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| The Amazon.com Patent Affair |
| What, Where, Why, How, and Who |
| Grotesques and Gargoyles of NYC |
| Relive the Good Times with Your Electronic Babysitter |
| Hipper Than Thou |
| Kinetic Sculpture |
| Movie Report Cards |
| Netsurfer Recommendations |
| Goodauthority's Good E-Zine |
| How to Promote Your Novel |
| The Mono-Personality Disordered Arthouse Underground |
| Scientists Find New Rat |
| The History of Physics |
| A Way Too Close Look at Food |
| American Weather |
| Evil Weather |
| Digital West Transcript Idea Correct Attribution |
| Wheel of Time MUD Booboo |
| Sports Cliche List Gives 110%, Changes URL |
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| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
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BREAKING SURF
The Census Bureau Web site provides scads of information about the upcoming Census 2000, which will be the biggest, most complete US census ever, but the site's real strength lies in its gold mine of information from past enumerations. Among the numerous search tools for retrieving data is American FactFinder, in basic or advanced form, which leads to a wide range of community information, business data, maps, and population and housing facts. Another is the US Gazetteer, which allows users to drill down to individual communities for data and maps. As well there are State and County QuickFacts, a wide range of economic indicators, news releases, and much more. The well organized site, rich in information, comprises an invaluable information resource that you can really count on.http://www.census.gov/
Online Offshore Gambling Criminal Conviction
A federal jury has convicted Jay Cohen, co-owner of Antigua-based World Sports Exchange gambling site, of violating US anti-gambling laws despite the business's perfect legality in Antigua. The conviction resulted from a 1998 government sweep of several offshore gambling sites. Cohen was the only defendant who showed up for trial, hoping to make this a test case for the legality of offshore casinos. Given the money at stake, this ruling will be appealed, quite possibly all the way to the Supreme Court. Wired has the story.World Sports Exchange: http://www.wsex.com/
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34635,00.html
US Policy Study on Unlawful Conduct Involving the Internet
Last year President Clinton asked the Department of Justice to produce a policy study of online crime. The resulting report is now online. Its conclusions are not particularly remarkable: it supports industry self-regulation, recommends making online laws consistent with offline laws, and acknowledges that law enforcement needs more resources. Not surprisingly, the report also notes that one of the biggest obstacles to online law enforcement is the specter of anonymity: "...challenges include the need for real-time tracing of Internet communications across traditional jurisdictional boundaries, both domestically and internationally; the need to track down sophisticated users who commit unlawful acts on the Internet while hiding their identities."http://www.politechbot.com/docs/unlawfulconduct.html
First, it was a Usenet search engine. Then it became a consensual product recommendation page, with an almost hidden and neglected Usenet search engine. Now, in its latest incarnation, Deja.com has split into distinct halves. The main part is an unremarkable shopping site peddling the grandly named Precision Buying Service (PBS), a fairly robust product rating and recommendation database. The second part of the site brings Deja.com back to its roots by relaunching its somewhat spiffed-up Usenet front end. This perhaps acknowledges that during its second incarnation most people still used Deja.com for searching Usenet rather than for product ratings. A sign perhaps that reports of the imminent death of Usenet have been greatly exaggerated?
PBS: http://www.deja.com/
Usenet: http://www.deja.com/usenet/
If you're good - really, really good - and don't mind a trivial $50 prize, you might want to consider this Web design competition. Stewart Butterfield, who organized the contest, figures the constraints of Web design spur creativity, and wants you to help prove it. The rules are pretty simple - design an interesting, attractive Web page (or site) that's 5 kB or less and doesn't use side-server processing. The deadline is April 2. Read the FAQ for a sense of what you're up against, because there are a few curves, and look at the names of the seven judges to see if you recognize any friends. Looks like a compelling waste of time to us, which should ensure its success.
