Newsletter No. 42
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Free Pint
"Helping 23,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.co.uk/
ISSN 1460-7239 8th July 1999 #42
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
"Electronic commerce"
by Martin White
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Plastics and Rubber Information on the Internet"
by Susan Bradley
FREE PINT FEEDBACK AND BAR
"Issues with printing Free Pint"
"UK Web host recommendations?"
"Web catalogue data protection enquiry"
"Other Free Pint Bar discussions"
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
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CAMEO INTERNET is an information tool for professional use only.
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EDITORIAL
The Free Pint Bar Digest launched in the last issue has proven very
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We've had loads of requests for information on the Bar and so if you
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Thank you to all of you who told me about how many other people see
your copy of Free Pint. Many people print it out and pass it around
the office (or leave it on the table in the coffee area!). Some
companies post it on their Intranet (excellent - thank you), whilst
others maintain their own internal distribution list which tends to
be about 30-40 people. My main conclusion therefore is the fact
that 23,000 is clearly the tip of the iceberg.
In the tips article this issue, Martin White revisits the ever
popular topic of eCommerce resources on the Web. For the feature,
Susan Bradley highlights sources on the diverse and widespread
applications for plastics and rubber research. The feedback section
contains a comprehensive piece on the options for printing and
reformatting Free Pint, as well as a summary of the requests for
information at the Bar.
I hope you found the six monthly index useful which was sent earlier
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One reader has already backed it in plastic and placed it next to the
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THE BRITISH LIBRARY'S EVENING TALKS FOR THE SUMMER
July 14th - Beginning on the Internet with Danny Sullivan.
July 21st - The Internet and Market Research with Phil Bradley.
July 29th - Cataloguing the Internet with Stephen Bagley.
August 4th - Electronic copyright with Graham Cornish.
29 POUNDS 38 PER SESSION. The British Library, St Pancras,
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QUICK TIP ... INTERNET CONSULTANCY
If someone visits your site and types an incorrect filename, chooses
a dead link, or follows a link from a search engine to a page on your
site which doesn't exist, then what do they see? Error 404 pages are
unhelpful, abrupt and lose visitors. Check with your site host to see
if you can customise your error pages. Ours link you back to the
homepage, and this makes a big difference.
William Hann
http://www.willco.co.uk/
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TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
"Electronic commerce"
by Martin White
This article is more than a cosmetic revision of the survey that I
wrote for No. 22, as there have been some substantial changes in some
of the sites, in some cases retrograde ones! In this article I am
including mainly sites which will signpost you to the wide range of
resources available, rather than try to assess the many thousands of
hits that any of the search sites will list for you.
What is electronic commerce?
---------------------------
Although the term has been in wide and somewhat indiscriminate use for
a number of years, electronic commerce is such a broad concept
(compared to intranets or extranets) that it is difficult to be
dogmatic about what should be included in the scope. If you are
looking for an entry point to the subject read the Electronic Commerce
Research Report 1998 from KPMG
http://www.kpmg.co.uk/kpmg/uk/index.cfm
US subscribers will find that the US Department of Commerce report The
Emerging Digital Economy gives an excellent, if now slightly dated,
view of trends and developments.
http://www.ecommerce.gov
The OECD has done a great deal to highlight and address the issues of
electronic commerce, though the various publications and reports are
spread all over the web site, so an adroit use of the search facility
is required. The papers from the 1998 Ottawa conference are excellent,
though the links on the conference site have not been updated since
the conference.
http://www.oecd.org
Two other background sources on European developments are Accelerating
Electronic Commerce in Europe, published by the European Commission in
a revised version in March 1999. You can download it as a pdf file,
but do it over lunch, because it really is that big. Overnight
printout is also advocated.
http://www.ispo.cec.be/ecommerce
ISPO stands for the Information Society Project Office, which is
sponsored by the European Commission, and has a substantial electronic
commerce section at
http://www.ispo/cec.be/ecommerce
However the list of policy documents and reports is far from
comprehensive.
