------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEBSITES OF THE WEEK! | This section is devoted to cool WebSites . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SuperBowl Super Site!| ---------------------- NEW YORK and REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- With the completion of the NFL regular season, pro football fans are getting ready for the playoffs and the ultimate season finale: Super Bowl XXX (Jan. 28, 1996, Tempe, Ariz.). For the first time, the NFL, in conjunction with NBC Sports and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), will bring all of the excitement and activities surrounding the biggest one-day sports event to cyberspace with the launch of a new Web site -- http://superbowl.com. Throughout the next month, superbowl.com will provide fans worldwide with previews and up-to-the-minute news on all the playoff games; team and game analysis from NBC Sports talent; information on past Super Bowls, including video and audio clips of the game's most memorable moments; as well as fan message boards, chat areas and a Super Bowl cybershop. Once the AFC and NFC championship teams are determined (mid-January), superbowl.com will report live from Tempe on the two teams playing in Super Bowl XXX and the events surrounding the game. Superbowl.com will provide background information on the teams plus continuous updates and coverage of the events of the week prior to the Super Bowl. Fans will be able to chat with NFL stars and NBC Sports talent, and get all the latest news and photos from events and news conferences in Tempe. During the Super Bowl game, superbowl.com will feature online commentary and analysis from NFL and NBC experts, live play-by-play and statistics. Microsoft is the key technology partner and has been instrumental in the creation and management of superbowl.com. The site combines state-of-the-art technologies such as interactive chats and multimedia images and sound, to give users a highly-interactive experience. While the Web site is accessible to any user connected to the Internet, users of the new Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer version 2.0 will have exclusive access to additional features such as inline sound and inline video. The site resides on the Microsoft Internet Information Server, a Web server that runs on the Windows NT(TM) operating system, to help ensure reliability, speed of access and ease of use. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Super Bowl, the site's home page will feature a different Super Bowl multimedia flashback each day. The site also will feature an area where fans will have a unique opportunity to contribute to the content of the television special "Behind the Scenes: Super Bowl XXX," to be telecast by NBC on Saturday, Jan. 27 (5-6 p.m.). Users of superbowl.com will be able to suggest features for inclusion in the special. "With the help of NBC and Microsoft, we are bringing the excitement of the NFL playoffs and one of the world's premier sporting events to cyberspace for the first time, providing fans worldwide with an upclose look at this special anniversary of the Super Bowl," said Ann Kirschner, vice president of programming and media development for NFL Enterprises. "If you can't actually be there in Tempe, superbowl.com will provide an unparalleled interactive sporting experience for NFL fans in January." "Superbowl.com is one of the most dynamic sites on the Web," said Mike Conte, group manager in the personal systems division at Microsoft. "We think it really shows off our innovative Internet technologies such as sound, video and graphics. It offers users, particularly those using Internet Explorer, an advanced interactive experience." "We are excited about this innovative opportunity to expand our relationship with the NFL and Microsoft," said Jon Miller, senior vice president, NBC Sports programming. "It is hard to believe that the Super Bowl, the biggest annual sports event, could get even bigger. But NBC, the NFL and Microsoft are making that happen." Superbowl.com was created by NFL Enterprises, NBC Sports Online and their technology partner Microsoft. The site will reside at http://superbowl.com on the Microsoft Internet Information Server. ----------------------- Black Star Pics . . . | ----------------------- NEW YORK, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Star Publishing Co., Inc. (New York, NY) announces a year-long 60th Anniversary Exhibit photo gallery on the World Wide Web, partially sponsored by Professional and Printing Imaging at Eastman Kodak. This fascinating exhibition involves nearly 600 photos and almost 20,000 words of narrative, all involving world trends, events and phenomena over the past 60 years. Each of the hundreds of stories being presented involves one to four photos, plus narrative. The exhibit groups these individual stories into thematic sections, all indexed and cross-referenced. There is much more here