EP Topic News: 7th June 2001EP Topic News: 7th June 2001
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El.pub Analytic No. 6 - the latest analysis section on El.pub - has been published and poses the question: "The Semantic Web - will it work".
Although the semantic web is a current high profile notion and is generating much discussion we are at a very early stage in defining the concepts needed and realisable systems that will add value. The article has been written to stimulate debate on a number of controversial issues surrounding its development. These are based on how the semantic web is being defined by the wide range of "interested parties", and whether the principles and solutions being promoted by such pressure groups, are truly innovative or simply a rehash of old concepts which have proved impossible to implement in the past.
Comment on the author's conclusion online or send us an email.
URL: The Semantic Web - will it work analytic06.htm
URL: El.pub Analytic index analytic.htm
The latest speaker to be added to the line-up for the VR World Congress in Barcelona is Alberto Aza of EDS, Spain. He will illustrate his presentation with the "Virtual Opera House, Barcleona" and show how VR/i3D is used from the web, through seat selection and purchase to set design for the famous theatre.
The latest agenda for the VR World Congress, to be held in Barcelona on June 27-29, 2001, and organised by the EPIFOCAL project, has been published on El.pub. In addition to attending the sessions outlined in the published agenda, there will be ample opportunity for delegates to network with prospective partners in the commercial and public sectors.
The event has been designed to appeal to the widest audience of professionals interested in the development of VR and interactive 3D (I3D) applications. Applications which will be exploited in a wide range of disciplines, including: publishing, healthcare, education, culture and heritage, entertainment, services, manufacturing, engineering. The event will also consider the hardware, software, systems and services which will provide the necessary infrastructure.
Throughout the three days the conference will:
- address a diverse range of issues raised by the Internet, remote collaboration, distributed working;
- consider the application of VR and I3D, ranging from design and prototyping, to operator training, to simulation and through to "visualisation communication".
The event is already proving to be very popular, so potential attendees are encouraged to register with the event administrator as soon as possible (using the details published on the conference agenda page below). Attendance at the event is free of charge. A limited amount of space is available for tabletop demonstrations, please contact the administrator for further information. 07/06/01
URL: vrcongress.htm
Email: Administrator Sophie Lafond mailto:slafond@mva.co.uk
Interactive Electronic Publishing project, Active-Ad, is planning to publish a free news service which will provide an overview of activities in the field of online advertising with a focus on Europe and especially the EU. The project itself is seeking to answer the following questions:
- What are the aspirations and success criteria advertisers have towards interactive advertisements? (desk research and interviews)
- What are the new creative approaches for interactive advertising within marketing communications? (focus groups)
- What are the principles of interactive advertising that need to be evaluated by practical research within the work programmes of leading industry players? (socio-economic research)
- What are the principles, advertiser aspirations and new design concepts for interactive advertisements? (co-ordinated practical research)
- What are the guidelines for covering new business models, organisational structures, new systems and tools for optimising the contribution of interactive advertising to the growth of the Single European Market?
- How will it contribute to job creation by raising the competencies within the content production industries?
URL: subscribe newsletter http://www.tvmeetstheweb.com/newsletter
URL: Active-Ad http://www.ieprc.org/
US-based developer Mozquito is running a beta test of its FML for HomeSite software. The test is based on using Mozquito's Forms Markup Language (FML) software which has been integrated into Allaire's Homesite web editing package. According to the company the Mozquito transformation engine, Matrix, translates the files into XHTML which "all major browsers can display". The beta test software includes 20 new XHTML-FML tags, checks XHTML documents for validity and well-formedness, and enables FML document preview in browsers. A fact sheet in pdf format (in both English and German) is available for download from the site.
URL: http://www.mozquito.com/
URL: fact sheet (English) http://www.mozquito.com/sources/pdfs/mozquitofmlforhomesite.pdf
URL: fact sheet (German) http://www.mozquito.com/sources/pdfs/mozquitofmlforhomesite_d.pdf
Members of Project UDI have announced the release of the UDI (Uniform Driver Interface) reference implementation under a BSD-style open source license, via the web site below. This first public release of UDI code is the product of a multi-company development effort designed to provide device driver portability for existing and future system configurations.
Based on the Version 1.0.1 UDI specification, the code base reflects the culmination of approximately three years of development and testing to validate the specification on a variety of operating systems and using a variety of device drivers. The latest UDI specification as well as other information about Project UDI is available from the project web site. The UDI reference implementation is available for all interested parties to download, examine, use, or modify for their purposes.
URL: UDI ref. implementation http://projectudi.sourceforge.net/
URL: Project UDI http://www.project-udi.org/
AT&T has unveiled its next generation of public telephones that combine simultaneous high-speed connectivity to the Internet and other online services, such as e-mail, with voice calling. The new AT&T Public Phone 2000i will initially be installed at major US airports for use by travelers. the phone will also feature a 12-inch, touch-sensitive screen and a touch pad integrated into the keyboard.
The Wireless Multimedia Forum (WMF) in the US has been publishing what it terms "Recommended Technical Framework Documents (RTFDs) for wireless multimedia content and services" in an attempt to galvanise the "mobile industry" behind agreed APIs, compression technologies, formats, and streaming protocols.
As part of this educational mechanism the forum has also published a document etitled: "The Business Case for Wireless Multimedia Services". Aimed at "content and application service developers, wireless and wired IP network service providers, makers of network infrastructure equipment and mobile communication device manufacturers about the profit potential of the interoperability efforts underway by the Wireless Multimedia Forum (WMF)", the report (in pdf) is available free of charge as a download.
IBM's linux web portal has been established to serve its business partners, employees and members of the Linux community. The site is intended to provide users access to the latest news; the ability to download the latest Linux tools; and links to Linux content across the breadth of IBMs web sites in addition to linking to various other Linux sites. A free email newsletter is also available, subscribe via the site.
URL: http://www.ibm.com/
Alcatel, Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens have announced that they will implement EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service) and plan to work together to ensure interoperability between their products and also in the evolution of the EMS standard. EMS adds images, sounds and animations to the popular text-based SMS (Short Messaging Service).
EMS is being seen as an evolutionary step between SMS and full Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). The EMS standard was defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) - EMS enabled telephones are expected to be available in the second half of 2001.
URL: Alcatel http://www.alcatel.fr/
URL: Ericsson http://www.ericsson.com/
URL: Motorola http://www.motorola.com/
URL: Siemens http://www.siemens.com/
A new OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) technical committee: The OASIS ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement Technical Committee is being formed. The committee is being proposed to address:
- Maintenance of version 1.0 of the ebXML Collaboration-Protocol Profile and Agreement Specification (CPP/CPA Specification) including solicitation and collection of feedback on that specification, as well as possible development of minor follow-on versions to provide clarifications and/or minor technical corrections.
- Production of other documents (eg. technical reports, white papers, implementation guidelines, and discussion of "best practices" to foster adoption of the specification).
- Gathering of requirements for new function from related OASIS and UN/CEFACT teams as well as other sources.
- Implement the advanced security functions discussed in the ebXML technical report "Technical Architecture Risk Assessment".
- Design other new function related to CPP and CPA, such as negotiation protocols.
- Creation of substantive new version(s) of the CPP/CPA specification.
- Coordination within OASIS and UN/CEFACT to ensure consistency with related committees. In particular, the committee will work with the ebXML coordination committee that OASIS and UN/CEFACT will jointly charter, and will track related specifications to ensure that the CPP/CPA specification is consistent with appropriate versions.
- Proactive work with other recognised bodies, particularly with W3C activities and working groups related to web services. One specific example is the proposed W3C activity on WSDL. In addition, security work will be coordinated with ongoing work in W3C (eg. XKMS) and OASIS (eg. SAML).
- Provision of technical information to other bodies, for possible incorporation into their standards, for example as W3C notes. For example, the CPP includes many details about party properties, such as security properties, that have no counterpart in WSDL today.
- Assessment of specifications or other documents from other bodies, eg. W3C, for possible inclusion by reference in future versions of the CPP/CPA specification.
Details of the proposed deliverables, meeting schedule and how to join the TC are available via the OASIS web site.
URL: TC process http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.shtml
URL: OASIS http://www.oasis-open.org/
The ASP Industry Consortium (ASPIC) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have unveiled a set of recommendations and guidelines for global dispute avoidance and resolution procedures for ASPs.
URL: ASPIC http://www.allaboutasp.org/
URL: ASPIC http://www.aspindustry.org/
URL: WIPO http://www.wipo.int/
URL: news release http://www.aspindustry.org/pr-18may01.cfm
VREfresh reports that Lexent Technologies is utilising two RealityWave solutions to collaborate on product design and enhance their on-line marketing. Lexent, a developer of wireless asset tracking and security products, has deployed the VizStream WebKit on its web site to give an i3D view of its products, and in addition employs ConceptStation as a Web-based interactive collaborative environment for the company and its product designers.
VizStream WebKit and ConceptStation are both powered by RealityWave's patented VizStream technology. Lexent's PC Radar technology is the foundation for iSpy, providing a portable, compact, and reliable 2-way radio security system that links a laptop computer to its authorised owner. Lexent is using the VizStream WebKit to allow customers to rotate, zoom into, and even pick apart a product in 3D over any Internet connection. This 3D representation enables customers to get an accurate feel of how compact the iSpy unit is and how it is designed and built.
RealityWave is currently offering a free trial of ConceptStation and a new auto-register page on their web site. View the latest edition of VREfresh online via the link below.
URL: http://www.realitywave.com/form.asp
URL: VREfresh base02vt.htm
AIM systems GmbH, developer of the German market leading COMPASS PDM system, will integrate Cimmetry's OEM technology directly into the COMPASS product, allowing users to visually access data directly within the COMPASS interface. Cimmetry's AutoVue family of products is a visualisation solution providing users with the ability to view and markup 2D/3D CAD and business documents without needing the authoring application.
AutoVue also supports raster, vector, hybrid office and graphics formats. Formats include CATIA, Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks, Solid Edge, Autodesk Inventor, Unigraphics, AutoCAD, MicroStation, HPGL, ME-10, TIFF, and PDF.
URL: http://www.cimmetry.com/
URL: http://www.aimsystems.de/
In addition to covering news on agent-based research and development, the free AgentNews email service, is increasingly covering the area of web-based applications and services. The June 4 issue has pointers to:
- the Software Services Grid Workshop, to be held on July 10, (in conjunction with the OMG meeting near Boston, USA) which will be dedicated to the metadata and modeling standards required for the next generation of federated Internet Computing, termed Grids). Speakers at the workshop will include members of the OMG, W3C, Global Grid Forum, DAML, and ebXML presenting their vision of the next generation Internet architecture.
URL: http://www.omg.org/news/meetings/tc/software_services_grid_workshop.htm- an article on OpenP2P.com by Clay Shirky which describes Microsoft's new Hailstorm system, which is "Microsoft's bid to put some meat on the bones of its .NET initiative." Hailstorm encodes data in XML and provides access via SOAP.
URL: http://www.openp2p.com/lpt/a//p2p/2001/05/30/hailstorm.htmlURL: Agent News June 4, 2001 http://agents.umbc.edu/06/15/
URL: AgentWeb http://agents.umbc.edu/
The Music for New Media newsletter of June 2001 includes a useful reveiew of a number of new and innovative products which have been demonstrated at the TV Meets the Web Seminar (presentations and a report are availble from the web site) and The Broadband Home Europe Summit. All the reviewed items including: Intel Web Tablet, Nokia Media Terminal, Pace - The Networked Home, Philips Digital Networks Mp4Net, provide a window into the latest developments in multimedia and its delivery and use. There are brief reviews and links to the original resources via the original newsletter, which also carries reports on:
- the Flashsound API, a small JavaScript library that enables interactive audio to be triggered from ordinary HTML pages, using the Macromedia Flash Player.
URL: http://sonify.org/flashsound
URL: demo http://sonify.org/cgi-bin/tutoriallinks/jump.cgi?ID=121- Audible Magic, who is trying to establish an industry standard for content-based identification for audio content distributed over the Internet, by pressing for the adoption of it's patented "digital fingerprinting" system.
URL: http://www.audiblemagic.comURL: Music for New Media http://www.internetcontent.net/resources.asp
URL: TV Meets the Web http://www.tvmeetstheweb.com/
URL: Broadband Home Europe http://www.broadbandhomecentral.com/report/backissues/Report0106.html
If you are interested in tracking news on Education and Training Technologies, then a free subscription to the European Commission sponsored PROACTe News Service is recommended. Published regularly, the email-based service includes news clips, pointers and a brief list of conferences and seminars which focus on the education in relation to ICT developments.
Mobile computing continues to figure high on the news pages of the technical press. Two articles published on the O'Reilly network of web sites, which illustrate the range of coverage:
- "The Future of Digital Media" which considers the many legal, social, and political issues surrounding online music.
URL: http://oreillynet.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/05/21/lawyers_intro.html- "The Agenda VR3: Real Linux in a PDA" which reviews a PDA that runs X Windows and has a Terminal Window.
URL: http://oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2001/05/18/agenda_pda.htmlO'Reilly publish a range of free email newsletters, segmented by reader interest, providing clippings of the latest articles on their wide range of sites, most with a developer/technical orientation.
Following on for its support and promotion of the concept of ontologies (through it's period Ontology.org news services) computer services company, CSC, has co-founded the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) which has developed a business process modeling language (BPML).
The company believes that BPML has the potential to "provide the basis for a new class of mission critical business solutions called business process management systems (BPMS). Based on BPML these systems will support the rapid discovery, design, deployment, execution, maintenance, optimization, and analysis of new integrated business processes both inside a firm and across the entire value chain".
CSC has made available papers and a slide set explaining how they see the significance of BPML and the vision of the BPMI.org. The specification for BPML is also available for download.
URL: CSC papers http://www.cscresearchservices.com/process/
URL: CSC papers http://www.cscresearchservices.com/process/reading_set.asp
URL: BPML spec. http://www.bpmi.org/bpml-spec.esp
URL: Ontology.Org http://www.ontology.org/
A note to the XML developers list, announces that the following new references are available on ZVON.org. The links for webmasters and those dealing with metadata and the description of electronic documents are:
- Dublin Core 1.1
URL: http://www.zvon.org/xxl/DCreference/Output/index.html- RSS 0.9 (Rich Site Summary)
URL: http://www.zvon.org/xxl/RSS0.9reference/Output/index.html- RSS 0.91
URL: http://www.zvon.org/xxl/RSS0.91reference/Output/index.html- RSS 1.0 Core
URL: http://www.zvon.org/xxl/RSSreference/Output/index.htmlThe links for web services developers are:
- WSDL 1.1 (Web Services Description Language)
URL: http://www.zvon.org/xxl/WSDL1.1/Output/index.htmlURL: ZVON.org http://www.zvon.org/
Readers of El.pub are being invited to participate in defining future strategies and actions for the cultural sector of the IST programme.
- How can cultural institutions make informed decisions to avoid technological obsolescence?
- What technologies need to be in place to face tomorrow’s challenges?
- What kind of skills do they need in-house?
- What can be outsourced?
- What policy framework needs to be in place to encourage and support the mission and vision of cultural institutions all over Europe?
These types of questions provide the focus of a newly launched online Delphi survey conducted in the framework of the strategic study "Technological Landscapes for Tomorrow’s Cultural Economy".
The primary objective of this study is to provide archives, libraries, museums and other cultural players with a tool to get prepared and plan their technological and organisational future. The online Delphi survey, that can be accessed via the link below, will be conducted in two rounds and explores five key areas: organisational and financial issues, services and demands, technology, (commercial) exploitation, and finally, national policies and initiatives.
Each survey participant will receive the Executive Summary of the final report towards the end of December 2001.
URL: survey http://www.salzburgresearch.at/fbi/digicult/
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