NETSCAPE SECURITY BUG: DOING BUSINESS WITH THE BIG BOYS
Christian Orellana found an obscure problem in all Netscape browsers that
exposes the contents of known files on your hard disk. He thought the bug
description was worth more then the $1,000 bug bounty Netscape customarily
pays, particularly on the eve of the big Communicator release. In an
attempt to pressure Netscape into a deal, he threatened to go public with a
demo (though to his credit, not the details), and followed through when
Netscape didn't bite. Netscape got ahold of the demo machine and figured
out the problem, probably via cached files. A Communicator 4.01 fix is
already available, and Navigator 3.1 fixes will be out shortly. Christian
got notoriety, no cash, and the reputation of extortionist, but that's too
harsh a term for an amateur attempting to play business with the big boys.
Judge for yourself by the e-mail traces available at his site and Wired.
Check the Netscape site for bug info.
Christian: <http://www.cabocomm.dk/>
Wired: <http://www.wired.com/news/story/4444.html>
Netscape: <http://www.netscape.com/flash1/misc/security_update.html>
RSA CHALLENGE WON: 56-BIT DES CODE BROKEN
On the eve of a US Senate Commerce Committee vote on extending export
restrictions on strong cryptograpy, a group effort to crack the government
limited 56-bit DES cipher has succeeded. The DESCHALL team bagged the
$10,000 prize offered by RSA Data Security for decoding a message which
read "Strong cryptography makes the world a safer place." The team took
four months and checked about 18 quadrillion keys, just under 25% of the
total available keys, in a brute-force, distributed approach that used
computers all over the Net to attack parts of the code space. It's been
shown that a dedicated computer which can accomplish this feat in mere
hours can be built for a reasonable amount of money. The DESCHALL home page
has the PR and technical details, while RSA has info on their ongoing
crypto contests.
DESCHALL: <http://www.frii.com/~rcv/deschall.htm>
RSA: <http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/97challenge/>
This is a silly idea available at rock bottom prices, but if you really
must bare your content to a bazillion or so couch potatoes surfing on the
tube, then you'll definitely want to visit the new WebTV PrimeTime site.
The technology and design guides impress us most. You get tips on styling
sites for best viewing on a TV set as well as a miniature encyclopedia of
the HTML extensions available to WebTV-savvy sites. Other interesting
tidbits include the news that WebTV is looking to expand the repertoire of
the background noise that plays while silent pages display. The company
wants to add MIDI music to the currently implemented compositions of Thomas
Dolby. There are also plans to bring Usenet to WebTV in the near future.
Technologically interesting. <http://www.webtv.net/primetime/>
Traditional media continue to try to redefine themselves. The latest
attempt marries television powerhouse CNN with the database giant Oracle in
a new site that offers customized news. The technology is certainly
impressive, as is the clean graphic design, though functionally, the site
is no more innovative than other customized news sites. What really makes
or breaks such sites is content. The CNN organization essentially repeats
the same three stories all day long, and consequently does not offer much
depth here. For example, the World section limits itself to at most three
stories in each of its regional subsections. Depending on your perspective,
that's either great editorial filtering or looking at the world through the
wrong end of made-in-the-USA binoculars. But give them credit for trying:
the site is noticeably better then the main CNN site, and worthy of a look.
<http://customnews.cnn.com/cnews/pna_auth.welcome>
What has bouncing balls, women in short skirts, sweaty men, the occasional
patch of dampness, and strawberries with cream? No, not a group honeymoon
in Vegas, but the annual tennis pilgrimage to Wimbledon. In addition to the
official site (.org?), there's a cunning impersonation at Wimbledon.com. It
is not, we are cautioned in not-so-fine print, affilitated with the
official Wimbledon tournament, but is emphatically affiliated with Yahoo UK
and Ireland. Both sites look good. Finally, there's always the ESPN
SportsZone which has a whole subsection dedicated to tennis in their
inimitable "Action NOW!" style. It all starts June 23.
