BREAKING SURF
| Xbox Live's Voice Communication and Online Culture |
| Netsurfer Recommendations |
| Gulf War II Drinking Game |
| Saddam's Cyber Palace |
| Quizilla |
| For Mystery Lovers |
| Shedd Aquarium's SEA |
| The Teddy Bear Museum |
| Arm Wrestlers United |
| TV Theme Songs |
| Index to Paper Models |
| A Little Problem With Subscriptions E-Mail |
| The URL for the Best in Movie One-Liners |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
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BREAKING SURF
A Definitive Collection of Iraq Coverage Links
CyberJournalist.net is hosting this extensive collection of resources devoted to coverage of the war in Iraq. In addition to links to online coverage by major media outlets, the site offers several other major categories. There are links to numerous blogs and diaries from embedded journalists, and other Iraq-related blogs. One section has links to multimedia, another has interactive stories, and there's a collection of links to special packages and other work. This is a great resource not only for keeping up with total coverage of the war but also for finding less well known and frequently interesting outlets of information.http://www.cyberjournalist.net/features/iraqcoverage.html
Many people, including some of our readers, question whether Salam Pax, a.k.a. the Baghdad blogger, is real. (See last week's NSD for more.) Might he just be someone practicing an elaborate hoax? Tech journalist Paul Boutin thinks Pax is the real McCoy after ferreting out that he probably uses Uruklink, Iraq's state ISP, to transmit his blogs to the Blogspot server in California. Diane, who writes the Letter from Gotham blog, has maintained more personal communications with Pax and also thinks he's genuine. Her conclusion is based on personal but pretty convincing evidence regarding, in part, Jewish history in pre-1948 Iraq. The "Where is Raed?" blog seems authentic, and its commentary rings true. The tone is of someone who is sad war has come to his city and who regrets its impact on normal life. For a deeper look at Pax, check out this superb article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Finally, Wired has a story about how the immense popularity of the blog was causing bandwidth problems for the hosting ISP.
NSD 9.11: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/sub/v09/nsd.09.11.html#BS1
Boutin: http://paulboutin.weblogger.com/2003/03/20
Letter from Gotham: http://gotham.realwomenonline.com/archives/002105.html
Inquirer: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/5490233.htm
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,58206,00.html
Raed: http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/
Iraq isn't just any old tin-pot place but boasts a number of civilization's firsts, including first systematic cultivation of land and the first written alphabet. Indeed, of all places to fight a war, none may be more steeped in history than Iraq. Six thousand years ago, long before the rise of the Egyptian and Greek civilizations, the rich land of the fertile crescent and the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers nourished the ancient civilization of Sumeria. After the collapse of the Sumerians, Hammurabi of Babylon (of Code of Hammurabi fame: an eye for an eye, for nobles, anyway), ruled there. Later, the Persian Empire ruled the land until the Arab conquest and the introduction of Islam. The Saleh Iraq Home Page uses modern events as a short postscript to a review of the deep past. Conversely, History of Iraq uses the events of antiquity as brief prelude to a detailed survey of modern Iraqi history. And of course, as always, the CIA World Factbook can be counted on for dry data and facts.
Saleh: http://home.achilles.net/~sal/iraq_history.html
History of Iraq: http://www.countryreports.org/history/iraqhist.htm
CIA World Factbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html
How prisoners of war (POWs) are to be treated is an issue that was raised this week after American POWs were filmed in Iraq. In as an ideal a world as we've managed, such issues are governed by the Geneva Conventions, a series of treaties created in 1949 out of the horrific experiences of World War II, and amended in 1977. The conventions are supposed to serve as the bedrock for waging civilized or just war, though it is debatable whether any entity fighting for its survival will pay much attention to a piece of paper in a Swiss vault. Moral considerations are frequently not a luxury indulged in by the desperate or fanatic combatant. The International Red Cross has the full text of the Geneva Conventions online, including the conventions that deal with POWs. There's also a guide to the signatories, although such a list is complicated by the fact that countries have options other than just ratifying the treaty.
