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BREAKING SURF
First Yahoo, Then the Whole Net!
Monday's three-hour outage at Yahoo was just the opening salvo in a barrage of denial-of-service attacks on Web sites including eBay, Amazon, Buy.com, CNN, ETrade, Datek, and ZDNet. The attacks - huge numbers of repeated information request packets - overwhelm target servers, effectively blocking out normal service. Yahoo suffered about 1 GB of requests per second, more traffic in an instant than many Web sites get in a year. No one seems to know who's behind the attacks, but US Attorney General Janet Reno has the FBI looking into them. In a CNet article, experts say the Net's not seriously threatened. CNet also has articles on what happened and how. Salon has a nice sober approach, too.Experts: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1546505.html
What: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1545348.html
How: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1546362.html
Salon: http://www.salon.com/tech/col/rose/2000/02/10/web_attacks/index.html
Handling a Distributed Denial of Service Trojan Infection
Your own computer might be part of the recent denial-of-service attacks, which is a clandestine distributed effort; we'll throw some timely resources your way that tell you how to deal with a suspected system infection which may cause your system to take part in the distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack. "Handling a Distributed Denial of Service Trojan Infection: Step-by-Step" focuses on Unix, but contains some good generic advice for all operating systems as well. The "gag" and "dds" programs on Dave Dittrich's home page help diagnose a DDOS infection by scanning for common DDOS attack tools like Trinoo, TFN, and Stacheldraht. Finally, a technique called egress filtering can help secure your site against participation in DDOS attacks. Sans.org has a good write-up of this method.Handling: http://www.sans.org/y2k/DDoS.htm
Dittrich: http://www.staff.washington.edu/dittrich
Egress Filtering: http://www.sans.org/y2k/egress.htm
Those of you who pay attention probably know about the war in Chechnya. But how many of you know about the ongoing chaos in the heart of Africa? How bad is it? The heart of the Congo basin is a battlefield - though that implies a far greater level of organization than actualy exists there - between no less then nine nations, numerous splinter rebel groups, and countless armed gangs. Kleptocracy, tribalism, simmering nationalism, and a general lack of stable social or cultural institutions have turned this region into a chaotic killing field. Heart of darkness, indeed. This recent special feature from the New York Times covers the whole mess, complete with country by country summaries of the current situation. You need to log into the NYT Web site, but you should educate yourselves, and ask, "Must the West write off central Africa?"
http://www.nyt.com/library/world/africa/020600africa-congo.html
Serious Internet Explorer Java Security Problem Exposes Files
A Japanese researcher has discovered a serious problem with the way Internet Explorer (IE) implements its Java virtual machine. In plain language, that means that malicious Java applets in IE can compromise files stored in specific directories on your PC. The problem more easily affects IE 4.x than 5.x. Netscape Navigator is not affected at all. If you're using IE, either turn off Java or switch browsers until Microsoft releases a fix. A good write-up, translated from the original Japanese, can be found here.http://java-house.etl.go.jp/ml/archive/j-h-b/030411.html
iCrave and MP3.com - Theft or Innovation?
That's the question. The Goliath media companies guess theft, and are trying to hog-tie nimble upstarts like MP3.com and iCraveTV in legal entanglements. Canadian iCraveTV just wants to let Canadians legally watch their favorite TV shows on their monitors, but has knuckled under to a recent American court injunction and now "Access to stations and listings is not available at this time." Meanwhile, MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson has countersued the Recording Industry Association of America and its president, Hilary Rosen, for what he claims are unfair business practices intended to undermine his firm. Both iCraveTV and MP3.com see themselves as innovative consumer choices. We think the content tycoons would be better off tapping the energy of innovation than trying to stifle it.iCraveTV: http://icravetv.com/
Injunction: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,34212,00.html
MP3.com: http://www.mp3.com/
Countersuit: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1544515.html
The Motley Fool, everybody's favorite financial site, was unsatisfied with the Dow, NASDAQ, S&P 500 stock market standard indices. For one, the companies that make up those indices are nonsensically weighted. The Motley Fool also felt that the other indices do not accurately reflect the shift of the American economy to a more global nature. So it decided to set up the NOW 50 index, in which each company's weight is based on its market capitalization but normalized against the other companies. This prevents any one company from dominating the index. After a great deal of back and forth between Motley Fool staff and their readers, they chose 50 companies that reflect the globalization of American business. Details and NOW 50 index can be found here, but, oddly, we couldn't find a chart of the recent index values.
