Hollywood goes Hollyweb: Sit back and enjoy the show
Dec.
29, 1996
By JIM BROOKS
More and more companies are moving to the World Wide Web in search
of new markets, new promotions and most importantly, new consumers.
For example, the recent Disney movie, "101 Dalmatians"
is a fine example of how the Web can both promote a feature film
and entertain, too.
The "Datamation" site -- unlike the dark and slow-loading
one Disney offers for "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" --
was a lighthearted and genuinely fun romp on the Web.
My daughter enjoyed the mysterious search-for-the-puppies feature
built into the site, as well as the online games for those with
Shockwave-enabled Web browsers. Fortunately, if you don't care to
keep your phone line tied up while your child plays puppy-related
games, there are both Mac and PC versions of the online games available
to download at no cost.
How many new movie trailers have you seen lately that don't have
a Web site tacked somewhere? From the results of my latest searches,
very few.
Madonna's new movie "Evita" has a very classy Web site,
complete with biographical sketches of the actual Evita Peron. Download
Quicktime video clips, and audio clips in a wide range of formats.
Point your browser to www.evita-themovie.com.
For links to a lot of current movie releases from Touchstone Pictures
and Hollywood Pictures, visit movies.com at www.movies.com. They
have links to sites featuring current releases and previews for
upcoming releases.
For more links to studio and movie-related sites, I recommend pointing
your Web browser to a Web site created by Video Tec, a Los Angeles
video store, at http"//pw2.netcom.com/(tilde)n1138/moviestudios.html.
WHAT'S UPS, DOC? Have you been looking for a package that
was sent to you over the holidays by UPS, and just wondering where
it went?
Well if you know the package tracking number that the shipper assigned
to your package, you can go to the United Parcel Service's Web page
and find out just where it went and when and to whom.
While looking for some computer memory chips sent to me recently
via UPS, I used the tracking number I had from the company sending
me the package and quickly found out the missing parcel had been
sent to my old address.
And that's the beauty of this site -- in an instant, I was able
to track the package's path and even determine the exact time it
was delivered and who signed for it. No long waits on the telephone
listening to Barry Manilow-inspired "on-hold" music; no
more wasted time spent looking in the bushes next to your porch
for a errant package.
The availability of the tracking service varies by the service
selected, but consider it safe to say that most UPS shipments you
are likely to receive will have a tracking number. It's one of the
new and very useful applications becoming available on the World
Wide Web.
For details on the package tracking, visit the UPS web site at
http://www.ups.com/
Note that Federal Express was one of the first to offer the same
sort of service at its Web site too; I expect others will follow
the trend.
COMMUNICATOR DEBUTS. Pushing hard to keep to its promises
to investors and users, Netscape Communications unveiled this week
a preview version of its new Communicator software for use on the
Internet and corporate intranets.
The package -- available now only for PCs running Windows95 --
will eventually combine more powerful e-mail and Web browser applications
with other handy Web and corporate communication tools.
If the products' development continues, Communicator's release
in March 1997 will usher in a new suite of Internet tools, and bid
an eventual goodbye to the Navigator name.
For more information on Netscape's Communicator, visit the Netscape
Web site at http://home.netscape.com.
PRICE WARS? Ethernet inventor Bob Metcalfe's predictions
about the future of the Internet just came a little closer to coming
true this week.
Netcom, a national Internet Service Provider (ISP) announced recently
it would be dropping the popular $19.95 unlimited usage plan from
its fee schedule.
Netcom -- the company that helped establish the flat-rate as the
standard among ISPs -- is essentially turning its back on the consumer
Internet access business to to cater to businesses and corporations.
Now that its once-unique pricing model is standard, the company
is seeking to offer faster Internet service to those who'll be willing
to pay more for it -- meaning businesses seeking reliable and speedy
access.
Prodigy and more recently, America Online and the Microsoft Network,
have moved to the "all-you-can-eat" usage plans, sending
smaller ISPs scrambling to add value to their Web sites -- either
in content or lower prices.
With the speed enhancements that new technologies will soon make
available, we as Internet users may be asking ourselves the old
auto racing questions: "Speed costs money -- just how fast
do you want to go?"
FDIC. It isn't the slickest site on the Web, but the U.S.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation web site is chock full of
information.
For example, you can download a wide variety of consumer banking
information and even peruse some of the data your local bank sends
in its quarterly reports to the FDIC. In short, if there's some
sort of information about your bank and the banking industry you
are searching for, chances are you'll find something about it here.
Point your browser to http://www.fdic.gov/.
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