ACE, Sunrise Project, mad cows vie for cyber attention

Americans Communicating Electronically sponsors a World Wide Web page to support its mission: to encourage interactive communication between members of the public and their governments. Point your browser to http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/ace.

The organization, with a membership of 5,000, offers a way for citizens groups, federal agencies, and state and local governments to discuss ways to get more information to citizens electronically. Users will find the 1996 ACE Government Guide, which offers pointers to information sites and resources relating to on-line democracy and citizen participation. There is also on-line information on computer recycling efforts for nonprofit organizations and schools and updates on ACE efforts to support electronic "citizen participation centers" at libraries and other public places.

Sunrise on the Highway

For one vision of the coming National Information Infrastructure, point your browser to the Energy Department's Sunrise Project Web page, directed by Los Alamos National Laboratory and available at http://www.acl.lanl.gov/sunrise/sunrise.html. The Sunrise Project aims to develop a networked software environment that supports cutting-edge applications relating to the NII. Applications that make up the Sunrise Project include telemedicine, K-12 teaching applications and a Transportation Department project to develop simulations of traffic flow in metropolitan areas.

AI on the NII

Interested in how artificial intelligence may affect the future of the NII? Consult experts who have given it some serious thought. The report "The Role of Intelligent Systems on the Information Superhighway," issued by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is available on the Web at http://www.aaai.org/Publications/TechReports/Papers/nii.html.

Meta-Web Wanderings

Does the vast expanse of the Web leave you wishing you had 250 search engines? Look no further than a new service, offered by the InterNIC. This site allows users to search the Web by subject using 250 search engines. Access the new site at http://rs.internic.net/scout/toolkit/3b-1.

Mad Cow Disease

The U.S. Department of Agriculture can give you the latest updates on bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as "mad cow disease." Consult the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Web page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov and choose "Press Releases."

FedWorld Catalogs

FedWorld has uploaded some of its most requested catalogs in full text, in Adobe Acrobat. Users can access the Products and Services catalog, the Environmental Software and Datafiles catalog and others. Instructions and a pointer to the Adobe Reader software are included. Point your browser to http://www.fedworld.gov/ntis/ntishome.html.

Virus alert: Sources say a new Trojan horse virus is on the Internet with the name PKZIP300.ZIP. Although it looks like a new version of the PKZIP software, it may wipe out your hard disk. The current, valid versions of PKZIP are 1.10, 1.93, 2.04c, 2.04e and 2.04g.