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BREAKING SURF
FBI Site Denial-of-Service Attacks Affect Commercial Sites
The successful attacks launched last week against the FBI Web site after the agency raided hackers had an impact far beyond what the attackers may have intended. MSNBC covered the story well, and Wired followed up: after the raids, parties unknown launched a huge denial-of-service attack against the FBI and other government sites and cracked and defaced numerous Web sites. However, the media missed a major angle to this story. The nature of denial-of-service attacks, massive numbers of accesses to the target site, not only successfully forced the FBI Web site offline but affected the IBM network which hosts it. As a result, major commercial Web sites also hosted by IBM were faced with dismal to nonexistent performance during the better part of the day as the attack brought the network to its knees - and for these sites, every minute of downtime means thousands of dollars in lost revenue. IBM and other major backbones only contained the attack by filtering and diverted pockets destined for the FBI. At press time, the FBI site was still down. Moral: even in cyberspace it matters who your neighbors are. If your ISP hosts high-profile hacker targets, your site can easily be caught up in the carnage. If you're quiet, you can hear the lawyers stampeding to renegotiate hosting contracts.MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/news/273819.asp
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/19955.html
The legendary Nelson Mandela steps down as President and his handpicked successor Thabo Mbeki takes the reigns. This is a very important election, already a success in that nobody got killed. Still, South Africa has huge problems, from crime to health crisis to conflict between ethnic groups that verges on civil war. Will the country survive as a Western democracy (and don't nobody write to say it's really a republic, OK?) or go the way of Russian robber-baron capitalism or Central African chaos? Come back in a couple of generations to find out. The South African newspaper Daily Mail and Guardian (DM&G) has the best coverage of events in that country. Check out their profile of the new President Mbeki. The always fascinating Frontline has an excellent online feature on Nelson Mandela, a companion to its recent TV program "The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela".
DM&G: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/
Profile: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/99jun1/1jun-mbeki.html
Mandela: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/
The Cox Report on Chinese Spying
In political circles, the Cox report is old news - it was issued in January and made the rounds in Washington months ago. An unclassified version of the report saw daylight last week and immediately unleashed a flurry of silly political posturing but by press time, the issue is pretty much dead in the media. Most sensible people understand that this was just the international equivalent of boys will be boys - everybody spies on everybody else, so expel some diplomats already, tighten security, and get on with life. Frankly, in the post-Cold War world, the fact that China can make a better A-bomb is less damaging than its ability to devalue its currency and plunge Asia into an economic dark age. Nevertheless, the report makes for entertaining reading and is available online in several venues. Yahoo offers a good summary of the media frenzy including multiple links to the report itself.Report: http://hillsource.house.gov/CoxReport/report/welcome2.html
Yahoo: http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/US/China_Spying/
Anonymous Servers Not So Anonymous with Java/JavaScript Enabled
It turns out it's pretty easy to trick the various anonymous Web browsing services to reveal your IP address - and thus your identity - if your browser has Java or JavaScript turned on. A posting on BugTraq shows how this can be done. Two of the anon systems, Crowds and Onion, are less susceptible to this problem. Read the problem description and check out the links to several of the anonymous Web servers below. As long as we're talking about anonymity, we also found this excellent technical paper on how to protect your privacy on Unix. Essential reading for Unix users.The Problem: http://www.geek-girl.com/bugtraq/1999_2/0129.html
Anonymizer: http://www.anonymizer.com
Bell Labs: http://www.bell-labs.com/project/lpwa
Naval Research Laboratory: http://www.onion-router.net
Aixs: http://aixs.net/aixs/
Crowds: http://www.research.att.com/projects/crowds
Onion: http://www.onion-router.net/
Anonymizing Unix: http://www.infowar.co.uk/thc/files/thc/anonymous-unix.html
A Second Suit While Microsoft Pants
While the US Justice Department tussles with Microsoft over anti-competitive practices in the trial you all know about, the software behemoth faces a lesser-known civil suit alleging similar tactics in the operating system race that raged during the late 1980s and early 1990s. This highly readable legal document traces the history of a war Microsoft allegedly waged to crush the DR-DOS of rival Digital Research - now owned by Caldera, which has brought the suit - as Microsoft sought to solidify its operating system preeminence. Excerpting e-mails sent among Microsoft execs to substantiate many of their charges, the brief alleges the Microsoft crew spread rumors about bugs in DR-DOS, announced false software updates to freeze consumer demand (the vaporware ploy), implemented exclusionary licensing practices, and eventually integrated Windows and MS-DOS to cut off competition. A jury trial is scheduled to begin January 17, 2000.Brief: http://www.calderathin.com/fullstory/factstat.html
Lawsuit: http://www.calderathin.com/lawsuit/index.html
First Entire Legit Album from Big-Name Band Available for Download
That's a lot of qualifiers up there.... Entire albums have been posted online before, but most were pirated. This is a genuine you-pays-your-money, you-downloads-your-music effort from Public Enemy, the big-name rap group that must be quite used to being in the news. Their newest album There's a Poison Going On can be had in MP3 or a2b format for $8 and 48 MB of drive space. Record companies tremble in fear when they see this kind of stuff. Previews of the songs are also available if you're not sure you want to spend the download time.http://www.atomicpop.com/atomicpopmusic/PEdownloads.html
SURFING SITES
