US SUPREME COURT: CDA AND OTHER OPINIONS
As expected, the US Supreme Court struck down the Communications Decency
Act (CDA), affirming a previous ruling that it unconstitutionally violates
free-speech rights protected by the First Amendment. The CDA had sought to
restrict indecent material on the Internet, though it was never enforced.
Furthermore, the court ruled that the Internet is not to be treated as a
broadcast medium, but rather afforded the full constitutional protections
that print enjoys. We want to take this opportunity to point you to the
text of this Supreme Court decision, along with others. You'll find that
the opinions are, perhaps surprisingly, more readable and full of common
sense than might be expected from a bunch of lawyers. Even the ideological
differences are grounded in genuinely held, finely argued positions. In a
refreshing change from the influence and power lust rampaging through the
halls of Congress, there are even occasional flashes of self restraint, as
the Justices explicitly avoid exercising or expanding their already awesome
power.
CDA: <http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-511.cpanel.html>
Other Decisions: <http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/>
The handover is imminent, so we looked around for relevant sites besides
the PBS page we featured in NSD 3.19. Other big media treatments include
Time's special issue and CNN's special online section featuring active
message boards. Two native sites also deserve a visit. Channel A is a hip
e-zine with content ranging from Chow Yun-Fat interviews to finding a job
to daily interactive polls and message boards. China's official Hong Kong
site is worth a peek at least for its visual design and a decent pictorial
history of the region. Finally, get your fill of the usual anarchy in the
<soc.culture.hongkong> newsgroup. That'll keep you plugged in.
Time: <http://www.pathfinder.com/time/hongkong/special/index.html>
CNN: <http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9706/hk97/>
ChannelA: <http://www.channela.com/hk97/index.html>
China: <http://www.hongkong.com/>
INDEPENDENCE DAY II: WE INVADE MARS
While millions of Americans will be choking down hot dogs and inadvertently
setting fire to their sisters with ill-advised fireworks (based on a true
story!), an intricate lump of technology and airbags will hopefully be
gauging its predicament on the Martian surface. Mars Pathfinder is
scheduled to land July 4 and disgorge a rover - essentially a high-tech
radio-controlled dune buggy - to roam the Martian surface. NASA has
organized a list of mirror sites covering the event, which really is a big
deal. You may even want to turn on a - gasp! - TV for this.
<http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/>
The NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) spacecraft kicked off a great
space week with an asteroid flyby. It whizzed within 1200 km of 253
Mathilde, a large chunk of rock way the heck out there. Interesting
features on the high resolution photos returned by the little robot
included a huge gash about 19 km deep - nearly one third its diameter. Over
500 more images should be released over the next week. Neat.
<http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/NEAR/Mathilde/>
MICROSOFT, MOZART, AND MEPHISTOPHELES
Where do you want to go today? Straight to Hell, apparently. Dave Gingerich
noted a recent Microsoft TV commercial: sublime choral music drifts through
the background as the unseen user surfs through the Internet and Microsoft
content using Internet Explorer. The commercial closes with the "Where do
you..." slogan and a final, furious blast of music. As it turns out, the
background music is Mozart's "Requiem". And the words to the music that
plays while the slogan comes onscreen are "confutatis maledictis, flammis
acribus addictis...", which translates as "when the damned are confounded,
and consigned to sharp flames...". Hope the upgrade to Purgatory isn't too
pricy. <http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~kcclaess/Requiem/requiem.html>
I AM THE VERY MODEL OF A HEROINE BARBARIAN
Gilbert and Sullivan productions try to honor the pair's fine political and
social satire by sprinkling the script with their own political and social
commentary. In the same vein, this site plays on the masters' wickedly
complex cadences and tongue-twisting lyrics and offers song parodies.
