Al's Picks

Al Massey

http://www.politicsnow.com/news/special/cpi1/
Toward a More Accurate Measure of the Cost of Living. This report, issued to the US Senate Finance Committee by the Advisory Commission to Study the Consumer Price Index. The main conclusion of the report is that the Consumer Price Index “is not a true cost of living index,” and “that” changes in the CPI have substantially overstated the actual rate of price inflation.” The PoliticsNow site contains a special report analyzing the issues involved in this arcane yet controversial report. Note that the Stat-USA copy of the report is a Microsoft Word Document with embedded Excel spreadsheet graphics in it, and that Stat-USA, although a generally for-fee site, is offering free access to the report at this time. Note also that the Word file will have to be saved and then launched in Word. [JS]

http://www.ed.gov/NCES/timss/
Pursuing Excellence: A Study of US Eighth-Grade Mathematics and Science Teaching, Learning, Curriculum, and Achievement in International Context. This study, recently released by the US Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics, claims to be “the most thorough international study of math and science education ever conducted.”

http://www.fdic.gov/
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation I.D. (Institution Directory) FDIC. The US FDIC has recently made its Institution Directory available. This searchable database allows users to “obtain demographic data and financial profiles of each FDIC-insured depository institution derived from quarterly reports filed with Federal regulators.” Users can search by certificate number, bank, geographic location, charter, chartering agency, federal regulator, primary insurance fund, and asset and deposit size. Retrieval can be sorted by any of 7 variables. Information returned includes balance sheet and income, loan portfolio/asset quality, and balance sheet details.

http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/flw/
Frank Lloyd Wright Designs for an American Landscape 1922-1932. The US Library of Congress has recently made parts of this exhibition (November 14, 1996 - February 15, 1997) available at its web site. It includes an overview and introduction, along with text and graphic information on five of the great architect’s projects (none of which was ever realized): Gordon Strong Automobile Objective, Lake Tahoe Summer Colony, Doheny Ranch Development, A. M. Johnson Desert Compound, and San Marcos in the Desert. Each of these projects explored “advanced building technologies and untried geometric patterns” that attempted to integrate architecture and environment. The site is a fascinating glimpse at an architect who was far ahead of his time, and perhaps ahead of ours as well.

http://www.ipl.org/reading/books/
Internet Public Library Online Text Enhancements. The well known Internet Public Library has recently revised its online texts collection (a beta revision) to make it available for searching and browsing by author, title, and Dewey Classification. The significance of this enhancement lies in the way the site is organized. Here is an actual “book” library, arranged in ways that users can quickly make sense of. Each entry is accompanied by bibliographic information, including title, author, date, Dewey Classification(s), and hypertext URL(s). There is an interesting, though not yet perfected, feature that allows users to link to similar works. A key feature is the listing of books under multiple classifications; one of the prime advantages of a virtual book collection, it dramatically improves access. At present, the library contains pointers to over 3,400 books.

http://www.math.niu.edu/~beachy/aaol/
Abstract Algebra Online. From abelian group to zero divisor (definitions), and from Artin-Wedderburn theorem to Wedderburn’s theorem, this site provides concise explanations of complex concepts in abstract algebra. Provided by Professor John A. Beachy of Northern Illinois University as a companion to two books he has written, it is designed as a handbook for students studying the topic. The site is accessible by chapter (twelve, including integers, polynomials, rings, and Galois Theory, among others), and by alphabetical indices of definitions and theorems. Note that the definitions include many symbols, represented as embedded .GIF files.