The Scout Report - October 11, 1996

October 11, 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). Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.
The Scout Report Web page

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

The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory
http://www.chicagohs.org/fire/index.html
It was 9 o'clock on a Sunday evening 125 years ago that, the story goes, Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked off the most memorable fire in US history. This new site, a collaborative effort of the Chicago Historical Society and Northwestern University, provides images, essays, and interactive panoramas of the city both before and after the conflagration. The "Web of Memory" pages cover the fire from a different angle, presenting eyewitness accounts, media coverage, and the factual evidence behind the charge that the bovine was to blame. Users will also find selected bibliographies corresponding to every topic (click on "library"). There is a technical support page that guides users through the (sometimes high) browser and plug-in requirements for viewing all of the aspects of this site (even uber-users may not have 3D glasses at hand for viewing the vintage stereographs).
[Back to Contents]

OneWorld Magazine
http://www.envirolink.org/oneworld/index.html
Devoted to informing readers about biological and cultural diversity, this free online magazine presents articles and images from around the world. Current features include "Ethiopia, Land of Plenty," coverage of the struggle to preserve the Mbaracayu Forest Reserve, and a picture exhibition of Australian Aboriginal art. The emphasis in OneWorld's approach to environmental issues is on how individuals and small foundations can effect change. Throughout, the graphics are lush and well chosen, and the articles are arranged logically for easy reading.
[Back to Contents]

Contemporary Conflicts in Africa
http://www.synapse.net/~acdi20/welcome.htm
A tremendous depth of information has been gathered on this site, which essentially serves as an overview of and annotated guide to information about current and historical conflicts in Africa. There are links to databases and reports provided by the United Nations, universities worldwide, broadcasters, and others. The "Conflict Issues" section covers such topics as peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, justice and human rights, and disarmament. For users wishing to understand more about conflicts between and within African nations, this site is a well-organized starting point.
[Back to Contents]

DOD Information Analysis Center (IAC) Newsletters
http://www.wrs.afrl.af.mil/infores/library/iacnews.htm
If you've been having a hard time keeping up with the activities of the various US Department of Defense Information Analysis Centers (there are sixteen of them, after all, charged with analyzing and disseminating scientific and technical information), this new page provides the links you need. From here users can jump directly to the newsletters published by each of the IACs, rather than having to go first to the web site of each IAC.
[Back to Contents]

An Abridged History of the United States
http://www.us-history.com/the_frame.html
Perhaps better called a "selective" rather than "abridged" history of the United States, this interactive online textbook offers the story of the US through the perspective of a retired attorney and publisher who wanted to make a difference on the web. The numerous links to legislation and judicial precedent attest to that motive. The content is well organized and easily navigable. If the Internet is to fulfill its promise of being a democratic medium, projects such as this that offer the perspective of one (ideally, well-informed and articulate) person should be an integral part of it.
[Back to Contents]

Reader's Theater
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/
Aaron Shepard, author of Stories on Stage: Scripts for Reader's Theater (H.W. Wilson, 1993), has provided this web site as a way to broaden interest in the reader's theater (RT) genre. Using minimal (or no) sets, props, and costumes, RT performances are opportunities for students to participate in short dramatic adaptations of prose or dramatic works. Of the RT scripts available on the site, several are original and several are adaptations of well-known short stories. There are twelve scripts for grade, middle, and high school, and five for college classes.
[Back to Contents]

Public Domain Discussions Mailing List
A new mailing list has been established as a place where people can discuss together issues related to the public domain. Topics will include news about governmental, legislative, and judicial activities relating to, or that have effect on, the public domain materials, announcements of new materials, and general discussion. Because laws and regulations differ from country to country, it is open to those in the US only. To subscribe, send email to:
listserver@hunterdon.com
[Note: When last checked by the Internet Scout team, this site URL was no longer available.]
In the body of the message type:
subscribe publicdomain firstname lastname
[Back to Contents]

General Interest

National Library of Australia Documentary Images
http://www.nla.gov.au/images1/
"Images 1," a project of the National Library of Australia, is a collection of more than 13,000 images of works of art including watercolors, paintings, drawings, prints and photographs. The way into this visual richness is a simple search form on the first page; keywords entered here are searched across the title, artist, and subject fields. An advanced search form is also available; from here users can construct a three-field search with Boolean operators in the categories of title, artist, medium, series, accession number, subjects, and series id. Users also may specify whether they wish to receive text listings of works found (with links to images in two sizes), or listings with thumbnail images. The second option, though slower, allows the user quickly to see the depth of this collection.
[Back to Contents]

The Ultimate News Links Page
http://pppp.net/links/news/
If it's news you're after, this site promises to deliver links to more of it than any other. A simple frames-based interface allows the user to browse through more than 3,700 links to newspapers around the world. The directory is organized geographically, first by continent and then by country and state/province. Clicking on a link to a particular newspaper opens a new browser window with that paper's homepage; this allows the user either to continue searching from the Ultimate News Links site, or to read the local paper. It's a simple site, but it does what it promises to do.
[Back to Contents]

