Mary Holstege says that the dawn of web publishing resembles the history of printing as presented in Daniel J. Boorstin's "The Discoverers." "From the attempts of the scribe's guild to ban the printing press, through the production of books intentionally smudged to look like hand-made, through the standardization of language, the invention of modern authorship, the invention of indices and tables of contents -- no concept of standard pagination before printing, so no index or TOC -- and the effect *that* had on scholarship, the democratization of knowledge (and everything that led to, which is a lot)..." "Definitely recommended reading (or re-reading)." [, 1/4/96.]

Dr. Charles L. Morefield, one of our volunteer reporters, is getting a new net address. (His wife, Linda, gave him a home ethernet connection so that he can use his Golden Triangle Technology, Inc. domain name.) Anyway, he's now. Chuck founded and later sold an aerospace company, and is now consulting in AI, NN, GA, and VR; doing government research contracts; and serving on a couple of boards. He's also interested in technology investment. Write to him if you'd like his recent short story, "Microwar." Coming soon: "Biowar," in Adobe Acrobat format. [1/2/96.]

Mark Kantrowitz, 28, is being awarded the Jefferson Medal from the American Institute for Public Service, in recognition of his Financial Aid Information Page for students. This follows recognition as one of six 1995 Pittsburgh Outstanding Citizens. The comprehensive FinAid Page, , was visited by over 100K people last year. It includes the FastWEB searchable database of 180K scholarships, fellowships, grants, and loans; also EFC Estimator for your expected family contribution. [, 1/4/96.] (Mark also wrote the Prentice Hall Guide to Scholarships and Fellowships for Math and Science Students, maintains the AI FAQ, and circulates ai-jobs, lisp-jobs, prolog-jobs, and related lists. I don't know how he has time to work on his PhD.)

-- Ken