Probably the best source is not accessible from the web, but details
are, and that is the Electronic Commerce chapter of the European
Information Technology Observatory 1999, which is full of excellent
statistics on European and world trends.
http://www.eito.com
My final top level site is the W3C Electronic Commerce Interest Group
http://www.w3.org/ECommerce
Portals
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There are a number of sites that seem to be vying with each other for
the number of links listed. However it would seem that many have
given up on the challenge of updating, either in terms of new links or
even making sure the existing ones are correct. As an example, the
University of Ulster list of electronic commerce sites lists
Electronic Commerce Europe as being off-line from 17 July 1998. In
fact the site has moved from a .de domain to a .org domain, and is
quite a good site as regards content, though the design leaves a lot
to be desired. The same goes for Netacademy on Electronic Markets, a
Swiss site, that makes you work hard to get value from the site,
though the content is good. I also have some reservations about the
site compiled by the Electronic Commerce Innovation Centre at the
University of Wales in Cardiff. However my son has spent the last
three years at the University, so I'll be generous this time, but you
have been warned!
http://www.ec-europe.org
http://www.electronicmarkets.org
http://www.cf.ac.uk/uwcc/mastes/ecic/
Of the US-based sites that provide reliable lists of links I would
select the following as worthy of a bookmark, though you will find a
high level of duplication between sites.
http://www.webreference.com/ecommerce/collections.html
http://www.harbinger.net/resource/links.shtml
http://www.brint.com/Elecomm.htm
http://china.si.umich.edu/telecom/net-commerce.html
http://www.ecresources.com/information/quicklinks.html
http://ecnow.com/resources.htm
However my favourite is still Roger Clarke's Electronic Commerce
Pages, where quality takes precedence over quantity
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/index.html
Magazine portals and news services
I use the Magazine Portals heading for the resources that a number of
US magazines provide to supplement their editorial content on the web.
Among the best are those from Ziff Davis and CIO magazine.
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/bcenter/bcenter_289.html
http://www.cio.com/forums/ec/
Other news services include
http://www.allec.com
http://www.webreference.com/ecommerce/mm/
I would also put CommerceNet into this category, both for the US site,
and for the UK site. Incidentally the allEcommerce site had a lengthy
list of links back in October 1998, but they seem to have disappeared.
http://www.commerce.net
http://www.commercenet.org.uk
Also worthy of inclusion is the Executive Briefing from Unisys, which
provides good abstracts of articles appearing in a range of business
and IT magazines, with hyperlinks to the articles in most cases. The
coverage includes a number of UK titles, and there is a specific
section for E-business.
http://corp2.unisys.com/execmag//framesets/resources.htm
Sometimes this URL doesn't seem to work, so just go into
http://www.unysis.com/ and look for Executive Briefing on the home
page.
Companies
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Finding out the addresses and background information on the many
emerging e-commerce companies is quite a challenge. For the USA try
Ecommerce North America, which is actually based in Toronto
http://www.mbs-program.com
For the UK the web site of Revolution magazine is a good source,
though the site design is, shall we say, interesting. The monthly
magazine is an excellent source of intelligence on the consumer end of
the e-commerce sector.
http://www.revolution.haynet.com
In the USA Red Herring and Business 2.0 are very good at profiling
e-commerce companies, and Fortune also carries a range of good feature
articles and columns. The February 1999 issue of Red Herring was all
about business-to-business electronic commerce.
http://www.redherring.com
http://www.business2.com
http://www.fortune.com
Press releases from most of the major IT companies are carried by
Newsdesk, which has an Internet and Electronic Business category
http://www.newsdesk.com
This is probably the place to put three of the leading IT companies.
The IBM Institute for Advanced Commerce has some very good white
papers on the site, but the main IBM site is also well set out. The GE
Information Services site is almost as good, with some well-prepared
White Papers.
http://www.ibm.com/iac/about.html
http://www.ibm.com/e-business/
http://www.geis.com/
But when you come to Hewlett Packard... what a disaster. The latest
issue of their E-Business magazine is November 1998, and there is
hardly anything else on the site worth the effort of a double click.
(If anyone from HP is reading this, get a box of Kleenex and go and
click on the IBM, GEIS and Unisys sites now!)
http://www.hp.com/e-services/
Government and national association sites
-----------------------------------------
For the USA go to the Federal Trade Commission and Information
Technology Association of America sites
http://www.ecommerce.gov
http://www.itaa.org
Beware the Federal Electronic Commerce Program Office at
http://ec.fed.gov as this site has not been updated since 26 October
1998.