Paris-Anglophone
http://www.paris-anglo.com/index.html
Calling itself "An Anglophone's Resource on Paris," this polished, commercially supported site offers vast stores of information on the City of Light, all available in English. New on the site is the first online issue of Frank: An International Journal of Contemporary Writing and Art; the first fourteen issues were published in Paris. In addition to the expected services for recreational and business travelers, Paris-Anglophone also offers an art gallery, an opera column, and live chat. An interesting feature is the "Send a Letter to Paris" page, which allows the user to address and write a letter in the provided web form, and have it delivered in Paris the next day (for a US$2.50 charge).
[Back to Contents]

Go, girl!
http://www.gogirlmag.com/
Issue 3 of this women's fitness and sports magazine is now online, with features, interviews, news, and more. The Go/No Go page provides summaries of, and often links to, positive and not-so-positive news and events in women's sports. The news page offers current information in the areas of sports, health, nutrition, and fitness. Users seeking information about, and inspiration for, women's fitness should find this site rewarding. Contents of previous issues will be available in the Storage Locker beginning this weekend.
[Back to Contents]

Eachmovie
http://www.eachmovie.com
[Note: When last checked by the Internet Scout team, this site URL was no longer available.]
A new approach to movie reviews, this site first asks the user to rate a series of recent films (1 to 5 stars, or "unseen"). Armed with your preferences, the site then recommends current films and videos that it thinks you might like to see. Users can choose to enter preferences for all current films and videos, or only those in certain genres. Similarly, users may request recommendations for all current films or videos, or only those in certain genres. The interactivity continues: if you've already seen one of the films that the site recommends for you, you can enter a rating for it and it becomes part of your profile. Even if you're only interested in seeing how well artificial intelligence can judge your taste in films, this site is worth a visit. Registration is required so that users' profiles may be stored.
[Back to Contents]

xballot Absentee Ballot Registration
http://www.xballot.org/
Don't let anything stand in the way of your exercising your right to vote in the upcoming US elections. If you cannot make it to the polls on election day, you may now request an absentee ballot online from this site. After choosing a home state, users are presented with a form and instructions for registering. Visitors to the site may also view a listing of absentee ballot registration deadlines and "other quirky state election rules." Some states require that a request for an absentee ballot request be filed first, so start early--registration deadlines are rapidly approaching in many states.
[Note: When last checked by the Internet Scout team, this site URL was no longer available.]
[Back to Contents]

NBNews' Daily EJournal
NBNews will furnish a daily-distributed Ejournal every Monday-Friday to its subscribers. Beginning on Wednesday, October 9, 1996, the journal will publish: Online background/source materials relative to breaking news stories; New online-media releases (magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, etc...); Journalism resources, job postings, research tools, and much more. NBNews will also be occasionally posting commercially-sponsored announcements/Press Releases. Such postings will be clearly marked and will only be accepted if the Editorial staff feels that such material will be of value to Journal subscribers. We hope that in the very near future we will be able to raise enough revenues from PR postings to provide a discussion-based list. To subscribe, send email to:
nbnews@juno.com
In the subject line type:
subscribe
[Back to Contents]

Net Tools

Wired Cybrarian
http://hotwired.lycos.com/cybrarian/
This is a site for those new to the web, or for those who want to step outside their usual tracks and see what else is out there. Users accustomed to the look and feel of Wired's sites may not at first recognize their latest entry. The colors are muted, the layout is conveniently linear, the text plainly organized. The site is organized into seven major areas: search and index, news, net issues, business, government, education, and the arts. On each page within this structure users will find annotated links to a selection of resources. Search blanks are often provided, allowing users to access resources directly from the Wired Source page. The site promises continuous updates as the web develops.
[Note: Site formerly known as "Wired Source."]
[Back to Contents]

DreamWave--Global hypermedia trends mailing list
http://www.cybercom.net/~wmcguire/dreamwave.html
DreamWave (formerly Boston Online) is a mailing list dedicated to discussion, speculation and information sharing about the hottest new products, technologies and trends on the Internet and World Wide Web. Its primary focus is on search engines, personal news services, hypermedia mail, global hypermedia groupware, and privacy and intelligence issues. Subscribers share pointers to and comparative evaluations of leading edge online software, services, sites, tools, techniques and concepts. Exploration of the social implications of new online technology is welcome.
To subscribe, send an email message to:
majordomo@cybercom.net
In the body of the message type: subscribe dreamwave
[Back to Contents]

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.

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 at the InterNIC Web Site. 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://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/lwgate/SCOUT-REPORT/
To receive the Scout Report in HTML format for local viewing and posting, subscribe to the scout-report-html mailing list at the InterNIC Web Site, 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://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/lwgate/SCOUT-REPORT-HTML/

The Scout Report's Web page:

http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/

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

http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/pdf/

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project

Comments, Suggestions, Feedback
Use our feedback form or send email to scout@cs.wisc.edu.