The Scout Report - April 19, 1996

April 19, 1996

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

Send comments and contributions to: scout@cs.wisc.edu

TIPTOP - The Internet Pilot to Physics
The well known Internet Pilot to Physics (TIPTOP) has recently added a new electronic bulletin board for physics conferences, workshops, and summer schools. It is the official upload facility for European Physical Society (EurophysNet) announcements. At present, there are over 180 announcements available for 1996-1999. Announcements are browsable by type, month, and year, and searchable. The announcement section is just a small part of the TIPTOP site, which also includes Physics Around the World, an exhaustive listing of physics links including institutes (by country and research field), preprints and journals, and physics related software; The Virtual Laboratory, with online Java applets; Physics Forum, with a market place for used equipment, job listings, and discussion forums; and Physics On-Line, containing MIT's "The Net Advance of Physics," and "The Living Encyclopedia of Physics." TIPTOP also has plans to implement a database for physics related software, a visualization gallery, and a discussion forum for physics education.
TIPTOP Conference Announcements:
http://physicsweb.org/TIPTOP/FORUM/CONF/
TIPTOP Home Page:
http://physicsweb.org/TIPTOP/
European Physical Society (EurophysNet):
http://epswww.epfl.ch/Welcome.html
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Teachers & Writers Collaborative
The Teachers & Writers Collaborative (T&W) was founded in 1967 as a non-profit organization by a group of writers and educators who believe that writers can make a unique contribution to the teaching of writing. T&W brings writers and educators together in collaborations that explore the connections between writing and reading literature, and that generate new ideas and materials. T&W writers' diaries, as well as articles from other writers and teachers around the country, are the source of T&W publications. T&W publishes a bimonthly magazine and books, distributed through the 200,000 catalogues they mail to educators and writers nationwide each year. Links are provided to various publications, such as new books for teachers & writers and books for creative teachers.
http://www.twc.org/tmmain.htm
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MegaMathematics - mathematical theory for elementary school students
MegaMathematics, a project of the Computer Research and Applications Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is an attempt to make complex mathematical ideas accessible to children in elementary school classrooms. The site is made up of a subject based "workbook," containing an introduction to the math of map coloring; hands on exploration of the fundamentals of knot theory; an introduction to graph theory; a dramatization that uses the fundamentals of formal logic; a puzzle that shows the computer's ability to solve problems; finite state machines and computer pattern recognition systems; and the Hotel Infinity. Each topic consists of an overview and a more detailed investigation that includes activities, vocabulary, concepts, preparation and materials, evaluation, and suggestions for further study. MegaMathematics is designed to be used by teachers, students, and mathematicians (see Hints for Navigating MegaMath on the home page.) It also provides kids' stories and writings from the project. A glossary and references are included, as well as a small list of kids and educational links. The concept of the site, its organization, and its motivation make it one of the most interesting k-12 sites on the net.
http://www.c3.lanl.gov/mega-math/
Text only: http://www.c3.lanl.gov/mega-math/menu.html
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Molecular Biotechnology: Chem 538 @ Purdue
Molecular Biotechnology, a Chemistry class at Purdue University, is devoted to teaching how to access and use computer and online biotechnology resources. The Web site provides access to class assignments currently in progress, which offers a good example of using the Web to teach. Of general interest to chemists and biologists is the External Links section, which offers pointers to journals, selected newsgroups, Pedro's Biomolecular Research Tools (at Iowa State), science archives sites, and career resources. Related library and science collection links are also included.
http://www.chem.purdue.edu/courses/chm538/index.html
[Note: Resource(s)/URL(s) mentioned above is no longer available.]
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Internet Kids Yellow Pages
