US Census Bureau: 2001 Statistical Abstract of the United States [.pdf]
http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/01statab/stat-ab01.html
This report was released on January 22, 2002 by the U.S. Census Bureau. This in-depth report is over 1,300 pages in length and contains 30 sections of statistical data, including population, vital statistics, education, elections, energy, transportation, health and nutrition, and much more. Each section can be viewed separately and is only accessible with Adobe Acrobat Reader. [MG]
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CDC: Recent Trends in Mortality Rates for Four Major Cancers, by Sex and Race/Ethnicity -- United States, 1990-1998
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5103a1.htm
Reason for mild optimism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report "Recent Trends in Mortality Rates for Four Major Cancers, by Sex and Race/Ethnicity -- United States, 1990-1998" does give one cause for hope in the ongoing fight against cancer. Tracking four major cancers by racial/ethnic type and gender, the report reveals that cancer mortality has declined slightly overall across the general population of the United States. Alarming, however, is the striking statistical disparity between cancer rates for white and African Americans. For, while white Americans outnumber African Americans by a ratio of 5 to 1, government tracking reveals that the latter group consistently suffers the highest death rates for the four most prevalent forms (lung, colorectal, prostate and breast) of cancer. Particularly troubling are the tables indicating that African American women are more than twice as likely to succumb to breast cancer as white women, and that the same is true for the same racial groups regarding the occurrence of prostate cancer. [WH]
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Trends in Racial and Ethnic-Specific Rates for the Health Status Indicators: United States, 1990-1998 [.pdf]
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statnt/statnt23.pdf
The Department of Health and Human Service's report, "Trends in Racial and Ethnic-Specific Rates for the Health Status Indicators: United States, 1990-1998" traces the success of the US government's Healthy People 2000, a program intended to target and improve the health care needs of specific racial and ethnic groups in the United States over the course of the 1990's. Tracking performance by racial group in 17 categories, including cancer, poverty, suicide, infant mortality, and murder rates, the report reveals statistical improvement for almost every racial and ethnic group, save for American Indians and Native Alaskans, whose needs clearly remain unmet. Despite overall improvement in many areas, however, the authors of the report note that "relatively little progress was made toward the goal of eliminating health disparities ...." That said, one can't help but question the objectives of Healthy People 2010 which aim to "eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population." [WH]
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JFK Link
http://www.jfklink.com/
The JFK Link is an archive of documents relevant to the "life, administration, death, and legacy" of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Understanding and experiencing the annoyance of trying to locate political speeches, Phil Hopley has produced a Web site that makes JFK's career speeches free and easily accessible to anyone. In its nascent stages, the site currently contains materials of the 1960 Presidential Campaign for then Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon. These materials include speeches, remarks, press conferences, study papers, and statements given by both candidates from August 1 - November 7, 1960. Forthcoming are public messages, speeches, and statements of JFK from the dates January 20, 1961 to November 22, 1963; he also plans to offer select speeches made by JFK from 1947 to 1960. [MG]
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National Gallery of Art: Aelbert Cuyp
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2001/cuyp/index.htm
Turn your computer screen into a window on the beautiful northern light of the Netherlands, using the paintings of Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691). While the physical exhibition of nearly 100 works by Cuyp has left Washington DC's National Gallery for London, virtual visitors can still see 17 of Cuyp's paintings in the online version of the exhibition brochure. Included are brief sections on Cuyp's life and work, patrons, and his posthumous reputation. Cuyp became so famous after his death in 1691 that, by 1800, none of his paintings remained in the Netherlands; they had all been bought by collectors from other countries. Select the image index to see all 17 of the works in the brochure. [DS]
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Two on Piedmont Natural History
Hilton Pond Center
http://www.hiltonpond.org
Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project
http://www.rubythroat.org
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a nonprofit education and research organization based in York, South Carolina whose mission is to "conserve plants, animals, birds, and other natural components of the Piedmont Region of the eastern United States through observation, scientific study, and education for students of all ages." This colorful site provides a range of information on all sorts of nature topics and consists of sections like plant inventory, animal inventory, and ecological investigations. It also contains a link to the Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project Web site, which is a cross-disciplinary project in which participants in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Central America collaborate to study behavior and distribution of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). Both sites are excellent resources for science teachers, students, parents, bird lovers, and conservationists interested in Piedmont natural history. [MG]
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The Winter War 1939-1940
http://www.mil.fi/tiedotus/talvisota_eng/index.html
This Web site, sponsored by the Finnish Defence Forces, provides transcribed telegrams from each day of the Winter War (November 30, 1939 - March 14, 1940) between the Soviet Union and Finland. The telegrams are based on Markku Onttonen's documentary series Talvisodan henki (The Spirit of the Winter War) and are searchable by date. Students, scholars, and World War II enthusiasts should find the materials worthwhile. [MG]
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History of the United States Capitol [.pdf]
http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/capitol/index.html
Change and growth have ultimately been the threads that bind the Capitol's history together. As the nation grew, so did Congress and the Capitol. As a result, the Capitol has been a continual work in progress for more than 200 years. This history site was created by architectural historian William C. Allen and is sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. This document contains elaborate photos and 12 chapters that chronicles the design and politics of the U.S. Capitol from the beginning of its construction in 1793 to the present. Teachers, students, architects, and historians will find this site to be a rich and intriguing source of information. [MG]
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Hall of Black Achievement Gallery
http://www.bridgew.edu/HOBA/gallery.htm
A project of Bridgewater State College, the Hall of Black Achievement (HOBA). is a repository of the significant achievements and contributions of African Americans, Cape Verdeans, and Hispanics of African descent. The mission of the HOBA is to "discover, detail, and disclose the significant achievements and contributions of people of color." HOBA also serves as a forum for research, discussion, and analysis of the significant contributions that people of color continue to make to this country and beyond. The Web site now features a gallery of the historical figures inducted into the HOBA and chronicles their lives, contributions, and the period of history in which they lived. Audio narratives can be heard with RealPlayer. [MG]
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PBS Kids: ZOOM
http://pbskids.org/zoom/
ZOOM is PBS's award-winning daily interactive television series and 3,000 page Web site. The site challenges young kids to spend less time in front of the television screen and more time in front of the computer screen -- learning, growing, and interacting with their peers. Behind each entertaining half hour PBS episode is a curriculum developed by leading educators and advisors. ZOOM's multi-disciplinary format encourages viewers to take an active approach to learning, promotes the flow of their creativity, and advises them to never underestimate the importance of questioning. Already home to hundreds of ZOOM activities such as science experiments, recipes, trivia, games, and viewer submissions (Z-mail), the site has added new features, including ZOOM Into Action, an updated cast area, ZOOM music, a virtual tour of the television control room, and instructions to over 85 new activities from the show. [MG]
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LLRX.com: Business Filings Databases
http://www.llrx.com/columns/roundup19.htm
This column from Law Library Resource Xchange (LLRX) (last mentioned in the September 7, 2001 Scout Report) by Kathy Biehl becomes more interesting with every revelation of misleading corporate accounting practices. This is a straightforward listing of state government's efforts to provide easy access to required disclosure filings of businesses within each state. Each entry is clearly annotated, describing services offered and any required fees (most services here are free). The range of information and services varies considerably from very basic (i.e. "name availability") to complete access to corporate filings. The noteworthy exception here is tax filings. Most states do not currently include access to filings with taxing authorities. [DJS]
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USPTO Releases Annual List of Top 10 Organizations Receiving Most Patents
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/02-01.htm
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced the top 10 private sector patent recipients for the 2001 calendar year. Listed are the 10 corporations receiving the most patents for inventions in 2001, along with their 2001 ranking. For the ninth consecutive year, IBM received more patents than any other private sector organization. It is important to note that the listed patent counts are preliminary counts, which are subject to correction. The final list for the top patenting organizations in 2001 should be available by early April 2002. [MG]
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Fortune: Best Companies to Work For
http://www.fortune.com/lists/bestcompanies/
Fortune has recently released its list of the "Best Companies to Work For." According to Fortune, the list consists of 100 companies who were willing "to come up with creative ways to keep their employees satisfied" and treated them with "respect and dignity." 80 companies on the list avoided layoffs last year (in the wake of the September 11th tragedy), while 47 reported that they have some sort of official policy barring layoffs. Of course, sometimes companies are forced to take the drastic step of laying off employees, and when layoffs occurred, Fortune gave companies credit for offering generous severance. Click to this site to find out who made the list and a detailed explanation of how the companies were chosen. [MG]
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ProGenealogists
http://progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthb.htm
