A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Science Department, University of Wisconsin
A Project of the InterNIC
The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and
newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and
educators, the InterNIC's primary audience. However, everyone is welcome to
subscribe to one of the mailing lists (plain text or HTML) or visit the Web
version of the Scout Report. Subscription instructions are included at the
end of each report.
http://rs.internic.net/scout/report
InterNIC Registration Services (RS) New Services
Highlights from the recently redesigned InterNIC Registration Services
(RS) Web pages include: 1) The first issue of the new monthly electronic
InterNIC News, which seeks to provide a forum for the examination of
events that affect the future Internet, from both technical and
non-technical perspectives. Towards this end, it seeks to feature monthly
interviews of prominent Internet personalities, addressing issues that
currently shape the ways we each use the Internet. Further, the
newsletter will be a vehicle for distributing information related to
InterNIC activities, providing performance measures useful in metering
Internet growth. It hopes to offer some insight into and assistance with
navigating the registry function, exploring tools and resources that
support that process. Finally, it will continue to highlight resources
and activities useful to traditional end-users, and will offer a monthly
feature by the Internet Scout, Susan Calcari. 2) Announcement of and
information about Patrick Crispen's upcoming 1996 Internet Roadmap, a
bi-weekly 27 lesson email based Internet tutorial which InterNIC Support
Services is hosting. 3) Announcement of and information about the
forthcoming InterNIC Support Services "15 Minute Series," a modular,
extensible resource for Internet trainers. 4) Registration Services "Help
Desk," which thoroughly explains domain name registration and InterNIC
Registration Services policies. 5) Registration Services performance
measures, a monthly accounting of network addresses assigned,
communications received by RS, and a cumulative accounting of domain
registrations.
RS Home Page:
http://rs.internic.net/
InterNIC News:
http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/nicnews/
Text only:
http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/nicnews/txt/text-index.html
ftp://rs.internic.net/NIC-support/newsletter/
ftp to rs.internic.net and cd NIC-support/newsletter/
To subscribe:
http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/lwgate/NEWSLETTER/
or send email to:
listserv@lists.internic.net
In the body of the message type:
SUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER yourfirstname yourlastname
Internet Roadmap:
http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/roadmap96/
15 Minute Series:
http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/15min/
Registration Services Help Desk:
http://rs.internic.net/help/
Registration Service Performance Measures:
http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/nicnews/stats.html
[Back to Contents]
Internet Medieval Source Book
Paul Halsall, sources editor for the Online Reference Book for Medieval
Studies, has recently created the Internet Medieval Source Book, a
compendium of extracts and full text documents in Medieval History.
Subjects covered include the end of the Classical World, Byzantium, Islam,
formation and flowering of Latin Christendom, the Late Middle Ages, the
Italian Renaissance, and the Early Reformation. Selected extracts are
accompanied by short explanations, which help the reader to understand
their context. The Source Book also contains links to a large number of
medieval and religious sources, particularly strong with respect to
Byzantine links. The purpose, scope and rationale behind the Source Book
are explained clearly and concisely. The volume of texts and extracts, as
well as the organization of the site, make this one of the premier
Internet Medieval Studies sites. Note that all links of the Source Book
and its links page are contained on two very large HTML pages, so users
should be patient when navigating back and forth.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
Medieval Links:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/medweb.html
Online Reference Book to Medieval Studies:
http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/kansas/orb/mainpage.html
[Back to Contents]
NIIAC KickStart Initiative Final Reports
The National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIIAC) has
produced two final reports with respect to the KickStart Initiative for
connecting America's communities to the Information Superhighway. They
are: "KickStart Initiative: Connecting America's Communities to the
Information Superhighway," and "A Nation of Opportunity: Realizing the
Promise of the Information Superhighway." "KickStart Initiative" contains
sections on Connecting People and Communities to the Information
Superhighway, A Leadership Guide to Getting There, A Resource on
Intellectual Property, Privacy, and Security, and Resources for
Communities, including print resources, online resources, and examples of
acceptable use policies. "A Nation of Opportunity" sets forth the mandate
and mission of the NIIAC. It includes sections on America on the
Information Superhighway, Impact on Key Areas of American Life and Work,
Ensuring Access for All, Rules of the Road, and Key Roles. Both
reports are available via ftp, gopher, and the Web. The ftp and gopher
sites contain both ASCII and Microsoft Word 6.0 versions of the
reports.
