NETSURFER DIGEST

Friday, January 12, 1996 - Volume 02, Issue 01

"More Signal, Less Noise"

OUR SPONSORS: Netsurfer Marketplace

Latest news from the online frontier
NETSURFER NAMED YEAR'S BEST, NO BRIBES INVOLVED
Our return from the holidays to the workaday world produced a most pleasant surprise. Robert Sanchez, one of the contributing writers at the formidable Internet World magazine, has named Netsurfer Digest one of the best sites of the year. And we swear, we've never even met him, nor offered him the usual compensation. Take a look at page 47 of the January issue for the blurb, while we go off and bask in the admittedly fleeting glory of peer recognition. Thanks Robert; we hope we were useful. While we're at it, the list of links from that issue is pretty cool. Here they are for your browsing pleasure. "http://pubs.iworld.com/iw-online/Jan96/linkmap.html"
24 HOURS IN CYBERSPACE: 100 PHOTOGRAPHERS INVADE THE NET
One of Rick Smolan's projects, "A Day in the Life of America", has spawned a mini-industry of "A Day in the Life of..." photo art books. A horde of photographers descends on some geographically fecund place and documents 24 hours worth of typical sights in often stunning photos. His new project aims to do the same for cyberspace. On February 28, 100 of the world's top photojournalists will attempt to find the most intriguing human stories behind the technology to document "the new ways in which we work, play, learn, conduct business and interact." You can participate by submitting your own pictures and stories, with a chance to win some major tech toys (Sun Ultra Sparc! Digital Camera!). Could this be the coolest online art event of the year? Highly likely. "http://www.cyber24.com/"
NEW BREAKTHROUGH IN CRYPTOGRAPHY, ONLINE IMPACT NOT CLEAR
A new code-breaking technique has been making waves recently in the online security communities. Paul Kocher gained instant techno-fame when he published a rather technical abstract outlining new attacks on many of the currently popular cryptographic algorithms, including those used in the popular, not to say notorious, PGP encryption program. The method measures the amount of time required to execute various crypto algorithms, and provides an efficient tool which cracks ciphers using reasonable amounts of computer power. Is your encrypted data compromised? That's not all that clear yet, but the technically inclined will want to take a look at the abstract and tune into news:sci.crypt for the inevitable fireworks. "http://www.cryptography.com/"
MAC-BASED JAVA PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT ANNOUNCED
Natural Intelligence (NI) has started shipping Roaster, an applet development environment for Java on the Mac. Roaster users can run NI's native compiler as well as Sun's javac compiler for full Java compliance. Roaster includes a runtime applet testing environment. NI has also announced plans to extend Roaster by integrating a Java-class library specifically designed for creating stand-alone cross-platform applications, a visual screen builder for rapid prototyping and interface construction, and native compilers that compile Java into cross-platform byte codes and then into native code on the platform of your choice. All this to come by mid-1996. Roaster is now shipping at a price of $399. "http://www.natural.com/pages/products/roaster/index.html"
THE GULF WAR, REDUX
One of the treasures of U.S. public television is the documentary program Frontline, whose latest broadcast offering is a two-part video history of the Gulf War. It's four hours of ripping history backed by this impressive Web site which contains source material covering the war's chronology, weapons and technology, and maps. The interviews are by far the strongest part of the site, and indeed of the program. Everyone gives candid accounts of what happened, from the generals, troops, Iraqi officials and soldiers, POWs, and diplomats on up to Thatcher and Gorbachev. The only conspicuously absent parties: George Bush and Saddam Hussain. There's a feedback area here so put in your two cents about who won and who lost. "http://www.pbs.org/pages/frontline/gulf/index.html"
THE COUNTRIES FORMERLY KNOWN AS YUGOSLAVIA
Those wacky Balkan countries have decided to look elsewhere for help in policing their borders, and the guys and gals in green have finally landed. At BosniaLINK, you can send e-mail to the troops, peruse maps, read news releases, view fabulous photos of the troops and their machines, and learn all kinds of fun stuff about the region and the cast of characters. A list of links to related mission sites makes this the place to start you online tour of the region. Our bold 1996 prediction: Greece, jealous of all the attention, will get in some kind of shooting snit with one of its neighbors. Remember, you read it here first. The Christian Science Monitor also has a site, which contains stories by David Rohde, a correspondent who was captured October 29 by the Bosnian Serbs and jailed for 11 days. BosniaLINK: "http://www.dtic.dla.mil/bosnia/" Monitor: "http://freerange.com/csmonitor"

