December 1995 - chemweb - imperial.ac.uk

Getting the powers that be interested in the web
by Paul May 05 Dec '95

05 Dec '95

Hi, > I would like to hear any opinions about this. Has anybody any > other suggestions as to how the education of the eventual end-users > of this new technology should be achieved? One way I'm trying to do it is to 'force' them to use the web by making it the *only* source of certain internal documents, eg minutes of meetings, etc. We are now trying to compile a list of all the software in the department, along with their licence numbers (for auditting purposes), and I've arranged it so that the only way this can be done is via a form on our webserver. The more our colleagues use the web for everyday tasks, the more they'll get used to it, and maybe begin to think of it as a valuable resource rather than an expensive toy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Paul May, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK tel: +44 (0)117 9287667, fax: +44 (0)117 9251295 email: paul.may(a)bris.ac.uk WWW: http://www.tlchm.bris.ac.uk/~paulmay/diamhome.htm "Another squashed hedgehog in the gutter of the information superhighway" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Educating the academic society
by Stephen Le Hunte 05 Dec '95

05 Dec '95

Hello, One of the points raised in the discussions at the meeting last week was the 'education' necessary for progression of the use of the Web as an information/education resource for chemists. It was pondered what the role of the people at the meeting was, whether we were to return to our respective institutions and 'spread the word' as it were, of the joys/possibilities of using the Web both to gain and spread information. All well and good for the majority of people at the meeting I presume, but for someone like myself (a postgrad student who does the departments web pages, for the fun of doing it) this poses a problem. Basically, I am not believed when I try to convince people that they should be interested in the subjects discussed at the meeting. I have seen that most academics only respond when told about/shown something like this from their peers. Hence, I suggest it necessary for the 'fab four' (as the RSC page put it) to spread the word. Obviously, giving demonstration lectures at every institution in the country is not feasible, but possibly key institutions in different areas of the country could be chosen for lectures. It would of course require the involvment of the RSC (probably financially) to stir up sufficient interest in Heads of Departments/managers/lecturers and to convince them that the Web is not a complete waste of time. (This appears to the be the biggest fear at the moment - that the web/internet in general is a waste of time and is probably the biggest hurdle to overcome in convincing the academic masses). I would like to hear any opinions about this. Has anybody any other suggestions as to how the education of the eventual end-users of this new technology should be achieved? Are we trying to do too much too quickly? Thanks Steve ------------------------------------------ Stephen Le Hunte (cmlehunt(a)swan.ac.uk) Author of the HTML Reference Library ftp://ftp.swan.ac.uk/pub/in.coming/htmlib/ ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Lecture notes on the WWW
by Paul May 05 Dec '95

05 Dec '95

Hi, > There appears to be a fair amount of interest in producing parallel paper > based and html based versions of 'lecture' notes. The other point of concern with this is the access, or rather lack of access, that most undergrads have to networked computers. We can't supply core course notes on the Web until we can guarantee that all students on the course have adequate access to the necessary computers. At the moment I'm only using the web to store the lecture notes from my own courses, and tell the students they can download them from the appropriate URL if they need a 'perfect copy' or if they've lost the originals. I also put a paper copy in the library... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Paul May, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK tel: +44 (0)117 9287667, fax: +44 (0)117 9251295 email: paul.may(a)bris.ac.uk WWW: http://www.tlchm.bris.ac.uk/~paulmay/diamhome.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Re: presentation of course notes using http
by Stephen Le Hunte 05 Dec '95

