| The Pentagon and the Hackers |
| The Shoot and the Sheriff |
| Grandma Harris |
| <Body> Art </Body> |
| The Comic Book Biz |
| Arabs View Their World |
| It's Music to Our Ears |
| Re-entering the Silent Universe |
| Sunspot over West Virginia |
| PDFers Unite |
| Pro Writers Pro Environment |
| Self-Help with a Bit of Humor |
| Water on the Moon |
| New Europa Images from Galileo |
| Search NASA's Image Databases |
| San Diego/Tijuana Demographics |
| Graphing Linear Equations |
| Breaking Medical Info |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
BREAKING SURF
Domain Registration Fees Going Down
Network Solutions has just announced that it will eliminate the $15 per year Intellectual Infrastructure Fund fee which is currently part of the domain name registration payment. The change will be effective April 1. The IIF has been the subject of a complex lawsuit which alleges that it is an unconstitutional tax, and the funds collected to date have been frozen by a judge in that case. The legal firm which filed the lawsuit has a press release which explains the issues. Bottom line: starting April 1 it will now only cost $35 per year to register a domain.NSI PR: http://www.netsol.com/news/pr_19980316.html
Lawsuit: http://www.bode.com/nsi/index.html
Vice President Gore Proposes Orbiting Earth-Cam
Is it truly possible for a government representative to come up with a cool idea? Wonder of wonders, that appears to be the case with this proposal from Al Gore. The VP wants NASA to design, build, and operate a satellite that will make available on the Internet a continually updated live image of Earth. The satellite, called Triana, would deliver high definition images of the sunlit side of our planet. You could consider this to be the first example of government sponsored space art. The press release has a few more details. Note that this URL may change since the White House has a very web-unfriendly archival and search system for their press releases.http://library.whitehouse.gov/ThisWeek.cgi?type=p&date=3&briefing=0
Boardwatch Modem Study: Important Implications for Your Connection
It appears that modems based on US Robotics' x2 56-kbps technology have better connect rates and higher throughput then the rival Rockwell K56flex models. Furthermore, this advantage should last beyond the adaptation of the new v.90 56-kbps standard. That's the conclusion from a just published study by Boardwatch magazine. The analysis covers data from 140,000 calls to 89 ISPs and 445 POPs. Jack Rickard, the publisher of Boardwatch, wrote up the results in his inimitable and entertaining style. Predictably, Rockwell went into major damage control mode and reportedly has already sent a "Hey, you can't do that!" letter to Boardwatch complaining about the study setup. Excellent reading if you're interested in modem history,present, and future. http://www.boardwatch.com/mag/98/mar/bwm24.html
Draft of Netscape Navigator Source Code Public License Available
Netscape has posted a draft of the source code license for its Navigator browser. The license breaks new legal ground concerning code contributed by third parties to be later redistributed by Netscape. In addition to the proposed license text, the site also answers FAQs about why the license looks the way it does, and a variety of other documents dealing with the project. You can also send feedback about the license.Site: http://www.mozilla.org/
License: http://www.mozilla.org/NPL/
CERT Advisory on Windows NT Denial of Service Attacks
We've previously reported on the denial of service programs circulating on the Net called Bonk, NewTear, and Boink. In the wake of widespread attacks exploiting the hack last week, possibly tied to the Pentagon hacking case (see below), CERT has finally gotten around to issuing an advisory about the problem. A patch for the problem has been available for some time, and it is a foolish sysadmin indeed who has not installed it.Advisory: ftp://ftp.cert.org/pub/cert_summaries/CS-98.02
Patch: http://www.microsoft.com/security/newtear2.htm
Appraisal of Technologies of Political Control
This January report was prepared for the European Parliament specifically to "provide Members of the European Parliament with a guide to recent advances in the technology of political control". What we have here is no less then a blueprint for Big Brother, the first time a publicly available document has neatly laid out the technologies and techniques which are available to a modern state for the control of its citizens. We can't even begin to debate the implications of this document in the space we have available, so we'll just note that whatever your ideology, you can rest assured that unless steps are taken to curb the power of your state, some or all of these methods will eventually be used against you and your descendants. If nothing else, educate yourself by reading either copy of this document.http://www.telepolis.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/te/1393/anchor1.html
http://jya.com/stoa-atpc.htm
DES Challenge II: 56-Bit Code Cracked Again
