The installation, last spring, marked Agfa's 300th Polaris system in production at newspapers around the world.

In addition, Linopress owner Heidleberger Druckmaschien AG said that it would transfer all of its holdings in Linopress to Alfa Media Partner in April 2002, subject to the approval of governmental authorities.

Linopress will immediately begin selling the Alfa product line; Alfa says it will guarantee long-term support for Linopress products. Both companies will consolidate their respective product lines and create joint development streams.

The new module allows newspapers to quickly create polls to place on their web sites. The polls can be linked to stories or section fronts and can be posted indefinitely. The software automatically prevents "ballot box stuffing," allowing visitors only one vote per day.

Advanced Publishing Technology of Burbank, Calif., Advanced Technical Solutions of Wilmington, Mass., CCI Europe of Denmark and Kennesaw, Ga., Geac Publishing Systems of Tampa, Fla., Harris Publishing Systems Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., (and its subsidiary, Baseview Products Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich.), Mactive Inc. also of Melbourne, and MerlinOne Inc. of Quincy, Mass.. are profiled, and their latest product offerings are reviewed.

Editor and Publisher David M. Cole asks the rhetorical question, "Are publishing system suppliers playing monkey-see, monkey-do?" in the cover essay, titled "Planet of the apes."

Font Reserve now includes a linking mechanism to MyFonts.com, in addition to enhancements in its automatic font activation in popular publishing applications.

When accessed through Font Reserve, an abbreviated version of MyFonts.com provides one-stop shopping and allows users to download fonts directly into their Font Reserve databases. In addition, Font Reserve users can download 40 free Bitstream fonts and save 50 percent on selected Bitstream fonts.

The application is priced at $89.95 and registered users of Version 2.5 can upgrade for free.

Newspapers will be able to create a gallery of photos that can be browsed on their web sites. Photos chosen and purchased will be printed with dotPhoto's silver halide chemical process, producing prints that are typically of better quality than traditional dot-matrix printers.

Further, dotPhoto.com's list of newspaper links will give consumers the opportunity to browse photos from all the papers that are affiliated with the company.

Newspapers signed include THE HERALD (12k, evening) of Jasper, Ind., Minnesota's AUSTIN DAILY HERALD (6k) and the DAILY REPUBLICAN REGISTER (4k) of Mount Carmel, Ill.

EZAgent allows contract advertisers and advertising agencies to manage their own accounts and advertising orders through a secure Internet connection with a browser-based client or local client software. The EZAgent application can be tailored for employment, auto, obituary or legal advertising.

AdEZ allows individuals and businesses to place classified ad orders -- which can include photos and logos) with real-time feedback on pricing and line breaks.

Both products are based on GDT-Nova's Connex XML Server.

The INTELLIGENCER/RECORD is part of Calkins Newspapers.

Features include content capture, creation, workflow and security management of digital information created electronically or converted from hard copy via digitization.

PTFS has delivered the ArchivalWare component of Archiveit to customers, including the CHICAGO TRIBUNE (677k).

The .Archive architecture is a Java- and XML-based platform that allows PTFS to provide a tailored solution to varying customer requirements.

-- SCS/LinX, a Quark XTension that passes information between SCS' Layout 8000 and Quark XPress. Templates and master pages can now include page and column measurements, section headings, story boxes, style sheets and rules and images that are standard for a particular publication. A new scaling function allows users to define a range of scaling percentages to be applied against ad images to allow them to fit within their reservations.

-- SCSTrack, an advertising management application, centralizes ad files and organizes jobs for ad builders. A command toolbar now gives users quick access to common functions. The company's new QLaunch XTension automatically launches new ad documents in Windows-based Quark XPress and sizes the documents according to front-end specifications as well as naming the document. The application sorts and manages logos and clip art with the ScrapBook viewer and the new rADar page management module enables users to check ad status and placement.

-- AdMAX, a retail and classified advertising management system, is now at Version 7.0. The new version features on-line, Internet-based ad order entry, which has a composition engine to produce any desired text effects in classified ads. The application also has an improved graphical user interface and a Java-based graphics viewer. AdMAX is to be installed this summer at the MINNESOTA DAILY (31k), the student newspaper at the University of Minnesota.

-- SCS/ClassPag, a classified pagination application, is now at Version 2.43. The new version supports a variety of publication sizes and configurations, as well as zoned classified pages and sections. The application paginates 10,000 ads on 100 pages in under one second and outputs complete pages with all type, logos, graphics and headers. Recent enhancements include importing functions with greater flexibility, combining ad files from multiple sites that cross-sell, and graphic substitution and management. This version of the application is being installed at the CHICAGO TRIBUNE (676k).