Val Cowan's Web World

EVERY so often an idea comes along that is feverishly adopted by just about every website in existence.

For example, Java chat rooms, free web-based e-mail accounts or, more recently, free internet access.

Weblogs are the latest craze, and like the others before them they started out as the exclusive idea of the innovative few, spawned a few equally innovative copycat sites and will soon be as old hat as version 2 browsers.

The idea is simple. As you are browsing the net, you come across things that make you laugh, cry, or want to hurl your computer through the window.

With a weblog you can publish links to these things, alongside your comments about them, on a publicly available page.

In the old days. people used to have links pages on their websites, or used to publish their bookmarks files as pages in their own right.

Weblogs are more active and tend to be updated every day. This follows the classic advice for successful websites: update regularly to keep visitors coming back for more.

The best of them have developed their own personalities and command a loyal audience. Many of the early weblogs (commonly shortened to 'blogs) link to one another and have built up quite a community of webloggers - the authors who maintain them.

Weblogs remained fairly niche-market for a while because there was no easy way to build them.

Most 'bloggers had to hand-code their pages each day and upload the files every time they added a new link or comment. This is fine for internet experts and people who spend all their working day online, but for most people it was a little too much to handle.

Then along came Pitas (www.pitas.com). This site enables anyone to have a weblog, updated through any web browser as little or as often as they like. Design templates are ready-made, although users can alter the design of the pages to suit their own requirements. The interface is simple and elegant and the whole site reliable - in just weeks it has got 1,500 members and it's easy to see why.

Although some existing webloggers treated Pitas with suspicion at first, it has now been enthusiastically welcomed to the 'blog community, and some Pitas 'blogs are now widely admired and linked to.

Things could even be said to be getting somewhat out of hand: the Metapita log (web.pitas.com/pitas/) is a collection of weblog-style links to other Pitas weblogs.

The only problem with the rapid expansion of weblog content is repetition. Some 'bloggers see an amusing link on one log, and it is repeated on theirs and others, ad nauseam. A few 'bloggers may be moved to credit the source of their link. ("Thanks to Joe for this link, who got it from Jane.")

So it's inevitable that over time, successful weblogs will thrive because they are original.

It would be impossible to list all weblogs in this column, but here is a small selection of some of the best:

Camworld (www.camworld.com) is almost a media phenomenon. Updated daily, it is an excellent starting point for a bit of surfing.

Eatonweb (www.eatonweb.com/weblog/) is an eclectic and fun collection of links.

Memepool (www.memepool.com) could be said to be the grand-daddy of all weblogs. Unlike most, it is a collaborative effort and has been posting amusing links and comments for years.

Techies have their day at last

THE hard work done by those strange people who make our computers do fabulous things is being recognised at last.

October 5 has been designated the first ever National Techies' Day in America.

It's being described as "a day of recognition for technology professionals and their achievements."

It is hoped the day will encourage more people to enter the IT industry, with special events being held in schools across the US.

http://www.techiesday.org/main/index_m.jsp

Site for sore eyes

MODEL-turned-singer Caprice has her own website. It needs Shockwave, available from the site.

http://www.capriceofficialwebsite.co.uk.

FOR those who prefer their music harder, there's a new metal magazine online. You have to register online to read Metal Hammer.

http://www.metalhammer.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.