The Scout Report -- Volume 10, Number 28

The fifteenth issue of the third volume of the MET Report is available. Its Topic in Depth section offers Web sites and comments about Sound.

http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme

Operating as part of the World Economic Forum, the Global Competitiveness Programme is perhaps best known for its flagship publication, The Global Competitiveness Report. These series of reports are perhaps the most authoritative assessments of national economies throughout the world. The Reports themselves were first published in 1979, and continue to be made available in a variety of formats. And while the entire contents are not available here, visitors may read executive summaries and peruse other data. One of the most recent publications is the Lisbon Review, which assesses the progress made by the 15 EU member states (as of April 2004) in implementing the goals of the Lisbon Strategy of political and economic reforms. Additionally, the site includes competitiveness report summaries on Africa, the Arab world, and the worldwide improvements in global technology. [KMG]

http://www.brookings.edu/urban/pubs/20040524_Frey.pdf

The Great Migration of African-Americans northwards throughout most of the 20th century to major urban centers was one of the most well-documented internal migrations in United States history. Seeking a better life, millions of African-Americans made their way north in an attempt to escape the oppressive legal restrictions and rural poverty that were mainstays of their everyday existence. However, as this 17-page report from the Brookings Institution authored by William Frey indicates, it seems this migration trend may be reversing, as African-Americans are moving back to the American South. Analyzing migration data from the past four decennial censuses at regional, state, and metropolitan-area levels indicate that the South scored net gains of black migrants from all three of the other regions of the U.S. during the late 1990s, reversing a 35 year trend. Additional findings included in the data indicates that college-educated individuals lead the new migration into the South (particularly in states such as Georgia and Maryland) and that California lost more black migrants then it gained during the late 1990s. [KMG]

http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/215.pdf

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press serves as "an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues." As such, the center frequently release various reports on a host of topics, such as those on public attitudes about the credibility and salience of the news media and in-depth surveys and analyses of the public and opinion leaders on international policy. One of the more recent reports is this 106-page document examining a number of trends, including where Americans go to find out about the news, online news readership, and the declining credibility in various media organizations. This report is based on a nationwide poll of 3000 adults, conducted over April and May of 2004, and contains a number of findings, including the fact that more and more Americans are watching Fox News on a regular basis. The report is divided into six primary sections and also includes the questionnaires on which the report is based. [KMG]

http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/index.html

Many cities recognize that residents have a close attachment to their neighborhoods, and despite talk of a diminished sense of community, many urban-dwellers still feel a close affinity to their particular locale. Quite a few cities have begun to develop multimedia archives that explore their city's history, with a special focus on individual neighborhoods. This most recent digital exhibit presents images of Milwaukee neighborhoods from the city's far northwest side to the far south side. Drawing on a number of fine collections, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries offer these various images (primarily maps and photographs) from the mid-1880s to the early 1990s. Here visitors can click on an interactive map of the city to explore the various images for each area, and read a fine introductory overview of this work by Professor Judith Kenny, titled Picturing Milwaukee's Neighborhoods. Along with browsing the collection by geographic locale, visitors can perform searches throughout the entire collection, or elect to browse the collection by subject or date of photograph. [KMG]

http://www.g8usa.gov/

Every year since 1975, the leaders of the world's major industrial democracies have convened to discuss a wide range of international economic, political, and security issues. This June, these eight international leaders met at Sea Island, off of the coast of the state of Georgia in the southeastern United States. While this annual conference is now finished, persons with an interest in international affairs and politics will want to peruse the website set up for the summit. Here visitors will find an archive of the various press releases from the summit and various policy statements on subjects such as the Gaza Strip, combating political corruption worldwide, and the complete eradication of polio. The site also has a special area set up for young people, which includes a quiz, lesson plans for educators, and a place where visitors can send a virtual postcard. [KMG]

http://discolab.rutgers.edu/index.html

Given the direction of current Internet computing, Discolab is a research group whose goal is to "harmonize the operating system with the evolving role of networking in various emerging network-centric systems, ranging from Internet servers to ubiquitous networks of embedded systems." DicsoLab explores ways to improve performance of network-centric systems through TCP Servers and Memory-Mapped Network File Systems. The group's work on Remote Healing Systems explores the potential for Remote Memory Communication so that systems can monitor themselves, detect failures, and recover and repair remotely. Other projects on distributed computing and pervasive networking are also described on this website. Publications are posted online by research area. Papers used for the weekly reading group are also posted online. This site is also reviewed in the July 16, 2004 NSDL MET Report. [VF]

http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/informationliteracy.htm

