BREAKING SURF
| Film Threat vs. the Mailing-List Spammers |
| Macolyte Vigilante Catches eBay Fraud |
| And Santa's Tracking Number Is.... |
| Spiritual Sodomy |
| The American's Guide to Speaking British |
| Churches of London |
| Retracing an 1863 Stroll across the US |
| Avant Guide's Destination Portal |
| The Only Symphony That Requires Your Phone to Ring |
| The Connors' Indie Shorts |
| Not Coming to a Theater Near You |
| "Paris Is a Wanker" |
| TV Show Episode Directory |
| Netsurfer Recommendations |
| Found Stuff, the E-Zine |
| A Site for Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure |
| Quakes that Shake, Rattle, and Roll |
| Hug a Bug |
| Always Look on the Bright Side of Life... |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
BREAKING SURF
Froogle, Google's Consumer Item Searcher
Google has just launched this punny Web site to help you find consumer products. Its spiders troll through online merchant sites and build an index for your searching pleasure. You can search by category or by product. Type "socks" and you get 356,189 hits from such stores as Fogdog, L.L. Bean, REI, and Nordstrom. You can narrow your search by price range but that's about it for options. It's a clever leverage of Google's vast database and a fast, fast way to find merchants who carry just the item you want. The only surprising thing is why Google is not already selling advertising on this site, even if it is experimental. If you're an online merchant you probably want to arrange to feed Froogle with your inventory - the About page has info. the other pricefinder sites on the Web can't be too happy with this development.http://froogle.google.com/
Google Viewer and Google WebQuotes
As part of its neverending quest for cooler search technology, Google Labs has released two new experimental applications. Google Viewer presents your search results as a slideshow of Web pages. It's easier for you to just view it then for us to try and explain it. The second application, Google WebQuotes, is actually an official Google extension of Googlism's technology, first appearing earlier this year (see NSD 8.44). Search for a term and not only will you get the search results but also comments from other Web pages. As Google states, this "offers a convenient way to get a third party's opinion about each of the returns for your search, providing you with more information about that site's credibility and reputation." Try searching for "Netsurfer Digest" and look at all 18 of the comments we generate.Google Viewer: http://labs.google.com/gviewer.html
Google WebQuotes: http://labs.google.com/cgi-bin/webquotes/
NSD 8.44: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/sub/v08/nsd.08.44.html#OC1
The Pew Internet and American Life Project continues its excellent series of studies, this time looking at the use of e-mail at work. About 62% of all employed Americans have Internet access and virtually all of those (98%) use e-mail on the job. Despite the experience of a minority - only about 6% receive more than 50 messages per day - "few feel overwhelmed and most are pleased with the way email helps them do their jobs." The vast majority, 73%, spend less than an hour per day dealing with their e-mail. None of that 73% work at Netsurfer HQ. Perhaps the most surprising finding is that 71% of the polled say that only a little of the work e-mail they receive is spam. Those corporate IT departments must be doing a pretty good job of spam filtering. You can find many more insightful numbers in the report.
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=79
As an undergrad, our editor had to determine whether the Loch Ness monster could exist, from an ecological basis. (It can - there's a heck of a lot of fish in that lake.) Ph.D. ecology student Brian Thomas undertook a similar study - what's the vampire carrying capacity of a human population? Despite the efforts of Buffy the vampire slayer to drive a stake through the heart of anything belonging to the long-incisor set in Sunnydale, the neck-fond critters still seem numerous. Thomas derived some fancy equations, built a theoretical model, loaded in some assumptions and solved for the equilibrium population of vampires and humans. We don't think Science or Nature would accept this article, but it's cleverly amusing and comes to the interesting conclusion that, given Sunnydale's size and Buffy's activity, it all hangs together ecologically. But Buff's on a treadmill - pray she doesn't falter! Meanwhile, we trust our cleverer readers will check the math and make sure it's rigorous.