Its clean layout, strong writing, and unique niche market combine with a sharp wit to make Ship of Fools quite possibly the best GeoCities site we've seen. Consider it a sardonic take on the things that make you go "hmm" if you're a Christian - perhaps more so if you're not. The site looks at the definition of Christianity today in light of such activity as sites that claim that "homosexuals are wicked" and Jerry Falwell's Tinky Winky fiasco. You've heard of Mystery Shoppers? Try the Mystery Worshipper column, which runs down the vital facts about local (mostly UK) parishes from the comfort of the pews to the aroma of the after-service coffee. Although the humor often borders on irreverence, the passion of the staffers reveals the publication's true cybermissionary bent. They're even taking their show on the road, presumably to teach congregations how to fish for young Christians not easily caught in the widely-cast nets of the What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) marketing blitz.Ship: http://www.geocities.com/~ship-of-fools/
WWJD: http://www.wwjd.com/
Forgive Me, Digital Priest, for I Have Sinned
It has been over 1,800 days since my last confession. I have committed the sin of nostalgic voyeurism. Many were the nights back in my undergraduate days when I would come to you, my beloved Virtual Confession Booth, with my copy of Mosaic to confess that I had taken the last cup of coffee and not made a new pot. I must admit I wept today to discover that you no longer existed. But there is hope. Your archives still remain and thus the memory of you will never fade. Digital Priest: Do not worry, all shall be forgiven. But to be absolved you must do the following penance: use your modem at no higher than 300 bps for one week and read one entire 25 MB or so Scroll of Sins and rank each entry. There are a dozen scrolls, and you have to figure out the number system by yourself, following these clues:Scroll 1: http://anther.learning.cs.cmu.edu/sinscroll.html
Scroll 2: http://anther.learning.cs.cmu.edu/sinscroll2.html
Radio shows of the past still evoke warm memories in many people, and back in 1935 one show was an all-time favorite in America - the domestic trials and tribulations of Fibber McGee and Molly, which ran until 1959. This Web site has collected enough show logs, scripts, stories and photographs to please the most die-hard fan. If you're too young to remember them, try downloading the MP3 files, each of which contains a complete show. Surprisingly, after so long the humor is still fresh, the characters still real and the music still highly enjoyable. Incidentally, check out the excellent graphics on the site, which set the tone of the era and look just beautiful.
http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/agirard/fibber/79.htm
The Medieval era, with its geographic centers of power losing control of their peripheries, its turbulent social classes, its multiplying heresies, and its obsession with vast stacks of almost incomprehensible documentation, seems tailor-made for the Web. The Medieval English Towns site, concentrating on the boroughs of East Anglia as they were hundreds of years ago, tries to impose some order on the heterogeneous documentary survivals of that period. It contains an excellent glossary of terms, documents from various towns, and some overall explanatory material that wrestles with the various groups contending for power and status. Images are well-chosen, and the site loads quickly.
http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/towns.html
They were so elegant, so perfect, so clever, those slide rules of yore. Made of plastic, of steel, of bamboo, they slyly modeled mathematical functions like logarithms and sines in fine-ruled reality, so that a few flicks of a thumb could perform deft calculations. And using them was an art: lost now, alas, along with reading Incan quipu and flint knapping. The Oughtred Society, named for the 17th century inventor of the slide rule, does not want that art completely forgotten. At the Slide Rule Trading Post, you can manipulate a functional Java slide rule and cruise a celebration of Soviet calculators. The site is sparse just now but promises a future for the slide rule fully as magnificent as its past.
http://www.comcen.com.au/~adavie/slide/
The people at the Scuola Media di Calizzano (which we presume is an Italian new media student farm) like steam. They also know a great deal about it: how steam energy was first harnessed, how the Industrial Revolution in England was powered by hot water, and how all the famous engines worked. They've gathered their knowledge into a comprehensive and well thought out Web site, with some really good animations to illustrate how things work. The usual tedious GeoCities pop-up windows have to be regularly swatted, but it is worth persevering to discover some of the gems hidden in this unusual Web site.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6914/index.htm
Everything but the Opera Glass
If you think Lalique is one of the Teletubbies, the Glass Encyclopedia may not be the spot for you. Then again, it serves to educate the masses on collectible glass, from the ever-popular depression glass to the ornately cut crystal stemware every couple signs up for in their wedding registry. Along with a little history, each listing occasionally includes a list of recent auction prices, a handy guide for new collectors. Be aware that the "helpful references" offered on each page are basically just Amazon.com partnership links, but at least the page designers have singled out some of the best books on each topic.http://www.encyclopedia.netnz.com/
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Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan
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Noir
No Exit
Rio MP3 PlayerPersonal Heroes of the 20th Century
Want to tell the world about a family member who made a big difference in your life? Newsweek.com invites you to submit a 500-word essay and JPEG for "My Turn Family Heroes", a special section of its online magazine. Newsweek.com will give your hero a customized Web page in an online community. The best essays submitted by November 28 will appear in the December issue of the print Newsweek. Starting June 9, the Web site will feature a new "Spotlight Hero" every week. Recently, the Archive featured two heroes, Grandma Harriet and Godfather Michael, praised, respectively, by a 27-year-old grandson and 10-year-old goddaughter. Who says the Net doesn't promote family values?http://myturn.newsweek.com/
What Do You Want to Say to the Future?
