Items related to Informatica 1.0: Access to the Best Tools for Mastering...
Synopsis
Learn how to enjoy and decipher the information revolution--with this fun, easy-to-use techno-geek tour of the best tools available today.
Want to learn about:
Who's really running a Web site behind the scenes? See "Alexa" on page 259.
A global on-line database of living things? See "Tree of Life" on page 109.
A computer-controlled wide-band radio to tune in the world? See "ICOM PCR- 1000" on page 10.
The best place to buy world maps, reachable via the Web? See "The Map Shop" on page 113.
Satellite imagery downloadable from the U.S. Geological Survey? See "Satellite Imagery" on page 136.
A metasearch engine that trolls other sites like Yahoo and Excite and distills the results? See "Inference Find" on page 155.
The best way to use search engines like Alta Vista and Yahoo? See "Synthetic Aperture" on page 153.
How to keep informed with 20 unusual and extraordinary Web sites? See "20 Web Sites Off the Beaten Path" on pages 188-91.
The hottest new marketing idea driving e-commerce? See "Viral Marketing" on pages 86-87.
The essay that predicted the information age 50 years ago? See "Endless Frontier" on page 378.
The classic and superb documentary that captures the first world war like no other? See "World War I (VHS)" on page 267.
Where the U.S. is most vulnerable to terrorists in the 21st century? See "Melissa's Lesson" on pages 249-51.
Each entry includes Internet URLs, notes on why the item was selected and how it works, what age level it suits, how long it has been in development, what it should cost (on the street), and how likely it is to become obsolete.
In five revealing sections--on hardware, sources, software, plasticware, and paperware--
Informatica 1.0 puts into new perspective the avalanche of new products. It selects the best tools
for an information society, yielding the best ways to sense and measure things, to manage the
results, and to refine them into practical knowledge.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Peter McNaughton Black founded and is CEO of XIPHIAS Corporation, a Los Angeles-based publisher of reference products on disk and the Net. He has a Master's Degree in Sanskrit and Linguistics, and has run XIPHIAS Corporation since 1979. He is the Publisher of Encyclopedia Electronica™, and is a recognized authority on Infrastructure Warfare.
Mr. Black lives with his wife, Patricia and three children in West Los Angeles.
From the Inside Flap
enjoy and decipher the information revolution--with this fun, easy-to-use techno-geek tour of the best tools available today.<br><br>Want to learn about:<br><br> Who's really running a Web site behind the scenes? See "Alexa" on page 259.<br> A global on-line database of living things? See "Tree of Life" on page 109.<br> A computer-controlled wide-band radio to tune in the world? See "ICOM PCR- 1000" on page 10.<br> The best place to buy world maps, reachable via the Web? See "The Map Shop" on page 113.<br> Satellite imagery downloadable from the U.S. Geological Survey? See "Satellite Imagery" on page 136.<br> A metasearch engine that trolls other sites like Yahoo and Excite and distills the results? See "Inference Find" on page 155.<br> The best way to use search engines like Alta Vista and Yahoo? &
Reviews
A kind of Information Age "Whole Earth Catalog," this very idiosyncratic collection reviews more than 400 items (including print, software, audiotapes, videocassettes, web sites, and electronic products) for accessing and managing information.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
10 Rules to Buy By: The Informatica Guide to Hardware
1. NEVER BUY VERSION 1.0
The integration of hardware and operating system software is extraordinarily complex, and manufacturers rarely get it right the first time. You'll save money and avoid misery if you get a slightly older, more proven model.
2. CHOOSE A LAPTOP OVER A DESKTOP
Laptops now feature almost all the power of desktops. They naturally integrate flat screen displays, which are much easier on the eyes. Further, all laptops have batteries, and batteries are uninterruptible power supplies. If the relative cost of the laptop vs. the desktop worries you, add the cost of a flat screen display and UPS to the tag for the desktop, and things will even out.
3. BUY A SLOWER PROCESSOR AND MORE RAM
The RAM (random access memory) you buy has much more to do with the speed at which your applications (other than games and high-end graphics) run, than does the speed of the microprocessor (forget what Intel would have you believe). That is because a machine with minimal RAM will 'swap' information from RAM to the hard disk and back again constantly. Hard disks are slow accesss, RAM is very fast. Buying version 2.0 laptop with a boatload of RAM is the most effective strategy.
4. MAKE SURE THE MANUFACTURER HAS A GOOD WEB SITE FOR NEW DRIVERS AND BIOS UPGRADES.
Inevitably, manufacturers find flaws in the softward they ship with their machines. The best of them make it very easy for you to download upgrades, and do a good job of explaining what these improvements will do, and when they will be necessary. You can check this out thoroughly before you buy the machine by cruising the Web site.
5. GET A SCREEN THAT HAS A STANDARD 4:3 ASPECT RATIO.
There are many laptops that have screens that are more rectangular than the norm (they look a bit like a wide screen move, rather than a TV screen). Stay away from them, as there are many software programs that don't handle non-standard aspect ratios well.
6.BUY FROM A MANUFACTURERE THAT WILL SWAP OUT FOR REPAIR.
