The Scout Report

June 5, 1998

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Science Department, University of Wisconsin

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). Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.

An Acrobat .pdf version of this report is available for printing and distributing locally. For information on Adobe Acrobat Reader, visit the Adobe site.

Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics, April-May 1998 Scout Report Bimonthly Compilation
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/
Scout Report Bimonthly Compilation--April-May 1998
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bimonth/
The eighteenth issues of the Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics are available. Each Report annotates over twenty new and newly-discovered Internet resources. The In the News section of the Social Sciences Report annotates eight resources on the new regime in Indonesia. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section annotates eight resources related to economic sanctions and the arms race in India and Pakistan. The Scout Report Bimonthly Compilation for April-May 1998 is also available. Individual compilations, arranged by subject, have been split into separate files for ease of use. Each complete compilation is also available. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

Digital Government Program Announcement--NSF CISE (NSF98-121)
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf98121/nsf98121.htm
The Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering of the US National Science Foundation has released this new program announcement. the goal of the Digital Government Program is "to fund research at the intersection of the computer and information sciences research communities and the mid- to long-term research, development, and experimental deployment needs of the Federal information service communities. The Internet, which was created from a successful partnership between Government agencies and the information technologies research community, is a major motivating factor and context for this program." The announcement suggests six possible application areas, including intelligent information integration, advanced analytics for large datasets or information collections, electronic transaction technologies, and application of information technology to federal law and regulation. Eligibility and contact information is available at the site. Proposals are due September 1, 1998 for FY 1998 and March 1, 1999 for FY 1999 and after. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

House of Commons Library Research Papers [.pdf]
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rpintro.htm
The UK House of Commons has recently created a site that offers access to the full text of Research Papers (Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format only) which are compiled for the benefit of British Members of Parliament by the staff of the House of Commons Library. An occasional series focusing on topics of current parliamentary interest, the papers, "aim to be politically impartial and contain factual information as well as a range of opinions on each subject covered." Recently released titles include: "EU Enlargement: The Political Process," "EU Enlargement: The Financial Consequences," "Northern Ireland: political developments since 1972," "The local elections of 7 May 1998 and the London Referendum," and "Unemployment by Constituency: Welfare-to-work groups - April 1998." [MD]
[Back to Contents]

United Nations Information Center on the Question of Palestine Database
http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF?OpenDatabase
Information About UNISPAL
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/qpal/UNISPAL.htm
The United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights has made a portion of its 3,000 document database available on an experimental basis. Documents (in a Lotus Domino database), beginning with the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and running mostly from 1946 to the present, are accessible by date, subject, title, publishing entity, and type. Sources include press releases, Yearbook of the United Nations excerpts, DPR studies, and Secretary-General reports, among others. Unfortunately, the search interface does not work at this time, but the many browse access methods, and the amount of accessible material give this site great power. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

The Life of Edward the Confessor--CUL
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/MSS/Ee.3.59/
Cambridge University library has recently made available online "the only copy of a thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman, illuminated Life of St. Edward the Confessor." The manuscript, written in the 1230s or 40s and executed in the 1250s or 60s, is well-preserved, and its new availability should be a boon for medievalists. Cambridge's site allows users to page through all 37 folios, beginning with the first, or to obtain descriptions of each folio and view them selectively. Users can zoom in on all or part of a page or view pages side-by-side. The site also includes a brief introduction to the manuscript and suggestions for further reading. [TK]
[Back to Contents]

Pinakes: A Subject Launchpad
http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/pinakes/pinakes.html
With the exponential growth in the number of resources available on the web, and the ever-expanding range of subjects covered, savvy Internauts are turning to subject-specific metasites as gateways to specialized information. The creators of Pinakes, based at Heriot-Watt University (UK), have developed this launchpad to over 25 specialized metasites, covering subjects such as aerospace, education, law, and physics. Similar to the Scout Select Bookmarks (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/toolkit/bookmarks/index.html), Pinakes presents a small set of metasites that have been recognized as containing links to quality resources for a given subject area. [AG]
[Back to Contents]

Federal Courts Law Review [frames]
http://www.fclr.org/content/fclr.htm
Federal Courts Law Review is an electronic publication provided by the Federal Magistrate Judges Association and edited by Carol Heckman, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of New York. It aims at being a "forum for the publication of legal scholarship relating to federal courts and federal legislation," and claims to be one of the few law reviews sponsored by a judicial association. The first issue contains articles entitled "Discovery in Computer Software Patent Litigation," "Instructing the Jury in an Employment Discrimination Case," and "Civil Case Voir Dire and Jury Selection in Federal Court." Two of the authors are magistrate judges. Articles are also available via email. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