Thomas: http://www.stanford.edu/~bthomas/vamp/vampecology.htm
Buffy: http://www.upn.com/shows/buffy/
Every inhabitant of Amsterdam, or any other city for that matter, has an invisible map of the city in his head. How he moves through the city and choices made in doing so are determined by this mental map. To get a handle on some of these maps, from Oct. 3 to Dec. 2, 2002, residents of this Dutch city were asked to carry a modified PDA equipped with a GPS, antenna, and always-on wireless Internet connection. As these subjects moved about the city, their activities traced out individual and composite maps. The resulting images were displayed as part of the exhibition Maps of Amsterdam 1866-2000 at the Amsterdam City Archives. It's an intriguing experiment that we wish governments wouldn't get wind of, but the resulting movies of the human tracings are strangely absorbing. All of this was the inspiration and work of the Waag Society for old and new media. The big QuickTime movie is the best part of this place, if you've got the bandwidth to run it.
http://www.waag.org/realtime/en_frame.html
Piracy and the Evolution of Online Distribution
Tim O'Reilly, a publisher of some repute, weighs in with his opinion on the threats, if any, that piracy poses to online publishing. O'Reilly knows what he's talking about since he was one of the early pioneers in the digital distribution of content. Many of the books his company publishes are available online and in digital form. In the face of controversies that swirl around file sharing, O'Reilly has some lessons to impart about obscurity, taxation, the inherent morality of consumers, shoplifting, and the real threats to existing publishers. His screed is well worth reading, based as it is on actual experience.http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2002/12/11/piracy.html
The outcome of an Australian Net libel case is sending ripples through international legal circles and the boardrooms of large multinational publishers. The Australian high court has approved a homespun online libel case against an American company. The lawsuit was brought by an Australian businessman against the Dow Jones news organization, publishers of the Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones had hoped to avoid the suit by claiming that because its servers are in New Jersey, the Australian court had no jurisdiction. The High Court of Australia ruled that because Dow Jones has assets at risk in Australia, that company will be forced to go to trial in the Aussie legal system, which is much less favorable to publishers than the US courts. CNET puts the story in a larger international legal context.
CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976988.html
Opinion: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/2002/56.html
Got some time? There's a lot to read at CNET's Vision Series 3, which probed the minds of 20 visionaries for views of futuretech. We liked Richard Stallman's and Steve Perlman's pieces in particular, which are more feisty and articulate than most. Overall, these industry visionaries reach reassuring conclusions about a revolution that continues to permeate all walks of life. For most, security isn't an overriding concern, although there are issues to deal with - more related to crime than to terrorism. There's a strong desire to keep the clumsy hands of government and the stifling weight of legislation out of the innovation cookie jar. The Vision Series 3 agglomeration is available as an 88-page PDF download if you prefer that to sorting through hypertext. If we have one quibble it's that many of the featured visionaries are pretty good about figuring out what's going on right now but find the future rather foggy.
http://news.com.com/1200-1120-975281.html
Talk about giving new meaning to found art! This online exhibit of images from Landsat 7 reveals our planet with visually stunning but alien-looking images that resemble everything from marbled paper to modern art. Words won't do, although an MSNBC story makes clear just how many images Landsat produces and how cartographers selected the images for this exhibit. Roughly one image was chosen for every 10,000 existing in the ever growing archive. Set your monitor to stunning!
MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/news/842531.asp
NASA: http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/earthasart/
ESA Sponsors SF Writing Contest
Hannah Arendt once observed that any understanding of the space program would have to begin with an understanding of early 20th-century science fiction. The European Space Agency (ESA) clearly agrees. The ESA is sponsoring the Clarke-Bradbury International Science Fiction Competition in the hope of inspiring a new generation of space scientists and astronauts. ESA is serious; it has already surveyed much early science fiction to find ideas that might become technologies in the near future. NASA has taken similar steps, Wired reports, and actually funds studies that may lead to technology resembling the space elevators in Arthur C. Clarke's novel, "The Fountains of Paradise". If you're between 15 and 30 years old, fire up your word processor, and write an inspirational tale of space travel and exploration by the end of February. Who knows, you might find yourself in the company of Clarke or Bradbury.Competition: http://www.itsf.org/index.php?PAGE=contest%2Findex.html
Wired: http://wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,56553,00.html
Ecliptic Enterprises presents videos of rocket launches, taken with cameras strapped on the missiles. We particularly liked the STS-112 launch, Shuttle Atlantis, complete with crackling roar of the rockets and commentary. The Mars Odssey on Delta 11 launch is also neat, though silent, as there's a lot going on in this one, with booster rockets falling away, second stage separation, fairings being jettisoned, and an instrument package spin-up. It's fascinating stuff.