http://www.sylloge.com/5k/
Sony managed to sell just under a million Playstation2 (P2) units in just two days after introducing the new video game console. Almost 40% of the sales took place online. Some wag put one of the $300 machines for sale on eBay for $5200. The P2 is rumored to pack enough computing power to make speedy nuclear weapon calculations, thus rendering it unexportable from the US - if it were made here. Even if the rumor isn't true, the idea of having a nuke-capable supercomputer hooked up to your TV just so your toddler can spear the bad guys in Final Fantasy MCMXVI is too good to pass up. Here's the graphics heavy official P2 home page, notable mostly for the active message boards buzzing with P2 launch buzz.
http://www.playstation.com/news/ps2.asp
The world famous dogsled race is off to a rousing start with a record 81 participating teams. For the next ten days, the sleds will penetrate the frozen interior of Alaska while attempting to cover over 1000 miles of trail from Anchorage to Nome. The humans involved make sure that the dogs are well cared for during the race, but few people know that since the animals are exposed to demanding athletic and environmental factors during the race, veterinarians use the athletes to run studies on such things as gastro-intestinal disorders and vitamin efficiency. The official site has more veterinarian info as well as the usual race updates and musher profiles, a comprehensive bibliography, an amusing set of trail notes, and quite a bit of material aimed at involving kids in the event. Radio Iditarod (the APRN button) should satisfy your need for live coverage of the event.
http://www.iditarod.com/
An unfortunate encounter with CHUDs has left us with a vacancy in our writing corps. If you think you have the moxie to write half a dozen entertaining yet information-packed reviews each week or two and battle subterranean cannibals for your pizza and beer money, send a plain text resume, outlining your previous writing or journalism experience if any (no, it's not required - look at us) to writers@netsurf.com and we'll call you.
ONLINE CULTURE
Amazon recently obtained a patent for its Associates program (Netsurfer is a fairly happy Amazon associate). Last year, Amazon got a patent on one-click shopping and used it to spank Barnes & Noble in a lawsuit. Enter Tim O'Reilly (master of the formidable O'Reilly publishing empire) and assorted Open Source advocates who argued that such seemingly silly patents undermine the open and collaborative nature of the Web. A lot of electrons spilled over the issue on message boards, culminating in a largely unheeded call for a mass boycott of Amazon. Tim wrote an op-ed piece on the subject which outlines his camp's position. Shortly thereafter, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos got on the phone with Tim to discuss their differences, making good business points about having to build up a defensive patent portfolio or risk becoming somebody's corporate take-over snack. Tim's write-ups have the partisan (albeit polite) view. Salon has a good overview of the larger debate, which is worth following. We recommend you read these in order.Tim's Editorial: http://www.oreilly.com/ask_tim/amazon_patent.html
Jeff and Tim: http://www.oreilly.com/ask_tim/bezos_0300.html
Salon: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/03/03/patent/index.html
What, Where, Why, How, and Who
Many people need at one time or another an authoritative resource on the history and function of the Internet. William Stewart (with his PhD in computer science) has assembled such a site: LivingInternet, a framed collection of documents with overviews and details. This site covers the Net in general, the Web, Usenet, e-mail and mailing lists, chat, and more. For each topic, William has useful categories such as How It Works, How to Use It, Why It's Important, and Security Issues. His linked list of references is superb even though the destination sites remain inside his frames. Librarians and academics, in particular, are likely to love William's selectivity. You'll also find biographies of Net founders. By Net standards, the subject matter and depth make LivingInternet a classic.http://livinginternet.com/
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Grotesques and Gargoyles of NYC
Joe Chiffriller has a passion for stonecarving and he shares it with the rest of the world at NewYorkCarver.com, dedicated to the art of turning cold stone into creatures that look like they're ready to reach out and grab you. He includes a cathedral and carver's tour in his site. The Gothic Cathedral tour gathers links to other popular sites specializing in highlighting the magnificence of these buildings. Perhaps the most fascinating part of the Carver's Tour invites the visitor on a virtual visit to the carvings of the Lower East Side of New York City. His Gothic Field Guide helps the layman through sometimes complex architectural terms. For instance, there you'll find out a lancet arch is not that curvature in your back achieved when you give blood. Be sure to stop by the Carving Shop to see Joe's own skill, represented in brickwork.http://www.newyorkcarver.com/
Relive the Good Times with Your Electronic Babysitter
And they say the Web is addictive.... TVparty exists because television has us all enslaved. All websurfers over 30 who peek at this TV nostalgia site will get sucked in faster than they can hit their Back buttons. Can you resist retrospectives such as Crazy Commercials & Unforgettable Jingles, Saturday Mornings 1966-88, or The Carol Burnett Show? We thought not. Admit it - you're dying to relive each of those thousands of hours you spent glued to the tube, even if this time you can only read about the long-archived shows that consumed your youth. Return to those days of yore with a loved one or three, mouse in hand, proud to have defeated time, amazed by all you missed, at TVparty.http://www.tvparty.com/
Eyestorm's online gallery includes the works of well-known artists as well as promising newcomers. Most pieces can be bought online by clicking on "acquire this work" when browsing through a collection, a non-obtrusive melding of e-commerce and artistic endeavor. Eyestorm's Insight section strives to bring art theory to the masses. You should be willing to play to enter this site, but while little is intuitive, the site does provide a sitemap for left-brained folks. In addition to a 4.0 or higher browser, you should have both the Macromedia Flash 4 plug-in and Java enabled to experience the exhibit.
