Articles

By Stefan Sojka

One of my favourite science fiction novels is “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson.  (Go on, buy it with one-click on Amazon!) – a cyber-punk style romp through a not-too-distant future where the author projects we will end up if we carry on business as usual.  Not so much post-apocalyptic, more a toxic mix of organised crime, continent-wide ghettoisation and environmental devastation mixed with the coolest technology imaginable.

One main feature of his ‘Metaverse’ (the future name for the Internet – get used to it) is a real-time virtual 3D version of the entire planet.

It’s pretty mind-bending stuff – yet Stephenson’s fantasy is starting to come true.  Google ‘Earth’, Microsoft ‘Virtual Earth’ and a million spin-off sites and applications are collectively drawing us closer to this self-fulfilling prophecy.

This month I thought I’d check in to see just how far the project has come.  How detailed, in-depth and enlightening is this planet’s virtual reflection?  What does it mean to be able to visualise our planetary home with such new perspective?

First stop – Google Earth www.earth.google.com – if you haven’t already done so, download it now and prepare for awe.  If you have, say no more.  You know.

MS Virtual Earth ( www.microsoft.com/VirtualEarth ) is to Google Earth as Zune to iPod.  Awesome tech, but not as cool.  Google has taken the human high-ground, MS serenades the corporate beast.  Being a hominid like you, dear reader, I gravitate to Google Earth, where a swarm of other bipedal primates have amassed to build this great planet of the apes in our minds.

Millions of users are creating fly-through Contiki tours to prisons, illegally logged forests, war zones, historical sites, sporting venues, holiday destinations… all that is left is to put every Website in there, and you can kiss your Internet browser goodbye! maps.google.com combines GE content with the directory view, making it a bit easier to navigate.

Then there is the street-level stuff. maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview Privacy?  What privacy?  I really wish I hadn’t been scratching my backside the moment that Google camera car drove by!  www.mapjack.com is an independent ‘street view’ start-up, which inevitably, along with all the other ones, will be absorbed by Google or Microsoft.  Try also www.everyscape.com, www.locaview.com (no sub-titles, Japanese friend required) and www.immersivemedia.com

GeoNetwork – geonetwork-opensource.org – is the Open Source global mapping and spatially referenced data application.  It’s promising, but without Google’s billions, the model might not grow legs.

This is all just a glimpse of things to come, I’m sure.  It’s worth getting used to this new perspective on our existence.  A lot is being asked of our feeble minds – to ‘get’ this planet and everything on it, let alone what lies beyond (www.google.com/sky and www.worldwidetelescope.org).  Can our biology keep up with this technical evolution?  Can we cope?  Visual information overload.  Collective mental breakdown.  Or will we finally be humbled into a true sense of place, where the individual reconciles their microscopic insignificance with their stupendously inflated sense of self importance?  Whatever.  Anyone for golf?

By Stefan Sojka

It’s an old story, the boy who cried wolf.  Today, that wolf is going to wolf down my hard drive, gobble up all my software and gnash through my ADSL cable.  No wolf and all I’m left with is an in-box burgeoning with false alarms.  “Bill Gates is going to eat you”, “Nigeria will remove your right kidney if you don’t click here” and “beware the Mel Gibson virus, it will drink you out of house and home”.  If I let my guard down long enough a real threat might just meander through my firewall and tear my digital world asunder.  It’s time to get wise and realise.

First port of call for any potential fear-mongering rumour, or any rumour at all for that matter, is www.snopes.com.  This site has been around since the Internet was a toddler.  Snopes sifts wheat from chaff and clarifies just what is real and what was dreamed up by some bored yet highly creative ‘netizen’.  Every imaginable hoax and urban legend is documented in conveniently categorised chapters.  Somehow the Snopes folks are able to get to the bottom of it all and determine the truth.  Before you CC the latest baseless rumour to your entire contact list, please, please, please Snope it first.

Those friendly folks from the ACCC have been getting with the times recently, launching www.scamwatch.gov.au – an excellent portal devoted to exposing on, and off-line fraudsters, scammers and spammers.  I wish I had known about this site BEFORE I wired that $5,000 bank transfer fee to King Ngebe’s sole surviving relative!

If you send me a hoax email passed off as a genuine alert, you are really part of the problem, not the solution.  Be careful, one day a scam baiter (www.419eater.com) might get your number.  Hilarious pranks played out on scammers who are as gullible as their victims.  Check out the amazing photos and videos – and think twice before you fall for anything even remotely smelling of seafood.

Other sources of clarity in the seemingly endless fog of Internet codswallop include www.hoax-slayer.com – dedicated almost exclusively to email scams and rumours, www.nonprofit.net/hoax – a community service I really needed prior to sending a hundred bucks off to fund that poor kid’s dying wish, and www.museumofhoaxes.com – a laugh-a-thon of stupendous magnitude.

Making Amends

OK, so I dropped myself right in it.  A few too many tequilas and the bigoted idiot that lives inside all of us rose from the depths of my tortured soul.  In one mad evening chatting with the constabulary I destroyed a lifetime of hard-earned reputation.

What better method to restore the planet’s faith in my character than viral marketing?  Even if I did nothing more than posting a mildly derogatory remark about one of my valuable clients, Google can be a harsh mistress when my name pops up randomly in their search results.  Here are a few excellent places to begin repairing the damage using, of all things, Search Engine Optimisation techniques.  www.networkworld.com/community/node/15081, www.ehow.com/how_116870_fix-reputation.html, www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/10/google-reputation-management.html,
There are now specialists www.brandtitan.com/reputation-juggernaut.html in this kind of thing – proof that it’s not just me desperately trying to mend fences after a whiskey-soaked rant to a national newspaper opinion blog.

By Stefan Sojka

INTRODUCTION

If ever there was a most appropriate time to pull out that much over-used descriptive noun ‘plethora’, the ISP discussion is it.  Australia’s ISP numbers are large (over 600), and their differences vast.  Ever-changing laws, economics, geography, logistics and an eager Aussie population have caused a stampede of operators, large and small to see the offering of a connection to cyberspace as a potentially viable business venture.

From backyard enthusiasts who just love the net so much they wanted all their friends to hook up so they could play MUD games together, to multi-national conglomerates keen on annexing their slice of market share from their competitors and generating a steady revenue stream for their investors, this army of modem-wielding entrepreneurs has switched on this great country of ours and plugged us into virtual reality at an astonishing rate.  In one respect, this is great news for us bandwidth-munching surfers, but the extreme disparity of services available has made it very difficult for anyone to know which dotted line to sign on, when it comes to choosing a provider.

In this feature, we look at a small cross-section of ISPs and compare their respective services, but by no means can we tell you that one is right for you.  Most factors that determine your choice will involve your personal circumstance.  What we can do is give you some parameters to consider, what to look out for, and maybe help you figure out just what it is that you might expect in the way of ‘Internet Service’ from your ‘Provider’.  It’s a buyer’s market with so many providers around, so you need to remember how important it is to shop around for the best deal that gives you everything you need, because it’s definitely out there, somewhere.

One thing is for sure – no matter what you choose, it won’t be the last time you’ll need to make such a choice.  Most people I know, myself included, have used at least three or four different ISPs over the last few years as the deals changed, their needs changed, and the technology continues to change.

CHOOSING AN ISP

What Do You Want?

Before you start being swayed by the hype and hullabaloo of the big-budget ad campaigns, or the convincing spiels of your sister’s friend’s neighbour’s mate who happens to be a computer boffin with his own server in his bedroom, the first thing you ought to do is ask yourself what it is that you want to get out of your Internet experience.  If you have already spent time on-line you may have a fair idea, but if you are new to the medium, your mind hasn’t even begun to be boggled by what’s out there, so you may not yet know how you might conduct your on-line life.  Sure you’ve read and heard all about it, but your own interests, personality and lifestyle are going to go a long way in determining your Net usage – how long you will spend on-line, how fast you will want to access your information and how many Megabytes (or Gigabytes) your thirst for content is likely to consume.

Between Two Extremes

My mother has been on-line for over 5 years and she has never once used a Web browser!  She is convinced that there is nothing on-line she can’t find in her library in half the time, and she is quite happy sending off a few emails every day to friends and family, and receiving the occasional email newsletter.  A friend of mine has spent the same five years with his brain almost hard-wired to the Net, downloading everything he can get his mouse on, making a nuisance of himself in every imaginable newsgroup, discussion forum, chat channel and his own Website.  My mother is happy logging on for a maximum of about 10 seconds a day (total – 5 minutes a month) to check and send her emails (she composes them off-line), while my friend needs the best damn fast and unlimited deal he can get.  ISPs have to try to cater for these two extremes and everyone in between.  That is why there are so many different package deals, and that is also why you really need to know where you fit in to the spectrum of different customers, to have any hope at all of choosing the right deal.

The Bottom Line – Price

The big factors affecting price are time, speed and bandwidth.  Time, because your provider can generally only allocate so many connections to so many people in a given time, and speed and bandwidth, because the more you download and the faster you download it, the more your ISP gets charged by the actual owners of the telecommunications cables and Internet resources which they rent to allow you access, so the more costs they have to pass on to you.