http://www.eclipticenterprises.com/gallery_rocketcam.shtml
Around this time of year, most Americans are thinking of pie - as in pumpkin, apple, and pecan. Across the Pacific, however, Yasumasa Kanada was into a very different kind: pi, actually. He and his team broke his own old record by calculating the value of pi to 1.24 trillion decimal places. This doesn't do a whole lot for stodgy folks like us, but it does help to test the accuracy of supercomputers, among other things. For the rest of us, a value of 3.14 for the ratio of circumference to diameter is close enough. The San Francisco Chronicle has a story, and should you wish to train for a pi-eating contest, try Kanada's lab Web page.
Kanada: http://www.super-computing.org/
Chronicle: http://tinyurl.com/3gp0
Game developer Gareth Davies looks at different types of combat systems used in role-playing games. While the current vogue is overwhelmingly for real-time gaming, that is hardly the only possible paradigm through which one may whack one's virtual enemies. Davies's thoughtful piece reaches back over 1,500 years with an analysis of chess as the prototypical turn-based game combat system. From there, he goes on to look at the pros and cons of real time, real time with pause, and phase-based systems, all of which have a real impact not only on the mechanics of game play, but also on its very philosophy and depth of player experience. His perspective is of interest to fans of all role-playing games, computer based and no.
http://www.rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=21
ICANN Outcast Auerbach Speaks Plainly
ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, doesn't seem to have many friends left. This O'Reilly Network interview with Karl Auerbach, still a public ICANN Board member until his term expires in a few weeks, is another reminder that the Net doesn't guarantee transparency in politics. If even half of Auerbach's claims are true, and there is no reason not to believe them, the Internet's governing body is a sham. Perhaps the most remarkable point Auerbach makes is that the Internet can survive without ICANN, but ICANN cannot survive without the Internet. It's politics as usual, but politics that also directly affects all Net users.http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/policy/2002/12/05/karl.html
Consequences of a Firmer ICANN
ICANN has recently come under fire for allowing domain-name registrar organizations to assign names in the absence of verifiable contact information. While it seems to be a sensible step, privacy advocates have raised some concerns that the move to tighten up and secure the system against Internet fraud may have unintended consequences. CNET has the story. We've also linked to the ICANN report.CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976278.html
Report: http://www.dnso.org/dnso/notes/20021130.NCTransferTF-gaining-and-losing-registrars.html
San Diego Start-Up Aims at Interactive Gamers
San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter is the unlikely venue of an unlikely start-up. Screen 15 in the Pacific Theater complex is being transformed from a stadium-seating movie venue into a battlezone: a multi-player gaming center boasting not only video screens, but state-of-the-art high-res screens hanging around the room. ESports Arena, the San Diego start-up, hopes to cash in on the computer gaming market by providing venues designed specifically for the interactive gaming enthusiast. It's a niche market, to be sure, but it's been described as one of the most lucrative markets in existence. Read more at the San Diego Union-Tribune.http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20021205-9999_1b5gaming.html
IAB Recommends New Universal Online Ad Package
Based on a study by some of its biggest members - AOL, MSN, Yahoo, and others - the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is recommending a simplified new collection of standard online ad sizes. The purpose of the change would be to reduce the costs and inefficiencies associated with the planning, buying, and creative development of online media. Research shows that fewer and bigger ads receive more attention and are more effective, especially with the growth in consumer use of broadband. There are four new proposed larger formats, ranging in file size up to about 30 kB for GIF/JPEG and Flash content. The press release and the spec have all the details, including some justification for why the industry should move to the new formats.Press release: http://www.iab.net/news/pr_2002_12_11.asp
Spec: http://www.iab.net/standards/adsizes.asp
ONLINE CULTURE
Film Threat vs. the Mailing-List Spammers
Having found out the hard way that there really is no easy way to add three inches permanently, we're totally with Chris Gore, who runs the Film Threat indie film site and an associated Yahoo mailing list. The mailing list was invaded by spammers promoting a Julia Roberts biography several months ago, and Gore accepted it as an unfortunate one-time thing. When in November it happened again, he didn't just get mad, he decided to get even. After his subscribers found themselves spammed with an invitation to an e-flirting site, Gore did some snooping. He tracked the spammers down to an address in Texas and on Nov. 18 posted their home and work phone numbers and home address, and suggested that Carollton, Tex. residents post flyers naming and shaming the individuals responsible. Gore has vowed to sue the spammers under California's anti-spam laws, and posted a message requesting help Nov. 20.Nov. 18: http://www.filmthreat.com/GoreyDetails.asp?Id=221