The American Library Association has developed this site as a gateway (and a gathering place) for those looking for resources and discussion on information literacy focused on "improving the teaching, learning, and research role of the higher education community." Visitors arriving at the site would do well to first take a look at the overview section, which offers an introduction to information literacy, and a number of resources for faculty who hope to address the subject of information literacy in their courses. The section also has an excellent standards toolkit, which serves as an integrated set of tools, web pages, and other resources that will help various academic professionals incorporate these tools into their work. Visitors will also want to take a close look at the additional resources and ideas area, which includes information about assessment issues, collaborative efforts in information literacy, and examples of course syllabi that incorporate information literacy. Finally, the site also has an option that allows visitors to sign up to become part of the information literacy instruction listserv. [KMG]

http://www.naval-history.net/

The world of naval history is quite vast, especially considering that it is linked to the earliest days of warfare and stretches back thousands of years. Designed by Gordon Smith, this particular site details the history of various national navies during the twentieth century, with a particular focus on the World Wars and other military actions. Not surprisingly, visitors to the site will want to take a look at the areas dedicated to the World Wars, as the coverage of the role of various navies is quite good here. In these sections, visitors can learn about the various ships used during each period and also look at the campaigns and battles by year and by month. There is also a rather touching section dedicated to Gordon Smith's father, George Smith, who was lost in the sinking of the HMS Charybdis off the Brittany coast on October 23rd, 1943. [KMG]

http://www.spicy-cooking.com/

As summer continues to offer long days and sweltering nights, it may be just the right time to think about the various delights afforded by creating spicy meals for friends and family. One place to turn to is the Spicy Cooking website, which prominently features a variety of helpful spicy recipes drawn from the various corners of the world, including recipes from Thailand, Mexico, and India. The site also features some nice articles on the benefits of spicy cooking, including a nice piece on capsaicin. In brief, capsaicin is a colorless compound (found in a number of hot peppers) that serves as the source of the heat in hot peppers. Some of the recipes to be found on the site include those for tasty lamb curry, shrimp del diablo, and Rosas frijoles refritos. [KMG]

Email:Webmaster@spicy-cooking.com

http://www.nationaltransportmuseum.org/

Located in Dublin, the National Transport Museum of Ireland had its humble beginnings with an attempt to preserve three Dublin trams back in 1949. Currently, the Museum holds approximately 100 vehicles, a number of which are profiled on this website. Moving through the collection section of the site, visitors can browse through examples of the museum's holdings organized by type, such as commercial, military, utility, and passenger. Users will want to make sure and take a look at the AEC Matador in the military vehicle section, as it was one of the most revered military vehicles that saw service in World War II. Those persons planning a visit to Eire may want to peruse the museum's hours of operation, location, and featured events.

http://www.article19.org/

Along with other global campaigns to affect social and political transformation (such as Amnesty International), Article 19 is an organization designed "to combat censorship by promoting freedom of expression and access to official information." With offices in London and South Africa, the organization has partners in over 30 countries, and monitors, researches, publishes, and litigates on behalf of freedom of expression around the world. Certainly one of the first stops on the site should be the Virtual Handbook of Expression, which contains a number of briefs of freedom of expression cases from the UN Human Rights Committee, the Inter-American Commission and Court on Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the European Commission and Court of Human Rights. In addition, the Virtual Handbook contains a number of key documents, organized around themes that include such timely topics as defamation, national security, print regulation, and privacy. Of course, visitors will also find a great deal of additional material here, including information on Article 19's work in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and a publication archive as well. [KMG]

http://www.arctic-council.org

Formed in 1996, the Arctic Council represents a unique forum for cooperation between eight national governments and the indigenous peoples of the region. The member states of the Council include Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States, along with six representatives that speak on behalf of various indigenous groups. Most of the Council's activities are centered around a primary mandate, which is to serve as a regional forum for sustainable development. The What's New area is a good way to find out about the most recent activities, as it contains recent official statements from senior-level officials in the Council, along with announcements about upcoming events. The activities section is equally worth a look and serves the function of an online archive of current project information for such activities as the Arctic Monitoring Assessment Program and the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Initiative. [KMG]

