|
Home Subscriptions Netsurfer Science E-Zine Netsurfer Education E-Zine Netsurfer Books E-Zine |
| The Ethics of Open Source |
| TRUSTe, DoubleClick, Privacy, and a Possible Conflict of Interest |
| Alternative Tour of the Oregon Coast |
| Island Ireland |
| The Air Travel Department Store |
| In-Your-Face Gardening Resource |
| Search Engine Ratings Database |
| The Squeaky Wheel |
| Surveys and Polls |
| Ask 'n' Answer |
| Free ISP, You and Me |
| Performance Radio |
| PHP 4.0 Released |
| Sly as an ipFox |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
BREAKING SURF
China Trying to Nail Jell-O to the Wall
In one of his more amusing statements, the usually painfully earnest President Clinton noted that trying to police the Internet is "like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall." Taiwan just elected a new president who, as usual, gave an inaugural speech. Not unexpectedly, the Chinese Internet is overflowing with discussions about the speech and the entire Taiwan situation - while Chinese government censors are trying furiously to limit both the discussion and access to the text of the Taiwanese president's speech. Predictably, the Chinese government can't keep up with the volume of traffic, resulting in massive leakage of officially undesirable info. While this goes on in Asia, the US Congress is considering contentious legislation to permanently normalize relations with China, with proponents arguing powerfully that free trade and more Western technology will inevitably lead to more freedom in China. The San Jose Mercury News looks at the attempted censorship in the context of the legislative debate.http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/chinet052300.htm
The newsworthy ILOVEYOU worm made the leap from the insubstantial world of computer bits to an actual physical incarnation. An article in the New York Times tells how the infamous worm program sent a copy of itself to fax phone numbers in infected computers' Outlook address books. This sounds like an Internet first, although the general idea - computer viruses invading machines and manipulating the physical world to create material incarnations of themselves - is a SF concept from way back. We clearly live in a world where much fantastic science fiction is coming true, which is cause for either thrilling joy or abject terror. Or, as we think, a bit of both.
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/biztech/articles/15spin.html
French Court Rules Against US Yahoo
A short item in Newsbytes caught our eye because it bears on the international legal situation of the Internet. A French court found Yahoo guilty of "an offense to the collective memory" for hosting auctions of Nazi memorabilia. The two plaintiffs, who won minimal damages of $1,390 each, brought the suit not against the French Yahoo portal - which doesn't allow Nazi items on its pages - but against the US-based Yahoo.com. In addition to the money, the judge ordered Yahoo to find a way to block such auctions from French users within two months. Yahoo says it can't effectively block its content and has appealed the decision. Wired offers a good summary of the situation and looks at similar cases, notably another French lawsuit against an American auction site. The issue of international Internet liability is still relatively rarely contested in court.Newsbytes: http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/149450.html
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36518,00.html
Open Source Deities Weigh in on Napster
Followers of the Napster wars will want to read this article. ZDNet interviewed well known open source celebrities for their views on the whole Napster/intellectual property debate. The article features comments from a who's who of open source movers and shakers: Linus Torvalds, Larry Wall, Bruce Perens, Matt Welsh, Eric Raymond, and Richard Stallman. It's worth reading the words of these thoughtful guys (why are there no female open source deities?) if you're following the Napster story at all. In other Napster news, the company just accepted $15 million in venture capital and a new CEO.Celebrities: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2573456,00.html
New capital: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,36502,00.html
Slashdot vs. Microsoft and a DDoS Attack
Last week, we told you about Microsoft's legal threat to Slashdot over some ostensibly open-source code which Microsoft wanted to control but Slashdot users wanted to discuss. This week, Slashdot's legal reps gave the moral equivalent of a finger to Microsoft. Slashdot also posted details of a distributed denial of service attack which they suffered - maybe by coincidence, maybe not - in the midst of the Microsoft affair. These two links will bring you up to date.Finger: http://slashdot.org/features/00/05/18/2015251.shtml
DDoS: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/05/17/1318233&mode=thread
Statistics on Operating System Security Bugs
The folks at SecurityFocus have compiled some statistics from the widely used BUGTRAQ Vulnerability Database. The statistics are straight counts from the database, and the Web page warns against over-interpreting the data. Nevertheless, some trends stand out. For example, the total number of vulnerabilities in the database has been rising since 1998. That either means that software is getting worse, or, more likely, that more people are looking at more open software and finding more problems simply by sheer volume of eyeballs. Interesting data, with caveats.http://www.securityfocus.com/frames/?content=/vdb/stats.html
Goofy geeks go at it again. A PC powered by current from a potato - yes, a potato - serving Web pages, on Linux of course. You have to admire the unabashed technogeekness of the project. Can military applications be far behind? We can see it now, the electronic warrior equipped with online technology doubling as tasty rations. Or perhaps the advent of the edible Web? Yummy.