Once again a gaggle of computers hooked up to the Net has cracked a 56-bit DES code. It took only 39 days to crack the code, part of the RSA Data Security DES Challenge II crypto contest. That's less then half the 90 days it took to decode DES Challenge I last year. The distributed.net team had 22,000 participants throughout the world, linking together over 50,000 CPUs to search through 72 quadrillion possible key combinations. Their peak search rate was 26 trillion keys per second, which could probably be improved upon with specialized (read intelligence agency) hardware.Press release: http://www.rsa.com/pressbox/html/980226.html
Distributed: http://www.distributed.net/
EFF Awards for Torvalds, Stallman, and Simons
The Electronic Frontier Foundation announced three recipients of its Pioneer Awards. Linus Torvalds is the driving force behind Linux, the beloved public domain Unix system. Richard Stallman created the GNU project, responsible for loads of fantastically useful public domain software tools. Barbara Simons received her award for her work on technology policy issues.http://www.eff.org/promo/pioneer.html
ONLINE CULTURE
At the end of February, US government computers were subject to what officials called "systematic and organized" cracking attacks. Since then, the story has taken a number of wonderfully melodramatic turns. The twists include an FBI raid of a couple of high school hackers, massive denial of service attacks against Windows NT machines, a dyslexic Israeli hacker called Analyzer, clandestine interviews on IRC, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories (prominent home of hush-hush nuclear research), great quotes ("Power, dude, you know, power"), and White House reports showing that security breaches have gone up in the last year and asking for $64 million to create a National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC). The tangled story is unwoven in an excellent set of articles by James Glave of Wired News. Here are the stories in chronological order.http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/10666.html
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/10689.html
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/10713.html
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/10730.html
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/10754.html
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/10776.html
Study: http://www.pccip.gov/report_index.html
NIPC: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,19546,00.html
Once upon a time, the mayor, who is also the deputy sheriff, of Snow Hill, Md. authorized a photo shoot with his squad car as prop. The shoot involved comely young ladies in alluring states of undress, and a nice local couple posted the pics on their adult Web site. Some local teens surfing the Web in search of anatomical amusement recognized the car and were sticken - not blind, one hopes - with the heavy shovel of irony. They made public the info and the mayor/deputy wound up being recalled. The local Shore Journal has a nice editorial. As a sideline, read the amusing battle for the scoop on the story. With some effort (you have to pass a quiz to prove you're an adult) you can even follow the links to see the pictures.
The Scandal: http://www.shorejournal.com/9712/cfp1214a.html
Scoop Wars: http://www.shorejournal.com/9801/cfp1225a.html
ART ONLINE
At 80, Anne Eldridge Harris doesn't have much time for technophobes. To honor her own fierce independence, the memory of her late husband, and the spirit they taught their children, she has embraced computers and the Internet like few people of any age. Always an artist, she's set aside traditional media and launched an avocation in digital art. "I find my 'art studio in a box' the perfect answer for energy-sparing creativity, and Art on the Net a delightful connection to other artists.... With Fauve-Matisse software, using the mouse as a brush, I am experimenting daily and the possibilities blow my mind." A very short story or evocative quote accompanies each painting, every one an echo of her childhood or a contemplation of aging with grace. Prints of her works are modestly priced, and each includes a copy of the story, the memory, the sensation that inspired her to sit down to create at her keyboard and monitor. Cataracts, diabetes, and HTML haven't stopped this woman yet. We hope she never quits.http://www.art.net/Studios/Visual/Anne/home.htm
You expect a tattoo company's Web site to look like it sprung up next to a biker bar, sort of dingy and smoky, hanging out in the darker recesses of the Internet, but Temptu is a non-traditional tattoo company whose Web site is definitely something out of the ordinary. The layout is exquisite; it highlights the fact that they've served an impressive spectrum of clients from Bruce Willis to Naomi Campbell. Surprised that Campbell would damage her trade with scars from needles? Well, Temptu involves no needles. It's a bodypainting system, designed to look like the real thing. You can view the product line or indulge the creators of the page by reading the subtle ad to try to get you to set up shop.
