EP Topic News: 30 June 2003

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Seven Years of El.pub

The second part of the El.pub Analytic, entitled: "Looking back - seven years of El.pub" has been published online. From the pre-amble: "the El.pub web site was launched in March 1996, just over seven years ago. As the site may soon disappear, now is a good time to look back at the news items that we have carried and how the R&D focus has changed over the period".

URL: Part 1 http://www.elpub.org/analytic14.htm
URL: Part 2 http://www.elpub.org/analytic15.htm

Data repositories NoE - interested?

Glenn Hall, a researcher at the HP Digital Media Systems Research Labs in Bristol, UK is attempting to bring together researchers interested in the implementation of digital repositories to discuss the possibility of setting up a Network of Excellence (NoE). An initial meeting has been scheduled to take place in Bristol on 16 July, 2003 and is open to all those individuals and organisations that would like to take part. An brief document (downloadable from El.pub), presents an outline for the NoE and the aims of the initial meeting. Should there be enough support for the aims of the NoE - the initiators would propose submitting a request for funding by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme (FP6). This request would be made in the 2nd Call for Proposals which was announced in mid-June and which closes on October 15, 2003.

URL: download document http://www.elpub.org/repositories.pdf
Email: Glenn Hall glenn.hall@hp.com

VR World Congress success

Over 250 people attended the 6th VR World Congress, "Visions of Virtual Reality & Interactive 3D in European Commission Supported Projects", in Luxembourg last week. The event was organised by the INFORM project, the publishers of El.pub. A number of slide presentations from the event are available for download from El.pub via the conference agenda page.

URL: http://www.elpub.org/agenda28.htm

FP6 Call 1 success factors

At the VR World Congress the Commission gave a couple of presentations which provide an excellent overview of the key requirements for submitting a successful IP or NoE. Suggestions as to how to overcome problems associated with submitting proposals, including making use of the pre-proposal "service" offered by the CEC Unit, are provided. This pre-proposal discussion with Commission officials is being extended to the 2nd Call, though given that this Call closes on October 15, 2003, the window of opportunity to do this is limited given availability of Commission staff and the commitment by the Commission to reply within 3 days. Dates given for submitting a pre-proposal (of approximately 3 pages) were as follows:

• until mid-August, 2003
• then mid-September - end September, 2003

Pre-proposals should be sent to the Roberto Cencioni, Head of Unit, Knowledge Management & Content Creation, via the email below.

Email: pre-proposals mailto:robertocencioni@cec.eu.int
URL: slides online http://www.elpub.org/agenda28.htm

CORDIS dictionary of FP6 terminology

Potential participants in the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) need to be familiar with specific terms which refer to the participation process, project implementation, the financial regime and contractual obligations. CORDIS, has published a new glossary gathering most of the terminology currently in use. Users can quickly find words or expressions and obtain a short definition, as well as complementary links to gain more understanding. The feature will enable people to better grasp the jargon describing activities, rules and instruments within FP6. In addition, potential participants can benefit from reading guidance documents and detailed information on provisions for implementing tools, such as the recently published integrated projects, networks of excellence and specific targeted research projects leaflets; all available in the FP6 Library section.

URL: glossary http://fp6.cordis.lu/fp6/glossary.cfm
URL: FP6 library http://www.cordis.lu/fp6/find-doc.htm

AgentNews software news

AgentNews has published brief information on a couple of developments of potential interest to El.pub readers.

• Protégé OWL plugin - the goal of this plugin is to supply Protégé with full support for the Semantic Web ontology language OWL, including export and import of OWL files but also custom-tailored graphical widgets for editing description logic ontologies.

URL: http://protege.stanford.edu/plugins/owl/

• Semantic web challenge - news that a group of researchers have initiated a contest for the best semantic web application, with entries due 15 September 2003.

URL: http://challenge.semanticweb.org/

AgentNews is an electronic newsletter published at the UMBC Lab for Advanced Information Technology and COGITO group and consists of news published on the AgentWeb site.

