THE ARGENTINIAN GIGANOTOSAURUS
With the hype surrounding the dinosaur mega-epic "The Lost World" stomping
across media channels in North America, we figured we might as well get in
on the action. But instead of featuring some unreal 3-D modeling, we're
gonna slap you upside the head with a hefty dose of equally epic dinosaur
check out the freshly excavated carnivorous behemoth dubbed
largest meat eating dinosaur ever unearthed, implying that the southern
landmass of 97 million years ago provided an incredibly productive meat
market for our toothy friend. Visit this site for a rundown complete with a
must-see photo of Gigi about to crush a human skull to get at the tasty
bits inside. Yow! <http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/html/970516b.htm>
AN HONEST-TO-GOODNESS NOVEL TWIST ON THE OJ CASE
The phrase "speculative fiction" most often means science fiction. J. Neil
Schulman has given it an entirely new definition. Schulman is a freelance
writer who, disturbed by perceived cognitive dissonances in the behavior of
OJ Simpson and Ron Shipp during the criminal and civil trials of the
former, decided to write a story. This story speculates - with an
admittedly judgemental basis and without hard evidence - that Ron Shipp
murdered Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. The reasoning is compelling. The
lack of official interest is disappointing. And Schulman's insight into
character is damning. Read this, and see if it instills in you reasonable
doubt that OJ Simpson committed the murders most people believe he did.
<http://www.pulpless.com/ojframe/>
Fresh on the heels of the unpleasantness in Zaire/Congo comes a coup in
Sierra Leone. These may be just bumps on the geopolitical landscape, but
the turnovers are indicative of the chaos which reigns in the poor regions
of Africa. Wondering where we could find decent relevant news, we unearthed
Africa News, which reports on the politically dark continent. Sierra Leone
has its own page amidst this compendium of news from African newspapers,
magazines, and news agencies. Discover for yourself just how shallow
international coverage runs in Western media. Call it an exercise in
thinking for yourself. Another excellent site concerning the new Congo
comes courtesy of Dirk Peters, a graduate political science student in
Germany.
Africa News: <http://www.africanews.org/>
Sierra Leone: <http://www.africanews.org/west/sierraleone/>
Peters: <http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/1243/index.htm>
A Brazilian company called Transend is ready to ship the latest wrinkle in
modem technology: tying two 33.6 kbps lines together into one larger pipe.
This speeds things up because Net traffic gets to you in small bit pockets
which don't care how they arrive, whether by one phone line or two. The big
guys (US Robotics, Rockwell) are working on applying this technology to
their 56.6 kbps modems (theoretically reaching 112 kbps, but realistically
aiming for 80-90 kbps), so don't expect Transend to make much of a
long-term dent in their market. Is this reason to hold off on the 56.6 kbps
modem you so desperately desire? Probably not, since fusing two lines will
require your cash-strapped ISP to perform some major hardware fiddling and
will likely take a year or two to happen.
<http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?970527.etranscend.htm>
DEEP BLUE CAN BEAT A HUMAN, BUT HOW ABOUT ANOTHER MACHINE?
American Computer (ACC) is so proud of the capability of its Valkyrie
supercomputers that it has challenged IBM and the Kasparov-befuddling Deep
Blue to a chess match. Technical details and philosophy can be found in
ACC's most recent press release, which includes a comparison of Valkyrie
with Star Trek's Data that reeks of hubris. IBM, having little to gain and
much to lose, has not as yet even recognized the challenge.
<http://www.american-computer.com/chessannounce.htm>
OUT OF BANDWIDTH ATTACK PATCHES FOR WINDOWS 95/NT
What? Windows has another security risk? No way! It's possible to crash
networked Windows 95 and Windows NT machines by sending them certain
combinations of TCP/IP pockets. Programs such as WinNuke and WinKiller take
advantage of this security hole. Microsoft has released patches for this
widely exploited problem. Look around under "MORE INFORMATION" for the
Windows NT version of this patch.