Finding e-commerce information on the UK Department of Trade and
Industry site is quite a challenge. If you want to take it start at
http://www.dti.gov.uk
Most of the information is under the Communication and Information
Industries section of the site, but there is a shortage of anything
useful. I think the DTI are leaving it to the Electronic Commerce
Association, but this site is in need of a serious redesign. To make
it worse the ECA merged with the Article Number Association in October
1998 to form E-Centre UK, and would you believe that the web site is
still under construction!
http://www.eca.org.uk
Searching
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If you are using a search site you need to be quite careful. The terms
'e-commerce', 'ecommerce' and 'ebusiness' are all used, and then there
is 'electronic commerce' as well. One of my current favourites,
Google, drops off the e from e-commerce, so that there are around 8000
hits for ecommerce and 14000 for e-commerce. There is a lot to be
said for a full Boolean search on Alta Vista.
In summary
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This is a fast moving area, indeed so fast moving that many sites seem
unable to keep up with what is happening. The rate of change in
technology, business and regulations is such that you do need to
assess the value of documents older than late 1997 with a degree of
care.
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Martin White is a Principal Consultant with TFPL Ltd in London, where
his consulting interests include e-commerce, e-journals, intranets and
extranets. His IT background includes senior positions with
International Data Corporation and Logica. Errors, omissions and
suggestions welcome at martin.white@tfpl.com
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QUICK TIP ... INTERNET TRAINING
If possible, try to visit the training suite before the presentation.
It enables you to sort out potential problems before they happen. You
can get a mental picture of the training area, rearrange the seating
if appropriate, and get a feel for the acoustics in the room.
Phil Bradley
http://www.philb.com/
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***e-business (99) THE FUSION OF BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY***
Redman Media's e-business event will mark its 5th anniversary at the
NEC on the 14th of September. The 3 day show features an exhibition
with 120 worldwide standholders, a complimentary conference and a host
of special features for developing and implementing an online business
strategy. Don't miss the programme of corporate intranet case studies,
online CRM theatre and free one-to-one consultancy on a whole range of
topics. To register for a free ticket visit www.redman.co.uk or call
+44 (0) 1923 269944
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FEATURE ARTICLE
"Plastics and Rubber Information on the Internet"
by Susan Bradley
Introduction
Rubber and plastics form an essential element of everyday life now
with almost anything you use being made from such substances. With
applications ranging from tyres to non-stick saucepans, clothes, golf
balls, biodegradable nappies (or diapers), bubble wrap and
polymer-supported drugs; plastics and rubber are now all pervasive.
As a result a large industry has grown up around the science of
producing different types of plastics and rubber.
Searching
When searching for information regarding plastics and rubber on the
web there are several different approaches that can be used. There is
the specific route of finding information via a company website, which
most companies now have or are in the process of constructing. For
example you can search DuPont's product database via
http://www.dupont.com or find information on Dow Chemical at
http://www.dow.com. Alternatively if you don't know where to look
then you can make use of one of the main search engines such as
Hotbot, Altavista, Yahoo etc., or a polymer specific search engine
such as PSI.
PSI http://www.polymer-search.com is produced by my own organisation
Rapra Technology Ltd., Europe's premier independent consultancy for
the rubber and plastics Industries. PSI offers polymer professionals
an alternative to standard internet search engines as it allows them
to carry out full text searching on individual names, company
details, business or technical phrases on exclusively polymer related
websites. It has a sophisticated interface which supports Boolean
operators and natural language searches. Rapra continuously monitors
over 1000 polymer related web pages and spiders (reads) them to add
to the PSI index. PSI is a free service and Rapra invites companies
to submit their web address for inclusion.
Journals
A variety of journals containing news items and more technical
information are available on the web. A few examples are given below.
Some are free and others give some information for free and/or charge
for the service.
Rubber and Plastics News http://www.rubbernews.com gives you
headlines of breaking news from the world's rubber industry.