URL: COGITO http://cogito.umbc.edu/
URL: http://agents.umbc.edu/
URL: Agent News http://agents.umbc.edu/agentnews/

Bluetooth protocol analyzer

Computer Access Technology Corporation (CATC) has announced a Bluetooth analyzer capable of complete capture, decode and analysis of Draft 4 (released May 23, 2003) of version 1.2 of the Bluetooth protocol. BTTracer/Trainer V2.1 is the latest release in CATC's extensive line of Bluetooth design, verification and production tools.

URL: CATC http://www.catc.com/

Products follow IEEE 802.11G

A number of companies have announced support for the recent IEEE 802.11G standard.

• Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, has announced that all its Wireless-G products will comply with the 802.11g standard. All Linksys Wireless-G products will be upgradeable to the final 802.11g spec. via a firmware or driver upgrade available on the Linksys website in the coming weeks. Linksys also plans to submit its current and upcoming Wireless-G and Wireless A+G products in for Wi-Fi certification of 802.11g this summer when testing begins.

URL: http://www.linksys.com

• D-Link plans to provide a simple, free firmware upgrade for its AirPlus Xtreme G and AirXpert A/G/B wireless networking product lines to bring them into full compliance with the standard. Available by early-July, the firmware upgrade will be featured in shipping D-Link products and will be available at the company's web site as a free download.

URL: http://www.dlink.com

• Texas Instruments (TI) is providing its TNETW1130 802.11g solution to customers: SMC Networks, US Robotics, NETGEAR, Samsung, and Sitecom. These companies will be using TI WLAN technology for their 802.11g and multi-mode Wi-Fi products.

URL: http://www.ti.com/tnetw1130
URL: http://www.ti.com/wlan
URL: http://www.ti.com/

Credit card personalisation

iPIX is providing Bank of America with imaging services that offer customers an innovative way to personalise their credit card. "With the popularity of the Internet and the proliferation of scanners and digital cameras, consumers are more and more comfortable with electronic images. At Bank of America, we are committed to providing financial solutions that delight our customers," said Rebecka Nelli, New Product Development manager, Bank of America. "Partnering with iPIX to offer the Photo Expressions card feature online gives our customers the ability to capture a special moment in time on their credit card."

iPIX and Bank of America have created a four-step process designed for the novice. The consumer provides an electronic image of their choice, such as a photo of their pet or recent vacation, and has a chance to make simple adjustments to that image. Then, the consumer previews exactly what their new, personalized credit card design will look like before accepting. Results confirm that it is fast, easy, and flexible.

URL: Bank of America http://www.bankofamerica.com/creditcards
URL: iPIX http://www.ipix.com

British Library online delivery

The British Library has opened up its vast collections for secure electronic delivery through US$ 6 million investment in new technology. The Library claims that it will be able to supply access to over a billion items via the electronic delivery service "from Fall 2003". The system is based on Adobe Reader 6.0 software and Relais International scanning and delivery technology.

URL: British Library http://www.bl.uk
URL: Relais International http://www.relais-intl.com
URL: Adobe http://www.adobe.com

Global Entertainment and Media forecasts

A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the global entertainment and media industry Will reach US$ 1.4 Trillion in 2007 despite a generally weak economy. In the latest edition of the annual PricewaterhouseCoopers Entertainment & Media Outlook: 2003-2007, North America (with Global Overview) Kevin Carton, said: "Essentially, digital adoption both giveth and taketh away. New products and services generated by digital technology and broadband will drive market growth. However, in the near term, digitization will cannibalize existing revenues and piracy threatens new digital content business models."

The full report is available for US $495, whilst the the "Global Overview" can be purchased separately for US$ 95.

URL: http://www.pwc.com/outlook

Java and web services

Sun Microsystems is attempting to "fuse Java technology and web services". The company has made a number of announcements towards this aim:

• the availability of J2EE 1.4 Beta2 SDK,
• WS-I Basic Profile Support,
• Web Services Developer Pack Version 1.2
• new software for secure Java technology-based web services

URL: http://java.sun.com/j2ee

Chinese calligraphy on a mobile

Pen&Internet, a developer of riteMail handwritten e-mail, and dopod Communication Corp, China's manufacturer of the dopod Pocket PC phone, today announced an OEM bundling agreement to bring handwritten messaging to the China market. Under the terms of the agreement, riteMail for Pocket PC will be pre-loaded on every dopod unit.

