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December 19, 1997 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs The World Wide Web Consortium Issues HTML 4.0 as a W3C Recommendation Furthering its mission to lead the Web to its full potential, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the release of the HTML 4.0 specification as a W3C Recommendation. HTML 4.0 is the W3C's latest Recommendation for HTML, the basic publishing language of the Web. A W3C Recommendation indicates that a specification is stable, contributes to Web interoperability, and has been reviewed by all W3C Members, who are in favor of supporting its adoption by the industry. Developed throughout 1997 by the W3C HTML Working Group, HTML 4.0 makes the Web more appealing, more accessible, and more international. The W3C HTML Working Group includes key industry players such as Adobe Systems, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Netscape Communications, Novell, Reuters, SoftQuad, Spyglass and Sun Microsystems; content specialists at HotWired, PathFinder and Verso, and experts in the fields of accessibility and internationalization. HTML 4.0 improves the look and functionality of Web pages, offering several key improvements over the current HTML 3.2 Recommendation. "HTML 4.0 gives Web designers the ability to create dynamic, visually exciting pages that are accessible to all," said Dr. Dave Raggett, lead architect of the W3C's HTML activity. "It includes improvements to forms and tables as well as frames, scripts and support for style sheets. We are really pleased with the features for accessibility and internationalization." Features include advanced forms, in-line frames, enhanced tables, and support for objects and scripts. Additionally, HTML 4.0 provides the markup needed for any language including multilingual documents, allowing authors to manage differences in language, text direction, and character encoding schemes. HTML 4.0 is also more accessible to users with disabilities, allowing table and form text to be rendered into braille or speech. Digital Chef Partners With Leading Publishers to Provide Recipes From New and Existing Cookbooks Digital Chef, Inc., publisher of the Web site http://www.digitalchef.com, announced an agreement with leading cookbook publishers Random House, Alfred A. Knopf, Crown/Clarkson Potter, HarperCollins, IDG Books, Doubleday and Broadway that allows consumers a new method for trying recipes from a cookbook before they buy it. Digital Chef's Cookbook Showcase allows Internet users to sample select recipes representative of a particular cookbook's depth and style, as well as discover new authors and titles. The agreement makes Digital Chef a comprehensive online source for sampling cookbook recipes and represents a unique cooperative effort between traditional "print" publishers and an "online" publisher. By browsing a weekly selection of cookbooks in the Cookbook Showcase or searching by type of food, region or author, Digital Chef users will be able to find and sample recipes from new cookbooks such as Delia Smith's Winter Collection (Random House), Marcella Cucina (HarperCollins), Latin American Cooking Across the USA (Alfred A. Knopf), Gourmet Cooking for Dummies (IDG), Alfred Portale's Gotham Bar & Grill Cookbook (Doubleday) and Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone (Broadway), or best-selling classics like Jasper White's Cooking from New England (HarperCollins) and Tapas by Penelope Casas (Alfred A. Knopf). Other interactive features within Digital Chef then allow the home cook to adjust the recipe for any number of servings, get nutrition information and prepare a shopping list. Broadway Video Acquires TV Books Broadway Video, Inc., producers of "Saturday Night Live" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," announced that it has acquired a majority interest in TV Books, L.L.C., publishers of television companion books. Peter B. Kaufman, founder of TV Books, will serve as President and Publisher. Albert Gottesman, formerly of Jim Henson Productions, Inc., will serve as Director of Rights and Business Affairs. The transaction was brokered by Pamela Meyer's Manhattan Studios, a New York firm specializing in strategic media investment. TV Books publishes nonfiction books from documentaries, entertainment books from popular network programming, and vintage television tie-ins from TV we all know and love. "Much of the finest intellectual property in the world is developed for American television. Our book publishing company excels in taking that property and putting it into print," publisher Kaufman explained. "As a leading media company with branches in television, film and the worldwide web, Broadway Video brings a sophisticated understanding of the licensing business and the entertainment industry in general. TV Books could not ask for a better investor and partner," Kaufman said. HarperCollins Publishers, a division of News Corporation , also announced that it will provide exclusive sales and distribution services for TV Books in the United States and Canada. "TV Books has a uniquely focused, marketing-driven list. We are looking forward to working with them and expanding the reach of TV Books in North America," said Joe Kiener, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of HarperCollins. The deal is effective January 2, 1998, for three years. 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