http://www.benton.org/KickStart/
gopher://periplum.cdinet.com:70/11/Benton/KickStart
gopher to periplum.cdinet.com
select Benton/KickStart
ftp://cdinet.com/Benton/KickStart/
ftp to cdinet.com and cd Benton/KickStart
For more information about NIIAC:
http://www.niiac-info.org/~niiac/
[Back to Contents]
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is one of the best known conservative think tanks
in the U.S., and its Web site offers voluminous information on various
topics. Its publications library offers full text in twelve subject
categories from its "FYI," "Heritage Lecture," "Backgrounder," and
"Executive Memorandum" series. Selected stories from "Policy Review: The
Journal of American Citizenship," are available, as well as articles from
"The Insider Newsletter." Its "Congressional District Ranking Book" gives
rankings based on census figures for vital statistics, education, housing,
and employment. It also provides an "Index for Economic Freedom" for over
100 countries. Links to conservative public policy organizations are
provided, as well as a job bank and internship program. This is a
powerhouse site for conservative (and other) internauts.
http://www.heritage.org/
[Back to Contents]
Australian SunSITE
The Australian National University and Sun Microsystems recently launched
Australian SunSITE. The site provides a wealth of pointers to Australian
an Oceanian resources of all types, and is particularly strong with
respect to Australian government information sites. It also provides
Questacon, -- the Australian National Science and Technology Center --
"Australia's premier hands-on science and technology centre," which
features a number of children's hands-on science activities, as well as a
virtual tour of the Questacon galleries. Australian SunSITE also provides
a South Pacific Information Network (SPIN), with further information and
links to South Pacific Resources, as well as a developing "Women's Network
for the Vocational Education and Training Sector in the Asia Pacific
Region (WINVET)." Questacon and WINVET can be found under "Education" on
the home page. SPIN can be found under "What's on this SunSITE."
Australian SunSITE also provides pointers to 25 other worldwide SunSITEs.
http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/
[Back to Contents]
Anthropology Links -- University of California at
Santa Barbara
The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) Anthropology
Department Web site provides a pointers page to literally hundreds of
Anthropology related sites around the world. The pointers are arranged by
subject (cultural anthropology, archeology, physical anthropology),
geography, departmental and museum, pointer sites, and miscellaneous
sites. Sites are annotated, and the annotations are searchable. The volume
of links, as well as the care taken in annotating them, makes this one of
the first places to visit for anthropology pointers on the Net.
http://www.sscf.ucsb.edu/anth/netinfo.html
UCSB Anthropology Department Home Page:
http://www.sscf.ucsb.edu/anth/
[Back to Contents]
1996 Pulitzer Prizes
The Pulitzer Prize Board recently presented 1996 Pulitzer Prizes for
achievements in American journalism, letters, drama, and music. A list of
winners, finalists, and the Prize Board and Juries is available at the
Pulitzer Web site. At present, winning exhibits are available for the
editorial cartooning and photography categories. Full text exhibits, as
well as biographies of winners will be available by June, so interested
readers might want to bookmark this site and check back periodically.
Complete 1995 awards are available, along with full text exhibits and
biographies of winners. A past prizes section is in the works at this
time.
http://www.pulitzer.org/
1995 awards, exhibits, and biographies:
http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/1995/
[Back to Contents]
Nephrology Professionals Discussion List
NEPHRO-RN is a list for nephrology professionals interested in topics
related to Nephrology and Transplantation. It seeks to create a
community for an exchange of ideas, concerns, new therapies, and
bioethical issues related to nephrology, transplantation,
immunosuppression, and renal disease. It will also be an opportunity
to meet others working in the field of Nephrology around the world.
The list, sponsored by the University of Alberta, is an unmoderated
group, open to all nephrology professionals.
