On the eve of the spacewalk to repair the Mir we thought you might
be interested in a couple of Mir sites. Maximov Online hosts a
good Mir background site which, aside from the latest news updates has
interesting information about the design of the station, research
conducted there, and its history. There's also a good links section
pointing to everything from the NASA Shuttle-Mir site to the Russian
Space Forces pages. One of the links is MIRNEWS, a set of reports produced
by Chris v.d. Berg out of the Netherlands. He gets his info "by monitoring
radio frequencies used by spacecraft, tracking ships and Russian broadcast
stations and other sources". If you're looking for Mir news unfiltered
by the usual media fog, this is your best source for detailed and
sometimes quite technical information. We highly recommend MIRNEWS to
all space affectionados.
Maximov Online: <http://www.maximov.com/Mir/mir2.html>
MIRNEWS: <http://infothuis.nl/muurkrant/mirmain.html>
ARTFEST BRINGS BEST OF PUBLIC RADIO TO YOUR COMPUTER
ArtFest just launched as an ongoing RealAudio art festival featuring
some of the best programs from public broadcasting stations in the
United States. The performances will include Mountain Stage with live
performances by the Counting Crows, Shawn Colvin, and Sheryl Crow,
Garrison Keillor discovering what it takes to be a real Minnesotan,
a glimpse into the Los Angeles theater scene with Lauren Bacall,
Jerry Stiller, Julie Kavner and Walter Matthau; jazz from clubs in
New Orleans, comedy from coast to coast, and a cowboy poetry festival
from Boulder, Colorado. The program runs through September 1.
<http://artsfest.org/>
NATIONAL ENQUIRER'S HIDDEN ONLINE SECRETS: SIZZLING LOVE ELVIS
That would be about the right headline to describe this venerable tabloid
which finally hit the web. The current issue has the requisite
Elvis stories, although "How Elvis Really Died" completely covers up
the well known UFO connection and "Lisa Marie to Wed Michael Again"
makes no mention of the mysterious chimp hair incident. Used to be
that celebrities had a love/hate relationship with the tabloid,
hating the coverage but knowing that if they were not in the Enquirer their
career was pretty much belly up at a maggot convention. Given the psychic
connections at the Enquirer (of course the Psychic Friends Network is running
a banner ad), this must mean that Dan "Grizzly Adams" Haggerty's career
is about to take off. He, along with model Emme, grace the rather wimpy
Celebrity Forum. Best features: Jenny Craig tells us that excessive
sweating can be unhealthy and tells you what you can do about fat knees.
We, of course, love/hate it all.
<http://www.nationalenquirer.com/>
STUDIES IN INTELLIGENCE: UFO SPOOKS 'N KOOKS
Once again a glazed-eye conspiracy theory - government cover-ups of UFO
activity - proves true, sort of. The semiannual 1997 edition of Studies
in Intelligence (declassified version) features an article entitled
"A Die-Hard Issue: CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-1990". It turns
out that the feds were indeed engaged in some serious fibbing when it
came to UFOs, but to cover up the existence of spycraft, not spacecraft.
According to the study, "over half of all UFO reports from the late
1950s through the 1960s were accounted for by manned reconnaissance
flights (namely the U-2) over the United States". The rest of the paper
dryly details more history, which, at times, reads like farce - CIA
operatives' valiant attempts to convince UFOlogists that the Agency has
nothing to hide only makes things worse. Why would anyone try so hard if
they didn't have anything to hide? For that matter, why go to the
trouble to publish an alleged history, eh? This is a CIA publication,
after all.
<http://www.odci.gov/csi/studies/97unclas/ufo.html>
PDQ BACH: IF IT AIN'T BAROQUE, DON'T FIX IT
Before Spinal Tap made its first comeback, about the time three
sopranos became the three tenors, music professor Peter Schickele
began channelling the spirit of baroque composer PDQ Bach
(1807-1742?). Ignored by his parents, the youngest Bach's professional
obscurity grew in direct proportion to his professional output. Thanks
to Prof. Schickele, though, PDQ Bach's music lives again, and we can
still thrill to his compositions for rapper and harpsichord, nose
flute, windbreaker, slide whistle and bicycle. We can delight in his
Minuet Militaire, Oedipus Tex, Pervertimento for bagpipes, and ballet
in one selfless act. You can't fully appreciate PDQ Bach outside a
concert hall, but this page still drew laughs, offering everything you
want to know (and more) about this Bach offspring, including a
mercifully brief biography, a complete and very droll listing of his
works, and a full discography.