Full-length news reports and features of the latest issue together
with searchable, full-text articles of stories that have appeared in
Rubber & Plastics News from January 1994 to the present are also
available, but only to subscribers. Rubber World
http://www.rubberworld.com contains articles and an archives
section, which is a listing of articles from past issues of Rubber
World Magazine. The listing includes: Magazine Vol. #, article title,
and article summary.
European Rubber Journal http://www.crain.co.uk/erj/index.asp is one
of the key monthly magazines for the world's tyre and rubber
industries. ERJ editorial pages carry news, market intelligence and
analysis as well as detailed technical features designed to improve
current awareness of developments in the sector. All the articles are
saved in Adobe PDF format to preserve formatting from the printed
issue. The website contains tables of contents for Sept 1996 - May
1998 and full articles for May 1998 - Nov 1998 and Jan 1999 - Apr
1999. Again there are differences in what subscribers and
non-subscribers can view.
Plastics News http://www.plasticsnews.com gives you access to
headlines, summaries and then the full article. An interesting feature
is their rankings and listings section which gives detailed data on
the 1,500 North American plastics processors in their six annual
rankings, plus listings of plastics associations and organisations,
compounders, recyclers, and plastic lumber makers.
Injection Molding Magazine Online http://www.immnet.com/ has three
ways to search for articles that have appeared in Injection Molding
Magazine and Injection Moulding International. The On-line Article
Search can be used to locate articles that are available on this
website (January 1997 onwards). Historical Index Search can be used to
find articles from back issues, which can then be ordered by fax. New
Product Showcase Search can be used to locate stories written by the
magazine editors about new products and new materials.
British Plastics & Rubber On-Line http://www.polymer-age.co.uk/ is
the monthly magazine for plastics and rubber processors in the UK. It
monitors technical developments from around the world for the benefit
of senior managers in British polymer processing companies. You can
use this site to apply for a regular copy, to see what's in the latest
issue, and to plan your advertising to plastics and rubber processors
in the UK. An Industry News section gives a daily update of news items
with the emphasis on the UK polymer industry. There is also an Archive
index to previous news pages, special features and the content of
previous issues of the magazine.
Books
If you are trying to find a book on some aspect of rubber or plastics
then a good place to start is the Polymer Publications Bookstore from
Rapra Technology Ltd. http://www.rapra.net. This features hundreds
of technology and market-based journals and publications with secure
ordering from a number of publishers including Rapra Technology Ltd.,
John Wiley, Woodhead, Chemtech, Institute of Materials, Tappi Press,
Kluwer, PCRS, Marcel Dekker, Technomic, Carl Hanser, PDL and Pluralis.
Online Directories
Rubbicana available from Rubber and Plastics News
http://www.rubbernews.com is the rubber industry's directory of
manufacturers and suppliers, and buyer's guide mainly for the United
States, Puerto Rico and Canada. The Product Manufacturers section
provides alphabetical listings of rubber product manufacturers. The
data include company and factory locations, phone numbers, the names
of top officials, markets served, types of rubber and machinery used
and other information. The Classified Rubber Product List gives an
alphabetical list of products. From there you can link to individual
items and the companies that make them. A Buyer's Guide gives a
listing of the type of goods or service needed, from where you are
again taken to a list of suppliers. The Associations section is where
Trade associations for the rubber industry can be found.
British Plastics & Rubber On-Line http://www.polymer-age.co.uk/ has
an online directory of around 1,500 companies in the UK supplying
machinery and materials for polymer processors. If the company has a
website or e-mail, you are able to contact it directly. Full address,
telephone and fax numbers are also given so if the company is not yet
online you can still make contact. You can search by product category
or company name, locate the UK distributor of an overseas company, or
simply search the directory for a word or phrase. You can print all
the companies listed for each category, or copy and paste them into a
text file to create a mailmerge letter.
The Rapra Polymer Directory, also available from Rapra Technology Ltd.
http://www.rapra.net, contains nearly 8000 companies.
This is a global trade directory for the rubber and plastics
industries, and is an expanded version of the European Plastics
Directory. It is fully searchable by company name, products and
services, key personnel, addresses and locations. New users can search
the directory free-of-charge by products and services. The users will
be provided with the name of a company but further company information
will be charged for. Registered users can search the entire directory
by: company names; products; services; addresses; personnel names and
retrieve full details of the company and its products.
Databases
STN International http://www.fiz-karlsruhe.de/stn.html is a full
featured online service that offers subscribers information on a broad
range of scientific fields, including chemistry, engineering, life
sciences, biotechnology, regulatory compliance, patents, business, and
more. Similarly Dialog Web from the Dialog Corporation
http://www.dialog.com gives access to databases from a broad range
of disciplines including chemistry, environment, science and
technology. Subscribers can search on worldwide company information -
both directory listings and full financials; industry information -
trends, overviews, market research, and specialised industry
newsletters and reports, U.S. and international news, public affairs,
law, and regulatory information, patents and trademarks, technical
literature and reference material.
A more specific database for the rubber and plastics industry is the
Rapra Abstracts database http://abstracts.rapra.net. This is the
world's most comprehensive abstract database on information relating
to rubbers and plastics and polymeric composites. The Rapra Abstracts
database contains in excess of 670,000 records, and contains abstracts
(or summaries) of journal articles, conference papers, patents,
standards, books and a unique collection of company brochures.
The database has over 500 journal titles from around the world and
covers all aspects of the science and technology of these materials.
This ranges from monomers to polymers, composites, end use
applications, processing and equipment, properties, testing,
legislation, standards, environmental issues, economic, market and
commercial information.
Non-subscribers can search the entire database for free and view the
titles of the articles found. They can subsequently order copies of
the original articles online for a separate charge. Subscribers (who
pay an annual subscription fee) can search the entire database,
display the full record details of title, abstract, author,
affiliation, bibliographic details, keywords and classifications etc.
Copies of the original articles can then also be ordered online.
Patents
Patent databases and related information have been well covered by
"Patent information on the Internet - can you afford to ignore it?" by
Emma Turner in Free Pint issue 38 available online at
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/130599.htm.
Standards
International Standards are increasingly important to business. They
are essential to global communication, technology transfer and
international trade. The International Organization for
Standardization http://www.iso.ch/ gives a comprehensive list of
standards, handbooks and information publications in the ISO
Catalogue. The following search facilities are available to retrieve
information on ISO standards: Search by subject, Search by title words
and descriptors. Each document has a hyperlink with the file
containing bibliographic information on the standard.
The ANSI-ISO-IEC Catalogue http://web.ansi.org/ combines ANSI, ISO
and IEC document information in a single, searchable online catalogue
and it offers a variety of ways to purchase these hard copy documents
from ANSI. It contains a comprehensive listing of over 12,000 approved
American National Standards, over 13,000 approved ISO standards and
over 4,000 approved IEC standards
NSSN: A National Resource for Global Standards claims that it is
becoming the World Wide Web's most comprehensive data network on
developing and approved national, foreign, regional and international
standards and regulatory documents. NSSN is a co-operative partnership
between the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), U.S.
private-sector standards organisations, government agencies, and
international standards organisations. Via the NSSN
http://www.nssn.org/, thousands of electronic standards may be
accessed. Included in the online collections are large numbers of
standards produced by ASTM, Accredited Standards Committees T1
(telecommunications) and NCITS (previously known as ASC X3 on
information technology), as well as documents ranging from industrial
automation systems to film, chemicals to respiratory protection. The
international management systems standards for Quality (ISO 9000
series) and the Environment (ISO 14000 series) are also available.
Searches for any ASTM standard can be carried out using ASTM
designations or titles and scopes of standards. Each record retrieved
displays the scope of the standard, title and standard number, price
and number of pages. Full copies can be ordered with delivery via the
Web, fax or post.
Organisations
Various organisations of interest to the rubber and plastics
communities include:
The RMA http://www.rma.org/ is the primary national trade
association for the finished rubber products industry in the U.S.
The ACS Rubber Division http://www.rubber.org
The Society of Plastics Engineers http://4spe.org/ from which site
you can search their technical journals Polymer Engineering & Science,
Journal of Injection Molding Technology, Polymer Composites, Journal
of Vinyl & Additive Technology
The Society of the Plastics Industry http://www.socplas.org which
includes their publications catalogue listing some of the SPI's best
selling publications
The Association of Plastic Manufacturers in Europe
http://www.apme.org
which amongst other things includes information on how plastics are
made, where and how they are used, the history of plastics and
environmental considerations.