http://www.icrc.org/eng/party_gc
The Philosophical Theory of Just War
"When enemies differ greatly because of different religious beliefs, race, or language, war conventions have rarely been applied." This quote, from the entry about the theory of just war in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, refers to rules of war such as, for example, the Geneva Conventions. It is certainly eerily on target with regard to the current war in Iraq. Wide swaths of the world see Gulf War II as a war of civilizations between combatants that differ in race, language, and religious belief. The philosophical theory of just war deals exactly with the justification of how and why wars, such as the current one, are fought. The encyclopedia entry lucidly and succinctly treats the subject, which very much applies to the Iraq conflict.http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/j/justwar.htm
The English Al-Jazeera Web Site, Occasionally
Al-Jazeera, the Arabic news network, launched an English edition of its Web site - which was promptly hacked. At press time, the standard Arabic Al-Jazeera site was standing in for the English pages, although access is sporadic at best and performance problems render the sites unusable. The West sees much of the news Al-Jazeera presents as partisan propaganda, but at least that network shows the real horrors of war - a dose of sad but essential reality not much in evidence in the sanitized-for-your-protection American media coverage. Wired has the story.Al-Jazeera English: http://english.aljazeera.net/
Al-Jazeera Arabic: http://www.aljazeera.net/
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,58238,00.html
EarthViewer3D in the Spotlight
The EarthViewer3D map visualization application is receiving much publicity by virtue of its use in making war maps by television outlets worldwide. So is Keyhole, the company behind it. Keyhole's 3-D mapping software is being used to provide spectacular synthesized images of the Iraqi countryside. Using satellite and other data, the software allows you to zoom around the landscape as if it were part of a flight simulator. Keyhole's Web site has been inundated with traffic. With so much interest in its product, the company has decided to stop giving away free samples. Keyhole is partly financed by Sony Broadband Entertainment and graphics chip maker Nvidia, and aims to show off and develop graphic technology. Prices range from $80 per year for individuals to thousands per year for businesses. Even non-buyers may appreciate the great-looking, bandwidth-sucking content on the site. The San Jose Mercury News has a bit more on this Silicon Valley company.Earthviewer: http://www.earthviewer.com/
Mercury News: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5455940.htm
Scott Fahlman has a solution to spam, of both the telephone and e-mail varieties. The idea behind this potentially potent answer to e-mail clutter and telemarketers is fairly simple. Fahlman thinks your attention is valuable, and says that if someone wants to reach you by phone or e-mail, they should pay you for the privilege of interrupting you. Payments can take place through electronic stamps or tokens attached to calls and e-mail. If you welcome the communication, no transaction occurs - but if you don't, the token is cashed and you're a little bit richer. The concept promises to shift dramatically the economics of spamming and to ensure a reduction of this modern scourge. Of course, making the plan work is the hard part, and we're dubious it will be implemented (watch this space for eating crow). Fahlman thinks alternative plans to control spam such as legislation, spam filters, or unlisted phone numbers and secret e-mail addresses are far less useful. If you want to read up on this, we advise you to read the paper first and then look at the discussion, which contains further explanation and more on the practical aspects of the concept. The paper explaining the concept in detail is published in the IBM Systems Journal in PDF format and is easy to understand.
Paper: http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/414/forum.pdf
Discussion: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/spam-discussion.htm
Meanwhile, Anti-Spam Legislation Takes Off
Both the UK and California have initiated anti-spam proposals. A California anti-spam bill passed in the state senate allows a resident to sue spammers for $500 for each spam received. The state would take an additional $250 fine on top of that to fund high-tech crimefighting. The UK proposal holds that consumers must consent to receiving marketing material and companies that violate non-consent would face unlimited fines. Consumers would be able to sue for damages. The UK proposal also delves into Web site cookies and mobile phone text messaging. The Guardian looks at the UK while CNET has a tiny piece on the California initiativeGuardian: http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,922865,00.html
CNET: http://news.com.com/2110-1024-994265.html
Who was Adam Osborne, you ask? He was a computer pioneer responsible for two key elements of the modern computer industy. Primarily, he is remembered for developing the first truly portable computer, the distant ancestor of every laptop now in existence. Osborne released the Osborne 1 in 1981. It could fit under an airline seat, weighed about 11 kg (modern laptops start at about 2 kg), had a 4-MHz processor, 64 kB of memory, was packed with a great deal of bundled software, and cost only $1,795. Even in 20-year-old dollars, that's still a good deal. Now for his second claim to fame, or infamy, perhaps. After successfully launching the Osborne 1, Osborne announced a forthcoming improved model which he was not ready to sell just yet. Sales of the Osborne 1 plummeted as everyone decided to wait for the upcoming Vixen computer, and the company went out of business before it could bring the Vixen to market. You can be sure that every computer manufacturer learned a lesson there. Osborne died in India after having suffered for many years from an organic brain disorder which caused him a series of mini-strokes. CNET has the biographical sketch.