URL: dopod http://www.dopod.com
URL: Pen&Internet http://www.penandinternet.com

M/S FrontPage using XML

According to the latest release notes Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003, has been redeveloped to "support a wide range of capabilities for building dynamic, Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based, data-driven Web sites". The software will also apparently offer a "fully WYSIWYG Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) editor". A beta 2 of Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 is available as part of the Microsoft Office System, via the link below. The final release of the product is expected to be "summer 2003", pricing will be announced at that time.

URL: http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/frontpage/

Java.net - developers Java site

Sun Microsystems has unveiled java.net which is styled as "a new community and Web site created to facilitate collaboration between developers working with Java technology". The site is sponsored by Sun, with editorial resources and technology infrastructure provided by CollabNet, and O'Reilly & Associates. The intention is that the site will provide advanced collaboration tools including project and community source code hosting, mailing lists, forums, blogs (online journals featuring regular participation by James Gosling) and wikis - collaborative hypertext documents authored with a simple markup scheme. java.net also hosts a "Javapedia" - a wiki-based encyclopedia of Java software, terms, luminaries, service providers and more - currently being developed by Java technology enthusiasts.

Sun Microsystems also plans to make available a wide variety of code and toolsets via the site including:

• Java Desktop - a gathering place for members of the Java graphical user interface (GUI) community offering discussions, technical articles, open source projects and other news of interest to developers who use the Java desktop platform.
• Java web services and XML.
• Java gaming

URL: http://www.java.net

Parasoft SOAPtest 2.0

Parasoft, has released SOAPtest 2.0, the latest version of its automated testing tool for web services. According to the company, SOAPtest's automated technologies help development teams prevent errors by performing server functional testing, load testing, and client testing, "with just the click of a button". Developers can also use SOAPtest as a proxy server to view and verify messages between a client and a Web service. SOAPtest 2.0 runs on Windows 2000/XP, Linux and Solaris. Pricing starts at US$ 3495.

URL: SOAPtest http://www.parasoft.com/soaptest
URL: Parasoft http://www.parasoft.com/

WebServices.Org Newsletter news

The WebServices.Org Newsletter styles itself as a web services industry portal. Sent out free as an electronic newsletter it includes links to news stories and technology developments in the web services sphere. The latest issue has been produced in cooperation with E-Business Standards Today, published by Data Interchange Standards Association. Among the news stories:

• "DataSynapse releases Web services solution for grid computing" - DataSynapse has announced the availability of GridServer 3.2, the latest release of its grid computing infrastructure software.

URL: http://webster.disa.org/dailywire/S20030620_01.html

• "Content delivery platform to support rights management specs for mobile devices" - Digital World Services, a provider of software for secure delivery of digital content, announced that its content distribution platform ADo2RA V3.5 now supports digital rights management (DRM) based on the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) DRM version 1.0 specification.

URL: http://webster.disa.org/dailywire/S20030620_02.html

• "OpenSource video streaming solution for every OS!" - VideoLAN is a project which apparently enables the streaming of MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and DivX files, DVDs, digital satellite channels, digital terrestrial television channels and live videos on a high-bandwidth IPv4 or IPv6 network in unicast or multicast under many operating systems.

URL: http://streamingmediaworld.com/video/docs/VideoLAN/

Subscribe to the email newsletter on the Web Services Org web site.

URL: Web Services Org http://www.webservices.org
URL: E-Business Standards Today http://www.disa.org/dailywire/

Dreamweaver web dev articles

The independent Dreamweaver MX community, DMXzone.com, has added an extra tutorial track for its users. A new article is added every day - and Dreamweaver Professionals can download articles from widely published authors and experts on wide-ranging subjects that Dreamweaver users need to understand, such as Web Standards, PHP, ASP.NET, CSS, XHTML, SQL Server and Web Accessibility. At US$ 1.99 per download, the publishers believe that that the service "allows community members to buy just the information they need".