The Internet Kids Yellow Pages Web site is a companion to the recently released book, but stands on its own as a resource for kids and their parents, teachers, and care-givers. Produced by librarian Jean Armour Polly with the help of an experienced research team, The Internet Kids Yellow Pages offers sites which have been thoroughly researched and selected with care and respect for children. For example, the Fifty Extraordinary Experiences for Internet Kids section includes the best of the best in 10 categories, such as Connect With Other Kids, News and Reference, Science, Arts, History, Fun, Sports, and Computers and the Internet. The Sample Annotations section offers 20 additional recommended sites, including Net Files -- trivia questions answered by an Internet site. The Updates section provides current URLs for those that have changed since the book was published. This site offers much to see and explore. The home page also offers a link to the Dunblane Page, with resources on grief and how to talk to kids about terrorism. It may come in handy in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing anniversary.
http://www.well.com/user/polly/
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San Francisco State University Mulitmedia Studies Program
The San Francisco State University Mulitmedia Studies Program: "Located in the heart of downtown San Francisco's multimedia gulch, the program enjoys a tremendous resource: the creative input of the Bay Area's renowned multimedia artists, designers, producers and entrepreneurs." The Web site offers access to a variety of Web projects, including online courses, a history of multimedia timeline, and a digizine called InCommunicado. Also, the Program's lecture series will soon be available at the site in RealAudio format.
http://www.cel.sfsu.edu/msp/MSP2.html
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HEPROC-Learning-Contracts mailing list
Moderated by a panel of three, the HEPROC-Learning-Contracts mailing list studies the relationship between students and faculty in higher (or tertiary) education. The list will cover explicit and implicit aspects of that relationship, methods of customizing content and learning experiences, and ways to enhance students' definition of and commitment to course content and materials. Learning contracts, also referred to as learning agreements, will be the basis for a significant portion of list discussion topics. Participation from around the world is welcome. To subscribe, visit the Web site:
http://heproc.org/
or send an email message to lcmod@webcom.com and introduce yourself.
Discuss your work in education, and include any details that might reflect on the topics indicated above.
Please put your full name in the subject line.
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Rock the Vote - register to vote in any state online
Rock the Vote and MCI have joined forces to encourage young people (and others) to register to vote in just minutes online. Due to passage of the Motor Voter Bill, a single, uniform voter registration form can now be used in almost all 50 states, greatly simplifying the production of a single online registration site. It's easy: pick your state, fill out the Web form, wait 2-3 weeks to receive your voter registration application card in the mail, sign on the dotted line, and mail the form back to your state's election office in the pre-addressed envelope provided. Even postage is included. Sounds like Internauts just ran out of excuses. [I registered in my new home state of Wisconsin in about 5 minutes this morning.] In addition, the site is loaded with original content and opportunities to discuss the issues and express your views. Check it out.
http://www.rockthevote.org
http://netvote96.mci.com
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NASDAQ Stock Market
The NASDAQ Stock Market is available via the Web. The no-nonsense page offers 15 minute delayed stock quotes and includes options for a full quote: best bid, best asked, today's high, low, last sale, previous days close, net change and share volume. Also available are multi quotes for up to five companies at once, index activity, which lets you choose companies based on subject type, the NASDAQ 100 Index, and a most active list -- dollar volume, share volume, 10 most advanced and declined. You can look up companies by name or symbol and company stock information is accompanied by a hypertext connection to that company's page, as well as a connection to the SEC EDGAR database.
http://www.nasdaq.com/
Less graphical: http://www.nasdaq.com/dyn/html2/IndexPrompt.stm
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Take Our Daughters to Work Day
Take Our Daughters to Work Day, a site sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women and GNN (Global Network Navigator), is devoted to events surrounding April 25, when parents will share a work day with their daughters. It includes a message and interview with Gloria Steinem; a checklist of how girls can get ready for the big day at home and at school; and a list of questions to ask people on the job. Also available is a list of online events, including a virtual chat party on April 25, and information about the Ms. Foundation for Women. However, the highlight of the site is the Our Daughters' Home Pages section, where GNN helps you help your daughter [or is it the other way around? :-) ] create a Web page. Send GNN the URL of your daughter's home page and they will link to it for one week, beginning April 25.
http://www.ms.foundation.org/
Our Daughters' Home Pages:
http://gnn.com/feat/homepage/index.htm
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Nature Conservancy