Official: <http://www.wimbledon.org/>
Unofficial: <http://www.wimbledon.com/>
ESPN: <http://ESPN.SportsZone.com/ten/>
CNet has just opened yet another site geared to Web developers. The usual
assortment of tips and tricks are really nothing special (e.g. how to use
CELLPADDING in tables), but the examples are quite well done and
informative. The 4.0 Browser Playground lets you explore new features
supported in the latest browsers (e.g. drop-down menus in Communicator). If
you check out the source text of the demos you'll note that this isn't HTML
anymore, it's heavy duty interface programming. There are also the
requisite reviews of Java development tools, tips on graphic design and
adding audio to your site, and a Java applet which flashes headlines at you
in irritatingly small font, all framed by those CNet trademark yellow
borders. <http://www.builder.com/>
HIGH TECH WOMEN IN THEIR OWN WORDS
The June issue of Hewlett-Packard's online publication, E-Business, takes a
great look at women in the online business. Four major features cover women
entrepreneurs and managers, online media stars, cyber-grrls, and HP's women
webmasters (some of us like the word "webmistresses" better - but then,
some of us are guys). Among the those featured: Aliza Sherman, founder of
Webgrrls and Cybergrrl; Ellen Pack, founder of Women's Wire; Soledad
O'Brien, host of MSNBC's "The Site"; Kim Polese, CEO of Marimba; and the HP
women whom you don't know, but should. Highly recommended reading and a
trippy techno cover graphic. <http://www.hp.com/Ebusiness/>
The Netdictionary is a useful tool for those who (a) are technical writers,
or (b) want to seem like they know techspeak so dare not ask "What's that
mean?" when computer engineers babble about Java beans and magic cookies.
You can look up not just technical but also cultural terminology. You can
view the pages in either Java or HTML.
<http://www.netdictionary.com/html/index.html>
OH, THOSE WACKY PIZZA DELIVERY DRIVERS!
Ever play tricks on a pizza delivery driver? Ever order again from the same store? You may wanna rethink that strategy. The <alt.pizza.delivery.drivers> newsgroup is a hangout that you'll want to visit at least once whether you've ever delivered pizza, you order pizza, or if you just like men (and women) in uniform. Not only will this newsgroup teach you the inner workings of the sanctum behind the counter, but you will at times be amazed at the attitudes displayed by drivers toward customers good and bad. Frankly, you may at times even be just completely grossed out.
Look, you know that origami is the Japanese art of paper folding, right?
Then we won't waste time making nice with a glowing review. We'll just say
that at Joseph Wu's wonderfully visual Origami Page you'll find a faux
Swiss army knife and tiny high-heeled shoes; wizards and lizards; centaurs
and gryphons; crabs and sea urchins; turtles and tarantulas; a
jaw-droppingly intricate dragon with scales; a Triceratops and a T. rex
skeleton devised from 21 one-inch pieces of foil; a fly less than a
half-inch long; a devil teased from the wrapper of a Reese's Peanut Butter
Cup miniature; astonishingly expressive faces; and links to the greatest
origami movie of them all, Blade Runner. <http://www.datt.co.jp/Origami/>
PUPPETS WITH LIVES OF THEIR OWN
There's no cutting edge technology, but these Japanese puppets, most of
them centuries old, make Web site design look like child's play.
Luxuriously attired, coiffed, and painted, these dolls cross a room to
serve tea, pick fruit, perform magic, even climb trees or sit on one
another's shoulders - all, like robots, independent of human manipulation.
One puppet, unclothed, reveals the whale tooth and wood clock-like
mechanisms that drive its action. Thorough descriptions credit the artist,
cite the style and period, and detail the mechanisms and action. The photos
are unfortunately static and we wish they'd included some sense of scale,
but there's more than enough description to feed your imagination.
<http://www.cjn.or.jp/karakuri/index.html>
This site offers an excellent opportunity to take a closer look at the
interesting art and life of Russian-born painter Romain de Tirtoff, also
known as Erte (a name he gave himself after the French pronunciation of his
initials). See how his distinctive flair for fashion, illustration and
sculpture emerged in the first quarter of the century and then reappeared
in the 1960s. A comprehensive collection of his works is available for
viewing. <http://www.ajarts.com/ajarts/erte.html>
QUARTZ PHOTOGRAPHY IN LIVING COLOR
Here you will find beautiful photographs of quartz crystals, some
displaying brilliant colors and others with subtle hues. There are
reflective spheres that appear like pictures of Earth from space to rugged,
mountain-like jagged spires. The photos come as thumbnails with the option
for viewing full sized images. The author gives hints on crystal
photography, and has also included some interesting black-and-white photos
of his non-profit photo trips to Tijuana, Mexico.
<http://users.deltanet.com/~daestar/>
JavaBeans just about take over this issue (see Software, below) as our
reviews cover: "Presenting JavaBeans"; "JavaScript How-To"; "JavaBeans
Developer's Reference"; and "How to Program JavaBeans". Believe us when we
say we can't wait for this danged coffee metaphor to meet its
altogether-too-tardy demise.