Discussion
Users can network and consult others with technical problems via the
web by using discussion groups or forums such as The Plastics Network
http://www.plasticsnet.com. Here you can find forums discussing topics
such as blow moulding, injection moulding, packaging and fabricating,
resins and additives. A list of relevant news groups can be found on
the Links page of the Rapra website http://www.rapra.net.
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Susan Bradley gained a BSc Hons in Chemistry and Physics from Exeter
University and a MSc in Information Studies from Sheffield University.
She is currently the Product Manager, Bibliographic Abstracts at Rapra
Technology Ltd. with responsibilities for developing and promoting
the Rapra Abstracts database and its related products and services.
The database forms a major part of the Electronic Information Group of
Rapra Technology Ltd. and the database is used by a large, diverse and
multi-national group of companies, organisations and educational
establishments. Despite her scientific background Susan has artistic
leanings and plays the 'cello with the Shrewsbury Symphony Orchestra
and sings with the Holy Trinity Chorale. She can be contacted by
telephone: +44 (0) 1939 250383 or by e-mail: sbradley@rapra.net
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QUICK TIP ... INTERNET PUBLISHING
Relax. Let your readers relax. If you produce a regular publication,
make sure it comes out on time, every time. If you miss a beat (even
for a free publication) then subscribers will start worrying about
when (or whether) it's going to arrive, or if they've missed an issue.
William Hann
http://www.willco.co.uk/
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>>> ALL PAST ISSUES ONLINE <<<
If you've missed an issue of Free Pint, or want past issues
emailed to you, then visit the archive on the Web site at ...
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/issues.htm
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FREE PINT FEEDBACK AND BAR
This issue's feedback subject index:
* Issues with printing Free Pint
* UK Web host recommendations?
* Web catalogue data protection enquiry
* Other Free Pint Bar discussions
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Subject: Issues with printing Free Pint
From: William Hann, Managing Editor
Wow - thank you so much to the many people who replied to Peter
Grant's plea in the last issue to be able to print Free Pint right
across the page. It has taken me a long time to reply to everyone
and summarise the results here, but I think it has been well worth it
as I've certainly learnt a lot about some of the options. So here
goes ...
Removing the line breaks
------------------------
It seems that the most popular way of making Free Pint fit onto less
pages is to remove the hard carriage returns at the end of lines. We
have to add these into the email newsletter so that everyone's copy
is formatted the same way, but if you remove them then printing will
take a lot less paper (although you will lose some of the
formatting).
The general procedure is as follows (using the common package
Microsoft Word):
1) Copy and paste the text into Word
2) Use the find and replace feature to replace all double carriage
returns with some other text which is unlikely to appear in the text
(e.g "abcxyz"). To search for two carriage returns, search for the
notation "^p^p" (to get the "^" press Shift-6 (at least it is on my
keyboard) - it doesn't mean press Ctrl-P).
3) Use "find and replace" to replace all single carriage returns
(i.e. "^p") with a blank space character.
4) Finally, replace all occurences of "abcxyz" with two carriage
returns again ("^p^p" as above). This will undo the effect of
step 2 above.
If you're using an editor like TextPad then you would replace
carriage returns with "\n" instead of "^p" (remembering to check the
"Regular expression" box).
You could save these steps as a macro for easy one-click access. Why
not also include font and margin settings in the macro for a really
sophisticated approach.
One reader reports that you can copy it into Microsoft Word 97,
choose "Format", "Autoformat" and then select email from the dropdown
list.
Programs
--------
* PFE (Programmer's File Editor)
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/people/cpaap/pfe
Freeware editor that prints 2 pages on 1 sheet of paper (per side).
Choose a sans-serif monospaced font, not Courier or Courier New. Set
font size to something like 9 pt. Can also print 'booklets'.
* FinePrint
Shareware tool to print small print booklets. URL unknown but try a
shareware library like try http://www.tucows.com/ or
http://www.softseek.com/.
* Twoon1 - http://freeware32.com/file/printing4.htm
A very small free program which prints 2-up and optionally deletes
blank lines.
