The Scout Report - September 22, 1995
A Service to the Internet Community
Provided by the Info Scout and 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 on the InterNIC server:
http://rs.internic.net/scout_report-index.html
Additional information and detailed access and subscription instructions
are included at the end of each Scout Report.
Highlights In This Week's Report:
World Wide Web:
- The Common Carrier Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission
regulates interstate wireline telecommunications services. The Bureau
pages provide user-friendly access to recently-released items, as well as
information about the Bureau and descriptions of current proceedings.
Visitors can browse FCC factsheets, read the Frequently Asked Questions
list, or get information about "hot topics" such as ISDN pricing,
unauthorized changes of long-distance carriers ("slamming"), and the
exhaustion of 800 numbers. Within the next few weeks, separate pages will
be added for each Division within the Bureau, providing additional
information about current issues. See also the main FCC Web page.
http://www.fcc.gov/ccb.html
http://www.fcc.gov/
- The Joint Language Training Center Home Page is a large collection of
links to various web resources for many, many foreign languages. This
page is a good starting point for anyone looking for foreign language
resources on the web, including software, news, and teacher's resources.
http://www.cc.utah.edu/~coj6886/jltc.html
- Loci is a commercial site for college students by college students. From
online chat, and auditorium events to travel and entertainment news, Loci
is the center for college types who know better. The Get a Life section
includes a Survival Guide -- "Your guide to survival," College and
Graduate School Information--"Remember: Education is a lifetime pursuit,"
and Volunteer -- "How to go about helping communities that really need
your help." See the Breaking Into The Real World section where you can
read parts of "Job Smarts for TwentySomethings", peruse Loci's 8-step job
search guide, or read about others' job experiences. And the Help &
Technology links will make you a 'Net guru.
http://www.loci.com/
- The National Performance Review, Vice President Gore's task force on
reinventing government, has released its second annual update report,
Common Sense Government: Works Better & Costs Less. Internet users may
access the report via World Wide Web, gopher, or email. Gopher access
provides both ASCII and Adobe pdf files of the report. The print report
may also be purchased for $16.00 at Government Printing Office bookstores
or from the Government Printing Office directly. Call 202-512-1800, and
cite stock number 040-000-00662-1 when ordering. The print report will
also be distributed to all federal depository libraries.
http://www.npr.gov/status95/reports.htm
gopher://cyfer.esusda.gov:70/11/ace/npr/reports
gopher to:
cyfer.esusda.gov
select Americans Communicating Electronically/National
Performance Review/NPR Reports/Status Reports of the NPR
For instructions on how to receive this and other NPR reports via email:
send email to almanac@ace.esusda.gov
in the body of the message type: send npr catalog
- PBS has updated and enhanced their Web site to include links to
information on all their shows, including program descriptions, airdates,
and teacher's notes. One section is devoted to PBS Learning Services for
both adults and K-12 school children. Electronic fieldtrips, the PBS
Mathline, and PBS Video are some of the learning tools available. PBS and
MacNeil/Lehrer Productions will bring The Online Newshour to the Web
starting November 1, featuring online interviews and updated news.
http://www.pbs.org/
- The official guide to Pope John Paul II's upcoming visit to Baltimore, MD,
on October 8th is on the Web. Complete information about events scheduled
to occur that day as well as biographical and historical data on the Pope,
Cardinal William H. Keeler (Archbishop of Baltimore) and the Archdiocese
of Baltimore. A video and audio archive is provided, as are external links
to other religious sites around the Web including the Vatican and the
Catholic University of America.
http://www.realinfo.com/pope/
- The UCLA Image Processing Laboratory focuses their research on the image
coding and transmission of communications and archiving systems. While the
emphasis is on applied research, they are also studying a number of issues
of theoretical importance. Areas of research include wireless
communications, medical imaging, FPGA implementations, channel/source
coding, data compression, image enhancement, and networking. There is also
a research paper library where papers can be downloaded.
http://synergy.icsl.ucla.edu/~ipl
- The U.S. Department of Education's new & improved World Wide Web home has
been thoroughly redesigned with many new features and extensive additional
information which is searchable by keyword. Searchable document
collections include legislation and Education's gopher and Web sites.
Other links lead to Money Matters, Publications & Products, Programs &
Services, and People & Offices. A "Picks of the Month" section highlights
quality educational sites -- this month they include the AskERIC Virtual
Library, the Student Guide to Financial Aid, and the National Institute on
the Education of At-Risk Students.
http://www.ed.gov/
Gopher
- The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) gopher site at Harvard provides information on the center and its work to classify the economic
status of the US economy - Its the "official" organization determining
the state of the US economy. The technically inclined will appreciate the
improved online access to the recently updated Penn-World Tables, a set
of international comparisons of economic indicators.
gopher to: gopher://nber.harvard.edu
Electronic Mailing Lists
NetBytes
- The List of Free Computer-Related Publications includes hardcopy
magazines, newspapers, and journals related to computing which can be
subscribed to free of charge. Each entry contains a brief overview of that
publication, including its primary focus, typical content, publication
frequency, subscription information, as well as an (admittedly) subjective
overall rating. Note that some publications have qualifications you must
meet in order for the subscription to be free.
http://www.soci.niu.edu/~huguelet/TLOFCRP/
- Apple Worldwide Mobility Solutions recently announced a Web page dedicated
to the communications, expandability, multimedia, and cross-platform
compatibility features of the newest Apple Macintosh PowerBook computers.