than any casual Web browser can encounter in any small number of visits. Black Star VP John Chapnick is clear about the company's motivations for creating this landmark Web site. "This is a great way to showcase some remarkable photography, all of which comes from our own archives, reflecting six decades of fulfilling photographic assignments for both business and the media. It's also a good way to demonstrate how our Black Star Link group can create a Web site that offers a continuing draw without requiring continuing upkeep. But commercial motivations aside, it's a wonder erful showcase for some absolutely fascinating photography." The scholarly Donald Jenner (who is an author, a writer and who teaches at the City University of New York) curated the exhibit and prepared its easy-reading social/historical narrative. "The Black Star exhibit is an extended experiment in moving photojournalism from print media to the Internet," Jenner says, "capturing essential moments of the last 60 years. It chronicles facets of those times as trivial as a 60s fad for motor scooters in New York or a Rogues' Gallery of notable crooks -- or as momen tous as the Civil Rights movement in the U.S., the rise and fall of Apartheid in South Africa or the Second World War." This Black Star 60th Anniversary Exhibit Web site is open to all, at http://exhibit.blackstar.com; it's also linked, though more indirectly, from the Black Star home page at http://www.blackstar.com. Black Star Publishing Co., Inc. (founded 1935) has an outstanding 60- year reputation for providing news and feature photography to print media. Today, its Black Star On Assignment division organizes a global network of 350 photographers. Its Black Star Picture Collection maintains a library of more than three million stock images, plus a million additional black & white prints. Black Star Worldwide provides news and feature photography for leading print media. And its new Black Star Link division p rovides Internet consulting and World Wide Web design and implementation support for large corporations. For further information contact Black Star Publishing Co., Inc., 116 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016; 212-679-3288; fax 212-889-2052; World Wide Web URL http://www.blackstar.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Women on the Web . . . | ------------------------ Phoenix, AZ -Lone Wolf Web Design announced today the new International Directory of Women Web Designers, a World Wide Web site dedicated to web design companies and related Internet consulting firms that are owned and operated by women. The Directory contains businesses who specialize in Web page design, graphics, Web server set-up and maintenance, Internet training, marketing, and consulting. Companies are broken down geographically to help users find a consultant or designer in his or her area. Hyperlinks to company sites and contact information about the company are included in every listing. "There is a rapidly growing sector of woman-owned Web Design businesses, and I thought it would be great to have a 'one-stop shop' for people who are looking for a firm to help them establish or improve their Internet presence," said Shauna Doughty, the creator and maintainer of the directory. "The issue of what roles women will play in the future of the Internet, both socially and economically, is very significant. The Women Web Designers Directory proves that women around the world and their businesses are making admirable progress in what formerly was a very male-dominated Universe." Doughty's company, Lone Wolf Web Design, is a premier provider of Web design and Internet consulting. The company offers web page design, graphics, consulting, and marketing research to companies who need assistance in establishing an economical site on the World Wide Web. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the firm also offers training for groups and individuals in various Internet subjects, including set-up and installation of Internet software and efficient use of the many Internet applications. Contact Shauna at shauna@primenet.com or http://www.primenet.com/~shauna. ---------------------------------- Novell's Web Site Explodes . . . | ---------------------------------- OREM, Utah -- Jan. 8, 1996 -- Responding to customer demand now averaging 250,000 hits per day, Novell today announced increased capacity and performance for its NetWire technical information service on the World Wide Web. NetWire, including easily searchable online databases and libraries of downloadable files, provides online access to technical information from Novell through remote access 24 hours-a-day. "Our NetWire web site delivers the most up-to-date technical support information to thousands of customers and partners each day," said Michael Bishop, director of Electronic Support for Novell Technical Services. "Following new hardware and network upgrades, Novell can now provide millions of