-- .-. .-----. .---. ---------------------------------------------------- | |N | | | |Y | O |PINION : MY VIEW ON COMPUTERS AND THE FUTURE -- `-' `-'-'-' `---' ---------------------------------------------------- Changing the Ways of the Web Gregory Lam June, 1997 IMO697.TXT IN 1993, the CERN laboratory in Switzerland developed something quite remarkable. It was a titillating concept; the concept of non-linear content - a media without a set start and finish. It could very well be revolutionize Internet-based information retrieval...and it did. Of course, as we all know now, CERN developed a new code definition known as HTML - HyperText Markup Language. The next year, the folks at NCSA wrote a graphical interface for HTML, a "browser" program they called Mosaic. By 1995, the Internet and the newly christened WorldWide Web (WWW) went mainstream and took the world by storm - and there has been no looking back. Four years later, the web continues to redefine itself with multimedia, more versatile HTML tags, proto-virtual reality (VRML), more diverse content, and new scripting languages such as Java, Python (after the noted flying circus) and VBScript. The Internet is busier than ever, becoming a crowded global marketplace, information database and public forum rolled into one. Here are several critical items that can seriously change the ways of the web: Java: Invented by Calgary native James Gosling at Sun Microsystems in 1995, the Java web language has left the Internet community tittering about its prospects. Unfortunately, prospects were what all Java had for awhile, with its powerful capabilities used to produce cute little animated sequences. Seriously, Java does have potential. Java allows programs, called applets, to be downloaded onto one's computer to be run in real time. C/C++ code syntax and cross-platform compatibility (that is, it will run on Windows, OS/2, Unix, anything) make Java doubly appealing. With Java, one can theoretically have their own scrolling stock quote message sign on their desktop or websites with CD-ROM-like interactive multimedia. Java applets can be loaded and run just like a program off your hard drive - but with less system overhead and cost to the user. And, for at least one company, the wishful thinking has started to become real. Earlier this year, Corel Corporation unveiled a beta version of Corel Office for Java. That's right, a suite of applications such as WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, Presentations, InfoCentral and CorelCHART!, runnable right off the web! Check it out at http://officeforjava.corel.com/ . A commercial version is slated for this summer. Wilbur: The codename for the new definition of HTML, Version 3.2, as approved by the WWW Consortium. Late and woefully out of date with the "illegitimate" Netscape and Microsoft language extensions, this official HTML version appeared quietly late last year. Wilbur still doesn't allow such common tags such as background colours or frames, and is a pretty good example of how technology and bureaucracy does not mix. Still, it has some advantages. The biggest pluses are its support for Java applets and upgradeability to customizable style sheets (CSS), a new method for page layout and design. It will also be the accepted standard for all other browsers besides Netscape and MSIE out there. Check out the new standard at http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/MarkUp/Wilbur . Smart-Pull: Also called "client-push browsing", smart-pull highlights a prevalent web problem. Currently, browsing is a "client-pull" affair, that is, you must actively search for information. This isn't all bad, since idle browsing seems to be a national pastime for the moment. However, for the home user, this can still be a long, boring task; for a business, spending time scrambling for vital information is counter-productive. In fact, some companies hire people, called net scavengers, who will search for information for a fee. This is where client-push comes in. Like mailing lists, smart-pull services 'push' data to you, rather than you go out and 'pull' data in. Think of it as a hand-delivered interactive newspaper. Already two companies are offering smart-pull services and products: the free PointCast Network (http://www.pointcast.com/) and Marimba Castanet (http://www.marimba.com/). Both Microsoft Active Desktop and Netscape Constellation, two competing, upcoming web-centric desktops, will support smart-pull. 56.6K modems: Several years ago, 28.8kbps modem manufacturers announced they have reached the fastest speed possible on an analog phone line. The 33.6 modem didn't really change that perception; it wasn't that much better. However, two new technologies have managed to goose modems even faster - as much as two times faster. The two dueling standards - USRobotics's x2, and Lucent Technologies and Rockwell's K56flex - claim to give a download speed of 54kbps, definitely loading webpages a lot quicker. Upload is still 28.8. The only requirements are a 56K modem, currently sold by USR and Global Village, and an Internet service provider that supports one of the two standards. This will have to hold us out until cable modems get really cheap or Ma Bell finally replaces the copper wire under every home in North America with fibre optic cable. Come to think of it, if and when that happens, that will be the be-all, end-all development in the worldwide web. * * * Bibliography Halfhill, Tom R. "Constellation, the New Work-Centric Desktop." BYTE Magazine. March 1997, pp. 68. Loshin, Pete. "Tune in, Tune Out the Web." BYTE Magazine. February 1997, pp. 145. Mladen, Caryn. "Modems picking up speed again." Toronto Computes! May 1997, pp. 24. Wheelwright, Geof. "Two standing in browser brouhaha." The Computer Paper. April 1997, pp. 77. Werbach, Kevin. "The Bare Bones Guide To HTML" [computer file] Version 3.0. 21 July 1996. July Issue: Web page design? Easy and fun, there are nonetheless some important things to remember before you decide to weave a homepage. (C)opyright Gregory Lam, All rights reserved. You are allowed to copy this document sans charge on the condition none of it is altered or used without proper bibliographical references. === G R E G O R Y L A M =================================================== -=Toronto, Ontario=- {~._.~} ("*_*") gregory.lam@ablelink.org ___/|___\_______ ( Y ) ( v ) HoTaMaLe! http://www.geocities ( /-\_____\___/-\) ()~*~:()():~%~() .com/TimesSquare/4818/ ======\_/o--------\_/======(_)-(_)==(_)-(_)=================================