URL: http://www.dmxzone.com

PushToTest - web services testing

TestMaker 4.0, from PushToTest, is described as an open-source Web services test framework (HTTP, HTTPS, SOAP, XML-RPC). The latest version now writes test agents automatically, visualises test results in charts and meters, and delivers new friendly graphic test environment. There is a brief news item on the announcement on the Web Services Org web site.

URL: news item http://www.webservices.org/index.php/article/view/1049/
URL: PushToTest http://www.pushtotest.com

OpenURL standard trial

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has released The OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services standard (version 1.0) for a trial use period ending November 1, 2003. The OpenURL standard allows a user who has retrieved an information resource citation to obtain immediate access to the most "appropriate" copy of the full resource through the implementation of extended linking services.

The selection of the best source for the full resource is based on the user's and the organization's preferences related to location, cost, contractual or license agreements in place with information suppliers -all done transparently to the user. The transparency is accomplished by storing context sensitive metadata with the "OpenURL" link from the source citation, and linking it to a "resolver" server where the preference information and links to the source material are stored.

The initial development of OpenURL was targeted at the electronic delivery of scholarly journal articles. In version 1.0 of the Standard the framework is generalised to enable communities beyond the original audience of scholarly information users to adopt extended linking services and to lower the entry barrier for new implementers.

An international group of trial users, are testing the standard and include data providers constructing OpenURL metadata, providers of OpenURL resolvers, and libraries providing end user services using OpenURL resolution are testing the standard.

The Standard has been issued in two parts and is available as a free download. The activities of the OpenURL standards committee and its trial implementers can be followed on the committee's web site or by subscribing to the committee's listserv by sending an email message to majordomo@caltech.edu with "subscribe openurl" (without quotation marks) in the body of the message.

URL: download http://library.caltech.edu/openurl/Public_Comments.htm
URL: OpenURL standards committee http://library.caltech.edu/openurl/default.htm
URL: NISO http://www.niso.org/

alphaWorks developer software

A number of experimental software downloads are available via the IBM alphaWorks web site including:

• Transcription Portlet - a voice portlet for transcribing telephony-based dictation. This technology makes large-vocabulary speech recognition technology available to telephony-based portal applications. It provides Java APIs through which developers can integrate transcription capabilities into a portlet application.

URL: http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/transportlet?Open&ca=daw-flts-061903

• Client Perceived Response Time (CPRT) is a technique for accurately measuring the response time of a web service as perceived by clients. This resulting information about response time can be supplied to any agent on the Internet, including the service provider. CPRT data can be used to determine whether performance expectations are being met and whether additional resources are needed.

URL: http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/cprt?Open&ca=daw-flnt-061903

• XML Productivity Kit for Java (XPK4J) is a companion technology for IBM's XML Parser for Java that enables "quick building and deployment of robust XML applications using Java". It contains a variety of tools and protocols for enabling simple yet advanced XML processing applications.

URL: http://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/tech/xmlproductivity?Open&ca=daw-fllt-061903

Web services architectures

XML.com includes an article, the second in a series, examining the work of the W3C's Web Services Architecture Working Group, in which the author raises important questions related to the most recent draft of the architecture document. There are some commendable points in the document, but the author asks whether its essential structure really serves the purpose of defining an architecture.

URL: http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2003/06/18/ws-arch.html

Knowledge and Info. Skills Toolkit

TFPL Ltd has launched its Knowledge and Information Skills Toolkit - a web enabled diagnostic tool designed to help individuals and organisations identify and assess the skills they have and need to operate successfully in the knowledge economy. The generic set of knowledge and information related skills, which forms the basis of the core product, is an outcome from three international research
projects undertaken by TFPL over the last few years.

"We are making the Toolkit available on our web site free of charge for individuals to assess the skills they need to develop for a role they have", explained Val Skelton, Project Manager at TFPL. The Toolkit is available as a commercial package to organisations as a tailored intranet based management tool. Various versions are available, for more information about these products and a demonstration contact Val Skelton.

Email: Val Skelton mailto:val.skelton@tfpl.com
URL: Skills Toolkit http://skillstoolkit.tfpl.com
URL: TFPL http://www.tfpl.com

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