customers with reliable access on a daily basis." Novell has upgraded the NetWire site's central server processors, I/O subsystem, and T1 connections to improve throughput and ensure fast response times for a rapidly expanding community of users. Following the upgrades, the site is now handling 25 percent more hits per business day, and compared to one year ago, Internet access of NetWire has increased more than 600 percent. Novell has created two "Top 20" lists on NetWire on the Internet. These lists provide customers with the top 20 Technical Information Documents (TIDs) and top 20 downloadable files based on customer access. Automatically updated according to customer usage, the "Top 20" lists represent the most common technical solutions delivered to on-line customers by Novell. Customers can visit NetWire at the following locations: * CompuServe Go NETWIRE * Internet http://netwire.novell.com ftp://ftp.novell.com gopher://gopher.novell.com * MSN# Go NETWIRE * SpaceWorks# call 1-800-577-2235 Technical information can also be found on the company's CD-ROM knowledge base product, the Network Support Encyclopedia# Professional Volume (NSEPro#). The NSEPro is updated each month and includes downloadable files, patches and drivers, Technical Information Documents, and product documentation for NetWare, UnixWare, Groupware and Personal Productivity products. Novell recently announced new pricing and licensing options for the NSEPro: single-user licenses are available for $495 per year, site licenses are $995 per year. CNEs are eligible for discounts. Novell's electronic technical support offering provides Novell's service partners, large accounts, customers and technical support engineers with access to comprehensive technical information on Novell products, anytime, anyplace. Novell is establishing the electronic support programs and delivery vehicles required to provide technical assistance to a billion users worldwide by the year 2000. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ComputerWorld on the Web . . .| ------------------------------- Computerworld, Inc. introduces @Computerworld on the World Wide Web. Two sections address two audiences: @Computerworld is a virtual IT meeting place providing daily, interactive news, analysis, and dialogue forums and opportunities focusing on the adoption of World Wide Web technology for business enterprises. A concept-based search engine, provide by Architext, enables users to find stories from Computerworld newspaper, Computerworld Client/Server Journal, and @Computerworld. TechCity , the "hub of technological achievement," is a new Internet-era model of content-based advertising surrounded by a cyber-world of service and culture -- all designed to serve the needs and job functions of both the computer professional and IT-empowered executive and end user. ---------------------------------- RIP-2 from Telegrafix | ---------------------------------- Since you are an important colleague of ours in the online media community, TeleGrafix is sending this short news release to brief you about an important new Internet technology. Following two years of development, TeleGrafix Communications is giving away free communications software that allows you to use the new RIPscrip-2 (Remote Imaging Protocol-2 scripting language) Internet online multimedia technology. We invite you to sample "RIP-2" multimedia on TeleGrafix's Vector Sector BBS at (714) 379-2133. To fully experience it, please download the "shareware" RIPterm v2.2 communications software from the BBS. RIP-2 technical data and RIPterm v2.2 also are available for download at http://www.telegrafix.com on the World Wide Web. Browser "plug-ins" to permit viewing of RIP-2 multimedia on the Web are slated for release in early 1996. RIP-2 enables you to create TV-style multimedia presentations or electronic newspapers that fly through the Internet and ordinary phone lines at dazzling speeds using regular modems. RIP-2 encodes graphics as hyper-compressed ASCII text files that are as little as one-tenth the size of other formats. It works on any computing platform or communications network that uses 7-bit or 8-bit ASCII text. We expect RIP-2 to quickly become an important Internet technical standard like HTML, Java or VRML. TeleGrafix is now accepting requests from software developers and online system operators who want copies of the RIP-2 Internet multimedia language specification when it is published in early 1996. The first generation of RIP technology, introduced in 1993, is the world's BBS graphics standard. It is used on thousands of BBS systems, and is supported by dozens of online software vendors including Delrina, Galacticomm, Hayes and Mustang. --------------------- Virtual Cornucopia! | --------------------- NEW YORK, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- There's a virtual cultural cornucopia on the Internet, as Pipeline, a PSINet Inc. (Nasdaq: PSIX) company, introduces several