Most ISPs use formulas to average out expected usage between their subscribers, so some light users may be subsidising the heavier users, but generally the deals are worked out so that heavy users are charged at higher rates, or are offered different deals to help offset the costs.  ISPs may offer unlimited accounts, but cut you off every four hours, or limit your connection speed, to restrict your ability to download too much information.  Other accounts offer limited hours and data transfer per month at cheap rates, with additional hours and Megabytes charged at a much higher rate.  If you think you may be a heavy user, you should think carefully about your chances of going over your quota, as it can get expensive.  Most ISPs should allow you to log into their site and check your usage, and you can also get software that sits on your computer to monitor your on-line activity.  If you are a light user, almost all ISPs have very reasonable deals to cater for your needs, and you won’t have any trouble finding a suitable deal.

Setup Fees

Some ISPs charge a small setup fee to cover the software and time taken getting you up and running.  You should weigh up the charge against exactly what it is they are giving you to set you up.  There is no point paying a setup fee if the whole process is going to be confusing, drawn out and frustrating.

WHAT YOU MIGHT GET FOR YOUR MONEY.

Besides the obvious Internet connection, ISPs generally can offer bonus services as part of their package deal.  You may or may not require some of these, so you should make sure you are getting more of what you want and less of what you don’t need.

Web Space?

ISPs are basically charging for an Internet connection, but you may get free Web space thrown in to the deal, as well as an email address, which is pretty much standard.  If you think you might like to have a Website, then free space at your ISP is a great start.  Basic free Web space is not that functional, but can be useful for basic information, or a few pictures or other files.  You must remember that if you change ISPs, you will lose your Web address, so if you are wanting a Website in the long term, you may want to look at other free Website services, or even getting your own domain name, rather than risk losing loyal visitors to your space.  These days, you can get free Web space at hundreds of locations around the Internet; so free ISP space is not such a valuable asset to your package deal.

Tech Support?

Does the prospective ISP offer tech support by phone or email?  Is it accessible 24/7, into the evening, or just during normal business hours?  Have they taken the time to offer a range of common solutions to problems, on their Website? Go and look at their Website and see how much information is provided.  Before you sign up, you should be able to ask technical questions about setting up, and you might get a good idea of just how helpful they might be.

For smaller ISPs, sometimes the tech support, sales team and management are one and the same person. You may prefer a one-on-one relationship with someone who knows his stuff, and may go out of his way to help you - not only to get connected, but also perhaps to upgrade your computer or set up a web site at a later date.

Staying in Touch

A good ISP will keep in touch with their subscribers with regular emails, or postings to their Website. This enables them to inform customers about service upgrades, outages, technical issues, even cultural info their subscribers may be interested in. It is very reassuring to know that your ISP has taken the time to let you know if there has been a problem and that they are doing their best to rectify it, rather than being forced to sit there wondering what the hell has happened to your supposedly fast connection that is crawling along at 1.5Bytes a minute. The Internet is a technical arena, so technical problems do occur. ISPs should keep their customers informed at all times. Check their Site for evidence of how diligent they might be in this area.

The ISP Portal

Many ISPs have turned their own Web Site into a portal that their subscribers can use to access the Internet. Direct access to search engines, communities, chat groups, categorized sites, humour, news feeds, sport results etc. You don’t have to be a subscriber to visit these sites, but often members will get added benefits, and it is all part of adding value to the actual connection service you have paid for.

Hardware

Some hardware suppliers are ISPs and some ISPs sell hardware, so you may be buying your computer, modem and software from the same place you connect through. Some even have special deals of free access thrown in with every computer sold. This can be helpful when it comes to setting everything up, as they are more obliged to make it all work and can’t blame a third party if it doesn’t, but you should be sure that the connection service they are giving you is the kind of service you will want to pay for once the free honeymoon period expires.

SETTING UP AN ACCOUNT

A good ISP should provide virtually all you need on a CD or floppy disc, and full instructions on their Website, covering issues like email configuration, FTP, newsgroups, billing info and what to do if you get stuck. Once you are sure you have the right hardware (modem, leads, phone line) connecting should be no more difficult than going through a simple set-up process, using either your own computer’s system components, or the software provided by your ISP. So long as all the right information is put in all the right places, the options are selected and the boxes checked, connecting should be a matter of putting in a phone number, user name, password and you’re away! Sounds easy, but there are a lot of variables. Your provider should be quite experienced with the kinds of issues you are likely to encounter and should be able to take care of them very quickly, if not eliminate them altogether by providing accurate instructions and good software. For experienced surfers, setting up a new account may be a breeze, but for beginners, it would be advisable to go for the easiest, most helpful option at first, or at least get a friend to guide you through configuring whatever software and/or hardware your ISP has provided.

Speed and Performance

The faster your connection, the more you are going to download, so the more of a liability you are to your ISP. In general, faster connections have greater restrictions on how much you can download and quite often the deals that sound the best on a dollar for dollar, hour for hour basis, may make up for it by restricting your connection speed, or you may find it hard to get on in busy times because they have oversubscribed their modems. Check out the details and fine print on every deal you are considering. The best thing to do with any provider is to try to get some feedback from current subscribers as to the performance of the service. Every ISP I have used has come from word-of-mouth recommendation by existing users. They can verify whether the performances claimed by the ISP are actually up to standard.

If you think you will be a high-end user, it is definitely worth considering cable modems or ADSL, as the speed is exponentially faster, and with a good unlimited download deal, it can even work out cheaper than a standard phone line connection, because you don’t have to pay for a phone call every time you connect. Unlimited download cable modem deals often have you operating at below maximum potential speed, but when you can download so much, so fast, it can be very risky having to pay for every megabyte over and above your monthly quota.

Regional Services

In regional areas, there are choices between major national providers, who have secured local phone numbers through which to hook up to their system, or smaller local operators. In the ISP listings we give you here you can see the kind of coverage various providers have. www.cynosure.com.au gives quite a comprehensive listing on-line.
The difference between local and national providers is the difference between economy of scale advantages, like more connections, 24/7 support etc, against local operators who might be more friendly, take more time with you, and have a local shop or office you can call into for help or advice, but could be under-resourced in other areas. Naturally the more choices you have in your particular area, the better off you are, since you can switch providers if you are not happy. Some areas have very few choices.

One option for remote and regional areas is Satellite Internet, which might have a higher set-up cost, but will provide a fast connection where you might wait years for cable or other high-speed services. Many providers are beginning to offer this option.

More than Just an ISP?

An ISP, after all, is essentially a plug-in point - a connection to the Internet. Once connected, you are free to roam the world and use all kinds of different services, servers and technologies – you can even configure your own computer as a service provider of sorts. So as the industry evolves and matures, it is becoming more and more important for ISPs to move beyond simple connection points and become more involved in their customers overall Internet experience.

The larger ISPs are opening doors to multi-media content delivery, chat communities, auctions, shopping malls, news feeds, travel agencies, banking and stockbroking services. Smaller ISPs are also doing what they can, within their budgets, to provide services like on-line gaming servers, web design and hosting services, consultation, hardware installation, customized programming.

Us consumers are very fortunate that in our desire to get the most out of the Internet, we are encouraging the entrepreneurship of our ISPs to compete with one another and strive to offer us a whole world of opportunities through their technical facility as a direct link to the Web. The more experienced we get at using the Internet, the more we become aware of the kinds of things we require, and the more able we are to choose the right Service Provider for our needs.

We may be content to surf endlessly into the night, so we might be quite content with a budget-priced fast unlimited connection, but we may have far more sophisticated and ever-evolving requirements, so we will be looking for an ISP who can deliver a whole range of services over and above a cheap, fast connection, particularly if we are using the Internet for business.

So long as we don’t make too many bad decisions along the way, we will find the journey both rewarding and enlightening as we stumble ever onwards towards our unavoidable destiny as interconnected humans. Our ISP is our partner in this journey, so they need to understand us, and we need to understand ourselves enough to know that we are both heading in the right direction – at least for the remainder of our fixed-term contract. Who knows, if they play their cards right, we might even renew.

Questions to ask yourself to help determine what kind of Internet Service you may require:

Do you love music (MP3s)? Film? Animation? Multimedia? Or is plain text really your thing?

Do you like the idea of chatting to strangers for hours, even days on end?

Are you an email junkie or a Web Site surfing maniac?

Is the Internet vital to your income earning capacity?

Will your whole world fall apart if you can’t log on?

How technically proficient are you on a computer? Can you ‘go it alone’ or does the idea of having 24-hour tech support make you feel slightly more secure?

Are you likely to want to create your own personal Web Site?

If you want to connect at your business, how many people are likely to want to use the Net at one time, and for how long, and what for, and how many email addresses might be required?

Will you be looking at getting a domain name and building a serious on-line presence for your business as well as just using the Net for email and surfing?

Do you want to access the Internet while you are travelling the world?

Might you wish to access the Net from numerous Australian locations, say at your place of business in Gosford, your home in Sydney, and your holiday home in Perth?

Are you really only wishing to use the Internet for very specific purposes – eg to trade shares, or to research your favourite subject, or to stay up with current affairs?

Will your whole family want to share your connection? If so, you need to ask everyone these same questions.

Do you want to shop, book travel, do banking, have fun, join clubs, change the world, publish your memoirs, trace your family tree, laugh, cry or just look at lots of funny cartoons?

