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Friday, October 30th, 1998 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs The Cypher Premieres Halloween On the World Opponent Network Launching Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998, on the World Opponent Network, The Cypher is a new family entertainment mystery. With no download and only a Real Player plug-in required, The Cypher provides a new type of web based entertainment. "The Cypher is Internet entertainment programming; we think it has mass appeal comparable to television," said Scott Fasser, Product Manager for www.won.net. "All the components for The Cypher were designed with slower access speeds in mind, so that over 28.8 connections the audience's experience is completely immersive." The Cypher weaves together three timelines -- the medieval, Victorian and late 20th century. It opens in the summer of 1900 as archeologist James Francis Ravenshim is excavating beneath the ruins of Ravenshim Castle. He discovers a series of hidden chambers containing a puzzling collection of ancient charts, diaries, weapons and mechanical devices that defy comprehension. Ravenshim believes that the answers to who collected them and why lies in a chamber hidden behind a sealed bronze door. Obsessed with the task of deciphering the secret code that can unlock it, he reaches its horrifying climax on the stroke of midnight, Dec. 31, 1999...the Millennium. The World Opponent Network (WON) is a free online gaming environment launched earlier this year by Cendant Corporation of Stamford, Conn. WON offers a variety of online games and content of industry-leading software developers and publishing companies such as Sierra, GT InterActive, EPG Multimedia, Kellogg Creek, Imagine Games Network, Prima Publishing and other 3rd party providers. The World Opponent Network's corporate headquarters is located in Bellevue, Wash. Dead Musicians Get Their Own "Cemetery" on the Internet Music.com, a new website for and about music and related lifestyles, is unveiling a "Cemetery" section on its site Friday. Designated as a place for visitors to pay last respects to late musicians such as Jim Morrison, Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa and Cass Elliott, the site features eulogies, information and background on where the musicians are buried as well as a "where would they be now" section dedicated to musicians who met their demise prematurely. "We wanted to honor and pay tribute to all the great musicians who made an impact on the music world," said Theresa Czarnecki, creative director at Music.com. "We believe visitors to the site will be very intrigued by what they'll find." MidLink Magazine Expands to Include Content for High School Students MidLink Magazine, a digital magazine written by students, has recently expanded to include content for high-school students. When the online magazine was established in 1994, its primary audience was middle-school students. MidLink Magazine is a nonprofit educational project sponsored by SAS Institute Inc., North Carolina State University, and the University of Central Florida. The October 1998 edition of MidLink Magazine includes the debut of Secondary Roads, a new section for students in upper grades. "For many years, our older readers have asked for a section with mature content," said Caroline McCullen, editor of the magazine and instructional technologist with School Technologies from SAS Institute. "In response to these requests, we have added Secondary Roads, which will feature articles that approach learning in new ways as we share the creative work of talented older students." The premier edition of Secondary Roads includes a link to Electric Soup, an award-winning magazine by Florence McGinn, Technology & Learning's National Teacher of the Year, and her staff from Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J. It also includes an Electronic Periodic Table being created by chemistry students at Cary Academy in Cary, N.C. About SAS Institute Magazine Publishers of America to Host November 16 Event The Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) Public Relations Committee announced that it will be hosting a summit of journalists and PR professionals. The event, "Magazine PR, The Big Bang Theory - Maximizing Your Magazines Impact," will take place on Monday, November 16, 1998, at the Newseum, 580 Madison Avenue from 8:30 a.m.until 3:30 p.m. "The impact of a story about a magazine breaks through the public conscience like no other medium," said Ed Lewis, chairman of the board of the MPA and chairman and CEO, Essence Communications, Inc. The summit is open to members and non-members of the MPA. For more information and to register call 212-872-376 More than 20 top trade and consumer journalists will participate in the November 16 event, including Keynote Speaker Steve Brill, founder and chairman, Brill's Content; Jeff Zucker, executive producer, Today Show; Neil Shapiro, executive producer, Dateline; Alex Kuczynski, media reporter, The New York Times; Wendy Bounds, media reporter, The Wall Street Journal; Keith Kelly, columnist, New York Post; Celia McGee, columnist, Daily News; and Sam Meddis, on-line technology editor, USA Today. The MPA is the industry association for the consumer magazine business. Established in 1919, the MPA represents more than 200 domestic publishing companies with approximately 1,200 titles; plus more than 75 international companies; and more than 90 associate service providers. Staffed by magazine industry specialists, the MPA is headquartered in New York City, with a government affairs office in Washington, D.C. NITV Launches TeachersFirst with Contest for Teachers The "$100 for 100 Teachers" contest celebrates the launch of TeachersFirst, a new website to provide these resources and make using the Internet easier for K-12 teachers. The goal of the contest is to provide all educators, present and future, with effective, "teacher-tested" Internet resources. TeachersFirst was created by NITV, a not-for-profit learning technologies corporation based in Reston, VA. The free website contains a collection of lesson plans and other classroom and professional materials assembled to assist teachers who don't have the planning time or the training to easily find high-quality educational materials on the Internet. "Compared to last week's $1.1 Billion dollar budget deal on education, I know that our contest seems small," said Steve Gorski, Senior Vice President of the TeachersFirst Division. "But, I believe the contest will assist all teachers, current and future," he stated. The $100 for 100 Teachers Contest begins on Monday, October 26, 1998 and will run through Wednesday, November 25, 1998. Contestants will be asked to submit lesson plans to TeachersFirst and the best 100 selected will win a $100 cash award. Winners will be announced on Monday, January 4, 1999, and the winning lesson plans will be posted on the TeachersFirst website during the remainder of the school year so that all teachers across the nation can share in the winning submissions. All contest details can be found on the TeachersFirst site. "This contest will result in an excellent collection of teaching efforts to be shared for use in classrooms," said Mr. Thomas A. Pyle, Executive Director/CEO of NITV. "It will introduce our new service to a broad new audience of educator users; it will be fun for participating teachers, rewarding for the 100 winners, and most of all, it will be great for children in classrooms across the nation. That's a quadruple win!" NITV has been assisting schools with technology issues since 1979 and created TeachersFirst as part of its 20th Anniversary commemoration. "From the beginning, NITV's mission has been to improve learning through the proper use of technology," said Dr. Charles D. Moody, Sr., Chairman of NITV and Founder of the National Association of Black School Educators. "and I am proud of what NITV has accomplished and its future direction," Dr. Moody concluded. Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
