Things on my Mind

Check out this information.

Basically, this is where I'll be posting information about a few interesting things going on with the Internet. If you have any info you'd like posted here, please send me email and I'll set it up for you!

Read my Neurotransmitter Newsletter articles! My monthly column is called "Artificial Intelligence."
Technology such as World Wide Webservers will change the way we think of publishing. We're going to be putting a real Electronic Journal online very soon! It will cover Neurology/Neuroscience, both clinical and research (Similar to the Trends in ... journals), computer networking and how it relates to human communication, telemedicine, and virtual reality/art/urban life... (yep, that's a lot!) I'm working with a publishing editor on this idea, so expect to see something very soon... If you want to write something for this experimental electronic journal, please contact me. Be part of the future...
Netscape, the latest Web Browser.

The company Mosaic Communications has put out their latest Web Browser called Netscape, and it's quite good. It's a bit of a resource hog, and has a few bugs, but still is impressive. Comes in Unix, Mac, and Windows flavors. Thumbs up.

Hail to the Chief....our President is the first in history to have a Webserver dedicated to the White House. Info on President Clinton and other aspects of government. There's even a picture of Socks...
I have been checking out Spry's Air Series TCP/IP for Windows...pretty nice. Check out Spry's webserver for info about their other products. I discovered an interesting "feature" in Air Mosaic that basically causes it to crash whenever it reads a particular basic HTML code. If you're running Air Mosaic for Windows and would like to see if this code will crash it, then let's go for it. WARNING!..if Air Mosaic crashes, your entire TCP/IP stack may also crash (highly probable)..and you may even completely lock up Windows, losing all currently open documents and work! Do this at your own risk. I told you so...
I use OS/2, and it's a remarkably stable platform with "real" multitasking abilities. Looking for webserver software that runs on OS/2? Zip over here to get a fully functional OS/2 version of a webserver, including a CGI gateway. The file's name is web2-101.zip. Nice..I just might try this version out myself...

WebWorld...a Virtual Landscape!

This is a fascinating experimental Virtual World. Any user on the Internet can connect and build landscapes, buildings, and URL links to any resources they wish! Hundreds of people have been terraforming this planet, constructing some pretty clever landscapes. If you take a trip to WebWorld, be sure to look for the plot of land I terraformed for MGH. (hint: we're in the lower left quadrant, up and to the left of MIT's landscape. Look for the MGH letters) This is the first practical application of a networked Virtual Lanscape that I've seen, and it's sure to develop into an amazing place (perhaps other WebPlanets?). If you want to build something on MGH's plot of land, send me mail and I'll set you up (I built it myself, so only I can add new buildings). BEWARE: Let thine network link be swift and thine machine quick-witted, lest thou wallow for ages in the Mire of Countless Graphical Images (translate: use a fast machine, or you'll get frustrated rather quickly...)!

Looking for used/salvaged/bargain computer and electronic hardware? Be sure to visit the MIT Electronics/Computers/Ham Radio Flea Market. It's held all summer long, and I attend each one. The third Sunday of every month (from April to October) it meets in Cambridge, MA in one of the parking lots at 9am. For more info, get this official flyer.

Here's an interesting conference that happened in August..concering Webservers, databases, and videoconferencing over networks.

Global MBONE? Videoconferencing is getting very popular, especially between scientists and researchers on the net. Using a technology called "multicast addressing," we have the ability to teleconference over the Internet...sound and video! I'm working with a couple people here at MGH and Harvard to set a system up for Neurology/Psychiatry. Click here to read technical information about the "multicast backbone," or MBONE. If you want to read the documentation for the Mac application "CU-SeeMe" that allows you to teleconference over the Internet, click here or look at this WebServer in Norway (it's very slow...so be patient as it loads). Also, be sure to look at NASA Television Coverage on CU-SeeMe. Finally, another CU-SeeMe site in the UK. For a great list of reflector sites, check here!

A good Guide to Getting Connected to the Mbone is here.

Don't have a fancy graphics terminal? Don't have TCP/IP access? Still want to access the WWW? Try out Lynx, a text-based WWW browser program that will run on Unix, VMS, and just about anything. You won't get any images, but if all you have is VT100 emulation and a plain ol' interactive dialup to the net, check out this program. Download the current version and other information from here.

Want to run Unix but can't afford a SPARC? Look into Linux, a free Unix operating system that runs on PCs (Intel-based). Very fascinating...and very powerful. Includes XWindows, full network support, basically everything you get with SunOS...except the price. It's becoming VERY popular on the Internet.

Places worth exploring...

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