Send email to:
Majordomo@majordomo.srv.ualberta.ca
In the body of the message type:
subscribe nephro-rn YourEmailAddress
[Back to Contents]
UNICEF "The State of the World's Children 1996"
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) has made its "The State of the
World's Children 1996" available on the Internet. Included are sections
on Children in War, Anti-War Agenda, Fifty Years for Children, and
Regional Spotlight. Also included are statistical tables dealing with
such variables as nutrition, health, education, basic indicators,
demographic indicators, and women, among others. References and a glossary
are provided. Note that navigation of the HTML version is page by page
and that many pages may be found under a single section (so be sure to
click on "next page" at the top of each page). The gopher version may
allow for easier navigation and downloading, although it is not as
graphically oriented.
http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/
Text only:
http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/contents.htm
gopher://gopher.unicef.org:70/11/.s496sowc
gopher to gopher.unicef.org
select: UNICEF Public Information/1996 Publications and Information
Items/1996 The State of the World's Children
Full text for 1993-1995 "The State of the World's Children" is also
available:
gopher://hqfaus01.unicef.org:70/11/.s2pubdocs
gopher to hqfaus01.unicef.org
select: UNICEF Public Information
[Back to Contents]
"Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996,"
and " Line Item Veto Act" -- Full Text
Full text of two major pieces of legislation recently signed into law by
the President are available via the Internet. "Federal Agriculture
Improvement and Reform Act of 1996," (PL 104-127) also known as "The Farm
Bill," and "Freedom to Farm Act," is the most far reaching piece of
agricultural legislation in over 60 years. The "Line Item Veto Act" (PL
104-130) gives the President, for the first time in American history, the
power to veto parts of bills. The HTML versions can be viewed by section,
while the FTP versions are full text in one file.
"Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996" (PL: 104-127):
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/hot-titl.html
Scroll to "Farm Bill," click on H.R. 2854, and then "Law Text."
ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/c104/h2854.enr.txt
ftp to ftp.loc.gov and cd pub/thomas/c104/h2854.enr.txt
Note that the full text is a bit over one megabyte. A summary of the
provisions of this large document can be found at the United States
Department of Agriculture Web site.
http://www.usda.gov/farmbill/index.htm
"Line Item Veto Act" (PL 104-130):
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/hot-titl.html
Scroll to "Line Item Veto Bill," click on S.4, and then "Law Text."
ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/c104/s4.enr.txt
ftp to ftp.loc.gov and cd pub/thomas/c104/s4.enr.txt
[Back to Contents]
cartalk.com
Car Talk (Click and Clack), the National Public Radio (NPR) show and
syndicated column by Tom and Ray Magliozzi, is now available via the Web.
Included are: selected excerpts from the radio show (via RealAudio); a
weekly car problem puzzler; a searchable archive of four years of "Click
and Clack" newspaper columns; a searchable directory of both radio
stations and newspapers that carry "Car Talk" and "Click and Clack";
classified ads; a "Virtually Useful Data" section, with an interactive
survey, detailed reports including National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration (NHTSA) report citations on recalls, complaints, and crash
tests on hundreds of models (with links to previous columns on those
models), and test drive notes; and an electronic "post card" rack that
allows you to send a personalized email postcard to a friend. (Of course,
as Tom and Ray say, "No stamp is required. Please do not try to lick the
screen.") Behind the light hearted humor of this site lies a large amount
of useful information about cars and car repair.
http://cartalk.com/
[Back to Contents]
Breast Cancer Answers
Breast Cancer Answers, provided by the University of Wisconsin
Comprehensive Cancer Center, is a "two year pilot project for the
dissemination of Breast Cancer information using the Information
Superhighway." It is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The
site features a set of questions you should ask your doctor regarding such
topics as biopsy, diagnosis, treatment, and surgery, among others; frequently
asked questions about bone marrow transplant, screening, and
unconventional cancer treatment, among others; and pointers to resources
in more than 15 categories from bone marrow transplants to types of breast
cancer. Breast Cancer Answers also offers an opportunity to ask questions
of trained NCI information specialists via email. Note that this email
feature is available only to residents of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa,
North Dakota, and South Dakota at this time.
