week 40:
The1000 journals lproject is an independent, privately funded social experiment. It is an attempt to follow 1000 journals throughout their travels, to see where they go, and what people do with them.
The Roy Lichtenchtein foundation
Established in withthe wishes of the artist and his immediate family, this private operating foundation aspires to encourage and support a broader understanding of the art of Lichtenschtein (1923-1997) and of the contemporary art and artists of his time.
World History consists of some 400 separate
histories and 4000 tagged events. Choose "Histories" to read a chosen
subject, and to move seamlessly from one history to another. Try "Tours"
to travel through time on your own selection of interconnecting trails. Use
"What When Where" to discover what was going on at any moment in time.
The Internet Society (ISOC) is a professional membership society with more than 150 organization and 11,000 individual members in over 182 countries. It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organization home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).
NoodleTools is a suite of interactive tools designed to aid students and professionals with their online research. From selecting a search engine and finding some relevant sources, to citing those sources in MLA or APA style. An efficient tool for students or researchers.
week 39:
The Schøyen Collection comprises most types of manuscripts from the whole world spanning over 5000 years. It is the largest private manuscript collection formed in the 20th century. The whole collection, MSS 1-4517, comprises 12,536 manuscript items, including 2,083 volumes. 6,178 manuscript items are from the ancient period, 3200 BC - 500 AD; 3,848 are from the medieval period, 500 - 1500; and 2,510 are post-medieval. Never before there has been formed a collection with such variety geographically, linguistically, textually, and of scripts, writing materials, etc., over such a great span of time as 5 millennia.
This site was developed by the National
Library of Canada which is the official repository of the archives of the late
concert pianist, Glenn Gould. A supremely gifted artist and Canada's most renowned
classical musician of the 20th century, Gould was a recording artist, radio
and television broadcaster and producer, writer and an outspoken apologist for
the electronic media. Visitors to this site will find a virtual exhibition drawn
from his archival papers, a look at the National Library's audio archival tapes
available using RealAudio, two searchable databases of the National Library's
Glenn Gould Papers, research aids such as two chronologies, a Gould bibliography,
lists of films, videos and radio broadcasts made by and about Gould, selections
of writings by Gould and writings about Gould, works of art and of poetry inspired
by him, and links to other related internet sites.
The purpose of NASA's Visible Earth is to
provide a consistently updated, central point of access to the superset of NASA's
Earth science-related images, animations, and data visualizations. Simply the
best and largest searchable database of images and videos of the Earth. Common
jpeg as well as very (very) high resolution pictures are available. Browsing
can be made by topic, or using a powerful search engine.
The site of reference for those of us who started their computer mania with an Amstrad, a Vic-20, a C64 or God knows what else. More than 600 computers are referenced in this efficient site, the elephant cemetary of personal computing.
Identity theft is one of the most widespread cyber crime. By entering this site and reading the forum and vendors sections, you can see how anyone can obtain a new identity and a new life, including a fresh passport, credit rating, bank account, telephone number... And how the most sophisticated hologram-protected IDs can be forged. Beware, this site belongs to the underground Internet, and laws of your country might not permit you to enter it without risk.
week 38:
Designed by the Mary and Leigh Bloch museum of art, this site offers a great insight on the numerous works of art that were produced in Auschwitz.
These japanese koans, or parables, were
translated into English from a book called the Shaseki-shu (Collection of Stone
and Sand), written late in the thirteenth century by the Japanese Zen teacher
Muju, and from anecdotes of Zen monks taken from various books published in
Japan around the turn of the 20th century.
Just as great wines have their great years,
so works of music have their "vintage" recordings which are of major historical
significance and establish the standards by which all other recorded performances
are judged. The comparison stops there because the shelf-price of a great recording
is most often the same as a mediocre one. Over 500 new releases come on to the
market each month. Unless you are a specialist, who knows the real value of
what's in the bins. Building a coherent record library can therefore be a daunting
task, not to say very expensive if you get it wrong! Klassiknet's 101 Best proposes
a collection of vintage recordings worthy of the most demanding connoisseur.
