| Anvil
Issue Twenty Seven
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*Welcome to Anvil, a free weekly newsletter and Web site providing
insight into online industry news, issues and trends now in Wint-O-Green.
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TOP
INDUSTRY NEWS
*Mass Media Mergers
*Social Insecurity
DESIGN
*Corporate Sites Launched
*Public Betas Released
HOSTING
*AOL Grabs Headlines
*Free Airwaves
MARKETING
*Pushing The Limits
*Mar.Com Awards
TOP
WEB PICKS
*Healthy Weight
*Nando News Watcher
*The LBJ Tapes
*The Lost Elvis Diaries
*Wacky.com
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TOP INDUSTRY NEWS
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*Mass Media Mergers
The high-tech industry is moving into the media industry rapidly,
as two acquisitions were made in the Web television market. Microsoft
recently acquired WebTV Networks for $425 million in cash and stock.
The purchase will allow Microsoft to move one step closer to total
domination of the communication industry, from PC hardware to software.
WebTV will operate under Microsoft as a subsidiary while retaining
their staff and offices in Palo Alto. Just hours later, NetChannel
announced their acquisition of ViewCall America, developer of WebTV
competitor On-TV. While NetChannel can’t rival Microsoft’s deep
pockets, they do have impressive partners lined up: Thomson Consumer
Electronics, Hitachi, Motorola, and Mitsubishi. The recent efforts
will help push broadcasters and manufacturers to further define
high definition TV standards. Microsoft’s vision was made clear
at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas.
Microsoft proposed an open industry specification regarding the
vertical blanking interval (VBI) which will bring PCs closer to
TVs (perhaps eventually replace). With the specification in place,
broadcasters would be able to combine TV programming with multimedia
and text support via the Internet. Microsoft will also integrate
broadcast technology into Windows 95 and NT operating systems.
http://www.merc.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2295994-064
http://www.mmp.co.uk/mmp/informer/netnews/HTM/47n1d.htm
http://www.netchannel.net/
*Social
Insecurity
The Social Security Administration recently took heat for their
short-lived Web site. The site was designed to reduce costs and
increase accessibility to personal information. Once USA Today broke
the story earlier this week, the site was pulled down within days
amid growing concerns of misuse of the information. The database
offered snoopers the ability look up annual salaries, total income
and benefits using just a social security number. The SSA decided
to pull the site down indefinitely, until security is deemed sufficient.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cta194.htm
http://www.ssa.gov/
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DESIGN
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*Corporate Sites Launched
Verse DDG recently launched two new corporate Web sites: Pixelworks
and Western Family Foods. Pixelworks is the North American representative
of Plasmavision large format, flat panel plasma display monitors,
designed for business communications, entertainment and public information
display applications. Western Family Foods, Inc., is in the business
of sourcing, procuring and marketing Private Label groceries, general
merchandise and health and beauty care items. Verse DDG Corp. is
a digital design group specializing in the creation, hosting and
marketing of Web-based Internet, intranet and touch-screen kiosk
solutions.
http://www.plasmavision.com
http://www.westernfamily.com
*Public
Betas Released
After a few delays and some confusion, Microsoft officially posted
the platform preview release of Internet Explorer 4.0 earlier this
week. The move countered Netscape’s posting of Communicator Preview
Release 3 on Monday. The new version of Communicator includes enhanced
security, administration and dynamic HTML features for building
Crossware applications. The new version of Explorer offers many
new enhancements, the most noticeable being desktop integration
and a subscription service. The "active desktop" functionality
provided by the new browser allows users to drop images, Web pages
or Java applets directly onto the desktop, complete with hyperlinks.
The subscription service is Microsoft’s first major effort toward
browser "push technology." Explorer 4.0 also integrates
into Windows Explorer, allowing management of Internet files and
bookmarks (also accessible from the Start Menu) all with a browser
interface. So far, the new browsers look good, although users should
wait for later versions for true stability.
http://www.microsoft.com/ie/default.asp
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HOSTING
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*AOL Grabs Headlines
The online industry is shaking out as market leader AOL proposes
to purchase rival CompuServe for an estimated $1.2 billion. Talks
over the weekend included Microsoft, which may spur a bidding war
between the two giants. In related news, AOL reached an out-of-court
settlement with class-action plaintiffs following accessibility
and billing complaints. The settlement will grant customers with
unlimited access service up to a 50 percent refund (during February
and March).
http://www.aol.com/
*Free
Airwaves
Attendees of the National Association of Broadcasters convention
in Las Vegas, held earlier this week, were shocked to hear the government
is literally giving away billions of dollars of "airspace"
to broadcasters to explore digital TV. Congress has been unsuccessful
in their attempts to force broadcasters to pay for bandwidth belonging
to the public. Various members of Congress have proposed a government
auction, which could raise as much as $70 billion in revenue, which,
if collected, could lower interest rates by two points. Broadcasters
argue the new bandwidth is simply a loan. The new digital bandwidth
will allow cinema quality pictures and sound in smaller slices.
