((((((((((((((((( WEBREFERENCE UPDATE NEWSLETTER )))))))))))))))))
                           May 11, 2000

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This newsletter sponsored by: Dynamic Concepts, HearMe.com, Actuate
Software
                              and Affiliate Solutions

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Now with over 98300 subscribers!

http://www.webreference.com                    <- link to us today
http://www.webreference.com/new/       <- archive, subscribe/unsub
http://www.webreference.com/new/submit.html  <- article submission

New this week on WebReference.com and the Web:

1. OPEN PUBLISHING:  Submit Your Article!
2. CONTEST:          Subscribe & Win HotDog Professional 6.0!
                     Or Buy It Cheap!
3. FEATURED ARTICLE: PhotoImpact 5 Packs an Affordable Punch
4. NET NEWS:
      * Law Falls Behind Computer Crime
      * Newest Version of 'Desktop Java' Faster & Smaller
      * Squeaky Mouse to Tackle RSI
      * Which Web Sites Are Making Money?
      * Study: Net Increases Contact

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. OPEN PUBLISHING: Submit Your Article!

Every Thursday the Update features a new article contributed by
our readers through our Open Publishing Initiative.  We encourage
you to submit your own article ideas.  Your words could be here,
being read by over 90,000 people!

http://www.webreference.com/new/submit.html

This week, we review PhotoImpact 5, an affordable and productive
graphics editing program, designed with Web developers in mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. CONTEST: Subscribe & Win HotDog Professional 6.0!, Or Buy It
            Cheap!

Come one, come all, and see the amazing new WebRef Subscribe & Win
contest!  Sign up for the Webreference Update newsletter, and you
could win a registered copy of the new HotDog Professional 6.0
Web authoring tool from Sausage Software.  Each week we'll draw new
winners from our new subscribers - you could be next.  Already a
subscriber?  Not a problem - just fill out the form, and you'll be
automatically entered to win.

This week's winners include Dan Paspalovski of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,
Mark Lybrand of Olympia, Washington, and Dr. Praveen Soti of
Hyderabad, India. Enjoy the software!

http://www.webreference.com/new/contest.html

>Or Buy it Cheap!

Didn't win?  Don't trust your luck?  Webreference is pleased to
announce a special offer only available to subscribers of the
Webreference Update.  Buy HotDog Professional 6.0 today, and get
it for %20 off - a discount price of only $79.95!

https://secure.sausage.com/offer/webref/

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. FEATURED ARTICLE: PhotoImpact 5 Packs an Affordable Punch

A little earlier this year, we were able to give some of our
newsletter readers a software bundle featuring SoftQuad's HoTMetaL
Pro 6.0, Ulead's Cool 3D 2.5 and Ulead's PhotoImpact 5, through
our "Subscribe & Win!" contest.  I've been a fan of both companies'
products, so I was happy to have the opportunity to hook some of
you up with free copies.  It was only in the last couple of weeks,
however, that I finally got to sit down and try out PhotoImpact 5
for myself.  What I found was both unsurprising and satisfying -
a solid, full-featured and affordable image editor geared at Web
developers and others that need to make high-quality graphics and
images, without necessarily becoming graphics professionals
themselves.

>Standard Features:

The PhotoImpact interface is sensible, and will quickly make sense
to those with experience with other graphic editors.  The program
has all the standard basic drawing and selection tools that you
would expect a comparable editor to have in the year 2000.
Newcomers to the world of graphics will have to spend a little
more time with the help menus, and power users will want to take a
look at the differences in the way that PhotoImpact deals with
masks, layers and objects, as compared to PaintShopPro or
Photoshop.  As you would expect, the program comes with a
comprehensive collection of filters and effects, ranging from the
artistic (watercolor and oil paint effects), to the practical
(despeckle), and the somewhat silly (flaming text).

You begin to see some of the beginner-friendly features when you
examine the easy drag and drop effects in the EasyPalette gallery.
Despite the name, EasyPalette isn't a color selector.  Instead,
the Palette that you are choosing from is a collection of some of
the most useful and commonly used effects, filters and processes
in the program, laid out in a easy-to-browse hierarchy.  These
range from automatic bevelling for buttons, and common color
correction procedures, to lighting and particle effects. (Need to
put bubbles in your fish photo?  No problem!  Make your text look
metallic?  Piece of cake!)  Just because these effects are
predefined doesn't mean that they're not customizable - one click,
and you can edit all the parameters for a given preset.

Those with either an experimental or nervous disposition will
appreciate the 99 levels of undo - I know I sure did!  (I actually
fall in both categories, so it was doubly useful for me..)  If
you're looking for raw material to use in your projects,
PhotoImpact comes with bundled with 1000 photos, 1000 pieces of
clip art, 450 GIF animations, 300 textures, and 30 Fonts.  It also
comes with the Quick Album media organizer program, which makes
keeping track of your images easier and more efficient.

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>Web-Targeted:

It's when you get into the Web-targeted features of the program
that PhotoImpact 5 starts to really shine.  These are geared to
make the most common and most tedious Web graphics tasks painless
and quick.  The Background Designer, for example, is a seamless
tiler tool, making the creation and editing of smooth background
images a breeze.