Slow Wave is a collective dream diary authored by different people from around the world, and drawn as a comic strip by Jesse Reklaw. A new strip is uploaded every Saturday.
The NYC Guggenheim is hosting a permanent exhibition of web art and projects, along with a clerverly designed virtual museum.
week 37:
The official site of the Schubert foundation. Just about everything that one can find on Schubert without infringing copyrights laws is there. Beautiful Flash site.
This truly awesome site was set-up by NASA
a few months ago to give neophytes and students a better feeling of the solar
system. With this interface, it is possible to watch, say, a computer-rendered
sunset over Mars, at any given date, or any celestial body of the solar system,
still or in motion.
Symblos.com is the largest internet database
of graphic symbols. SYMBOLS.com contains more than 2,500 Western signs, arranged
into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics. In 1,600 articles
their histories, uses, and meanings are thoroughly discussed. The signs range
from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and
subway graffiti.
Discover the power of oral history in this vivid documentation of everyday life throughout Britain during the 20th and 21st Centuries.
According to the founder of this site, “our goal is to document as many of the world’s installed High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems as possible, and make the data available for free to the entire HPC community.” Useful as a gateway to supercomputing news.
week 36:
Developed in conjunction with the exhibition Ansel Adams at 100, previously shown at the San Fransisco MOMA last January, this program provides insights into the history and world of ideas behind Adams' photography.
Listen to early recorded sounds taken directly
from the original wax cylinders, in the ancient age of sound recording history.
Greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century
How many of the 20th century's greatest
engineering achievements will you use today? A car? Computer? Telephone? Explore
our list of the top 20 achievements, and learn how engineering shaped a century
and changed the world
Google offers a date-based syntax, but you can only access it via the advanced search, which limits your time options, or the daterange: syntax, which uses Julian dates and is a bit difficult to use. This form is a way to search for sites added today, yesterday, within the last seven days, or last 30 days.
Deception has been used throughout history for many purposes. From the donation of Constantine (750 AD) to the fake Garcia Marquez farewell poem (May 2000). This site gives a pretty good insight of these attempts. Good week-end or lunch break reading.
week 35:
WBD took a break and went to the Riviera.
week 34:
Spamradio is using spam as an art form.
Received emails are turned into a streaming audio broadcast, dictated automatically
using a speech engine, and mixed with music.
The San Fransisco museum of modern art has
developped an interactive art within its site. Crossfade features regular internet
exhibitions. This week, I recommend Atau Tanaka's history of japanese sound.
Simply the best site for astronomy on the
internet - as far as I know. For each one of the thousands of picture is a detailed
describtion, stuffed with hyperlinks explaining
key terms to neophytes. A pure delight.
Prime numbers have always fascinated mathematicians. This site is entirely devoted to them, and features the latest discoveries in this field, including Mersennes primes.
This controversional web site provides guidelines and techniques for keeping your personal life private. The techniques and guidelines on this web page cover many aspects of keeping information secret, keeping physical objects secret (hidden and secure), and keeping your activities private. Recently added, are sections about keeping your private life from becoming public because of lax governmental protections and/or active intrusions by public and commercial entities.
week 33:
The Academy of American Poets was founded
is the largest organization dedicated to poetry in the US. It maintains one
of the liveliest and most comprehensive poetry sites on the Internet.
The British library has put the unique Gutemberg
bible online. The level of digitalisation is impressive. Fast connexions only.
History through the eyes of those who lived
it. From the ancient world to the present, accounts of everyday life, as well
as major historical events. A great amount of audio and pictures.
This site will tell you, from the basics to the complicated, the inner mechanisms of living things and objects. From lockpicks to jet engines, spiders and recession.A bit of a scruffy site, but the content is worth it.