http://www.eyestorm.com/
Kinetic sculpture moves, obviously. It bobs and sways in the wind with a rhythm calculated to add a dimension of aesthetic pleasure. Tom Brewitz built his collection of eight steel kinetic sculptures with hard, sleek shiny boughs that bow to geometric fruit of exotic origin. Tom works for CornerMark, a large commercial design house, as a corporate image consultant.
http://www.cornermark.com/kinetic/sculpture5.html
The hallmark of most movie reviews seems to be disdain for the movies the reviewers are actually watching. Ross Anthony instead enjoys almost all types of movies - except psychological thrillers, mystery/suspense-driven, depressing or horror films - and writes short, concise and thoughtful reviews of those he does enjoy.
http://www.rossanthony.com/
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 affiliate Amazon.com, and send a few pennies our way as well.
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My War Gone By, I Miss It So
Programming the Perl DBI
The Art of the Cocktail Party: The Complete Guide to Sophisticated Entertaining
Dr. Seuss Preschoolhttp://www.goodauthority.org/
In general, publishing houses lay the onus of promoting a novel on the author. Usually this means endless book signings to sell a half-dozen copies per store. The Web, of course, introduces a new dimension. Kathy Hepinstall promotes her "The House of Gentle Men" with an imaginative haunted house theme that uses grainy monochrome photos with dramatic impact. The intriguing, must-read-on text engenders a real desire to know more. In fact, when you have wandered the site for a while, enjoying the author's strong skill at creating atmosphere, you will want to buy the book. Our NSD reviewer wanted to snag a copy, but couldn't find where to buy it online. We dug a little and found it at Amazon.
Book: http://www.houseofgentlemen.com/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0380978091/netsurferdigest/
The Mono-Personality Disordered Arthouse Underground
The Arthouse Underground calls itself a "literary funhouse", and maybe that's just what it is. Like the mirror maze in a funhouse where a single image is split into multiples, the Underground is referred to as a collective entity - a mixture of art, music, and poetry - but the poetry appears to come from one individual, Carson Wilder. You can send the author your reactions to his creation via the Virtual Slam form located at the bottom of each work. Use Shockwave and RealAudio to get the most out of the experience, which includes strong language, strong visuals, and strong opinions.http://www.frankmedia.com/
SURFING SCIENCE
Right, just what we need, more rats. Actually, scientists rarely discover new mammals on this human infested planet, so this is a big deal - and not only because the thing is as big as a cat. Dr. Louise Emmons, a researcher with the Smithsonian Institute, discovered the new species of rat while on a biological expedition in Peru near the ruins of Macchu Picchu. Cuscomys ashaninkais is "powerfully built...pale gray, with a white stripe along its snout and large claws". Amusingly, she found the creature when an Andean weasel dropped the freshly killed rat at her feet. Had it not been for a startled weasel, science would have had to have been satisfied with the other two dozen new species this expedition uncovered: two mice (which technical are mammals too, but they aren't as cool as a great whoppin' rat); two orchids; 11 butterflies; and a dozen lizard and frogs.Discovery: http://www.outsidemag.com/news/headlines/story_wed2.html
Essence of Rat: http://www.informatics.jax.org/rat/
If you like a mystery, consider the sleuthing it took to overthrow centuries of scientific consensus, and then actually prove the existence of an invisible particle 1/1000th the size of an atom. The 1897 discovery of the electron is just one momentous mystery which unfolds at the Center for History of Physics, which comes from the American Institute of Physics. Other online exhibits cover the work of Albert Einstein and Russian physicist/activist Andrei Sakharov. Anyone with an interest in physics and related fields including astronomy, geophysics, and optics, as well as professionals scouting for the latest grant news, will value the provided links. The Emilio Segre Visual Archives display thousands of photographs of physicists and their work.
