3 December

Here's a blast from the 1st generation virtual text chat worlds.  They are way behind the tech curve but still the pioneers.  And of course they can make their own worlds for others:

Hear Ye Hear Ye, all those aboard who are going on the Colony Ship to
Cyberspace in Avatars99, slated to go LIVE at 10am Pacific Time (US) Saturday
December 4th. This will likely be the largest online event in a 3D world yet.
Signup is still open for the art gallery, tour of worlds and other
categories. Attendance is free and we recommend you download and install
Active Worlds and/or Onlive Traveler before Saturday's grand opening.

All you need to know is at:
http://www.ccon.org/conf99/

Here is a wild one straight out of Jules Verne.  Why is it here in this webzine?  Only excuse I have is that it is future and it is dream.  A floating city to chase the sun - an independent tax-free haven.

Want a scoop on how the Internet is recruiting workers for Info-Tech?  Here is some info that looks very encouraging if you have any marketable skill in IT at all.

An even every day seems to mark steps into the global era.  Here is an article about the global governing body for domain name disputes.  Their first case.

Why is this interesting?  The article gives the logic for and against the failing free PC market and why it succeeded.  Further significance is to look at this as another example of how the Net is a jungle that is yet to be explored in the business model arena.

2 December

The Net is still a frontier as far as the legal boundaries.  How do you regulate a global phenomena anyway?  The looming legal battles over Net rights and why the battle is different this time.  This is an interesting one.  More realization where this Net thing can take us.

The net is years from overcoming all resistance to its insidious properties.  We get to see the resistance to change, and the "Its a pipe dream", and the "devil media" all over again.  Only at a much faster pace and a much greater media.  This article is a funny one about one man's emotional struggle (tricked you - you thought I said "Man's" in that old goat way J ) with something he should have seen for what it was.

A barely different spin on the way the factions look at WTO through jaded eyes.  Read if your a WTO junkie

This is worth reading.  How the Net was used to collaborate and organize issues and protest.  It is easy to overlook the shenanigans but it is not easy to overlook the significance of the worlds first global issue protest, on a news worthy scale.  WTO is truly the herald of a new era in a hundred ways.

1 December

Remember the skeptical report about smellivision?  Well here is the web site and it is for real.  The inside scoop on how it works:  A cartridge to refill base scents like the 3 colors mixed from your color printer cartridge are mixed with heat and blown by fan onto the user.  Sign up now to be a beta tester at  Digiscents - all witnesses say it works and yes its unbelievable.  Don't be a nay sayer - wait till the day you try it.  Like next year

Amnesty International's concerns.
http://www.amnesty.org/news/1999/I3001099.htm

About.com's Seattle Guide with the latest on the WTO
conference.
http://seattle.about.com/

About.com's World News Guide with background information on
the WTO.
http://worldnews.about.com/

About.com's Agriculture Guide on the trade issues.
http://agriculture.about.com/

About.com's Environment Guide on the environmental issues.
http://environment.about.com/

Corporate Watch's Special WTO Coverage
(includes World Trade Watch Radio)
http://www.corpwatch.org/

OneWorld Online: WTO in Seattle
http://www.oneworld.net/campaigns/wto/

A thorough article on the gender disparity in information technology.  Why is this getting so much attention?  There aren't enough workers to go around.  So any area that can be beefed up is important to the industry.

A web veteran explores the ins and outs of the web's insidious qualities

The trends of high tech taken in a few ways.  How fast it moves and where it goes.  This writer has my weakness for wanting to futurise on how it is permeating our daily life and enhancing our abilities.  Is faster worse when you don't even realize it?  Is telephone bad?  Here come the gadgets

30 November

Here it goes.  WTO - World Trade Organization kicks off to the promised protests.  Kind of like the idea of an annual global commerce gathering associated with the socially conscious and environmental issues

It's exciting to see the new spins on open development.  Here is another guide driven directory like Yahoo.com and About.com - give the people the power and the pride!  Good insight here about a movement we haven't heard enough about.  Open Season!

For the entrepreneur in you.  The writer looks at the unbelievable venture capital and Net entrepreneur scene.  Its a gold rush - here comes those roaring '00s

Business2.0's monthly cover story for November - one more day and I'd be late.  But I betcha they don't put what's on the newsstand onto this page for a while.  Its about what they think is bogus and what they think is happening.  Even a cultural area much less tech and business.

29 November

Hear's (stupid pun? - actually I misspelled it - probably subconscious?) one for those that haven't been listening in on the buzz of Speech Recognition - This is a good wrap up to say it is more than just a trend coming to your operating system soon.

Ouch! - from some of the hoopla I wouldn't have guessed the new age companies weren't holding their own.  According to this report the old institutions of business are leading the way

This tags on to a recent report but adds more details and who' who in the art of speech translation to language translation

Somebody is counting their blessings.  This is a great article to remind how fast new trends pop up and old trends just keep getting better.  7 great things to be thankful for - they forgot to add AMD makign the new 750 mhz processor. They now have the speed crown and serious competition for Intel.