Osborne 1: http://oldcomputers.net/osborne.html
CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1044-993918.html
O'Reilly Adopts Shorter Founder's Copyright
O'Reilly, the seemingly omnipresent technical book publisher, is adopting the Founder's Copyright. The latter is an initiative from the Creative Commons to cope with the growing extension of copyright to ever-longer periods. Under the founder's copyright, an author has traditional copyright privileges for 14 years; after that, the work enters the public domain. Given that so many of O'Reilly's tech books have a functional lifespan of less than 14 months, critics might find this move a bit cynical, but it is an interesting attempt to bring copyright back into the realm of the ordinary.O'Reilly: http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/
Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/projects/founderscopyright
Is war good for the Web? As a source of information, the Web is unrivaled, but it is also subject to disruption and other problems. Keynote is keeping track of Internet traffic problems related to the war; so far the biggest issue is one of bandwidth. CNET reports that traffic has spiked about three times normal levels at Yahoo, for example, and another CNET piece tells how military and government sites have been swamped by visitors. Unrelated to network capacity is the problem of war-related Web site defacement and viruses. We wonder how much of this is simply vandalism that uses the war as an occasion to engage in otherwise juvenile behavior. Reuters and F-Secure have info.
Keynote: http://www.keynote.com/news_events/releases_2003/03march20.html
CNET 1: http://news.com.com/1200-1028-993564.html
CNET 2: http://news.com.com/1200-1028-993573.html
Reuters: http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2425026
F-Secure: http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info/iraq.shtml
A no-play list that MTV Europe put in place has been leaked to the rest of us. It's an illuminating memo that demonstrates the lengths to which companies will go to be perceived as politically correct. The memo becomes more interesting when you consider that MTV has never shown much concern for the values of the majority of the citizens it serves. (We should note that there's no evidence that this memo applies to MTV beyond MTV Europe.) One nugget here is the statement that MTV "does not give facts, or opinions based on facts, that are incorrect." Ummm, doesn't the rest of the world think that facts are, well, facts, meaning items of truth? The MTV Europe memo is short, but it displays an amazing length, breadth, and depth of ignorance. "Love Shack"? Nuh-uh - nothing by a band named the B-52s, please. And these are the folks who decide what you get to see on the tube.
http://www.internalmemos.com/memos/memodetails.php?memo_id=1424
Last week, CNN correspondent Kevin Sites's blog was a hot place to visit for his account of the war in northern Iraq. Apparently, his employer could not handle the unedited feed he posted in his blog - at least, that's a plausible conclusion in the absence of other information. CNN asked him to suspend his blogging, which he has done, but he promises that once the current unpleasantness fades away, he will make public all his diaries. CNN has missed an opportunity to amass good will and publicity, here. Sites's text and photo work was widely linked to and provided depth to supplement his short on-camera stand-ups on the network.
http://www.kevinsites.net/
Salon has a take on the Mother of All Gambles. And other stuff. BetonSports.com, an offshore betting organization, offers 15-to-1 odds that Saddam Hussein will still be in control of Iraq by June 30. It offers 150-to-1 one odds that Hussein will join the Backstreet Boys and tour with Elton John. BetonSports.com has all kinds of bets up for grabs, and considers that this sort of thing is just like trafficking in the traditional commodities markets. Some claim that such markets are very accurate in their assessments. So who needs CNN? Follow the money.
