Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 08:44:25 -0500
From: Bob Rankin
Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
To: TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Subject: TOURBUS -- 12 MAR 1998 -- SPRING INTERNET WORLD
From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
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\___/ \___/ T h e I n t e r n e t T o u r B u s \___/
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP: SPRING INTERNET WORLD
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESSES:
VitalSigns (maker of Net.Medic)
http://www.vitalsigns.com/
Intel Create and Share Camera Pack
http://www.intel.com/createshare/
Macromedia Fireworks
http://www.getfireworks.com/
Howdy, y'all! Today's TOURBUS post is coming to you from the 1998
Spring Internet World conference in sunny Los Angeles. Before we talk
about the conference, though, I want to thank:
1. Karen Bowman (and her mom) for giving me a place to stay
during my visit to LA. Karen has been one of my best friends
for over ten years, and without her hospitality my trip to
Internet World would not have been possible (free lodging is
especially important when you are a poor college student).
2. WGN radio for giving me a press pass during the conference
(only slightly less important than free lodging is free
conference admission). I hope those of you who were listening
to WGN on Wednesday night enjoyed my report. :)
3. Today's TOURBUS sponsors for helping keep our little bus of
Internet happiness trundling down the Information Superhighway
week after week. Make sure you stop by ThirdAge (see today's
TOURBUS logo) and Intel (see the stuff below) to thank them
for their support of TOURBUS.
+----------------- LEARN HOW TO SHARE YOUR MEMORIES ---------------+
Over The Internet With Family And Friends
http://www.intel.com/cpc/photoalbum/index.htm?iid_itm1TB06M12
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Every year, tens of thousands of Net-heads from around the world
descend upon the Los Angeles Convention Center for Spring Internet
World, a five-day technical conference that focuses on the latest
Internet issues, software applications, and emerging technologies.
Spring Internet World is the largest Internet conference in the world
-- over 60,000 Internet professionals and 600 companies attended this
year's conference -- and is _the_ place to go if you want to get a
sneak peek at future "killer" Internet applications.
Previous Spring Internet World software application "hits" include
Netscape Navigator, Microsoft's Active X, Sun's Java programming
language, and Real Network's Real Audio player. These programs went
on to gain universal acceptance. In fact, that is why your fearless
bus driver decided to attend this year's Spring Internet World in the
first place: I want to be the first kid on my block to see the next
"Netscape" or "Real Audio." :)
Well, after spending all day Wednesday attending press conferences and
visiting all 600+ vendor booths in the conference's two cavernous
exhibit halls, I can honestly say that, as far as new killer software
is concerned, this year's Spring Internet World was pretty
disappointing. I have no doubt that the next Netscape or Real Audio
is out there somewhere. Unfortunately, it just wasn't on the floor of
this year's Spring Internet World.
That doesn't mean, however, that this year's Spring Internet World was
totally devoid of cool stuff. In fact, I found a couple of neat
things that I want to share with you:
---------------------
VITALSIGNS' NET.MEDIC
---------------------
Net.Medic is very much like Norton Utilities for the Net. Net.Medic's
software runs in companion with your Web browser, constantly
monitoring the performance of your Internet connection. When problems
occur -- for example when you try to access a Web page and nothing
happens -- Net.Medic isolates the problem and graphically tells you if
the problem is with your PC (or Mac), your modem, your ISP, the
Internet itself, or the remote site that you are trying to access.
Better still, Net.Medic will, with your permission, automatically
repair any connection problems it is capable of fixing.
If you have ever had Internet connection problems and have not been
able to figure out where in your Internet connection chain the problem
occurred, Net.Medic is an absolute godsend. In fact, Net.Medic
received the Spring Internet World Industry Award for best desktop
software application, and everyone I've talked to about the software
swears it is absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately, the folks from
VitalSigns showed up at Spring Internet World, picked up their award,
and _LEFT_. Since VitalSigns didn't have a booth at the conference, I
never really got a chance to play around with Net.Medic myself. :(
Fortunately, the nice folks at VitalSigns are sending me an evaluation
copy of Net.Medic shortly, so be looking for a more in-depth review of
Net.Medic in one of my future posts. Until then, to find out more
about VitalSigns' Net.Medic, including where you can purchase copy of
this award-winning software, check out VitalSigns' homepage at
http://www.vitalsigns.com/
------------------------------------
INTEL'S CREATE AND SHARE CAMERA PACK
------------------------------------
I've been playing around with video on the Net ever since I connected
a black-and-white Connectix QuickCam to my Mac back in 1995. I still
have fond memories of using an early version of CU-SeeMe to conduct a
live videoconference over the Net with some stranger at Rockwell (who
was also using CU-SeeMe).
