From netsurf.com!editor Wed Feb 1 23:44:30 1995 Return-Path: Received: from pipeline.netsurf.com by salyko.cube.net with smtp (Smail3.1.29.1 #1) id m0rZnmZ-0002CLC; Wed, 1 Feb 95 23:44 MET Received: by pipeline.netsurf.com (8.6.9/Netsurf-3.2) id XAA00405; Wed, 1 Feb 1995 23:02:09 GMT Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 23:02:09 GMT From: editor@netsurf.com (Netsurfer Digest) Message-Id: <199502012302.XAA00405@pipeline.netsurf.com> Subject: Your First Netsurfer Digest (HTML) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/hmtl Apparently-To: mmatting@cube.net Netsurfer Digest 01.08

NETSURFER DIGEST

Sunday, January 29, 1995 - Volume 01, Issue 08
"More Signal, Less Noise"

SURFING SITES

Kobe Earthquake Pages and Earthquake Locator
French Ministry of Culture Puts New Cave Paintings Online
Mr. Yu and the Superbowl
Solid Star Trek Voyager Web Site
CIA Provides Complete Internet Access
For Chocolate Lovers Only
Civil War Letters
Play by E-Mail
The Paranoia Page
Physics Resources around the World
Sprechen-Sie Shakespeare?
Software Brings Historic Handwriting to Life
Online Drug Info for Physicians

ONLINE TRAVEL

Great Scot! Edinburgh, Scotland Is Now Online
San Francisco Bay Page
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Launched on the Cyber Sea
Canadian Tourist and Commercial Sites

FLOTSAM & JETSAM

WWW Mug Shots
Database of Published Writers on WWW
Print Publications on Commercial Internet Use
Daily News from Central Europe
MYSTeries Solved
Customized T-shirts, Mugs, Etc.
WWW Catalogue of Internet Access Providers.
Computer Glossary Updated
Hong Kong Business Directory
Computer Music Software Galore

SOFTWARE

Slipknot: Windows Web GUI through Unix Shell Account
New Web Text Searching Tool
MacHTTP 2.0 Released
TwinSock: SLIP over Any Dialup Line
Newslist Creates Newsgroup Pages
Windows Sockets Developer's and User's Reference

CORRECTIONS

Spam Wars in news.admin.policy

CONTACT INFORMATION

CREDITS

SURFING SITES


The best places to netsurf this week

KOBE EARTHQUAKE PAGES AND EARTHQUAKE LOCATOR

If you're looking for information about the recent devastating earthquake in Japan, the MSEN Kobe Earthquake page should be your starting point. They have daily news summaries and pointers to numerous associated sites. If the thought of earthquakes keeps you awake at night, you probably don't want to go see the Earthquake Locator site. It has information about quakes within hours of their occurrences. Specific earthquake data is available (date, time, place, magnitude) as is a cumulative map of global quakes. It uses the Xerox PARC Map server which is highly interesting in itself. Kobe Page: "http://www.msen.com/~emv/kobe.html" Earthquake Locator: "http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scratch/quake_all.html" PARC Map server: "http://www.xerox.com/PARC/docs/mapviewer.html"

FRENCH MINISTRY OF CULTURE PUTS NEW CAVE PAINTINGS ONLINE

France's Ministry of Culture, apparently hip to technology, already has high-resolution gifs of four of the most impressive of last month's newly-unearthed Combe d'Arc cave paintings online. Experts have judged the paintings already examined to be at least equal in quality to the world-famous ones at Lascaux, and the new larger cave may prove to hold a larger number of paintings, as well. The new paintings include a stunning group of four horses, a hyena, many aurochs, and two tigers, which are rarely found in cave paintings. Check them out at "http://www.culture.fr/gvpda.htm". No, "htm" isn't a typo.

MR. YU AND THE SUPERBOWL

A collection of mutant human beings slugs it out for fame in front of teeming millions. No, it's not the Miss America pageant, but rather the culmination of that odd ritual known as American football. The Superbowl is in Miami this year on January 29th. If you're not into sports you might be tempted to bypass this site, but you'd miss the surreal links to the Super Bowl Gourmet ("Avocados will likely be more expensive and harder to find this Super Bowl, due to this month's devastating storms in California") and Mr. Yu's Bar and Grill in South Korea. Say what?!? Find out all about it at this site. "http://superbowl.com/superbowl/superbowl.html"