"Wired for Conservation" is the Nature Conservancy's home on the Web. The Nature Conservancy manages more than 1,500 nature preserves and protects more than nine million acres of wildlife habitat, "the largest private system of wildlife refuges in the world." It does this by buying the lands containing the habitats. The What's News section is highlighted by full text of Nature Conservancy Magazine, and the 1996 Species Report Card (under the Press Tent/Resources). Nature Chat connects to birding, fishing, hiking, and photography Usenet news groups. In the Field describes upcoming Nature Conservancy field trips, contains a species spotlight, and connects to state, regional, and international Nature Conservancy programs. Conservation Science promises to be a valuable resource containing technical data from the Conservancy's biological and conservation databases, but is still under construction at this time. "Wired for Conservation" is searchable, and there is also an alphabetical index to the site. It is frames based and richly graphical, but the time taken is time well spent.
http://www.tnc.org/
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Achoo - The Internet Health Care Directory
Achoo, The Internet Health Care Directory, provided by MNI Systems Corporation, aims to be a comprehensive catalog of healthcare sites. It is organized in a subject hierarchy beginning with human life, practice of medicine, and business of health, and continues with many sub-hierarchies. Each site contains a brief annotation. The directory is searchable. At present Achoo contains over 5,000 sites. Achoo resembles Yahoo! in construction, and navigation is similar.
http://www.achoo.com/
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Yesterland - Disneyland 30 years ago
Yesterland, an individual effort affectionately provided by Werner Weiss, is a nostalgic trip through a Disneyland that no longer exists: rides that have been discontinued. Most of the discontinued rides are from "Tomorrowland," although some are from other sections of one of America's oldest and most beloved theme parks. Each "Yester-attraction" contains a photograph, details of the experience, and a short history. Also included is a thorough explanation of how the Disneyland ticket system once worked. Yester Memories, and recommended books and magazines about Disneyland are provided. Yesterland also points to a large number of Disney and non-Disney theme park and amusement park sites. For those Internauts for whom a trip to Disneyland in the 50's or 60's was the trip of a lifetime, Yesterland will evoke wonderful memories. Note that this site does not discuss discontinued sites from Disneyworld.
http://www.mcs.net/~werner/yester.html
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Baseball Weekly
USA Today has recently made its Baseball Weekly newspaper available via the Web. Included are stories on major league, minor league, and college baseball, as well as feature articles. Baseball Weekly also presents weekly fantasy league reports, which analyze player statistics in the context of fans who might have the players in a fantasy league -- a league in which "owners" compile teams of major league players and receive points based on those players' ongoing statistics. The fantasy league reports are one of the newspaper's best resources.
http://www.usatoday.com/bbwfront.htm
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The Ultimate Band List
The Ultimate Band List claims to be the Web's largest list of interactive music links. Bands can be browsed alphabetically, by genre, including pop rock, hard rock, jazz, new age, and dance/techno/rap, or by Internet resource. Information on each band may include discographies, lyrics, audio, guitar tablatures, mailing lists, and Web connections. The entire site is searchable.
http://www.ubl.com/
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Webreference.com
Webreference.com is a comprehensive HTML reference page provided by Athenia Associates. At its heart are two main sections, Web/Net and Webmaster, found under Table of Contents. Web/Net contains information about the Internet and Web, organized under 15 categories, from agents to tutorials. Webmaster contains information about Web site creation in over 15 categories, including advanced topics such as VRML. Here you can find color tables (under graphics), CGI and forms information (under programming), and HTML books, converters, editors, style guides, tutorials, tables, and validation methods (under HTML). There is also a developer's corner, with concise explanations of new Web development techniques, and a Web Wizard of the month, featuring sites that push Web building technology to the cutting edge. Webreference.com is a good site for both the beginning and advanced Webmaster.
http://www.webreference.com/
Less graphical:http://www.webreference.com/index2.heh
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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.

The Scout Report - April 19, 1996

April 19, 1996

Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

Scout Report and Scout Report HTML Subscription Instructions