Network video conferencing hardware and software has changed a lot
since then. At this year's Spring Internet World, several vendors
introduced new packages that let you easily add video capabilities
(including the ability to conduct live videoconferences) to your PC.
The package that impressed me the most was Intel's Create and Share
Camera Pack.
The Create and Share Camera Pack is a combination of a small,
inexpensive, color video camera that you plug into the back of your
PC, and easy-to-understand (and easy-to-use) software that lets you
use your PC's color video camera to:
1. Take computerized snapshots in seconds;
2. Edit and enhance your images;
3. Make your own computerized videos in minutes;
4. Put your snapshots and videos into executable email postcards
that you can send to anyone; and
5. Conduct live computerized video conferences using either your
Internet connection or your plain old telephone line.
Unfortunately, the camera that Intel uses isn't much to write home
about (3Com's BigPicture Video Phone uses a much higher quality
camera). What impressed me the most about Intel's Create and Share
Video Pack, however, was how user-friendly their software is. ANYONE
can use this software to easily add color video capabilities to their
PC.
Best of all, Intel's Create and Share Camera pack is already on the
shelves of computer stores around the world -- and the entire package
costs:
- US$199 for the software and a color camera that connects into a
USB port (166MHz+ Pentium required);
- US$299 for the software, color camera, and a PCI card that
includes a video capture card that lets you record video from
your camcorder or VCR (90Mhz+ Pentium required); or
- US$399 for the software, color camera, and a PCI 56Kbps modem
and capture card (90Mhz+ Pentium required).
To find out more about Intel's Create and Share Camera Pack, visit
your local computer store, or check out Intel's Web site at
http://www.intel.com/createshare/
--------------------
MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS
--------------------
This one knocked my socks off, folks. The only thing that is keeping
me from saying that Fireworks is the next killer app is the fact that,
unlike Netscape and Real Audio, its appeal really isn't universal. In
fact, if you have never created your own Web graphics, the next couple
of paragraphs are going to confuse the living heck out of you. :)
Fireworks is a graphics production tool that gives you a unified
environment in which you can both create and optimize high-quality Web
graphics. Best of all, all of the text and effects that you create
are editable ALL THE TIME! Fireworks uses something called "live
effects" (drop shadows, glows, etc) which are properties of the object
to which they are assigned. If that object changes, the effect
updates automatically.
[If I haven't lost you yet, I'm about to now.] Say, for example, you
create a Web graphic that includes the text "TOURBUS rulez." You then
apply a drop shadow to the text. What happens if you then want to
change "rulez" to "rules"? With most other graphics production tools,
the only way to fix our little typo is to go back to square one and
create the entire graphic again. With Fireworks, however, just drag
your mouse over the word "rulez" and change it to "rules." Fireworks
changes the text and then ADDS THE DROP SHADOW TO THE NEW TEXT
AUTOMATICALLY!
And that is only the tip of what Fireworks can do (I'll let you find
out the rest on your own). Fireworks is in public beta until June
8th, which means you can download it free at
http://www.getfireworks.com/
If you use Photoshop or PaintShop Pro to create your Web graphics, you
_really_ should take a look at Fireworks. I have a feeling a lot of
us are going to be changing our Web graphics production software soon.
:)
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP: SPRING INTERNET WORLD
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESSES:
VitalSigns (maker of Net.Medic)
http://www.vitalsigns.com/
Intel Create and Share Camera Pack
http://www.intel.com/createshare/
Macromedia Fireworks
http://www.getfireworks.com/
--------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE DAY
--------------------------------
FAWL (noun) - aluminum wrap for storage of food items.
Usage: "Could you please wrap my leftover chicken livers in fawl?"
(Special thanks to BeachYeah for today's wurd)
YOU CAN FIND ALL OF THE OLD SOUTHERN WORDS OF THE DAY ON THE SOUTHERN
WORD HOMEPAGE AT http://www.brigadoon.com/~crispen/word.html
=--------------------------------------------------------------------=
For info on my book "Atlas for the Information Superhighway"
Visit http://www.brigadoon.com/~crispen/atlas.html
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=====================================================================
.~~~. ))
(\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen
/o o \/ .~
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/ , , ) \ http://www.netsquirrel.com/
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_( ( )_.' Warning: squirrels.
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