Fortunately, you don't have to marshal much breath control to enjoy these
droll adaptations. Cult TV and Internet insider subjects dominate, although
one lyricist strikes a sweet but serious note about living with HIV and
another adroitly mines the laugh-fest in doctoral studies. An
absolutely-not-to-be-missed variant on "I Am the Very Model of a Modern
Major-General" left us in stitches: an ode to the bountiful Xena, Warrior
Princess, Mistress of the Loopy Historical Timeline and Defender of the
Modern Idiom. <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~valkyrie/parody/>
THE WORST WEB PAGES EVER OR BRILLIANT SATIRE?
They're ugly. The writing is sophomoric, the graphics abysmal, the music as
irritating as spiders under the skin. Pages take days to load for no
apparent reason. And when they crash Netscape, you tend to be grateful. The
monstrous creation of one Hai Tran, an alleged high schooler from Bedford,
Mich., the pages are solely for those veteran, steel-willed netsurfers
capable of wading through a storm of psychotic pixels that present either
one of the world's worst Web sites or a grand and amusing satire of the Web
pages we weave. High five to Hai for this.
<http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~tntran/>
THE ULTIMATE WEB GAME FOR CELEBRITY FOLLOWERS
How about investing in Martha Stewart, Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Ellen
DeGeneres, Cindy Crawford, John Kennedy Jr., and Vendela? You can with
Rogue Market, a great mock-up of online trading services. Armed with
information from market, portfolio, and trade listings, as well as indices
such as "most active issues from the last trading day", you buy and sell
shares of celebrities - basketball players, artists, financial wizards, and
others often in the news. Register to get 10,000 free points (15,000 if you
fill out a second marketing screen), et voila! You have "direct access to
everything you need to start trading and profiting from the volatility of
our popular culture." At last visit, awards for top traders were a T-shirt
and hat, but the real reward is the fun, so go for it.
<http://www.roguemarket.com/>
Among the millions of personal pages on the Web, there's a lot of good
stuff to read or download. The hard part is finding it. Personal Web Pages
highlights personal sites through its monthly Personal Best section, which
(to our surprise, in view of the recent legal hubbub over this issue) uses
links to frame other sites within its own. You'll find a nice selection of
external pages here. Resource List, an archive of monthly "best" lists,
categorizes personal sites as Diaries, Revealers, Witnesses, Obsessives,
Free Spirits, or Ringmasters. Whether your page would conform to one of
those categories or not, Tip Central has good tips for those who build or
maintain personal Web pages. It's about time someone paid attention to the
little guy (and gal). <http://personalweb.miningco.com/>
Befuddled by the hardcore gangster slang found in the detective novels of
Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett? Ever pondered the meaning of "soup
job" (crack a safe with nitroglycerine), "Chicago overcoat" (coffin), or
"century" ($100)? This large Net dictionary unravels such sentences as "The
flim flammer jumped in the flivver and faded." (The swindler got in his
Ford and left.) With a bibliography indicating in which works the words
have been used, this site should soon have you talking like a natural.
<http://www.vex.net/~buff/slang.html>
Experienced netsurfers by now are completely used to - and bored by -
Internet indices. A few main ones (you yahoos know which they are) dominate
zillions of smaller ones. Presenting an alternative, 212.net has cast their
hat into the Net index ring with a site featuring just a hint of attitude.
The sites listed are grouped into several high-level categories, such as
"fresh" (new stuff), "practical" (Net stuff) and "intellectual" (zines, e-
or otherwise). The 212.net site, with its organized appearance and a
listing of some of the Net's most interesting sites, is definitely not the
worst thing to happen to the Net. Its almost snobby attitude and
pick-your-own soundtrack certainly make it original. You'll either love it
or hate it. <http://212.net/>
GOTTA LOVE SNICKERS, EUROPEAN-STYLE
Ah, the chocolate, the peanuts, the nougat, and the caramel. No, this isn't
an endorsement for the popular candy (which, by the way, we do like a lot).