ONLINE CULTURE

Online society in the spotlight
IDIOTS' GUIDE TO READING BANNED NEWSGROUPS VIA COMPUSERVE
The wires are practically melting with reaction to the recent move by CompuServe (CIS) to drop 200 adult Usenet newsgroups following notification from German prosecutors that the material could be considered illegal. CIS dropped the groups out of fear of possible prosecution, but with no actual threat of legal action from German authorities. Needless to say, the online reaction was pretty ballistic. All CIS customers lack access to the banned groups while the service works on ways to cut off newsgroups in specific locations. Put on your asbestos underwear and check out alt.censorship newsgroup for the latest. Don't forget to browse the press release and the promised "Idiots Guide", by Lewis McCarthy, as usual, routing around the problem. Release: "http://www.compuserve.com/at/pressbox/newsgrps.html" Guide: "http://www.cs.umass.edu/~lmccarth/cypherpunks/banned.html"

ART ONLINE

Art and art resources online
A-MAZE-ING ART
In attempting a unique approach to site creation, the Candido Portinari site may have overdone it. It's easy to get lost here. Portinari is one of Brazil's foremost painters, with work hanging at the United Nations (see the "guided tours" link), and the art here is spectacular. Unfortunately, despite a link to an English version of the site, most of the text remains Portugese, rendering the technical sections all but incomprehensible to most readers. The sections are interconnected and arranged according to theme, technique, and date of creation. Despite its drawbacks, the pages are pretty enough to earn our recommendation. "http://genesis.lids.puc-rio.br:80/~pp/"
ROCK SHOTS: A ROCK 'N' ROLL PHOTO SHOOT
Rock Shots is a Web collection of photos captured at various concerts throughout Europe and North America by noted Rock photographer Niels Van Iperen. Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Anthrax, Public Enemy, and many more are featured at this site, with all the images available for download and wallpaper purposes. Van Iperen's work has graced such publications as Guitar World, Musician, and, of course, Rolling Stone. This collection, assisted by Adam Curry's METAVERSE company, excellently promotes this globetrotting photographer. "http://metaverse.com/vibe/rockshots/"
ALU-RING ART
Jeff Alu is a 3-D artist and animator. His understandable and accessible pages provide welcome relief from an increasingly complex web. The gallery contains both images and animations. The images include both abstract and realist works, and are well-rendered. All of the animations are in fli/flc format; Jeff thoughtfully provides a player program for your convenience. The thumbnail images also help. "http://www.deltanet.com/animalu/index2.htm"
DRIVING YOU TO ABSTRACTION
If pure abstractionist art is your bag, then the RegiaArt site may be for you. This site uses the latest technical advances so make sure your browser and brain are up to the task. Regia claims to be an engineer by training, an artist by choice, and a businesswoman by necessity, and one of her media is Netscape 2.0. Decide for yourself if she's succeeding. "http://www.brainlink.com/~regiaart/"
WE'RE NOT REALLY SURE WHAT THE HECK THIS IS
Rather than go to a bar or cafe to meet a poet, you can now troll the Internet for artists. Here's a Japanese site that offers what might be a free-form poem in which seemingly random words and letters contain hypertext links. Follow the links to forms that let you send a free fax to your mother, "depersonalized" e-mail, and a real postcard - posted free - to anyone. Stranger still, you can specify a sign that will be handed out at train stations or customize a personal message to be held up for the recipient at a Tokyo subway station. Results and photos are posted here; you be the judge of whether this is a service, art piece, or waste of time. "http://www.irational.org/tokyo/"

BOOKS & E-ZINES

Book info, 'Zine info, E-Journal info
THE 19TH CENTURY, FRAMES, AND NETSCAPE
What do these three have in common? The history department at the University of Rochester has put together a series of frame-enhanced Web pages from three 19th century magazines. Godey's Ladies Book, The Penny Magazine, and Scientific American are browsable using Netscape 2.0's frame feature, which allows the creation of several independent windows within the same base window. This allows a table of contents to remain in one frame of the Netscape screen while a second contains the body of whatever article is selected. The superb application of this format to these mags illustrates why we'll see more of this soon. Penny: "http://www.history.rochester.edu/pennymag/" Godey's: "http://www.history.rochester.edu/godeys/" SciAm: "http://www.history.rochester.edu/Scientific_American/"
BY GEORGE - THE MAGAZINE, THAT IS
Breathes there a human in the civilized world who has not yet heard that JFK Jr. (also known as Most Eligible Bachelor in the Universe) has started his own magazine? We'll toss some more publicity his way in writing about George's Web site. It's big on graphics and you'll need a browser that supports authentication, forms, server-push, client-pull, tables, backgrounds, text colors, and back massage. You'll also need a tolerance for pictures of the editor, political interviews, and a weird hybrid of Hollywood and D.C. gossip. If you enjoy reading articles with titles such as "A Couple of GOP Guys Sitting Around Talking," you'll want to hotlist this one. "http://www.georgemag.com/"
FREE PERSONALIZED NEWS SERVICE FROM ZIFF-DAVIS INTERACTIVE
ZD Net Personal View lets you track high-tech developments of interest, based upon your own specific computing information requirements. The service draws upon daily news feeds from PC Week, MacWEEK, Interactive Week, and other Ziff-Davis publications, as well as other leading computer industry news distributors. The site, like many major Net sites, is advertiser supported. Neat layout and a quick serving of news just for you. Look for the Personal View area at "http://www.zdnet.com/"
E-ZINES GALORE - FROM ANARCHIVES TO NEWS OF THE WEIRD
A wonderfully comprehensive list of e-zines on the Net delivered by e-mail, including yours truly. Todd Kuipers has done a lot of work in collecting, classifying, and organizing more than 100 'zines for almost any interest or attitude. Most of the listings are very complete with a description of the mag and access/subscription information. "http://www.merak.com/~tkuipers/elists/elists.htm"
KID'S TIME MAGAZINE
The Kid's Time Magazine is an e-mail newsletter run by 4th and 6th grade students from Hawaii, sisters Amy and Cary. Anyone who looks up the page can either custom build their magazine by checking off selections, or simply get the entire issue via e-mail. The page is well put together given the age of the participants, and they certainly seem best suited to decide what best caters to their age group. Amy and Cary, the publishers, hope to keep the magazine going until they reach college, which they admit is still a long way off. "http://www.primenet.com/~hawaii/"
SURF SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG STICK
The Stick, a monthly Web newsletter bearing more than a passing resemblance to our own dear publication, attempts, as we do, to filter through the vast wave of information and general Web junk to bring readers Web pages of interest. It's a worthy contender in the Web digest business, offering advice on where best to spend your e-time as well as HTML programming hints. As the Web page publishing business grows, keeping an eye on the developing trends in the HTML language will become crucial. Slick, but Robert Sanchez likes us better. So there. "http://www.vpm.com/tti/stick.html"

