Internet Links of interest
F-Secure Computer Virus Info Center:
Welcome to the F-Secure computer virus information service. This service is provided by the F-Secure Anti-Virus Support Team.
The database is updated several times a week. The virus description service was started on the 13th of June, 1994. Now in its fifth year, this site was the first anti-virus web site ever - and is considered the industry standard source for up-to-date information on new viruses and hoax alerts.
http://www.datafellows.com/virus-info
Internet Hoaxes:
Issued by the US Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) addressing the various virus hoax messages on the Internet.
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
Internet Tutorials - University at Albany Libraries:
An excellent collection of beginners' tutorials for Internet users.
There are currently 25 tutorials under the categories: Basic Internet, Research Guides, Search Engines & Subject Directories, Netscape, and Software Training. The Search tutorials include: how to choose one; a guide to search engine syntax; the finer points of Web search engines; and a discussion of Boolean Searching.
http://www.albany.edu/library/internet
Nye Labs Online:
Bill Nye the Science Guy's Web site is as lively and funny as his television show. Select Demo of the Day for a different daily science experiment you can do at home. In Home Demos are over 40 different demonstrations, complete with explanations of how things work. Educators can find some excellent guides in Teachers' Lounge, for the years 1995 to 1998. In the guides are a variety of projects, demos, and fun facts. For Kindergarten to the 5th grade.
http://nyelabs.kcts.org/flash_go.html
PlanetDiary:
Provides a weekly update of articles on the environmental state of planet Earth focusing on natural phenomena and events such as floods, fire, fauna, flora, earthquakes, drought, health, volcanoes, oil spills, radioactivity, tornadoes, and tropical storms.
Has good background on each phenomena with annotated links, and archives of recent articles. Contains Internet activities and lesson plans for teachers and students, and a calendar feature highlighting future global environmental happenings with appropriate links.
http://www.phschool.com/sf/planetdiary
Yuckiest Site on the Internet:
"The best place for science entertainment" for kids ages 6 to 15.
This colorful, factual, and fun site has six main categories:
Club Yucky, Gross and Cool Body, Worm World, Yucky Games, Bug World, and Web Surfers. Each category offers activities, games, jokes, and links to outside sites. Kids are invited to comment on Web sites that they discover. There is also a Teacher Center, with teaching aids for grades Kindergarten through 8th. Web 101 offers insights for kids on using the Web safely.
http://www.yucky.com
WriteBusiness Ezine is for Anyone Who Writes--content for web pages, ezine articles, sales letters, ads--or anything else. Articles on writing persuasively, editing, proofreading, grammar, spelling, word usage, comprehension and more. Get a FREE mousepad for subscribing!
http://www.writebusiness.com
Chateau Meddybemps:
All kinds of fun for families with younger kids.
http://www.meddybemps.com/index.html
The Free T-Shirt Club
Once or twice a week we will email you details of at
least one totally free t-shirt. No shipping fees. No
handling fees. No money. Join today and start filling
your closet!
http://allfreesites.com/freetshirts
A Year to Remember:
This site provides Alzheimer's Disease information, including many
links for caregiving and research sites and a bibliography and
filmography, and it shares one woman's story through poetry,
photographs, and the journal of a caregiver daughter.
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem
Cancer Hope:
Prostate Cancer: A Journey of Hope helps awaken us to the facts
behind this common type of cancer. With glimpses into the inspiring
struggles of victims, online resources and PBS program video clips.
http://www.pbs.org/ketc/prostatecancer
Learn CPR:
CPR is a no-nonsense lifesaver, and you can get some online
instruction at this you can do it! site. While no substitute
for comprehensive training, you'll at least get the basics
in an illustrated format.
http://www.learncpr.org/index.html
Staying Healthy:
Ever wonder, What does it take to be healthy? The National
Cancer Institute along with the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention offer some answers. And an interactive quiz
to show where you stand.
http://5aday.nci.nih.gov
Announcement: TalkSender
Westford Mass. Thursday, March 9, 2000
People are talking again via E-mail.
TalkSender reunites, communicates and gives the disabled advantages.
When TalkSender officially launches this Thursday it will already have 100,000 users - all through word of mouth.
One mother and daughter had not heard each other's voices for over fifteen
years.
Early users aren't surprised about Talksender's great Internet buzz. It's the world's simplest, smallest, and fastest program that allows people to send messages in their own voice. But what is truly amazing is how this start up has attracted over so many users pre the official launch date.
TalkSender's service is completely free for consumers to use, and replaces and supplements typing as a method for sending e-mail and has been especially popular with AOL (NASDAQ: AOL) and Microsoft's Hotmail users (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Douglas Kim, president and co-founder has received over 1000 voice fan e-mail messages back from users who are blind, disabled, estranged, or just thrilled to have a way to talk instead of type.
Kim is kicking off the official site launch with a "Talksender Reunited us" contest. The winners will be flown to any destination of their choice.
