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| Auction Sites Service Holiday Toy Grey Market |
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| Diego Rivera's Great Mural Restored |
| If You Paint It, Will They Come? |
| Netsurfer Recommendations |
| Libyrinthine Home to Great Minds |
| Real Fake Urban Legends |
| Sun Never Sets on Expanded British News Empire |
| G21 Tackles the Battle in Seattle |
| Be a Spacecraft Engineer |
| Don't Smell So Blue |
| This Is Your Brain on the Internet |
| Up to Bat |
| Audio Files of Animal Calls |
| Bastille Linux Automatically Secures Your RedHat 6.0 Linux Box |
| Steve Gibson, Philanthropist |
| Hart's Geometry Art |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
BREAKING SURF
Zero-Knowledge's Online Anonymity Service Goes Live
After a successful beta test period, the Zero-Knowledge's Freedom anonymizer service has opened for business. Freedom, currently the most robust method by far of assuring your Net anonymity, prevents anybody from tracing the source or destination of your communication. The system consists of e-mail, Web, Usenet, and IRC proxy servers around the world linked by strong encryption software. The Freedom client software, currently available only for Windows, accesses the Net through this anonymizing network and provides you with an untraceable anonymous pseudonym. Not even Zero-Knowledge itself can link you to your pseudonym, called in Freedom-speak a "nym". Zero-Knowledge charges $50 for five nym-years - in other words, one nym you can use for five years or five nyms you can use for one year. They also offer a free trial. As with most things, if you don't use Freedom wisely you could get into trouble, so check the documentation on vulnerabilities in the Support section. Use it or lose it.http://www.freedom.net/
War for the Holidays: Chechnya
We thought that we'd remind you that somebody's son or daughter is dying in the mud of central Asia right now. The war in Chechnya is as hot as ever, despite back-page treatment from the major media outlets that bask in Western prosperity. While the coverage may be missing from your network news, you can find reasonably abundant info on the Net. As usual, we like Yahoo's Full Coverage and its comprehensive media links for breaking stories. We also recommend the Chechen Republic Online (CRO) site, which offers regional background and a compilation of news from a Chechen perspective. Many sites analyze the geopolitical implications of the conflict, but we like the Center for Defense Information (CDI) "Crisis in North Caucasus" site best.Yahoo: http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/World/Caucasus
CRO: http://www.amina.com/
CDI: http://www.cdi.org/issues/Europe/ncaucasus.html
The Jargon File defines a "hack" as "an incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed." A couple of weeks ago, Slashdot polled its techie readership to come up with a list of the greatest hacks of all time. While the word "hack" is usually applied to an inspired bit of software code, the Slashdot community expanded the meaning beyond the narrow confines of computer science. They considered all sorts of social and technological efforts which could rightly be admired as great hacks. After a spirited online discussion, Slashdot reader Derek Glidden summed up the general consensus, and you can find the list of Top 10 Hacks of All Time right here.
http://slashdot.org/features/99/12/13/0943241.shtml
A few readers bombarded us for our shallow coverage of the WTO meeting and concomitant riots (NSD 5.39). It's a fair criticism - we got squeezed between issues. The WTO and the riots had just started when we had to write Breaking Surf, and the events had all pretty much blown over by the issue after that. Such are the frustrations of a sort-of-weekly. By way of making up, we'll reveal some news we got from MPL2.com, the company which hosted the WTO Web site. They tell us that "between November 30 and December 6, there were nearly 700 strobe attempts (vulnerability probes) and 54 penetration attempts (against the WTO site). On December 3, the site repelled a 32-megabit 'smurf attack', an attempt to flood the site provider and disable it. The attack was capable of saturating the equivalent of 20.5 T1 circuits". If you need still more WTO news, check out the continuing coverage of the post-Seattle WTO developments on the highly alternative Independent Media Center (IMC) site.