Compensation and Working Conditions Online--BLS [.pdf]
http://stats.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cwcwelc.htm
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has recently begun to provide this publication, a complement to its print counterpart, via the web. The online version mirrors the articles, briefs, and tables of the print version. Some articles are available in text, and some only in Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format. Each issue is accompanied by relevant BLS tables such as the Employment Cost Index, Major Work Stoppages, and the Occupational Compensation Survey. The present issue (Vol. 3, No. 1) contains articles on professional sports team salary caps, fatal work injuries for 1996, and scientists' earnings. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

Obsolete English Names of North American Birds and Their Modern Equivalents--PWRC
http://www.pwrc.nbs.gov/research/pubs/banks/obsall.htm
This unusual site from Patuxent Wildlife Research Center lists old and obsolete English names of North American birds and their modern scientific equivalents. PWRC compiled this resource to assist researchers studying museum specimens (whether specimens of birds, or of ectoparasites found on birds) since, often, old specimen names may be obsolete and unknown to the researcher. Users can browse the database, which is organized alphabetically by old common name. This site may also be of interest to psychologists and sociologists as the list offers interesting insights into (historical) human perception of bird species. [LXP]
[Back to Contents]

US and Allied Wartime and Postwar Relations and Negotiations With Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey on Looted Gold and German External Assets and US Concerns About the Fate of the Wartime Ustasha Treasury--US DOS [.pdf]
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/rpt_9806_ng_links.html
This US State Department report, a supplement to DOS' Holocaust Assets report (discussed in the May 16, 1997 Scout Report) is now online. While the report is in Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format, a summary is available in text, as is a "special briefing" by Under Secretary Stuart Eizenstat that also summarizes main findings. The report itself is mainly an accounting of how the Nazis used the money they obtained from the gold they looted "to purchase critical war materials from the other neutral countries necessary to sustain the war effort: Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey." There is a separate chapter on each country, as well as one on Croatia's Ustasha regime. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

Government of India Ministry of Finance Union Budget 1998-99 [.pdf]
http://www.nic.in/indiabudget/
Previous budgets
http://www.nic.in/finmin/bud/bud.htm
The Indian Ministry of Finance has recently released 1998-99 Union Budget documents, as well as the 1997-98 Economic Survey. The Budget site contains several sections, two that summarize the key features of the budget, one that reproduces the June 1, 1998 budget speech of the Minister of Finance, and the rest of which link to key budget documents. Budget documents are available in Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format. The 1997-98 Economic Survey discusses key sectors of the Indian economy, including public finance, capital and money markets, and agriculture, among others. The ES is accessible via many .pdf documents. Previous budget information back to 1996-97 is also available. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

CyberAtlas--Guggenheim Museum [frames, Java]
http://cyberatlas.guggenheim.org/intro/ca-f.html
CyberAtlas, a project of the Guggenheim web site and Guggenheim magazine, provides two charts of the evolving cultural geography of cyberspace. The Electric Sky, by John Ippolito, maps art web sites such as artnetweb, (discussed in the April 5, 1996 Scout Report) and MOBA, the Museum of Bad Art. Intelligent Life, by Laura Trippi, is based on the idea that digital technology has given rise to a new conception of what constitutes intelligent life. Trippi uses this concept as a framework through which to chart and organize web sites such as UFOmind, the Paranormal Research Index, and Bodies, Inc., where you can build a virtual body. The Guggenheim notes that links in older maps will go out of date but are preserved in CyberAtlas as historical records of a cyberspace that may no longer exist. [DS]
[Back to Contents]

Dow Jones Business Directory
http://bd.dowjones.com/
Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, provides this annotated and searchable webliography of business sites to help users find in-depth and accurate Internet business information. Editors rate quality sites covering business news, economics, companies, industries, and financial data according to content, access speed, navigation, and design. These ratings are coupled with descriptions, and most reviewed sites are free. The site also includes links to career information, government data, and discussion groups. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Time Service Department, U.S. Naval Observatory
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/time.html
Have you ever wondered, really wondered, what time it is? With the help of the US Naval Observatory (USNO) and its Time Services Department, you can find out. This Department serves as "the official source of time used in the United States," and the site contains selections on GPS satellite timing operations, the USNO Master Clock, devices for setting your computer to USNO time, a description of clocks of the future, downloadable software, and several other interesting and timely links. This site allows users to see exactly what time it is in any time zone in the world. [LXP]
[Back to Contents]