* TextSoap - http://www.unmarked.com
Shareware program - highly recommended.
* Pretty Print
Locate "pprint.zip"using a shareware site above
* ClickBook - http://www.bluesquirrel.com/
Allows printing on both sides of the sheet, booklets, printing
odd-sized sheets such as business cards, Filofax pages, etc.
* Eudora
A reader who uses this email client suggests that you choose to
'save as' a text file and then open this file in MS Word. The
breaks at the end of each line within the paragraphs are not carried
over.
Another reader using the same program says that at the bottom of the
Edit menu there's a command for Message Plug-ins. One of these
Plug-ins is called Unwrap Text. You highlight all the text you want
to spread across the screen and then use the Unwrap Text command. The
text is then re-formatted to stretch across the screen.
* Outlook
A reader who uses this program reports this method to remove all line
breaks:
1) Copy and paste it all into the body of a HTML page.
2) View the new page in a web browser.
3) Copy and paste it all into a New Message (in Outlook)
4) Choose Format/Rich Text (HTML) + select font size.
5) Save and Print it (double-sided?)
* Idealist
Rachel Evans mentioned in the last issue that she uses Idealist to
copy and paste material and have it automatically indexed. Further
to an enquiry at the Free Pint Bar, Rachel has kindly provided the
address of the providers: Bekon Software at 31 Great High Street,
Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 6PU, UK, Tel 0161 436 1300.
* ProCite and others
As an alternative, a reader suggests a good reference/bibliographical
database package is ProCite (although it is much more expensive).
You can find a listing of bibliographical software packages from
Dennis C. Tucker at http://www.palni.edu/~dennis/vendors.htm and an
older list from John G. Norman at
http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/chorus/eresearch/essays/known.html.
Some suggest using text editors like NoteTab Light
http://www.notetab.com which will allow you to rejoin the lines.
Paste in the text, select all, then choose Join Lines (or some such
command, depending on the program).
There are some DOS utilities like REFORMAT (thanks Bob), but to be
honest I think some of the above utilities might be a lot easier to
use.
Another suggestion is to install a "virtual printer" that puts 2, 4
or even 8 pages onto one physical page. Check out
http://www.singletrack.com/ which is shareware. When you're ready
to print you simply select this alternative printer.
Finally
-------
Following my recommendation in the last edition on the issue, a loyal
reader wrote in with the following ...
"I thought your suggestion for hard copy printing was a good one, and
some trivial testing showed that, using your latest email, the raw
document (in Word) was 15 pages (Courier, 10 point, portrait). Using
Courier New, 10 point, 2 column, landscape it was 13 pages (the lines
did not fit in the column).
Changing to Times New Roman reduced the page count to 10, then
changing point size to 8 reduced the page count to 8. Changing back
to portrait, TNR 8 point reduced the page count to 6, but increased
the eye-strain to +42.
Note, you can also play with column widths and spacing - try three
column 7 point TNR for a (dubious) treat ! (5 pages)"
Thanks
------
Special thanks to John Howard Oxley (Georgia, USA), Andreas Neudecker
(Germany), Rick Graef (Florida, USA), Kevin B, Nigel Olding, Chris
Thomas, Robert R. Jones, Robert Hare, Tom Farrell (USA), Ed Bly,
Sheila Webber(Glasgow, UK), Roger Greenaway (UK), Andrew Payne (UK),
Robert Searle, Stephen Bailey (UK), Mike McConnell (Aberdeen, UK),
Gobind Rudra (Malaysia), Andrew Maville (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK),
Pep Costa (Spain), Rachel Evans, Gundula Rey-Mermet (Switzerland).
Please don't send any more emails on this subject as I hope there's
enough above to be getting on with ...
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Subject: UK Web host recommendations?
From: Rob Lewis
Some friends of mine sell indie music on the internet
http://www.pennyblackmusic.com and they are hosted by the UK ISP
Rapidsite. Rapidsite was fine for straight HTML files, but my friends
are in the process of improving the site and have added a search
facility which can get slow at peak periods.
My question is: Can you recommend a good host for this kind of site
or is there any way to determine which hosting companies are better
suited to sites of this nature?