05 Dec '95

> >There appears to be a fair amount of interest in producing parallel paper > >based and html based versions of 'lecture' notes. > > Speaking as one of the (probably very) few students on this list, I can say I would have been very interested in this kind of lecture approach (past tense because I'm now a postgrad..) However, as far as I can see it, at present, the web based notes should be treated as an extra to any standard lecture based materials. I say this for two reasons. Firstly, not all of the students will be sufficiently net savvy to want to bother with the web based information. Secondly, how many students actually go away and read up extra information in text books, let alone go to a (normally over-crowded in our department) computer room to read extra information? Of course, it does beg the question, how 'virtual' do you want the lectures to become? If the web based notes are what would be presented in the formal lecture, and can be read/printed at students leisure, how many students will appear at the lecture? > >My personal feeling is that this is to simplistic and that this sort of > >material should not be 'published' unless it contains some 'value added > >content'. Unless it is as an interim measure. > > I'm not convinced of this argument myself. Any notes/information published on the web for lecture courses would have a very narrow field of interest, specifically, those taking the lecture course and so would be of value to them and probably only them. Just because the lecture doesn't add 'value' to the web as a whole, doesn't make it any less valid than plenty of other information available. Someone with no interest in Chemistry wouldn't read the notes anyway. I'd suggest considering the target audience first, then the rest of the world. Just because it's accessible to the whole world, doesn't mean they'll all read it, then criticise it's value. > I start the lecture with some Web based materials, perhaps with a few > molecules thrown in. But despite all this technology, I > still use chalk for the major part of the lecture. > Supporting what I mentioned above, it should be treated as an extra. If departments have the capabilities to use these great new technologies, then they should be used, if only to prove their worth to people in other departments to convince them of investment. Which leads into a discussion on how to educate academia as a whole (very tenuously) which is my other message..... Thanks for listening, Steve ------------------------------------------ Stephen Le Hunte (cmlehunt(a)swan.ac.uk) Author of the HTML Reference Library ftp://ftp.swan.ac.uk/pub/in.coming/htmlib/ ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Re: presentation of course notes using http
by h.rzepa＠ic.ac.uk 05 Dec '95

05 Dec '95

>There appears to be a fair amount of interest in producing parallel paper >based and html based versions of 'lecture' notes. > >The usual arguements in favour appear to be:- >1) An unusual interface which may be more appealing to the students, >2) Digital search facilities, >3) Links to related areas, >4) Students can print out notes as required. > >My personal feeling is that this is to simplistic and that this sort of >material should not be 'published' unless it contains some 'value added >content'. Unless it is as an interim measure. > >I would appreciate other peoples feelings on this as we have been >experimenting with an HTTP server for NOVELL (for both WAN and LAN >delivery as you can restrict IP number access). I am now onto my 3rd lecture course using this approach. I start the lecture with some Web based materials, perhaps with a few molecules thrown in. But despite all this technology, I still use chalk for the major part of the lecture. I also print the web pages off and deposit them in the library for students to copy. The most interesting bits contain the chemical MIMEed molecules. Yesterday for example, in the course on pericyclic reactions, I was able to show them chorismate mutase, with the inhibitor docked, and a link to Paul Bartlett's page for further explanation. Further on, I expect to show "rotatable" molecular orbitals marked up in VRML, etc etc. Dr Henry Rzepa, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, LONDON SW7 2AY; rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk via Eudora Pro 2.1.3; Tel (44) 171 594 5774; Fax: (44) 171 594 5804. World-Wide Web URL: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/ ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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GAK, Netscape, CyberDog
by h.rzepa＠ic.ac.uk 05 Dec '95