Nov. 20: http://www.filmthreat.com/GoreyDetails.asp?Id=222
Macolyte Vigilante Catches eBay Fraud
Here's a tale to discourage person-to-person e-commerce, to insult Windows users, to embarrass the Chicago Police Department, the FBI, and the Secret Service, and which hopefully will end with Christmas in jail. Yet, it's a heartwarming story. Jason Eric Smith sold a primo Powerbook on eBay only to receive a rubber certified check as the COD payment. Determined either to get properly reimbursed or to prevent his beloved old Mac from being soiled with criminal hands, Smith managed to track down the name, phone number, and address of the person who had defrauded him. He had requested and received help from folks populating a number of online Mac forums. Once he had the incriminating data in hand, he asked the Chicago Police Department and a number of federal police agencies to arrest the criminal, but they all refused. As Smith was considering his own brand of vigilante justice, finally police in Markham, Ill. agreed to help. The Slashdot reaction swings between admiration and derision.Smith: http://www.remodern.com/caught.html
Slashdot: http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/02/12/12/2113222.shtml
And Santa's Tracking Number Is....
Does Santa Claus exist? If so, where is he really located? And can you find him in less than two days? Fortunately, modern delivery technology makes the task absurdly easy. All you have to do is send him a letter via FedEx and use that company's excellent online tracking system to see where it goes. David McCreery did just that. The results may surprise you. Incidentally, talk about cool jobs: McCreery was a photo supervisor at the 2000 Olympic Games.http://www.davidm.net/personal/fedex.html
Well known evangelist and failed Presidential contender Pat Robertson rails against the evils of homosexuality on a regular basis. So why are the Amazon customers who browse the entry for his book "Six Steps to Spiritual Revival" also browsing "The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Men"? Ah, the wonders of modern data mining technology! In this case, the Amazon connection under the "Customers who shopped for this item also shopped for these items" section was likely a deliberate work of clever social Web engineering. Somebody got lots of people to visit sequentially the two books' listings on Amazon, thus tricking the system into creating a link between them. The links have since been removed, but still, full points for creativity to the social hackers. The Register has the story and a screen shot. In the interest of fairness and rampant capitalism, we include the links to both books.
Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/28468.html
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590520556/netsurferdigest
Anal Sex: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157344121X/netsurferdigest
ONLINE TRAVEL
The American's Guide to Speaking British
This pukka site is the dog's bollocks. While the Yanks and the Brits speak the same language, there are certain terms you had better get to know unless you want it all to turn pear-shaped. For example, go into a British cake shop and tell the bird behind the counter that you have been having a gander at her beautiful buns, and she won't throw a wobbly. On the contrary, she'll probably be chuffed to bits, because in England "buns" are a type of grub rather than your fanny. While we're at it, it's probably best to avoid the word "fanny" altogether - just take our word for it. And if you're on the piss down the boozer and some bloke asks if he can bum a fag, don't start any aggro and don't call the Old Bill - there's nothing dodgy about it, he's not trying to chat you up, he just wants a bit of backy. By now you probably haven't a clue what we're on about and you feel a bit of a pillock - so take a butcher's at this site. Sorted.http://www.effingpot.com/
The Square Mile in London is a global financial center where nearly 500 foreign banks have an office. Hidden among the banks are 50 current or former places of worship. Originally, there were twice as many, but Vikings, plagues, the Great Fire, industrial revolution, and the Blitz have taken their toll. The current threat of indifference is being tackled by this Web site, which documents the stories and designs (many by Christopher Wren) of the houses of worship. Many churches are linked to famous players in history: Benjamin Franklin was a printer in St. Bartholomew the Great; US President John Quincy Adams was married at All Hallows-by-the Tower; Oliver Cromwell was married in St. Giles'; and Shakespeare lived in the parish of St. Andrew by the Wardrobe. Each church has detailed maps, which could prove useful for fraudulent bankers as St. Ethelreda Ely on Ely Place is still a place of sanctuary. Once in Ely Place, even just the street, you cannot be arrested.