The Component Designer makes Web graphics especially easy for
newbies.  The user is provided with a set of the most commonly
used Web components (buttons, banners, etc.), and is then led
step by step through the process of customizing these components
to their needs.  Graphics pros might sneer at this approach, but
those with little-to-no background or skills in the visual arts
(and a deadline!) will appreciate it.

I especially liked the interactive Image Optimizer.  This feature
allows you to optimize GIF, JPG, and PNG images, altering
parameters (image quality, color depth, etc) on the fly, and
making bulky pics more bandwidth-friendly.  Both the original and
optimized images are displayed simultaneously, allowing you to
evaluate the changes that are being made to your image before you
commit to them.

The Image Slicer tool helps you quickly create image maps or split
images into segments for insertion into tables (allowing for
quicker page loading and previewing).  You can define areas in the
Image Slicer either by drawing in custom shapes onto your image,
or by allowing the program to split it up evenly and automatically
into columns and rows.  In either case, HTML code is generated
that you can easily cut-n-paste into your own projects.  More code
is generated automatically by the Rollover Assistant, which spits
out JavaScript for easy and attractive rollover effects on your
Web pages.

Admittedly, a lot of comparable tools are available in other
software packages, but PhotoImpact combines these and other
features into one well-conceived program.  It's clear that the
designers at Ulead put a lot of thought into making this a
productive package for Web developers.  You can even set up
PhotoImpact to automatically publish your images on your site
with a single mouse click.

PhotoImpact 5 is bundled and integrated with GIF Animator 3.0.
GIF Animator isn't a plug-in; you can run it as a stand-alone
program if you so desire.  It's also launched automatically from
PhotoImpact when appropriate.  Several of the effects in
PhotoImpact have a "storyboard" feature, for example, which
allows animations to be created based on variations of the effect's
parameters.  GIF Animator is a neat program on it's own, and the
tight integration between the two programs adds greatly the
usefulness of both.

>The Verdict:

PhotoImpact 5 doesn't have some of the higher-end features found
in Photoshop, but it's not really geared (or priced) for the high-
end crowd.  You're not going to be using PhotoImpact to do image
compositing for glossy magazine ads, or to create photo-realistic
bumpmaps for the next Toy Story movie  - you're going to be
creating your site's interface graphics, making rollovers and
banner ads, and cropping pictures of your dog to email to your
mom.

Released in 1999, PhotoImpact 5 is not brand new, but it's solid,
useful and designed to help Web designers become more productive.
Priced at under $80, that's hard to beat.

PhotoImpact 5 is available for Windows 95/98/NT, in either boxed
version or via secure download at http://www.ulead.com/pi/ .

******************************************************************

Affiliate Solutions Seminar - San Francisco
You'll learn inside secrets from industry leaders and
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features panel discussions focusing on revenue
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************************************************************adv.**

By Eric Cook, Assistant Editor, WebReference.com
Comments?  Contact me at: ecook@internet.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. NET NEWS: Law Falls Behind Computer Crime, Newest Version of
             'Desktop Java' Faster & Smaller, Squeaky Mouse to
             Tackle RSI, Which Web Sites Are Making Money?, Study:
                         Net Increases Contact

>Law Falls Behind Computer Crime

Delays in tracking down and arresting suspects in the "Love" bug
case have again highlighted the challenges that governments and
industry face in keeping pace with rapid change on the Internet.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2567093,00.html
ZDNet.com, 000510

>Newest Version of 'Desktop Java' Faster & Smaller

Sun has released the newest version of 'desktop' Java 2, designed
to run faster and use less memory than its predecessor.  The
performance improvements, mainly through use of Sun's Java HotSpot
Client Virtual Machine, are vital if Java is to be more viable on
client computers.
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/00/05/09/000509hnsunjava.xml
InfoWorld.com, 000509

>Squeaky Mouse to Tackle RSI

A new touch-sensitive mouse aims to make life on-line easier for
millions of computer users.  The mouse prompts a computer to
squeak when the user presses it too hard.  The goal is to help
reduce the risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_742000/742446.stm
BBC.co.uk, 000510

>Which Web Sites Are Making Money?

A year or so ago nobody worried too much about Web sites making
money.  But the atmosphere has changed. Stock markets have lost
their unquestioning faith in the future profitability of dot coms.
Which begs the question, which Web sites actually do make money?
http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/articles/sites_make_money.html
WebDevelopersJournal.com, 000510

>Study: Net Increases Contact

Far from encouraging social isolation, the Internet enhances
communications with friends and families, according to a newly
released study from the The Pew Internet and American Life Project.
This is, of course, in direct opposition to the study released in
February by professors at Stanford University and the Free
University of Berlin that found that too much time on the Internet
makes some people reclusive and less likely to interact with
people face-to-face.  I suppose it just goes to show that the
Internet has got a little something for everyone...
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1849901.html
CNet.com, 000510


That's it for this week, see you next time.

Andrew King
Managing Editor, WebReference.com
update@webreference.com

Eric Cook
Assistant Editor, WebReference.com
ecook@internet.com


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