Henry Rzepa wrote:
Curiously, several attempts to get the New Scientist magazine interested in the same (C60 chime) have met with considerable lack of interest. Apparently, its too "complicated" for most of its readers to acquire a recent browser and plug-ins. Anyone had or noticed more success with other general publications?
Chemistry & Industry would have no problems with displaying 'Chimed' molecules on its pages, or other new uses of the technology. Progress in web technology only occurs if examples are made widely available. Your reported attitude of New Scientist does seem a bit odd. The use of VRML molecules is one of the few areas where a web page can improve on the printed page. Especially in this case, where it is the unusual structure of C60 (and C70, etc...) that has sparked interest in the fullerenes. The argument that downloading plug-ins is 'complicated' for the average user does have some weight. It's quite easy to forget that many people don't have access to fast academic or company internet access, and rely on slow 14.4kbps modems. Downloading even small plug-ins is an expensive and long procedure for many. However, in this case, the benefits of seeing C60 in 3D outweigh the hassle. Perhaps as a community we should be lobbying for chemical structure interpretors to be bundled in with new versions of Netscape/Internet Explorer, in the same way that sound and video plug-ins are currently bundled. -------------------------- Paul Deards Internet Publisher Chemistry and Industry 0171-2353681 x233 pauld@chemind.demon.co.uk http://ci.mond.org/ -------------------------- Advertising with C&I electronic publications is a cost-effective way of reaching a target audience of scientists. For more details, contact us at advertising@chemind.demon.co.uk -------------------------- ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. Archived as: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/chemweb/ To unsubscribe, send to listserver@ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa@ic.ac.uk)