BREAKING SURF
| An Introduction to Open-Source Communities |
| BuddyZoo Analyzes Your AIM Buddy Cliques |
| A Movie-Maker/Activist Named Moore |
| Research Tool for Cyberethics |
| OS X vs. XP |
| Abandoned Airfields |
| Acadian/Cajun Genealogy and History |
| Terrific Tiles |
| Art of Middle Earth |
| Cool 3-D Mazes |
| Extremely Illegal Kid Crafts and Fun |
| Netsurfer Recommendations |
| All Twain, All the Time |
| The Science of Not-Quite-Perpetual Motion |
| Deep Sea Invasion |
| Elements of Haiku |
| The Amazing Colossal Colon |
| MIT's Invention Dimension |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
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BREAKING SURF
Successful Completion of the Human Genome Project
Even though the first draft of the human gene sequence was announced in 2000, the project has continued since at full speed, to refine the data. This week, which marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the double-helical structure of DNA, the Human Genome Project (HGP) has declared itself done, well in advance of the original deadline and under budget. In technical terms, this means that the project has produced a finished sequence of nucleotides that covers 99% of the human genome's gene-containing regions, sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99% - the best that can be done with current technology. The HGP's press release presents a lot of information about the scope and significance of this milestone, including what's next for the organizations behind the project. The project's Web site has voluminous related material that's good for hours of genetic netsurfing.HGP: http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/home.html
Press release: http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/project/50yr/press4_2003.htm
AOL is filing five separate lawsuits against more than a dozen companies and individuals. AOL claims that the defendants-to-be send more than 1 billion spam messages to AOL subscribers and have generated more than 8 million complaints. This is the first major legal action AOL has taken against spammers since 2001, though in the interim, the mega-ISP has been actively pushing anti-spam legislation in various states. As part of this new move, AOL has filed lawsuits against specific known individuals but has also filed several against unknown people in unknown locations - John Does, in legal lingo. Filing against unknown individuals lets AOL begin the legal process of tracking them down. The AOL press release pretty much covers the situation.
http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/newmedia/cb_press_view.cfm?release_num=55253129
AOL Blocks DSL-Based Mail Servers
AOL has just made it much more difficult to e-mail its customers. As part of its fight against spam, the ISP has decided to block all contact originating from e-mail servers that run on home DSL connections. More precisely, AOL is blocking any contact from DSL-connected machines that have dynamically assigned IP addresses. In doing this, AOL is violating a number of the standards that govern how mail servers should communicate with each other. Many businesses and perfectly legitimate non-spamming mail servers that reside on DSL connections have been in the crossfire of spam/anti-spam combat. AOL has unilaterally locked them out while decrying how much spam comes from such servers, servers that are often hijacked machines used as spam proxies. Judging by this Slashdot discussion, the online community has reacted negatively in general, particularly regarding the violation of standards. Few argue against AOL's right to block any traffic it wants, but the company's violation of standards has some calling for a boycott on AOL e-mail traffic.http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/13/2215207
Internet-Generated Attack on the Physical World
An interview of "spam king" Alan Ralsky happened to mention his hometown. Seizing upon that bit of info, the Slashdot crowd figured out Ralsky's home address and decided to spam him back, with junk mail. Collectively, they signed him up for tons - literally, tons - of catalogues and other junk mail delivered by post. Ralsky's home mailbox was buried by the subsequent avalanche of junk. Web search engines make it easy to find catalogue and other mail lists; Google alone turns up over 250,000. Some relatively simple scripting through the Google API interface can automate the job of signing people up to them - and that means you don't need a large, motivated community to pull off this postal spam attack. Three researchers have written a paper that shows how to do it, and note that they've known about this type of exploit for years. Crypto-Gram has the story, Slashdot the discussion. Avi Rubin, one of the paper's authors, supplies it.Slashdot: http://slashdot.org/articles/03/04/15/2027225.shtml
Crypto-Gram: http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0304.html#1
Rubin: http://www.avirubin.com/scripted.attacks.pdf
US Government Backs Software to Evade Chinese Net Censorship