Not only will broadcasters not have to pay for the airwaves, they
will also have five "extra" channels to work with due
to smaller spectrum requirements. Reasons for the measure to raise
revenue from an airwaves auction may be explained by the $9.5 billion
in political contributions by broadcasters in the past 10 years.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cta205.htm
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MARKETING
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*Pushing The Limits
The marketing and media frenzy behind push technology has created
potential problems. According to industry experts, including Dr.
John Graham-Cumming, Jesse Berst and Bob Metcalfe, products using
push technology are threatening network performance and survivability.
According to a study by Graham-Cumming, almost a fifth of network
traffic is created by push technology applications. The study, entitled:
"Hits and Miss-es: A Year Watching the Web" tracked six
Fortune 1000 companies for one year to determine Internet usage.
The high amount of traffic is generated by the continuous and automatic
updating of information. The study recommends monitoring network
traffic to determine if a caching proxy server should be used to
help reduce traffic.
http://www.mmp.co.uk/mmp/informer/netnews/HTM/48n1e.htm
http://www.optimal.com/
*Mar.Com
Awards
Verse DDG, a Portland, OR-based digital design group, received recognition
as finalists in the 6th Annual Mar.Com Awards sponsored by Yahoo!
and Ziff-Davis. Verse DDG was a finalist in the Best World Wide
Web Ad category for their work on Insync Communications’ Web site.
According to judging criteria, Insync’s Web site effectively increases
awareness and informs potential clients and employees of company
services and benefits. Beyond creating the Web site traditional
print collateral for Insync, Verse DDG also provided similar services
for Insync’s Silicon Northwest Press Reception at Comdex (also a
Mar.Com Award finalist.)
http://www.silicon-nw.com/
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TOP WEB PICKS
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*Healthy Weight
The Healthy Weight World Wide Web Site is your source for news and
information on the latest in weight management "hot" topics.
Use the Interactive Body Mass Index calculator to help evaluate
your health risk. The Weight Management Resource Center provides
valuable information for physicians, consumers, and media. Visitors
can also surf related links or subscribe to a newsletter.
http://www.healthyweight.com/index.htm
*Nando
News Watcher
The Nando News Watcher is a Java applet that uses your web browser
to automatically bring you the latest news from around the world.
The News Watcher has been programmed to continuously scan Nando’s
news pages and post the current headlines to the News Watcher for
you to read. The News Watcher also includes special notification
features that alert you to new headlines that include keywords that
you’ve selected in advance.
http://www.nando.net/nt/newswatcher/
*The
LBJ Tapes
Netizens can now hear President Lyndon B. Johnson’s White House
tapes, recorded shortly after the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy and first publicly released in November 1993. The tapes
document conversations with then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and
others about the creation of the Warren Commission to investigate
Kennedy’s death. Jerry Goldman, a professor of political science
at New York University, created the site to offer RealAudio versions
of the tapes.
http://oyez.at.nwu.edu/lbj/warren/
*The
Lost Elvis Diaries
An online mystery: Reporter Jeff Parrish is hot on the trail of
Elvis Presley’s legendary lost journals. But are they for real,
or is it all a don’t-be-cruel hoax? Find out in this tale of blue
suede and bullets, greed and grease. The sixteen chapter e-novel
includes an epilogue.
http://home.mem.net/~welk/elvisdiaries.html
*Wacky.com
This site includes the Daily WackAttack for a daily dose of fun,
the Bill Gates and Me interactive counter, The Amazing Net A Sketch
Shockwave program and the Weekly Wacky Web Pick. Visitors looking
for more can check out the bookstore or the Tantalis Program, which
provides an outlet for today’s frustrated workforce.
http://www.wacky.com/main.html
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CREDITS
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*Kent Lewis, Managing Editor
*Michael Pearo, Graphic Designer
*Monica Simmons, Copy Editor
*Theo Jones, Jeremy Huffman, Programmers
*Send
questions, comments and suggestions to
editor@anvil-media.com.
*Visit
the Web site at http://www.anvil-media.com
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