|
|
writenews.com
|
Thursday, March 11, 1999 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs GeoCities Launches Home Page Headlines GeoCities, a communities of personal Web sites, and its partner, iSyndicate have launched GeoCities' "Home Page Headlines." Under the program, GeoCities Homesteaders (members who have published personal Web pages) can now place free, up-to-the-minute headlines for the latest news, sports, financial information and other name-brand content onto their personal Web pages. "Our Home Page Headlines program gives GeoCities members free access to content that will make their sites even more vibrant, up-to-date and interesting," said Thomas R. Evans, President and CEO of GeoCities. "We believe consumers' ability to integrate iSyndicate's content into a personal Web page will attract new members to GeoCities and will help drive new traffic to our current Homesteader sites." Home Page Headlines gives GeoCities members much of the same real-time content that's used by leading news organizations on the Internet. In addition, GeoCities members will be able to select headlines specific to their personal interests, so that a New York Yankees fan may include the latest Yankees news on his or her site, or an investor in the high-tech sector may add the latest news on Internet stocks. "The power of the Internet is its ability to bring perishable and highly relevant information directly to individual users on a 24/7 basis," explained iSyndicate CEO Joel Maske. "In the past, this time-critical information could be found only on the websites of Internet portals and other major players. Through iSyndicate's partnership with GeoCities, Homesteaders may now offer their unique audience all the news and other information that's fit to link." Magic Johnson Entertainment and Blackboard Entertainment Form Educational Multimedia Venture Magic Johnson Entertainment (MJE) and independent children's studio Blackboard Entertainment have signed an exclusive joint venture to create educational and curriculum-based multi-media for children. Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, Oakland City Council Member Ignacio De La Fuente and Blackboard Entertainment CEO Marcela Davison Aviles will announce the venture at Oakland's Manzanita Elementary School, 2409 East 27th Street, at 12:30 p.m., on March 15. The venture will create, produce and distribute a new brand of children's educational multimedia products, including curriculum-based comic books, home videos, educational software, audio programs and interactive games. The co-production deal also includes television development for educational, non-prime time children's programming and motion picture development. "This project is all about the kids," stated Johnson, president and CEO of MJE. "Everybody knows about the importance of children's educational programming. We're going to deliver new, exciting, multimedia that gives kids something to think about and something to do after the TV or the computer is turned off. And we're going to not only deliver it through normal distribution channels, but directly to communities that need access to quality educational programs the most." "Our vision is to raise the bar in children's programming and interactive multimedia to the highest levels. We have assembled a stellar creative and marketing team and we're very fortunate to have attracted the talent, magnetism and business acumen of Earvin Johnson and his group," stated Davison Aviles. Blackboard Entertainment, a leading independent distributor and producer of multi-award winning children's programs, is a Hispanic-owned company located in an economic enterprise zone in Oakland's Fruitvale District. BYTE Magazine Columnist Jerry Pournelle Returns for Byte.com Relaunch CMP Media Inc. announced that longtime BYTE Magazine columnist Jerry Pournelle and two other BYTE veterans have returned for the online revival of the venerable publication, which launched today. Pournelle joins as senior contributing editor and will pen a monthly edition of his Chaos Manor column, which was a staple of the magazine for 20 years until it ceased publication last year. Pournelle rose to prominence as a renowned author, lecturer, science-fiction writer, and celluloid celebrity. In addition to BYTE, he has written for a number of publications including InfoWorld, Galaxy Science Fiction, and the National Catholic Press, and he remains a frequent contributor to various publications. Pournelle has also lectured on technology at MIT, Harvard, and New York University. He is currently at work on a new Chaos Manor book that will be published by O'Reilly and Associates. "Chaos Manor on BYTE.com will--just as it did in print--do all the silly things so the readers won't have to," said Pournelle. "BYTE is back and I like what I have seen so far. I think that we will be able to recreate the old magazine again and fill a void that has been sorely missing." BYTE.com also announced the return of two other BYTE magazine veterans: Jon Udell and Martin Heller. Udell, an author and Web/Internet consultant, was the magazine's executive editor for new media and author of its monthly Web Project column. Heller wrote software development tool reviews, features, and the Beyond DOS column. Both will pen columns for the new site. BYTE magazine, which CMP shut down last July due to a lack of advertiser support, had an extremely loyal reader following. As a result, traffic on BYTE.com is expected to be strong. While dormant, the site averaged 600,000 page views per month. That number is expected to balloon to more than one million monthly page views now that the brand has been revived. "I have become so used to getting my information from the Web, doing it the old paper way seems as feasible and attractive as returning to typewriters," said technology consultant Murray Dundas, a satisfied BYTE.com reader. "I am also delighted you have chosen to bring Jerry Pournelle back into the fold. His column was a major reason for my subscribing to BYTE. I hope it continues the BYTE tradition of presenting information on computing in a fair and impartial manner." Comedy Central to Preview its New Series Online Comedy Central opens the doors for critics everywhere as the network begins previewing its new series on Comedy Central Online. The preview kicked off March 8th with several preview clips from Strangers with Candy, the first of four new series scheduled to debut on the network between April and June. "This unique opportunity gives Comedy Central a chance to generate a following for a show before it even hits the air," said Larry Lieberman, vice president, strategic planning and new business development. "Users look to Comedy Central Online as their direct connection to the network for inside information, and these previews help make the site that much more valuable as an extension of the channel." The Strangers with Candy preview, available to users with a Quicktime player, will set up the half-hour live-action, narrative series that follows the misadventures of Jerri Blank (played by Amy Sedaris), a 47-year old high school dropout, and self-described former "user, boozer and loser", whose only friends were "dealers, cons and 18-carat pimps". Back at home after 32 years as a teenage runaway, Jerri picks up her life exactly where she left it: living at home and starting her freshman year in high school. Upcoming previews will highlight Vs. (debuting on-air May 31 at 5:00 p.m.), a new game show that pits two three-member teams with completely opposite backgrounds (hunters vs. PETA members, cowboys vs. Indians from India, S.W.A.T. teams vs. postal workers) and tests their knowledge of pop culture, the world and each other; Frank Leaves For the Orient, (debuting on-air June 14 at 10:00 p.m.) about a 30-something guy who attempts to wrap up his life, break up with his girlfriend, quit his job, etc. before moving to Japan to teach English; and The Man Show, (debuting on-air June 16 at 10:30 p.m.) hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla that takes an unapologetic look at things men like, do and think. 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. |