Erowid.org is an online library of information about psychoactive plants and chemicals and related topics. The information on the site is a compilation of the experiences, words, and efforts of hundreds of individuals including users, parents, health professionals, doctors, therapists, chemists, researchers, teachers, and lawyers.
week 32:
A great interactive art show by little web
genius, Han Hoogerbruge.
World Lecture Hall is an entry point to
free online course materials from around the world. From the Center for Instructional
Technologies, based at The University of Texas.
Internet2 is a consortium regrouping over
190 universities, in partnership with industry and government to develop advanced
network applications and technologies, tomorrow's Internet.
The White House: economic statistics briefing room
The purpose of this service is to provide easy access to current US economic indicators. All the estimates for the indicators presented in the Federal Statistics Briefing Rooms are the most currently available values.
Electro-acoustic music at Darmouth College
A very interesting interdisciplinary degree program dedicated to work that explores the interrelationships among music, technology, cognitive and computer science, acoustics, and related disciplines. Check out the sounds gallery for examples of music.
week 31:
Medieval illustrated manuscripts
This database contains all kinds of information
about the illuminated medieval manuscripts of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek and
the Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum. A beautiful collection. Fast connexions
or patience needed.
On December 9, 1968, Douglas C. Engelbart
and the group of 17 researchers working with him in the Augmentation Research
Center at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, CA, presented a 90-minute
live public demonstration of the online system, NLS, they had been working on
since 1962. This was the public debut of the computer mouse. But the mouse was
only one of many innovations demonstrated that day, including hypertext, object
addressing and dynamic file linking, as well as shared-screen collaboration
involving two persons at different sites communicating over a network with audio
and video interface. You've read right: the year was 1962.
Fast connexions only. But if you are interested enough by the topic, you probably
have a decent connexion :)
Federation of American Scientists
Founded in 1945 by atomic scientists of
the Manhattan Project, the Federation of American Scientists is dedicated to
the responsible use of science and technology. FAS engages in analysis and public
education on a broad range of science, technology, and public policy issues,
including weapons nonproliferation and information technologies. This site is
must-read for your everyday or advanced geopolitics fan.
NameBase is an index of people influential in politics, the military, intelligence, crime, business, and the media since WWII. One of the best search tools on the web, especially when you wish to find links between certain people, using the "proximity search" tool.
This very thourough site is devoted to androids. An android is an anthropomorphic robot - i.e. a robot that looks like a human. Also a gateway to many organisations and corporations working in the AI field.
week 30:
With this stunning graphical tool, you can spot the patterns of a wide selection of music pieces, and even submit your own midi files.
I was a negro in the South for 30 days
He was really a nationally famous journalist. And though none of the 150 black men and women gathered in the old Midway A.M.E. Zion Church that pleasant Sunday afternoon in 1948 knew it, "Brother Crawford" was not really a Negro at all. He was a white man masquerading as one.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.
Google Zeitgeist is updated frequently to reflect lists, graphs,and other tidbits of information related to Google's users search behavior.
Lifter technology is a method of producing directional thrust using an electromagnetic propulsion system that has no moving parts. This could be considered the effective equivalent, or "effective" Antigravity for the purpose of future vehicular transportation.
week 29:
A beautiful animated Flash trip, with a very arty but minimalistic touch. From the Try Group, an organisation seeking new methods of learning.
All the recently declassified documents on the Cuban missile crisis. Including passionating sound clips of JFK talking with key staff on several stages of the thirteen day crisis that nearly brought the world to an end. A must see.
"The way of the samurai is found in death" would be one way to summarise this book. But it is full of other thoughts, sometimes relating to Zen.
Communications intelligence (Comint) involving the covert interception of foreign communications has been practised by almost every advanced nation since international telecommunications became available. Comint is a large-scale industrial activity providing consumers with intelligence on diplomatic, economic and scientific developments. The capabilities of and constraints on Comint activity may usefully be considered in the framework of the "intelligence cycle"
Computational capacity of the universe
According to this study, the universe, like any system, has processed a finite amount of information - measured in bits - since the Big Bang. Very technical, even though the physics are not mind-threatening difficult.