Asking these questions will help you refine some key aspects of the kind of service you might require and as you investigate the services offered, you will see how your needs might fit into the various package deals –

The amount of time you are likely to want to be connected each month; the amount of data you are likely to be downloading; the speed at which you will be happy to operate; the restriction of questionable content or lack thereof; the ability of the ISP to act as a “tour guide” or offer suggestions of other services you may wish to use, like travel and stockbroking; their ability to offer upgraded solutions as your Internet needs grow and change, and the kind of price range you will be looking at to get what you want.

By Stefan Sojka

Ask not what crimes you might commit, but how many different ways you might get caught.

Opportunity seems to be the key factor in any crime.  Like a seagull raiding a bin-full of leftover lunches at the beach, or a cockroach finding that gap in your kitchen wall to dine on the results of your incompetent cleaning, human beings are driven to commit crimes because:

a) they need more than they have (emotional, physical, whatever)
b) the opportunity arises to get some
c) they honestly believe they will get away with it (except, of course for that hardened minority that really don't care)

Try it – try leaving your car window down and your wallet on the front seat.  Without a hardened crim or prison escapee in site, your wallet will be gone in no time.  An ordinary citizen will see a chance to get something for free, and take it.

Now with the Internet, anyone with a computer and a modem could start to thinking that they can build a crime syndicate and make big bucks, or at least wreak a bit of havoc in the corporate world. Think again buster. In the face of all this new opportunity for crime, a new strategy of law enforcement has been devised to stop you in your tracks.

The politicians and crime fighters can finally see the big picture. Rather than running around under-staffed and under-financed chasing criminals down back alleys and following the dust trails they leave behind, the AFP has undergone a systemic revolution to make the whole idea of committing a crime far less appealing. By making the chance of getting caught exponentially higher and encouraging a unified, multi-agency approach to the problem of crime, The Australian Federal Police as a law enforcement agency has become a world leader. Major breakthroughs in levels of cooperation between other enforcement agencies, along with award winning and record-breaking results have set the standard for the future. In case you are sitting there thinking - "yeah but they won't catch me", check out their web page. Read the news. Think again.

The AFP Home Page - www.afp.gov.au , details the extent to which the technological revolution, globalisation and enlightened strategies are changing the playing field irreversibly in favour of the good guys. Organised crime is now up against the biggest organised crime-fighting network in history. It is local and global cooperation on a scale never before seen. Check out the major achievements - record drug busts, smashing international syndicates, a swag full of web site awards! Their Annual Report even won first place at the Institute of Public Administration.

For those of you who might see all this effective law enforcement as a threat to your privacy, you may be surprised to learn that even the cops are recommending alternative approaches to areas such as drug enforcement. The personal freedoms and hopes of rehabilitation for end users have been compromised in the cross-fire with major players. Older strategies have also caused inherently victimless crimes to create victims as addicts rob and steal to pay the exorbitant prices a black market demands. Mr Comrie, the Chief Commissioner of the Victorian Police has commented that that the personal use of illicit drugs is more of an issue for the health system than for the legal system. The AFP is going after the heavy dudes, and leaving a little more lee-way for private, victimless acts of stupidity to be referred to doctors and psychologists.

Meanwhile, the AFP's increasingly trans-juristictional approach to the more universally despised criminal acts such as theft, fraud and violence has meant that slowly but surely our streets, our houses and our bank accounts are becoming safer and safer. 'Crims' used to be able to flee to another state or another country to avoid capture. There was always a chance of "hiding out", and even if found, creating more paperwork than it was worth to be hauled in. The crime-fighting web is now one big trawling net of intelligence that no one stupid enough to challenge it could feel immune from detection.

So, while the temptation to commit a crime in this day and age is becoming infinitesimal, all we have to deal with is the legacy of creating hardened crims who actually like getting caught because they prefer jail to the outside world. Somehow, I think that problem is up to the politicians and the wider community to deal with. Let the AFP carry on their incredibly effective job - "To Fight Crime and Win".

As the devil whispers in your left ear "go on, do it, do it" the long arm of the law is tapping you on the right shoulder, saying "don't bother - it's just not worth it... have you considered counselling?"

Features of the AFP site:
What's new - all the latest major busts, new strategies, awards and job opportunities.
Media releases: news, busts, public interest stories
Publications, Speeches, Links, Client Services
Virtual Tour - takes you through the activities of the AFP, where they operate, how they go about their work.
Crimestoppers

By Stefan Sojka

Born free, as free as a mindless consumer.

What is happening to the Internet? I thought the net was free. When I first got on line in 1995, the whole thing that attracted me to it was that it was pretty much all free. Really free. No one charged for anything. (except the dial up provider) It was real anarchy, real democracy. The mind reigned supreme. Humans with ideas shared them with the world for the sheer pleasure of sharing. Utopian dreams began to crystallise in my mind as I surfed ever on, finding more and more free information, art and ideas and countless friendly nicknames willing to help me find my newbie feet in this strange place. Sure at times I wondered how these kind folks were making a living, but I figured that whatever they did, their web time was after hours and the motivation was pure excitement at participating in the biggest revolution the world has ever seen.

The most common thing I heard back then from people who weren't on line at the time was "you can't make money on the net". How wrong they were eh? Although the net users didn't seem to care whether you could make money or not, the rest of the world, the corporate world particularly, was waiting for the dollar signs to flash before their eyes, before they would even glimpse at a browser, let alone explore the possibilities. Now the Internet is the most talked about phenomenon on the planet and all the big boys are jumping on line and throwing their www's on billboards and TV's everywhere!

Now you don't have to explore the possibilities any more, they are exploring you. You can't help but see opportunity out there. Think of a business, and you have an idea for a web business. Paint? Yeah, a cyber paint shop with virtual colour charts! Pets? A pet product and advice site! Condoms? Why not?! This is virtually an unlimited new market, like a virgin rainforest, rich with potential energy, and resources not even known to us yet. The question is, do you burn it and log it and then turn it into a huge cattle ranch, perhaps destroying rare and endangered opportunities, or do you open it to eco-tourism, making money, yet maintaining the essential beauty and wonder the medium possesses?

It seems the burning and logging road is being taken. After all, it is cyberspace, so you can regrow the original net in no time… or can you? Will the entire concept of the web be permanently altered by the marketing approach. Will new users fail to ever see or feel the same wonder and sense of personal intercommunication the first users felt? Will the corporate demographic-information-reaping consumer-farming turn us all into desperate money hungry fools, addicted to forking out billions on computers and software, whilst dreaming of cashing in big time on an idea that Microsoft or IBM already own?

Enter the freebie phenomenon. A freakish anomaly in the Internet's growth. Small operators, people half basking in the warm glow of anarchy, and half dipped in the thick syrup of monetary need or capitalist greed are seeking out free stuff and offering it for free on their free web sites. All in the hope of earning some free cash somewhere down a long stringy line of HTML that leads to a place where somewhere, someone is actually buying something with money. Well, the net used to be free didn't it? In the last few years, businesses from the real world have jumped on line and dragged with them the old school marketing techniques - which have now fused in a mutated mess with new age network marketing techniques and Internet hit-counting tallies, leading to this very complex web of sites promoting sites promoting sites linking to other sites promoting offers to promote products by promising free stuff, prizes, samples, hosting, even cold hard cash - PHEW!!

This is burning a few old businesses who are getting stung with 20,000 requests for their demo CD or wonder vitamin, booming for others, who are skimming off a bit of postage and packing charges and managing to hook in a few new customers. The ISP's are happy, because they are getting heaps of hits and placing their ads all over the shop. The click through ad sellers are happy, because they get paid anyway, and the little guys - the webmasters - well they get enough money to pay for a dust cover for their PC, and maybe a few jars of coffee to keep updating their links. Is this the way it is supposed to be? How long can this last? What are all these end products that are being given away? Do we need them? Does anybody care?

Take Sandy Kreutter and her web site www.thefreemall.net . She started her site a year ago. She builds it and maintains it herself. Six months of work programming and researching to get it up and running, and a few complete overhauls since.

"When I first started the site I spent about 8 hours a day building it and looking for legitimate free offers to add. I find most free offers in search engines and by going to different 'name brand products' web sites".

Like all the other free site owners, they are all scrambling for the same free offers. An office supply store offers a free pencil for subscribing to their catalogue, and you've got hot news in a thousand free sites all offering that pencil. This puts pressure on the webmasters to stay up to date, just to keep with the pack, and allows smart larger companies to devise strategies to utilise this situation to advantage.

"I definitely do not make a living at this." Insists Sandy. "I make approx US$150 a month from advertisers. I haven't been spending as much time lately as I used to with the site due to lack of time."

"I also added the 'get paid to shop' page, because I was seeing a lot of web sites selling this information, and it bothered me that people would have to pay for the info, when it's right out there on the web, so I started a list of companies that do that." ….Sandy's anarchic, socialist streak is beginning to show.

"I try to check the free offers I list once every 2 weeks and remove the expired ones." The task gets bigger and bigger. "I do send for free offers myself and have received lots of things as far as product samples etc..and I do enter some of the contests..no big win yet though for me."

"I started the site as a hobby and when I started getting advertisers I put more time into it. I have a 5 yr old daughter so I don't work full time outside the house. I would love to continue the site for as long as I can. It's time consuming to look for free offers and I wish I had more time to update my site more frequently."