http://www.fool.com/now50/now50.htm
Valentine's Day (VD) has always been a bit of a girls' holiday, something most guys realize around the "Ewww, girls!" phase. In later years, the demands of relational tranquility render the holiday at best mildly diverting, at worst tragically nerve-racking in the face of romantic gift dilemmas. Let us start your VD netsurfing, then, with the estrogen laced Women.com Valentine's page. On the other hand, VD curmudgeons will appreciate ClamWEB's V-Day 12-step program for non-daters or EvilValentine's "the best way to show you don't care" rude e-card delivery service. Big media banality has no better illustration than the CNN Interactive Love Zone (shudder!). The best of the lot? No contest - the Blender of Love will make even the most cynical romantic casualty beg for more. And if even that's not enough links for you, take a stroll through the Tainted Garden. How's that for saturation coverage?
Women.com: http://www.women.com/promotions/valentines/index.html
ClamWEB: http://tribune-review.com/music/poems.html
EvilValentines: http://evilvalentines.com/
CNN Love Zone: http://www.cnn.com/EVENTS/valentine/lovesme.html
Blender of Love: http://www.loveblender.com/
Tainted Garden: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/6472/v-day/
By an amazing coincidence and maybe just a smidgen of design, the NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft is scheduled to go into orbit around the asteroid Eros on Valentine's Day (February 14). We say coincidence because the craft, originally scheduled to arrive in January, was delayed by a bad orbital burn last year. It's unlikely but not impossible that NASA engineers tweaked some parameters to arrive at a great public relations opportunity. NASA wants the NEAR craft to orbit Eros for a year while attempting to penetrate its secrets. Check out the neat animation of the tumbling rock assembled from the images of its previous rendezvous attempt.
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/near.html
Guess What Quebec's Up to Again?
Yep, the Office de la langue francaise (OLF) is up to its old tricks, pestering the small businessperson like a schoolyard bully shaking down kids for quarters (see NSD 5.18). This time the target is Michel Soucy, a native Quebecer who speaks only English. He offers computer support, in English only, and uses a Web site to attract customers. The OLF sent him a letter saying he has to set up a French Web site by March 6 or face a fine. Michel refuses, pointing out the stupidity of the idea - he couldn't help anyone in French even if he wanted to. Michel has his side of the story, the OLF letter (French only), and some backbone.http://www.michelsoucy.com/olf.html
#!/bin/perl
my $friend;
study $poetry;
chop $code;
link $words,$symbols;
foreach (%day) { isa $joy; }
flock $to, $contest;
send $entry_to, "The Perl Journal", $forthwith;
print "Perl Poetry" and die "becalmed";
http://www.itknowledge.com/tpj/perl-poetry00.html
Ashamed of the Rodhams, ashamed of the Clintons, the First Lady has abandoned last names to campaign as Hillary. On February 6, she officially declared she's running for the office of senator from New York, the first First Lady to campaign for her own election - hence this item. You can read her speeches, volunteer for her, keep up with what's happening, and even buy official Hillary 2000 merchandise at the campaign site. More than just a Yankees fan, Hillary offers a grab bag of issues, including jobs, cheaper prescription drugs, fair taxes, more police, fewer guns, targeted tax cuts, and a safer world. How original!
Campaign: http://www.hillary2000.org/
First Lady: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/First_Lady/html/HILLARY_Home.html
In what it describes as a test, Yahoo, in conjunction with Prudential California Realty and Homebid.com, is selling online a few select houses in the San Francisco Bay area with an open auction format. The curious can mosey over for a look at the homes, which cost $265K and up (and we mean up), but to get more info - including 360-degree virtual tours of the homes - you have to register. The bidding frenzy takes place February 20 to March 6. CNet has more. We just wonder how UPS will manage delivery.
