http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/esposito/

The peer-reviewed Internet journal, First Monday (discussed in the August 23, 1996 Scout Report), presents a dreary picture for open access publishing and research. The author of this article, Joseph J. Esposito, comments on The Unexpected Future of Open Access Publishing. Esposito is skeptical of the idea that the age of the Internet and online publishing will bring access to the world's research publications free for everyone, "by shifting the costs to other places in the value chain and disintermediating publishers." Instead, he argues that Open Access will come about at the cost of authors and their proxies. The author details his argument regarding these unanticipated outcomes in this article. [VF]

http://www.jeccomposites.com/default.html

JEC, "a service provider whose vocation is the international promotion of composite materials around the world, and as both an information transmitter and receiver" offers the JEC Composites website. From here, you can learn about what's new in the composites industry across the world and read about recent technological advances in various sectors such as aeronautics, automotive, and construction. For example, have you heard about the material used to make stab-resistant jackets in Japan? Or the material that was used to construct the bike Lance Armstrong used to win the Tour de France? Those in the industry can also get updates on business news, trends, and upcoming conferences. [VF]

http://www.newtonproject.ic.ac.uk/

The Newton Project, hosted by the Imperial College London, has taken on the amazing task of making available (in print and electronic format) all of Newton's texts, both 'scientific' and 'non-scientific.' The Project currently highlights some of his lesser-known private writings on theology and alchemy, as well as papers relevant to his three decades of service at the Royal Mint. Although the project is still underway and searching for more funding, there are already a good deal of manuscripts online. The Featured Text includes a brief description, history, and excerpts from the manuscript. The more adventurous will enjoy browsing the manuscripts themselves, some of which can be viewed as images of the original documents. Each entry includes a header with some background information and an option to view the transcript in different formats. Another section provides a brief account of Newton's lifework and his archives. One aim of The Newton Project is "to be one of the most extensive and technologically sophisticated online resources for the study of any one individual, using both XML encoded texts and database technology" and they are off to a great start. [VF]

http://logistics.about.com/library/blnanotechnology.htm

About.com provides this overview of Nanotechnology. The section begins with a definition of nanotechnology and goes on to review some commercial applications of nanotechnology. The site also provides a brief history of the beginnings of nanotechnology. The Article Archive provides links to articles about the latest advances in nanotechnology. From their subject pages, you can view links to other online resources on the history, research methods, key people, and terminology in nanotechnology, as well as more information on the industry and applications of nanotechnology. [VF]

Wired: PowerPoint is Evil by Tufte
http://www.washington.edu/computing/training/560/zz-tufte.html
Sociable Media: Five Experts Dispute Tufte on PowerPoint
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html

Edward Tufte, professor emeritus of political science, computer science and statistics, and graphic design at Yale, is well known in graphics and data presentation circles for his publications and workshops on the art of effective presentations. In the first article, Tufte points out the evils of PowerPoint presentations, such as it's emphasis on format over content, and its infiltration into schools, which teaches kids "how to formulate client pitches and infomercials." He argues for an approach that is more in tune with the way visual reasoning works. The second article from Sociable Media provides a rebuttal to Tufte's claims. In this article, Cliff Atkinson has interviewed five other experts on presenting data for their views on PowerPoint. He highlights some comments from the interviews, but also posts the transcript from the interview. [VF]

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Indexes/Chinese.html

The School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews Scotland offers this website on the history of Chinese Mathematics. Key features highlighted in the overview include: a discussion of the Chinese version of Pythagoras's theorem, a famous Chinese mathematics book commonly known as the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, and the work of several Chinese mathematicians. Visitors to the website can also browse a chronological listing of several Chinese mathematicians and read about their careers. Other features of the website include a section summarizing each chapter from the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, a section highlighting ten other mathematical classics, a review of the Chinese numeral system, and a collection of Chinese problems, which are extracted from various articles in their archive. [VF]