Being a mum, Sandy doesn't want her child to grow up thinking mummy is a back that makes tapping sounds and has a funny glow coming from a squarish zone behind her.

"I try to only add offers that are completely free (no shipping charges) and it is important to me to keep my site family oriented."

So there you have it. US$130.00 a month. Is it worth it? Quite possibly. How long will it last? Who knows? How much are the people who pay her $130 making? Well, if you read the net scams chapter, you'll know that it must be a lot more than Sandy, otherwise she wouldn't be getting anything.

Meanwhile the freebie phenomenon continues. Newbies get on line, and send away excitedly for free t-shirts or rubber gloves. Where are all the anarchists? Well, they don't have any more free time. They are getting paid bucket loads to build the commercial sites now.

Where will this all lead us? It's up to you dear reader. You must choose the fate of your web. Jump in and cash in, or take your time and smell the flowers, whilst examining ways to make money on the net with value added activities. In anarchy, you vote with your actions. Help somebody, get people together, encourage healthy living, join some interest groups. The best outcome of the free site phenomenon is the number of charity and activist groups that are getting exposure by offering free on-line literature about their cause, to people who were really looking for key rings, mouse pads and beer coolers. Christians have always done this by handing out bibles etc. Now anyone who wants to affect change can do it and reach a fairly wide audience.

Birds don't pay rent on their nests or buy their food. Dogs can live in penthouses for free. What is wrong with us humans, eh? The planet is abundant with everything, and it's all tied up in stocks, bonds, real estate and super funds while everyone desperately chases a dollar. The best way to get stuff for free is to free your mind first. Sure if you want a new mouse pad, of course it's yours for the taking! That's what the Internet is all about! ;-)

By Stefan Sojka

We are the robots.  A computer is messing with the electrical signals in our collective brain.  If we all become one whipped-up sweat drop then this is our heart calling... punters and players alike enjoying the binary finery of computer pulse orgies.

Out on the dance floor we're more wired than we think – while the DJs with their slick slabs of vinyl are widely celebrated as the lords of the dance, the difference between a good night out and a mind expanding experience is often in the hands of the (mostly) unseen wizards at the controls of some very serious light and sound technology.

Geoffrey Rose – Laser Special Events, Sydney

If the technical crews who work to create high energy at dance parties and raves around Australia were to select a Grand Master they would probably choose Geoffrey Rose of Laser Special Events.  A degree in Physics (UNSW) opened his mind to the magical properties of precisely filtered light and its potential to create eye dazzling art.

While his international reputation as a laser artist has been established at mainstream events such as the World Expo in Portugal, Rose gained underground credibility for his art with a very different audience in the rising dance party scene of Australia over the last decade.

His performances with the Laser Goddess (choreographer and dancer) Tracey Burke at numerous events such as Prodigy (State Sport Centre, Sydney), Eclipse (Illicit, Melbourne) and Red Raw (Metro, Melbourne) were about "Elevating of spirits and an appreciation for technical perfection – by taking technology out of the box of the computer and into real space."

Rose has used up to four technicolour lasers in these performances to hit 3" mirrors a hundred metres away on Burke's elaborate RoboGirl costumes and spin a web of light fantastic over mesmerised crowds: "(It's) the purity, the wrap-around effect encompassing the audience," he says, "And with Tracey, the perfection is humanised and reworked with fluid and organic elements."

The future of precise light according to Rose is a collision between lighting and laser technology: "Using lenses on lights like magnifying glasses to intensify it, rather than wasting light to create shapes and colours; creating structures in space with a control on intensity that normal lights allow -- a system with the control of a laser without the fragility and cost. Lasers are really laboratory instruments."

Favourite tech: Aquarius 2 laser system - English + scanning system with computer (worth $100,000) "It has live keyboard control so the operator can interact live and in total sync with the music rather than have preset programs."

Paul Chambers - Beyond the Brain, North Coast NSW

Paul Chambers has a techfetish: "My favourite technology is like my favourite techno music - the latest, freshest and juiciest gear I can find or afford to get my hands on. A lot of lasers, lights and sound are totally great but it's integrating them with other elements in unique combinations that I find exciting."
Chambers is at the leading edge of psycho-spiritual party production through bush trance events in the lush environs of Byron Bay, northern NSW. But it's not all psychedelic doof music and trippy lights up north. Chambers talks with equal enthusiasm about culture jam happenings like Thursday Plantation's Homecoming Ball, which will feature a string quartet before charging into full-blown techno, or the planned Industrial fashion show set to take place during Byron Bay's official New Year's Eve celebration this year.
Whether they're dancing to Vivaldi or DJ Visceral, Chambers hopes his productions "help people have a great time -- and that they can see and feel the connections between all the music and creative expression. The aim is to produce events that are both going-off parties and genuine works of art."
Travellers and locals in Northern NSW can look forward to more electrically-charged celebrations this summer which continue the mystical legend of the internationally famous Beyond the Brain parties.
Mention Beyond the Brain to any trance-traveller and you're likely to hear a passionate manifesto for the global community and the technology which makes it happen. Chambers can't stop smiling when he recounts his epiphany at a recent Beyond the Brain party which starred ethnobotanical guru Terence McKenna: "The event took on a life of its own -- it brought a dance party crew and much of the wider community together in a truly multi-dimensional, multi-media happening. I feel proud to have been a part of it."

Club profile: ARQ, Sydney
Recently opened on Flinders Street (just off Sydney's gay strip Oxford Street) ARQ is a testament to what an almost religious dedication to hi-tech and massive amounts of money can score. A spokesperson for ARQ said the mega-million investment was aimed at "Enhancing the enjoyment of the music -- with a good operator and the best gear you can SEE the energy level. We use colour and varying tempos and key to control the intensity of the crowd." According to ARQ management, the moving head and mirror luminaires, strobes, pinspots, colour washes, lasers and the huge (7 1/2 tonne) hydraulic lighting sculpture will certainly give the crowd something to look at - "but the operator is the crucial element for optimising the energy".

Club profile: QBH, Melbourne

Melbourne's biggest nightclub is committed to mind-expansion through carefully controlled technology. Marcus Johns, General Manager, says you can have the best tools in the world, but they're useless if not used properly. "It's all in the operation," says Johns, "We can have people come here totally straight and just enjoy the lighting and the music and feel great. The show evolves over the night and from week to week -- so each time you come you get another presentation."
Johns believes the public's expected standard for sound has gone through the roof over the last five years with home stereos now featuring surround and mega bass. "They (dance audience) are now very sound aware, and understand the difference between good and bad acoustics.
QBH keeps its crowd pumping with high quality bass orientation through eight double woofer bass cabinets (1,600 watts each), clear Mids and Highs, an EV X-Array System with compressors and processors and Yamaha Equalisers. The whole system was designed in a CAD Architectural application with acoustic properties of the room mapped and speaker positions plotted to maximise efficiency and minimise dead spots and booming areas. Speakers were then hung exactly to spec.
Eye-candy is served up in super doses: Genesis 16 colour laser with Pentium computer control and Intelligent lighting running off another computer. Plus a 5 metre truss lighting ball (1.8 tonnes), Future Lights with 360 degree rotation, Ambient Lighting, dance mirrors. and miles of optical fibre lighting throughout the venue. "It's DMX compatible," explains Johns, "Meaning that the DJ and lighting guy can control it via computer and change the mood of the room. Starts off Red and moves through the spectrum throughout the night".

Oz - Squiffy Vision, NSW
Squiffy Vision creates melting moments with sound and vision at large events throughout Australia including Beyond the Brain, Earthcore and Thursday Plantation's Homecoming Ball. " We create environments that help people get past the drudgery of their ordinary mindstates by relaxing them or shocking them into being open to new mind states," says Squiffy Vision's Production Manager Oz, "Freedom means taking full responsibility for your life. The events we do are a communal vibe."
Oz works with 1970s gear mostly and Digital Video Animators Strobes, Quasars and lasers plus a subliminal neural trigger -- smell: "We use cold fan-forced smells to enhance different colour/sound harmonics," says Oz, "And oil on hot coals to take the audience on a journey."
Colour is an important ingredient too. Oz explains that colour light can balance the harmonics in a room: "Every note has a harmonic in beat, pitch and colour." It's all about deep pulse, binaural coding. Red = Lust or anger, "It depends which way you go especially the vocal and musical content," says Oz, "Shapes harmonise with colour, sound and our chakras. Subliminal and obvious effects are created to induce relaxed states in the audience. Part of the evolution of body/mind/spirit. Mass self organisation evolves to the point of sustainability -- and once people become self organised the mass self organises."

