Scout Report: Week ending January 13, 1995

January 13, 1995

Note: This issue originally and incorrectly stated that it was published on January 13th, 1994.

The Scout Report is a weekly publication provided by the Info Scout and InterNIC Information Services to provide a sampling of the best of newly announced Internet resources.

Fast Facts about the Scout Report:

  1. Focus is on resources of interest to the InterNIC's primary audience: researchers and educators. However, everyone is welcome to subscribe and there are no associated fees.
  2. Each resource has been verified for substantial content and accessibility within a day of the release of the Report.
  3. Access methods: mailing list - plain text; mailing list - HTML; gopher; WWW. Web and gopher addresses are listed here. See the end of this report for complete access methods.
    WWW: http://www.internic.net/infoguide.html
    gopher: is.internic.net choose Information Services/Scout Report
  4. Past issues are archived and searchable on the InterNIC InfoGuide through the gopher or WWW access methods.
  5. Comments and contributions to the Scout Report are encouraged and can be sent to scout@cs.wisc.edu.

Highlights In This Week's Report

World Wide Web

  • Atlanta Reproductive Health Centre: Learn more about women's health issues such as infertility and endometriosis. An online book for couples describing infertility treatment is included. A photo gallery illustrates various problems that result in pelvic pain and infertility. Various surgical treatments are shown. Text and graphics explore the latest in high-tech fertility options.
  • Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resource Guides: Topical Guides to Internet Resources. Students at UM's School of Information and Library Studies have produced 11 new topical guides to the Internet in both HTML and ASCII formats. These comprehensive guides identify and evaluate the quality of Internet resources on a number of topics ranging from cyberpreneurship to statistics to emotional support.
  • (Art)^n Laboratory: The inventors of Virtual Photography/ PHSColograms, have moved to the Basic Industrial Research Laboratory (BIRL) at Northwestern University. A newly redesigned site features latest works online, and a listing of over 25 sites where the work can be seen in person for the full effect of the three dimensional nature of PHSColograms. In any case, the online versions are interesting to see. Try the Virtual Photography Gallery and look through the Sculpture section. From a piece titled Chaos/Information as Ornament/ A Tribute to Louis Sullivan: "This sculpture juxtaposes computer generated mathematical fractals with photographic imagery of Louis Sullivan's architecture."
  • The Foundation Center: An independent nonprofit organization established by foundations in 1956 to increase public understanding of the foundation field. The Center provides a comprehensive and up-to-date database on foundations and corporate giving programs, and publishes The Foundation Directory--the classic reference work for grantseekers--and some 50 other directories, guides and research reports. Information from the database is available electronically through custom searching and online services. Center information is provided free to the public at five Foundation Center libraries and approximately 200 cooperating libraries across the country. The Center introduces thousands of grantseekers each year to the funding research process.
  • Mother Jones Interactive: Get your Newt News here! Catch two in-depth pieces on Newt Gingrich,. We've just released our Jan/Feb issue on environmental hazards, the big dumb CIA, and teen sexuality. If you missed our Nov/Dec issue, you missed cultural separatism, female aggression, and the big dumb FDA!
  • Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet. As stated on the homepage: "In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, a service of the U.S. Congress through its Library." Includes full text of legislation for the 103rd Congress, with an indication that the 104th Congress bills will begin to appear at the end of this month; Full text of the Congressional Record; _How Our Laws Are Made_, an explanation of the lawmaking process from the origin of a legislative proposal through its publication as a law; and pointers to the House and C-SPAN gophers.

Gopher

  • The India Network Gopher: The network of the Asian Indian Community, the India Network of mailing lists and gopher and Web sites was established to discuss and provide information about issues related to India facing Indians living abroad. The India Network and Research Foundation was established in 1993 to provide stable network resources and to fund a graduate assistantship to work on network related chores. The 'welcome' file includes detailed information about joining their mailing lists, such as the India News Digest and the list for faculty of Indian origin.
  • Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms: Offers the full text of _How to Defend Your Gun Rights_ by Alan Gottlieb and David Kopel and _The Journal on Firearms and Public Policy_ Volumes 5 and 6. Access to the searchable databases holding the organizations publications; Supreme Court Cases since 1990; and all articles relating to the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Pointers to directories of files regarding the second amendment taken from archives.
    http://www.ccrkba.org/
    ftp.ccrkba.org
    WAIS: wais.ccrkba.org
  • National Rifle Association Gopher: Contains information on conservation, legislation, hunting issues, recruiting programs, and women's issues. Also, subscribe to the rkba-alert by sending mail to:
    rkba-alert-request@NRA.org, and in the body of the message type:
    subscribe rkba-alert Your-Full-Name
    http://www.nra.org/
    ftp.nra.org
  • IBM Higher Education Information Server: A gopher-based server offering IBM information, application software, and a bulletin board for IBM users in the higher education community. The system is funded by IBM and developed and operated by the Center for Information Systems Optimization at the University of Washington. The server is a follow-on to ISAAC, which was started in 1986 as a database and bulletin board system. There are three basic services offered on this system - files for browsing, software to download, and forums where you may share information with other users.
  • SIRIMBerhad is a multi-disciplinary research and development government-owned company under the Minister of Finance Incorporated. SIRIM was set-up to assist companies solve technical problems through the use of technology and help their business's growth. It is also entrusted with the task of upgrading quality through standards and technical services, assistance and consultancy to industries.
    [Note: Site formerly known as "SIRIM - Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia."; Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher site has been replaced by web site.]
  • National Public Radio: Includes program Information from National Public Radio, links to NPR Member Stations, transcripts and audio of news programs,and other public radio related information.
    [Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher site has been replaced by web site.]
  • Cornell Vet Gopher: Offers information about the Cornell Veterinary College, information related to veterinary medicine, especially veterinary medical education both within and outside the College. gopher://zoo.vet.cornell.edu
    [Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher may no longer be available.]
    http://www.vet.cornell.edu/
  • CARNet: the Croatian Academic and Research Network based in the University Computing Center, Zagreb.
  • U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN): The server contains press briefings, publications, fact sheets and general information about the U.S. Department of State provided by the U.S. dept. of State Public Affairs Office and made available by the University of Illinois at Chicago University Library.