It's just a review of a tasty Web site that leads us to the conclusion that
this candy, or at least the site's webmaster, is inherently cool. Somehow
this site manages to cover Snickers recipes, peanut trivia, and World Cup
Soccer in one fell swoop. Did you know that peanuts aren't nuts at all -
they're legumes? Fancy that. <http://www.euro.snickers.com/>
Tired? Bored? Angry? Certain that the universe is a cold inhospitable place
designed for the sole purpose of hounding you and yours out of existence?
Well, the CyberCheeze Humor site is a very good remedy for the existential
blahs that plague you at home and in the workplace. CyberCheeze
distinguishes itself as a humor archive in many ways, such as making
original cartoon art as well as any of the site's jokes available by
e-mail, so that instead of simply laughing yourself silly, you can also
harness the awesome power of the Internet to irritate your friends. Laugh
it up, netizen. <http://www.cybercheeze.com/>
Frustrated that universities and society are giving the grunge generation a
raw deal, the scurvy dogs at Jolly Roger have designed a site passionate to
reinstate the great books in college reading curricula and to inspire
intellectual and literary development and learning. Though liberally
sprinkled with "Ahoy there" and "Argrhrgrh, me fearless maties", it's a
clever, enthusiastic flagship of the "Grungeservative Renaissance" which
asks you to walk the plank if you are meek of mind. The 222 pearls of
wisdom were insightful ("Mediocrity lusts after administration positions"),
and the entire text is worthy of a look, if only to marvel at the fervor of
youth. <http://jollyroger.com/beaconway/jollyroger.html>
To the accompanying Stone Roses song exclaiming "the messiah is my sister",
this site declares the "obvious" conclusion, according to various passages
in the Bible, that God is in fact a woman. You'll be baffled (or not) by
conflicting evidence - Jesus was a woman because she/he had long hair in
pictures (what about the beard?), Judas Iscariot kissed her/him, and that
she/he avoided calling Mary "Mother". Also, while called the Son of God
(and therefore God is a woman), Jesus never actually claimed to be a son.
Go drown yourself in religious drama. This site certainly challenges
assumptions about the Bible and has a great little shot of transgender
animation. <http://members.aol.com/softcd/index.html>
WEBMASTER RESOURCES ON THE WEB
These resources are served up with a healthy side dish of many, many
reminders about the sponsor's link checker and site mapper product, but are
useful nonetheless. This site is a link junkie's heaven, with dozens of
text links to computer industry publications, trade shows, conferences and
resources for Webmasters. There are also links for ad brokers, localization
and translation services, marketing and business publications, and Web
training companies. Oh, did we mention the sponsor has a link checker and
site mapper product? <http://www.elsop.com/linkscan/>
TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR HITCHHIKING TALES
Three charity hitchhikes have been held to sponsor Children in Need, and
each has spawned some great hitchhiking stories. With almost minute by
minute descriptions, you can trace the disasters and adventures of young
Howell as he tries to make it as far from Manchester as possible within 24
hours, though sometimes the 24 hours stretch into days. Discover the
benefits (learning local gossip) and the pitfalls (getting stuck on a side
road) of hitchhiking and look at many pictures of travelers who wear the
same outfits and the same expressions of nonchalance day in and day out.
<http://www.hideaway.demon.co.uk/hitch/>
KNOWHERE'S INSIDER INFO IN THE BRITISH ISLES
The Knowhere Guide features snippets of information on more than 500 towns
in the British Isles. Standard information on spots include the best of
clubs, clothes, record stores, skateboard and bike shops... you get the
idea. Opinionated and streetwise, the tips come from Knowhere's own users.
Anyone can and is encouraged to post their own tips on the towns. Message
boards are available for each town, if you want to touch base with a local
or a recent visitor. All in all, a princely site for those who want
something more than the standard travel guide insight.