<http://www.microsoft.com/kb/articles/q168/7/47.htm>
A stellar assembly of cryptoscientific and technical experts has release a
report analyzing the risks and costs of key recovery systems recently
proposed by the US government. The report slammed the idea as incompatible
with increased security and privacy of private data. It noted that the
infrastructure necessary to implement key recovery was not only costly, but
it also provides new opportunities for unauthorized access to secure
communications. The report provides a good guide to many of the issues
involving key escrow. HTML and PostScript versions of the report are
available. <http://www.crypto.com/key_study/>
NEW ADVERTISING PERFORMANCE REPORTING STANDARD PROPOSED
If you offer advertising on your site, or have ambitions to do so, then
this proposed standard is of interest. This standard aims to solve the
problem of the many currently incompatible ways of reporting the
performance of advertising on different sites: how many clicks, how many
views, when clicks occur - that kind of thing. By standardizing reports of
such data, advertisers can get a better idea of how their ad campaigns are
doing. Be forewarned, it's pretty technical.
<http://www.netgravity.com/standards/WD-adreport.html>
A sublime mix of compliment and complaint, with barbs toss at ActiveX and
Java, and topped off with the effervescence of formatting. No substitutions
allowed. <http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/letters/letter.03.13.html>
One of the fun things about the infinitely flexible topology of the Net is
that it permits interesting experiments in the organization of information.
Webring provides one of the most mature realizations of such an experiment,
a ring of sites organized around a common theme, such as "The Dalmatian
WebRing", the "Insane Clown Posse Ring", and the "Ring of Young Authors"e.
Once you visit one site in a ring, you can click on a "Next" or "Previous"
link to go to adjacent sites in that ring. If you click in the same
direction long enough, you end up where you started. Of the astonishing
11,772 different rings, some are bound to provide great netsurfing
experiences. <http://www.webring.org/>
DOMAIN NAME HIJACKER SPRINKLES MICROSOFT WITH DIRT
Is Microsoft really going after the lucrative porn market? Are they
registering blistering domain names like freehooker.com, realsluts.com, and
pornforporn.com? Can you really picture Bill having sex? The correct answer
to all of those questions is, of course, not at all. Danny Khoshnood is
registering those domains in the name of "Microsoft Network.com",
apparently a shell outfit located in Los Angeles. After snagging the domain
name microsoftnetwork.com, Danny went on a registration binge, grabbing a
variety of naughty names in the name of the bogus Microsoft. Motives of the
so-far strictly virtual Danny are as yet unknown. We bet he's just a
Microsoft admirer sending a gentle hint to Bill that MSN can make more
money online catering to the prurient marketplace. CNet has the whole
laughable story. <http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,11080,00.html>
The World Wide Web History Project has an intriguing premise. According to
the project overview, the founders seek to "Know the past. Invent the
future." What does that mean? Well, the group wants to publish a history of
the Web starting from its origins. To research the Web's past, they're
using first-person interviews, reading through archives, and so forth. The
first tangible results of their research will be a book on "the invention
of the World Wide Web", including hypertext, what they call "lost
features", and future trends. Their research archives - including
videotapes and recordings - will, they hope, lead to documentaries on Web
history. They're looking for volunteers and more contributions of archival
material. <http://www.webhistory.org/>
If you buy a sofa before you choose the art to hang over it, Critical
Review isn't for you. This e-zine reviewing current US art exhibitions is a
daunting visit for the uninitiated. The site also hosts Art Criticism, a
journal of contemporary art issues. Talk amongst yourselves. The editor
will give you a topic. How's this: "[History of avant garde art] tends to
be naively positivistic when not ideologically driven, and in general
resists the psychological understanding of art as a kind of degradation of
its sublimity, however much, self-contradictorily, there is a fair amount
of talk about the artist's 'attitude' and Weltanschauung, usually derived
from some notion of the Zeitgeist." Iif you can cut through arcane
referential argot, the Kuspit essay on avant garde art is right on the
money (pun intended). <http://www.creview.com/>
Del Corazon, presented by the National Museum of American Arts, is a
spirited online collection of work by Latino artists. Accompanying the
visuals, you'll find mini perspectives and soundbites in video and audio.
It's a colorful, energetic site that offers a lot to see and learn.
<http://www.nmaa.si.edu/webzine/>
We have but one review this week: "NetTravel: How Travelers Use the
Internet". Enjoy. <http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/books/book.03.18.html>
The e-zine Theory or Event embraces its philosophical, analytical bent.
Armed with neat design and topics that range from the impact of alien
abduction movies and science fiction on North American society to a
controversial dissertation on the degradation of US democracy due to recent
liberty-infringing court judgements. This is certainly a site for anyone
decrying the lack of philosphical insight on the normally shallow construct
that is the Internet.