http://www.temptu.com/
BOOKS & E-ZINES
Tony Isabella knows the comic book industry. As an editor of Marvel Comics and a writer for DC Comics and other comic book publishing houses, Isabella has built up knowledge of comic book writing, editing, and publishing that few can equal. His writing on the business and characters of comics have appeared as weekly columns in the Comics Buyer's Guide, which, as any true comic collector will say, is a must for any serious collector. Now, these same columns along with other insights can be found at Tony's Online Tips. Additionally, Tony also accepts submissions from would-be comic book writers for review and commentary, so sharpen up those pencils and have your work reviewed by a real comic book pro.http://www.wfcomics.com/tony/
Despite decades of media coverage, the elements and extensive histories that clash to produce Middle East tensions are only faintly understood in most quarters. There's even less understanding of the factionalism and ideology that fragments the Arab world, much of it inflamed by the past century's cynical colonial manipulations. Arab View presents a collection of editorials by several Arab writers. You think you know what they'll say, do you? Think again. These are thoughtful pieces revealing sentiments and perceptions generally marginalized by most news coverage and political high-handing. Political biases may color the commentary, but who among us isn't the product and victim of our own bias? Take a peek. Go back often. The latest Gulf crisis still looms, receiving the airing it deserves.
http://www.arab.net/arabview/
Cosmik Debris is far out, man. This music mania mag is so hip to counter-culture, yet determined to adhere to the notion of covering every element of the music sphere that it's all over the place. Example: The February issue gives you interviews with "Own and Joey Keithley (DOA), plus articles on former Pixie Frank Black and the finals of the Jimi Hendrix festival and guitar competition." On the same page, the editors offer a wide range of music (you need RealAudio or RealPlayer) in which "genres smash together in total anarchy...Hey, we'd even segue Sabbath into Sinatra." Crank up the volume.
http://www.serv.net/cosmikdebris/
Re-entering the Silent Universe
The Silent Universe is an online work of science fiction wherein the author has created a vision of a future where greater understanding and mastery of the basic forces of nature have allowed humanity to venture far beyond the confines of the solar system. The site contains some fantastic digital illustrations of futuristic megaplexes, alien planets, and mysterious artifacts, teamed with an interesting narrative. We covered the original Silent Universe back in NSD 2.27, but this update is worth covering.http://otomo.simplenet.com/SU/
No, not really. The sunspot we're actually talking about is a Morgantown, W.Va. community information Web site. The Sunspot site is a series of cool news and entertainment pages, covering everything from restaurants to artworks by local artists to when the band Angel Patrol is next playing at Jay's Daily Grind. Updated on a weekly basis, the site also encourages people from the community to become more actively involved by making use of the Sunspot to advertise upcoming events. Set aside some time to surf the entertaining texts behind the Writing Gallery link.
http://www.thesunspot.com/
If creating Acrobat PDF files is on your to-do list, then Emerge's Acrobat PDF Newsletter can help. Called Extra, this newsletter offers updates on what's happening in the world of Adobe Acrobat, as well as other topics that concern PDF documents. The links on the home page are excellent; they're divided into products, resources, and so forth. The Resources section, for example, links you to forums. If you have a question like "Why won't Acrobat Distiller work?", one of the forums may have an answer. Guess what format the e-zine comes in? Wrong.
http://emerge.pdfzone.com/resources/extra/index.html
Earth Times is a paper with a conscience, but that doesn't necessarily make it all precious and boring. From political instability in India to investigation into a cluster of leukemia cases in Woburn, Mass., this online version of the paper makes your ordinary daily rag look embarrassingly overcensored. Human rights, Web reviews, columnists with opinions to burn, and social issues are discussed in depth by people who know their stuff.