http://totl.net/Spud/
Mighty Massive Missives: Letters to the Editor
The long overdue NSD Letters to the Editor has arrived with much more on global warming than anyone deserves. Lots of other stuff, too.http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/letters/letter.06.18.html
ONLINE CULTURE
We bandy the words "ethics" and "open source" occasionally in NSD, but we don't really have the space to meaningfully analyze them. Fortunately, we don't have to. Respected software engineer and author Bertrand Meyer has done what we can safely say is the best and most coherent analysis of the ethical considerations of open source we've seen to date. You can tell Bertrand is a fine engineer, carefully defining his terms, providing plenty of examples, and clearly laying out his analysis of the subject. For the most part, his piece points out a number of ethical problems with the open source movement as it exists today. A good engineer, Bertrand is not content to merely point out problems. He winds up the article with practical suggestions for ethical open source advocates. Given that open source is as much philosophy as practice, this article deserves serious consideration from all serious open source practitioners. Highly recommended reading.http://www.sdmagazine.com/features/2000/03/f4.shtml
TRUSTe, DoubleClick, Privacy, and a Possible Conflict of Interest
TRUSTe ostensibly certifies the privacy policy and compliance of Web sites. Its chairman, Lori Fena, recently joined the Privacy Advisory Board set up by online ad company DoubleClick, which was facing much public flak for its privacy practices. Lori's decision to join DoubleClick's organization seems to be a conflict of interest given her role in the supposedly independent TRUSTe. Rusty Foster's open letter to Lori addresses the issue. The letter dissects the matters of online trust and assuring the same with a third party like TRUSTe. In a worthy contribution to the online privacy debate, Rusty attacks TRUSTe's usefulness for consumers and its utility to the industry it claims to serve. Incidentally, a Slashdot item has a blistering list detailing the qualifications - or lack thereof - of the members of DoubleClick's Privacy Advisory Board. Clearly biased, but not entirely irrelevant. Wired has a good overview.Open Letter: http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory&sid=2000/5/22/5246/74086
Slashdot: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/05/21/0029228&mode=thread
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,36404,00.html
SURFING SITES
We certainly used to think so; now we're not too sure. The Mad Revisionist is devoted to debunking many alleged events and facts of history, such as the existence of the Moon. There's also a convincing proof of the non-existence of the city of Winnipeg, Man. The starting point for the groundbreaking revelations here is the work of the Holocaust Revisionists. Their bizarre use of "facts" and "negative evidence" is carried to its patently obvious end. This is satire at its best and most brilliant. The proofs provided are exemplary and obvious once you assimilate the philosophy. This is easily one of the best, funniest, and most worthwhile sites on the entire Web.http://www.reptiles.org/~madrev/The-Mad-Revisionist.htm
We are witnessing the first generations of young people who - thanks to the advent of audio and video equipment - will be able to not only look back on their early history, but also see it and hear it over and over again. There is something just so permanent in these electronic recollections that will not fade like our memories do. So it is with historical records. At Voice Vision, Dr. Sid Bolkosky has interviewed over 150 survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, amassing 350 hours of audio tapes and 60 hours of video tape, many of which are now available online. Likewise, the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies contains an extraordinary collection of 4,000 videotaped interviews with witnesses and survivors, totaling 10,000 recorded hours of videotape. The collection was initiated in 1979 when the grassroots organization began videotaping Holocaust survivors and witnesses in New Haven, Conn. and its Yale University.
Bolkosky: http://holocaust.umd.umich.edu/
Fortunoff: http://www.library.yale.edu/testimonies/homepage.html
Big tobacco means big money and when big money talks, smaller voices usually get lost in the shuffle. Not so at the Tobacco Industry Information site. What is clear after reading this impressive collection of articles is that the list of orchestrated "untruths" is an exceedingly lengthy one. Highlights include an infamous October 1964 "Strictly Confidential" report by two British tobacco industry researchers, the February 29, 1984 RJR Secret Strategic Research Report and Sylvester Stallone's April 28, 1983 letter confirming his intention to promote Brown and Williamson products for a fee of half a million dollars.
http://www.gate.net/~jcannon/tobacco.html
Capital Punishment in Missouri
"Take the phone off the hook." So said James Hampton, his final words before his execution in the state of Missouri. Eighty-one inmates currently await the death penalty in Missouri and this site provides detailed information on each, complete with a review of crimes committed. The executions section includes information on who has been executed as well as details of their crimes and hearings. Visitors will not find any moralizing, pro or con, at this site, just the facts presented in a clear and detailed fashion.http://www.missourinet.com/CapitalPunishment/default.htm
Loser Who Thinks Chicks Suck...