Di James - 4th Dimension Vision Mixing
4di@hypergeek.com.au

Di James mixes vision -- video and still images -- in synergy with the music booming out of soundsystems at underground events such as ODD at Centrepoint in Sydney, Koxbox at Sydney Uni's Wentworth Building and numerous events on the north coast.
What is the 4th Dimension? Imagine a DJ cutting and fading several tracks to create new patterns -- but instead of dropping vinyl or CDs James blends vision live alongside the DJs: "For me, it's a synchronisation of sound and vision to create a space where people feel free to cut loose and immerse themselves in the environment", she says.
Working with a base (bass) of VHS videos she develops in preproduction, James delivers lush 3D animations and a live video feed of the crowd into her mixing desk then out to a projector and its huge screens above the dance floor.
Right now she owns a couple of monitors, a VCR and a VHS video camera -- down from the 4 VCRs and an MX-12 mixer she worked with in Byron Bay. According to Di, vision mixing at parties is still an under-used medium and thus promoters rarely budget for its worth in creating the vibe. "I have to hire most of my equipment when I perform in Sydney," says James, "and the repairs and servicing of this equipment is expensive due to its hitech nature. But, on my big wish list there is a DLP projector, an MX-50 vision mixer, DVD players instead of VCR players, small LCD monitors, a digital video camera and a Non Linear Editing system with a firewire card for pre- and post- production. AND a sponsor!"
Drawn to her art as a means of directly enhancing party goers' moods in real time (rather than the static nature of paintings or the linear flow of film), James believes many of her images mightn't be immediately registered in the audience's mind during the event "but may provide a trigger for a later response to viewing similar imagery. Ultimately the aim is to broaden the person's perceptions of themselves and the universe. People from many indigenous cultures have had traditions of shamanic dancing. And hell, dancing's good exercise."

Urs -- Happy People Productions, Mullumbimby, NSW
www.millenni-yum.com

Whether he's dancing and trancing on the beaches of Goa (India) and Kho Phangan (Thailand) or in Mother Nature's finest playgrounds in Switzerland and Byron Bay, Urs believes the Happy People need powerful bass for a smiling face: "I wouldn't mind a couple more bass bins (sub woofers) so we make even more sound -- the louder we play the better god can hear us!"
You can imagine the dancing in Heaven when the Happy System starts pumping: 16 JBL 15 inch bass bins , 8 AT C 10inch drivers, 8 JBL horns , and 8 JBL bullets --- a compact system by club standards, but powerful all the same. Urs smiles as he explains his list of other toys: "This shows you that we are running this rig with active 4 way crossovers powered with 2 x 3K and 2 x 2K QSCs, 2 x 0.5K Jeils for the tops, a Klark 40 channel graphic mixer and a DBX 1066 compressor gate -- they're all there to make sure we have best HIFY STEREO."
Urs' passion for powerful technology began at formative full moon parties on the beaches of Goa, where he tuned in with up to 5000 "drunken, stoned and tripping hippies and Indians partying together on the beach in South Anjuna". Inspired by these wild beach frolics Urs developed his DJ and promoting skills in Switzerland before landing back on Goan beaches in the early 80s with new sounds to help the hippies and Indians find joy through dance. "(I played at) India's first night club Flying Dragon Jungle Express -- the disco fever was on in Europe and so we disturbed the hippies with their reggae and salsa but in no time they adapted to the new trend and Goa was on the way to becoming the Mecca for experimental dance music." During the last two decades Urs and his Happy People have played for all kinds of crowds, from 100 to 200 in Boracay, several thousands at Australian events such as Green Magiq and Trance-Zen-Dance, right up to 20,000 at the Zoom parties in Switzerland. This New Year you'll find the Happy People in Byron for the Millenni-Yum Clockbuster Groove: "Hope to meet you some time on a rocking dance floor for Happy People Productions and the Millenni-Yum crew, love URS."

By Stefan Sojka

In the space of a few short years, we have all lived through an amazing global transformation – the sudden growth of this thing we all now know as the Internet. It is essentially an extension of the telegraph system, which began to be developed over 150 years ago, but once the power of computers was harnessed to help in the transmission of information, the whole concept of communication leaped into another dimension.

It was a leap that started as a few hazy but fanciful notions dreamed up by research scientists, gained momentum as the potential for networked computers became clearer to everyone involved, and turned into the massive tidal wave of change we are all witnessing and experiencing today. The networks worked, the computers got faster and smarter, and as more and more people discovered the ‘on-line’ experience, the Internet absorbed and continues to absorb more and more participants, taking us on a joyride of possibilities.

For a long time, the general public knew little about the evolution that was quietly taking place inside the laboratories and collective minds of the elite scientists who had ‘plugged in’ to the idea of a switched on and connected world. There was nothing too cool about sitting in front of a computer crunching code, but those involved were secretly getting blown away by just how totally cool the concept of sharing ideas, thoughts and friendships across vast distances was. Free from physical restrictions, and largely free from any legal or political control, the pioneers of the net created their own society, driven by anarchy, coupled with agreed technical protocols, where ideas and information flowed freely and new ways of relating to others began to develop.

They couldn’t keep this world secret for too long, because the word was spreading. The ‘information superhighway’ was beginning to be seen as a potential boon for government and business, and some sectors of society began to get concerned about the morality and potential negative influence of such a medium. At the same time, more and more ordinary people were buying personal computers, modems and ‘logging on’ to find the wealth of information available, and the sense of connection the ‘nerds’ had been experiencing all this time.

By 1994 the “world wide web” had developed - along with the computers used to access it – to provide a total multi-media experience, complete with graphics, video and music, as well as complex searching tools and filing systems that began to make sense of the explosion of available information. It was now a force to be reckoned with, and had the potential to revolutionize the way we carried out our daily lives. At this point the commercial potential became clear and the mad rush to dominate ‘cyberspace’ began. Billions of dollars of capital has since been poured into developing the Internet and there have been winners and losers, and thanks to the collective efforts of individuals, corporations and governments the world over, we all have the potential to benefit from this wired-up world. Using our computers, we can put our brains to work to share ideas, information and enterprise with the rest of the world, using the global brain we call “The Web”.

So how did it all happen? Where did the web come from?

I Have a Dream

Back in 1960, Joseph Licklider (1915-1990) published a paper called “Man and Computer Symbiosis”. He discussed the possibilities and the challenges faced in achieving a smooth working relationship between two totally different entities. At that time, computers were seen as huge central devices, and he looked at ways of allowing multiple access to the same information (time sharing), as well as how to deal with language issues and processing speed restrictions of both man and computer. He later headed the computer research program at ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and set up research programs that eventually led to widespread use of computer time sharing in the late 60’s and net­working by the mid 70’s.

Switching to Packets

MIT Professor Leonard Kleinrock wrote a paper in 1961, entitled “Information Flow in Large Communication Nets” where he virtually laid out the fundamental concepts upon which the Internet is now built – the idea of dividing data up into small packets then sending them down the line to be reassembled at the other end. This enabled computers to speak to each other on an equal two-way basis, rather than ‘dumb’ terminals plugged into a mainframe. This set up the decentralized, anarchic model of computer based communication networks. He continues to be at the forefront of Internet development, at UCLA.

The Stage is Set

During the early 60’s the experiments of the early pioneers began to be emulated around the world and the language and protocols were slowly refined to allow more and more connectivity between computers as the needs arose, the possibilities envisioned, and the funding was forthcoming. The fundamentals of computing were established very early on, but took a long time to become mainstream. Doug Engelbart in 1963 invented the “X-Y position Indicator for a Display System”, which we now know as a ‘mouse’. Gordon Moore, back in ’64, claimed that computing power would double every 18 months, creating “Moore’s Law” which has pretty much held true ever since. Moore went on to start Intel in 1968.

Uncle Sam Wants a Slice

Of course all these exciting new concepts stirred the imagination of the US military, and Paul Baran from Rand Corporation was commissioned by the US Air Force to write up a report on the possibilities. His paper, “On Distributed Communications” examined the potential for a decentralized network to withstand a nuclear attack. In those chilly cold war days, this was a revelation, causing a huge increase in resources directed towards developing this network. In conjunction with a number of Universities, the ARPANET evolved.

Sharing the Vision

By the end of the 1960’s man landed on the moon, and the giant steps forward were being made in the computer world as well. Companies, governments and educational institutions pooled their resources as the networked world came to life as if by some kind of grand design that the participants were merely mapping out as best they could. The collective consciousness took control, as Steve Crocker created the first RFC (Request for Comment), opening the door to global collaboration. The ARPANET had established its first IMP (Information Message Processor) at UCLA, followed by Stanford (SRI), Santa Barbara (UCSB), and the University of Utah. In October 1972, the first international conference was held to establish agreed protocols, giving birth to the InterNetwork Working Group, chaired by Vinton Cerf.

Are You Talking to Me?

The 70’s saw huge leaps forward in standardising network communications. Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn established Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and later Vint, Steve Crocker and Danny Cohen developed Internet Protocol (IP). TCP/IP is still with us today and computers hooked up using this protocol became what we know call the Internet, establishing a standard for net­working. Other network standards were still in use. Significantly, on January 1 1983, the APRANET switched to the new standard.

The Geeks Come Out

Meanwhile more and more students, hobbyists and technicians were plugging in and the popularity of exchanging information through computers began to build. Email, Message Groups, Bulletin Boards and MUD’s (Multi-user Domains). Ted Nelson conceived “Xanadu” – a pay-per-document database as a global library. Many networks developed, emulating the ARPANET model, giving access to a huge diversity of citizens. Usenet, Fidonet and BITNET (Because It’s Time NETwork) which sprang out of New York, providing the Internet culture its underground, independent, collaborative nature, and the culture exploded. The “Smiley Face” was born :-) and the number of Internet hosts began doubling every few months or so - from 200 in 1982 to nearly 200,000 by the end of the 1980’s. Madness and mayhem erupted among the excitement as viruses and hackers began playing in their new found playground.

Peace Rules, Man.

