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| The Wonder of Modern Fables |
| So, What Is Alternative These Days? |
| The Current of Public Broadcasting |
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| Inspiring People |
| Chandra X-Ray Observatory at Work |
| The Sky at Night |
| Pluto: Planet or Pretender? |
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| The Spectrum of Autism |
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BREAKING SURF
Well, this just sucks. We were just about to send out this issue with news that the Mars Climate Orbiter had arrived in orbit around the Red Planet when the bad news hit. Apparently, a navigation error has sent the spacecraft too deep into the atmosphere during an attempted aerobraking - a dip into the atmosphere to slow down with drag. Scientists estimate the probe came within 60 km of the planet, an approach that almost certainly damaged or destroyed the craft. The spacecraft had two important missions: to observe the Martian weather and to serve as a communications relay for the Mars Polar Lander due to arrive in December. Fortunately, the Polar Lander mission can still proceed, though communications will be slower without the Orbiter relay. Orbiter did manage to snap one photo of Mars earlier this month - it's at the official mission Web page. At press time, JPL had a terse announcement with the promise of a full story to follow. A few more details are available in the CNN story.Mission: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/index.html
JPL: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/23/mars.orbiter.04/
Just weeks after the devastation in Turkey, another disaster has unfolded in Taiwan. Go to Yahoo for full coverage of the event. The Taiwan WWW Virtual Library has tons of information about the country, but at press time the site was offline - for obvious reasons. Try Google's cached version of the page for numerous links to everything from weather to politics to business opportunities.
Quake News: http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/World/Taiwan_Earthquake/
Library: http://peacock.tnjc.edu.tw/taiwan-wwwvl.html
Google: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:544943&dq=cache:peacock.tnjc.edu.tw/taiwan-wwwvl.html
Terrific Google Search Engine Formally Released
The Google search engine, of perfectly good use in its long beta (covered in NSD 5.17), is now officially live. This state-of-the-art search engine has proven to be uncannily accurate in returning the results you want. Its technology ranks the sites it finds using an algorithm which takes account of how many other sites reference the link. The cocky Google offers an "I'm feeling lucky" button that returns only one link to your query - and, sure enough, most of the time that one site has the information you're looking for. With the formal release, Google added GoogleScout, which when clicked gives a listing of related sites. It's a good way to view related or competitive sites. Google represents the best available information management technology and is a must-have bookmark for everyone.Google: http://www.google.com/
Launch: http://www.google.com/pressrel/pressrelease4.html
E-Mail Service Security Gaffe Causes Grief for Network Solutions
Critical Path provides the back-end services for companies that want to set up branded Web-based e-mail services. The companies provide their logos and content and Critical Path provides the guts of the e-mail service. For Network Solutions (NSI), Critical Path set up a service that creates new user accounts with easy-to-guess passwords, and NSI gave these free e-mail accounts to all who registered domains with them. Of course, easy-to-guess passwords don't have to be guessed at only by the rightful account holder. Anybody with a correct guess could access an account belonging to a domain holder and intercept communications. As soon as the news hit, NSI was raked over the coals by domain holders who rightly pointed out that they had no use for the free e-mail accounts, especially ones with such a glaring security hole. CNet has the story and Slashdot has the flame fest.CNET: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-121667.html
Slashdot: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/09/20/0915244&mode=thread
India vs. Pakistan in Cyberwar
An Australian e-zine has looked at how Indian and Pakistani crackers have been battling each other in cyberspace. As you may recall, India and Pakistan had a conflict earlier this year which killed over 1,000 soldiers. The online battle involved redirected e-mails, defaced Web sites, disinformation campaigns, and even denial of access attacks against one Pakistani newspaper. Consider this low-intensity online conflict analogous to biplane scout pilots dropping hand grenades over the trenches - an early, poorly developed art of war. It's only a matter of time before professional military crackers graduate to taking down power, banking, and military systems in the equivalent of laser-guided thousand-pound bombs.http://www.it.fairfax.com.au/communications/19990921/A12383-1999Sep20.html
That's the title of a new Guest Feature article on the Securityfocus site. The article notably provides links to tools and databases which you can use to verify the correct setup of your firewall. Beyond that, it gives common sense advice about setting up your firewall, such as having a coherent access policy and minimizing the number of open ports and services that can get through. All in all, a good security resource for any sysadmin, and worth reading.