http://salon.com/tech/feature/2003/03/20/betting_on_war/index.html
ONLINE CULTURE
Xbox Live's Voice Communication and Online Culture
Microsoft had to have studied the experiences of previous multiplayer online games before it introduced its Xbox Live online gaming network. It's probably no surprise to Microsoft or to veterans of those games to see Xbox Live fall into the same cultural patterns. And those veterans always find newbies and their reactions to encountering the culture for the first time amusingly cute. This BBC article is written by such a newbie. Xbox Live does feature integrated voice comms, a rarity in most multiplayer games, which force players to rely on third-party apps. Some people simply use the network as long-distance telephony.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2857061.stm
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The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq
Regarding the Pain of Others
Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles
The Ideological Origins of the American RevolutionSURFING SITES
The Pentagon's New Operating Paradigm
If you think that the Gap is just a clothing store, that the war with Iraq is just about oil, and that if we could just reduce our dependence on foreign oil we'd never have to deal with the type of people that brought down the World Trade Center, you're overdue for an education. A professor of warfare analysis provides just the read you need here, which originally appeared in the March issue of Esquire. Any article that starts "Let me tell you why military engagement with Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad is not only necessary and inevitable, but good" is a good candidate to grab the attention of even the most ardent leftist. Basically, this excruciatingly logical presentation boils down to just a few observations: globalization is good; and of the roughly 6 billion people on the planet, some 4 billion are more or less hooked into the global economy. Countries tied into networking, copy protection, environmental standards, trade agreements, and other accoutrements of globalization therefore trend toward stability. Security problems derive from the 2 billion people who live in countries in the Gap - those who aren't tied into the globalization beast. Bin Laden and al Qaeda were based first in Sudan and later in Afghanistan, and with good reason, the author notes: they're two of the most disconnected countries in the world.http://www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets/ThePentagonsNewMap.htm
It's not hyperbole to note that the Battle of Britain, in which RAF fighters successfully repelled the attacking Luftwaffe over the skies of England and rescued their nation from almost certain invasion, essentially saved democracy for much of the world. Sadly, however, the importance of this battle in world history is rapidly fading from memory. Among those trying to keep the event in the public consciousness is the Battle of Britain Historical Society, which runs this site dedicated to educating the public about the conflict. Here you can read first-hand accounts from pilots involved in the battle, post questions to experts on the site's bulletin board, and learn about efforts to care for the graves (many of which have fallen into disrepair over the years) of those airmen who were killed in action. You can also see artist's renditions of the Battle of Britain monument, scheduled for completion next year. And way overdue, we might add.
http://www.battleofbritain.net/
The Guinea Pig Club of Burned Aircrew
During the Battle of Britain, in 1940, most pilots suffering severe burns were treated at a new specialist hospital in East Grinstead, England. The flyers were well aware that, at the time, reconstructive and plastic surgery were experimental at best, so they decided to form the Guinea Pig Club in recognition of this fact and to give themselves an excuse to drink. With a measure of humor in the face of trials, the club members composed the "Guinea Pig Anthem", which was meant to be sung with beer tankard in hand. The Secretary had badly burned fingers, which excused him from letter-writing. The Treasurer's legs were damaged, ensuring that he could not abscond with the club's funds. By war's end, the Guinea Pigs numbered 649, from the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The club intended to disband after the war but has instead remained active to promote the welfare of members and to help out new burn patients.http://www.gpigs.fsnet.co.uk/
The Greatest Lego Epic Ever Told
Evil aeons old. A siege by armies of the undead. One man, one destiny, one chance to save the world. Heroes aren't born, they're made. We are, of course, talking about the Kingdom of Ikros, a place shrouded in legend, where the young knight Sir Garalt battles with skeleton warriors and immortal dragons whose breaths can level continents. In Ikros, heroes really are made, not born - they're made of Lego. Yes, part of the fun here is in speculating how much free time the creator of Ikros has on his hands, but the fact remains that he has spun a hugely enjoyable 40-chapter fantasy tale and brought it to life with Lego creations. He's even put together some Flash movie trailers, one of which claims the Kingdom of Ikros to be "the greatest Lego epic ever told." Who are we to disagree?http://www.ozbricks.com/ikros/
Distinguished Women of Past and Present
Distinguished women have in the past often been ignored or sidelined by the history books. However, in recent years there has been a resurgence in interest from scholars, students, and the general public as their previously untold tales were pieced together. Distinguished Women of Past and Present seeks to collect all such information in one place and hence provide a perfect forum for research on notable women of the past and present. Browse here and you'll uncover gems of history such as Ada Byron Lovelace (credited with the design of the first computing machine), Grace O'Malley (pirate queen from Ireland who ruled a wide demesne in Elizabethan times), and Blanche Ames (who was still inventing in her late 80s after a lifetime of creating paint-mixing techniques, lumber cutters, air defenses, and anti-pollution devices). The real lesson here is the sheer variety of skills these women had and used. Entries are searchable by subject or by name.http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/
If a picture is worth a thousand words, all the safety manuals in the world could save some pages by using pictures like these at the Naval Safety Center's Photo of the Week page. An archive of past photos can be found by clicking the appropriately named Previous Photos of the Week link. The variety of human folly documented by amateur photographers and hosted by Uncle Sam is astounding, although the site admits that a few of the snapshots have been staged for the sake of prevention. Most are either candid on-the-scene illustrations of accidents that could happen or scenes of an accident that really did happen. Check out What the Hay? "Folks," the anonymous narrator states, "pictures like this shouldn't exist." While too long to quote here, the text is hilarious yet practical. Be glad you seldom or never get caught on camera when you make a blunder that common sense could have avoided.