Houses: http://realestate.yahoo.com/
CNET: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1543452.html
SURFING SITES
Raise the Jib, Then Add the Cork
Most ships in bottles are built with the pull-thread method: the hobbyist builds relatively large sections outside the bottle and, using jewelers' tools to fashion the necessary pivots and hinges, inserts the hulls intact with masts lying flat on the deck. The hobbyist raises the masts with threads attached to the ship. Then there's Eduardo Raffaelli, an extreme miniaturist who constructs his models in laboratory flasks, perfume vials, and flashlight bulbs. He assembles his ships painstakingly, piece by piece, literally hair by hair, right in the bottle, painted and detailed only after complete assembly. Don't miss the incomplete Titanic, stymied because the tolerances were so precise that the uneven thickness of the vial's glass prevented the funnels from being raised with the pull-thread method. It makes our eyes water just thinking about it.http://www.advance.com.ar/usuarios/raff/eddys.html
If you're an American NSD subscriber, odds are almost even your forebears entered the country in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, through Ellis Island. The genealogical histories of four in ten Americans trace a route through the cavernous Registry Room sometime between 1892 and 1954. On occasion, as many as 10,000 hopeful immigrants filed through the hall in just 24 hours. Most were admitted, but two percent of applicants were turned away, sent back to their countries of origin on the same boats that had brought them. Officials conducted health exams based on chalk markings placed on the newcomers' clothes. L indicated lameness, X pointed to possible mental defect, C marked conjunctivitis - and B stood for Black. The Ellis Island Immigration Museum includes oral histories of some 1,300 people who passed through the center, and the museum's officers want to fill out the record with the stories of anyone else who has one to tell.
http://www.i-channel.com/features/ellis/
Yellow 1964 Rambler station wagon. Yellow 1942 Buick. Yellow 1976 Cadillac Seville. Yellow 1971 Dodge Challenger. Yellow 1958 Ford Thunderbird. Sense a pattern? Do you recall Henry Ford's line about customers being able to have any color they want, as long as it's black? Here's what might have happened if the old boy had had a sunnier disposition. There are vintage cars here, fins and chrome abound and cherry woodies pose proudly. We couldn't spot any of our favorite recently revived automotive design feature, the suicide door, though. The whole yellow car notion got us to thinking - yes, even something like this site can set the ol' synapses firing - so, with Cecil Adams's help, we checked out the history of Yellow cabs. Did you know they're related to Hertz Rent A Car by blood?
Cars: http://yellow.freeservers.com/index.html
Cabs: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_192.html
Like the item it cherishes, Charlie's Sneaker Page lacks beauty but it does the job. Charlie's site is packed with passion for informal footwear, and takes the visitor from a rundown of the history of sneakers (with a rather disappointing token page for women's athletic shoes) to an extensive glossary that includes items such as advice on how to dry wet sneakers. According to the access logs, most visitors prefer Air Jordans, with Chucks following not far behind. The site is packed with great little facts. Did you realize your "air" athletic shoes may be cushioned with helium? Just visit it.
http://www.sneakers.pair.com/
This site is a life saver for journalists who'd like to avoid fatal errors that could lead to the premature death of their jobs. It delineates the thin line between the I-didn't-know-they-died and the gosh-I-thought-they-were-dead. The handy Recent Deaths category keeps you current - you go on vacation for a week and boom, former House Speaker Carl Albert heads for the big upper chamber in the sky and Doug Henning does his final disappearing act. Use the profession categories to easily confirm the date and cause of death. For example, a quick check under Musicians shows the great bluegrass guitarist Lester Flatt has been playing "The Orange Blossom Special" on Cloud Nine for 21 years, whereas his banjo-picking partner, Earl Scruggs, is still very much with us. Incidentally, so was Boris Yeltsin, when this issue went to bed.
http://www.neosoft.com/~davo/livedead/
To Work, Anonymous Search Minions!
We think it's a lovely idea: a search engine where somebody else does the work. That's the premise behind Webhelp. Type in your Web site query and in a few minutes, somebody at the other end suggests a site. Webhelp claims to be more accurate and faster than the standard search engines, but in practice, it appears to have a little way to go. Even a moderately experienced netsurfer could probably find the needed site more quickly than one of Webhelp's Web wizards - especially when you consider the minute or two you have to wait for service. We tested Webhelp with two questions: a hard one about UK savings accounts and an easy one about finding flight prices. Our first Web wizard couldn't offer any suggestions on the savings accounts after a good six minutes. A search on Google produced at least a good starting point in under a minute. Ainsley did better with the travel question, generating a suggested site in about three minutes, although again Yahoo was just as quick. But if time is not an issue, your question is complex, or you're just a people person, give Webhelp a try.http://webhelp.com/
The recent attacks on high-profile Web sites have reached the front pages of virtually every news outlet, but there's really nothing new in these reports. Hackers get into dozens of smaller sites every day. Sites, and home computers, can use firewalls to protect vital - or not-so-vital - information, but in order to work effectively, the firewalls have to be used correctly. This detailed yet easy to understand FAQ will help users to understand what a firewall does, how it does it, and much more. It's especially worth a look if you're on a LAN or have a cable or DSL connection to the Net.