(Contest ends May 10, 2000)
Kim's business to business model is getting its own word of mouth because it's the first voice e-mail that allows businesses to own the consumer's computer desktop as an advertising medium.
TalkSender's Business Suite is a family of applications that enables businesses to send quickly, and at will, customized rich-media based voice messages to consumers for customer acquisition, retention, and upsell, and immediately receive vital feedback such as message "take rate" and click through rates.
Business Suite also includes applications that allow businesses to establish
a presence on the consumer's computer desktop as an advertising medium.
TalkSender is a division of Mailinx.com Inc., an innovative Internet company with a single vision in mind
- to bring to society, the most consumer friendly Internet messaging solutions.
http://TalkSender.com
FAQ sheet
TalkSender: Sending Talk -- Not Just Type...
The Facts:
Mission:
TalkSender's mission is to give back to people a level of personalization and
warmth in their electronic communication, that traditional typed e-mail
messages took away. TalkSender is the world's simplest, smallest, and
fastest program that allows people to send messages in their own voice, from
an extremely easy to use personalized interface to anyone with an e-mail
address. It's COMPLETELY FREE for consumers to use, and replaces and
supplements typing as a method for:
Sum Sending messages that need to reflect tone, and inflection
Sum Speaking and sending messages quickly with just a few clicks
Sum Recipient hears the message in the sender's own voice to ensure a measure of authenticity
Sum Sending messages in a foreign languages over e-mail, eliminating a need for special keyboard etc...
Sum Less computer savvy people or the handicapped can easily send messages to anyone with just a few clicks
Site Debut:
The TalkSender.com debuted on January 2000. On March 2000, TalkSender.com
will also be giving away FREE microphones in conjunction with free download
of the software, to overcome any barrier to usage from users that lack
microphones.
Product/Site
Description:
Mailinx.com, the developer of the TalkSender, is the leading provider of a
suite of rich-media e-mail communication and advertising tools for:
Business to Consumer communications:
TalkSender Business Suite is a family of applications that enables businesses to send quickly, and at will, customized rich-media based voice messages to consumers for customer acquisition, retention, and upsell, and immediately receive vital feedback such as message "take rate" and click through rates. TalkSender Business Suite also includes applications that allow businesses to establish a presence on the consumer's computer desktop as an advertising medium.
Consumer to Consumer communications:
TalkSender Consumer is a FREE, fun, easy to use consumer device that lives on the computer desktop, that people use to send quickly and easily, rich media formatted voice messages to anyone on the Internet, with digital telephony voice quality. It combines a powerful voice messaging utility together with advertising on the client.
TalkSender Business Suite:
TalkSender Message Blaster
Allows businesses to instantly:
1. Create customized, rich media e-mails that combines voice announcement and text that serves as an advertisement or announcement of special events, sales, up-sells, etc.
2. Send to their targeted mailing list through our servers.
TalkSender Messenger:
Allows businesses to instantly:
1. Place button advertising and rich media banner advertising on the consumer downloaded version of the TalkSender Messenger, which has proven to be an extremely effective advertising venue.
TalkSender Reporter:
Allows businesses to instantly:
1. Get immediate feedback on such details such as number of users that have opened and listened to the message
2. Number of people that have downloaded Consumer TalkSenders with their advertisements on it.
TalkSender Consumer:
TalkSender Messenger:
Allows consumers to:
1. Within 25 seconds, download and install with ZERO setup, the TalkSender desktop voice messenger for FREE
2. With ZERO training, or learning, users can instantly be sending rich media voice messages with digital telephony sound quality to anyone on the Internet for FREE
3. Recipients require NOTHING to download to open and listen to the TalkSender messages
4. Integrates with ZERO setup, to their existing e-mail clients such as AOL,
MS Outlook Express, Eudora, and Netscape Messenger.
5. Obtain FREE microphones in conjunction with the FREE software to create
ZERO barriers to usage.
Target Market:
TalkSender appeals to two different market segments:
Business to Consumer communication:
Businesses use TalkSender's system of automatic voice message play to deliver to their user community, customized, targeted, voice e-mails to make announcements or special offers, sometimes spoken by celebrity spokespersons.
Businesses are expected to outsource to Mailinx.com, their "rich media" voice message announcements to their user community. Currently, most web portals and B2C businesses use text / html formatted e-mails to make announcements, that lack appeal.
Consumer to Consumer communication:
Over 200 million people using e-mail today and more to come....
TalkSender will appeal to those who have the following problems with typed
text messages:
Sum Typed messages cannot inflect tone. Is the message sent with humor, anger
Sum frustration, love or urgency
Sum Typing is slower than speaking
Sum Who really sent the message?
Sum Need to speak a foreign language, but can't type it
Sum Elderly, handicapped and small children find e-mail typing cumbersome and
Sum complicated
Since it's launch on January 2000, the site receives several hundred fan-mails a day from people that are simply amazed about the compactness, functionality, ease of use, speed, and clarity of the system. Some comments are enclosed in the appendix.