SOLID STAR TREK VOYAGER WEB SITE

Star Trek fans and Web site designers will want this one on their hotlists. Voyager is the newest incarnation of the venerable SF television series. The information layout and interface are well thought out and thematically coherent - definitely designed by Web pros. In addition to in-character information about the show and the expected multimedia items there is an extensive section about the "real life" cast, crew and history of the series. Fun fact: a 1993 study from Purdue University found that children learn more about science fiction from Star Trek than anything else outside the home. Should we be worried? "http://voyager.paramount.com/"

CIA PROVIDES COMPLETE INTERNET ACCESS

Despite its covert reputation, the CIA offers quite a bit at its Web site. The page has two links. The useful CIA World Factbook, the country almanac of almanacs that we've written about in the past, is presented in its entirety. The other link, the Factbook on Intelligence, contains CIA stats and trivia. You'll be pleased to know that, no, the agency does not engage in drug trafficking, but that, yes, it does provide child care for employees. How considerate, on both counts. "http://www.ic.gov"

FOR CHOCOLATE LOVERS ONLY

Ah, chocolate - the mouth-watering flavor, the sumptuous texture. If only you could satisfy your lust for this sweet treat via the Net. But of course! Just stop by the Chocolate Factory home page of Ann Hemyng Candy Inc., where you'll be invited to Net-order all the chocolate covered delicacies you desire. But that's not all; you'll find even more chocolate shops listed on the Chocolate page. And since we care deeply about your health we had to include the Diet URL as well. Chocolate Factory: "http://mmink.cts.com/mmink/dossiers/choco.html" Chocolate Page: "http://www.ios.com/~shag/chocolate.html" Diet: "http://www.indirect.com/Cambridge_Diet/Cambridge_Diet_Home.html"

CIVIL WAR LETTERS

It has all the drama of "Gone With The Wind" and even more Iowan intrigue than "The Bridges of Madison County", except this wonderfully documented love story and personal journey actually happened. A librarian at the University of California at Santa Cruz has made available a series of letters an Iowa soldier wrote to his family and sweetheart during the Civil War. It's a great demonstration of how personal history can add significantly to the resources on the Internet. "http://www.ucsc.edu/civil-war-letters/home.html"

PLAY BY E-MAIL

Battle, a tactical warfare play-by-E-Mail (PBEM) game, originally attracted us, but the long waiting list for new games turned us off. At the site, you can get a glimpse of what the game is like, download the rules, and register to play. It did, however, lead us to the mother of all PBEM/PBM pages, featuring games as varied as Core Wars, Electronic Soccer, and the granddaddy of 'em all, Diplomacy. Whether you want to read up on a game or shop for opponents to crush like little bugs, this is the site to visit. Battle: "http://www.ecafe.org/~ecafe/battle/" PBM Pages: "http://fermi.clas.virginia.edu/~gd8f/pbm.html"

THE PARANOIA PAGE

The New World Order page is superficially dedicated to global and governmental conspiracy but the links serve two genuine purposes: information and humor. The former include a private analysis of U.S. Department of Defense programs budgeted for 1995. The best humor site is an inventory of treasures that the government deems too dangerous for public knowledge and stores in a secret warehouse, as in the last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark - which, by the way, IS in the warehouse, along with a crashed UFO, an English-Dolphin dictionary, and Santa Claus's security clearance application (army brats need presents, too). Bonafide conspiracists will enjoy the link to Fair Play, a Net zine devoted to (their version of) the truth behind the JFK assassination. "http://spb.hcc.hawaii.edu/NWO/NWO.html"

PHYSICS RESOURCES AROUND THE WORLD

This very comprehensive server provides links to physics departments and institutions around the globe. It also lists relevant job openings, conferences, laboratories and publishers. Einstein would have approved. "http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/deptdocs/physics_services.html"

SPRECHEN-SIE SHAKESPEARE?

The University of Cologne (Koln) in Germany is currently playing host to an informative Shakespearean server. So, if you're interested in the progress of the Globe theater reconstruction in London, or if you'd like to hook up with other related sites, be sure to stop by. The English version is still under construction, so you'll need to break out your German/English dictionary. "http://www.rrz.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/englisch/SHAKESPEARE/"

SOFTWARE BRINGS HISTORIC HANDWRITING TO LIFE

The SCRIPTA project aims to ease access to palaeography, the study of the history of handwriting, with interactive software. Through visual analysis of historic manuscripts, users will become familiar with five writing styles used in Europe from the second century BCE to the 15th century ACE. Analysis of calligraphy is also stressed. The free Windows software, in Italian mind you, is available at the Web site, which translates a small portion of its Italian text for us anglophones. "http://www.univ.trieste.it/scripta/scripta.html"

ONLINE DRUG INFO FOR PHYSICIANS

The Physician's GenRx International is an electronic version of a drug reference encyclopedia. The information is available either as installed software or through an online Telnet subscription. The program costs roughly $10 per month and is continually updated. It can be searched by generic or brand names and by drug category, and multiple drugs can be tagged and searched for any potential interaction among them. The developers are looking for hospitals and large clinics to serve as beta test sites (send E-Mail to ICS via the internal messaging system at the Telnet site). To get a free peek, Telnet to "genrx.icsi.net", login as "genrx" with the password "genrx", then login to the program as "guest".

