Scout Report: Week ending December 9, 1994

December 9, 1994

The Scout Report is a weekly publication provided by InterNIC Information Services to assist InterNauts in their ongoing quest to know what's new on and about the Internet. It focuses on those resources thought to be of interest to the InterNIC's primary audience, researchers and educators, however everyone is welcome to subscribe and there are no associated fees.

The Scout Report is posted on the InterNIC InfoGuide's gopher and WorldWideWeb servers where you can easily follow links to resources of interest. Past issues are stored on the InfoGuide servers for quick reference, and you can search the InfoGuide server contents to find the items reported in all previous issues. The Scout Report is also distributed in an HTML version for use on your own host, providing fast local access for yourself and other users at your site.

http://www.internic.net/infogu ide.html
gopher is.internic.net choose Information Services/Scout Report

Comments and contributions to the Scout Report are encouraged and can be sent to scout@cs.wisc.edu.

See the end of the report for additional information and detailed access and subscription instructions.

Highlights In This Week's Report:

Grand Canyon National Park Web page
China News Digest on the Web
NASA Quest Gopher
Legi-Slate Gopher
Santa's all over the 'Net (replaces Weekend Scouting :-)

World Wide Web

The Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform was established by President Clinton in November of 1993 to recommend long-term changes to America's entitlement programs and tax structure. The Commission is comprised of 32 Members -- including 22 Members of Congress and 10 distinguished private citizens and State and local leaders -- and is chaired by Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE) and Senator Jack Danforth (R-MO). To date, the Commission has approved an Interim Report to the President outlining the nature and scope of America's long-term fiscal dilemma. The Commission has also produced a document describing potential reforms to America's entitlement programs and an interactive computer program using the reform options. The Commission is due to make final recommendations to the President by the end of the year. Also: Try your hand at entitlement reform. Download Budget Shadows: a challenging, fun, interactive program that puts you in the driver's seat [...as seen on recent news programs... -- Scout]. See what effect different policy decisions would have on entitlement programs, the U.S. budget, and U.S. citizens. Decide for yourself what choices and trade-offs you think the federal government should make to address our fiscal challenges. NOTE: You must have Lotus for Windows to run the program.
China News Digest (CND) is a voluntary non-profit organization aiming at providing news and other information services to readers who are concerned primarily about China-related affairs. All CND services are free of charge, and we rely on CND volunteers to make this possible. CND is independent of any other organizations and strives to be impartial at the issues and news it reports. The history of CND began on March 6, 1989. Topics include: News digest about China and Chinese; Comprehensive Weekly Chinese Magazine in the Chinese Language; Collection of Chinese Classics (Lao Tsu, Chuang Tsu, Confucius, some novels); Software (public domain and shareware) to read/write Chinese code; Scenery pictures of China; map of China; Chinese calendar (check for the next Chinese New Year); Links to web sites in Mainland China and Taiwan; China Internet Info.
Excite Travel is one of the most comprehensive international guides to communities around the world. City.Net provides easy and timely access to information on travel, entertainment, and local business, plus government and community services for all regions of the world.
[Note: Site title has changed since the original Scout Report review. Site formerly referred to in the Scout Report as "City.net."]
Environment Canada's Green Lane (Eastern Region) provides a wide variety of regional and national environmental information, including: the latest regional weather forecasts, satellite photos, maps & radar images; the complete texts of many of its most popular national publications, including primers designed to assist teachers; the answers to some of the questions that Atlantic Canadians most frequently ask when they phone or write to the Department; the direct phone numbers of the Department's regional experts on numerous issues and initiatives; details and documents regarding regional public consultation meetings; news about regional public environmental events; descriptions of the department's funding programs, including a guide on how to prepare funding proposals; and, the complete text of its environmental legislation, regulations, guidelines, codes of good practice, and related policies.
Come visit the Grand Canyon National Park home page. These pages are still under development but what's out there is pretty neat. Check out the trail descriptions, maps, and don't miss the photos -- all under 100K. Nice work done by a single author, who obviously loves the Park. -- Scout.
Heriot-Watt University Library, Edinburgh, U.K. is pleased to announce its new WWW home page. The service gives information about the Library, its collections, and services, and an HTML version of the Library's _INTERNET RESOURCES_ Newsletter. Although directed towards, and originally distributed to, staff and students at Heriot-Watt, it may be of use to anyone interested in the Internet and its resources. Each issue contains comments and short articles on topics of current interest, plus lists of new and recent resources.