<http://www.presser.com/pdqbach.html>
Here's an idea - don't talk ideas, but memes, those terribly au courant
little buggers that are to our minds and culture what genes are to our
biology. Ideas are good or bad - memes, on the other hand, mutate, infect
and survive. It's Darwin applied to culture and it all makes for an
interesting brew of, er, memes. Meme Central explains a bit about memes,
offers loads of meme links, and, more to the point, promotes "Viruses of
the Mind", a book on memes penned by Richard Brodie. Brodie used to swap
memes with a guy named Gates and authored MS Word. Might not be a bad
place to pick up an infection.
<http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm>
NO PLACE FOR A WOMAN: THE FAMILY IN FILM NOIR
Most discussion about film noir centers on cinematography or the
archetypal antiheroes who populate its frames. Less obviously
archetypal - but no less integral - in film noir are the women who
often drive the doomed action or offer succor to their world weary
men. Fans of noir will enjoy John Blaser's essays on the genre.
Entertaining and plausible throughout, the essays strike just the
right note - scholarly but not pretentious. Fronted by a lengthy piece
called "No place for a woman", Blaser's analysis revolves mostly
around the women and motivations in some of noir's most famous films.
His catalog of images isn't extensive, but it does include several
of those campily lurid movie posters that so often personified evil in
a smoldering female form or exemplified ambiguous morality in a
snap-brim fedora. Stick with the reading and occasional sound files to
come away with an appreciation of an often overlooked element in
film noir.
<http://www.obs.net/Noir/noir-toc.html>
Not cheerful but necessary, Flying Solo is a resource site for people
going through divorce and separation as well as how to handle the
issues of elderly or disabled parents. For a moderate membership fee,
you gain access to much more information, a biweekly newsletter and
discounts on their media library of books, tapes and videos.
<http://www.flyingsolo.com/>
AMBIT: THE AMBITIOUS DESIGNED WEB WAYSTATION
As useful, entertaining and varied as Ambit's content is - and it is
vastly useful, entertaining and varied - content is not the reason to
visit this site. Instead, you should go for the sheer joy and
inventiveness of Ambit's design; the content, featuring a hodge-podge
of material ranging from web search engines, online greeting cards,
weather sites, TV links, e-zines, and web cams, is just a huge bonus.
Make sure your speakers are turned on because Ambit's infectious and
entirely original spirit welcomes you right away courtesy of a plugin.
This toe-tapping Web location is the only one that has ever tempted us
to dance while online - truly. Designer Brickman is a Web professional,
and Ambit couldn't be a better testament to his skills. We bet he's great
fun to work with, too. [ As far as we know, our reviewer is not looking
for a job with Ambit. As far as we know... - AB ]
<http://www.ambitweb.com/>
INTERNET WRITING JOURNAL: THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, AND HOW OF WRITING
This nifty writers resource is devoted to info about and for publishers,
editors and writers. You get writers' guidelines, writing-related news,
access to message boards, and job listings, and articles on all types of
writing and editing. A recent edition of The Internet Writing Journal,
for example, included articles on topics ranging from e-mail's safety to
helping children become writers in the computer age, to the "secret of
writing a great play." Wannabe Shakespeares, click here.
<http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/>
The Artist Currently Known by Some Vaguely Egyptian-Looking Scribble
proves himself a nice guy. Back in 1996 The Artist Formerly Known by
Only One Name Sort of Like Madonna established Love 4 One Another, a
charitable foundation established to assist children and folks in need
of medical attention. The Love 4 One Another website offers some vague
details on the organization's work and philosophy, chat rooms for fans
and current news on The Artist Currently Known by Some Vaguely
Egyptian-Looking Scribble Whose True Pronunciation is DogBoy. The site
also offers a hybrid of numbers and words that is 2 irritating 4
either. That noted, the news reports on, what the heck, Prince, thou
are oft times hilarious and if Love 4 One Another spreads his wealth,
more power to him.
<http://love4oneanother.com/>
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN: TYPE V FOR VAMPIRE
Darkness on the Edge of Town is probably where vampires surf during the
day, while they rest in their coffins and browse the screens of their
eyelids. The introduction, which includes a boy-are-you-a-sucker laugh in
audio, is designed to turn away all but lovers of horror flicks. This site
is pretty much just a collection of links to other ghoulish sites, but if
you're convinced that you're genetically disposed to consumption of blood
or macabre activities, this bat haven's for you. At last visit, the
guestbook, "See Who's Been Drained," listed luminaries such as "The Dark
Prince Bloodmoon of the clan Bloodmoon," "A demon of the nite who is unseen
and un heard," "Azogoth creature of the night," "Vampire" (a feeble-minded
neophyte, perhaps?), "SLAYER," and "Legeia." We were a bit surprised to
find a banner ad for Pacific Coast Down Comforters & Pillows here, but
maybe teenagers with bucks to blow love this chillout burb. You never know,
do you? Poor souls who wander in by mistake can escape through links to
automotive, environmental, beer, wildlife, or other, mainstreamish pages.