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Subject: Web catalogue data protection enquiry
From: Reg Mayer
I am interested in setting up my own catalogue/database on the WWW of
companies that provide a certain type of service. Do I have to
register for Data Protection ?
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Send your letter to feedback@freepint.co.uk
or discuss it online at http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar
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Subject: Other Free Pint Bar discussions
As well as discussion, the Bar is receiving a lot of requests for
information on a wide range of subjects. I've summarised these
requests here, and so if you can help then please follow the link
and post a reply. As always, you can post your own request at ...
http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar
Requests for information ...
Warm ups for training sessions
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=197
Looking for ideas for interesting Web training warm up exercises.
British pronunciation software required
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=200
Anybody know of any?
Any records of a "Licence to Crenellate"?
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=204
If you don't know what this is then don't worry about it.
Property on the Internet
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=205
Anyone know how/where to find good property sites?
Public holidays reference required
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=207
Does anyone have access to this on an international scale?
Virtual office
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=212
Seeking recommendations for a virtual secretary
Cuttings and picture storage
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=213
Know of any mechanical storage equipment suppliers for the above?
Building a Web community for the broadcast and film industry
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=214
Can anyone provide suitable links to add to the above?
Medical/research libraries
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=218
Anyone want to discuss resources for a RN returning to study
information science?
Popularity statistics for UK search engines
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=219
Any data available?
Homeworking the Net
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=220
Information requested on Net jobs from home.
Newsgroups
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=221
How do you set one of these up? Detailed information required.
Discussion ...
Using email
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=169
http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=187
Further discussion and advice regarding sending and receiving
emails following Nikki Pilkington's article in the last issue.
Don't forget to sign up for the Bar Digest - an email every other day
with the latest postings. To sign up, simply visit the Bar and click
on "(Un)Subscribe" or send an email to digest@freepint.co.uk.
http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar
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DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION, COMMENT OR REPLY?
Let us know your feedback or favourite site by sending an email to
the Free Pint team now to feedback@freepint.co.uk or post your
message at the Free Pint Bar http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar.
Remember to include your name, title and company or organisation, and
let us know if you wish your contact details to be withheld.
Please note, if you write to us we may publish your letter in whole
or part for the interest of our subscribers unless you request
otherwise at the time of writing.
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I hope you've enjoyed reading this issue as much as we've enjoyed
putting it together. If you'd like to show your support then why not
add a link to our site from yours ... full details at
http://www.freepint.co.uk/linktous.htm.
See you in two weeks!
Kind regards,
William Hann, Managing Editor
william@freepint.co.uk
http://www.freepint.co.uk/
(c) Willco Limited 1999
http://www.willco.co.uk/
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FREE PINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
* Intranets * Toolkits for web online services * Unified messaging *
* Information overload * Full text online *
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CONTACT INFORMATION
William Hann BSc MIInfSc, Managing Editor
e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436
Rex Cooke FIInfSc FRSA, Editor
e: rex@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436
Jane, Administrator e: jane@freepint.co.uk
Address (no stamp needed)
Willco "Free Pint", FREEPOST (SEA3901), Staines
Middlesex, TW18 3BR, United Kingdom
Web - http://www.freepint.co.uk
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Latest Issue Autoresponder - auto@freepint.co.uk
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Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a free email newsletter for anyone who
uses the Internet to get information for their work in any business
or organisation. The newsletter is written by professionals who share
how they find quality and reliable information on the Internet.
To subscribe, unsubscribe, find details about contributing,
advertising or to see past issues, please visit the Web site at
http://www.freepint.co.uk/ or call +44 (0)1784 455 435.
Please note: Free Pint is a trademark of, and published by, the
Internet consultancy Willco Limited http://www.willco.co.uk/ ...
providers of consultancy, training and publishing services. The
publishers will NEVER make the subscriber list available to any
other company or organisation.
The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the
sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care
has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the
publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.
This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its
entirety. However, individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or
distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers.
Product names used in Free Pint are for identification purposes only,
and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Free Pint disclaims
any and all rights in those marks. All rights reserved.
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About this Newsletter
- Publication Date: 7th July 1999
- Plain text
- Link: https://www.jinfo.com/go/newsletter/42
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