The Millennial Archive provides the people of the future with an "uncensored window" into our lives, to reveal our attitudes, dreams, and thoughts of the present. Weave your story into "this tapestry of humanity" by sending in family histories, photos, and as much personal info as you'd care to divulge. This great idea is weakened only by some of the pompous and wearied voices providing their "visions" of the world. Considering this is an "uncensored" view, we can't expect Plato, but we could hope for proper spelling. One of many enthusiastic idealists calls each of us to "to make a new freiend bafore this year is over" (sic), advice almost as good as perceptive Philip's, which merely asks people not to eat yellow snow.http://www.millennial-archive.com/
Much amusement can be extracted from the discomfiture of others. Prank phone calls, complaining of hamsters stuck in vacuum cleaners or pretending to be smoking a joint while talking, are a popular way of raising a laugh while making somebody else look stupid. The Arnett Tapes are prime examples of this kind of humor, collected into Real Audio files which download and play quickly. If you really want to, you can buy the CD. Warning: the Enter button on the top of the page is an ad banner and has nothing to do with the site.
http://members.tripod.com/~thearnetttapes/grid1.htm
We're always looking for new ways to search the Net. Web Search Reference is a gateway to many familiar resources such as AnyWho, GTE Superpages, Big Yellow, 411Locate, and Yahoo that helps you narrow your search in advance. Choose a country, type of information (phone number, address, and e-mail address), or both, and this site returns a list of appropriate search engines. Scroll down, and you'll find the "Reverse Search" feature, which lets you input a phone number, address, fax number, or e-mail address. Simplicity of design belies its potential usefulness.
http://www.searchreference.com/
The new Oneview service offers online bookmark indexing in a clear, easy-to-use format. Loading quickly and full of help screens and tips, the user screen can be organized into folders much faster than Internet Explorer's system, for example. So what, you say? What makes Oneview different from other online bookmark repositories is its community aspect. Users can make links public, so everyone on the service can access them through the search engine. Oneview also supplies news, updates, and useful links to the users, and plans more features. Oneview is a highly efficient way to manage your Web browsing, with portals in all major languages.
http://www.oneview.com/
We recently profiled eFax.com (NSD 5.11), which allows users to receive faxes by e-mail for free, but which lacks a provision for sending faxes. Fortunately, a savvy reader led us to Fax4Free.com, a site that allows one to send faxes either by composing or pasting text online or by uploading a pre-existing Windows MS Word document. Faxes can be sent anywhere in the US for free. An online address book and broadcast capacity flesh out this advertising-based service. The site also promotes CallWave, a complementary fax reception system that, like eFax.com, issues users a phone number and delivers faxes as images.
http://www.fax4free.com/
ONLINE TRAVEL
Did you know "cahoochy" is an old-fashioned word for rubber in Scottish? (No doubt related to the French "caoutchouc".) Or that if some one is "comstairy" then they're becoming quarrelsome, stubborn, or unruly? The Scottish Dictionary is well organized and useful to those considering travel to the region or an attempt to woo the Scottish babe/stud of their dreams, but many of the sections are still under construction. Our advice is to wait a couple of months, go to the gym and build up those caber-tossing muscles, and then get back in there when the site is finished, so you can have cool Scottish lingo bubbling forth from you like cappuccino machine milk froth.http://www.ivanuk.force9.co.uk/index.html
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
Google is a no-frills, next-generation search engine that has won praise for its intelligent searches. Confined to a relatively small database, Google rates a site's value by analyzing how many other (high quality) sites link to it, filtering out a lot of Net noise. Works for us.http://www.google.com/
Streaming Media World gives Web developers both a quick overview of streaming media and detailed information about browsers, authoring packages, hardware, and much more in this often cacophonous region of the Net.
http://www.streamingmediaworld.com/
FreeFoto.Com offers 4,000 free pieces of online stock photography for non-commercial use. All they ask in return is a link with their logo on your page. It's especially useful to designers of sites having to do with travel or nature, since many of their most popular photos are of outdoor scenes.
http://www.freefoto.com/
Just for fun, surf over to the World Map of Live Webcams to get an idea of all the places you can see through the magic of computers. These are outside cameras only so you won't have to sift through endless shots of offices and bedrooms.
http://dove.mtx.net.au/~punky/World.html
Need to know how tall a Bedlington terrier is? Or what colors Briards come in? If there is anything you want to find out about any breed of dog, no matter how obscure, this is the place to go.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/
Here's another online lost and found clearinghouse, complete with some advanced search features. Unfortunately, the nascent site has very few items listed, so don't tear those pictures of Fido off the telephone polls just yet.
http://www.thelostandfound.com/