Sites like "Chicks Suck!" make you think about information overload in the media, not because there's too much junk out there - this site offers more than its fair share of entertainment - but because it makes you wonder if anyone's actually reading it. After all, how could the anonymous author of this site only learn about masturbating when he was 19? He isn't even sure if he's circumcised or not, yet he can create his own Web site and form coherent opinions. While the author's a tad whiney, won't post a photo of himself because he claims his parents are white trash, picks on pretty much everything around him, and can't get laid unless he lowers his standards to include girls he's not attracted to, he's also honest, intelligent, amusing, observant, and not all that offensive, which is more than we can say for ourselves sometimes.http://chickssuck.shutdown.com/
...And a Chick Who Thinks Everyone Sucks
Ah yes, the misanthropic bitch. No, it's okay, she's self-titled and exaggerating a bit. It's difficult to argue with most of the short (and well researched) essays here because she woos you with her snappy chat peppered with quotable wit. Bad Baby Names was the noodle in the soup, spawned from a conversation with a family member over naming a child Taylor Jade - to which her reply was, "If you want your daughter to augment her breasts and slurp semen in lieu of water, stick with that name." One memorable observation is that there's a correlation between the number of superfluous Y's in a name and the laws they break later in life. If you ever run out of opinions, on anything from JFK Jr. to child beauty pageants to housewives to clean houses as the sign of a wasted life, come here to stock up.http://bitch.shutdown.com/
We'll start out by saying that the guy we're going to talk about in this review isn't the actual nudist. However, the headline did get you to read this far, didn't it? (It's based on the Po Bronson book, "The Nudist on the Late Shift", which features our protagonist and coincidentally just came out in paperback.) Well, what we're pushing here is basically a vanity page for Mark "Max" Maxham. Understand that this guy is well-read, terribly witty, and interesting enough to care about, even if you didn't go to university with him - as our editor did. Although his site contains the requisite page of bookmarks without context, much of the rest of the page will hold your attention for hours, particularly the ruminations and anecdotes. Read the disgusting foods section only on an empty stomach. We have hope that he'll turn Geeksville into a timeshare, where we can spend a couple of prime weeks each year in our sunset years.
Max: http://maxham.com/mark/
Nudist: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767906039/netsurferdigest
Either this is a really clever promotional campaign for Julie, the actress and object of the obsession or it's a film school project or this chap has to find himself something better to do with his days. Starting with an encounter in the video shop where he works, this bout of adoration becomes unrequited mad love in the blink of an eye, resulting in this shrine, and a journal documenting the pursuit. This fixation has inspired him to film Julie's boyfriend surfing rather badly and apparently dating other women and (this is where we started to have second thoughts) hiding cameras in her house. It's either a freak show extraordinaire or a nouveau "The Spot". We don't know what else to say...
http://www.creepysites.com/julie/ifs.html
Portal to the Web Underground...
If you're faint of heart, impatient, easily offended, squeamish, emotionally vulnerable, a pet lover, a masochist, have an uneasy stomach, or fit any other grouping of people - any, really - please consider yourself warned. The Stile Project will be a difficult place for you to visit without reacting to it in some way. Harsh language abounds; pictures and movies are guaranteed to shock; and cartoons that will never be published in your local newspaper appear. It all compounds to either disgust or fascinate you. After reading directly from Stile's own diary, go on to visit the links in the Project's collection of what the site feels are "Top 5" Web sites. The five weirdest or sexiest (again, the site's opinion), the best use of multimedia, and even the five worst sites ever are set up just to complete your trip into a truly individual reality.http://www.stileproject.com/
Outlandish inventions never cease. Recently, we received word of one described on the site of the Snow Water Corporation: "The Crown Balloon System permits extended travel over jungles, marshes, subartic [sic] tundra, mangrove swamps and other impassable regions." Are you listening, James Bond? Or are you laughing? The text-only corporate promo here sure makes you wonder. We've never seen this invention, which has a US patent number but is not illustrated. These large, stationary balloons are designed for environmental research and mineral exploration. They can carry "up to 16 persons... with periodic resupply by helicopters." They don't fly "except in emergency." Balloon residents throw out grapples - say, over treetops - and pull themselves to their targets. High tech! You may want to fork out for these if you're a drug company in search of exotic plants or if your reindeer are too tired to pull your sled on Christmas eve. This site also describes language tapes for babies and fixed buyout certificates for start-up companies, but clearly, crown balloons (if any have been manufactured) are more likely to capture the public's imagination. We're waiting to see them on the evening news.
