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Windows of Opportunity
Graphics
The Art of the Matter
Graphics are the meat and potatoes of Web-site presentations.
To spice up the visuals on your site, you could combine a
number of graphics into a slide show, complete with audio,
using the software package Realslideshow Plus ($29.99), from
the Web-based company RealNetworks.
An easy way to accumulate those images is by using Play
Inc.'s Snappy hardware unit ($99.95). You simply plug
one end of the unit into your computer's parallel port and
the other into an image-capturing device such as a camcorder,
a VCR, a TV tuner, or even a video-game playstation. When
you see an image you want, you push the button and capture
a perfect still.
If you're looking
to push the envelope further with interactive multimedia graphics
(maybe your company logo circling the earth as you boom out
a hearty "Welcome!"), visit NEC Auraline
and, for $50, download the Auraline Multimedia Kit. Although
in the past you had to know the programming language JavaScript
to build interactive graphics, the Auraline kit permits you
to add music and speech to graphical objects, ticker-tape
effects, and text scrolling on your Web page by using just
plain English.
Mailing Lists
Letter Perfect
If interactivity is the heart of the Net, then mailing lists
are its lifeblood. In the past, such forums were run only
by special-interest groups, but increasing numbers of businesses
are finding it useful to host them directly off their Web
sites. Visitors simply sign up for the lists they're interested
in and later receive their choices by E-mail. The benefits
of mailing lists are twofold: they are the most acceptable
form of direct mail, since they go only to those who've "opted
in" for them; and they make the host appear technologically
savvy, with its finger on the pulse of the industry.
Mailing lists
can take the form of either one-to-many "broadcasts" or many-to-many
discussions. Businesses use the former for things like new-product
announcements, newsletters, and notices about bargains. They
use the latter to generate customer product reviews, collaborate
on projects with business partners, and discuss trends and
developments in their sector. One good -- and free -- source
of mailing-list services is the ASP www.egroups.com.
Another ASP (with some free services), www.vstream.com,
offers a technology called Beep, which is free, that enables
the user to link audio files to text messages or to photos
when a little extra drama is called for.
News & Weather
Feeds
This Just In
News and weather reports are two of the most popular services
on the Web. That might be an argument in itself for offering
them on your site. The ASP isyndicate.com will supply a continuous
news feed to your site (free for iSyndicate Express, the basic
five-day feed; $500 a month for iSyndicate Network, a stream
of articles and news stories tailored to your visitor traffic).
The ASP www.accuweather.com
will do the same for the weather. (The basic five-day forecast
is free; the premium corporate service -- a 10-day forecast
that is updated hourly -- goes for $200 a year.)
Panoramas
Zoom with a View
Panoramas are ideally suited to the Web, where there are no
storage limitations and users can scroll continuously across
landscapes or interiors, just as if they were turning their
heads from side to side or looking up and down. Panoramas
can be made either by splicing a sequence of photos together
manually, with scissors and glue, or by using software that
does the splicing for you, like Pictureworks
Technology's Spin Panorama ($49.95). You then load the
panorama on your server and write a bit of code that will
allow your Web site to serve as a link.
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