http://www.earthtimes.org/
Ever had a little crisis? Felt perhaps you need to sit on a sharp object in order to get where you always dreamt in life? Mind Magic helps to overcome issues of low self esteem and lack of motivation while trying not to be all wafty and spiritual. You can pay for private counselling (three questions answered for $25) or just read the inspirational messages. Yet it's not as goopy and commercial as that last sentence might make it seem. If it's your kind of thing, you could well come away all refreshed.
http://www.mind-magic.com/
SURFING SCIENCE
Lunar Prospector's discovery of water signatures on the Moon has generated the expected hype about colonies and habitats. Unfortunately, the picture is not quite so sanguine since the water is most likely locked up in the lunar regolith with concentrations down below the 1% range. The cost of extracting water from such low concentrations could exceed the cost of getting water to the Moon from some other source. Wild speculation, while fun, is not nearly as interesting as the real science behind the discovery, nicely written up at the site.http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/
New Europa Images from Galileo
NASA has posted the latest set of Europa images from Galileo's extended mission to Jupiter's moon. The images include many high resolution photos of fractured ice features, as well as topographical data on one of the moon's larger craters, called Pwyll.http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/
Many of NASA's photo databases are open to the public, but how to find that perfect picture of Jupiter or Alaska among many thousands of pictures online? It's easier, now, with the advent of NASA Image Exchange (NIX), which searches nine NASA databases (listed in "Options") with over 300,000 images. Our keyword search on "Jupiter" produced 75 hits, each with a thumbnail linked to a full-size color photo. If you prefer, you can browse by category (early missions, deep space studies, or wind tunnels, e.g.). One favorite image we discovered is "an artist's depiction of a Hyper-X research vehicle under scramjet power in free-flight following separation from its booster rocket" in the "New Images" section. This site combines the best of search engines and search directories. Odds are, your tax dollars help NIX databases to grow in size and number, so feel free to cruise here often for a visual vacation.
http://nix.nasa.gov/
San Diego/Tijuana Demographics
If you're thinking about moving to San Diego or Tijuana, have we got a link for you! The San Diego/Tijuana Interactive Atlas is one cool Web site. You get demographics and housing stats which you can tailor for your own needs. Created by the San Diego Association of Governments, the Web site includes helpful user notes and links to sites with similarly useful info. Way back when we first heard of the Web, this is what we visualized. Nice job, govs.http://192.82.118.135/sdtij/intro.html
Unless mathematics thrills you, you might want to take a Tylenol before you try to understand this mathematically challenging Web site. Tim O'Brien created the Graphing Linear Equations site as credit toward a masters degree in mathematics. It's meant to help Algebra 1 students comprehend the intricacies of graphing linear equations, and is used by teachers and pupils for that purpose. There are also links to puzzles, a help desk, and more. We all have our own idea of fun.
http://www.bremenbraves.com/algebra/
Medical Breakthroughs designed its low-key news site for laypeople. It highlights main points of academic research reported in medical journals, including video clips in some instances, and offers personal and family health guidance along the way. Recently, it covered atrial septal defect (a hole in the heart), secondhand smoke, gum surgery, osteoporosis, and body piercing. News flashes and features give you background and updates on hormones, drugs, and other health topics. Buttons in the archives indicate the major categories you'll find here - women's health, diabetes, fertility, plastic surgery, and so on. Like the cutting edge? You can subscribe for free to the "First-to-Know Bulletin" and visit "Consultation Room," a discussion area with intriguing topics such as "Supertwins", "Women in Athletic Careers", and "Long Distance Love". No appointment necessary. Amateur Astronomical Club The Calumet Astronomical Society consists of members from northwest Indiana and the Chicago region. A great site for night prowlers and those who are always looking up, their Astro links page contains a list of links to observatories and educational institutions, image archives, amateur and club pages, equipment vendors and others. They also feature monthly hints for amateur astronomers and the Constellation of the Month. Locals should check out the public outings, the next on March 27-29, Orion and the Stars of Spring.
http://www.ivanhoe.com/
http://casonline.org/