http://www.akilo.com/
With the documentary, "Joe DiMaggio: A Hero's Life", PBS continues to fathom baseball as mythology. Joltin' Joe is the graceful, stoic, uncomfortable perfectionist who suffered alone on his throne. What kept him up there was a charismatic personality, a goddess-wife, and the Streak: hits in 56 straight games, a record Stephen Jay Gould calls "the most extraordinary thing that ever happened in American sports." If you missed this American Experience broadcast in early May, the Web site is the next best thing. Read transcripts of interviews with DiMaggio's Yankee team mates, sports writers, and friends; get a look at some great archival photos of bygone brickyards such as Philly's Shibe Park, D.C.'s Griffith Stadium, and wife Marilyn Monroe.
http://www.pbs.org/amex/dimaggio/
Shootin' the Breeze - Literally
"Buckskinning is the reliving of the times between 1700 and 1840," according to JP Finn's Mid America Buckskinners Info Page, which covers living history events in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. JP lists reenactment gatherings in the area for those who enjoy reproducing the life of early American backwoodsmen (and women), plus he gives some learned advice for those just starting out. When reading the page, one might get the impression that most everyday chores involved shooting at this period in time, but JP says the events are for the whole family. If you can get past the creative spelling and the slant of JP's personal politics, this is a solid resource for those interested in all sorts of living history.http://jpfinn.tripod.com/
People are either pro- or strongly anti-seal hunt. There's little middle ground and all views tend to the extreme. This International Fund for Animal Welfare site has an agenda, but it's neither shrill nor insistent about your accepting it. It simply presents its evidence, in the form of easy to view images, videos, and FAQs . That's not to say the images and videos here are easy to look at. It would be hard to thoroughly explore this site and come away with positive views about the annual seal hunt. Even if you are pro-seal hunting, this site is worth a trip. It probably won't change your mind, but you'll know far more about all aspects of the subject.
http://canadasealhunt.ca/
The Online Journalist's Desktop
Since the typical journalist's bookmark file contains zillions of URLs and is measured not in megabytes but megatons, why bother with an online desktop? Because it's easier and it's portable. JournalistExpress lays out on one scrolling page more links than can be effectively handled using the standard browser. Categories include news and information outlets, government agencies, and great reference resources. Add your own URLs and categories. Check Yahoo Astrology regularly without suffering the embarrassment of keeping the URL where anyone can see it. And if you do something stupid like lose your bookmark file, this might save your job.http://www.journalistexpress.com/
Let Someone Else Dredge the Bowels of Your PC
Have you ever had a nagging feeling that something is amiss with your Windows PC, but find yourself lacking in either the time or the money to take it into the shop? PCPitStop is the perfect solution. Simply download the PitStop software and let the tests begin. Once Pitstop has completed evaluating your system, you can read a full summary, including hardware specs, software and OS data, and a list of setting changes that might enhance your PC's performance. The test has been configured to work with IE, and while plug-ins can be downloaded to make it compatible with Netscape, it is probably easier to simply use the IE browser while you are testing your system. We can't guarantee that no harm will come of this, by the way, so don't blame us....http://www.pcpitstop.com/
Online Guide to Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading style sheets (CSS) can make sites look way cool and pump up interactivity, but many Web designers find browser incompatibilities cause minor and/or major nightmares. The House of Style has expanded its resources to help both new and experienced developers exploit the potential of this adjunct to HTML. It covers Versions 1 and 2 (CSS1 and CSS2). Its Browser Compatibility Guide, long a useful tool, is an authoritative source on recent browser upgrades (Netscape 6 beta, Opera 3.6, and Windows and Mac versions of Internet Explorer). You might want to start with the tutorials, where even CSS veterans are likely to gain insight. The section of links is rich, while the Handbook has plenty of basic information, hints, and tips. Plan to spend time here.http://www.westciv.com/style_master/house/
|
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.