In addition to specific product information, the page provides Q & A on
mobile communications capabilities, the PC Card as it relates to modems,
wireless, and storage devices, and the expansion bay possibilities such as
infrared devices.
http://www.info.apple.com/gomobile/
Weekend Scouting
- GardenNet has announced a new online gardening publication, The Ardent
Gardener, for the seriously nutty gardener, beginning to advanced.
Contents include Over The Fence: a column with tips on new plant
introductions, garden events, and gardening advice; Book Review, the first
review is of "A Patchwork Garden"; Ask The Ardent Gardener, let the Ardent
Gardener help you with your gardening concerns and read the responses to
other queries; and Gardener Gallery, excerpts from articles by fine garden
writers from the yet to be published magazine for the ardent gardener,
Gardeners Magazine.
http://www.olympus.net/gardens/ArdentGardener.htm
- The Genealogy SF Web page offers links to Internet genealogy data and
research sites in the U.S. and abroad. Several "how to" files for research
help are available, as is genealogy software for Apple/MAC, DOS, and
Windows.
http://www.sfo.com/~genealogysf
- The year 2000 is not that far away and the City of Sydney is preparing to
host the Olympics. They already have their Web site online with
information about the games in Atlanta next year and a look ahead to what
the World can expect from Sydney in the year 2000.
http://www.world.net/touristradio/Olympic.html
About the Scout Report
The Scout Report is a weekly publication offered by the InterNIC to the
Internet community as a fast, convenient way to stay informed about
network activities. Its purpose is to combine in one place selected new
(and newly-discovered) Internet resources.
A wide range of topics are included in the Report with an emphasis on
resources thought to be of interest to the InterNIC's primary audience,
the research and education community. Each resource has been verified
for substantial content and accessibility within a day of the release of
the Report.
The Scout Report is provided in multiple formats -- mailing lists for
both a plain text and HTML version, and World Wide Web. The World Wide
Web version of the Report includes links to all listed resources. The
report is released every weekend.
In addition to the plain text version, the Scout Report is distributed
in HTML format allowing sites to post the Scout Report on local
WorldWideWeb servers each week. The result is faster access for local
users. You are welcome and encouraged to re-post and re-distribute the
report. Note that copyright statements appear on all versions of the
Scout Report, and we ask that these be included when re-posting or
re-distributing.
If you haven't yet subscribed or told your friends and colleagues, now
is the time. Spread the news by word-of-net. Join 20,000 of your
colleagues already using the Scout Report as a painless tool for tracking
what's new on the 'Net!
Comments and contributions to the Scout Report are encouraged and can be
sent to:
scout@internic.net
-- Susan Calcari
InterNIC Info Scout
Scout Report Access Methods
Resource Addressing Conventions
After each resource in the Scout Report one or more network addresses are
listed. Every attempt is made to use the same convention in each listing
for the network address of each resource. It is assumed that users
recognize the type of address and know how to use it. However, for those
users unfamiliar with the Internet we provide here the order in which
addresses are listed (by network tool.) A brief explanation of one tool,
WWW is included below.
The four network tools referenced most often in the Scout Report are
World Wide Web, gopher, email, and FTP. Occasionally WAIS and Telnet
addresses are also listed.
After each resource at least one address is listed, and sometimes more.
This is because some resources are available using multiple network
tools. The network tool addresses are always listed in the same order
after each resource:
- World Wide Web (WWW)
- Gopher
- FTP
- Email
- Telnet
- WAIS
A WWW address is called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and always
begins with a string of characters followed by a colon and two forward
slashes. For example:
http://www.internic.net/
gopher://gibbs.oit.unc.edu:70/11/research.d/grants.d
ftp://ftp.digex.net/pub/access/hecker/internet/slip-ppp.txt
To access the resource through the WWW you can use a WWW browser
installed on your desktop computer, or a "command-line" WWW client on
your local Internet host computer. Web browsers are available for all
major computer platforms, including Macintosh, PC, and UNIX. Check with
your local support center or your Internet Service Provider for more
information about Web browsers installed on the Internet host computer or
Copyright Susan Calcari, 1995.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout
Report provided the copyright notice, this permission notice, and the two
paragraphs below are preserved on all copies.
The InterNIC provides information about the Internet and the resources on
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 National Science Foundation, AT&T, or Network
Solutions, Inc.