosting.ibm.com/>
The anything-but-contemptible Contempt site, one of our favorite designs,
has undergone an improvement, as if that were possible. We called it "a
tour-de-force of creative and beautiful HTML and typographic design" about
a year ago. It still holds.
<http://www.inch.com/~contempt/>
MAYA SITE MOVES, STILL WORTH THE TRIP
We wrote that Rabbit in the Moon was "a wealth of information about Mayan
language and heiroglyphs." Still is. There's Mayan architecture too.
<http://www.halfmoon.org/>
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