http://www.vicomsoft.com/knowledge/reference/firewalls1.html
A weblog is a frequently updated list of links with comments. It's sort of a raw news page, a list of personal favorites for frequent surfers. Web Log Scoop Index awards a point to each weblog and other news source if it is the first to post a link, then ranks them by point total. You're as likely to find obscure sites (such as My.UserLand.Com, NewsLinx, or AppleSurf) as Wired, Salon, and Slashdot. We could not find how the index is updated, or what search mechanism is used. With the Web Log Scoop Index, you'll find sites that even with our efforts you probably wouldn't find otherwise. It's a fine way to blow a few hours now and then on recreational surfing. You've got to wonder what else they do at Yale.
http://pine.cs.yale.edu/blogs/scoops.html
So you've had a long day and need a place to lie low for a while? Here's a spot where you can "slip into at one end of the day (or weekend for that matter) and crawl out of at the other end, and wonder where the time went." Head trasher Jen Honner has created everything on this wonderful site: the concept; design; implementation; maintenance; and content. The site includes many diversions including a fine selection of free fonts, a Drew Barrymore fan site, a surf diary, and a discussion board. And you just have to love the way the trashed.org follows your cursor around the page!
http://trashed.org/
MUDdling through the Wheel of Time
Playing in a multi-user dungeon (MUD) gives a real feel for the Good Olde Days of the Internet, when men were men and trolls were non-player characters that got killed a lot. No graphics, no sounds - just a black screen, white text, and a touch of imagination. Although no longer a mainstream activity with the advent of first-person shooters, MUDs retain a charm and attraction all their own and thousands of people still play. The Wheel of Time MUD, based on the books by Robert Jordan, nestles within a stunningly designed site which uses Flash, Java and the latest bleeding-edge techniques to provide detailed and friendly instructions and background. Despite testing it at peak times, we found minimal lag and the denizens friendly and eager to help, a characteristic of all well run MUDs.http://www.wotmud.org/
The Far Side of the Slicing, Dicing, and Cutting Edge
The Pretty Strange Patents Site brings to mind a creative conjunction of cartoonist Gary Larson and gadget king Ron Popeil. Take, for example, the handy dandy egg beater that scrambles yolk and white right in the shell. For those in search of the perfect bowel movement, we have the Feces Scale. Another patent describes a handsome glass cubicle in which an upright corpse can be displayed in, say, the living room. Actually, some of these patented devices have potential, such as the violin that houses a woodwind instrument, or the hairbrush/birth control dispenser which beeps to remind you to take your pill while styling your hair in the morning. The site spotlights each device with patent information and design drawings.http://soundreach.simplenet.com/psp/
Anotheryay Unfay Ialectday Itesay
The Dialectizer does the Encheferizer one better, or rather six better. It converts either a Web page or straight text to your choice of Redneck, Jive, Cockney, Elmer Fudd, Swedish Chef, Moron, or Pig Latin dialects. Fo' instance, this hyar is whut a sentence looks like in Redneck. Shet mah mouth! Mix your metaphors by having the Swedish Chef stage whisper, "Be-a fery fery qooeeet. Um de hur de hur de hur. Ve're-a hoonteeng vebbeets. Um gesh dee bork, bork!" Turn yourself into Eliza Doolittle faster than the professor could transform her by opting for the Cockney filter. The server overloads occasionally, to keep you from having too much fun.http://www.rinkworks.com/dialect/
Some consider the Urban Legend to be the heart-and-soul of the Information Age. These myths can certainly entertain, just so long as you don't receive a hundred e-mailed copies of the same one. Variety is what counts. And imagination. And sarcastic bile saved for anyone who really believes them. If you are lacking in any category, you'll be pleased to discover the Urban Legend Generator. Choose a subject (such as a friend of someone I know), a scenario (on spring break), an action (bit into a sandwich), and a consequence (received a free pair of jeans from the Gap). After you've made your selections, an entire legend is indeed generated, all ready to be mailed off to loved ones. Or gullible ones.