Email

  • BosNet is a forum run by volunteers. Its goals are to present and distribute information relevant to the events in/about Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina (RB&H), and to initiate and coordinate various initiatives, etc. The list is moderated, which means that only selected contributions are published. The contributions/opinions presented on BosNet do not necessarily reflect personal opinions of the moderator or the member(s) of the Editorial Board. Typical daily posting consists of newsbriefs compiled from reports by UPI, RFE/RL, NYT, Reuter, as well as numerous other sources, such as: LA, SF, Chicago dailies; WP, WSJ, The Economist, White House, New Republic, Boston Globe, various Ministry Reports, FPB, etc. These postings are in English language. To participate in a discussion on a specific topic related to RB&H, please consider Usenet group soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna. Send mail to:
    ListProc@doc.IC.AC.UK
    in the body of the message type:
    SUBSCRIBE BOSNEWS Your_name Your_last_name
  • For those interested in the latest news from the former Soviet Union and East-Central and Southeastern Europe, the Daily Digest of the Open Media Research Institute (OMRI) is now available - a compilation of news concerning the former Soviet Union and East-Central and Southeastern Europe. The Daily Digest picks up where the RFE/RL Daily Report, which recently ceased publication, left off. Contributors include OMRI's 30-member staff of analysts, plus selected freelance specialists. OMRI is a unique public- private venture between the Open Society Institute and the U.S. Board for International Broadcasting. Send mail to: LISTSERV@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU< BR> in the body of the message type:
    subscribe OMRI-L Your_name Your_last_name

Weekend Scouting

  • Windows on Italy: Information about Italy: cities and regions, daily news by ANSA (National Agency of Associated Press), cultural tidbits, tourist information, and much more. Come and explore Italy!
  • Superbowl XXIX Host Committee Page: Much of the information is intended for those who are actually attending, but there's plenty more for the estimated 750,000,000 couch potatoes who will be watching the game on the tube. News, Teams, Trivia, and the Telecast are available, and of course, Merchandising. Heh, it's just a game, right? (Until the Pack is Back, that is.)

About the Scout Report

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offered by InterNIC Information Services to the Internet community as a fast, convenient way to stay informed about network activities. Its purpose is to combine in one place the highlights of new (and newly-discovered) online resources and other announcements seen on the Internet during the preceding week.

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 -- electronic mail, gopher, World Wide Web, and HTML. The gopher and World Wide Web versions of the Report include links to all listed resources. The Report is released every weekend.

In addition to the ascii version, the Scout Report is distributed in HTML format via a separate mailing list. This allows sites to easily add the Scout Report to their local WorldWideWeb servers each week, providing fast access for local users. Subscription information for the scout-report-html mailing list is included below. Note that permission statements appear on both versions of the Scout Report, and we ask that these be included in any re-posting or re-distributing of the report. Thank you!

If you haven't yet subscribed or told your friends and colleagues, now is the time. Spread the news by word-of-net. Join thousands 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@cs.wisc.edu.

-- InterNIC Info Scout (sm)

Scout Report Access Methods

  • To receive the electronic mail version of the Scout Report each weekend, join the scout-report mailing list which is used only to distribute the Scout Report once a week

    Send mail to majordomo@is.internic.net in the body of the message, type:

    subscribe scout-report
    to unsubscribe to the list, repeat this procedure substituting the word "unsubscribe" for subscribe.
    • To receive the Scout Report in HTML format for local posting, subscribe to the scout-report-html mailing list, used exclusively to distribute the Scout Report in HTML format once a week.

      Send mail to majordomo@is.in ternic.net in the body of the message, type:

      subscribe scout-report-html

      Resource Addressing Conventions

      After each resource in the Scout Report one or more network addresses are listed. In all cases a convention is used for listing 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) and instructions for accessing additional information in the InterNIC InfoGuide about each 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 through 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 will need a WWW client installed on your host computer. Clients are available for all major computer platforms, including Macintosh, PC, and UNIX. To use a WWW client on your computer, you will need a TCP/IP connection to the Internet, either through a dedicated line connection or a SLIP/PPP connection. See the InfoGuide for additional information about the World Wide Web and for sites which archive WWW clients. For more information about SLIP/PPP, which can be used over a dial-up connection, see the document listed in the NetBytes section above.

      gopher://is.internic.net/11/infoguide/using-internet/basic-resources/email/

      Gopher to: is.internic.net
      Choose: Information Services/Using the Internet/

      Send email to mailserv@is.internic.net
      and in the body of the message type:

      send INDEX
      Copyright 1994 General Atomics.

      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 the National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement No. NCR-9218749. 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, General Atomics, AT&T, or Network Solutions, Inc.

      scout@is.internic.net
      guide@is.internic.net