Because of the open protocol of the Internet, security was low, so big business, although widely adopting the computer as a business tool, was afraid to jump on-line for fear of attack by the wily and subversive hackers. This allowed the anarchic community to flourish for quite some time. It was the domain of the Cyberpunk, the electronic guerrilla, and the switched on new age peace loving hippies, who saw the net as one big global group hug. Stuart Brand, of the Whole Earth Catalogue created WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) with Larry Brilliant, providing Internet access to anyone with a personal computer. Meanwhile the professors and scientists continued their never-ending refinement of the code.

All Hyped Up

Up to the 1990’s most of what was being shared over the Internet was in the form of text messages, Q & A conversations, postings to threaded discussion forums, with some people sharing software and files via FTP and Gopher and other systems. After Apple released Hypercard, in the late ‘80s, a personal authoring system where files could be linked and correlated in complex ways, it wasn’t long before Tim Burners-Lee proposed a ‘hypertext’ system for the Internet, allowing a mere click of a mouse to take users to the next file, or related document. This was the genesis of the “World Wide Web” and Burners-Lee followed up with some dedicated WWW software. Although security was still a big issue, this triggered the explosive exponential growth of the net. Personal computers were widespread, modems were cheap and easily available, so the stage was set for the average person, not just the technically minded, to ‘surf the net’. 1993 saw 2 million Internet hosts, the White House and the UN went ‘on-line’ and the proliferation of HTTP servers began.

KABOOM!

With all the necessary protocols in place, and web browsing software like Mosaic being released, the web was poised to take over the planet. Phenomenal growth rates of all indicators pointed to nothing short of a global revolution. In 1994 the web grew at 341,000%. Traffic exceeded 10 trillion bytes per month. There were 3 million web hosts and the race to register domain names began. Hypertext and increased speed had enabled the Internet to become what the pioneers had dreamed – a multi-media global information exchange such as humanity had never known. Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) pointed the way to fully immersive web experiences and the creative minds ran wild. Web sites were still fairly crude as HTML was in its infancy, but through the well-established chat networks (IRC), newsgroups, mailing lists and now web sites, the global brain began to dream.

The New Gold Rush

Finally after all the formative years, the realisation that the Net could be profitable took hold. The first ‘cyberbank’, First Virtual opened its doors (or windows) and the big players moved in. As people signed up for Internet connections by the million, ISPs, software developers, hardware manufacturers, content providers and search facilitators all stood to gain big time in the race for supremacy. Netscape led the browser race for quite some time, providing an easy to use solution to the general public, whilst companies like AOL, Compuserve and MSN began trawling the world for subscribers to their services. Unfortunately many companies underestimated the anarchic nature of the net and the free will of the users, and failed to provide what people wanted. Surfers didn’t want to be told what to do and where to go, they were happy to click away and discover things they’d never seen before, meet people they would never have met otherwise, and generally feel completely uninhibited in their quest for the cyber-experience. Consortiums like Tim Burners-Lee’s W3C, the Federal Networking Council (FNC) and the Internet Society (ISOC) were formed by the founders of the technology, to try to steer and manage the rapid growth and hang onto standards, whilst allowing for future developments.

Love rules.

By 1996, chat channels were heavily populated and new concepts arose, like IRC addiction, cyber-sex, flaming and spamming. Trans-national love affairs blossomed. “Newbies” started showing up in places where once only hardened tech-heads hung out and everyone had to get used to getting along together. People took sides as to which browser, which operating system, which political system, which rock group, which gender was better. Others became concerned about the free flow of ideas and it’s impact on society, triggering attempts to control the Internet on grounds of decency and censorship, while the Blue Ribbon Campaign gained much support, advocating free speech on-line. Of course one of the big controversial issues was that of pornography. Anyone with a modem and a computer could download pretty much anything, and that concerned a lot of people, especially since it seemed that’s all anyone was doing on the Internet, if you believed the press at the time.

The New World

Internet Telephony, Video Chat, Streaming Audio and Video, Browser Plug-ins, Conferencing, Virtual Reality - the avid surfers wanted more of everything and the developers were quick to respond with a plethora of products. Unfortunately the web was still rather slow and clunky, and while we all imagined a perfect virtual 3D world of electric dreams, the reality was that for the average person, just getting around the basics was hard enough. Configuring your dial-up connection, email settings and browser settings required expert assistance. VRML failed to grow as quickly as basic 2D browsing. Artists and self-styled entrepreneurs wanted their piece of cyberspace so web page creation and domain registration became the big focus. Adobe released Page Mill and Site Mill, and Netscape released Netscape ‘Gold’ which allowed the editing of web sites. Early adopters were quick to establish commercial ventures, register cool names, even registering the names of big companies in an attempt to challenge the established real world business practices. By and large the Web was still the domain of the creative and the technically minded, though the consumers were gathering.

The Geeks Sell Out

The inevitable arrival of e-commerce came quickly and the last three years of the 1900’s saw a fundamental shift towards the commercialisation of the Internet. Department Stores, Banks, Insurance Companies, Real Estate Agents, Book Shops, Car Manufacturers, CD Stores, Magazines, Football Clubs – everyone was getting an Internet ‘presence’. Web Addresses began appearing on TV ads, billboards and press ads. Whole new industries emerged to search for sites, provide how-to information for surfers, list businesses in directories, forecast trends and develop each successive generation of web site to keep up with the state of the art. Those who were once amateur enthusiasts found themselves in extremely high demand by big business to help explain to them what this Net thing is all about, and help guide their on-line enterprise. Coders, designers, writers and experts on Web culture suddenly found themselves in gainful employment.

Dot Com Madness

What was once established as a convenient way to exchange ideas among university researchers had by the end of the 1900s become the single most notable phenomenon of modern times. The big money moved in. Venture capitalists got behind any idea that seemed like it had half a chance of taking off, and the financiers and stockbrokers began playing their games with the vulnerable and naïve developers and general public. Internet expos sprang up across the globe, inviting industry leaders to ride the Web train even before anyone knew where it was heading. It was all changing so fast. Surfer behaviour was not completely understood, hardware was evolving too fast to track, so countless web sites appeared and disappeared, along with the money that funded them.

Levelling the Playing Field

The Internet presented unforseen problems. Traditional business practice didn’t necessarily work. With the click of a mouse a potential customer would vanish from a site in seconds. Banner ads, modelled on newspaper ads, actually encouraged visitors to leave the site that displayed them. Surfers were basically in control of their on-line destinies and weren’t as easy to manipulate as TV viewers or radio listeners. Not only that, but when all it takes is a domain name to identify your place in cyberspace, tiny one-man operations could stand alongside giant multinationals, with their homepages on equal footing. A ‘cool’ site was worth far more than a big site. Big companies tried to make themselves ‘cool’ but often failed.

A Whole New Ball Game

Once again creativity and ingenuity rule supreme in the world of ideas and information. As the conglomerates and start-ups merge, split, fold, expand, breed, seed and float, the on-line community of real people expanded and continues to expand. Competition between companies and individuals has given way to cooperation. Strategic alliances, net­working, affiliation, multi-level marketing. An example of this is the celebrity fan site phenomenon, where fans of big recording artists build their own shrines to their favourite star, but are rewarded with commissions on record sales, if they direct their visitors to buy CDs. Individuals and corporations are banding together, sharing resources and customers. The giants still have a lot of power, as they have the resources to not only do the market research, but also to provide the rich content, but everyone now has the ability to create their own space and turn it into something of value.

Services Rendered

As the novelty wears off, Internet users begin realizing that you can only surf the web so much before you start to realize that your life is slipping away fast, and no matter how hard you try, you will never see all there is to see out there. A trend is emerging for usefulness. Sites that help you find stuff. Sites that help you make a good purchasing decision. Sites that help you manage your ever-increasingly complex life. Sites that provide information you really want and filter out the junk. Mailing lists that keep you up to date with your subjects of interest. Meeting places. Events. News. Interaction. Personal empowerment. Industry specific sites managed by experts in the field. Search engines that don’t bring up every site that contains the word you typed in, rather a carefully chosen selection of relevant sites. Sites that know who you are and don’t patronise you, but respect you and your position in life.

Your Internet

From the earliest visions of computer/human interactivity, the idea of people sharing their lives with the help of technology has persisted. While the Net is a great way to make companies and governments more efficient, its true value is becoming more and more clear to be the ability for computers to manage complex information to make our lives more enjoyable. Joseph Licklider’s ‘Symbiosis’ concept is becoming ever more realised. We are moving to wireless systems, web-enabled wrist watches and wearable devices of all description. All the while, the fundamental principals established by the pioneers hold fast. Email, chat, discussion groups and file sharing are our staple information diet. We can carry on our day-to-day business, work, play, social interaction, while the Internet and all its contributors and developers continue to make life easier, faster, smarter and more customised to our needs and wants. We are all ‘Webmasters’.

By Stefan Sojka

There are certainly some similarities between Webmasters and Master Builders, though I am always envious knowing that my home pages are un-insurable against fire and flood, yet can be destroyed with one push of a “delete” button, while your buildings last for decades! Still, the feeling of satisfaction of clicking through a newly launched website with its proud owner might almost, I imagine, be as rewarding as taking a prospective homeowner on the first walk-through of your latest residential or commercial masterpiece.

