COLE'S NEWSWIRE, Dec. 18, 1996

Dec. 18, 1996
Vol. 2, No. 54

The NEWSWIRE is a weekly distribution of information about the sales and installations of publishing technology and the latest news on new products developed by suppliers to the industry.

Next week the NEWSWIRE will be distributed on Tuesday, Dec. 24, and it will be the last NEWSWIRE of 1996.

BLUE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Blue World Communications Inc., a software supplier based in Issaquah, Wash., has released Lasso 1.1, a tool for integrating Claris Corp.'s FileMaker Pro 3.0 for Macintosh databases with the World-Wide Web.

Lasso provides flexibility in how FileMaker Pro data is formatted without requiring changes to the database. With Lasso, which works as the "glue" between FileMaker Pro and the Web, a search of FileMaker Pro Macintosh relational databases containing tens of thousands of records may be completed in under a second. Lasso recognizes special commands placed in HTML files, commands that define all interaction between FileMaker Pro and a Mac OS web server.

Lasso HTML files (or format files) are easily edited in HTML authoring programs such as Claris Home Page with drag-and-drop control of data using the supplied FM Link tool. Template files are provided for setting up web databases in minutes.

Lasso allows remote administration of web database configurations, and provides sophisticated routines for security allowing greater control over how databases are served and administered in shared environments.

Blue World may be visited on the Web at http://www.blueworld.com/lasso/.

COMPETENT CONSULTING
Competent Consulting, a software provider and consulting service based in Sacramento, Calif., has introduced AdREP, software that provides remote ad order entry capabilities for field sales staff, agencies and advertisers.

Designed to run under Microsoft Windows and OS/2, AdREP supports ad creation, ad modification, messaging, directories and error handling. Ads are sent to the host system for verification, costing, routing and any specialized handling. The user interface can be customized by the site to suit the environment and expertise of the user. Options include a local database to store such things as customer information records, local prefill stories and accelerator keys.

AdREP works with advertising systems made by System Integrators Inc. of Sacramento, and can be linked to an SII system using asynchronous, LAN or Internet connectivity. Contact Competent Consulting for information on interfaces to other front-ends.

Competent Consulting may be visited on the Web at http://www.competent.com/.

DIGITAL INK (SOLUTIONS) LTD.
England-based Digital Ink (Solutions) has created a web site for printers and pre-press companies wishing to find suppliers and industry-specific information on the Internet.

The site -- http://www.digital-ink.co.uk -- covers such areas as scanners, trade shows and print colleges. Links at the site jump not to a manufacturer's home page but to pages dealing with the requested product, saving time searching through large sites for desired pages. There are over 600 links to industry related sites in the United States, Europe, Australia and the Far East.

Digital Ink (Solutions) Ltd., a technical and creative consultancy, was formed in August by Andy Houldsworth, formerly sales director of Monotype Systems Ltd.

GEAC VISIONSHIFT
Geac VisionShift, a software provider based in Tampa, Fla., has announced that as part of Geac's acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet Software Services, the THR division has become a part of Geac VisionShift.

THR developed PC-based human resource and payroll software under the brand names THR and TotalHR. These products, including a client/server version in development, will be integrated with the VisionShift Accounting and VisionShift Newspaper product suites.

Geac VisionShift also has announced a contract to install VisionShift Advertising at the WEEKLY PLANET in Tampa. The local free weekly paper, founded in 1988, has a circulation of 80,000. It covers the Tampa Bay area.

QUARTERDECK CORP.
StarNine, the Mac OS division of Quarterdeck Corp. based in Berkeley, Calif., has shipped WebSTAR 2.0. The new version has enhanced performance, server-side support for Java, better security features, browser-based remote administration and additional plug-in features. Depending on configuration, performance increases may be four times that of WebSTAR 1.3.1.

WebSTAR 2.0 features a built-in Java Virtual Machine, allowing webmasters to develop plug-ins using the full Java language, and a set of classes tailored to web server functions.

Current StarNine WebSTAR 1.X users may get the upgrade to 2.0 for an introductory price of $149 until Dec. 31, 1996. Included are WebSTAR/SSL, Userland's Frontier, Peter Lewis' NetPresenz, Microsoft Internet Explorer and the WebSTAR Tools CD. To download a demo, new copy or upgrade of WebSTAR 2.0, visit StarNine at http://www.starnine.com/.

SYSTEM INTEGRATORS INC.
SII, a provider of publishing systems based in Sacramento, Calif., and Interest!ALERT Inc., the company that delivers Internet and intranet information to the users in real time, have introduced the Interest!ALERT personalized information service.

The free Interest!ALERT service automatically filters and sorts millions of ÕNet pages and on-line news feeds to give users only what they seek. It maintains profiles of user interests and delivers relevant information to them in real time.

Licensed with Infoseek, WITI, Uniplex Software, Island Software and others, Interest!ALERT lets users write their own filters and connects to any web site so that organizations can deliver updated information to users automatically, track demographics while protecting user privacy, provide group filters for user collaboration and, most importantly, increase targeted traffic to their web site.

Interest!ALERT, a free service, may be accessed at http://www.intext.com/. SII may be visited on the Web at http://www.sii.com/.

WEBINK LTD.
Webink, a provider of on-line software, has announced that Webink Pro 1.5, its object-aware database publishing and authoring tool for the World-Wide Web, will be released in January 1997.

Webink Pro 1.5 features TCP/IP API for both Macintosh and PC versions, remote/local server access, user variable management, easy user management, dynamic objects, extended date and time classes, and expanded style sheets.

ObjectEditor 1.0, also due for January release, enables developers to remotely edit and manage Webink sites from any location, including replication of sites in a few minutes, with the power to edit and optimize system performance.

Webink products can run on Macintosh, Windows 95 and Windows NT. Webink Pro also supports ODBC on the PC with an optional connectivity module.

Free evaluation versions can be downloaded from Webink at http://www.webink.com/.

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COLE'S NEWSWIRE is compiled by Pete Wetmore and distributed by The Cole Group, publishers of THE COLE PAPERS, COLE'S GUIDE TO PUBLISHING SYSTEMS and consultants to newspapers and magazines worldwide. To receive more information about The Cole Group, send e-mail to: info@colegroup.com.

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