NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology
The third issue of the second volume of the MET Report is available. Its Topic in Depth section offers Web sites and comments about music technology.
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International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour [.pdf]
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/
The aim of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour is "to work towards the progressive elimination of child labour by strengthening national capacities to address child labour problems, and by creating a worldwide movement to combat it." The prime target groups for the Programme are bonded child laborers, children in hazardous working conditions, working girls, and children under the age of 12 who are working. From the Programme's home page, visitors can learn about the 60 countries that have currently signed up to support the organization's mission, download factsheets about child labor problems, and read the organization's latest progress report. The Online Newsroom contains a photo gallery, full-text versions of speeches and recent presentations given by IPEC officials, and information for journalists. Finally, interested persons will want to take a close look at several important reports published by the IPEC, including "HIV/ AIDS and Child Labour in sub-Saharan Africa" and "Eliminating Hazardous Child Labour Step by Step." [KMG]
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Tennessee Electronic Atlas
http://tnatlas.geog.utk.edu/tea/tea.asp
Located at the Department of Geography at the University of Tennessee, the Tennessee Electronic Atlas "seeks to serve several constituencies, including students, educators, and administrators at all levels, political leaders, people involved in economic development and natural resource management, and the simply curious." The site is quite user-friendly, and the main maps contained on the site include thematic maps (at the county and state level) and interactive mapping (which contains tutorial exercises that introduce the basic concepts involved in geographic information systems). For users interested in utilizing the full capabilities of the site, the Metro Web GIS service area of the site allows users to look at the main metropolitan regions in the state, and to customize the themes (such as churches, golf courses, and hospitals) to their preferences. Another helpful feature of the Metro Web service is that as users zoom into any particular locale, the topographic maps change to aerial photograph overlays. For those seeking a wealth of information, spatial and otherwise, about the state of Tennessee, this Web site will be much appreciated. [KMG]
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The Politics of Rural Land Use Planning in China [.pdf]
http://www.eth.mpg.de/pubs/WP_40_Pieke.pdf
Frank Pieke, a lecturer in Chinese at Oxford University, has written this 31-page working paper on Chinese rural land use planning for the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Land use planning has been of great concern for the Chinese government throughout the 20th century, particularly after the inception of the Five-Year plans. The paper itself focuses on one aspect of land policy in China, namely "the allocation of land for specific purposes in the integrated land use plans that have come across China since 1998." The first part of the paper presents an analysis of the development of policies on national land use planning since the first Land Law in 1986, and the second part of the paper draws on fieldwork data collected in the Taicang municipality in order to compare the national picture with the role land has played in economic development policies at the lower levels of government organization. While Pieke concludes that uniform land use policies are ultimately ineffective and restrictive, this type of close analysis will be of great interest to those looking for scholarship on land use planning in developing nations and public policy. [KMG]
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Bach Digital
http://www.bachdigital.org/
To say that Johann Sebastian Bach was a gifted and prodigious composer would be like saying that Shakespeare merely wrote a few plays. This Web site is a loving tribute to his work, undertaken by the main repositories of Bach's compositions, including the Bach-Archiv in Leipzig and the University of Leipzig. New visitors to the site will want to take the well-produced guided tour that helps orient users to the wide variety of materials contained on the site. Perhaps one of the main highlights of the site is the original Bach autographs that have been digitized for public perusal. Autographs are musical manuscripts that have been written by the composer himself, and in the case of Bach, offer intimate insight into the composition process. Along with essays on the preservation of these important documents, viewers can view selected compositions, among them the "Prelude and Fugue in G Major" and the "Christmas Oratorio." Additionally, visitors can hear sound samples and view photographs of musical instruments built during his lifetime, including a lute, the legendary organ from Hilbersdorf, and echo flutes. Overall, it's a fine tribute to Bach, and more broadly, musicology. [KMG]
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Identifying the Real Costs and Benefits of Sports Facilities [.pdf]
http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/dl/671_chapin-web.pdf