http://www.aip.org/history/
Foods Under the Microscope brings mortals on an excursion into the wonderful world of food structure. Miloslav Kalab uses a scanning electron microscope to capture the innermost structure of food products, and he shares his snaps with the Internet. Although several foods have their own sections (particularly the dairy products), the Gallery of Food Structures provides a quick feel for what foods are like on their most basic levels. Ponder the coral-like spindles on yogurt or the intricate microstructure of chocolate so you can more fully appreciate their "mouthfeel" the next time you indulge.
http://www.cyberus.ca/~scimat/f-introd.shtml
We took a shine to America's Weather right off the bat. Click the image map on the home page, a regional map, and a state map, and you have the weather report for your county, including a radar map and forecast. No need to enter your ZIP code, but you can search that way, too, or by city or state. At the same time, you're only a click away from information at state, national, and international levels. With pasted HTML, it's relatively easy to add an America's Weather report to Web pages of your own. This is great usage of a public resource - as a site note states, "All Forecasts are Public Domain and derived from the National Weather Service - (IWIN)." America's Weather may not get the eyeballs that the Weather Channel does, but it sure makes getting a weather report easy.
http://www.americasweather.com/
Lightning, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, avalanches, dust storms - violent weather is riveting from afar. Hence the droll subtitle of Extreme Weather: "bringing nature's wrath into the comfort of your own home." Storm chasers give written accounts of hurricanes Floyd and Irene with descriptions more detailed than the brief segments you see on the evening news. These are accompanied by MPEG video clips best viewed with a fast connection. You'll also find a nice photo gallery and a Weather Gear page with a few products for sale. (At our most recent visit, the five-dollar flood bucket was out of stock. Yikes!) A pop quiz helps you find out whether you're "weather obsessed." Our Midwestern reviewer asks, "Who isn't?"
http://www.wildweather.com/
CORRECTIONS
Digital West Transcript Idea Correct Attribution
Last week, we mentioned that Digital West posted transcripts of their TV shows at our suggestion. One of us (i.e. Arthur) did indeed mention the idea to their publicist during the show's launch party. However, unknown to us (i.e. Arthur), show producer Ben Bayol had already planned on doing just that, with a clever twist worthy of mention. He writes: "Way back when I was at ZDTV, I had envisioned using closed captioning transcripts as a way of getting a show transcript online muy pronto. Unfortunately, ZD didn't want to pay for captioning. So it wasn't until I got a chance to produce DW that my little dream came true - haltingly, and occasionally a bit slowly, but true nonetheless." In the interest of fairness, we (i.e. Arthur) happily cede temporal precedence to Ben's idea and humbly acknowledge pretensiously assuming way too much influence.http://dw.kqed.org/
Johan, the talented webmaster of the Wheel of Time MUD (NSD 6.05), wrote to tell us that we were too bedazzled by his work to see clearly. he doesn't use Flash, as we reported, but he does emulate it with some rather hefty JavaScript.
http://www.wotmud.org/
Sports Cliche List Gives 110%, Changes URL
No question about it, this site's finally getting the respect it deserves. It's moving around the Web well and, obviously, they have a new URL, baby.http://sportscliche.com/