Gopher

CALI - The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction -- CALI offers a growing library of computer-based instructional exercises on a variety of law-related subjects. At present, nearly seventy exercises provide instruction in trial advocacy, civil procedure, torts, evidence, professional responsibility, wills and trusts, etc. In addition, CALI's Legal Education Automation Project (LEAP) distributes a broad array of software produced by other vendors at special discounts through a Third-Party Software Program. Membership with CALI is open to all members of AALS. [Newsletters, archives, and a descriptions of computer-based training in 19 areas of law are available on the gopher. The actual courseware is available to members only. --Scout]
[Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher site has been replaced by web site.]
Carnegie Mellon University - Physics Department Gopher
Institute of Informatics (in Hungarian)
Legi-Slate Gopher Server: Legi-Slate is pleased to provide free unrestricted access to portions of the Legi-Slate Gopher Service to Internet users. The Legi-Slate Gopher Service allows all users to locate any bill or resolution introduced since the beginning of the 103rd Congress by number (requires Gopher+ client), date, sponsor and chamber and type. Once a specific bill or resolution has been selected, the following documents are available: Title & Current Status, Congressional Research Service Bill Digest, Names of Cosponsors, List of Bill Text Versions Available, List of Committee Reports Filed, Counterpart, Companion Bills. [Several other services are available free of charge, and the good news is that free vs. subscriber services are clearly marked in the "About Legi-slate" file at the top of the first menu. -- Scout]
Medical College of Georgia Gopher: Pointers to Biomedical Research at MCG, other Health Sciences Resources on the 'Net, and more. --Scout
[Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher site has been replaced by web site.]
NASA K-12 Internet Initiative (Quest): Currently one of the top sites for quality K-12 information on the 'Net. Short lists of carefully selected sites and collections. Directories include: Getting US Teachers Online, Teacher's Guide to Using Internet, NASA K-12 Interactive Projects, Internet Resources (for K-12), and NASA Network Applications & Information Gopher. -- Scout
gopher://quest.arc.nasa.gov
[Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher may no longer be available.]
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/
NSERC/CRSNG: The Internet server at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) offers bilingual, Internet access to NSERC news and publications, including some of our guides and newsletters. [Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher site has been replaced by web site.]
The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center is one of four campuses of the University system; it houses the schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy, University Hospitals, and Central Services Administration.
[Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher site has been replaced by web site.]
World Cancer Research Fund is still under construction, but offers links to WCRF organizations in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and USA. Information offered in the form of newsletters and brochures. -- Scout
[Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher site has been replaced by web site.]

New subscribed list on the subject of academic sexual correctness(ASC-L). ASC-L is an outgrowth of CASE (Consenting Academics for Sexual Equity), founded in early 1994 by both professors and students to combat a concerted "feminist" campaign against students and professors who had become involved in an intimate(romantic) relationship. CASE dealt with only one small area of the current emphasis on sexual correctness in academia. Consequently, the need for a network that focused on all aspects of academic sexual correctness became apparent; the ASC-L is a response to that need. ASC-L encompasses all aspects of campus sexual control issues -- irrespective of their ideological origins, such as sexual consent issues, sexual discrimination issues (irrespective of the subjects of the discrimination) and attempts to regulate sexual content of speech on campus or sexual content of course materials. The principles of consent, privacy and academic freedom are the core principles which have motivated the founding of ASC-L. For more information send mail to:
request@beach1.csulb.edu
A new resource has been made available from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas - a tradeshow listserver, for anyone interested in tradeshows, conventions and meetings, world-wide. send Email to: listproc@nevada.edu
in the body of the message type:
subscribe tradeshow TYPE-YOUR-NAME-HERE

NetBytes

Did you miss that announcement of a new Web site, service, or software? Don't despair! You will likely find it, and in hypertext form, too, on webNews. This evolving Web service has been recently updated, and now contains over 700 announcements gleaned from selected USENET News groups since March of this year. Listings are updated monthly and are in descending order by date. A comprehensive hyperindex of terms (the HyperDex) is provided and should be your starting point for subject browsing of the webNews article archive. [Last updates appear to be from November 15, but the index may prove useful if you're looking for a specific post. -- Scout]
Spider's Pick of the Day: There was such a tremendous response to being the Cool Site of the Day on November 11th, that it seemed only logical (Mr Spock told me to do it) to create the Spider's Pick of the Day. It may be a site, a sub-page of a site, a file, or darn near anything.

Santa Claus on the 'Net

Send those cards and letters to.....