http://www.cityoflondonchurches.com/index.htm
Retracing an 1863 Stroll across the US
In spring 1863, Lt. Col. Arthur Lyon Freemantle, of Britain's Coldstream Guards, walked with a mule from the US-Mexico border to New York City. He ate polecat, hitched a ride with a river boat on the Mississippi, witnessed the battle of Gettysburg, was arrested as a spy in Maryland, and sailed home from New York. During 2002, his descendent Tom Freemantle retraced his footsteps over the 2,600-mile route in support of St. John Ambulance and Covenant House. Tom Freemantle's monthly diary extracts make for thought-provoking reading. He walked for seven months with his faithful pack-mule, Browny. Along the way, they mainly camped out but Freemantle was surprised by the welcome he encountered during the trip. He concluded that if "a stumpy legged Englishman with a poor sense of geography can make it 2,600 miles through 14 states, it can't be so bad out there."http://www.mini-mule.co.uk/index.html
Avant Guide's Destination Portal
You've cancelled your newspaper subscription for the next three weeks, your best friend has agreed to water your plants, and your suitcase is bulging at the seams. You're all ready for that vacation of your dreams and you've prepared well, or have you? Did you remember to check the currency exchange, or locate an up-to-date map of your destination? No need to worry, as now you can find all your travel needs on one Web site - especially if you're heading for one of the eight cities featured at Avant Guide. The site has detailed travel goodies galore, many of which will help no matter where you're headed. From hotels, car rentals, and maps, to cultural events, you'll find what you need. What makes Avant Guide stand out from the rest is the personals connection feature. Now you can meet like-minded individuals in your destination city. Meet new friends before your plane even touches down. The site is actually a campaign to get you to buy the Avant Guide books, but that doesn't stop it from being useful in its own right.http://www.avantguide.com/
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Only Symphony That Requires Your Phone to Ring
You may have heard about this on NPR or at Slashdot. It's a concert that requires that you leave your cellphone on during the show. In fact, your phone is part of the show. You show up, register your phone number, and get a seat based on your phone type. A new ringtone is sent to your phone, and then the magic begins. You become part of a 30-minute experimental concert called Dialtones (A Telesymphony). The concept is fascinating, and makes one wonder about the future of interactive performances. What if you went to a murder mystery dinner theatre and got a mysterious phone call as one of your clues? Fascinating stuff, this.http://www.flong.com/telesymphony/
If you love independent short films, this site is a must visit. Meet brothers Joseph and Dylan Connor, the masterminds behind such films as "The Other Osbournes", "MP3 the Movie", and "Fast Food Adventures". This clever collection of visual stimuli is brilliant in its simplicity and originality. Emerging in the independent scene just a few years ago, the Connors have carved a niche for themselves in the film industry. While the acting isn't Oscar material, you'll find these two writers/producers/directors are on the cusp of stardom. In a world of big budget films, the little guys are often overlooked. The Connor brothers are proof that if you make enough noise, Hollywood will stand up and take notice. Access to the site is free, and you can view the films in either Windows Media or RealVideo formats. Films run up to 15 minutes long. Grab the popcorn, turn up the volume, and indulge in the artistic ingenuity that characterizes this dynamic duo.