exclusive Internet sites through its New York City-based "Virtual Neighborhood." These new sites are an example of the local content Pipeline plans to roll out to cities across the country as part of its Virtual Neighborhoods program. Virtual Neighborhoods was launched by Pipeline's parent, PSINet, to provide local content in select U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles and Dallas. Pipeline recently launched "nyfood.com," the tri-state area's first World Wide Web site for ordering food for delivery. The service is free to all Internet users, and can be accessed at http://www.nyfood.com Pipeline NY subscribers get added features like chances to win gift certificates to well known restaurants and the opportunity to post food reviews on the site. Epicurean delights aren't all that's new on Pipeline NY. There's also food for thought from The New School, and advice for the lovelorn for those with an appetite for romance. For those who prefer Picasso over Prosciutto, Pipeline offers an online version of Museums New York, while purveyors of popcorn will enjoy Pipeline's unique B-movie site, "Phantom of the Movies." Museums New York Magazine (http://www.museumsny.com): Pipeline NY subscribers now have access to the Internet version of Museums New York, a bimonthly arts and culture publication providing news and information about exhibits and events at over 100 museums in the tri-state area. Museums New York's Web site is available for viewing by subscribers exclusively for two weeks before it is released to the entire Internet. Subscribers also have exclusive access to their extensive Daily Calendar, and to free and discounted tickets to various museum exhibits. Senior editors host monthly events in Pipeline's news groups and facilitate news group appearances by museum curators and artists. The Phantom of the Movies: (http://www.phantom.nyc.pipeline.com): Pipeline NY announces the debut of The Phantom on the World Wide Web. The site is an "e-zine" covering genre and cult films, and features interviews, reviews, links to other movie sites, letters to The Phantom and video clips. The Phantom, a columnist for the NY Daily News, will make regular appearances in Pipeline NY newsgroups to answer questions about genre films. Subscribers have exclusive previews to sections of the site. The School of Flirting (http://www.flirting.nyc.pipeline.com): For those interested in laughing, meeting people, role-playing, and finding true love, Robin Newman Gorman, author of How to Meet a Mensch in New York, and Susan Rabin, author of How to Attract Anyone, Anytime, Anyplace, have developed the School of Flirting, a monthly event taking place at Stand Up New York, a comedy club on the Upper West Side. Every other week, Robin and Susan share their insights on the subject of "How to Find Love in New York" exclusively with Pipeliners by posting columns on their Web site. Pipeliners interested in enrolling in School of Flirting classes also are entitled to a discount to the sessions of their choice. Food For Thought: Pipeline New Yorkers can now use the Internet to further their education through the New School's Distance Instruction for Adult Learning (DIAL) program and Pipeline New York. Pipeline developed custom applications allowing subscribers to connect to the New School and take courses online. Look under the Pipeline menu item Metro NY/Education/New School for course and registration information. To Be Or Not To Be Online (http://www.publictheater.org): Pipeline NY helped develop, and now hosts, the Public Theater's Web site. The Theater offers New Yorkers Shakespeare in the Park, and presents plays like "The Tempest," starring Patrick Stewart, works by Steve Martin, and more. Theater directors, producers and others will join Pipeline NY newsgroups for online chats. Pipeline subscribers receive a 20% discount to all plays. The Pink-Triangle (http://www.gmhc.org): Pipeline NY proudly hosts the World Wide Web site of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, a well-known organization involved in the fight against AIDS. In addition, representatives of GMHC partake in monthly discussion sessions in Pipeline's newsgroup, pipeline.pink- triangle. The Y on the Web (http://www.92ndsty.org): The 92nd St. Y now has its own Web site which Pipeline helped develop, and is hosting. Check out the site to discover upcoming events, and chat with artists in Pipeline NY newsgroups. Subscribers receive a 15% discount. Headquartered in Herndon, Va., with an established, content-rich "Virtual Neighborhood" in New York City, Pipeline is the nation's first Internet online service that offers unlimited Internet access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at a flat rate ($19.95 per month). Readers/viewers /listeners can call 1-800-453-PIPE (7473) for free Pipeline software. Pipeline recently received PC Magazine's "Editors' Choice" award as an excellent package for new users. The Winter 1996 edition