<http://home.interhop.net/~ve3aqh/dark.htm>
THE ADVERTISING GRAVEYARD AWAITS MR. JENKINS
Seems like the most entertaining ads are the ones you never see. Adman
from the dark side Jeffrey Zeldman presents his version of the living
dead at the Advertising Graveyard, wherein axed ads are goulishly
displayed. Funny, tasteless, sometimes simply ludicrous, Zeldman's
collection leaves little to the imagination as to why some ad campaigns
make it and others die before their time. After services at the
Graveyard, pop over to Mr. Jenkins Last Martini, the web's "first
alcoholic haiku contest" honoring that cryptic, gin-swilling poster boy
Mr. Jenkins. We quote:
I remember gin
Juniper dreams floated high
How it made me hork.
<http://www.zeldman.com/ad.html>
Elvis himself speaks on his death, his life, his soul. Others speak on
his history, his mother, his performances. There's the Elvis Trivia
Game, the Elvis Daily Update (what Elvis did on this date in history),
and a RealAudio collection of Elvis' greatest songs. Despite 20 year
and counting since his death, Elvis shows no sign of slowing down.
<http://www.elvispresleyonline.com/>
GLOBAL GAMBLING GUIDE GETS GLANCED. AT.
Gambling.Com may well be the definitive site for gamblers. A banner on this
site proclaims it "The Global Gambling Guide." Casinos, cards, horse
racing, sports betting, lotteries, bingo, games, online betting, slots - it
seems to cover just about every aspect of financial risk-taking except real
estate and Wall Street. It even has its own currency, the ludo, for
interactive play. Winners and losers can take time out with classified ads
and contests, or rate other gambling sites. There are a wealth of linked
banner ads to whisk you away to new ventures. Of course, there's a mailing
list, too. Forums are in the works. The FAQ requests that you enter through
the home page rather than a bookmarked page "so that you can be allocated
Ludos and Votes by the computer." By George, a home page that could become
addictive!
<http://www.gambling.com/>
Well, gosh gee whiz, Gomer, how did the world live so long without the Hot
Dog Page, huh? You get to participate in the Best Hot Dogs in the World
Contest, and read the grease (er, uh, we mean dirt, no, make that "scoop")
on users' top-dog favorite hot dogs and restaurants. It's sorta useful,
sorta sarcastic, and a whole bunful of fun.
<http://www.xroads.com/~tcs/hotdog/hotdog.html>
Yum. If you're on a diet, don't go here. The Cookie Recipe Web site offers
a dangerously delicious variety of those sweet creations. From almond
squares to brownies to Chinese chews, through an enticing selection of
chocolate-enhanced goodies, to the temptation hiding in petit fours, toffee
bars, white-chocolate macademia bars, Chedder, Norweigan Yarlsburger,
White Stilton, Brie, Roquefort ... ooops, wrong sketch!. It's to die for
(just pretend you've never heard of fat grams and cholesterol levels).
<http://www.CookieRecipe.com/>
SONAR MAP: MELODY MEANS NOTHING, COFFE = APOCALYPSE
For those with a penchant for experimental music, acid green text with
lipstick red highlights might seem par for the course. The Sonar Map
e-zine devotes itself to such topics as "The Denial of Disco" and the
"Barbaric Nature of Free Improv Music". Least you think this site is
only about sound consider reading the non-caffinated musings of a refugee
from behind the espresso counter, "The More Coffee ... The Sooner the
Apocalypse". Somewhat more artistically interesting is the work of
Steve Smith, a stamp artist who subverts snail mail by decorating it with
artsy faux stamps next to the real ones. It's all quite earnest
and mildly diverting, good browsing while you're waiting for something
else to download.
<http://www.efn.org/~eleg_sci/sonarmap.html>
Who would have thought that an institution financed with tax dollars
could crank out an actual useful web site. As it happens the Las
Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority, funded by the steep 9% hotel
room sales tax, did just that. One of the best features is an
excellent searchable entertainment calendar, indispensable for looking up
contact information to book tickets ahead of time. There's a terse
accommodation guide with links to the individual hotel sites and an
equally terse gaming guide which throws a paragraph or two your way
about the casino games. A guide to upcoming tournaments is also available,
listing poker, blackjack and innumerable slot tournaments. More useful is
the listing of tours, parks, and attractions around Vegas, consisting
mostly of some spectacular wilderness areas and the amazing Hoover Dam.