http://www.filmwave.com/
Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Subjectivity be damned. Bold, sweeping, dogmatic statements of "objective" truths are what film reviewing should be all about. And so while we don't necessarily agree that "Die Hard" is a version of "A Christmas Carol" or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", we certainly enjoyed reading how someone thought it might be. We also just love top-five lists, even when they get it wrong. OK, so the pink elephants scene in "Dumbo" is indeed the best representation of a drug trip in film, and we have no argument with the final shot of "Planet of the Apes" (the original) being the best film ending ever, but we can't believe that "Wake up, time to die" in "Blade Runner" doesn't make it into the top five death scenes. But the meat of this site is the thought-provoking movie reviews of non-current movies. As we suggest, you might not agree with them, but we think they'll give you something to exercise the gray matter over. For example "though it deservingly earns praise for its technique, Face/Off is distinguished for its philosophy," might seem an odd observation in isolation, but check out the full review of John Woo's film and it kind of makes sense in a strange sort of way.http://www.notcoming.com/
Here's a new Flash version of "Romeo and Juliet", one in touch with the youth of today. Think about it. What are our young teens listening to these days? What are they doing? When they get online, they adopt screennames that use slashes and other non-alphabetic characters for letters. While adults adopted some common abbreviations like LOL in order to make online conversation more expedient, younger online chatters have brought it to a new subculture. This is a translation of Shakespeare's classic work about youth for the youth of today. Those easily offended or Shakespearean purists need not apply.
http://www.myboringlife.com/l33t/romeo.html
The Stay Tuned TV Episode Guide isn't for the casual TV viewer, who doesn't care what the episode titles are or were. Hard core fans care, and while they may have episode title lists for some of their faves (those with Web sites of their own), this site collates episode titles of hundreds of shows from currently active programs to "The Avengers" which premiered in 1961. Although there's no explicit note, the site is apparently limited to shows that were broadcast in the UK.
http://drwho.users.btopenworld.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.
For more selections, check out: Netsurfer Books: http://www.netsurf.com/nsb/ Netsurfer Library: http://www.netsurf.com/nsl/ |
A Christmas Story
The Rural Life
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
His Dark Materials Boxed Set (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass)
Excel Chartshttp://www.foundmagazine.com/
A Site for Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure
Prevention Magazine recently relaunched its Web site, choosing to focus on the needs of its online audience and the abilities of the medium instead of just dumping the content of the print magazine online. The site provides additional interactive tools, like a recipe finder that you have to log in to use, and breaking medical news that can be communicated to the online audience before the magazine goes to press. The focus is on women's issues (men should unanimously answer "yes" to the question on the front page of the site when we visited: "Should You Skip Your Pap Test?"), but it seems to run the entire gamut of women's health issues, so it may garner a loyal online audience. Only time will tell.http://www.prevention.com/
SURFING SCIENCE
Quakes that Shake, Rattle, and Roll
Earthquakes are part of the human condition, for many of us, but if you're like most, you probably don't know all that much about them, aside from the fact that they disconcertingly rock your world from time to time. Well, the friendly folks at USGS are there to help, and while their site opens with data relating to northern California, it's pretty easy to search for material relating to any American region. Many of the pages have pictures. If you live in quake-prone regions, you may find the place of comfort. If not, they also provide guidelines for emergency stashes, and these can be useful in the event of any disaster. Disaster doesn't only happen to people who live in trailer parks.http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/
Visit Bugbios - "shameless promotion of insect appreciation" - for a virtual tour of a bug's life, and we aren't talking about the movie. The study of bugs, entomology, is explored in this online resource. Each section of the site provides insight into the most widely misunderstood creatures on the planet, as shown by the use of "bug" to mean all little multi-legged creatures. Begin with a look at Entophiles, a chapter that includes insect macrophotography combined with descriptive passages. View photos of various insects from Ecuador, Brazil, California, and Hawaii. Next, visit Cedigest for a look at how insects affect our culture. You'll discover how insects play a role in art, religion, and other facets of humanity. Browse Class:insecta for an educational look at butterfly wings. As this site develops, additional bug courses will be added to this section. Finally, tour Entolinks for a glimpse at other Web sites catering to the insect world. This site is an excellent resource for students, teachers, and insect lovers everywhere.
http://www.insects.org/
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life...
The Bright Side is a relatively new site focused on relieving the suffering of individuals who have mental disorders. After all, if a mental disorder is part of who you are, should you really be "suffering" from it? That's the question that brought Shie Rozow to the creation of this Web site and its all-volunteer staff, in order to help others like himself. The site is well designed, intuitively navigable, and, above all, friendly and easy to read. It addresses some fundamental problems with the way we handle depression today, such as the fact that a suicide help-line doesn't do any good for the introverted folks considering suicide, who would rather die than talk to another human. Even if you just feel a little down, the Bright Side can cheer you up.http://www.the-bright-side.org/