|
eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists At Work
Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs at the Turn of the Millennium
Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive GuideONLINE TRAVEL
Alternative Tour of the Oregon Coast
NSD does not expect all of our dear vacationing readers to file lock-step on the big bus and tour the stars' homes. We allow that some will wish to run around in the altogether on quiet, sandy beaches, or perhaps even select a secluded lagoon and get good and hammered. Others may choose to creep down to the beach on the mystical Hobbit Trail just north of Devil's Elbow state park close to Florence, Ore. For those who insist on horseback riding through singing sand dunes, or touring a botanical garden of carnivorous plants, do we have a site for you. Writer Andre Hagestedt, who lives in Salem, Ore., reveals secret coastal spots only a local with a great deal of joie de vivre can describe.http://www.navicom.com/~andrehage/alternacoast.html
Island Ireland focuses on the many resources available for anything and everything Irish. If you're planning a trip to the Emerald Isle, you'll be able to put together a solid itinerary of interesting places, sights, and experiences by looking through their rich directory. A glimpse into the vast and diverse Irish culture will show a variety of tastes in all fields, particularly those of music and the arts. If you're of Irish heritage, pursue both the history of Ireland and your own genealogy. You can even study and listen to the native Irish language as children attending Irish primary school do today. No matter what is initially sought by visitors to Island Ireland, they will find themselves empowered by its hand-picked selection and the highly informed and relaxed manner in which it is presented.
http://islandireland.com/
The Air Travel Department Store
Air Travel Center calls itself "a department store of products, services, and information for people who travel by air." Like some department stores, it tries to be everything for everyone. You may have to hunt for a particular feature in the hodgepodge of descriptions of content, lists of links (including a useful link to a ticket auction), banner ads, and pulldown lists to whisk you off to other destinations. There really is a lot here. Or there. If your initial impression is one of chaos - as at a large urban airport on a major holiday - stay cool. Explore. Track flights. Do a little research. You'll find resources here for vacation and trip planning. (In the spirit of all-in-oneness, you can book tickets here for travel by train in Europe.) Think gateway or travel agency, and you'll get the picture.http://www.airtravelcenter.com/
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
In-Your-Face Gardening Resource
This isn't exactly Martha Stewart-style gardening advice. Ketzel Levine's TalkingPlants site is excellent eclectic gardening advice, lots of humor, and lots and lots of attitude. The mix of radio segments, celebrity interviews, seriously funny parody, and more is just about perfect.http://www.talkingplants.com/
Search Engine Ratings Database
PlanetClick's Web Discovery Engine calls itself "a people-powered search engine that displays results according to ratings and reviews by its users." The unique ratings system allows the most highly regarded sites to appear first in the results, and the top-rated sites appear in the PlanetClick Top 10 lists.http://www.planetclick.com/
If you're tired of composing brilliant e-mails of complaint only to have them totally ignored, try this site. Not only do your complaints reach a wide audience, but the target of your complaint learns just how widespread an audience your complaint is reaching. That tends to get you prompt action.
http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/
Ad hoc online polling is wildly popular. The results may not be accurate, but the process sure is fun. This site lets you participate in a variety of polls and submit your own queries. You can even post the polls on your own Web site. This site offers both a great concept and a great product.
http://www.voteserve.com/
Okay, so we don't know how to darn. We don't know how to invisibly mend our old sweaters. So we asked the forum, and are waiting on a reply. Join up, help out others, or at least feel brainy answering something, and post a few of your own. We don't even know what sort of thread to use....
http://www.whquestion.com/
Robert Heinlein's famous acronym TANSTAAFL (do a Web search for it) has met its antagonist: there is such a thing as free ISP. A bunch were tested by Hereontheweb, who offer a table full of results. Standard choices range from Lycos to FreeWWWeb. Hmm, Lisa must be the sysadmin at the Simpsons ISP.
http://www.hereontheweb.com/freeinternet.htm
Virtually American (from Toronto) began with a simple question: Why wasn't there a network devoted to audio drama and comedy? There is now. You'll find a delightful collection of streaming audio programs featuring adventures, comedies, drama, political thrillers, and much more.
http://virtuallyamerican.com/
SOFTWARE
This release is all about speed. PHP, for the uninitiated, is a programming language that can be embedded in Web pages. It's typically used to connect Web pages to databases on the fly. This new, better performing version also has a number of other improvements of interest to PHP programmers.http://www.php.net/version4/
CORRECTIONS
We featured the ipFox.com URL redirection service in NSD 6.05, at which point it promptly had its account stopped for spamming. It's back, and no sour grapes.http://www.ipfox.com/