<http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/books/book.03.20.html>
Molson Breweries is quietly toasting a hip market segment with Can.Say, a
lifestyle Web zine written by male and female Canadians for young (most
likely) male and female Canadians. It's a collection of light, often
frothy, first-person op-ed pieces - confessions, reminiscence, conjecture,
advice - with attitude and panache. Some may well have begun as chitchat
with a bartender. Each major section is named after a deadly sin. A
favorite of ours, Lust, contains one of the most ambitious pieces of
sarcasm, "Why You Shouldn't Date an Actress". "My Dirty Little Victoria's
Secret" is amusing, too. The main menu of Can.Say, a floating window
generated by JavaScript, is a bit off the wall and might be hard to
navigate after a bottle or two of beer. The only graphic, apparently, is
the Can.Say logo. Everything else rides on innuendo and wit.
<http://www.molson.com/canadian/can.say/index.html>
ANTIMEDIA NOT REALLY ANTI-MEDIA
Antimedia is not really down on the Internet or the media in general, but
instead is a clean, well lighted site for brief and usually interesting
articles about life. You can even have the stories read to you via
Shockwave. However, their other mission is to offer services to fix the
"typical problems of countless Web sites which are technically
sophisticated but difficult to navigate, poorly organized, lacking
statement, and supplementing 'golly-gee-whiz' and graphic cliches for
substantive content." Yes! <http://antimedia.com/>
BookRadio offers up a slick site featuring a slew of interviews with
popular authors of fiction and non-fiction alike. If you're in love with
RealAudio, you'll love the site, as all interviews and reviews are
delivered via RA. The reviewers appear to be top notch (a few noted writers
among them) and the interviews in the Writers' Cafe by Danna Schaeffer are
on target. A Pick of the Literature section offers reviews and interviews
by subject, which makes browsing around comfortably entertaining. You've
got to love BookRadio's SF reviewer Tom Lombardo, who allows that William
Gibson "helped launch the genre of the cyberpunk novel... with 'Idoru', he
may have killed it." <http://www.bookradio.com/home/cover/html/cover.html>
AMA'S HEALTH AND MEDICINE BLOCKBUSTER
The premier medical site in the Americas if not the world, the Web site of
the American Medical Association (AMA) consists of several subsites, each
terrific. There's all the stuff for physicians here, of course - reports,
guidelines, a residency database, etc. - but what a lot there is for the
rest of us! You can use AMA Physician Select to find a doctor by name,
specialty, or location. An entire section discusses asthma. The latest
site-within-a-site here is AMA Health Insight, a health consumer's delight.
If you need info on adolescent or women's health, start here because
there's plenty, and - as you'd expect - it's excellent. General Health
features an elegant point-and-click atlas of human anatomy, nutritional
nuggets, and Healthy Gourmet, with new recipes every two weeks. No wonder
the site's been nominated for a Computerworld Smithsonian Award. Content is
king, without sacrificing ease of navigation or crisp graphics. Every page
seems as slick as a new scalpel. This site is a masterpiece you have to
explore even if - especially if - you get nervous just thinking about
aspirin or a toothbrush. <http://www.ama-assn.org/>
Red Ribbon Net, which promotes itself as the world's largest source of
information and research on HIV and AIDS, has added the text of the Daily
AIDS Summary from the Centers for Disease Control. These capsules deliver
highlights of news relating to HIV/AIDS and related diseases. Interesting,
depressing, compelling, the reports continue the work of singer/songwriter
Paul Jabara, who conceived of and distributed the first Red Ribbon and in
whose memory the Red Ribbon Foundation was established.
<http://www.redribbon.net/cdc/cdcdaily.htm>
THE SCIENCE BEHIND "THE X-FILES"
For those who spend the better part of "The X-Files" sneering, "Oh, come
on...", the Science Behind the X-Files cheerfully attempts to elucidate and
explain whatever thin science can be teased out of the show's episodes.
While a long way from covering every show, the reviews that are on hand
tend to be smoothly and cleverly written. The writers pick apart show
summaries for their occasionally arguable scientific content ("What's so
scientific about mud, you may ask....") and offer appropriate links to
other sites. Educational and entertaining - sort of a "My Dinner with Fox"
as penned by Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
<http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/9815/>
APACHE 1.2 WEB SERVER NOW AVAILABLE
Apache is the workhorse of Web servers, commanding an awesome 45% share of
all Web sites. You should upgrade to the new version "for both stability
and security reasons". Full information on what's new at the support site
and its many mirrors. <http://www.apache.org/>
JAVA AND BEANS DEVELOPMENT KITS: JDK 1.1.2, BDK 1.0
Java programmers will want to grab these latest development tools. The Java
Development Kit 1.1.2 (JDK) release fixes bugs, notably with some security
patches. The Beans Development Kit (BDK) is meant to act as a standard Java
Bean reference base for developers and includes examples of reusable source
code.
JDK: <http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.1/>
BDK: <http://java.sun.com/beans/bdk_download.html>
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