As part of the Lincoln Land Institute's Working Paper series, Professor Tim Chapin of Florida State University has composed this 28-page work that addresses both the costs and benefits (economic and otherwise) of sports facilities. As many urban areas continue to compete for a variety of large-scale economic development projects, this paper will be of great general interest. As Professor Chapin notes that policy decision makers require a baseline of information to make informed choices, he also suggest that this baseline include "a broad understanding of existing literature on sports facilities and economic development, and an awareness of the full range of costs and benefits of these projects." The paper begins by engaging the existing scholarly literature on sports facilities as economic development tools, and then considers both the economic and non-economic impacts of sports facilities on their surrounding areas. Overall, this is a well-conceived work and one that will provoke a good deal of comment. [KMG]
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Simpson's Contemporary Quotations
http://www.bartleby.com/63/
If one is looking for an enduring quote from the 18th or 19th century, he or she would probably turn to Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. However, if one is looking to find a quip by Frank Sinatra about rock and roll ("The martial music of every sideburned delinquent on the face of the earth"), he or she should feel compelled to examine the database contained within this fine site. Compiled by James B. Simpson, this database (based on the print version released in 2000) contains over 10,000 quotations, from over 4,000 sources, dating from 1950 to 1988. Some notable personages featured in the collection include Ezra Pound, George Orwell, and Desmond Tutu. Users can search through the entire database by name or subject, and the main page also has an index by author to facilitate browsing. Equally helpful are the subject indices, which include law, business, education, medicine, architecture, love, religion, fashion, and literature. Besides being a good place to look for quotations to use in speeches, witty conversation, or public presentations, this database is very entertaining. [KMG]
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UCLA Center for Communication Policy
http://ccp.ucla.edu/pages/internet-report.asp
On January 29, 2003, the third report of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy's Internet Project was released. The series of reports, collectively titled Surveying the Digital Future, seeks to understand and document "the impact of online technology on America." Many aspects of online behavior are analyzed in the latest report, revealing several trends in Internet usage. It considers the effects of the Internet on a wide range of people, including consumers, children, and general users. It also discusses how people communicate and gather information online. This site is also reviewed in the February 14, 2003 NSDL MET Report. [CL]
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Thomas McGreevy Archive
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/macgreevy/home.html
Now in its first phase, the Thomas MacGreevy Archive makes available electronic versions of over 300 texts by and about Thomas MacGreevy (1893-1967), one of Ireland's earliest modernist poets and author of hundreds of articles of art criticism, books on contemporary writers and artists, and catalogs of the National Gallery of Ireland's collections. These electronic versions make MacGreevy's writings widely accessible to anyone with a computer and Internet connection, and also provide the ability to search across the various materials held in the archive, such as poems, art and film reviews, or books. The "How to use this site" section includes extensive help on methods of searching. Other good ways to approach the site are to start with the Bibliography, compiled by Susan Schreibman (the Browse button automatically takes you into the Bibliography) or the Encyclopedia, an annotated list of people and organizations with connections to MacGreevy. There is also an Image Gallery and Archive Connections, a large section indicating the locations of related MacGreevy resources (such as collections of his letters) and links to Web information on his contemporaries, including James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, and Ezra Pound. [DS]
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National Geographic Online: The Underground Railroad
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/
Just in time to celebrate Black History Month, this multimedia educational Web site from National Geographic offers a diverse set of materials that describe the Underground Railroad, the famed network of individuals who helped transport African-Americans to freedom before the abolition of slavery. Students will want to start by taking The Journey, which, with the aid of visual materials (such as historical photographs of slaves and abolitionists) and audio selections (such as popular spirituals of the day), allows young people to make decisions about what to do in order to reach the North and freedom. Next, visitors can look at a map of the Underground Railroad routes, including those specific to Harriet Tubman. Also, a nice timeline provides some context to the history of slavery in the New World, beginning with the importing of slaves by Spaniards to Santo Domingo in 1501, and concluding in 1865 when slavery was abolished by the passage of the 13th Amendment. The site is rounded out by a number of educational resources for teachers, divided by grade levels. [KMG]
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Chateau de Versailles
http://www.chateauversailles.fr/