http://www.y-me.org/

Among the various types of cancers, breast cancer accounts for one in every three of all cancers diagnosed in women, and as of late has been on the rise in men as well. One organization that has been a wellspring of support and timely information for persons living with breast cancer is the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization. The organization was founded in 1978 by breast cancer patients Mimi Kaplan and Ann Marcou in order to provide peer support and fellowship to breast cancer patients. The organization's website is a great place to submit questions to experts on breast cancer, learn about various hotlines to call for counseling and support, and to take advantage of an online resource center. This resource center will be something that visitors will want to peruse in detail, as it contains important fact sheets, an online multimedia resource library, and reviews of relevant books. Finally, most of the materials here are available in Spanish as well. [KMG]

http://www.teamelements.com/

This application will prove to be quite advantageous to those who may be interested in developing an effective way for persons dispersed across a number of locations to perform a variety of tasks. At its essence Team Elements 2.1 is a project management web-based application featuring project plans, assignments, shared discussions, lists, issue tracking, and document storage. The application provides support for multiple languages as well. While this version only allows one project account, users can elect to purchase additional project accounts. This version of Team Elements is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]

http://kphotools.sourceforge.net/

Along with the hot weather, the summer also brings out shutterbugs in droves, weaving their way around family gatherings, sports arenas, and the great outdoors, fully intent on getting the perfect shot. Well, after acquiring that perfect shot, those shutterbugs (and anyone else for that matter), will want to take a look at this application. KPhoTools 0.2.1 aids users in creating online photo galleries in HTML, and includes a host of standard features, such as the ability to rotate and resize images. This application is compatible with all systems running Linux. [KMG]

Mandela Urges Action on TB, HIV
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=02C3AB10-1419-4187-9D26DF3BEFB3BE2C
Gates Foundation to give $69 million to Global Fund on AIDS
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/15/1089694494099.html?oneclick=true
Center for TB Research Laboratory [pdf]
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/DOM/TB_Lab/index.html
The Stop TB Partnership [RealOnePlayer, pdf]
http://www.stoptb.org/
XV International AIDS Conference [RealOnePlayer, pdf]
http://www.aids2004.org/
Mandela: An Audio History [RealOnePlayer]
http://www.radiodiaries.org/mandela/index.html

Well respected for his fervent devotion to human rights, Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela urged cooperation and immediate action in the global struggle against tuberculosis, a situation which is extremely acute in parts of the developing world. In his remarks, Mandela also related the struggle with tuberculosis to the situation with preventing the spread of HIV. Speaking to reporters at an international conference in Bangkok, Mandela remarked that "We cannot win the battle against AIDS if we do not also fight TB. TB is too often a death sentence for people with AIDS. It does not have to be this way." Mandela knows all too well about the situation with TB, as he himself contracted the disease during his time as a political prisoner in South Africa during apartheid. Research into the dual tuberculosis and AIDS epidemic received a large infusion of funding this Thursday as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that the organization would offer $45 million for studies into strategies to control TB in areas with high HIV infection rates. Specifically, the monies will go to pay for three large-scale community studies in Africa and South American over seven years.

The first link will take visitors to an article from the Voice of America, complete with an audio report from reporter Steve Baragona reporting from Bangkok on the XV International AIDS Conference. The second link leads to an article from the Sydney Morning Herald that talks about the recent grant offered by the Gates Foundation to the Global Fund on AIDS. The third link leads to the homepage of the Center for TB Research Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University where visitors can read about the lab's work and learn about the need for additional research into this disease. The fourth link leads visitors to the Stop TB Partnership webpage, which is hosted by the World Health Organization. Visitors may want to peruse some of the helpful publications, such as reports on global tuberculosis control and the event calendar. The fifth link leads to the homepage for the XV International AIDS Conference, which features full coverage of the conference in Bangkok, video coverage of the various sessions, and updated news from the conference. The final link leads to a rather intriguing five-part radio series on the life and times of Nelson Mandela, sponsored by the American Radio Works. The remarkable highlights of this series include interviews with former African National Congress activists, fellow Robben Island prisoners, and a rare recording of the 1964 trial where Mandela was sentenced to life in prison. [KMG]