05 Dec '95

Dear All, Its not my intention to deluge this particular list with conspicuously non-chemical matters, but this just happened to come today. I think it has profound implications for the chemistry and the software developer community. It contains some URLs of interest, so I think it worthwhile archiving on our list! >>To: d2(a)gemma.demon.co.uk >>From: "by way of fm(a)fma.com (Fearghas McKay" <rah(a)shipwright.com> >>Mmdf-Warning: Parse error in original version of preceding line at >>relay-3.mail.demon.net >>Subject: GAK, Netscape, CyberDog, and you. >>X-Smtp-Posting-Host: gemma.demon.co.uk [Mon, 4 Dec 95 21:09:11 GMT] >>X-Smtp-Posting-Host: post.demon.co.uk [Mon, 4 Dec 95 21:10:54 GMT] >> >>Hi Semper Fi-ers! >> >>I've been lurking on this list for a long time, and I haven't said much >>here primarily because I'm not a developer. I mean, I've hired developers, >>and sold the software I've had them build for me. Not very well, I might >>add, which is why I try do something else (talk and write) for a living >>now. Frankly, I couldn't code my way out of a paper bag, which, of course, >>is why I've not said much here. :-). >> >>Anyway, something has come up which I think makes the world very >>interesting, and I think you should know about it. >> >>Netscape has come out in favor of what the government calls "key escrow", >>but which most "cypher"-punks (and I seem to have become one over the last >>year and a half) call GAK, for Government Access to Keys. >> >>Here's the URL: http://www.cnet.com/Central/News/govt.html . This is a news >>report of a speech that Jim Clark gave at a trade show in Boston this week. >> >>Normally, as serious as this is in the rest of the world, that wouldn't >>really rate a mention here, except for the fact that this presents a very >>interesting set of opportunities for the *independent* Mac developer >>community in the form of CyberDog, Apple's set of OpenDoc parts for the >>internet. I'll get to that in a moment, but first, let me give you some >>background on the problem. >> >> >>Netscape's Jim Clark has quite a tightrope act going. He has a stock price >>which gives Netscape a P/E ratio of something like 7,000 (the S&P average >>right now is about 14), which means he really ought to get some revenue in >>the door, or his investors are going to have his hide. The next thing is, >>the government is a *really* big customer, and *they* want GAK, in case you >>haven't noticed. ;-). Couple this with the fact that Netscape is pretty >>much replicable by concentrated developer effort because its underlying >>technology is an open standard, *and* the fact that any significant attempt >>by them to create any real proprietary standards on the internet is >>practically impossible in the long run, unless they get a whole lot of very >>big customers in a hurry. >> >>Now, it looks like that's what happened already, because a lot of very >>large companies have signed on to using Netscape servers, but you can also >>see how really weak Netscape's position is when Uncle Sam knocks on their >>door and asks for a key escrow "bug" in every "secure" Netscape web >>session. >> >>This isn't the first time that Netscape has had problems with financial >>cryptography and the law. Netscape made the papers recently because the >>government-mandated SSL key-size in their export version was too small. (We >>won't talk about the cognitive dissonance between the words "export" and >>"internet" just yet...) The "export" version of Netscape Navigator got >>cracked by a French grad student in a university computer lab, who broke it >>just by running a bunch of background processes on his Sun workstations for >>a couple days over a weekend. The ITARs, the arms export laws covering this >>(cryptography is legally a munition, more cognitive dissonance), are a now >>problem for everybody who wants to do business securely and safely on the >>internet. >> >>More to the point, since digital bearer certificate technology, the most >>economical method for doing business on the net, is entirely based on >>digital signatures, which in turn are entirely based on very strong public >>key cryptography, all business on the internet will eventually require very >>strong cryptography. In other words, if you don't have unbreakable key >>sizes, you can't issue digital certificates to pay for things with. It >>would be like having paper money which is easy to forge. >> >>Lately, I like to say that "Digital Commerce *is* Financial Cryptography", >>and it's true. First Virtual has the only truly "out of band" internet >>transaction settlement mechanism, it's very well-designed, and very robust, >>but you have to remember that they did it *because* of the ITARs, and the >>complications for financial cryptography those regulations cause, no matter >>how much First Virtual itself likes to "dis" financial cryptography as a >>concept. Unfortunately, the transaction costs on such out-of-band methods >>are always going to be higher because of the inefficiencies of not >>instantly settling transactions, like you can with something like digital >>cash. When you buy something in the store for cash, you initiate, settle >>and clear the trade all at once, right there at the cash register, without >>an audit trail to maintain. Frankly, *any* credit card trade is really an >>"out-of-band" method, because it has to go off of the net to clear and >>settle, with audit trails, and the overhead of their offsetting >>book-entries. >> >>Fortunately, as governments start to figure this out, they will have to >>stand back and let the economic train go by, so to speak. >> >> >>So, having said all that, let's talk about OpenDoc and CyberDog. >> >>I hear that with CyberDog, building a secure Netscape-compatible browser in >>OpenDoc is now pretty simple. That adding economically useful -- and >>interchangable -- functionality like strong encryption, digital cash >>protocols and most of the tools of digital commerce is also pretty >>straightforward. That is, even though they have to be developed separately, >>because Apple justifiably doesn't want to have the ITARs limiting its >>export market for both OpenDoc and CyberDog. Again that cognitive >>dissonance between "export" and "internet". >> >>In addition to building utterly secure browser-server links, I see some >>interesting OpenDoc digital commerce applications coming out of a >>Netscape-compatible browser. My favorite "flash" on this was imagining the >>ability to drag Digicash ecash dollar bill icons out of a wallet and >>dropping them on a cash-register icon in a web page to pay for a >>transaction. That's certainly doable with OpenDoc and CyberDog. >> >>In addition, the IETF has just promulgated a secure link-level encryption >>standard called IPSEC, which allows for encrypted links between any two >>machines on the net, with any cryptographic method you want. That looks >>like a great Open Transport Streams Module project to me. And the wierd >>thing is, once IPSEC is out there, GAK in Netscape becomes moot, anyway. >>Netscape can only shoot itself in the foot here, and it looks like they >>already have, with a premature announcement of GAK. >> >> >>One final thing about Netscape. It's not their fault. There is no evil >>man-behind-the curtain in all of this. The government's doing what it >>thinks necessary for the preservation of order, and thinks it needs GAK to >>do that. Netscape is doing the best it can for its (newly rich) >>stockholders, and thinks it needs to comply with Uncle Sam, which it >>probably in fact has to do, or burst it's stock market price sooner, rather >>than later. >> >>Also, there is no reason why Netscape can't make a Navigator OpenDoc part, >>and I expect that they are planning to. I bet that Apple would really like >>that, and as a matter of fact, is probably courting Netscape to do exactly >>that. >> >>But I also know that by using OpenDoc and CyberDog, that the user can >>create a very easy to use, flexible, extensible, and *powerful* internet >>environment. Being there first with a Netscape-compatible browser, >>especially one that doesn't have GAK built into it, will be worth a whole >>lot in the marketplace for any enterprizing independent OpenDoc parts >>developer. >> >> >>I'm going to be giving a talk on Wednesday at noon at Apple's Town Hall, (4 >>Infinite Loop) in Cupertino about what I'm calling "geodesic" markets, that >>is, financial cryptography on the internet. The URL for a web page with >>all the details is >> >>http://thumper.vmeng.com/pub/rah/talk.html . >> >>In addition, if you want more stuff on financial cryptography, you might >>want to try my e$ home page, which is in my .sig, below. >> >>Finally, I've asked an *actual* financial cryptographer, Eric Hughes, who >>many of you may know from the cypherpunks mailgroup, and from the Clipper >>fight, to show up at the Cupertino talk and bail me out on the real hard >>questions. >> >> >>Well, that's about it. Oh. The talk is titled "Financial Cryptography for >>Dogs". I think you can see why, in light of the events of the last week, >>it's quite appropriate. >> >>Cheers, >>Bob Hettinga >> >> >> >>----------------- >>Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) >>e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA (617) 958-3971 >>"Reality is not optional." --Thomas Sowell >>The NEW(!) e$ Home Page: http://thumper.vmeng.com/pub/rah/ >>>>>>Phree Phil: Email: zldf(a)clark.net http://www.netresponse.com/zldf <<<<< >> >>------------------------------------- >>Macintosh Cryptography Interface Project... >>To stop delivery of the list, send mail to <mcip-request(a)DeepEddy.com> >>with the command "unsubscribe" in the message body. >>For more info on the MCIP, MCIP software development or MacPGP, see: >><http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~grgcombs/htmls/crypto.html> Dr Henry Rzepa, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, LONDON SW7 2AY; rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk via Eudora Pro 2.1.3; Tel (44) 171 594 5774; Fax: (44) 171 594 5804. World-Wide Web URL: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/