The direct sales outfits, in particular Micron, Gateway, and Dell, have terrific programs. If the machine fails while under warranty, they send you a shipping box overnight, with a prepaid shipping ticket. Off you send your ailing laptop, and in short order it comes back fixed or totally swapped out for a new. Same goes for modular components, like DVD-ROM drives. This is infinitely superior to driving the dead machine to an authorized repair shop, and being told they have a three week backlog.
7. GET LOTS OF PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE.
Microsoft Office bundled with your computer is way cheaper than Microsoft Office bought off the shelf. The same principle applies to most software you might want.
8. MAKE SURE THE PORT REPLICATOR IS INCLUDED IN THE DEAL.
Most laptops do not have all the plugs and spigots built in. Hence, to have full connectivity, it's a good idea to buy the port replicator ( the thing that has all the plugs and spigots) - sometimes called a docking station when it has room for expansion cards and other internal devices. Make sure that there is an Ethernet port built into the laptop or the port replicator, because most of the future high bandwidth Internet connectivity solutions (things like DSL, digital subscriber lines) will need it.
9. MAKE SURE THE CARRYING CASE IS WELL PADDED ON THE CORNERS
The biggest problem with laptops is that you can drop them. There are three solutions. The first is to get an indestructible one (see Panasonic CF 25). The second is don't drop it in the first place (easier said than done: after all, it's portable). The third is to carry it in a case that is very well padded in the corners (most damage to laptops happens when they are dropped on the corners - and that's the best way to destroy the flat screen display (tres cher to replace).
10. GET THE LONGEST-LIFE BATTERY AVAILABLE, AND BUY A SECOND.
Here's the rule of thumb: Buy enough batteries to cover one full flight from New York to LA with headwinds (7 hours or so).
HARDWARE
Astroscan 2001
Wide Field Basic Telescope Package
http://scientificcs.edsci.com/scientifics
Edmund Scientific claims this is the "Easiest To Use Telescope Available," and that may not be pure hoo-hah. The thing is made of ABS plastic, so it'll take a licking and keep on ticking. It sees a very broad 3 degrees of the sky (the width of six full moons). It's rounded bubble-like body makes it easy to hold, either standing up, or cross-legged on the ground.
My first telescope was a Tasco refractor. I got it in the summer of 1963, and that summer I regularly took it out on the fairway of a golf course near my family's summer home in Maine. It came in a big wooden box, and had to be unpacked and assembled. The whole process took about 20 minutes to set up, and an equal amount of time to break down, with an ample amount of opportunities to lose wing nuts in the grass at night.
In the middle of that summer, there was a total eclipse, the path of which passed over the northerly coasts of Maine. My grandmother had the patience and kind-heartedness to drive me way north, and set me up on a hill with a hundred other folks. I just barely got the thing set up before the sky went dark.
I wish I'd had this instead.
Type: Telescope
First Developed: 1976; Edmund Scientific
Price Range: $350-$400 depending upon options
Key Features: Very simple, easy-to-use
Ages: Junior high, and later
Obsolescence: Low
Further Information: http://astronomy.thelinks.com/
Contact Edmund Scientific at (609) 573-6395
SOFTWARE
Redshift III
Digital Planetarium
http://www.maris.com
A digital planetarium, crafted by the cream of Russia's space scientists. Stunning, with great depth.
One day in the summer of 1963, I got to go to the Cincinnati Planetarium and have the controls to their Zeiss celestial projector all to myself. I turned the dials, and the stars sped through the sky, eons of celestial development passing by in seconds, planets flashing by like meteors.
I get the same rush from Red Shift, but in some ways even better. The people at Maris in London pillaged the Russian space program for astrophysicists after the Soviet economy collapsed in the early '90s, and set them to creating a virtual planetarium. They made Red Shift, and continue to add to it year by year. It is a truly wonderful CD-ROM that will appeal to more than just astronomy buffs.
If you've got a backyard, an occasional clear night, and maybe a kid, you ought to have Red Shift. It's like having the playbook to read before you go out to watch a game of celestial football.
Type: CD-ROM
First Developed: 1995
Price Range: $50-$60
Key Features: Great detailed digital planetarium, with lots of little videos
Ages: 10 and up
Obsolescence factor: Re-released about every two years
Further Information: Good (but much simpler) freeware orreries and planetariums available on the Net (see NGC View, WinTrak).
SOURCES
The Trip
Air Flight Tracking
http://www.thetrip.com/usertools/flighttracking/
I had to travel a lot when I was a kid. With parents divorced and living in different cities, every summer meant a plane flight from Los Angeles to Cincinnati, and back.
Several of the flights were scary, one with a flaming engine, one with a bomb scare. Neither my Mom nor my Dad ever sent me skying away without a frightened glitter in their eyes.
Now that I'm a parent, I know the feeling. Sending any loved one off on a plane trip is scary, but
I've recently found a palliative, TheTrip.com.
Nominally, this site is set up to be a cyber travel agent. I suppose it does that, but I don't know. The only reason I ever come here is when I have a family member on a plane. The site has a little service called flight tracking.
Enter the airline and the flight number, and it reaches into the noumenon (actually the FAA radar data), and determines the position, speed and altitude of any flight. TheTrip flight tracker continuously plots the position of the plane over a map of the US. If you wish, you can watch the whole flight crawl across the surface of the earth. Sometimes I do.
TheTrip will e-mail up to three dear ones, indicating when a flight has landed. A couple of cookies are a small price to pay for this kind of...
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