Colby Devitt writes “Wildform, creators of Internet media software, today announced the release of Flix, the first application that encodes video into SWF, the Macromedia Flashâ„¢ format. Now video and audio files can be easily converted into the most popular media format on the web. In making the announcement, Jonathan Blank, CEO of Wildform, noted, “Flix opens up a whole new way of streaming video on the web.â€

SWF, or Flash, is an open standard used extensively on the Internet. According to a September, 2000 NPD Research study, 96.4% of all Web users can view Flash content without downloading the player. Flix-encoded Flash video content also streams to virtually all platforms, all browsers and through firewalls, making for a truly hassle-free video experience.

Until now, Flash was primarily an animation tool, rarely utilized for video because it took hours or days to create even short clips. With the introduction of Flix, video production time is slashed and users can easily insert links, create video banner ads and e-mails, and deploy customized media players.

Phil Torrone, Lead Software Director at Fallon Interactive, exclaimed, “This product rocks! At Fallon we create lots of video, but there’s always the issue of which player the user is most likely to have. Also, our clients often don’t like the square box with Real, Quicktime, or Windows branding. Having video in Flash allows us to create the best user experience with custom branding and also to take advantage of the ubiquity of Flash. As more and more devices support Flash, Flix makes one file for the web, for the PDA, and wherever Flash can go.â€

About Wildform
Wildform, a California based software development company, was founded by Jonathan Blank, Colby Devitt, Arjun Nayyar and R. Blank. Best known for their animation tool for web developers, SWfX, Wildform is currently developing a full suite of new products and services for the Internet media market. For more information about Flix (available for only $99) or Wildform, go to: www.wildform.com.”

– by Tina Gasperson –
Here’s a weblog for Linux gamers where you’ll find out about the latest in Linux
game releases — the big ones (like at Loki) and the small ones (like at
freshmeat).LinuxGames sports the dark background that all gaming sites are required to
have — that’s how you know it’s cool. That, and the fact that when I visited,
there was daily activity and news updates. Nothing is lamer than finding what
could be a great site and discovering that it has lain dormant for six
months.

So, LinuxGames is up-to-date, and each news item carries download and screenshot
links where appropriate. True to weblog form, readers can comment on the news —
not much of that going on, though.

In addition to the latest news page, there are some interesting tidbits for
gamer boys (and girls), like several gaming HOWTOs — LanParty, Quake, StarCraft,
Ultima, and UltraHLE.

If you like Windows for the games, but would love to get rid of the dual boot, consider running them under Wine. There are
success stories posted at the LinuxGames site, along with tips for getting those
desirable games to work with Wine.

There are also original articles and reviews posted on the site. It’s been a
while since any new articles have gone up, but the ones that are there are worth
reading. This section could use some updating.

The forums are active, and you can take your pick from topics like Quake, wine
gaming, emulators, tournaments, and more. LinuxGames also provides an ftp server
full of free downloads and lots of links to outside gaming sites.

LinuxGames is altruistically offering hosting space to sites that are dedicated
to Linux gaming. There are standards, but for those who pass muster,
unlimited web and ftp space, great bandwidth, front page site promotion, and
email await. All you have to do is place LinuxGame’s random ad banner on your
site.

LinuxGames.com should be high on your list of sites to check for the latest
Linux gaming news.

If you know of a site that should be featured in Newsforge’s
weekly website review, let me know.

Linux.com reports on the difficulties involved with installing IDE CD-rewritable drives under Linux due to a kernel issue, and details instructions on getting around the kernel problem to get an IDE CD-RW drive to run.

The Standard reports that Leonardo Chiariglione is stepping down as head of the Secure Digital Music Initiative after two years. The SDMI has been working to create a secure format for music to get around the trading of mp3 audio files.

ZDNet reports that the British government is considering controls on chat rooms on line to prevent pedophiles from meeting kids on line.

MSNBC explains why music piracy will continue to thrive, in spite of recent developments in the movement against unpaid music sharing by companies such as IBM.

Network World Fusion reports that VA Linux (disclosure: VA owns NewsForge) is adding itself to the ranks of companies shipping thin servers.

Linux World discusses putting photo albums on line under Linux stating that it is so easy, “even a dweeb journalist” can do it.

Tech Web reports that IBM is planning to release the source to its Universal Discovery Description and Integrity for Java (UDDI4J) software under IBM’s public license.

ZDNet reports that Microsoft’s servers are back on line after a day of downtime, following a router configuration error blamed on technicians.