One thing we can be sure about the web now is that it is a great communication tool and a great marketing tool. Regardless of how big or small your business is, a website is the best way to show the world what you do at the least, and can be used to maximize your marketing and transform your business at the very most.

A web site can now be much more cost effective than printing glossy brochures or other expensive marketing mediums (mail outs, catalogues, trade shows, promotional videos, CD ROMS) and when it comes to more complex web sites that process and manage information, there is nothing that can compete.

Whether you already have a website that’s in dire need of renovation and extension, or have not even begun to think about it, I hope this article can shed some light on some of the things you need to consider and hopefully get you motivated to make it happen. We’re talking “Clicks and Mortar” – ie how to make a website compliment and enhance a real world enterprise.

As a web design firm, we have a 4-step process to get a website established. It doesn’t matter how big or small your company or your website is, you still need to go through the same basic process in order to succeed. Since we began this article with a comparison of homes vs. home pages, why stop now?

Four Steps to Building a Master Home Page

1)The Foundations – Getting started – decide on a domain name, choose a web designer, have them help register the name and set up a basic “under construction” page.
2)The Floor Plan – The pages, the links, the content. Decide what the site will be used for and work out a plan that accommodates the visitors, and your business the way you want.
3)Construction – Everything from the wiring to the plumbing, to the interior decorating, functionality, trimmings, doors (links), appliances (database connections, content management systems), cladding and insulation (keywords, code to help the site get found by search engines, disclaimers and privacy statements)
4)Marketing and Maintenance – Launch, and promotion. Ongoing adjustments and reworking, the occasional coat of paint and looking for ways to increase traffic to your virtual cul-de-sac.

The Foundations

An email address and basic web address are two fundamental ways to establish an online presence. As phone bills get bigger and bigger, people are realizing how easy it is to whip off an inquiry or response via email.

Also, even though it is great PR to respond to emails instantly, it is not absolutely expected, so you can get on with your life, and set some time aside to manage all your emails at once, rather than fielding phone calls at inconvenient times.

By registering a domain name that suits your business and sticking to it, it becomes your permanent address, no matter who you connect to the internet with, or even who manages you website hosting. It is merely a matter of redirecting it if you change providers. It is best to arrange your domain name through your web developer, since they know all about the processes and requirements, and can advise on suitable names, as well as managing them as they come up for renewal.

Very early on, you may as well arrange for your web developer to set up a basic “under construction” page – at least it can be a point of contact while the site is developed, as it can take some time to finally launch your dream home page.

The Floor Plan

A successful website needs a lot of planning. Too many times we come across sites that have been hastily thrown together to some kind of imaginary deadline set by the eager owner, completely ignoring some of the obvious prerequisites – ease-of-use, intelligent architecture and lots of keywords for search engines.

Like designing a good home, you need to look at the functions you want the home to perform and accommodate them appropriately. Rumpus rooms and studies, or many bedrooms and a granny flat? There are so many things a website can do – a perfect showcase of a master builder’s capabilities and achievements. What better way to show off your awesome constructions than a photo gallery? Video footage even – of your team in action? Virtual walk-throughs? Detailed photos showing close-ups of workmanship and finish? The colour and splendour of properties and building works can be captured perfectly in a well designed website.

Above and beyond the visuals, a website allows your company to communicate your standards of excellence, your design philosophy and your commitment to customer service, by having the text and layout of the site reflecting the way you do business.

Don’t forget testimonials on your site either – always a great boost to your credibility. Then there are your awards, industry affiliations and preferred suppliers and products – all reassuring your potential customers that you are knowledgeable, experienced and trustworthy. Why not add a mortgage calculator while you are at it? They are everywhere.

This kind of expanded brochure-style website is ideal for potential clients to discover what you are all about and to help them make a decision to hire your services or buy your creations, even before they have spoken to you. This is a common scenario these days. If the website has worked its magic, a couple of emails later and a buyer or investor is hooked. Even if a client has short-listed you from a selection of competitors’ websites, it is a lot easier to make the sale when you talk to them if you have an impressive website to back you up.

All this information, and more, needs to be mapped out on paper and then worked into a design that takes into account the scale and variety of information. Ideally all the primary pages or sections should be available from every other page, and subsections should be available from all other pages in a subsection, with a simple link back to the main section.

You also need to work out how the site will actually function, like if you have customers logging in, how is the log in processed, and where do they get directed to, what information do you want to bring to their attention? Do you have a lot of data to manage? Are you wanting to have e-commerce facilities? What about harnessing information from other sites and plugging it into yours? By taking your time at this crucial stage, you can work out the perfect operation, layout and design of your site.

You should show your designer sites you like and sites that do the same kinds of things you want to do, so you can work together to get the optimal look and feel for your site. We usually give our clients a “Website Workbook”. They find it very helpful in thinking through the project.

Construction

This is where it is time to let the experts do their thing. The usual method is to use a “staging server” where the site can be uploaded and reviewed along the way, making any adjustments, whilst physically (well, with not much more than lifting an index finger) building the pages, files and images of the site. This is where the Webmaster takes over for a while to make sure all the technical and artistic aspects of the plan are carried out as expected.

There will be much to-ing and fro-ing, but amazingly the plans start to fall into place according to the timeline set out, and a fabulous new website begins to take shape. During the testing phase, there will be unexpected issues. You should always allow for the fact that this will happen. Hopefully all the planning will be enough, but as it falls into place, refinements are inevitable. A well quoted website will allow for these changes, and it is one of the great things about websites, that they are so changeable.

To run a website it must be hosted by a company that allows it to stay online 24 hours a day. Larger companies can host their own sites, but it is usually best left to specialists, especially with security issues and many other technical concerns. Economy of scale dictates that larger, well-established web hosting companies should be able to offer good services and technical support for a very reasonable price. Once again your website developer/designer would usually have a choice of hosts, depending on your needs. Once the site is approved for launched, it can be set up properly on its server and the champagne corks pop!

Marketing and Maintenance
Unless people know about your site and what it can do, it can just sit there idle. You must make sure your site is optimized to be found in search engines (there are a few tricks to this) and is listed in any industry directories (eg www.mbansw.asn.au ) and other places where you think your potential customers might go looking for you. This may involve a bit of research and legwork on your part, emailing other sites and chasing up links, but it will be worth it. You might set aside a certain amount of time each week or month to ensure your site is as available as possible. Or if your budget is more extensive, you can get a marketing company involved.

Off line, you have to get your site “out there” – put the web address on your vehicles, in your adverts, on business cards, invoices, letterheads, work shirts, caps – anywhere!

Meanwhile you should have a plan to maintain and improve your site to keep it fresh – add photos of your latest work, news, updated services and contact lists, as well as the possibility of adding whole new sections and functionality. Some changes can be set up to be done by a staff member using software or a content management system, but larger updates would most likely require your developer’s services. By tracking the success of the site, in terms of sales, inquiries, hits, downloads etc. you can make appropriate changes based on budget and anticipated returns.

Even though the building of a website is quite a complex challenge, by breaking it down into four basic steps, as we have done here, and attending to the steps methodically, the whole process can be demystified. With the help of a professional developer, what at first can seem like a mammoth job, can be built brick by virtual brick into a virtual residence any webmaster, and master builder, would be proud to call home.

Other Essentials

•Check your email regularly! Some of your biggest contracts could come through a simple email and although an emailer may wait a couple of days, the certainly won’t wait weeks.
•Visit your own site and test it regularly. Technical problems do happen and the sooner you are aware of them the sooner you can have them fixed. Maybe your inquiry form stops working, maybe there are broken links or images.
•While you are there you should also review the content and see if it might need a little updating now and then. There is software now that allows easy updating yourself, or for more complex sites some kind of content management system could be required. You might be happy maintaining an ongoing relationship with your web developer who can update your site and keep you informed of any new trends in technology and web marketing.
•Check your search engine listings. If you slip down the lists, you will not be found, so you will need to rethink your site’s use of keywords and other search engine tricks.
•Make sure you have antivirus software running on your email program. There is nothing worse for customer relations than giving all your clients a major viral infection!
•Have a plan in place for expanding and improving your site as your business grows. There are many extras you can add to your site when budget and time allows it - but remember it is only worthwhile if you can see a measurable ROI. Databases, file downloads, video, mailing lists, resources, links, affiliate programs, sponsors, humour, news, charity involvement, staff profiles (employee of the month), loyalty schemes – the list is endless and growing every day. Just as mobile phones have evolved into PDA’s, cameras and entertainment devices, so your business presence on the web will constantly change.