Santa's Sleigh rides the Information Superhighway: Children all over the world are now able to send their letters to Santa via the Internet. Santa will be responding to all letters. (North Pole Productions, a division of Internet Access Inc, Ottawa, Canada.)
santa@northpole.net
Send me your Christmas list on the Internet, Santa says: ALBANY, NY and the NORTH POLE--In a move applauded worldwide as an innovative effort aimed at making it easier for children and their parents to reach him with their Christmas lists, Santa Claus announced today that he has opened an address on the Internet, the global information network. "Effective immediately, anyone around the world who cares to share their Christmas wish list with me by using this new-fangled electronic mail thingy can now get in touch with me almost immediately," Santa said. "I've always prided myself on my ability to be nearly everywhere at once," Santa said. "Advances in computer telecommunications have made my job that much easier." Santa will read and reply to all electronic mail sent. (Newslink 13, Albany, New York)
santa@newslink13.com
Santa says: Ho Ho Ho...Merry Christmas to everyone around the world. That's right my little friends, I've joined the Information Highway and getting ready to take my cybersleigh around the world! I know you've all been good boys and girls this year! I'm waiting for you to send 'ol Santa that special wish list you've been making all year. If you hurry, I'll have enough time before Christmas and send you back a personal reply from the North Pole. The Elves and I are waiting to hear from you. I'll be a bit hungry when I get to your house, so don't forget to leave some cookies and milk under the tree for 'ol Santa and the reindeer. (Delphi Internet Services).
SANTA@delphi.com

Gopher tunnel to:

The 2nd Annual Delphi Internet Services Holiday Gopher is now available for accessing through the Internet. You'll find all sorts of holiday items from around the world! Recipes, songs, stories, books, graphics, sounds, plant and Christmas Tree care tips, road conditions, ski reports, weather forecasts for the U.S., Canada, and other International locations. The Holiday Gopher is "G" rated, every item was read before being placed online! You won't find any off color jokes, stories, or "strange" recipes. It's safe for the kids to be left alone. So gather the family around the warm glow of your monitor. Everyone will find something on the Delphi Holiday Gopher. Contributions are welcome. (Delphi Internet Services).

And on the Web....

Last year, the front page of the Christmas Day New York Times talked about how you could do `finger xmastree@cygnus.com' to find out the current state of the Christmas tree in the offices of Cygnus Support. Well, it's back again this year. But, we wouldn't want you to be bored! "Oh, ho hum, that same boring thing all over again...been there, saw that." So to follow the example of a few million enthusiasts, the increasingly-popular World Wide Web is now toting its very own Christmas tree, which is so interactive it's almost like it's in your home. (Well, not quite. But if you'd like to send some wrapped gifts, I'm sure we wouldn't be upset.) Along with getting to look at a small photo of the tree when you first connect to it, you may: choose to see a full-size version of that picture -- they are updated every two minutes; choose to watch an MPEG movie of the tree which is 20 frames long, so you can watch the lights blink, etc. This is updated every fifteen minutes; vote on the different features of the tree, and every fifteen minutes the system will do the vote count and change the tree accordingly; send any one of ten random cards to a given email address; find out the technical details of how it was done, if you're really that interested. If you have any comments, suggestions, or complaints (come to think of it, you can keep the complaints), write to webmaster@cygnus.com. [Note: Resource(s)/URL(s) mentioned above is no longer available.]
Visit The North Pole and participate in The Cyberspace Christmas Campaign, which allows corporations to adopt local non-profit groups and pledge money. Each time you--the Digital Tourist --visits a page about these groups, the corporation gives a dime. Think of all this as a digital webathon, a way of doing good without having to look at Jerry Lewis for 12 hours in a telethon. Put your feet up, click away, and let somebody else pay! The "Santa on a Shingle" program packages up a subset of our Santa pages so that you can pull them back to your home computer as a compressed archive that is roughly the size of a floppy disk (a shingle). Many of our more popular Santa images and audio are in the archive so you'll get snappy response time. (Internet Mulitcast Service).
Children will be able to browse through the north pole and read messages from Santa, his elves, the reindeer and get a North Pole weather report. our 'I E-Mailed Santa' button (North Pole Productions, a division of Internet Access Inc, Ottawa, Canada).
When Santa Claus comes to town this year he will be taking an entirely different route. He has decided to harness his reindeer and hop in his sleigh a little earlier than usual to spread his Christmas cheer over the Information Superhighway. Users will be able to access a customizable letter from Santa, the latest Polar weather conditions, some holiday recipes and a special Christmas greeting. They will also be able to preview exciting Christmas gifts and toys which can be ordered from St. Nick's virtual workshop. (USA CityLink).

About the Scout Report

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offered by InterNIC Information Services to the Internet community as a fast, convenient way to stay informed about network activities. Its purpose is to combine in one place the highlights of new (and newly-discovered) online resources and other announcements seen on the Internet during the preceding week.

A wide range of topics are included in the Report with an emphasis on resources thought to be of interest to the InterNIC's primary audience, the research and education community. Each resource has been verified for substantial content and accessibility within a day of the release of the Report.

The Scout Report is provided in multiple formats -- electronic mail, gopher, World Wide Web, and HTML. The gopher and World Wide Web versions of the Report include links to all listed resources. The Report is released every weekend.

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