Generally considered some of the most lavish royal residences in all of Europe, the grounds and buildings at Versailles have existed for close to three hundred and fifty years. While Louis XIII built a small hunting lodge on the site in 1623, the landscape is most closely associated with the Sun King, his son, Louis XIV. The status of Versailles was solidified in 1682 when it became the official residence of the Court of France, effectively supplanting the palaces at the Louvre and Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The official web site offers some helpful photographic essays about the buildings and grounds, most notably 360 degree panoramas of the Hall of Mirrors and the King's Bedchamber. Moving through the site, visitors will want to visit the four main thematic sections, which cover the grounds and their exquisite landscaping; the lives of the royals during the ancien regime; and a photo gallery of the sculptures, paintings, and objet d'arts that line the Chateau. Finally, there is detailed information about visiting the grounds and buildings in France, along with opening and closing hours. [KMG]
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Milwaukee Art Museum
http://www.mam.org/
The Milwaukee Art Museum has experienced something of a rebirth in the past few years, which may be in no small part due to the addition of a new building named the Quadracci Pavilion, designed by the well-regarded Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava. To start, the Museum has placed a selection of different artworks on display here on their Web site, organized under the thematic divisions that are common to many art museums, such as early European art and photography. Along with these selections, more practical information about the cost of admission, upcoming exhibits, and hours can also be found from the site's main page. A highlight of the site is certainly the online exhibit dedicated to the ground breaking work of long-time Milwaukee industrial designer Brooks Stevens. Here, visitors can view detailed images of some of his most famous designs, which include the Miller Brewing logo, the Evinrude outboard motor, and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. For those looking to learn more about the feel and appearance of the Quadracci Pavilion (which opened in 2001), a photo gallery featuring the building from many different of angles and perspectives will be an integral part of their visit to the Web site. [KMG]
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AncientMexico.com [Flash]
http://www.ancientmexico.com/
For thousands of years, numerous cultures flourished within the region known as Mesoamerica, and their contributions to human civilization have been well-documented by a host of historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists. Maintained by Patrick Olivares, AncientMexico.com offers a number of thematic exhibits, primary documents, and images that will provide a good overview of the groups that have lived in this region. The first place to begin is the detailed clickable map where users can click on close to twenty different cities of pre-Columbian Mexico. Some of the city Web pages are "under excavation," but many of them contain schematic representations of their urban form and photographs of the numerous structures (such as ballcourts and temples), along with explanations of their place within the culture. The Gods of Ancient Mexico area features images of gods central to the religious practices of the Maya people, including the Rabbit Scribe and the Water Lily Jaguar. Particularly helpful for educational purposes are the primary documents, which include Hernando Cortes's recollection of his meeting with Montezuma and a poem by Nezahualcoyotl (Hungry-Coyote), the poet and king of the Aztec city of Texcoco. [KMG]
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Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull-House and its Neighborhoods, 1889-1963 [.pdf]
http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/hull/urbanexp/contents.htm
Sponsored by the Jane Addams Hull House Museum and the University of Illinois at Chicago, this online project contains a variety of primary source documents, documentary photographs, and scholarly essays that explore the legacy of social reform movements in Chicago and the community's history. There are several ways to proceed through the exhibit, though visitors may want to read the introductory essay in order to better understand the general layout of the site. Most of the substantive material on the site is contained within the 11 chapters that constitute the Historical Narrative section. Looking through any one of the chapters provides visitors with the opportunity to read a brief orientation essay, and proceed to a closer examination of the primary documents for a more multifaceted understanding of the social welfare and reform movements. Finally, there is a search engine for the entire database, which can be queried by author, keywords, date, and publication type. [KMG]
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FilmSound.org
http://www.filmsound.org
Hosted and maintained by Sven E. Carlsson, a Swedish educator, this Web site is an excellent source of information about that one element of filmmaking that is sometimes overlooked due to its ubiquity: sound. Persons curious to read a brief overview of film sound will want to start with an essay titled "An Introduction to Film Sound," by Jane Knowles Marshall. After this, they may want to look over the glossary on the right-hand side of the main page, which features definitions and explanations of terms such as "Ambience," "Foley," and "Production Sound." The sites other highlights include numerous essays by Oscar-winning sound designer Walter Murch (who won for The English Patient and Apocalypse Now) and Randy Thom (who won for The Right Stuff and has been nominated six times in total). Along with other essays on the use of sound in Indian cinema and the history of film sound, there are 10 essays (and sound samples) on the use of sound and sound effect design in the Star Wars trilogy. Visitors may be particularly interested to learn that the language of the Ewoks was created by altering and layering Tibetan, Mongolian, and Nepali languages. [KMG]