ONLINE TRAVEL


Click your mouse and see the world

GREAT SCOT! EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND IS NOW ONLINE

A wonderful place deserves a wonderful Web site. It's no wonder, then, that the fair city of Edinburgh is represented by a home page that is so pleasant to visit. You'll find lovely photos of sights to see, as well as city maps, facts and figures, and a list of famous Edinburghers. And just so you know, Edinburgh is pronounced "Edinburra" with a quickly rolled "r"

SAN FRANCISCO BAY PAGE

Never get newsprint on your fingers again. Put this on your hotlist! This incredible page has highway conditions, weather by region, concert listings, movie schedules, day trips and sites to see, newspapers, even job and housing listings - all updated weekly. This is a very impressive collection of useful info for visitors and residents alike. Well, OK, if you live in Walla Walla you probably don't care, but even if you only travel to the city by the Bay you'll want this. "http://www.hyperion.com/ba/sfbay.html"

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES LAUNCHED ON THE CYBER SEA

This site by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Costa Travel is straightforward advertising, but hey, if you're in for some well-deserved rest and sunshine, check out their cruise specials. "http://mmink.cts.com/mmink/kiosks/costa/rccl.html"

CANADIAN TOURIST AND COMMERCIAL SITES

Canada Net Pages is an online marketing outlet for Canadian companies. This collection of advertisers resembles something from the back of an airline magazine and consists primarily of companies in B.C., but growth is promised. They're also looking to hire commissioned agents across Canada (phone 1-800-306-4488 after 9 a.m. PST). "Fleet House: Canada" is a Net journal aimed at leisure and business travelers in Canada. Future plans include a handy travel classified section, but for now all you get are descriptions of cities and regions written by local tourism boosters, detailed and interesting though they may be. Canada Net Pages: "http://www.visions.com/netpages/" Fleet House: Canada "http://www.fleethouse.com/fhcanada/fhc_expl.htm"

FLOTSAM & JETSAM


Random acts of online reality

WWW MUG SHOTS

World-Wide Profile Registry offers the egomaniac in all of us a place to post a personal profile for all the Internet community to see. Put as much personal info as you'd like, but hurry - it's only free for the first 2000 callers. "http://snark.wizard.com/wwpr.html"

DATABASE OF PUBLISHED WRITERS ON WWW

This searchable page includes fields of contact info, published works, agent, pseudonym, and even short bios. Submit your own info if you qualify. The database is meant for use by published writers, agents, and publishers/editors. "http://www.bocklabs.wisc.edu/ims/writers.html"

PRINT PUBLICATIONS ON COMMERCIAL INTERNET USE

This Web page is devoted to print publications that focus on business use of the Internet. It contains basic info, links to home pages, and links that announce or review any relevant publication. "http://arganet.tenagra.com/Tenagra/books.html"

DAILY NEWS FROM CENTRAL EUROPE

Central Europe Today is a daily English language radio news magazine syndicated throughout Central Europe. CET On-Line is a transcript of the show available via E-Mail. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe cet-online YourName <Your@Address>" to "majordomo@eunet.cz".

MYSTERIES SOLVED

Doug Ingram offers a hierarchy of pages which provide help for the computer game/phenomenon, Myst. The site is designed to reveal answers gradually, providing more obscure clues as the user delves deeper. "http://www.astro.washington.edu/ingram/myst/index.html"

CUSTOMIZED T-SHIRTS, MUGS, ETC.

Graphiti offers personalized embroidered polo shirts ($28 plus shipping, two-line messages with up to 20 letters per line). They can also put designs on T-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, mugs, caps, and aprons. "http://philadelphia.libertynet.org:80/~graphiti/link10.html"

WWW CATALOGUE OF INTERNET ACCESS PROVIDERS.

Network-USA offers a URL that lists Internet access providers around the world, indexed by area code/country code. "http://www.netusa.net/ISP/"

COMPUTER GLOSSARY UPDATED

The latest issue of "BABEL: A Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms" is available via a number of routes. Here are a couple: Send E-Mail to "listserv@vm.temple.edu" with the message "GET BABEL95A TXT" "ftp://ftp.temple.edu/pub/info/help-net/babel95a.txt"

HONG KONG BUSINESS DIRECTORY

In case you were wondering, the URL for the WWW Hong Kong Business Directory is "http://FarEast.Com/HongKong/directory.html"

COMPUTER MUSIC SOFTWARE GALORE

The International Computer Music Association has taken it upon itself to be a central warehouse for computer music software. "ftp://dartmouth.edu/pub/ICMA-Library" "http://coos.dartmouth.edu/~rsn/icma/icma.html"

SOFTWARE


Online related software notices and mini-reviews

SLIPKNOT: WINDOWS WEB GUI THROUGH UNIX SHELL ACCOUNT

SlipKnot is now available for Windows users who only have a dialup UNIX shell account with an Internet provider. It is reported to be much slower than SLIP/PPP in many operations, faster in a few. No new code is required on the UNIX host (other than a Lynx or WWW browser) and downloads come first to the host, then by modem to your PC. The advantages are faster transfers on noisy connections and entire documents, including graphics, loaded to your PC with proper links. An interesting solution for shell accounts. Latest info on SlipKnot at: "http://www.interport.net/slipknot/slipknot.html"

NEW WEB TEXT SEARCHING TOOL

FFW - Freetext search For Web is a package made to provide easy-to-use freetext searching facilities over HTML documents (and as a special case, plain text documents). The output is intended as input to scripts providing the user interface, typically CGI scripts. Source code in C++ is available which can be compiled with gcc 2.4.3 and the g++ library. "http://www.nta.no/produkter/ffw/ffw.html" "ftp://ftp.nta.no/pub/ffw"

MACHTTP 2.0 RELEASED

MacHTTP 2.0 is the latest update to the widely used WWW server for Macs. This version contains a greater number of features than the previous version. It provides all the functionality of Unix WWW servers with the Mac's usual ease of use. The big new features are enhancements to CGI and security features, as well as AppleEvent capabilities. MacHTTP 2.0 is in fat binary and runs in native mode on all Macs. It requires System 7 and MacTCP, and AppleScript is highly recommended. "ftp://sumex-aim.stanford.edu/info-mac/comm/tcp/mac-http-20.hqx"

TWINSOCK: SLIP OVER ANY DIALUP LINE

TwinSock (Troy's Windows Sockets) is available and supplies a Windows Sockets 1.1 DLL with communications for both PC and host ends. It is FREE software and we have not had the opportunity to test it for ourselves, however it provides yet another method of getting SLIP-type operation from a shell account. According to comp.os.ms-windows.announce statements, TwinSock should work on "any" dialup line. The author is also looking for a programmer to take over the project. The program is available as "twnsck12.zip" at: "ftp://ftp.cica.indiana.edu/pub/pc/win3/winsock" or cica mirror sites.

NEWSLIST CREATES NEWSGROUP PAGES

Newslist is a program which creates a hierarchy of pages based on the groups available from your server. It is essentially a solution to seeing all available newsgroups at once on an HTML browser. Newslist is written in Python and in addition you will need NNTP news feed and some disk space for the pages containing newsgroups. Sample Output: "http://pelican.cl.cam.ac.uk/newspage/root.html" Newslist Info: "http://pelican.cl.cam.ac.uk/people/qs101/newslist/"

WINDOWS SOCKETS DEVELOPER'S AND USER'S REFERENCE

An interesting site for Windows Sockets information, with the promise of more to come, it includes pointers to the sockets specification, mailing lists, and will soon have pointers to all of the popular Windows Sockets applications available on the Net. Your comments about the page and any additions are invited by the author. When we stopped in, the FTP link to the windows socket specification wasn't working, but it's sure to be fixed soon. Check it out at: "http://sunsite.unc.edu/winsock"

CORRECTIONS


What can we say? We goofed...

SPAM WARS IN NEWS.ADMIN.POLICY

We goofed on the newsgroup name in our item "Spam vs. Cancelbot" in issue #07. We told you alt.internet.services, but the real newsgroup is news.admin.policy. The threads continue to live so you can still visit and read about how spams are being battled by beleaguered sysadmins. While there, also check out the recent threads dealing with the Church of Scientology's attempts to ban newsgroups related to them. Futile, but entertaining. The EFF wrote a morally sterling but ineffectual open letter to the Church, and a copy has been posted for your edification.

Laurie Nyveen lawrence@msm.com

"All we are, basically, are monkeys with car keys." - Grandma Woody (Northern Exposure)

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