EDITORIAL: Web Site Idea Good, Benefits All Americans: ; . DROP CAP
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By American News, Aberdeen, S.D.  Sep. 17--Giving citizens the ability to search and track federal spending through an Internet Web site is a wonderful idea.   Last week the House of Representatives passed a bill that will do just that.
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Also: Science tattoos making the Web rounds. See what people are saying on News.com Extra.
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A new Web site, Big Think.com, aims to let thought leaders and the publich share opinions on various topics.
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When everything gets an API then everything you can imagine will be possible if you can write a script.  And sometimes, to give you an idea, all that has to happen is that a wall come down. The latest, most intriguing such wall was the paywall at the NY Times. Now all of a sudden we find the wealth of information published by the NY Times over many decades is available without tariff. More important, we can point into the archive. We've gotten so accustomed to the wall, that you actually have to think when it may be possible to go in there, as if it left behind a wall in our minds, even after the wall on the web is gone. For example, the first episode of Ken Burns's The War, an epic series about World War II from the American perspective, cited several NY Times articles. If you looked carefully you could see the dates, and the actual headlines, and then if you have a browser handy, as I do (I have an iPhone) you can actually read the article while the narrative continues. Today this is mostly a gimick, but I suspect as we get used to having history so available (like having a library microfilm machine, which I used to spend whole days playing with when I was a kid) it will change our sense of information, perhaps as much as anything else that's ever been on the web. Take movie reviews for example. What a thrill to be able to read a review of a movie that I love that came out in 1932! The reviewers back then were more forgiving, less sarcasting, more enthusiastic. Consider their review of the Hollywood Revue of 1929, a favorite of mine that I've only seen once (I'd pay for a DVD, if it were available). They loved audible movies (that's what they called them) as if the term "talkie" was as elusive as "podcast" was in the summer of 2004. Again, we've just scratched the surface. Wouldn't you like to have NY Times movie reviews integrated with Netflix? Or have Yahoo's movie rating service available on the NY Times site. And I have to wonder whether they really have gone all the way. You can't see the reviews unless you're logged in. Can Google's robots, therefore, see the movie reviews? Unless the've made some special arrangements, it seems not.  It would be helpful to get a technical guide to the newly hatched NY Times on the Web, or (as in the old days of software) a reviewer's guide, so we get some ideas of what to look at. Clearly a lot of work went into opening up the Times archive. I'm going to be in NY the week of October 8 and will have some time toward the end of the week. If anyone at the Times would be willing to spend some time with me reviewing what's now open, that would be helpful. In any case, at least the Times today is somewhat more available to be integrated into the fabric of the web. That's some progress. How much, remains to be seen. Postscript: Kottke did a great job of skimming the surface of the newly opened Times when it first came online, just one week ago today.
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With 24-hour-a-day talk on all things political, the web is the ultimate gauge of public thinking. A new site seeks to capture up-to-the-minute buzz with an index of the most authoritative political bloggers. Commentary by Adam L. Penenberg.
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Hoping to rise above "macaca" moments, the popular site offers presidential hopefuls a direct line to voters. By the Associated Press.
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Comment is free: Mark Lawson: Anyone stupid enough to do a computer's bidding is not losing civil liberties so much as their marbles.
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If America Online wants a future, it needs to remember its past.
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By Hazel Davis  There are a few among us who would balk at the idea of using a company that exists entirely online. We have enough problems dealing with those based outside the UK, let alone floating around in cyberspace.
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WSJ.com to become worth what you pay for it.
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The run-up to November's presidential election has benefited websites, bringing increased numbers of visitors. Now, the trick is to maintain that traffic surge. By Daniel Terdiman.
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The contenets of the site, whose goal is to discourage âunethical behaviorâ by corporations and governments, can still be found on âmirror sitesâ around the internet.
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Americaâs largest Internet Service Provider has good news for the web users. They say that AOL subscribers are getting fewer spam mails than in recent times.
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Websites face axe in search for 'sufficient public value'
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A crop of ostensibly environmentally friendly websites promise to reduce your carbon footprint. Their actual impact on the environment is negligible, however.
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Feeling light in the wallet but  generous of heart this holiday season? You can still benefit  your favorite cause -- without spending a dime -- via a host of  fun and easy Web sites.
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Also: Internet boom in China built on virtual fun. Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra.