This took place Monday - Wednesday this week (20-22 October). My report must be incomplete, because I only really attended on Wednesday. However, I did have several good "bar" sessions which I do NOT reproduce here! a) Virtually every talk (there were 18) talked about Internet strategies. I must confess that I find this most unhealthy! b) Some talks were less about what they had done, but about what other people were doing! It good so long as not everyone does it!! Reminds me of early web pages, where all you did is point to everyone else. c) One common theme is the recognition that "active" chemistry is where its heading, although the momentum is now clearly in the commercial developers camp, and few individuals now make a great impact (apart from anything else, few individuals could afford to go to Nimes!!). Individuals out there, prove me wrong!! d) The three main threads are Java, Browser plug-ins and Active-X controls. Everyone agrees none is perfect, but for different reasons. At least Java and plug-ins have some format for inter-operability. e) Chime is now up to V0.99 for Windows only and supports Javascript. The SGI version has finally made beta. Apparently, a full manual on this is in preparation in the States. Did not get the URL: can anyone provide it? No sign of WebLab as a plug-in yet f) Little progress on Standards. Apparently people who talk about standards are described by some as "obsessed". I mentioned the lack of progress on Chemical Metadata standards, and the lack of any public declaration at least on inter-operability in chemical plug-ins. For example, would it not be nice if Chime and WebLab (and the Molecular Inventor SGI plug) could inter-operate, ie at its simplest that they could each be invoked by the SAME HTML, thus leaving the reader to decide which plug to use, and the author to concentrate on the chemistry. So can I use this forum for a plea for anyone thinking of developing chemical MIME plug-ins to make a public statement on whether there might be any de facto or agreed standards emerging? g) NetFire (aka Crossfire) was announced as being announced at the London On-line meeting in December. Does this constitute an annoucement? Those of us in the UK (by the way, welcome to all the recent subscribers, of which there have been many) are of course familiar with the National Crossfire service, and the Web version sounds interesting. Finally, if any member of this list does go to a relevant conference, do please consider posting a report! Its a hell of a lot cheaper than attending. Of course, the advantages of the bar are not available here! PS My talk at Nimes is on http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/talks/nimes/ Dr Henry Rzepa, Dept. Chemistry, Imperial College, LONDON SW7 2AY; rzepa@ic.ac.uk; Tel (44) 171 594 5774; Fax: (44) 171 594 5804. URL: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/ (Eudora Pro 3.0) ----- 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)