THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 2, 1995 TAG: 9509300193
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: DOUBLECLICK
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Doubleclick authors Richard and Roger Grimes of Virginia Beach happen to be twin brothers and computer authorities. Their discourse on life in the computer lane appears every other week in Hampton Roads Business Weekly.
Richard: Roger and I don't always agree. Take a nasty incident that happened last week. Roger had the audacity to say his new super duper night glow Timex sports watch had a brighter light than my Casio G-Shock Illuminator. I proved otherwise.
Roger: What he proved is that computer geeks will argue over anything.
Richard: That's Roger's quaint way of saying my watch left retina burns. It was so bright, it gave him tan lines.
Roger: I can't really verify that until I get the eye patches off.
Richard: After Roger recovers, we're going to start work on a World Wide Web page for the company he works for.
For the uninitiated, the World Wide Web allows people to view pictures, graphics, sound and even video files over the Internet. You can, for instance, go to MTV's home page and read about its animated show, The Maxx. While you're there, you can look at graphics created by the shows creators and even download them to your computer. Almost every major company you can think of has a Web page, and still more are joining the pioneers every day.
Roger: For a long time I've thought the Internet was a wonderful thing, but not a cost effective one. In addition to a computer, you need an Internet account to access the World Wide Web. A single Internet account used to cost in the neighborhood of $30 a month. And if you were a business and wanted to put your company on the Internet, it could cost you thousands.
Richard: Well, no more. How much does a personal Internet account cost? Ten bucks, 10 smackers, 10 simoleans. How much does it take to put your company on the Internet's World Wide Web?
Roger: Once you have an account? Ten more dollars. So for 20 bucks a month, your company can have its own personal World Wide Web page, complete with graphics and text - not to mention e-mail and a bunch of other Internet stuff. Non-business people can get Internet access and a Web page for the same price.
Richard: You probably think these figures are the result of intensive blind surveys of several Internet access companies.
Roger: Nope. Richard works for a company that provides Internet access and creates Web pages. We're giving approximations of its connection fees.
Richard: Does that mean I'm endorsing its service? Uh, actually, yeah. But I'll cover my cheesiness by mentioning that other companies may have competitive prices. I should mention that every access company handles business Web pages differently. Some, including mine, have restrictions on how you use these Web pages. So what does $20 a month get you?
Roger: The $20 does not buy you a deluxe Web page on the Internet. It buys you the computer space to build your own Web page and an address that people can punch in to find that Web page. You have to build the Web page.
Richard: How hard is it to build a Web page?
Roger: Believe me, if Richard can do it - you can do it. Learning WordPerfect is harder.
Richard: Thanks, Roger. All you really need is a basic understanding of something called Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML). Don't let the acronym intimidate you. Basically, you type in the text you want, put the HTML equivalent of quotation marks around the text and save it. It's not that big a deal.
Roger: You realize, of course, that if your boss reads this it's going to be awfully tough to ask for a pay raise.
Richard: I live on the edge. It's a stupid edge, but the edge nonetheless. If you want more information on how to write HTML, check out the local bookstores. They'll have at least 20 books on the subject. Our favorite is HTML for Dummies by Ed Tittel and Steve James. IDG Books is the publisher.
Roger: People who want more than a simple Web page should look into the advanced business packages that most Internet providers offer. They may cost more money, but they're trouble-free.
Netscape Navigator
Those of you already hooked to the World Wide Web know that you need a software package called a browser to view the pages. The most popular browser out right now is called the Netscape Navigator. We saw the latest test version of Netscape's new browsers, Navigator 2.0 and Navigator Gold and we're convinced of one thing:
The pleasure centers of your brain will ignite when you see this software in action. It features:
Something called Progressive JPEG images. These pictures load onto the Web page incredibly fast. You'll be amazed when you see them in action.
Multimedia E-mail. You can actually send a World Wide Web page as e-mail now. This means e-mail with photos, graphics, sound and video.
Built-in HTML editor. The Navigator Gold includes software that makes creating World Wide Web pages relatively painless.
And those aren't all the features. The free beta version of these products should be available within the next few weeks.
The World Wide Web address is http://home.netscape.com/ MEMO: The strangely tanned computer expert can be reached at
groger(AT)infi.net
The guy with the really ugly, but incredibly macho watch can be found at
rgrimes infi(AT)net
by CNB