Thursday
- May 4, 2000
Ready to Smell the Internet?
According to The Times UK:
"The scent of a flower
or the pleasing aroma of a favourite dish - imitations
of these sensations may soon be transmitted around the
world electronically in the same way as sound and pictures.
That is the belief of two
scientists at Israel's Weizmann Institute, a research
centre with a reputation for scientific and technological
breakthroughs.
Professor David Harel, Dean
of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, and
Professor Doron Lancet, a biochemist, have a taken out
a patent after developing a mathematical formula to 'translate
the sense of smell'.
Under their system a person
could send an 'encoded' message from one computer to
another, then translated to a sensor which would release
chemicals imitating the smell."
Click here
for the full story. (link no longer
valid)
Jackpot.com Uses New Unique Ad Distribution
Method
Jackpot.com today brings the first free million-dollar
slot machine to the Internet, and with it, a guarantee
that every month at least one lucky user will instantly
become a millionaire. With a highly innovative new business
model, Jackpot.com 
fundamentally
redefines the traditional consumer/advertiser relationship.
The resulting product, Jackpot.com's JackSlot game, seamlessly
integrates advertisers' content into a fun and engaging
game format, thus creating a powerful new opportunity for
consumers and advertisers alike.
A new company from idealab!, Jackpot.com is
the only place on the Web where a consumer can, with
just one free click of the mouse, become an instant millionaire.
One lucky user clicks the spin button of the Jackpot
game and may find himself or herself with three matching
logos reading a message that says he or she has just
won the $2 Million Super Jackpot.
"Online consumers around
the world share the dream of hitting the big jackpot
and instantly changing their lives," said Gregg
Rotenberg, CEO of Jackpot.com. "Jackpot.com's unique
business model allows consumers to pursue that dream
in a fun, exciting and no-cost manner, while allowing
the sponsors of Jackpot.com to create brand awareness
that we expect to show is unmatched on the Internet."
Rather than utilizing cherries,
bells and sevens, Jackpot.com's JackSlot game replaces
traditional logos and icons on its slot machines with
the logos of paid sponsors. This is what allows Jackpot.com
to give away millions in prizes each month in a game
that is absolutely free to consumers.
"We couldn't believe
how enthusiastically users were calling for a third Petsmart.com
logo," says Tom McGovern, CEO of Petsmart.com. "I
think the real magic is how Jackpot.com has made the
advertisers' brand so integral to the experience, rather
than just ancillary to the entertainment…where else on
the Net can an advertiser connect like this with their
target customers?"
"This is one of the most
exciting concepts I've seen in years," said Bill
Gross, the founder and CEO of idealab! "Jackpot
takes branding to a new level, offering a win-win solution
that could revolutionize the gaming and advertising industry.
With the millions of people that are online every day,
the growth potential and impact of Jackpot.com is explosive."
Each month, Jackpot.com will make one player an "Instant
Millionaire" and award millions of dollars in other
cash prizes to thousands of other winners. It will also
give away two new BMW Z3s, six luxurious tropical vacations,
60 DVD players, diamonds and many other prizes every
month. Plus, Jackpot.com offers the Internet's only free
$2MM Progressive Super Jackpot. All prizes except the
$2MM Super Jackpot will be given away each month and
the winners will be featured on the Jackpot.com website.
The $2MM Super Jackpot, which grows more than $22,000
a day, guarantees full pay-out at least once every three
months.
"YOU WIN, I WIN"
Jackpot.com has
also taken a unique approach to marketing JackSlot. Rather
than spending millions each month on advertising, Jackpot.com
gives its users a powerful incentive to spread the word.
In a program called "You Win, I Win," consumers
who refer other players to the site receive a matching
award whenever one of their referrals wins a prize. The
referral-matching program is distinctive in its simplicity: "You
win ten thousand bucks, I win ten thousand bucks. You
win a car, I win a car."
And taking that spirit of
generosity to the non-profit sector as well, million-dollar
winners who come to the site directly (without a "You
Win, I Win" referral) will be asked to name a qualified
charity as their "You Win, I Win" beneficiary.
Million dollar winners who came to the site via a "You
Win, I Win" referral will also be asked to select
a designated charity and Jackpot.com will make a $25,000
donation to that charity in the name of the winner.
Websites Cause Lucas to
Reverse Star Wars DVD Decision
When Webmasters from three DVD Websites heard that
George Lucas wasn't going to release Star Wars on DVD until
the entire prequel trilogy was complete, they banded together.
The sites (DVD File, The Digital Bits, and Digital Man
Interactive) started online petitions and took out a full-page
ad costing thousands of dollars in Variety magazine. The
ad was an open letter to George Lucas that read:
Over the past twenty years, audiences
around the world have thrilled to the exciting adventures
and filmmaking wizardry of the Star Wars saga. Through
the combined talents of Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic
and THX, your vision has advanced the quality of motion
picture exhibition and pioneered the art of digital
technology. But beyond being just an incredible worldwide
box office sensation and a crowning technical achievement,
Star Wars became a cultural phenomenon with a passionate,
devoted and loyal fan following unmatched in the history
of cinema.
When it came time to present the Star
Wars saga on home video, you continued to support the
highest of standards by utilizing the latest advances
in video technology. Past VHS and Laserdisc releases
of The Star Wars Trilogy have earned well-justified
praise from consumers and the industry alike for their
superior picture, sound and value-added content. By
refusing to deliver anything but the best, you have
honored the passion and dedication of the filmmakers,
artisans and fans that have made Star Wars what it
is today.
But with the recent announcement of the
April 4, 2000 VHS-only release of Star Wars Episode I:
The Phantom Menace, you have chosen to bypass, for the
foreseeable future, the highest quality home video medium
currently available. Since its launch in early 1997,
DVD has become the most successful new product introduction
in the history of the consumer electronics industry,
with nearly 5 million DVD players in U.S. homes to prove
it, and twice that many computer DVD-ROM drives. With
the advent of High-Definition television and the crossing-over
to a digital-based standard, consumers want to know that
the movies they are buying today will still deliver the
highest quality on new equipment in the future. DVD gives
them that option.
As editors of the leading DVD web sites
on the Internet, with many thousands of unique visitors
each month, we receive a constant flood of feedback from
our readers. And in light of your decision to delay the
DVD release of your greatest films, the outpouring from
loyal Star Wars fans has been overwhelming and unanimously
negative. By withholding a DVD release from the marketplace,
fans have told us that they feel you are ignoring the
millions of DVD owners who appreciate the unsurpassed
video and audio quality that the format offers them.
Instead, many will be forced to choose between buying
your film on either an inferior format like VHS, or on
one of the many illegal digital bootleg discs that are
becoming widely available online.
Over the course of your distinguished career,
you've clearly demonstrated your commitment to setting
the highest standards of quality for your fans. With
that in mind, we hope that you will reconsider your lack
of support for the DVD format, and will continue to lead
the way in bringing motion picture entertainment into
the digital age. There can be no better way to experience
the Star Wars saga at home than on DVD.
The fans have asked for it, and we think
the films deserve it. Don't you?