Animated American Sign Language Dictionary
http://www.bconnex.net/~randys/
Created and maintained by Randy Stine, an ASL enthusiast, this site is designed to help users learn about ASL and the Deaf community. The heart of the site is the Dictionary, a collection of basic words that are signed in a brief video sequence, a simple, but very clever idea. The Dictionary also contains the signs for A to Z and 0 to 9. Users will also find a large number of resources for and about the Deaf community. These include related links, articles, services, and non-profit agencies. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

BMGonline Set Your Sites--Modern Music for Almost Everyone [frames, Javascript, RealPlayer, QuickTime]
http://www.bmgonline.com/
BMG Entertainment provides this portal to three avenues of modern music: country (Twang This), alternative (BUGjuice), and urban (Peeps Republic). Each site contains news, star information, upcoming concerts, and of course, video and or audio clips (RealPlayer or QuickTime). The design of each site, as well as the content, should appeal to the fans of that music. Note that sites open in their own windows from the main site, which can occasionally cause confusion. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses--Update
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/domainhome.htm
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the US Department of Commerce has made this document, a "statement of policy" concerning the domain name system (DNS), available. The policy statement first gives background in the DNS situation today, then summarizes the responses to its January 30, 1998 proposal A Proposal to Improve the Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses, and then sets forth the revised policy statement. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

Emacs JDE
http://sunsite.auc.dk/jde/
The Emacs JDE, provided by Paul Kinnucan, is a Lisp package for Emacs that provides an easy-to-use and configurable way to do Java development in the Emacs environment. Emacs JDE not only allows for keystroke interfaces to various command-line tools, but also performs auto indentation, source code coloring, source code browsing, and more. Anyone who has used Emacs to compile and debug C or C++ will appreciate the ability to jump to the source code associated with a compile-time error and the ability to display and step through source code while debugging. This freely-available package runs on numerous platforms and is well-documented and supported. [CL]
[Back to Contents]

WEBTV Mailing List
http://www.onelist.com/viewarchive.cgi?listname=webtv
This List is for the discussion of WEBTV. Discussion topics include upgrades, problems, and all other aspects of WEBTV. Interested users may subscribe, as well as read the archives, at the above URL. Note that the list provider (onelist.com) requires users to register before subscribing to lists. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

Volume 2, Number 6, June 2, 1995
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/archive/.html
GASNet [VDOLive Player]
http://gasnet.med.yale.edu/
When GASNet, housed at Yale University's Medical school and directed by a team led by Dr. Keith J. Ruskin, was first announced it was a modest gopher site that was known for providing pre-published abstracts. Today, it is one of the leading providers of anesthesiology information on the Internet, with mirror sites in the Netherlands, Australia, and the UK. The site continues to provide abstracts of four anesthesiology journals, along with full text of Educational Synopses in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, and three newsletters. It also provides links to relevant conferences, software, media reviews, educational videos (VDOLive format), and a reference collection highlighted by two virtual textbooks, an image and clipart library, and other features. [JS]
[Back to Contents]

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. 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 Internet Scout Project provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. 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 or the National Science Foundation.

The Scout Report (ISSN 1092-3861) is published weekly by Internet Scout

Susan Calcari
Jack Solock
Travis Koplow
Teri Boomsma
Michael de Nie
David Flaspohler
Aimee D. Glassel
Todd Hanson
Sheilah Harrington
Kathryn Harris
Laura X. Payne
Matthew Livesey
Christopher Lukas
Thiam Hee Ng
Jeannine Ramsey
Mike Roszkowski
Debra Shapiro
Geraldine Wanserski
Megan Waters
Amy Tracy Wells
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
Managing Editor
Editor
Production Editor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor

Scout Report and Scout Report HTML Subscription Instructions

To receive the electronic mail version of the Scout Report each week, join the scout-report mailing list. This is the only mail you will receive from this list. Unsubscribing from the scout-report list can also be done at this site.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/
To receive the Scout Report in HTML format for local viewing and posting, subscribe to the scout-report-html mailing list, used exclusively to distribute the Scout Report in HTML format once a week. Unsubscribing from the scout-report list can also be done at this site.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/

The Scout Report - June 5, 1998

The Scout Report

June 5, 1998

New From Internet Scout

Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

Where Are They Now

Scout Report and Scout Report HTML Subscription Instructions

The Scout Report's Web page:

Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) versions of the Scout Report:

FTP archive of past Scout Reports: