EP Topic News: 20th February 2003

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INFORM Workshop

The INFORM Workshop entitled: "User Needs for Mobile Electronic Information Services" is scheduled to take place in Athens, on 20 March, 2003.

An increasing number of users of innovative electronic information services want to access services with various devices and platforms, via different networks, at any time and from any place. The aim of this workshop is to exchange knowledge about how electronic publishing projects elicited user requirements and to enhance awareness of new techniques and methods for user needs analysis.

The workshop is free of charge for IST project participants and will bring together experts in user-centred product creation and practitioners from projects developing mobile electronic information services.

The event is organised by ACit GmbH and hosted by INTRACOM in association with the European Commission INFORM project (the publishers of El.pub) which is funded by the Interactive Electronic Publishing sector of the IST programme.

The workshop is open to a limited number of up to 50 participants, with places being allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

Workshop Agenda

To register please send the following information by email or fax: Name, Project, Organisation, Address, Email, Phone and Fax.

Email: registrations mailto:workshops@acit.net
Fax: registrations +49 7252 973 771
URL: ACit http://www.acit.net
URL: INTRACOM http://www.intracom.gr
URL: INFORM http://www.elpub.org

HTML to FO conversion guide

"HTML to Formatting Objects (FO) conversion guide" is a reference guide, published on the IBM DeveloperWorks web site which shows by example how to use XSLT templates to convert 45 commonly used HTML elements to formatting objects (from the XSL-FO vocabulary) for transformation to PDF using XSLT. The examples assume the use of the Java-based XSLT processor Xalan and the Apache XML Project's FOP tool. However, according to the guide's author, "most of the methods would work just as well with other tools".

URL: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/x-xslfo2app/?ca=dnt-46t

JoDI special on Hypertext

The Journal of Digital Information (JoDI) special issue on "Hypertext Criticism: Writing about Hypertext" (Volume 3, issue 3, January 2003) practices what it preaches in that rather than present a traditional collection of long papers, the editors decided to attempt to rethink what an issue of an academic journal might be. The editors:

"invited submissions consisting of one or more brief nodes which we would then link together to create a hypertextual journal issue: an interconnected discussion of a topic rather than disconnected articles. We also invited contributions from both scholars and artists, to assist in bridging the gap that can appear between these groups. This diversity characterises the collection of essays presented here".

There is no list of contents, in the traditional sense for the journal - readers are invited to explore the journal with contributions from nearly 30 contributors, starting from the editorial link below. JoDI is an electronic journal published only via the web and is currently free to users thanks to support from the British Computer Society and Oxford University Press

IP Zurich Report reviewed

Following on from our news item last week on the "IP Zurich Report" - which considers the commercial future for interactive electronic publishing technologies and techniques - Norbert Specker, the publisher would like to draw El.pub readers' attention to a review of the report. Steve Outing has analysed the report and published his critique in his "Stop the Presses" column on the Editor and Publisher web site.

URL: IP Zurich Report http://www.interactivepublishing.net
URL: report review http://www.editorandpublisher.com
URL: news item El.pub 13 Feb. 2003 http://www.elpub.org/base02t0101.htm#opr

XMETAL 4 released

XMetaL 4 has been released by Corel. This latest in the line XML editors comes in developer, author and ActiveX versions.

URL: http://www.corel.com/xmetal4

IPR for economic growth

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published: "Intellectual Property: A Power Tool for Economic Growth", which is an attempt to demonstrate how countries, particularly those in the developing world, could use the intellectual property system to leverage their intangible assets - such as inventiveness, creativity and knowledge - to promote economic development and wealth creation. The book also explores the relevance of the patent system to businesses in all countries. Copies of the book can be ordered on-line through the Organization’s electronic bookshop.

URL: WIPO electronic bookshop http://www.wipo.int/ebookshop
URL: WIPO http://www.wipo.int/

JavaScript optimisation

Web Reference.com includes an article which considers how to speed web site responsiveness through the optimisation of Javascripts. The article argues that creating speedy scripts is only half the "optimisation battle" - and that developers must also create code that can be quickly downloaded. The material published is based on a book excerpt from: "Speed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization", from New Riders.

URL: article http://www.webreference.com/programming/optimize/speedup/chap9/
URL: Web Site Optimization http://www.WebSiteOptimization.com

Web site designer influences

The WebTango project has published a study which considers how the processes employed by web designers and their experience influences how they design web sites. The goal of the WebTango project is to explore the question: How can the web site design process be improved by the application of automated evaluation techniques.

URL: http://webtango.ischool.washington.edu/papers/
URL: http://webtango.ischool.washington.edu/papers/designers.pdf
URL: WebTango project http://webtango.ischool.washington.edu/index.html

Image manipulation in browsers

TMSSequoia has released the Prizm plug-in 6.0 for Windows, a browser-based image viewer that includes support for viewing, manipulating, annotating and printing mixed batches of PDF and TIFF or other document image files in Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers running on Windows 98/NT/2000/XP systems. The plug-in also enables users to export TIFF and other image types as PDF files for distribution.

Previous versions of the plug-in are also available for the Mac and UNIX platforms (Sun Solaris, HP UX, AIX, SGI, and DEC Alpha). The software is particularly aimed at corporate users running enterprise applications that require image viewing, image enhancement and forms processing.

URL: http://www.tmsinc.com

Web enabling C++ applications

Rogue Wave has released its Lightweight Enterprise Integration Framework (LEIF) which the company describes as "a cross-platform framework that leverages technologies: such as HTTP, SOAP, WSDL and XML to enable companies to integrate C++ applications with .NET and J2EE". Quite a claim, there is more on LEIF, on the company's web site.

URL: LEIF http://www.roguewave.com/products/leif/
URL: Rogue Wave http://www.roguewave.com

Enterprise web communications

WebEx Communications, has launched WebEx Enterprise Edition, a new service that integrates all of the company's web conferencing services: WebEx Meeting Center, Training Center, Support Center and OnStage into a single enterprise offering. WebEx Enterprise Edition provides a single access point to the WebEx MediaTone Network, a global network specifically designed and deployed for interactive Web communications. The online services include: meeting, training, support centre and event hosting applications.

URL: WebEx Communications http://www.webex.com

3G-UMTS services in car

Mercedes-Benz, NEC, Siemens Mobile and SingTel Mobile have equipped a car to test delivery to a vehicle of a broad range of mobility and infotainment services, through the the use of the broadband 3G-UMTS mobile phone standard, based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).

The test car has been equipped to provide: live video conferencing capabilities between two parties; high-speed video-streaming to facilitate video-on-demand; links to an interactive City Guide; and broadband access to the various partners' portals and the Internet. The companies are using the test vehicle "to establish their 3G-UMTS business model and to develop future 3G services".

URL: DaimlerChrysler http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/
URL: NEC Corporation http://www.nec.com/
URL: Siemens Mobile http://www.siemens-mobile.com/
URL: SingTel http://www.singtel.com
URL: SingTel USA http://www.singtelusa.com
URL: SingTel USA press release http://business.singtel.com/singtel_us/news_releases/2003-01-14.asp

SAP embraces web services

SAP AG has developed its Enterprise Services Architecture to embrace web-based services and applications. The company is hoping that organisations currently using SAP technology will use SAP NetWeaver to integrate these with the next generation of web services applications built on technologies such as Microsoft .NET and IBM WebSphere (J2EE). More on Netweaver is available from the SAP site.

URL: SAP NetWeaver http://www.sap.com/solutions/netweaver/
URL: SAP http://www.sap.com/

Liberty Alliance 1.1 Spec. released

The Liberty Alliance Project, a business and technology consortium formed to develop a specification for "federated network identity", has ratified the final version of its 1.1 specification. In November, 2002 the Liberty Alliance publicly posted a draft of the 1.1 specifications, welcoming Alliance members and non-members to review the specifications and provide feedback. The final version incorporates the feedback received during the review period.

The specifications focus on enabling interoperability between technology systems to make it easier for businesses to provide opt-in account linking and simplified sign-on functionality to partners, customers and employees through the implementation of single user names and passwords across multiple web-based services. The aim is broadly similar to that being addressed by the Microsoft Passport technology. It is true to say that there remain concerns among users as to the data protection implications for such technologies, as regularly voiced, and challenged by such organisations as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

URL: 1.1 Spec. download http://www.projectliberty.org/specs/index.html
URL: Liberty Alliance Project http://www.projectliberty.org
URL: Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org/

In-flight Internet

The German airline, Lufthansa is trialling in-flight Internet access on daily flights of Boeing 747-400 aircraft travelling between Frankfurt and Washington-Dulles International Airport. During the three-month demonstration, Lufthansa will make the service available free-of-charge to passengers throughout the aircraft. The service, which Lufthansa has branded as FlyNet, is powered by the Connexion system developed by The Boeing Company and provides "high-speed connections" to the Internet enabling users to access email accounts, send and receive email, and shop online.

Lufthansa, the first commercial airline customer to trial the Connexion system, intends to equip approximately 80 long-range Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A330 / A340 airliners with the Connexion service beginning in mid-2004. A three-month service demonstration of the system with British Airways is also scheduled to begin in mid-February.

URL: http://www.boeing.com/connexion

Windows-to-Linux adapter

CodeWeavers' CrossOver Plugin Version 1.2, is described as a "Windows-to-Linux adapter for Windows browser plugins and email viewers". According to its developers, the software enables Linux users to "access popular Windows files and plug-ins in all of the most popular Linux web browsers and email clients; along with the ability to open MS Office documents (Word/Excel/PowerPoint) and eFax files in any KDE or GNOME application". CrossOver Plugin 1.2 also supports: Apple QuickTime, RealPlayer, Macromedia Shockwave Director files; along with all TrueType fonts as well as iPIX, Macromedia Authorware, Chime, and Trillian, a convergent instant messaging plugin that supports AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger.

CrossOver Plugin 1.2 supports most Linux browsers including Netscape, Mozilla, Konqueror, Opera, SkipStone and Galeon. The software is priced at US$24.95 (download) and US$34.95 (CD version), with volume licensing available.

URL: http://www.codeweavers.com
URL: press release http://www.codeweavers.com/about/press_releases/?id=20030123

RealNetworks Helix Source Code

RealNetworks has announced the third source code component of its Helix platform, the Helix DNA Server, is available to software developers through the Helix Community initiative. With this latest release, it is believed that developers now have source code access to an end-to-end media delivery platform, consisting of producer, server and client components. According to the company Helix DNA Server is "the core source code of RealNetworks' Helix Universal Server, the 9th generation, multi-format digital media server that thousands of webcasters already use to deliver content on the Internet".

RealNetworks claim that more than 10,000 software developers have joined the Helix Community since its launch in July, 2002 and that "the Open Source Initiative (OSI) has certified the public source license used by the community".

Helix DNA Server currently streams MP3, RealAudio and RealVideo, and RealNetworks has said that it "intends to add support for MPEG-4", though this is dependent on agreeing license terms with the MPEG-4 licensing body. The server runs on AIX, HP-UX, Tru64, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Windows NT and Windows 2000.

URL: Helix Community http://www.helixcommunity.org/
URL: RealNetworks software http://www.real.com/
URL: RealNetworks corporate http://www.realnetworks.com

Windows Media Plug-ins

Microsoft has launched a web site WMplugins.com which is offering developers of the Windows Media Player 9 with over 100 pre-programmed enhancements that can be added to the player from 20 companies including Microsoft. The add-ons are designed for users running the media player on Windows XP and include customisations of music playlists, new audio and CD-burning features, new visualizations. WMplugins.com has been set-up as a "community supported" site, offering a catalogue and rating service for both users and developers. Participants however are required to use the Microsoft Passport service.

URL: WMplugins.com http://www.wmplugins.com/
URL: Windows Media http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/
URL: Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/

Nokia Mobile Game Deck

Nokia is promoting worldwide the platform that it is developing for mobile games. Called the Nokia N-Gage game deck, the company plans to release products equipped with it in the "4th Quarter of 2003". The Nokia N-Gage game deck is described as a wireless multiplayer platform for both local and remote gaming which will connect multiplayers locally via Bluetooth wireless technology or over-the-air games via mobile networks.

Nokia is hoping that game developers and publishers, network operators and other service providers will support the platform to develop new games and service concepts thereby generating new revenue streams. Nokia is currently working with a number of game publishers, including Activision, Eidos, Sega, Taito and THQ, and developers to provide a "balanced catalogue" of games.

The high performance games for Nokia N-Gage game deck will be sold separately on game cards (based on the MultiMediaCard standard). Nokia is looking for developers interested in developing applications for the platform which, according to the company, will also feature: a digital music player (MP3/AAC), stereo FM radio, a tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 mobile phone, web browser and "Java application" support.

URL: N-Gage developers http://www.forum.nokia.com/games
URL: N-Gage http://www.n-gage.com/
URL: Nokia http://www.nokia.com

Cultivate Interactive Issue 9

Cultivate Interactive Issue 9, a web magazine funded under the European Commission's Digital Heritage and Cultural Content (DIGICULT) programme, has been published online. Features include:

• IST Projects - Who Needs Statistics?: A note on the LIBECON Project
• OpenHeritage: Developing cultural tourism in lesser-known regions
• PAST - Bringing archaeological sites to life
• TREBIS - A biodiversity information system
• A mobile AR guide comes through
• MESMUSES: an initiative to reuse innovatively the most valuable scientific and technical heritage available in science museums so that it may serve as an "active memory" of knowledge to be exploited in different domains.
• The Conceptual Reference Model: the CIDOC and its work on the Conceptual Reference Model, an aid to comprehension and dialogue.

The issue also includes a number of shorter articles and news items.

URL: Cultivate Interactive Issue 9 http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue9/issue-all/
URL: Cultivate Interactive home http://www.cultivate-int.org/

Nielsen on homepage usability

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for February 10 is now online and summarises the survey he took of 50 home pages in his book "Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed". According to Nielsen, "on average, sample sites evenly distributed valuable screen space between content, navigation, fluff, blank areas, and system overhead. Areas of user interest should occupy more than the current 39%". You may not agree with all that Jakob asserts in his essays, but they provide an excellent foil to challenge many of the preconceptions associated with web site design and usability.

URL: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030210.html

Flash and search engines

The Search Engine Watch web site includes a useful feature which considers the use of Flash animations and how they may render a web site "all but invisible to the major search engines".

URL: http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/03/sd0211-ses-flash.html

Topologi Collaborative Markup Editor

The latest version of Topologi's Collaborative Markup Editor, Version 1.1.1 has been released. According to its developers the software has been "designed to address many of the issues that other editors ignore". A full list of these feature on the product site. A free 30-day evaluation version is available, and a free license is available for use in training courses and for charities. Unsupported individual licenses are US$59.95 and supported site-wide licenses are US$5,000.

URL: http://www.topologi.com/

IT Standardisation Newsletter

Standards organisation CEN/ISSS is publishing a monthly IT Standardization Newsletter: "Standardization Online" by email and also on the CEN/ISSS web site. The first issue was published in February 2003 and included brief reports on:

• Digital Rights, Data Protection and consumers, details of a meeting to discuss a draft Report on Digital Rights Management (DRM) standards issues prepared by the DRM Focus Group. Following review of the report (available online) the final version will be published and submitted to the European Commission. Comments are being requested.

URL: http://www.cenorm.be/isss/DRM/Draft_report.htm

• the establishment of a Workshop under the auspices of CEN/ISSS to help business to implement the European Data-Protection Directives. CEN through the Initiative for Privacy Standardization in Europe (IPSE) has prepared a report, containing seven recommendations. CEN/ISSS invites all interested parties to participate in this activity, which will be of interest to leaders in the privacy and data protection field. For further information and to be included on the mailing list, please contact Giulia Cipressi.

Email: Giulia Cipressi mailto:giulia.cipressi@cenorm.be

• the European Commission held an international conference on data protection in Brussels on 30 September - 1 October, 2002, nearly 10,000 replies to the associated online consultation have been received. Details of the conference programme, along with speeches (including the presentation of CEN/ISSS's IPSE Report on standardization in the field of data protection) can be found online.

URL: http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/dataprot/lawreport/index.htm

• The European Association for the co-ordination of consumer representation in standardisation (ANEC), established in 1995 to represent consumers from all European Union and European Free Trade Area countries, has published a new report on "Consumer Requirements in Standardisation related to the Information Society".

URL: http://www.anec.org/public/comments/cm2003/IT008-03.pdf

• Details of an Open Meeting on European Electronic Signatures Standardization - "European Signatures versus Global Signatures", to be held on 7 April 2003, in Rome, Italy.

URL: http://www.ict.etsi.org/EESSI/Documents/Invitation_Rome.doc

• The eCommerce Workshop, has initiated a new project, "Web services - Utilization Guidelines for selected areas of application". The project aims to provide users with guidelines for the utilisation of web services technology.

URL: http://www.cenorm.be/isss/Workshop/ec/Projects/Projects.htm

• Consortia and ICT standardization survey which provides details of over 350 informal "standards bodies", including industry consortia. The 7th and latest edition of the CEN/ISSS ICT Consortia Survey was published in October 2002, and is available online.

URL: http://www.cenorm.be/isss/Consortia2/

• a product classification system for the European retail sector which once published will be submitted to the Global Commerce Initiative, to help retailing efficiency. It will be available for download from the CEN/ISSS web site as soon as it's been published.

URL: http://www.cenorm.be/isss/CWAs/cwalist.htm

If you would like to contribute information on activities in this area, please write to the CEN/ISSS Newsletter via the email below.

URL: http://www.cenorm.be/isss/news/newsletter-issue1-feb2003.htm
Email: mailto:isss-newsletter@cenorm.be

First Monday February 2003

The February 2003 issue of First Monday (volume 8, number 2) is now available online, and includes the following articles:

• "Reconciling interiors: The screen as installation",
• "Cyborg logs and collective stream of (de)consciousness capture for producing attribution-free informatic content such as cyborglogs",
• "Collaborative development of open content: A process model to unlock the potential for African universities",
• "Electronic citizenship and global social movements",
• "E-media in development: Combining multiple e-media types",
• "Cybermethods: An assessment".

The issue also includes a number of book reviews.

URL: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_2/

International Journal on E-Learning

The International Journal on E-Learning (IJEL) has completed publication of its premiere year of articles. IJEL is published by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) and is the sponsor of the E-Learn 2003 Conference. It serves as a peer-reviewed forum to facilitate the international exchange of information on the current research, development, and practice of e-learning in the corporate, government, healthcare, and higher education sectors.

IJEL invites papers on the current research, development, and practice of e-learning in the above sectors. Published quarterly, the Journal is available on subscription.

URL: Journal homepage http://www.aace.org/pubs/ijel/
URL: E-Learn 2003 Conference http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn
URL: Subscription information http://www.aace.org/membership/
URL: Subscription form http://www.aace.org/subs/

Morphix MetaSight KM solutions

MetaSight from Morphix tracks emerging organisational concepts and relationships by automatically analysing e-mail subject titles and traffic patterns. The company offers two complementary tools: Communities of Interest and Communities of Relationships. According to the developer, "these web applications allow searches to be made for colleagues with particular interests or external relationships by automatically profiling knowledge and relationships of every individual in an enterprise from e-mail communications". The knowledge and relationship profiles and communities are dynamically updated.

The software has apparently been used by one company to locate expertise, knowledge and business relationships across 3,500 consultants based worldwide. A single-server MetaSight installation processes information from around 100,000 e-mails per day collected from 55 globally distributed servers, and maintains a dynamic taxonomy from which expertise and relationships are automatically profiled.

URL: MetaSight http://www.metasight.co.uk
URL: Morphix http://www.morphix.com

Library Link Newsletter latest

The Library Link Newsletter for February 2003 has been published online and includes news, reviews and articles relating to digital library technology and management.

URL: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/librarylink

XMLs 5th birthday celebrated

XML.com the web site dedicated to all things XML celebrates the fifth year of the publication of XML 1.0 as a W3C recommendation. To celebrate this anniversary, the editor has interviewed some seasoned experts about their experiences with XML over the last half-decade, and their hopes for the future.

URL: http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2003/02/12/xml-at-5.html

Surveying the digital future

The UCLA Center for Communication Policy's Internet Project has published a series of reports which it has published under the collective title: "Surveying the Digital Future - How the PC and Internet Are Changing the World ". The series attempts to understand and document the impact of online technology on America. Many aspects of online behaviour are analysed including trends in Internet usage, the effects of the Internet on a wide range of people, and how people communicate and gather information online. (Source: The Scout Report)

URL: Surveying the Digital Future http://ccp.ucla.edu/pages/internet-report.asp
URL: UCLA Center for Communication Policy http://ccp.ucla.edu/

The Bluetooth market

According to US research organisation, In-Stat/MDR, the market for Bluetooth components will continue to grow in 2003. In-Stat/MDR, which provides analytic services to technology vendors and service providers, believes that final chipset shipment figures for 2002 will surpass 35 million - a growth rate of about 250% on the previous year. The company does however sound a note of caution, suggesting that "one of the biggest challenges that the industry still faces is the education of consumers, as the benefits of Bluetooth need to be marketed, rather than the technology itself". In-Stat/MDR have published a report: "Bluetooth 2002 Forecast Update", priced at US$2,995, which considers the market prospects for Bluetooth equipment and technology through to 2006.

URL: report http://www.instat.com/catalog/cat-mi.htm
URL: In-Stat/MDR http://www.instat.com/

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