MPL2.com: http://www.mpl2.com/
IMC: http://www.indymedia.org/
Maps of Global Seismic Hazards
An international project to map earthquake probability around the world has released a final report with some cool maps of global seismic hazards. The global hazards map would make a neat poster or screen background. The project classifies about 15% of the planet as a high hazard zone: a 10% chance of a violent quake in the next 50 years. About half the largest cities on the planet lie in high hazard areas. Check out the "Successes & Failures" section of the project closing report for some insights into what works and what doesn't on those massive international scientific projects.http://seismo.ethz.ch/GSHAP/
Latest Online Shopping Numbers
Nielsen//NetRatings has released some numbers about the online holiday shopping frenzy. They started to monitor e-commerce November 1, and produced a Holiday E-Commerce Index showing traffic for various shopping categories such as toys, apparel, software, and so on. December 5 was the blowout online shopping day according to the latest data. On that day, Amazon.com had 1 million visitors, with eToys (Boo! See "EToys vs. Etoy", last issue) a distant second at 310,000. Barnes and Noble, CDNow, Toys R Us, and Yahoo's shopping mall finished back in the pack. Statistics junkies will be happy to know that the company releases a weekly compendium of numbers measuring such things as the top ten properties, banners, and advertisers on the Web. Check this link for the latest numbers.Nielsen//NetRatings: http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/hot_off.htm
Boo!: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/nsd.05.40.html#OC1#OC1
This new portal seeks to hook up open-source programmers with outfits that need their services. The idea is pretty simple: companies toss out the programming projects which they need done, and SourceXchange's member programmers submit bids for the job. The parties involved release the source code of completed projects under standard open source licences. The latest site stats tell the story: 3792 registered users, 152 wish projects, eight serious requests for proposal, and 27 proposals. One lucky programmer already snagged $5,000 to write a test suite for the Apache Web server. This clever idea will not only increase the number of open source software packages, but will also make some money for all you midnight hackers.
http://www.sourcexchange.com/
Netsurfer Books Holiday Issue Part III
This one focuses on fiction and some neat novelty books. A pop-up book of phobias anyone? Last chance to get some suggestions for holiday gifts. Enjoy.NSB: http://www.netsurf.com/nsb/nsb.01.14.html
Subscribe: http://www.netsurf.com/nsb/subscribe.html
ONLINE CULTURE
Auction Sites Service Holiday Toy Grey Market
Capitalism excels at exploiting market inefficiencies. The frenzied demand for certain toys this holiday season, for example Pokemon paraphernalia, has created a shortage of said toys at neighborhood retailers. Some savvy individuals, predicting an opportunity, stocked up on these toys and are now offering them for sale at online auction sites for substantially higher than sticker price. In effect, the auction sites allow anybody to become a commodity broker. While this has always been true - this is the same business model that ticket scalpers use - this season has brought the brokerage possibilities to the fore. Watch for this phenomenon to grow as Pokeforty-niners make and lose fortunes with the tides of hot retail commodities. CNet has an article on the trend.http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1489027.html
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
We don't mean the stuff that forms on your hot chocolate while you're not watching, either. The Internet Film Community, run by independent film production company DSP Films, offers websurfers a spot to browse the latest up-and-coming independent short films, while giving filmmakers a portal through which they can preview their work. Budding filmmakers take note: the site accepts submissions of film stock, video stock, Flash/Shockwave, QuickTime, and "pretty much whatever else you can think of". Viewers will want to have QuickTime 4 installed before visiting. Like most independent endeavors, these are sometimes a bit too much for children.http://www.inetfilm.com/
If you've ever wondered why Lord Buddha has elephantine earlobes and a nose hooked like a parrot's beak, this Southeast Asia antiques gallery site will fill you in. Buddha was never painted during his lifetime, so nobody knows what he looked like. Hundreds of years after his death, a set of 32 specific, symbolic rules governing his depiction were devised to make sure his image would never be confused with another. Even if you don't have the bucks to seriously inquire about buying one of the exquisite Thai or Burmese antique Buddhist or Hindu sculptures pictured at the Loft Gallery site, you may appreciate the introduction to the cultural heritage of the Malay Peninsula.
http://www.theloft-antiques.com/
Diego Rivera's Great Mural Restored
In 1940, the great muralist Diego Rivera painted a series of panels linking North and South, Indian and European, during the Golden Gate International Exposition, in full view of the public. After some travails, the panels have ended up at the City College of San Francisco. This elegant, well-designed site lets you explore every detail of the mural at leisure. Inspect the Aztec goddess crossed with a Detroit Motor Company stamping machine. See the graceful arching figure of the diver Helen Crlenklovich unify the composition. Find Charlie Chaplin at the bottom of the composition.http://www.riveramural.com/
If You Paint It, Will They Come?
Not if they don't know about it. If you're an artist or curator, Absolutearts can get warm bodies into your exhibit. The front page of the site features daily notices of a handful of arts events, each with a profile that includes location and dates. If you don't want to have to remember to visit every day, you can opt to receive a newsletter that covers new events on the horizon three times a week. The "This Week in the Arts" section runs down some upcoming exhibitions and events, and there's even a link to a resource listing job opportunities for those not content to remain starving artists. The site is best viewed with Flash.http://www.absolutearts.com/
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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 Greatest Generation Speaks
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World's Most Dangerous Waters
S & M
MasterCook V5.0 Food & WineBOOKS & E-ZINES
Libyrinthine Home to Great Minds
Once you get past the vaguely silly name - a cross between library and labyrinth - you will find yourself in a maze with a treasure at every turn. Allen Ruch is devoted to all the great solipsistic makers of 20th century literature: Kafka, Borges, Pynchon, Eco, and others, with more promised. Allen presents each author through interviews, selections, analyses, and paradoxes, each in his or her own little corner of the scriptorium, a Universal Library in which only thought-provoking volumes remain. Even the author's own bio, usually the Achilles heel of such sites, we found charming, and evokes that splendid book, On Beyond Zebra, by the herald of all those writers above: Dr. Seuss.http://rpg.net/quail/libyrinth/
The tall tales of yesteryear spawned the urban legends of today, which in turn bore the Urban Legend e-zine, a collection of fabricated urban legends. Why wait for a real fake legend to be born if you can simply create one yourself? And that's just what the editors of the Urban Legend have done. This magazine - based in that hotbed of satire, New Zealand - features some of the best and most humorous Urban Legends, which may arrive in your e-mail box any day now. Read the tragic details of the boy who has gone missing on the Internet, the arrest of 356 people for cultivating bad habits, and the wife who donated her husband to a museum.
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~dbaxo/urban_legend.htm
Sun Never Sets on Expanded British News Empire
We thought it was jolly good a year and a half ago when we recommended British news portal NewsNow, and since then it's expanded to include many more national and international news services. Easily track UK - and global - breaking and recent news using a pull-down menu that lists major stories and favorite categories: Billionaire Mohammed Al Fayeds alleged bribery of public officials; the new Northern Irish government; fox hunting; sex; and even religion. Get listings for the Beeb and every other media channel in the western world, and find all the UK newspapers listed by regions.http://www.newsnow.co.uk/
G21 Tackles the Battle in Seattle
One would have thought it impossible to expend much passion on the World Trade Organization, unless one were a foie gras producer or something, but the rioting in Seattle was an eye opener desperately needed for sagging lids. So when G21, an e-zine with a soporific international organizational name, weighs in with an outraged essay about the latest negotiation, accompanied by a denunciation of eating too much turkey at Thanksgiving, one has to give it some credence. At least someone has the energy to get upset about the details of peanut processing in Gambia.http://www.g21.net/
SURFING SCIENCE
For a site intended for everyone from fourth grade on up, NASA's interactive learning site about protecting spacecraft from orbital dust is astonishingly sophisticated and informative. As well as humbling, when you find yourself coming up with a problem solution that the site gently informs you is unlikely, too expensive, or downright impossible. It walks you through everything from launch to sampling of cometary heads with an easy grace. Well worth the trip, and you can't do much worse than the real McCoys' recent streak.http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/education/jason/index2.html
In synesthesia, one sense becomes cross-linked with another, most often sight and sound, so that letters and musical notes have defined colors. These are not just impressions, but genuine sensations, which for the synesthete have the same impact as any other perception of what is out there. Whenever a given synesthete sees the letter "b" for example, it always appears forest green. Another synesthete might see "b" as dusky pink. For the rest of us, this site provides an introduction to the phenomenon, including some simple simulations which give the wispiest, most attenuated of ideas of how these people live in the world. Perhaps because it is a Web site, the pages only cover the senses of sight and hearing, though the syndrome sometimes includes other senses as well. Imagine if every time you heard a middle C, you felt a ball being pushed into your palm.