<
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_&_event/>
Laura Lemay, author of several books on Web publishing and Java, provides
hilarious accounts of her daily dilemmas in quirky clever stories. Check
out the time she nearly died when her glasses fogged up on the gym
treadmill, or when her 100-watt lamp melted the corner of her computer (it
still works!), or her adventures at the eye doctor. Laura is a clever
writer who possesses one great skill - she knows how to laugh at herself.
<http://www.lne.com/lemay/>
The well organized monthly Surfer Girl dedicates itself to women who ride
the waves. Real waves, that is. Check out the latest surrounding the top
female competitors and the hottest spots to surf. Stop by the Aloha Board
to see what surfers are talking about. And please note the environmental
section on waterways and oceans. Cool stuff, surfer dudettes.
<http://www.surfergrrl.com/>
INTERNETNEWS COVERS ALL THINGS WEBBISH
The InternetNews is a well written online newspaper that focuses on
Internet-related business and developer news and notes. On a recent day,
articles included "Silicon Graphics Snaps Up Russian Virtual Reality Firm";
"Brussels to Clear BT, MCI Merger Wednesday";and "Amazon.com to Go Public
as Rivalry Grows". You'll find technology news (e.g. announcements of
Microsoft releases of IE), Web and Internet-related survey results, and
Internet stock reports. <http://www.internetnews.com/>
DAILY ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY NEWS
Site owner Lew Irwin emphasizes pithy business summaries from the
entertainment industry. Short on celebrity gossip, Studio Briefing tracks
changes in studio and production brass (and the sniping that accompanies
them), television ratings, audience testing, and proposals for film and
television. Irwin knows his mission and sticks to it. To the extent that
the entertainment industry influences culture and to the extent that
individuals shape that industry, Studio Briefing can claim to be more than
fluff. <http://www.newshare.com/sb/>
This attractive site is a real find, especially for teachers. The site
tracks most anything that migrates with the seasons: joining prosaic robins
are hummingbirds, loons, bald eagles, orioles, whooping cranes, bats, and
whales of the right, gray, and humpback varieties. Sadly, retired Canadians
are left off the list. Beyond tracking its itinerant denizens, the site
offers background on what triggers migrations and the effects of habitat
loss. There are links to participating schools and lesson suggestions for
teachers. The site - part of a program to improve math and science
education from kindergarten through Grade 12 - is funded by the
Annenberg/CPB Math and Science Project, with ties to PBS. Teachers and
administrators take note: The project offers mini-grants to participants.
<http://www.learner.org/content/k12/jnorth/>
The Thyroid Discussion Group's mailing list discusses thyroid conditions
and how those ailments affect health, lifestyle, and so forth. You'll find
comments on thyroid research, support systems, and related conditions. From
the site, you can subscribe to the mailing list, search the archives by
keyword, and/or read the weekly logs. To subscribe, e-mail
listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu with "Subscribe Thyroid Yourfirstname
Lastname" in the body of the message. <http://www.emissary.net/thyroid/>
New Scientist magazine has added a bit to their abfab site Planet Science
(NSD 1.38). The Last Word features answers to those previously unanswered
daily questions that haunt the thoughtful individual, things like "can you
drive through a rainbow?" Answers to over 300 scientific brain-benders of
this ilk are available at the site. The Last Word can be searched, or you
can browse through any one of nine broad categories (and the operative word
is broad). You can ask questions yourself or comment on the answers you
find. And, the last word on the rainbow is, in short, no.
<http://www.last-word.com/>
THE NEXT BETAS OF NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR, NEW NETCASTER PUSH SOFTWARE
In case you missed it, the new NS Communicator beta is now available for
PC, Mac, and Unix. In addition, a beta version of Netcaster, Netscape's
entry in the push wars, is also available for Windows only.
<http://www.netscape.com/flash3/comprod/products/communicator/index.html>
The new release of the bandwidth hungry pushware reportedly has better
performance and a bunch of features enabling system administrators to
control the content users see. Also of interest is the fact that the new
final version of PointCast 2.0 will conform to the recently created
Microsoft Channel Definition Format standard. <http://www.pointcast.com/>
JOE LAVIN DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
Alice moved, Alice was played by Linda Lavin, Linda Lavin may or may not be
related to Joe Lavin, and Joe Lavin's Web site has moved. Wow, small world.
For more on Joe Lavin and his humor column, see NSD 2.15.
<http://joelavin.com/>
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