Naturally there's also a restaurant guide, and even a section on weddings.
Good resource to plan your trip.
<http://www.lasvegas24hours.com/>
AN ALASKAN LIST THAT WON'T LEAVE YOU COLD
Alaskan.com has put together a really big list of resources about the
biggest state. You want mobile home repairs? They got it. A rock
climbing gym? Yup. Also addresses and phones for big game hunting
guides, boat charters, bed and breakfasts and more, many with pictures.
Plus pages of geographical, historical, and cultural data. There's even
a search engine to find specific info about each of hundreds of small
communities. If you have any questions about the far north, I'd start here.
Oh, yeah, they're also prominently sponsored by the legendary Poop Moose.
<http://www.alaskan.com/>
THE PROFESSIONAL CARTOONISTS INDEX
Daily updating cartoons from twenty seven top newspaper editorial
cartoonists. Lot's and lot's of cartoon links, cartooning news, and
editorial issues. Even a caption contest. A top notch site in general.
<http://www.cagle.com/>
DOLLHOUSE HOBBYISTS FIND A TINY HOME ON THE WEB
Homespun crafters always seem willing to share information and
resources. Dollhouse Central brings that generosity to the Web,
offering a clearinghouse of links and a growing archive of advice for
new and expert miniaturists. A miniature fabric shop is apparently the
first project in a new photo album, and its annotation is an amusing
illustration of thematic inventiveness.
<http://www.worldramp.net/~wandy/dollcent.htm>
GamesGrid Backgammon runs under Windows and connects to a Net server on
a PSINet backbone. It features customizable 3D boards, sound effects,
chat facilities for players and watchers, and an easy to use GUI.
It costs a steep $9.95/month though.
<http://www.cyberarts.com/>
TUTOR2000 MATCHES STUDENTS WITH TUTORS
Pretty simple premise. Choose your location, choose what you
want your kid to be tutored in, hit the button, and up comes a
list of names with resumes/credentials attached. Naturally, tutors
can also register here.
<http://www.tutor2000.com/>
STANDARD FOR WEB ROBOT GUIDENCE NEEDS YOUR INPUT
The Standard for Robot Guidance is a new project to address the
needs of web robots and needs of the sites they visit, finalizing
the existing draft standards into an RFC. Of interest to robot and
crawler writers. This will replace the informal Robot Exclusion spec.
<http://www.botspot.com/robotguidance/>
Bad Sea Monkey Poetry, Sea Monkey Hypnotism, the aquatic ape theory,
experiments with brine shrimp, The Sea Monkeys and their music, Sea
Monkey Wall O'Grief, Halloween Sea Monkeys, Puddles the Sea Monkey,
Sea Monkeys on Holiday ... need we go on?
<http://users.uniserve.com/~sbarclay/seamonk.htm>
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON WOMEN IN BYZANTIUM
Looks like an exhaustive list of primary and secondary historical
sources about women in Byzantium. For example: "The Correspondence of
Princess Irene Eulogia", "Ibn al-Jazzar on Women's Diseases and Their
Treatment", the vitae of women saints, "The Female Transvestite in
early Monasticism: the Origin and Development of a Motif", "La Femme
et le cheval du XIIeme siecles".
<http://www.wooster.edu/Art/wb.html>
NETSCAPE NETCASTER PUSH PRODUCT IN LATEST COMMUNICATOR
This software is Netscape's contribution to the Push wars, an implementation
of a push standard to enable your machine to grab web sites and store
them offline for later reading. Netcaster is now available as part of
Communicator 4.02 for Windows 95 and Windows NT users. There's an
FAQ and a link for developers who want to set up push channels.
<http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/netcaster.html>
If you're one of many Web developers and analysts who believe the future of
HTML, the markup language of the Web, is in trouble because of its
limitations, you might want to bookmark a reference site called XML, the
Extensible Markup Language. Under development by the World Wide Web
Consortium (the folks behind the growing movement from HTML 3.0 to the more
versatile version 4.0), XML is a less complex version of SGML (Standard
Generalized Markup Language), which is also the parent of HTML. (Love
development, love acronyms.) This site is likely to be seminal in the
infancy of XML. It has a solid selection of links to specifications, work
in progress, articles, seminars, document definition types (DTDs) for
chemical and mathematical markup, and external links to XML documentation
at Microsoft and elsewhere. Long-range Web planners will want to start here.
<http://www.jtauber.com/xml/>
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