http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/default.htm
Museum of Pre-Electric Office Technology
In these days of electronic mail, voice over IP, and ergonomic keyboards, office workers often take for granted how technology has vastly changed the shape of their jobs. Whether this is good news or bad news is open for debate. Let's face it, as technology has made jobs more efficient, many are finding that the efficiency has led to an increased workload. Maybe you're not quite ready to surrender your computer, but a tour through the Early Office Museum will have you visiting - at least temporarily - a simpler time. The easily navigated index lets you explore the equipment, buildings, and people that made up the offices of the 1800s through the mid 1900s. While perusing everything from archaic data-processing machines to the ever-handy paper clip to a strangely erotic stapler animation, you'll learn how offices have evolved into the finely oiled systems they are today.http://www.officemuseum.com/
Keeping on Eye on Those Keeping on Eye on the EU
Although based in London, Statewatch employs a network of contributors in a dozen countries, who focus primarily upon EU civil liberties and openness. Statewatch's database of articles now contains over 26,000 items and is both free and searchable. Statewatch occasionally touches upon North American issues, as when it exposed joint EU-FBI plans for telecom surveillance. A recent report, for example, notes the existence of several secret military intelligence establishments in Spain; two run by Spain, two by the UK, and one by the USA - calling into question the potential for violating the Spanish constitutional guarantee of privacy, among other issues. The Statewatch Bulletin alone justifies a visit for those interested in personal security, civil liberties, immigration, and more.http://www.statewatch.org/
Congress's Baseball Card Collection
One Benjamin K. Edwards once collected 2,100 early baseball cards dating from 1887 to 1914. Carl Sandburg ended up with them and donated them to the Library of Congress, which has made them part of their spectacular American Memory online collection. Search for cards from such improbable teams as the Cleveland Infants or the New York Highlanders. If the back of the card held information (including any ad for the cigarette company whose product the card came packaged in), it's also scanned into the collection. A brief visit here makes it quickly apparent how young boys could have spent hours poring over their baseball cards.http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/bbhtml/bbhome.html
Have you ever found anything related to folk magic in your old British house? If so, Folk Magic in Britain needs you. The site's creator, Brian Hoggard, is gathering information on such discoveries for his academic research and has presented his initial findings here. Among the unusual objects which have been found hidden within walls and under floors are dried cats, witch bottles, and ritual marks. Brooms are often found built into a wall, as this was thought to bring good luck. Builders would place a coin in the hearth during construction. The most common object found is a discarded shoe, which would usually be found in the chimney as this was deemed to be a potential entrance for evil spirits. Witch bottles, by the way, were bottles that contained iron (regarded as a magical metal), urine, and hair, and were meant to fool evil spirits into thinking the bottle was the real person, thus deflecting their wrath.
http://www.folkmagic.co.uk/
Picture it: You've somehow managed to get yourself lost in the wilderness. You're dying of starvation. Your only hope is to start munching on the surrounding flora. But where to begin? Sure, the prickly green thing growing out of that rotten tree stump looks tasty enough, but should you eat it? For answers to this and other questions that we hope you never have to ask yourself, check out John Goude's "Dining on the Wilds" site, which informs visitors on how to survive in nature by eating wild plants and avoiding harmful ones. The site itself is a little scarce on actual dining information (for that you'll have to purchase Goude's video course) but there is a free monthly tip (this month: honey mesquite - yum!) and potentially useful information on how to procure water from a tree branch. It's all an informative read, but before you run into your backyard and start chewing, bear in mind the wild edible plant mantra: "Know before you eat."