SURFING SCIENCE

Knowledge is Good
TAKING THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE FOR A SPIN
NASA has been running some very down-to-Earth programs lately through its K-12 Internet Initiative program. Among other projects has been a series of electronic field trips undertaken by school kids via television and telecommuting over the Net. The latest in the series of "Live from..." programs happens to be Live from the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble's managers have assigned the program three orbits in early March. Thus far, students and teachers have been debating what planets to observe and what observations to make. While "the great planet debate" will end this month, the preparations for the observations in 1996 promise to be a learning experience not only for plugged-in kids. Drop by and see what it's like to get a handle on the biggest eye in the sky. "http://quest.arc.nasa.gov:80./livefrom/hst.html"
EVEN MORE BUGS: ROACHES AND WASPS
In case you missed our last big insect article, we've found a few additional infestations for your viewing pleasure. "Cockroach World" is a fun, educational spot for those who want to learn more about these quick, determined, and hard-to-kill little creatures. You can play a global cockroach game, witness a day in the life of a roach, and if you have any questions, just ask Betty the Bug Lady. An even more entomologically postered site is the wasp page hosted by Rice University in Texas - and you thought Texans just cared about roaches. Here you'll find a comprehensive research project focused specifically on the social behavior and characteristics of polistine wasps. Lots of pictures and information that even amateur bug-o-philes will find digestible. Roaches: "http://www.nj.com/yucky/" Wasps: "http://www.rice.edu/wasps/"
HAPPINESS IS A HEALTHY BODY - AND WEB SITE
The Wellness Web focuses on patient-oriented topics, providing links to online medical resources as well as preventive care reports from the Center for Current Research. The site is currently under development, with only about 20 reports out of 85 online when we visited. Patients also can communicate with others in the interactive forums. Medical topics include prostate cancer, care for the elderly, physical therapy, asthma, bronchitis, and a smoker's clinic. E-mail: wellness@wellweb.com "http://www.wellweb.com/wellness/"
IF IT'S NEUROPSYCHOLOGY CENTRAL, IT MUST BE SMART, RIGHT?
This site was obviously built by folks with skills other than graphic and HTML manipulation. In spite of overly long pages and truly ugly color combinations, the site is interesting for its choice links to some of the things that are happening where psychology meets neuroscience, including links to study programs and professional organizations. On second thought, the bad color and design is probably a type of cognitive perseverance test. Right? Right! "http://premier.net/~cogito/neuropsy.html"

CORRECTIONS

What can we say? We goofed...
HINDSITE HINDSIGHT
Several readers wrote to tell us the URL for ISYS's HindSite software in NSD 1.39 was wrong or didn't exist. It was wrong - a slash replaced a period - but for some reason the site, even when sought with the correct URL, disappeared for several days. We don't know why, but it's back now. Enjoy. "http://www.rmii.com/isys_dev/"

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CREDITS

Publisher

Arthur Bebak

Editor

Lawrence Nyveen

Production Manager

Bill Woodcock

Writers and Netsurfers

Peter Barnes
Kirsty Brooks
Joanne Eglash
Lisa Hamilton
Caroll Houser
Rebecca Kuchar
Jay Mills
Kenneth Schulze
Richard Wagner
James Weissman

Netsurfer Communications, Inc.

President: Arthur Bebak
Vice President: S. M. Lieu

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