http://www.securityfocus.com/templates/forum_message.html?forum=2&head=248&id=248
ONLINE CULTURE
Arthur Shawcross, a convicted serial killer, has been placed in solitary confinement because his artwork was made available for auction on eBay. Apparently, he gave his work to friends on the outside who auctioned it, and gave the guy either favors or goods in exchange. Since this is apparently a breach of prison etiquette, the authorities confiscated his art supplies and tossed him into solitary for two years. Arthur's in jail 'cuz he killed 11 prostitutes, some of whom he cannibalized. No word on how much his signature on the artwork was worth. What does all this mean? No idea, but we predict the imminent death of the Internet.http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-121083.html
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
A multipage slideshow, the Chicago Loop Guide focuses on buildings in a city renowned in architectural circles for both innovative construction and eagerness to demolish. Its crisp, tightly cropped, well-chosen photos - correlated with MapQuest maps - won't choke a decent modem. Buildings are identified but not described, so you're out of luck if you need historical or cultural background. For a quick tour, though, this site is efficient and may get you started on an intellectual trip or two. It's a nice preview for walking tours. Curiously, it's produced by an outfit called YeloDog in a suburb far from downtown.http://www.yelodog.com/html/loop/loop.html
Art Frahm and the Art of Falling Panties
Perhaps not for children is the sardonic expose by James Lileks on the twisted mind of Art Frahm, a soft-core pin-up artist from the '50s. Basically, Frahm did a series of illustrations whose common thread, as it were, was underwear down around some hapless and quite surprised maiden's ankles. As Lileks is quick to point out, the likelihood of this happening is next to nil; anybody who's wrestled with a girlfriend for her underwear knows these things don't just fall off. Lileks takes a look at a handful of these, complete with color commentary and, of course, celery. If you check yourself into the parent page Institute of Official Cheer, be sure you don't visit the Gallery of Regrettable Food on your lunch break. Do, however, visit Dateline: Kennel, a review of dogs in newspapers.http://www.lileks.com/institute/frahm/
BOOKS & E-ZINES
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Items our staff likes and you might too. Click on the image or title to order at a hefty discount from our affiliates Amazon.com and Beyond.com, and send a few pennies our way as well.
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The Fragile
The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB
An Intimate History of Killing: Face-to-Face Killing in 20th-Century Warfare
GTK+/Gnome Application Development
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sunhttp://www.wondersociety.com/
So, What Is Alternative These Days?
The Web is a cruel place for the alternative press. With the lowest barriers to entry of any medium ever known, the Web gives anyone the power to be a non-media-conglomerate publisher. Are skinhead screeds, Pokemon-collecting debates, and look-at-my-weenie vanity displays the alternative press nowadays? The people at New City have a more traditional perspective. Go here for the direct spin-offs of alternative city weeklies and Utne Reader filtrations. They provide you with the usual film and music reviews, and personal ads, so that you know where you stand. If that's where you want to stand, the choice is clear.http://www.newcity.com/newcity/
The Current of Public Broadcasting
While megamedia deals on Wall Street bring glitz to the convergence of electronic media and TV, some conservative or less well-heeled publishers make strides in their own way. Current Online, for example, is a fine example of an e-zine based on a printed parent, a biweekly newspaper that covers public TV and radio. If you're familiar with acronyms such as DTV, HDTV, Gen X, PBS, and BBC, you'll feel right at home here. And if you aren't, there's an acronym directory. Job classifieds, a calendar, and a subsection full of links (including a list of e-mail addresses of network folk in public broadcasting) round out these excellent resources.http://www.current.org/
People argue whether the Net heralds the end of newspapers. This chronology of the British newspaper industry, dating back to the early 17th century, makes it hard to imagine the things being wiped out so soon. It was enough of an event when the Daily Express became the first national daily to run news, and not ads, on its front page and that was in 1900. The Times didn't follow suit for another 66 years! This list, interspersed with front page images, goes from the first coranto published in English (1620, from Amsterdam), past the first online national (the Electronic Telegraph in 1994), and into the new millennium. We wonder if it's available in hard copy....
http://www.bl.uk/collections/newspaper/britnews.html
For some, obstacles are opportunities. For others, the highest accomplishment is to set a good example. Incredible People Magazine is devoted to these and others who seek or provide education, motivation, and inspiration. It isn't clear how often issues come out, but each has a feature story, a review in Inspiring Media (at last visit, this was a review of "The Runaway Bride"), and a section on parenting. A typical feature subject is Raoul Wallenberg, a "mixture of Oscar Schindler, Groucho Marx, and the legend of Zorro" who saved more than Jews and others targeted for extermination by the Nazis in Budapest. On the "Incredibly Funny" page, we got kicks out of labels on consumer goods, such as the following: "On an American Airlines packet of nuts: 'INSTRUCTIONS: OPEN PACKET. EAT NUTS.' (Have a lobotomy.)" Even the inspired need a bit of humor.
