journoz: updates for Australian journalistsFind out about Net-based sources of Australian facts, research, background and contacts, as well as media news and training issues. ISSN 1448-2762.Old money- April 4, 2006 With the petrol price heading ever skywards, it can be fun to look back to the heady days (and it wasn't that long ago, either) when it only cost 65 cents or less a litre. Comparisons over time are always handy for journos who have to churn out pieces on the inexorable rise in the costs of living, borrowing, and so on. Economic History Services (http:eh.net) has a How Much is That section for that very purpose. It has various sections: one is the Exchange Rate Between the United States Dollar...http://www.journoz.com/weblog/archives/001208.html No effort for energy- April 4, 2006 Click a country on a map and a report on that country will tell you all about the energy situation there. Are they producing coal Oil Gas Are they importing Exporting How is the economy there faring All this information is available at the click of a mouse from the Energy Information Administration, a statistical agency of the US Department of Energy. You can get oil prices from 1970-2004 (those were the days ...) Custom reports (including country comparisons, and a vast array of options) can...http://www.journoz.com/weblog/archives/001207.html Bill's big bucks- April 4, 2006 Sometimes being a gazillionaire can be useful, viz. Bill Gates' Microsoft's decision to underwrite an entire issue of the influential Nature magazine about the future of computing. Where will we be in 2020 Go to http:www.nature.comnaturefocusfuturecomputingindex.html to find out. Microsoft's sponsorship of this special issue means anyone, anywhere, can read the whole thing. Bravo, Bill. Money well spent....http://www.journoz.com/weblog/archives/001206.html Online journals (some open access)- April 4, 2006 Open J-Gate (http:www.openj-gate.com) is an electronic gateway to global journal literature in the open access domain. A related site is J-Gate (http:j-gate.informindia.co.in), which covers e-journals that are not in the open access domain....http://www.journoz.com/weblog/archives/001205.html Freebie articles- April 4, 2006 Congoo might prove handy for people who want to read subscription content without having to pay for it. The web site allows you to view subscription material from sites like the UK Financial Times without handing over any cash or needing passwords to get in. It's not open slather -- or the sites might go out of business -- but you can get limited content for free. You can read more about the Congoo concept at the site, which also links to recent news stories about the service and its launch. Go.http://www.journoz.com/weblog/archives/001204.html |