An agency of the US government admits it has commissioned software that individuals can use to circumvent censorship blocks like those used by the Chinese government. The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), the US agency in question, broadcasts the well known Voice of America over radio and Internet feed, which are routinely jammed by various governments, notably the Chinese. The IBB commissioned famous anti-censorship activist Bennett Haselton of Peacefire.org to create an easy-to-use proxy program that would enable anybody to circumvent such censorship. Haselton's program works only under Windows XP and Windows 2000 and is certainly less complex than alternative proxy software, which is generally designed for experienced sysadmins. The irony - given all the laws that Congress has passed to censor the spread of information, like the DMCA - is delectable. CNET has more.CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1028-997101.html
Proxy software: http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor/simple-circumventor-instructions.html
Super-DMCA Laws Outlaw Common Net Technologies, Stifle Research
Niels Provos is a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan who studies the security-related technologies of steganography and honeypots. Now, as a result of a law that just took effect in Michigan, he's had to move all information about his thesis to servers in the Netherlands. The new law, part of a spate of similar so-called "Super DMCA" legislation recently enacted in several states at the behest of the film and music industries, makes it a felony not only to possess software capable of concealing the existence or source of any electronic communication, but also to tell others how to do it. This in effect outlaws common Net technologies such as NAT and firewalls, and has forced Provos to move his research materials - which are all about concealing communications - offshore. SecurityFocus has the story, while the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has state-by-state information about such laws.SecurityFocus: http://www.securityfocus.com/news/3912
EFF: http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/states/
ID-Card Company Tries to Block Insecurity Info
Blackboard, a company that sells an ID-card system used by many schools, is trying to use the courts to squelch information about how insecure its system is. The company's ID card systems are used by students on campuses for things like getting meals, entering dorms, and proving identity before taking exams. Some ID cards can also be used as debit cards for purchases. Two panelists at a recent Interz0ne II security conference were going to present how they reverse-engineered the Blackboard system in a way that would enable them to create their own ID-card reader, thus demonstrating the insecurity of the system and showing how easy it would be to hack. Blackboard promptly sent a cease-and-desist letter to the conference organizers, but inevitably the news leaked out. John Hall is keeping an informative FAQ about the situation, while Slashdot and CNET have the story and links.Hall: http://www.edifyingfellowship.org/~overcode/bb-faq.html
Slashdot: http://features.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/14/1846250
CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1028-996836.html
2003 Webby Award Nominations Shamefully Miss NSD Again
The 2003 Webby Award nominees have been listed (and once again, NSD has been hurtfully snubbed). The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), a by-invitation-only club of over 420 members who have "catalyzed great achievement on the Internet or demonstrated extraordinary talent in traditional media" - such as Scott Adams, Julia Child, Francis Ford Coppola, and Larry Ellison - nominate sites in 30 categories. Folks like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and our humble writers and editors are conspicuously absent from the membership roster. While only members of IADAS get to vote for Webby Award winners, you can register and cast your vote as well. It just won't count.http://www.webbyawards.com/main/
The West and Islam: Divided by Sex
The clash of civilizations may be more related to issues of gender equality and sexual freedom than to a love of democracy. This fascinating paper from Foreign Policy uses a vast amount of survey data from around the globe, including the Muslim world, to make a simple but powerful point. Within the Muslim world there is widespread support of democracy; however, there is little support for the rights of women and the practitioners of alternative sexual lifestyles, especially homosexuality. The authors conclude that the real divide between the West and the Islamic world lies in the domain of self-expression rather than simply religion. Islamic societies are not the only societies that view women as being less important than men - many parts of the former Soviet Union are equally intolerant, for example - but this may explain why American liberals and conservatives could agree that the Taliban treatment of women in Afghanistan was another good reason to destroy that regime. Sex may wind up being even more important than religion. Don't miss the "Want to Know More?" link at the bottom of the page.http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/story.php?storyID=13562
Regime Leaders - Collect All 55!
The US Defense Department has been hard at work issuing special decks of cards to US troops. One side has that fetching desert camouflage design we've seen so much of recently, the other, mug shots of some of the most-wanted Iraqis scurrying for Syria. Getting these cards into the hands of thousands of troops is one way to hunt down some folks the US would like to have a word with. Saddam Hussein is the ace of spades, while his sons Qusay and Uday are the aces of clubs and hearts, respectively. The irritating Taraq Aziz is the eight of spades. Mr. Denial himself, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, isn't among those featured on the cards, not even as a joker. Thirteen of the cards have names with no pictures. The cards and facsimiles thereof have already become hot items on eBay - a most basic search shows more than 1,500 auctions - even though they have only been distributed to the military. Whether they will help in the capture of any of the most wanted remains to be seen. AlertNet has an article.Cards: http://www.centcom.mil/Operations/Iraqi%20Freedom/playing_cards.pdf
AlertNet: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11420092.htm
The global Internet tech community plans to help establish a vibrant and unfiltered Internet infrastructure in Hussein-free Iraq. The Committee for Information Technology Reconstruction in Iraq (CITRI), sponsored by a London ISP, has the clever idea of selling off domain names ending in .iq, Iraq's official top-level domain (TLD), and using the money to help restore Internet access to the country. Right now, Iraq's Internet and telephone infrastructure is in shambles and will take some time to rebuild. Wired points out one possible hitch in CITRI's plans: the management of the .iq TLD is currently in the hands of InfoCom of Richardson, Tex. The four brothers who run InfoCom have been charged with aiding and abetting the terrorist group Hamas, and three of them are in jail. CITRI has asked the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to transfer custodianship of the TLD to them. Despite doubts about the plan, it looks like a smart move to snap up those highly enticing .iq names.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,58406,00.html
Guess Who's Coming for Dinars?
What goes down, yet up? No, not a hooker on a Ferris wheel, but the Iraqi dinar. As its purchasing power plummets, the price it can command on eBay rockets. One reseller refers to the phenomenon as the "Saddam dinar bubble", and there's a significant measure of similarity to the economics of the dotcom bubble. A recent purchase of a 100-dinar note bearing Saddam's image went for $71.48; the actual purchasing power of that same note runs to around seven cents. If you have dinars, you may want to sell them quickly - this bubble's likely to run about as long as the Millennium Barbie craze. Wired has a story on the scramble, and we also link to Banknotes.com, which portrays the actual currency. Hmm, with a good color printer and a little patience... - nah!Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58402,00.html
Currency: http://www.banknotes.com/iq.htm
Wal-Mart Crushes Bar Code Recoding Advocates
Barcodes are the stuff of life and commerce. So why was Wal-Mart so upset with Re-Code.com? It just might be because the Re-Code.com gang encouraged people, in a playful way, to swap low-price bar codes for the ones found on expensive items. It even let visitors print bar codes. The site claimed to be a parody, and it looked like a terribly good one to us. Unfortunately the legal might of corporate America has been brought to bear and the site has essentially shut down, so you'll have to take our word for it. The letters from the lawyers made good reading. Visit to learn Re-Code.com's perspective and to click on links to media focus on the story. You should also swing by a Salon article for some more details on just how Wal-Mart is policing cyberspace.Re-Code.com: http://www.re-code.com/
Salon: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/04/10/barcode/
MetaFilter Launches Music Site