http://www.edibleplants.com/
The Chamomile Tea of Web Sites
Shy United is for shy and socially awkward internet users who have trouble interacting in the real world with other people. And it's not porn. Its creator, Shane McKay, set up Shy United this month to serve as a place for people, united in their shyness if you will, to get together online. To be frank, it's a pretty drably laid-out, content-barren site, but what else would you expect? The folks here need some backbone, some Web-savvy boldness. The site has forums (although, as you might expect, the shy don't seem to post a whole lot), horoscopes (strike two), and brief diaries posted by site users, among other features. We particularly liked Valerie's diary - she tells us in very few words that she is a woman of very few words. She may be shy but she sounds classy. For the chamomile tea reference, check out the Kids in the Hall transcript below, although you really need to see the sketch to get the full effect.Shy United: http://www.shyunited.com/
Transcript: http://www.kithfan.org/work/transcripts/three/teashop.html
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
Personally, we don't think they allocate nearly enough drinks for the use of the word "embedded". For a blast from the past, also check out the Gulf War I drinking game as posted on Usenet circa 1991.2003: http://www.gulfwardrinkinggame.com/
1991: http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=Jan.25.18.18.15.1991.1467%40presto.ig.com
Who knew - Saddam Hussein's a blogger! And turns out he's hunkered down not far from Salam Pax. Uday seems to be taking it all calmly, though. Obvious question - where is the Bush blog??
http://saddamhussein.blogspot.com/
Do you like to take quizzes? Are you curious what color you see the world in, or aching to take a host of similar quizzes to identify a host of traits you never knew you had? If so, have we got a site for you. It takes a certain personality, but as the site says, "Go on, you know you want to."
http://www.quizilla.com/
Take a break at Mysterynet. This month's mini-mystery - which takes just a couple of minutes to read - is all but guaranteed to bring a smile. The site has games and mysteries for all ages, a discussion center, and other resources for escapism.
http://www.mysterynet.com/
Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has launched a site called Shedd Educational Adventure (SEA), aimed at K-12 teachers and students. SEA focuses on the Wild Reef exhibit about the Philippines at the aquarium. The site allows searching by concept or age range, and provides unique interactive content for each.
http://www.sheddaquarium.org/sea/
You wouldn't think that the toy popularized by the Roughrider would have a museum in the town of the Ruffwriter, but the Teddy Bear Museum calls Stratford, England home. There, visitors will find the first television Paddington and the original Fozzie Bear, among other fuzzy friends.
http://www.theteddybearmuseum.com/
Are you an arm wrestling aficionado looking to connect with other like-minded beefy-armed guys and gals? If so, the World Armsport Federation may be for you. The organization's Web site tells how to join up and, if you're game, take part in the upcoming world championships. Start your forearm exercises now.
http://www.worldarmsportfederation.org/
Looking for that golden oldie TV theme song? Visit here and search the archives for that catchy tune from your youth. Due to the vast number of files catalogued here, you have to e-mail the site administrator to request your chosen jingle. Links to other online TV theme sites are provided.
http://www.wavethemes.org/
Check out this online portal to thousands of paper models, including airplanes, insects, and puzzles. Many of the links direct you to Asian sites that lack instructions. Remember the last time you bought something that only came with Japanese instructions? At least these are only paper models.
http://freepapertoys.com/index.html
ADMINISTRIVIA
A Little Problem With Subscriptions E-Mail
It has come to our attention at NSD HQ that our subscriptions@netsurf.com e-mail address is a bit wonky. We don't always receive e-mail sent there and, worse, senders don't get a bounce message. To be perfectly honest, we haven't yet figured out what's wrong, though we suspect aggressive spam filters at various points between you and us. We know some of you have been or continue to be frustrated by a lack of response to e-mail sent to that address, and we apologize. All we can recommend at this point is that you resend any pending e-mail to our editor@netsurf.com address, which, judging by the amount of spam we receive there, seems to be working fine.CORRECTIONS
The URL for the Best in Movie One-Liners
Our NSD-making code has a bit of trouble with URLs that contain semicolons - we're not even sure that such URLs are valid HTML. Regardless, our magical HTMLizing machine will sometimes cut a URL at the semicolon, and did just that to the doubly-semicoloned URL for the Plastic discussion of the movie one-liners we discussed last issue. We've fixed that URL in our online issue, and you can fix it yourself with a cut-and-paste operation for this or other occurrences. Meanwhile, here it is again, corrected.http://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=03/03/14/20203395