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Classical Language Instruction Project [Shockwave]
http://www.princeton.edu/~clip/
Developed by Christian Wildberg at Princeton University, the Classical Language Instruction Project is designed to function as a resource for college undergraduates hoping to gain some insight into the pronunciation and elocution of ancient Greek and Latin. As the rationale for the Project states on the site: "There may be considerable debate among scholars about the most 'authentic' way to pronounce Greek or Latin; yet it is certain that the texts from the ancient world reflect a vivid and complex spoken language, not a lifeless code." With that in mind, the site features different classical scholars reading passages by a number of writers, including Homer, Plato, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Seneca. As the scholars read, students can follow along, view the passage in English, and pause the recording in order to develop an understanding of the text and its pronunciation. Finally, the site also includes a brief essay on rhythm and meter in Greek and Latin. [KMG]
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AVG AntiVirus
http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_downl.htm?session66eb192f0c1c5b8bcbe41f9021401cf9
The AVG AntiVirus program offers users a broad range of features that will be quite helpful in avoiding and detecting computer viruses that may infect their system. Some of the tools included in this utility include an email scanner, virus database updates, basic scheduled tests, and an automatic update feature. This version of the program is free, although no technical support is available. The AntiVirus utility is compatible with all systems running Windows 95 and higher. [KMG]
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Spy 1.0
http://www.silvernetwork.net/spy/
While there are quite a few screen capture programs available, this novel utility adds a small twist. Spy 1.0 allows users to run a server on their Mac, that when accessed via a Web browser, lets people view a JPEG image of their desktop. The most helpful part of this application is that individuals can view users' desktops via a Web browser without any extra plugins. This application will be a fun addition for Mac users, as Spy 1.0 is only compatible with Mac computers running OS X and higher. [KMG]
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Valentine's Day and Chocolate
Valentine's Day: Say it with Chocolate
http://www.datamonitor.com/~2bbf82da36b94b5aa3c760fbee2ea5e0~/all/news/product.asp?pid=0033901A-F384-4A0B-A5A9-AF0D14901DF1
Exploratorium Magazine: Chocolate
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/exploring_chocolate/index.html
The History of Chocolate
http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/biobulletin/biobulletin/story671.html
Chocolate Recipes
http://www.chocolate-recipes.net/
The Disputed Origins of Valentine's Day
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/Holiday/ValentinesOrigins010214.html
When Love Comes to Town
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,9830,895607,00.html
While the exact origins of Valentine's Day are often disputed, the link between chocolate and the modern incarnation of this particular holiday are undeniable. Recent data released in a report by the business information group Datamonitor revealed that the global consumption of chocolate totaled approximately $42.2 billion worth of chocolate-based consumable goods. It will not come as a surprise to anyone who has visited the British Isles to learn that out of the $42.2 billion, Britons spent $19.2 billion, and made almost one in three chocolate purchases, trumping all of the world's nations. The report from Datamonitor also noted that tastes in chocolate vary widely across Europe, noting that, "The French prefer simplicity and purity of taste, without additional flavors and with little sugar, while Italian tastes are geared toward the more indulgent and sophisticated end of the market." Additionally, the report also indicates that the United States continues to dominate the global chocolate confectionary market, with Americans spending $2.4 billion on boxed chocolates alone in 2001.
The first link is to the recent report on global chocolate sales and consumption released by the Datamonitor group. The second link leads to a well-thought site from Exploratorium Magazine, which features interactive essays on chocolate production, the potential health benefits of chocolate, and a visit to a "chocolate party" in the heart of the Amazon. The third link will take visitors to a site that deals with the history of chocolate, beginning with the first use of chocolate (as a drink) in 750 AD. The fourth link takes visitors to a site featuring inventive and fun ways to use chocolate in recipes, such as those for chocolate banana bread and chocolate peanut butter pie. The fifth link leads to a site from ABC News.com that explores various contested origins of Valentine's Day over the past fifteen hundred years. The final link takes visitors to a piece written by Polly Curtis of The Guardian, writing on the various scientific studies that investigate various romantic activities, such as which direction do people tend to kiss or how to find the perfect partner. [KMG]
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