MetaFilter, the popular community weblog, has opened MetaFilter Music, a section through which members can share their own music with the world. Participants are encouraged to make their work available under the Creative Commons license, thus bypassing what many acknowledge is the badly broken legislative music licensing framework. The site is so new, there's not much content yet, but the meme propagated by MetaFilter is more significant than the music. What will happen to the music industry if a large number of music producers choose to ignore the licensing framework that's currently so heavily skewed to the benefit of large record companies? Also, note the use of Andromeda, a low-cost, cross-platform, professional music-streaming server. It's something to consider if you want to host your own music Web site.MetaFilter Music: http://music.metafilter.com/
MetaFilter discussion: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/thread.cfm?category_ID=9
Andromeda: http://www.turnstyle.com/andromeda/home.asp
Plastic Wonders Why More Authors Not Online
The Plastic crowd is considering why authors appear to be so under-represented on the Web, compared to musicians and artists. Is it because authors tend to be tech-averse, clinging to their Selectrics? Authors as Luddites? Considerable discussion and some minor flames result. Some posters seem to miss the point entirely. If there is a conclusion to be reached, it's that although opinions abound, nobody really knows why this happens. The best guess would likely be that authors love the printed page, but it's only a guess. An interesting read, in places.http://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=03/04/11/12585144
The 69.0.0.0/8 IP Address Filtering Problem
The obscure history of IP address allocation is causing holes in Net connectivity, leaving some parts of the Net unable to connect to other parts. Before August 2002, the range of IP addresses from 69.0.0.0-69.255.255.255 was reserved for future use. Hackers knew about this and exploited the address range in denial-of-service attacks. Consequently, a large number of sites blocked or filtered any traffic from those unallocated addresses. Since August 2002, ARIN, the authority that allocates IP addresses, has handed out IP numbers in that range to various organizations, but the recipients are finding the addresses unusable because they are so widely blocked. ARIN disowns the problem, and it falls to the Net community to educate sysadmins that it is no longer OK to block these IP addresses. This is a huge task - such blocking is distributed all over the Net in many obscure and possibly poorly documented router and firewall configuration files. We're doing our part to get the word out, as is Jared Mauch in his lucid and link-filled summary of the problem.http://puck.nether.net/~jared/papers/69-paper.html
No one wants children to see pornography online, but filtering software is incredibly problematic. A study from the Berkman Center for the Study of the Internet and Society at Harvard Law School shows that Google's SafeSearch option inadvertently blocks many sites that are not harmful to children. Google's filter is entirely automatic and involves no human judgements about sites. SafeSearch decides that sites as diverse as those from the Vermont Republican Party and the Pittsburgh Coalition Against Pornography are unacceptable. The authors make clear that Google can do better; until it does, SafeSearch will continue to block news sites as well as pornography from kids. Read the CNET article for a good precis of the report and Google's attempt at a response.
Berkman Center: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/edelman/google-safesearch/
CNET: http://news.com.com/2100-1032-996417.html
ONLINE CULTURE
An Introduction to Open-Source Communities
On the surface, the idea of using a network of people who may never meet and who volunteer their time and effort seems at best an unlikely way to develop complex software. In reality, such projects can and do inspire people to collaborate successfully for long periods of time, rewarded by the chance to learn and to contribute to something interesting and worthwhile. This lucid report by Eugene Eric Kim helps us understand how and why. Kim uses two specific projects to remove some of the mystery from open-source work. TouchGraph is an information-visualization tool incorporated into other applications. Its best known use is in the TouchGraph Google browser, which displays the results of a Google search graphically. Largely the effort of a single software engineer, with key help from a few others, the software has only a small number of users. Towards the other end of the scale is SquirrelMail, a different animal entirely. SquirrelMail is an e-mail client that allows users to read and write from any browser, and supports over 30 languages. The SquirrelMail project involves about 20 core people who collaborate intensively, and has millions of users. There's much to pore over here, far more than we can hope to touch on, so download the 16-page PDF file and dig in.http://www.blueoxen.org/research/00007/index.html
BuddyZoo Analyzes Your AIM Buddy Cliques
BuddyZoo is a nice Web implementation of a social-network mapping application based on the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) system. After you upload your buddy list, you can find out things such as which buddies you have in common with your friends, how popular you are, and what cliques you belong to. You can even do a degrees-of-separation analysis between different screen names. Before you ask, yes, there are privacy protections in place. Your screenname is never shown to someone who does not already have you on his buddy list and your own buddy list is never shown directly to others. Pretty cool.http://www.buddyzoo.com/
A Movie-Maker/Activist Named Moore
J.T.S. Moore believes in you. Faith in the essential goodness of human nature is a beautiful thing, but it doesn't usually work, which is part of why we're not living in a communist country. Moore has produced a film, "Revolution OS", on the movement to freely redistributable source code, called open source. Moore has taken a revolutionary step in releasing an unencrypted DVD, thus allowing the contents to be freely copied for home use. Wired had an article a few weeks ago that included Moore's almost plaintive, fearful whimpering over piracy concerns - he couldn't bring himself to release a closed DVD on an open-source topic, although he doesn't seem all that convinced by the open method. Nevertheless, so far, Moore says, the experiment has gone well. We couldn't find any clips of his flick on Kazaa, which is a good sign. Whether or not you believe in open source, keep in mind that your ability to read e-mail was probably made possible in part by a webserver running Apache, one of the poster children of the free-software movement."Revolution OS": http://www.revolution-os.com/
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,58253,00.html
Ethical issues of broad concern - security, privacy, and piracy, to name a few - have always accompanied the use of computers. This often overlapping array of concerns is expertly mapped at Ethics in Computing, an impressively large directory maintained by Edward Gehringer, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University. Gehringer's research on ethics has an immense range of sources, from Aristotle ("Nicomachean Ethics") to Richard Epstein ("The Case of the 'Killer Robot'"), from Scientific American and Oxford University to Microsoft and the Washington Post. Every section is a directory of buzzwords. Take commerce. There are scads of articles, news items, and court rulings on auctions, cybersquatting, fraud, gambling, spamming, free trade... - perhaps Gehringer's students refer to him as Dr. Yahoo. We wonder, though, whether he is getting overwhelmed. Here and there, items from 1999 are still marked "NEW". A considerable number of links are broken. The subject is now too large for one human being to stay on top of it all. That's why, despite link erosion, this site should be among the bookmarks of academic, corporate, and legal researchers.
http://legacy.eos.ncsu.edu/eos/info/computer_ethics/
So which operating system is better - Windows XP or Mac OS X? The question may never be objectively settled, but a good stab at unbiased comparison is made here. Over two dozen categories of OS usability issues are compared, preceded by a brief discussion on the subject of rooting out bias. There's also a small but interesting discussion board packed with even more tidbits. If you're considering moving to either platform, this is a must-visit stop on your research trail. Obviously, your decision must be based upon what best fits your needs - is it important to have a degree of legacy compatibility? XP wins there. Want a game machine? Choose Windows. On the other hand, if file handling, HTML editing, and relative lack of vulnerability are issues of great import to you, you'll want a Mac - and especially so if you plan to do a lot of video editing. As for total cost of ownership, at least one study concluded that Macs are more cost effective than Windows for most people. That may not apply to those of us who are comfortable with testing and replacing components on a regular basis, however.
http://www.xvsxp.com/
ONLINE TRAVEL
Information about abandoned airfields is useful to pilots in an emergency, not to mention being plain ol' nifty for historians. This Web site chronicles the 600 abandoned and obscure American airfields. Histories include Marana Army Airfield in Arizona, which was apparently used by the CIA, and Dateland Army Airfield, a former World War II Army Air Corps training base that the current owners hope to convert into the largest fly-in community in the US, complete with motel and museum. One of the most colorful histories belongs to Pancho Barnes Airfield, Calif., built by the aviatrix of the same name. The airfield was dubbed the Happy Bottom Riding Club by the pilots who congregated in its two bars, restaurant, dance hall, and ride-in swimming pool. Barnes's friends included Chuck Yeager, who broke the sound barrier in the X-1 in 1947. The field closed during the 1950s but Air Force personnel hold an annual barbecue there in memory of the old party days. Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields:http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/index.htm
Barnes: http://www.edwards.af.mil/history/docs_html/people/pancho_barnes_biography.html
Acadian/Cajun Genealogy and History
Take a tour through this site to discover the history and genealogy of the Acadian/Cajun culture. You'll find a wealth of information regarding these 17th century French settlers. The Acadians settled in eastern Canada, only to be exiled by British conquerors to Louisiana, where their descendants became the Cajuns. Through this Web site you'll explore the rich and vibrant legacy of this society. Whether you're a Cormier, Benoit, or just an interested non-descendant, you're sure to appreciate what this site has to offer. It's a history lesson worthy of attention. If the French settlers had not chosen our lands, we truly would be missing an integral part of North American culture.http://www.acadian-cajun.com/
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Tile can be a superb decoration and finish. If its Web site is any indication, California Pottery and Tile Works will help a lot of homeowners and commercial property owners enjoy admiration and compliments for many years. Its specialty is designing custom tile in various styles - Malibu Revival, Moroccan, European, and Asian. As you might guess, this work is pricey. At our last visit, the Home of the Month was on the market for $6 million. Check out the tiled entranceway and bathrooms. Elegance is an understatement. The splashiest area of this site for sophisticates is its photo gallery. Wow! Doorways, fountains, pools look stunning. All that's missing from this multipage portfolio are beautiful people to fit in with the fabulous constructs. If you're lucky enough to seriously entertain the notion of hiring this company, there are plenty of samples to view. The section on manufacturing will likely instill confidence in the expertise necessary to pull off a work for posterity. Those of us whose driveways are covered in snow much of the year can only sigh for a climate that nurtures the magnificence of tile.http://www.malibutile.com/
This site features nine artists, 368 pictures, and a barrelful of hobbits. Fans of the books of J.R.R. Tolkien seem to have an insatiable appetite for things Middle-Earthish. You know who you are. Get your fix here. The work of Alan Lee is particularly stunning, though some of Tolkien's illustrations may be found here, as well.
http://www.edoras-art.de/index3.htm
Need a break from a hectic workday? Try this online game that challenges you to move a ball through a series of 3-D mazes. While the controls and movements aren't sophisticated, game play is challenging. The object is to maneuver your beachball through a maze of obstacles that includes pitfalls, stakes, and other traps. Find the key and then maneuver to the green 'X' to advance to the next level. A professional Shockwave developer developed the mazes, and further exploration of his site reveals other interesting projects and games. You'll need Flash installed to fully experience it all.
http://www.nonoche.com/tron/frenzirynth.html
Extremely Illegal Kid Crafts and Fun
If you're looking for some fun rainy-day projects to enjoy with the kids, check out DLTK's Printable Crafts for Kids, which features scores of cartoon-inspired and other craft ideas that you can put together at home. The work of a mother of two, DLTK's site is a storehouse of printable homemade templates that feature just about every cartoon favorite imaginable, from Snow White to Tweety Bird to Hamtaro (we'll choose to ignore the sticky issue of legal clearances for now). Within the extensive archives here, you'll find plans for making a Lilo and Stitch toilet paper roll, Buzz Lightyear birthday cards, Shrek iron-on T-shirt transfers, and much more. It's a cheap, fun way for thrifty parents to entertain the kids, so swing on by before the lawyers get a whiff.http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/cartoons/zoo.html
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/ |
Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators
Practical Cryptography
Darwin's Children
Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Pokerhttp://www.courierpost.com/twain/
SURFING SCIENCE
The Science of Not-Quite-Perpetual Motion
What do Bob Fludd's 1618 closed-cycle mill design and M.C. Escher's "Waterfall" lithograph have in common? They both look nice - and they're both impossible. Like alchemists, who hoped to transmute lead into gold, perpetual-motion machinists have been around for centuries. So far, nobody's ever built one - although some claim that nature is rubbing our noses in the fact that free, non-polluting energy sources are all around us. To the claim that perpetual motion is impossible because friction can never be entirely eliminated, the defenders point to the atom, in which electrons circulate around the nucleus forever. Umm, OK. The Museum of Unworkable Devices, while largely geared to lengthy debunkings of perpetual motion machines, does provide at least a limited venue for those who disagree. It may be an unbalanced approach, but it seems somehow appropriate for a site dealing with perpetual motion to be out of balance - maintaining a state of imbalance has been key to so many proposals for perpetual motion machines, after all.http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm
It sounds almost like a Hollywood plot about secret invasion of Earth: a killer alga with no natural predator escapes from an aquarium into the Mediterranean. A marine biologist warns of dire consequences. Authorities ignore him for years in spite of growing evidence. Within two decades, the pestiferous plant has a chokehold on waters off southern Europe and has spread to Australia and California. Problem is, it's true. At the companion site to its Apr. 1 broadcast "Deep Sea Invasion", Nova describes the enemy, Caulerpa taxifolia, as "a bright green seaweed with fernlike fronds that is used to decorate saltwater aquariums." This invader looks harmless, but its inherent toxin kills fish and invertebrates. Apparently the only thing that slows it down is a massive dose of chlorine, which also kills everything else around it. Nova has the grim details, as well as background on other invaders such as comb jellyfish and the water hyacinth that threaten other species with extinction. Chilling.
http://www.pbs.org/nova/algae/
People who apply the right side of their brains to their left will be amused with the Periodic Table of Haiku created by Ron Sparks and a cast of hundreds. As long as you have a Javascript-enabled browser, you can browse the Periodic Table of Haiku to not only find out the details of each element but also to read an appropriate poem. The five/seven/five syllable format most Western readers understand to be haiku is actually only a format that makes it easier for Westerners to understand the poetry, and not all haikus need follow the convention. Some of these haikus are shorter, sort of like the amount of time fluorine spends unbonded. Read "Are These REALLY Haiku?" for the full explanation.
http://www.iscifistory.com/scifaku/elements/periodichaiku.asp
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the US, a depressing statistic made all the more tragic when you consider that a large number of those deaths could have been prevented with regular screenings and a better understanding of symptoms and methods of prevention. In an (admittedly kooky) effort to drop some knowledge on a colon-ignorant public, the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation is sponsoring the Colossal Colon Tour - no, not a series of Liam Gallagher concerts but an educational exhibition with a four-foot-high, 40-foot-long mock-up of a colon that visitors can crawl around in to get close up views of cancer and various other afflictions affecting that part of the body. The gigantic colon will be visiting 20 US cities now through November; hurry to the official site to see if your town has made the list. If you're disappointed that the colossal colon won't be making a stop near you, don't fret: you can experience a virtual colon crawl at the site as well.
http://www.preventcancer.org/colossalcolon/
This well designed and playful MIT site celebrates inventors and makes learning about invention exciting for the kid in all of us. The Inventor of the Week section profiles modern-day inventors and their inventions. The Inventor's Handbook explains minor details like patent law, business plans, and raising capital to fund your dream into a reality. The Games and Trivia section is much more fun and strictly for trivia buffs. Try challenging the computer, or a friend, at Brain Drain to prove you know who invented the dishwasher. If you're serious about being an inventor, this Web site teaches you one thing: you have to play. In the Links and Resources section, you'll find important research materials like puzzle-block games, word play, an online sketchbook for those brilliant doodles, and even a game that allows you to create cloud shapes to spark your own inventiveness.
http://web.mit.edu/invent/