http://www.biostat.wisc.edu/bca/bca.html
[Back to Contents]
27th NAACP Image Awards
The results of the 27th Annual NAACP (National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People) Image Awards are available at the Image
Awards Web Site. Motion picture, TV, music, literary, and special awards
were given. The site contains a list of nominees, winners, and photos. It
also contains a multimedia section, with movie clips and music, along with
excerpts of Richard Pryor (Hall of Fame Award Winner) comedy routines.
http://www.imageawards.com
[Back to Contents]
100th Boston Marathon
The 100th running of the Boston Marathon takes place April 15, 1996. For
comprehensive coverage of the race and race related information, point
your Web browser to the Official Boston Marathon Home Page. You can find
news releases, pre- and post-race reports, a database to identify runners
by bib number, and a history section that contains both an historical
overview and annual highlights of every race since 1897. A detailed race
course map is available under "Watching the Race." The site is sponsored
by the Boston Athletic Association.
http://www.bostonmarathon.org/
[Back to Contents]
The East Village
Internauts with time and bandwidth to spare might want to try out the new
cyber soap opera from Marinex Multimedia, The East Village. In addition to
photographs and audio and video clips, this soap allows you to join the
"cyber clique" of a favorite character (after registering, of course).
Once in a "clique," you will receive "secret email" from that character
that gives you information not in the story line. Chat rooms are also
available.
http://www.theeastvillage.com
[Back to Contents]
Video on Demand -- VDOlive and Vosaic
VDOnet Corp. provides VDOlive, a Windows platform video streaming software
product that offers real time "TV" over the Internet. This technology
offers immense promise as a tool to evolve the Internet into a true
multimedium. It works much like RealAudio does for sound streaming. That
is, it plays the audio and video as it is downloading, rather than making
the user wait for huge files to be downloaded before playing. This
results in significant time savings. Complete configuration instructions
for several Web browsers are available in the FAQ for the product. Note
that this technology is in its infancy, so do not expect TV quality when
you use it. The main problem at this time is frames per second (fps),
which varies from 2 to more than 20, depending on your connection (see the
FAQ-video quality). However, if you have a fast Internet connection, this
product is definitely worth trying, to see what the future of multimedia on
the Internet might be. VDOlive is a commercial product, but the 1.0
version is freely available for evaluation. Demo videos are available on
the VDOlive page, and you may also want to use VDOlive to view programs
from the PBS Life on the Internet series.
http://www.vdolive.com/
Text only:
http://www.vdolive.com/textonly.html
PBS Life on the Internet:
http://www2.pbs.org/internet/video/
Vosaic, a video and audio on demand software product for Unix platforms, is
available from the System Software Research Group, Department of Computer
Science, University of Illinois. Information on Vosaic research, as well as
software and demos are available. Make sure to comply with the binary
code license agreement before downloading this research software.
http://choices.cs.uiuc.edu/Vosaic/Vosaic.html
[Back to Contents]
Navigate!
Netscape Press and Ventana Communications Group offer Navigate!, a monthly
online magazine for Netscape Navigator (and other) users. The April 1996
issue contains an article on Mark Pesce, developer of Virtual Reality
Modeling Language (VRML), software, plug-in and site reviews, and tips on
electronic publishing, including a tutorial on applying transparency to
.gifs (for Windows), a review of HVS Color Photoshop plug-in, and an
article on CGI programming. The March Issue contained a tutorial on
frames and an article on network security. Ventana also offers full text
on line access to its "Official Netscape Navigator 2.0 Book," (Windows
Edition), by Phil James.
Navigate!:
http://ephraim.vmedia.com/zine/
"Official Netscape Navigator 2.0 Book":
http://www.vmedia.com/books/offnet/cover.htm
[Back to Contents]
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Copyright Susan Calcari, 1996. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout Report provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The InterNIC provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation: NCR-9218742. The Government has certain rights in this material.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin - Madison, the National Science Foundation, AT&T, or Network Solutions, Inc.