of Your First PC describes Pi peline as "the best nationwide Internet service provider." PSINet has defined industry standards and is a leader in technological innovation and new service development. The company is headquartered in Herndon, Va., with sales and service offices across the U.S., Cambridge, England and Tokyo, Japan. PSINet is a publicly held company trading under the PSIX symbol on the Nasdaq exchange. Further product availability and pricing information can be obtained by calling 703-904-4100; through PSINet's Web site at http://www.psi.net; or by sending an e-mail request to info@psi.com. ------------------------------ Ziff Davis is Ready for You! | ------------------------------ FOSTER CITY, Calif., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ziff-Davis Publishing Company has more than 500 editors and reporters worldwide who can provide expert commentary on major stories in the computer industry -- including the latest speculation swirling around Apple Computer Inc. For example, Pamela Pfiffner, MacUser's Editor-in-Chief, and Cheryl England, the magazine's Editor, both jumped into the fray this morning with on-line columns. "What concerns me more than the financial blood- letting is the creative brain-drain the company is experiencing," writes Pfiffner. Adds England, "Saying it wants to increase market share or drop its low-end products in order to focus on higher-end, higher-margin products is not enough: Apple needs to come up with a vision for its future." (T he columns can be found at http://www.zdnet.com/~macuser/applefuture/) These columns inaugurate what will become weekly, exclusive on-line columns written by MacUser editors. Pfiffner can be reached at 415-378-5694, England can be reached at 415-378-5683, and other MacUser editors can be contacted by calling Laurel Skillman at 415-378-5624. Mark Hall, the Editor-in-Chief of MacWEEK, also has an exclusive on- line column on the current "Feeding Frenzy" in the Mac market. Writes Hall, "It used to be that if Apple sneezed its (third-party) vendors caught colds. Now Apple could be at death's door with the Ebola virus and vendors would hardly get an ache or a pain." Hall's Off The Record column quotes two hardware vendors in the Mac market who tell him their having a record year in sales and profits. Says one "I don't care if Apple ever makes a dime, as long as they keep selling all those Macs." (Hall's column can be found at http://www/zdnet.co...04/opinion_ptr.html) Jon Swartz, MacWEEK's Business Editor, has also been following developments closely. (His latest story can be found at http:www.zdnet.co.../news_chairman.html) Hall can be reached at 415-243-3584 or mark_hall@macweek.ziff.com, Swartz can be reached at 415-243-3529 or jon_swartz@macweek.com, and other MacWEEK editors can be contacted by calling Skillman at 415- 378- 5624. Dan Farber, the Editor-in-Chief of PC WEEK, and Charles Cooper, News Editor of PC WEEK Online, broke the story that Apple has offered its chief financial officer's job to Frederick Anderson, Jr., who is currently vice president and CFO with Automatic Data Processing Inc. (The story can be found at http://www.zdnet.co...s/0122/o23papl.html) Farber can be reached at 617-393-3810 or dfarber@pcweek.ziff.com, Cooper can be reached at 617-393-3828 or ccooper@pcweek.ziff.com, and other PC WEEK editors can be contacted by calling Cathy Cantwell at 617-393-3700. MacUser is the leading paid circulation magazine in the Macintosh publishing field and the magazine is rated number one by Mac buyers for its comprehensive lab testing and reporting on Macintosh products. MacWEEK is the only newsweekly that provides the news and analysis on which organizations with the largest Macintosh installations can rely. PC WEEK is the computer industry's most relied upon newsweekly, with a controlled subscriber base that includes more than 300,000 qualified buyers who make volume purchases of PC and networking products. In addition to MacUser, MacWEEK, and PC WEEK, Ziff-Davis publishes PC Magazine, PC Computing, Computer Shopper, Windows Sources, Computer Life, FamilyPC (with the Walt Disney Company), Computer Gaming World, Inter@ctive Week (with Inter@ctive Enterprises), and Yahoo! Internet Life in the U.S. Outside the U.S., the company publishes another 10 magazines outside the U.S. and licenses an addition 56 titles that are distributed in more than 100 countries around the world. Ziff-Davis is also the leading publisher of computing content on- line. Its award-winning ZD Net Web site (http://www.zdnet.com) offers more than 20,000 pages of frequently updated computer news and information, and receives millions of page requests each week from hundreds of thousands of unique users. The SOFTBANK Corporation of Japan recently signed a definitive agreement to purchase the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company from Forstmann Little & Co. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 1996. þ