Editorial
What Ever Happened To?
As the growth and development of the Internet races forward at what seems like
an ever-increasing pace, it's sometimes interesting to stop for a moment and
look back and ask ... "what ever happened to?"
Aardvark is probably one of the oldest regularly published sites on the local
Internet scene -- many of the sites which were once its peers seem to have
disappeared or simply become stuck -- frozen in time as if being sucked into
a black hole.
Here are a few of those sites:
- Wammo. At one stage
this was the page that many local Net users would check out every time they
logged on. Wammo provided NZers with a daily update of what was new and what
was good on the local Web. Unfortunately wammo.co.nz no longer answers
calls.
- Soda. Before Wammo
died, SODA (Site Of the Day Award) came along and stole the crown -- again
highlighting the best of the NZ Web. Unfortunately its operators soon discovered
that there simply aren't enough high-quality NZ websites appearing on a regular
basis to offer something new each day. SODA is presently in hibernation.
- The Plug. This
was an ambitious attempt to provide NZers with an online coffee-table-like
magazine online. Regular contributors included Russell Brown and a list
of others -- some well known, some not. Unfortunately the frequency of
updating got slower and slower until eventually the Plug became
frozen in time -- stuck in the last century. The Plug's editor, Peter Belt
was aware of this decline and, in its final days, did appoint a new editor
to try and revitalise the site -- but to no avail.
- Isotope. Another
online magazine that got off to a great start -- but gradually dwindled until
now it consists of nothing more than a single graphic and mailto link. Its
operator, like many of the others featured here, discovered that it takes
a lot of time to meet a regular publishing schedule.
- The Soggy Parsnip was a great site because it focused on what was
worst about the NZ Net. Suffice to say I can't remember the URL but last time
I checked it was also frozen in time. Maybe someone can let me know if it's
still running in a backwater somewhere.
- Aardvark Weekly. Yes, even yours
truly is not immune to the effects of cyber-rot. With increasing demands
being placed on my time from other directions, Aardvark Weekly has gone
into suspended animation for a while. I don't know exactly when it will be
revived -- but it will.
All this just goes to show that while it's very simple to launch a content-based
website, it's a whole lot harder to keep it going for any length of time.
Fortunately there are some (other than Aardvark) which have weathered the
storms of time -- and perhaps the best of those is
NZine, well worth a visit.
If I've missed any really good sites that have disappeared or stalled, please
let me know.
We're Doomed!
Our beloved Minister of Economic Development was interviewed on Radio last night
and it left me trembling with fear.
I suppose I could take a cheap shot and point out that he couldn't even work
out how to use his phone properly -- but I wont.
What I will criticise however is the fact that when Anderton was asked how
people could offer suggestions and submissions as to how the $100 million
he's set aside as a new-economy job-creation fund could be best spent he said
they could mail any input to the Ministry. The interviewer then asked if
they could email their comments and suggestions.
Anderton replied that they could email them to him. When asked what his email
address was he said "um, erh, double-you, double-you, double-you, um,
New Zealand, ah, dot, err, government dot co."
He also claimed that the Ministry was consulting with industry over the best
way to spend this money -- funny thing is that I consider myself well connected
within this industry and not a single person I've spoken to has had any
contact with Anderton or his ministry.
Should we be worried?
You decide.
Oops!
While Domainz vainly tries to woo the ISP industry into accepting its new
registration system, it's currently facing an embarrassing faux pas that
left its website off-line for a fair part of the weekend.
The fault appears to be at Actrix and might also be the reason that
Infotech Weekly's website is also down this morning. Come on guys...
mean time to repair should be measured in minutes, not days!
I trust Domainz going to do a little better with the new system and ensure
that there's some redundancy and backup in place for such an important
part of the registration and DNS maintenance system.
As always, your comments are gladly received.
Free republication rights available
on request
General News & Current Events:
TODAY'S KEY NET-NEWS HEADLINES
Ihug poised to buy e-comm business
Ihug is looking to acquire "a high profit-making
e-commerce company" as part of its
aggressive new growth strategy...
IDG
Generous taxpayers need some answers
Damian Archbold, promoter of the Global-e $US1 billion
issue of prize bonds launched last week, used Trade
New Zealand to help get his idea off the ground...
NZ Herald
Site No Longer Bugs Terminix
The extermination company kills off
litigation that tried to silence the Web
page of a frustrated customer. Freedom of
speech advocates celebrate the victory...
Wired
Does Yahoo's financial Webcaster favor Microsoft?
Although the Web giant is promoting its new FinanceVision
service as a major destination for financial information, it has
released a beta version only for Microsoft Windows...
CNET
Clicking away your privacy
With more consumers buying books and music online
and more new media companies merging to form huge conglomerates, the
power to track what people read and listen to will be in the hands of a few very
large firms...
CNN
Card Alert for French Banks
France braced for a wave of petty fraud after officials admitted on Friday that a formula posted on the
Internet showed how to forge smart payment cards....
Yahoo/Reuters
China Website IT163.com Closed by Hacker Attack
...
IT163.com, a Chinese e-commerce web site selling goods from 50 top domestic stores, has been closed
by a hacker attack, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Saturday
Yahoo/Reuters
ICANN Votes For Democracy
Internet governing board says choice of at-large
representatives will be by direct global election...
TechWeb
Web Thefts Expose Credit Card Risks
Stung by a string of credit card thefts online, card companies are trying to teach merchants better
security...
Yahoo/AP
