((((((((((((((((( WEBREFERENCE UPDATE NEWSLETTER )))))))))))))))))
                        November 20, 2000

_____________________________SPONSORS_____________________________

This newsletter is sponsored by: Informative Graphics, Allaire,
                                 & Building Dynamic Websites

__________________________________________________________________

******************************************************************
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http://www.webreference.com                    <- link to us today
http://www.webreference.com/new/                <- newsletter home
http://www.webreference.com/new/submit.html      <- submit article

This week Robert gazes into his 3D crystal ball, with a preview
look at Shout3D 2.0 and his new book. Netscape 6 is now officially
released and all heck's breaking loose, as it has dropped support
for the non-standard LAYER tag (and associated document.layers)
for W3C standards. Learn how to detect this newest browser with
our updated sniffer, and transition your DHTML code to W3C
standards with our updated JavaScript links.

As mentioned last time, usabilty has come to the fore with the
"butterfly" ballot fiasco, and we're seeing more interest in
usability recently. We've done a mini-usability review of WebRef,
with updated toolbars, and an expanded yet streamlined home page.
Feel free to let us know what you think of the changes.

New this week on WebReference.com and the Web:

1. 3D ANIMATION WORKSHOP: Web 3D 2.0
2. UPDATE:                JavaScript Browser Sniffer - Netscape 6
3. NEW LINKS:             JavaScript Resources
4. NEW CONTEST:           Submit & Win Flash 5 FreeHand 9 Studio!
5. FEATURED ARTICLE:      What is HTTP Delta Encoding?
6. PRODUCTION GRAPHICS:   CorelDraw 101: Vectors and Bitmaps
7. NEW BOOKS:             Learning WML & WMLScript, Practical
                          Information Architecture
8. OTHER VOICES:
      * The Butterfly Effect
      * Meerkat: The XML-RPC Interface
      * Netscape Navigator 6.0 to Fail Standards Compliance:
        An Update
9. NET NEWS:
      * News sites carry Florida court Webcast
      * Web babble laughable

Like what you see? Get our front page e-mailed to you every
business day with our HTML newsletter. Just send an e-mail to:

subscribe-html@webreference.com

Spread the word! Feel free to send a copy of this newsletter to
your friends and colleagues, and while you're at it, snap a link
to WebReference.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. 3D ANIMATION WORKSHOP: Web 3D 2.0

Explore the limits of 3D interactive graphics with this exclusive
preview of Shout3D 2.0 and Robert's new book "Designing Interactive
Web Graphics with Shout3D." Includes interactive 3D demos, no
plugins required. By Robert Polevoi.

http://webreference.com/3d/lesson106/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. UPDATE: JavaScript Browser Sniffer - Updated for Netscape 6

Now updated for Netscape 6 our new and improved browser sniffer
reveals all about your browser's environment variables, essential
for cross-browser scripting. Note that Netscape 6 does not support
document.layers so many DHTML scripts need retooling. By Andy
King.

http://webreference.com/tools/browser/javascript.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. NEW LINKS: JavaScript Resources

Speaking of retooling, our list of top JavaScript links now
includes the latest specs and info on JavaScript 1.5 (a k a
ECMA-262) and Netscape 6. Includes info on transitioning to W3C
standards from document.layers/all.

http://webreference.com/programming/javascript.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. TWO GREAT CONTESTS: Signup & Win, Submit & Win!

>Signup & Win!

Sign up for the Webreference Update newsletter, and you could win
a killer software bundle from BoxTop Software and Insider Software
including ProJPEG, SuperGIF, and SpaceAgent. 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. Tell your friends!

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

Lucky winners this week are Marcia Berg of San Marcos, CA,
Raphael Chow of Mississauga, ON, and Ganesh Arun Gujar of Mumbai,
India. Congrats and enjoy the software!

>Submit & Win Macromedia Flash 5 FreeHand 9 Studio!

Submit your article today and you could win Macromedia's powerful
new Web design package, Flash 5 FreeHand 9 Studio. If your
article makes the cut, and we publish it in this newsletter, you
win! See the submission page for details:

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

******************************************************************
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the time it takes with other Web technologies. Register for a 
FREE seminar on Allaire Spectra, the firstapplication framework 
to address content management, e-commerce, and personalization. 
Based on industry bestpractices, Allaire Spectra's customizable 
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***********************************************************adv.***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. FEATURED ARTICLE: What is HTTP Delta Encoding?

By sending just the differences between old and new pages, Web
caching and load times can be dramatically improved. By Jeffrey
Mogul.

http://webref.com/internet/software/servers/http/deltaencoding/intro/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. PRODUCTION GRAPHICS: CorelDraw 101: Vectors and Bitmaps

We continue our CorelDraw intro with a look at the differences
between bitmap and vector images, plus a tour through key menus.
By Wendy Peck.

http://webreference.com/graphics/corel101/1a/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7. NEW BOOKS: Learning WML & WMLScript, Practical Information
              Architecture

>Learning WML & WMLScript: Programming the Wireless Web

O'Reilly's newest open source reference is on Wireless Markup
Language (WML), WAP's version of HTML. WML and WMLScript allow
you to send out abbreviated versions of your Web site's contents
as a stack of "cards," manipulate them, and interact with your
users over mobile devices. The book follows the time-tested
O'Reilly forumula, and is a good introduction to programming
your site to go mobile.

Learning WML & WMLScript
by Martin Frost
O'Reilly, $34.95
ISBN: 1-56592-947-0

>Practical Information Architecture: A Hands-On Approach to
 Structuring Successful Websites.

This thin volume takes you through the entire Web site
architectural process. From conception to production to testing
and evaluation Eric Reiss lays out the basics on making your site
easy to navigate and logical. Perhaps he tries to cover too much
ground, as I found the book book dry and humor-free. Your $35
bucks is better spent on Lou or Steve's book, ("Information
Architecture," "Don't Make Me Think!") reviewed below.

http://www.webreference.com/new/990104.html#architect
http://www.webreference.com/new/001113.html#book

Practical Information Architecture
by Eric Reiss
Addison-Wesley, $34.95
ISBN: 0201725908

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. OTHER VOICES: The Butterfly Effect, Meerkat: The XML-RPC
                 Interface, Netscape Navigator 6.0 to Fail
                 Standards Compliance: An Update

>The Butterfly Effect

Steve Johnson talks with four usability gurus about the ballot
debacle in Florida, any why usability really matters.
http://www.feedmag.com/dialog/di423_master.html
Feed.com, 001117

>Meerkat: The XML-RPC Interface

Meerkat, O'Reilly Network's Open Wire Service, extends its open
API with XML-RPC, affording a more standardized XML-based interface
to its aggregated RSS database. By Meerkat's creator, Rael Dornfest.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/rss/2000/11/14/meerkat_xmlrpc.html
O'Reilly Network, 001114

>Netscape Navigator 6.0 to Fail Standards Compliance: An Update

David Flanagan responds to a flood of comments on his recent
article on Netscape's rush to market. Re-label NS6 as a beta release?
http://www.oreilly.com/news/flanagan2_1100.html
O'Reilly.com, 001108

******************************************************************
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     http://seminars.internet.com/webdev/ma00/index.html
***********************************************************adv.***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9. NET NEWS: News sites carry Florida court Webcast, Web babble
             laughable

>News sites carry Florida court Webcast

Major online news outlets stepped up Monday to Webcast the Florida
Supreme Court hearing into the presidential vote recount, taking
the strain off of a system that supports only a few hundred online
viewers.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-3781121.html
News.com, 001120

>Web babble laughable

A horribly prolific number of Web sites are written, well, horribly.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/tech/views/article/0,2669,ART-48247,FF.html
Chicago Tribune, 001120


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

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

Catherine Levy
Assistant Editor, WebReference.com
clevy@internet.com

/-------------------------------------------------------------------\

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\--------------------------------------------------------------adv.-/


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