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chemweb e-mail list: Invitation to Join
by h.rzepa＠ic.ac.uk 05 Dec '95

05 Dec '95

Dear All, Following the UK Webmasters meeting last Wednesday (29 November, 1995) (see http://chemistry.rsc.org/rsc/web_mtg.htm) there appeared general agreement that we should set up an e-mail list to serve the following functions 1. To continue discussion of themes that emerged during the meeting 2. To enable us to plan further events 3. To act as a distribution point for information about chemical applications of the web in general. Whilst it is possible for me to subscribe against the list of e-mail addresses I have been given, experience shows that unless you send messages to the list from precisely the address you have been subscribed as, they will not be processed. I think it is safer if I take the liberty of asking you all to subscribe yourselves. That way, we can be sure the system will work as intended. If you wish to join this list therefore, might I ask you to send a one line message (ie no signature files please!) to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk with the form; subscribe chemweb your name (where your and name can be your first and last names, or any other permutation). If you decide to leave the list, please send another message unsubscribe chemweb >From the same e-mail address as you used to subscribe. If your e-mail changes in the future, I am afraid you will have to unsubscribe the old one (before it stops working) and resubscribe using the new one. To send to the list (as opposed to subscribe to the list), send messages to; chemweb(a)ic.ac.uk PLEASE NOTE this is different from the subscribing address. All musings of this list will be archived under http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/chemweb/ For anyone who has actually read as far as this, might I encourage everyone to add a clear and concise subject to any new "thread", since hypermail uses this to construct order out of the messages. If you reply, please do not change the subject, since this will then be treated as a new thread. Dr Henry Rzepa, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, LONDON SW7 2AY; rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk via Eudora Pro 2.1.3; Tel (44) 171 594 5774; Fax: (44) 171 594 5804. World-Wide Web URL: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/

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None
by h.rzepa＠ic.ac.uk 05 Dec '95

05 Dec '95

The first test. Please ignore Dr Henry Rzepa, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, LONDON SW7 2AY; rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk via Eudora Pro 2.1.3; Tel (44) 171 594 5774; Fax: (44) 171 594 5804. World-Wide Web URL: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/

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