<http://www.knowhere.co.uk/>
If you're going abroad, check out Travel Document Systems (TDS) before you
go. You're bound to learn something. The main dish here is coverage of
entry and visa requirements for US citizens and permanent residents,
including embassy information and online visa application forms. TDS works
with the US Passport Agency and foreign embassies to cut red tape. This is
the place to visit if you're in a rush for a passport or passport renewal
or amendment. You'll also find a wealth of travel lore: maps, basic
geographic and demographic facts, cultural and economic background, health
advisories, and other easy-to-access information you might spend hours
looking up in almanacs and print guides in a library. Remember that report
you had to write in a hurry in seventh grade? You would have loved TDS. You
might still, in a bureaucratic pinch. <http://www.traveldocs.com/>
Was any industry ever more eager to embrace the Web than travel? Even if
you've already bookmarked travel megasites, you may want to bookmark
Travelfacts. Your itinerary: an online auction, feature stories, a
sweepstakes (keep those surfers surfing...), a destination of the month,
e-mail access to a local travel agent, chat rooms (sparsely populated when
we dropped by), links (nicely and lovingly done), a cruise guide, and the
main attraction, a travel guide that focuses on the Caribbean and Alaska.
The prose is pure brochure, but every destination has plenty of it - a
calendar of events, history, side trips, maps, sports, beaches and hotel,
dining, shopping, and activities guides and photos and beaches, beaches,
and hey, we want to go! <http://www.travelfacts.com/>
Designed with K-12 (Kindergarten through 12th grade) students and teachers
in mind, this nicely arranged site brings Asia closer to home, all the
while making the subject matter interesting and accessible. Kids can hook
up with an e-pal, engage in Asian-inspired activities, and keep in touch
with what's new in this fascinating part of the world.
<http://www.askasia.org/>
SIP AND SURF ACROSS THE PLANET
With more than 1,000 listings in 63 countries, the Internet Cafe Guide is
just the thing to keep digital road warriors at cruising speed. The site
offers address, phone number, and URL/e-mail addresses for many of the
Internet cafes listed and, on occasion, hourly costs for sitting, sipping,
and surfing. <http://www.netcafeguide.com/>
While there's no real substitute for a good hot pepper, you can swap dodgy
blood sausage for morcilla or replace recipe ingredients with low calorie,
inexpensive, easier to find substitutes. This is a fine resource for those
with a limited kitchen or wallet.
<http://www.northcoast.com/~alden/cookhome.html>
There's a lot of free stuff available on the Net, from T-shirts to mouse
pads to a turn-of-the-century New England barn. If you wanna grab some for
yourself, consult this page for links to and descriptions of gratis goods
out there for the taking. <http://members.tripod.com/~forfree/home.htm>
MEDIAZINE MAKES MULTIMEDIA MUNDANE
Anyone looking to understand the multimedia circus of the Net might
consider the Mediazine site and its technology news, software tutorials and
reviews, and project and resource management fundamentals.
<http://www.mediazine.com/>
Every once in a while, we see something so arcane that even though it's of
interest to maybe one or two of our hundreds of thousands of readers, we'll
feature it. Here ya go. <http://www.antiquelures.com/>
ONLINE SHOPPER'S GUIDE TO ONLINE MERCHANTS
The BizRate Guide lets you search for reliable and trustworthy merchants
rather than products. Featuring over 160 Internet sellers, the site lets
users search for merchants based on their own preferences.
<http://www.bizrate.com/>
ONLINE SHOPPER'S GUIDE TO OFFLINE PRODUCTS
OK, so you know who you'll buy from. But what to buy? Check this site out
for some helpful clues on buying the right product in any category. Until
Consumer Reports decides to leave its AOL/CompuServe cocoons, this will be
useful. <http://www.compare.net/>
DOCUMENT PUBLISHING WITH PURE JAVA
The promise of publishing large documents with original text formatting and
content intact in sizes more compact than the current PDF standard is being
touted by J.Stream in their J.Press Document format (JPD). Read notes about
it, view a not-quite-ready-for-prime-time sample and download a pre-alpha
version of their Macintosh WiredWrite composition application. They are
still working on the Windows version. It is certified as 100% pure Java in
its presentation output, and it seems like a cool idea.
<http://www.jstream.com/>
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