Get your digital history right here

28 November

Here comes the 3D web!  Here is a snapshot of Minolta's camera using Metaflash to create 3D models.  Take a few pictures and then you have an object on the screen to look at from any angle.  Great for E-Commerce, great for virtual worlds.

Read this and you can tell how far we have come this year and how much you are up on the tech news.  Or is it really just a reflection of how tech we really are?

New Millennium getting old before it gets here?  Here is an eye opener for some that assumed the older generations don't buy this new fangled gadgetry.  Personally I have been excited by the possibility.  I think the older generations will love the coming virtual worlds.  As a guy hoping to make a living off of virtual worlds I hope they do.  And the future as an 80 year old looks pretty bright to me!  J

Not totally sure why I am putting this here.  Maybe I will label all like cases as "hmm".   Here is a scoop on Internet warfare - that's the title in case this gets buried in the archive or search at that site

27 November

A good rundown on what's at stake in Seattle as the World Trade Organization meets under duress.  It is great to see this put into its rightful focus.  Does the WTO protect laborer's rights?  Lots at stake here for the working woman in the 3rd world nation.  A good forum for this issue.  Some will say the focus of WTO this year is E-Commerce - some say Human Rights

CHchchchanges.   David Bowie interview on his input for the Interactive Industries latest creation Omikron

You could almost secondary label this as "Culture" instead of "Tech" - because every one has an opinion on this one.  The juice on the Microsoft findings

26 November

Discover Mag has a piece of their article with a collection of thoughts by industry insiders.  One thought to glean from this - no one knows or can agree on the future of tomorrows computer.  Its wide open.

This is directly linked to the above article in several ways.  But is still off the beaten path for VWN.  Its still cultural and future oriented though.  I have heard of the 10,000 year clock before and this site collects the articles about its purpose.  The web site isn't entirely clear what the real objective is.  The idea is to build a clock that can operate on its own in an underground vault in a stable geographic area.  Visitors 10,000 years from know can see the clock still ticking that we will build over the next 100 years .  This site has outstanding essays on the nature of time and humanity.  Some say the nature of the net is perfect for permanently recording the works of humanity.  Some say the opposite.  More links to the first crystal ball article.

Where is all that computer abuse in the work place taking us?

25 November

This will probably be the last article on Comdex and Microsoft.  But a great perspective on the trends.  As usual full of strife and intrigue.  Who's going down.

Okay I am messing with you, but by the title of this article you can tell it really is the last one - Comdex Wrap-up - and a good one.  trends trends trends

I seriously couldn't tell if the author was serious or not.  But this is a look at the last of the 5 senses to be exploited in the virtual world.  The sense of smell is like the use of sound or music in a movie or interactive experience.  It is what immerses you into a new world.  Another factor that won't be noticed as much as you might think but is invaluable for losing yourself in that world.  Sounds silly but as valid as escaping into a book.

Here is an excellent article spelling out all that is Active Worlds.  Literally a federation of user made worlds.  It is not mainstream but still the most successful virtual world standard yet.  Still hoping for more sophisticated graphics from the game industry to hit the virtual worlds - which is of course what this web site is all about.  The difference, is in whether the user wants to make their own worlds or participate in pure art.   A sure fire controversy between the parties of the first gen VW and the coming 2nd gen VW.  Certainly an issue that will be explored in this forum.

24 November

A hearty collection of information for the peaceful world.  Not just heart warming but interesting.  Come on global info-communication, uh, I mean globalism

If your not into the business world at all, then read this article (one of 2 from Upside.com today).  It is a great representative success story on the Net and the entrepreneurial adventure.  It also shows the the Nets evolving nature, and its about music, and its in black and white, just like this site, only different, and...

See if you can guess where the title of this article is going: "Why Did Red Hat Buy Cygnus?"  If you aren't familiar with Linux or Red Hat but have opinions on Microsoft then this is a good heads up

The perfect article showing what the schemers think the future holds.  The portals all want a hand in developing tomorrows version of on-line entertainment.  You may not be a gamer now - but the sophistication will come and put it on the same level of respect with movies, music and novels.

23 November

A paranoia movie about Y2K - the end of the world as we know it.  That was last nights TV and the good news is....   they finished last in the Nielsen ratings!  Now that is the best Y2K news yet!

Another indicator of how the interactive industry is coming along.  This article shows mutual encroachment of digital graphics and the movies.  Keep hearing the Interactive industry makes more than the movie industry - I still don't know what that really means

Here is just a piece of the action at USA Today concerning Internet growth:

The latest report from online measurement service Media Metrix Inc., which tracks cyber traffic at home and at work, recorded 32.2 billion page views in October. That traffic report, which was a record, was up 49% from the same period last year.

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