http://incrediblepeople.com/
SURFING SCIENCE
Chandra X-Ray Observatory at Work
Despite a minor glitch on one of its sensors, the Chandra satellite has been returning some spectacular observations of distant X-ray sources. The Chandra Observatory Center Web page is distinct from and more interesting than NASA's Chandra site. In addition to spectacular new images, this site has the Chandra Chronicles, a collection of lighthearted articles about the Chandra team and its members' day-to-day operations. While you're waiting for the webmaster's return from her honeymoon, read up on Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the genius physicist for whom the observatory is named, or explore the Chandra Science area and its myriad links to the scientific aspects of the mission. More than anything else, the pictures evoke a sense of wonder, not only that such things exist in the universe, but that we can detect them through our artificial eyes.http://chandra.harvard.edu/
Quick: What's the longest running single-host TV show? The BBC's The Sky at Night, of course - it's been on 42 years and counting, always hosted by Patrick Moore. We're told that Moore "has encouraged a number of astronomers, both professional and amateur, who have started on their careers by watching the programme." The Web site is a fine companion, what with its glossary, monthly notes about planets and meteors, news briefs (mislabeled "News in Depth"), Moore's guide to buying a telescope ("Personally, I would prefer a pair of good binoculars to a tiny telescope."), a pop-up quiz that many will find challenging, and assorted links to BBC listings. This site is far from comprehensive but seems to be a nice adjunct.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skyatnight/
Pluto has the largest moon relative to its size of any planet in the Solar System: Charon is half Pluto's diameter. This and other facts lead astronomers to posit that Pluto, long considered the outermost planet, may simply be the innermost body of the Kuiper belt, a stretch of asteroids that extends outward into space. NASA is developing a probe, the Pluto-Kuiper Express, to examine the situation further. Pluto, tiny and far away, was the last planet found, after a long and intense search. The NASA site has a delightful account by Clyde Tombaugh on how he found the planet in 1930, which includes proposed alternate names for the planet, including Constance. Another Pluto page probes deeper, while the new book Pluto and Charon has the best scientific overview of the system written in a very accessible and irreverent tone. A very fun read.
Express: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ice_fire//pkexprss.htm
Tombaugh: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ice_fire/9thplant.htm
Pluto: http://dosxx.colorado.edu/plutohome.html
Book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471152978/netsurferdigest
Galileo did not really drop things from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to prove Archimedes right, nor did he invent the telescope (he imported it from Holland). However, he did lead an interesting and well-documented life, including several brushes with the Inquisition and some intuitive thinking well ahead of his era. For an exhaustive look at his life and works, try this.
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/
Spectrum presents a forum where caregivers can communicate with the families of children with autism. While it has a lot of specific information about school issues in British Columbia, it is generally useful for anyone trying to get a handle on the problem if it has affected them personally. The site has a lot of RealAudio files of interviews with experts, and even songs. In addition, it provides autism-related trading cards, showing connections from autism to Elvis and the Emperor Claudius.
http://www.autism-spectrum.com/
As baby boomers enter their 50s and 60s, many will suffer from age-related macular degeneration, the main cause of vision loss and legal blindness in adults over 60 in the US. There is no cure and treatment is minimal. Hence the Macular Degeneration Help Center, started by the nonprofit Macular Degeneration Partnership and created for patients with this disease and their families. It provides a non-technical introduction, much like literature in the waiting room of a doctor's office, but also highlights research, clinical trials, news, and debate. The Help Center is intended to help patients and relatives cope. Those who have absorbed the impact of background pages will likely find the "Related Links" page especially useful. If you're Caucasian, blue-eyed, and female, you have three risk factors for this disease.
http://www.macd.net/
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
The Hunger Site is depressing. It highlights a country on a world map every time someone statistically dies from hunger there. A country is highlighted every 3.6 seconds. India blinks like a Christmas tree light. Click on the button the site provides to donate food, courtesy of the sponsors that appear on the resulting page. Neat. Very neat. Forget the ideology and do it anyway.http://www.thehungersite.com/