Website basic content must-haves:

Home Page
About Us
Services/Products
Gallery
Testimonials
Contact Info/Inquiry FormSome Optional Extras:

Colour Charts
Floor Plans
Materials Samples
Downloadable files
Links to Appliance Manufacturers
Contracts
Video
Voice Narration
Panoramas/Walkthroughs
Flash Animation
Staff Profiles
Mailing List Join Form
Subcontractors sub-sites or links

By Stefan Sojka

Name of Site: DiveOz
URL: www.diveoz.com.au
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Review: If scuba diving gets your outboard motor running, there's a good chance DiveOz is going to become your homepage. The site has everything: a beginners 'Learning to Scuba Dive' section, discussion forums, a 'buy, swap & sell' directory, plenty of info, events, news, links, galleries and plenty more. Interestingly, DiveOz is also the home of the new 'sport' of Australian Extreme Underwater Ironing! "What the heck is that?" you ask. Well it's the act of taking an ironing board and electric iron (minus the electricity of course) and setting it all up, somewhere interesting on the bottom of the ocean and taking the photos to prove you did it. I guess all that pressure really does play with your mind! - SS

Name of Site: Penrith Whitewater Stadium
URL: www.penrithwhitewater.com.au
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Review: It's funny that the Olympics seem like they just happened yesterday, when in reality Athens 2004 is just around the corner. If you want to relive some of the excitement or are just keen to try paddling about in the foam, then Penrith's Olympic artificial white water stadium in Sydney may be the place for you. The site lets you view activities, prices, learn about upcoming events and download wallpapers to get you in the mood. So if you want to try something adventurous, get a group of friends or go solo, kayak style... Aquaphobe that I am, I'll stick to paddling about in the bathtub. - SS

Name of Site: ModernBoating
URL: www.modernboating.com.au
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Review: It was difficult to accept that this was a mere addendum to the newsstand magazine, more an entire web-zine in itself. The lads at the helm here have hoisted the spinnaker and let the wind billow the content to cup-winning extremes. Videos galore, a forum, a well-stocked shop, boat tests, articles and editorials - archived and constantly updated - will have you basking on the top deck and surveying the land ahoy with smug sea-loving pride. You're going to subscribe to the mag in a fit of guilt at how much you got here for free. The very model of a modern boating magazine. - SS

Name of Site: Australian Swimming
URL: www.ausswim.telstra.com.au
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Review: While most water sports require you to have some kind of equipment, real tightwads can always go in for the cheapest water sport around: swimming. And if you need some inspiration to get you started you can check out this site, home of the national swimming team and full of info on the squad, their records, events they're participating in, audio interviews and video footage of swim meets. The whole site made me feel quite patriotic and strangely enough I experienced a strong urge to change my phone over to Telstra, but I can't think why. - SS

Name of Site: Cyber Diver News Network
URL: www.cdnn.info
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Review: If you're after a good honest source of cutting edge information about diving, you can't go past CDNN. This site is huge! With tons of news through it's UES Global Online Publishing parent (who run some 30 publications around the world), in depth articles on things like 'Shark baiting' and 'Night Diving', Travel tips, Scuba Polls, Forums, newsletters and lots more reading material, it's the sort of site that you can get lost in for hours. So if you have some time to kill grab a snorkel and go find Nemo! - SS

Name of Site: RecFish Australia
URL: www.recfishoz.com
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Review: This is the peak national body for sporting and recreational fishing in Australia, so you'd better bookmark it, even though at the time of writing it is sadly a little too under construction. I can see that the site is mapped out ready to become a major resource for fishing boating enthusiasts across the land, with resources, habitat info, environmental info, likns, R & D and all kinds of other things, but at this stage it seems the Webmaster has, yes, you guessed it - gone fishin'! I'm sure he'll be back soon with a bumper catch, a few that got away, and the renewed enthusiasm to throw this site into the 'big pond' and hook a few more visitors. - SS

Name of Site: Waterways
URL: www.waterways.nsw.gov.au
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Review: Bob Carr and Co. give you their portal to the rivers, harbours and seas around this fabulous country. Waterways Authority has a huge responsibility, managing these massive assets and all the activities that happen in and around the water. Safety, environment, mapping, licensing, mooring - the list goes on. Like any good government department, they have gone to a lot of effort to spend your tax dollars wisely on this site to provide you with all the information and help you need before setting sail. Now boating is not only good for you, it's good for the country. - SS

Name of Site:
URL: www.yachting.org.au
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Review: If you want to get an idea of just how big Yachting is in this country just take a look at the site map here - gigantic! The yachting fraternity would be mightily proud of this site, providing everything they need, from race results and event calendars to a complete personalised portal - where the site knows your club, your preferences etc, and helps sort through the ocean of info for what you need. Whether you have a little dinghy or an America's Cup contender, this is your home when you're not out there catching the sea spray. - SS

Name of Site:
URL: www.safeboating.org.au
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Review: Sometimes its hard to remember, when you're out there kicking back in your skippers chair, knocking back a few cold ones after the slap up barby of the marlin you caught earlier, that boating can be a very hazardous past time. The ocean is an unforgiving mistress at times. Supported by a consortium of organisations, this site aims to arm you with all the safety know-how you will need, from pre-trip planning and preparation, to equipment guides and emergency response training. They have managed to make the site easy to use, friendly and appealing to all age groups so that everyone can benefit from being properly trained and aware of the safest ways to enjoy life at sea. Arr me hearties. - SS

Name of Site:
URL: www.lonelyplanet.com/theme/watersports/water_index.htm
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Review: From those kind folks who bring you the ultimate and definitive tourist guide books, comes their little adventure guide to the best water sports across the globe. It is by no means a comprehensive guide, more a sampling of what the world has to offer - shark baiting, swimming, kyaking and white water rafting. Each theme is described in some detail then links are provided to the respective country in the guide-proper - the main LP site. Now your appetite is whet, it's time to get really wet. Start planning your adventure now - its not such a lonely planet after all, the world is full of fun crazed people just like you. - SS

By Stefan Sojka

(This full-page article appeared in the Trading Post and published nationally.)

If you’re running a small business and you don’t have a website, then now is the time to take the plunge.

An email address and a website are two useful and cost effective additions to any company’s marketing toolkit. In fact every small business can benefit from displaying their wares online and taking inquiries by email, says Stefan Sojka, Creative Director of the Cyrius Media Group, a company firm specialising in web design.

Surprisingly, there are still a large number of businesses without a website, even though more and more people are now using the Internet as a first port of call to find the goods and services they need. The Trading Post’s own website is a prime example of an on-line presence supporting the “real world” version. Your own website can compliment your business perfectly.

“Above and beyond the visuals, a website allows your company to communicate your standards of excellence, your philosophy and your commitment to customer service by having the text and layout of the site reflect the way you do business,” says Stefan.

“If you sell products or ongoing services to your clients, a simple online store and list of services can entice them to do more business with you. Don’t forget testimonials on your site either – always a great boost to your credibility. Then there are your awards, industry affiliations and preferred suppliers or products – all reassuring your potential customers that you are knowledgeable, experienced and trustworthy.

“This kind of expanded brochure-style website is ideal for potential clients to discover what you are all about and to help them make a decision to hire your services, even before they have spoken to you.”

While not recommending that anyone jump on the technology bandwagon just for the sake of it, Stefan advises all small business to seriously consider the benefits of having a website – or upgrading the one they have.

“Sadly, many a website has been created without much thought to how it will function as a marketing tool,” he says. “Not only that, since there are no official standards of website design a site costing many thousands of dollars can actually harm your business because of badly planned content or annoying technical issues. The best sites are simple, concise, easy to use, visually appealing -- and built to an appropriate budget.”

To help you make sound decisions, Stefan has prepared the following planning checklist:

Domain name: You should have a domain name (website address) that is either your business name or a shortened form of it. It can be .com.au, .biz, .com or whatever, so long as it is easy to spell and give out to people. It can also contain a keyword or two (good for search engines), but shouldn’t be too long or hard to type. You can register domain names directly, but it is wise to consult your web professional.

Hosting: To run a website it must be ‘hosted’ by a company that allows it to stay online 24 hours a day. Larger companies can host their own sites, but it is usually best left to specialists, especially with security issues and many other technical concerns. Economy of scale dictates that larger, well-established web hosting companies should be able to offer good services and technical support for a very reasonable price. Once again your website developer/designer would usually have a choice of hosts, depending on your needs.

Web developer: You should look for a firm that understands your business requirements and has a proven portfolio of successful and satisfied clients. You should try to obtain ball park quotes, but if you have no idea what your site will be like, a quote will be impossible. You should find out what kind of process the developer will use to help you plan your site and arrive at their quote.

Planning: Look at your competitors’ websites as well as any other sites that you find appealing to get an idea of what you like and dislike. It’s getting cheaper every day to do the tricky stuff, but some things are still out of reach for most of us – remember some sites may have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Having collated all the information you require you will then need to employ a writer to tie it all together into a uniform style and the have the site professionally designed and mapped out.

Consistency: This is a great opportunity to marry the look of your website with your off-line material (business cards, logo, letterheads, etc). It is also a good time to get some great photos done of your work or products and to request testimonials from past clients.

Marketing: Your site will sit there doing nothing unless people know about it. You need to make sure your site is optimised so it can be found in search engines (there are a few tricks to this, including coming up with the right keywords) and is listed in any industry directories and other places where you think your potential customers might go looking for you. Off line, you have to get your site “out there” – put the web address on your vehicles, in your newspaper advertisements, on business cards, invoices, letterheads, work shirts, caps – anywhere and everywhere.

Ultimately, the key to success is to ask yourself what you want to achieve with your site. “Maybe you have more work than you can handle at present so your website will be mainly a branding exercise, keeping you in the public eye. Maybe you plan to market yourself aggressively and target specific groups – if so your site must reflect and support these goals,” says Stefan. “above all it is a reflection of what you are doing off-line and as such need to present you in the best possible way – professional, informative and visually appealing.”

For more information, including free initial consultation and planning advice, phone the Cyrius Media Group on (02) 9877 5544 or visit their website at: www.cyrius.com.au