An unparalleled resource in genealogical research, the Progenealogist metasite is a clearinghouse for information of every variety imaginable. Produced by the Family History Research Group, a private research group of professional genealogists, the site is a fantastic starting point for anyone interested in conducting genealogical research. From an organizational standpoint alone, the site couldn't have been more masterfully rendered, offering a wealth of practical resources, beginning with direct links to genealogical records, censuses, and genealogical organizations in every state and every country. Beyond that, however, the site also directly links to sources for vital and military records, as well as obituary and biographical services. The obvious aside, the site also features an impressive array of tools and lexical links, including currency and date converters and directories of every sort. While some of the services featured on the site are run by for-profit organizations, they are in the minority. Just the same, given all the site has to offer and the knowledge that went into its construction, it is clear that the Progenealogist site offers something for everyone -- and delivers. [WH]
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Official Site of the 2002 Olympic Games
http://www.saltlake2002.com/x/f/frame.htm?u=/news/slocmain_front.asp
As the 2002 Winter Olympic Games draw near, viewers can learn all about the sports, schedules, and athletes at this attractive and informative Web site, sponsored by MSNBC and MSN. Viewers can also find information on tickets, transportation, accommodations, venues, the Olympic Arts Festival, and much more. Extensive information to the Olympic world is merely a click away. [MG]
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Advanced CSS Layouts: Step by Step
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/style/sheets/layout/advanced/
Most Web sites are designed with HTML tables, which can be an arduous task. Making sites that are accessible and standards-compliant requires a separation of markup and content, and CSS is the best way to accomplish this. This Web page by Rogelio Vizcaino Lizaola and Andy King offers a step-by-step CSS layout tutorial on how to create WebReference table-like layouts (that behave well with small window sizes and large fonts), while avoiding some of the bugs and problems discovered in other implementations. Target browsers include all of the generation five and greater browsers on both Windows and Macintosh platforms. [MG]
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The Lemur Toolkit for Language Modeling and Information Retrieval
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~lemur/
Sponsored by the Advanced Research and Development Activity in Information Technology (ARDA) under its Statistical Language Modeling for Information Retrieval Research Program, the Lemur Project has recently announced the availability of the Lemur Toolkit for Language Modeling and Information Retrieval, version 1.0. The Lemur Toolkit is designed to help carry out research in areas such as ad hoc and distributed retrieval, cross-language IR, summarization, filtering, and classification. The toolkit supports indexing of large-scale text databases, the construction of simple language models for documents, queries, and more. The system, which is written in C and C++ languages, is designed as a research system to run under Unix operating systems, although it can also run under Windows. As part of the Lemur Project, the Lemur Toolkit is a collaboration between the Computer Science Department at the University of Massachusetts and the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. [MG]
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The Recording Industry and Napster, Inc. May Reach a Settlement
Judge Puts Napster Case on Hold
http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/high_tech/1700/1-23-2002/200201231011831908.html
Napster's Web site
http://www.napster.com/
Recording Industry Association of America
http://www.riaa.com/
Ownership of Copyrights
http://profs.lp.findlaw.com/copyown/index.html
Secure Digital Music Iniative
http://www.sdmi.org/
Boycott-RIAA
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
A federal judge's order, made public Wednesday, January 30, 2002, puts the recording industry's copyright infringement suit against Internet song-downloading service Napster, Inc. on hold until February 17, 2002. The case was put on hold for a month after both sides submitted requests to seek a possible settlement. Capitol Records, Inc. and Virgin Records America were the only two recording labels who did not join the request.
Napster was sued by the recording industry in 1999 after millions of people began to share unauthorized digital copies of popular music over the Internet using its service. In February 2001, Napster made a highly publicized $1 billion offer to settle the case if the major labels would license their catalogs to them. However, the record labels rejected the offer. Napster, which claimed more than 40 million users, went offline last July as it sought to comply with the judge's earlier order to screen unauthorized files from its network. Now financed by the parent company of the BMG record label, it plans to relaunch as a paid subscription service with only properly licensed music for its users to share. Since going offline, many Napster users have migrated to other free services, such as Morpheus, KaZaA and various programs that access the Gnutella network. On the whole, the first site covers the judge's recent decision in the case. Sites two and three give information about Napster and the Recording Industry Association of America, respectively. Site four covers the Copyright Act's ownership rules, and five seeks to develop open technology specifications that protect the playing, storing, and distribution of digital music. Please note, though, that the fifth site has been down at times recently. Finally, the last site seeks to provide resources that will enable one to make his/her own decision concerning online music and its available services. [MG]
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