http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/synesthesia.html
This Is Your Brain on the Internet
For all our advances in medicine, the brain still to a great degree stumps us. Keith A. Johnson and J. Alex Becker of Harvard put forth the Whole Brain Atlas, an ambitious project, which contains magnetic resonance (MR), X-ray computed tomography (CT), and nuclear medicine images of the mysterious organ. They also walk the layman through the structures in most everyone's head. Play the "name that brain structure" game with your family. (I can name it in three wrinkles!) Along with images of normal brains, the site provides for comparison images of brains with injuries caused by various ailments. For instance, you can compare the brain images of a stroke victim with a certain type of aphasia to those of one with cerebral hemorrhaging. If you want to see how some of the degeneration progresses, make sure you have an MPEG player installed.http://www.med.harvard.edu:80/AANLIB/home.html
For some folks, the only way rats could get worse would be if they had wings. And for many folks, that's exactly what bats are. But not for Bat Conservation International, which considers the oft-maligned critters among the most gentle, beneficial, and necessary animals on earth. Their organization aims to protect and restore bats and their habitats worldwide. To that end, you can learn how to make a bat house on their page, or you can support the organization by buying bat holiday ornaments or donating in other ways. If you adopt-a-bat for $15, your money gets you, among other things, "an endearing letter from your bat" which has got to be better than an endearing letter from Sally Struthers.
http://www.batcon.org/
This index of animal sounds could have been compiled by Noah himself, but pending SmellU SmellMe you'll suffer no unpleasant odors in this audio ark. Herman Miller, animal lover, has compiled thousands of links to .wav and ..au files of placental mammals, reptiles, marsupials, insects, birds, birds, and birds. Birds, too. Find out just how grating the hyena cry can be, how the loon's call triggers follicles at the nape of the neck (your neck, not the loon's - it has feathers), or how hundreds of variations on the simple cricket song distinguish each variety. Handy binomial nomenclature (is there any other kind?) helps you identify species.
http://members.tripod.com/Thryomanes/AnimalSounds.html
SOFTWARE
Bastille Linux Automatically Secures Your RedHat 6.0 Linux Box
This nifty open source project is a script that will automatically configure your RedHat Linux system to be as secure as possible. One of the virtues of the script is that it strives to educate the user about the significance of each security step it takes. This useful tool should be used by anyone who sets up a Linux box. Note that RedHat Linux 6.1, the latest release, is not yet supported, though it probably won't be long before it is.http://www.bastille-linux.org/
CORRECTIONS
Believe it or not, some NSD readers seem to be die-hard fans of this humbling little section and miss it when it's not around. Anyway, last week we said that computer security maven Steve Gibson offers to sell you his firewall product at his Net connection security analysis site. He doesn't, which makes his pages just that much cooler.http://grc.com/x/ne.htm?bh0bkyd2
In the NSD 5.20 article "3-D Geometry Art", we reviewed George Hart's fun geometric art projects. It's at a new URL.
http://www.georgehart.com/