http://toybox.asap.net/legend/
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Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace
Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe
D.I.Y.: The Blank Generation - The New York Scene (1975-78)
Pandora's Box, Win 9x/NT SoftwareONLINE CULTURE
Forbes Magazine brings us this instructive little tale, a fine counterpoint to the current plague of distributed denial-of-service attacks. In a sense, this story illustrates a worst-case hacking scenario. Jay Dyson, working for NASA, discovered that part of the agency's network was compromised by a cracker group known as HAGIS. He proceeded to vent his anger and disdain in public by posting some disparaging comments on his Web site. That's when things got ugly. Two anonymous HAGIS hackers started harassing him online and off. Jay's struggle against them resulted in two hacked ISPs, an attack on his personal site, and phone harassment. His obsession with catching the tormentors apparently even destroyed his marriage. You'll find this high-tech online stalking morality play worth your attention.http://www.forbes.com/forbes/00/0221/6504068a.htm
Slashdot Beanie Awards Wrap-Up
There were few surprises at this year's big-money ($100K) Slashdot Beanie awards, with most choices rather obvious - for example, Linus Torvald won Best Open Source Advocate and mod_perl won Best Apache Module. Slashdotters are not immune to jump-on-the-bandwagon syndrome. Then again, it was a popularity contest, so who are we to judge?http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/02/06/1950248&mode=thread
ONLINE TRAVEL
If the Central African country of Malawi is even half as beautiful as this Web site, travelers are certainly in for a treat. The site calls Malawi "one of Africa's best-kept secrets" and talks about the country's "mountains, lush forests, shimmering rivers and lowlands, all featuring a good variety of game." Don't forget Lake Malawi, either. Use this site to find out everything you need to know.http://www.malawiholiday.fsnet.co.uk/
As the author explains early on, Brainerd, Kan. is both typical and unusual. His American Studies project on the history and geography of this Plains railroad town investigates both sides of the tracks. Interviews with Brainerd residents, an extensive collection of photos (some more interesting than others), and a well written historical account of the town's development provide the focal point of the web-project. We doubt whether this will encourage anyone to visit Brainerd, but it does help explain how small towns like it have managed to survive the last hundred years.
http://www.rootinaround.com/brainerd/
The new European parliament building in Strasbourg is a striking piece of architecture that sits imposingly by the city's river. Drawing together classical and baroque themes, it stands as a symbol of democracy, debate, and freedom. The beautiful building's multilingual, constantly changing Web site is as simple and effectively designed. Eloquent press releases talk about echoes of space and the simultaneous deployment of science and narrative, and for the lexically challenged, there are pictures. Lots of pictures. Nice pictures. Visit the site for a glimpse of a three-dimensional representation of the underlying tenets of the European Union.
http://www.parlementeuropeen.net/
Comprehensive Reportage On Asia
Will Chinese President Jiang Zemin hold his power base against rival politburo factions? Can the president of Indonesia (fourth most populated country in the world, by the way) axe corrupt bureaucrats for sucking up huge amounts of public money? You wouldn't know it from most American dailies, but a tremendous amount of reportage - in English - follows the goings-on in the 20+ countries covered at the Asia Observer. You get the headlines, newspaper links, BBC radio reports, and beautiful geopolitical maps of each nation.http://www.asiaobserver.com/
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
Cat, fish, and turtle webcams are so passe. Try the Lobster Cam, where you can watch a test lobster trap (and lobster test subjects) in the ocean. Now, if only they hooked up with eBay so you could bid on the creatures you see, they'd have self-financing.http://www.midcoast.com/lobcam/
Equine World UK focuses on issues and resources for the horse lover in the United Kingdom, but it also offers international fare in sections such as the listings of riding clubs and associations and the rundown of equestrian holidays.
http://www.equine-world.co.uk/
There's nothing quite as perversely mollifying as a good sports cliche. Bask in the glory of "We played with good intensity," "We need to get things turned around," and "They made the most of their opportunities." Aaaah.
http://geocities.com/mikeh39/
CSPAN Presidential Campaign Video Clips
This New York Times page lets you select an issue, a presidential candidate, or a political party, and run a search for CSPAN RealAudio video clips. A search for Pentagon and John McCain turned up four clips from two speeches. It's part of an excellent New York Times site that discusses the campaign for president.http://nytimes.virage.com/cgi-bin/visearch?user=nytimes
A neat idea for neat URLs - sign up and IPFox will provide you with a free snappy yourname.ipfox.com redirect address for your Web site, to cloak that awful www.serviceprovider.com/freebiesection/cheapsites/~user/yourname.html you use now.
http://www.ipfox.com/
Not sure which domain name you want? Try typing your keywords into this nifty little engine and it will tell you what names have already gone. Useful as a search engine too.
http://namedroppers.com/
CORRECTIONS
Timeline of the 21st Century, Updated
In the dim past, we covered "An Illustrated Speculative Timeline of Technology and Social Change for the Next One Thousand Years" ("A View into the Future", NSD 4.20). With 18 months more data and a new URL, it might be worth a revisit.http://kurellian.tripod.com/spint.html