Market Potential:
As a Business to Consumer electronic announcement tool:
The market for e-mail outsourcing is expected to rise to by end of 2001, according to.....
As a Consumer to Consumer communication tool:
With the aim to reach 10 million desktops/users by end of 2001, Mailinx.com will have access to 10 million TalkSender clients which carry 5 banner advertising button spaces, and 1 rich media banner advertising space that can be sold to various companies based upon both impression, click through, and revenue sharing schemes. Companies are heavily investing on on-line advertising mediums, especially desktop based, "always-on" mediums such as the TalkSender. On-Line advertising is expected to reach well over $4 Billion in the year 2000 (forgot the source)
Company
Inception: TalkSender.com was launched in January 2000 and introduced to 50 people initially. This initial base grew to 50,000 within the 2nd month, purely by people "TalkSending" one another, in an incredible viral growth path.
eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) is currently an advertiser, and the company has entered into affiliate marketing relationships PC Connections, 800.com, Barnes & Noble, and ValueAmerica.
The company has established a strategic relationship with ExpertCentral.com (part of About.com NASDAQ: BOUT) as well as Kestral Communications for a major membership building campaign, slated for end of March 2000.
The company will also be giving away free microphones on March 2000 in conjunction with the free download of the TalkSender client, to overcome any barrier to usage due to people not having microphones.
Funding: The company is funded by institutional venture capital companies:
Eight Stars Venture Capital, Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Eight Stars LLC, founded by former CMGI (NASDAQ:CMGI) executives, is organized to invest in, acquire, and provide strategic operational management to companies which demonstrate an advantage in technology, products, or services primarily enabled via the Internet.
Terasource Venture Capital, founded in 1996 with operations in Seoul, Korea, and Silicon Valley, is an Internet and high tech industry investor, advisor and incubator and one of the most sought-after Venture Capital partners for high tech entrepreneurs in Korea.
Terasource Venture Capital most recently established a strategic alliance with Silicon Valley Bank - the leading technology investment bank in the West Coast.
Management
Team:
Mr. Douglas Kim - Co-Founder and President
Mr. Douglas Kim most recently was the Director of European Business Development for NovaSoft Systems, Inc., a worldwide leader in Internet Web Content Management and Document/Workflow management systems.
A founding member and pioneer of one of the leading companies in Web Content and Document Management marketplace, Mr. Kim was responsible for conception and operations of the international business strategy for NovaSoft Systems, Inc. In the space of 5 years, the international business accounted for 40% of all licenses sold world wide.
In 1996, he embarked on a 3 year stint in Europe, to startup the European subsidiary of NovaSoft Systems and build the channel network. Today, NovaSoft has 2 subsidiary offices in Munich, Germany, and London, England. He was responsible for establishing and building the strategic partnerships with Siemens A.G. of Germany, Atos of Italy/France, Digital Equipment Italy, and Webasto A.G of Germany, and securing major contracts such as Siemens Transportation Systems, Fiat Group, AGIP/ENI Energy, Telecom Italia, INA Insurance, among others.
Prior to his engagement in Europe, Mr. Kim spent 2 years in Latin America building the Latin American sales, marketing and service network, and was instrumental in founding NovaSoft do. Brasil S.A. and creating strategic partnerships with Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Digital. Major corporate clients include Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), PetroBras, Copene, Siemens Brasil, and Telebras.
Mr. Kim holds a Master's of Science Degree in Manufacturing Engineering from
Boston University and a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University.
Dr. Hikyu Lee, Co-Founder, Chairman
Dr. Hikyu Lee is the founding president and CEO of SoftLinx, Inc. Dr. Lee leads the strategic vision of the company and drives the development of the company's technology, products and operations. He also sits on the Board of Directors for the Company.
A pioneer in the networking and telephony arenas, Dr. Lee is an industry veteran with a keen understanding of the messaging and Internet marketplace. Prior to founding SoftLinx, Inc., he served as the founding President of Samsung Software America Inc.(SSA), where he established the U.S. research and development subsidiary of the Korean-owned Samsung Group. At Samsung, he focused on network computing, including voicemail/fax systems and systems product development. Under his leadership, SSA excelled as a networking industry trendsetter, for introducing some of the first networking system products and software technologies. Prior to joining Samsung, Dr. Lee managed research and development for AT&T Bell Laboratories and Bellcore with a focus on telecommunications and messaging R&D.
Dr. Lee holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University. He is also a magna cum laude graduate of Seoul National University, holding a Bachelor's of Science degree in electronics engineering. Additionally, Dr. Lee served as an assistant professor in the electrical engineering/computer science department at Northwestern University.
Advisory Board: TalkSender has recently established an advisory board to assist
TalkSender in developing strategic partnerships.
Some members of the advisory board include:
Mr.Carl Theobald, currently Vice president at Oracle's CRM division (NASDAQ: ORCL).
Mr. Greg Schmergel, currently CEO, President of ExpertCentral.com, part of
About.com (NASDAQ: BOUT)
