VISIT OUR STAFF

Among the many very intelligent things that Tim Berners-Lee, the director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the undisputed father of the Web, has done recently is make this simple yet poignant declaration: "Compared to the evolutions in the past on word processors and operating systems, the Internet is moving at a rapid pace. The Web is broad-based, where everybody can play." As if to prove these words true, everybody is definitely playing. Massive amounts of information and interactivity daily bombard the Web, the Internet, private online networks, and corporate intranets.
Now that we're all jumping around on this pervasive playground, the next question is, "What should we be playing with?" Here's where the ingenuity of hundreds of technology companies plays a role-and the rationale behind the creation of ZD Internet Magazine and the ZD Internet MegaSite.
But before I develop our mission any further, let me first establish what this magazine is not. Despite the fact that you were curious (and smart) enough to come to our site, you're probably thinking that the last thing the world needs is another stinkin' guide to Websites. ZD Internet Magazine is different than the current beta-generation Internet publications. Our editorial revolves around this maxim: We don't focus on where to cruise, but rather on what to use.
In other words, we don't care where you want to go today (sorry, Microsoft). There are plenty of other lifestyle guides to the Net to answer that call. And to prove that we'll never back down and produce a saccharin stream of chic and zippy URLs to visit, each of our editors has sworn never to reveal his or her favorite Websites, even over dinner or at parties.
But more important than what we're not is what we are. ZD Internet Magazine and the ZD Internet MegaSite are resources for the products, tools, and technologies that are shaping and changing the Internet and, closer to home, your Website, your intranet, and your entire Internet experience. We'll tell you which products to set your sites on-whether those sites are secure corporate intranets, highly-trafficked commercial Websites, or something in between.
When we refer you to a Website, it's because we want you to experience the technology demonstrated there. For example, if we send you to the Mr. Eggplant Head Website it's not because we find the jocund pleasures of a drag-and-drop banana mustache irresistible. Rather, we want you to experiment with the multilayered objects that live there in case you'd like to build some 3-D veggies-or other objects-using ActiveX.

IT'S ALIVE : : A new magazine, no matter how polished the writing and how artful the editing, cannot declare itself to be the know-it-all of Internet technology. Becoming the definitive resource of Internet products and tools takes, well, resources.
Located in the outskirts of the sunny Silicon Valley, ZD Labs is our official testing headquarters. With the recent addition of 180 new dedicated Internet clients, the network at ZD Labs-fondly called WebNet-sports more than 500 multiplatform clients, which makes it the world's largest independent Internet and intranet testing facility. Couple that with the benchmark development being done at the ZD Benchmark Operation (ZDBOP) in Morrisville, North Carolina, and voilà-we have what we need to deliver quantifiable and reliable Internet and intranet product recommendations.
Heading up our crew of reviewers is Senior Technical Editor Lisa Sweet (don't let the name fool you). With experience as a seasoned product reviews analyst at PC Week and most recently as an internetworking expert at UB Networks, Sweet, and the rest of the technical testing team, has two goals in the lab: be tough and be fair. If a product stinks, we'll say so. If a product is the best thing to hit the Internet since Java, then we'll mention that, too.
In the traditional Ziff-Davis testing tradition, ZD Internet Magazine and the ZD Internet MegaSite will deliver product reviews that are thorough, informative, and innovative. For example, in the premiere issue, which will hit the newsstands in November, we decided to find out just how standard Berners-Lee's de facto HTML 3.2 standard really is. So we built a comprehensive HTML testbed, dubbed BrowserComp`, that allows us to check out a browser's ability to accurately utilize 170 HTML tags and 12 extensions, ranging from Java support to colorful type to flickering tickers. You'll quickly see from our tests that HTML compatibility across the various products-and even platforms-is anything but standard.
To give our product reviews a personal touch, we're introducing Zoe, Dennis, and Ike. Get to know them and their problems, and then see which products provide the greatest benefit for them-and for you. And if you really want to be the first on your segment to try out all sorts of interesting Internet and intranet products, become a member of our Zoe, Dennis, and Ike Testing Team (if this sends interesting, send an e-mail to melanie_mcmullen@zd.com explaining why you would be perfect for this).

PACKET PROTECTORS : : In addition to our reviews, we'll also have a mix of other technology features. We decided that we could change the Web, if we took it one site at a time. So we contracted with the best Web gurus in the field to do Website makeovers, which will be a staple here.
In the premiere issue of ZD Internet Magazine, Associate Features Editor Lori Piquet leads you through this month's makeovers and demonstrates how we redigitized the Digital NPB site, added interactive CGI scripts and some audio to help grow a Christmas tree business, and gave a real Shockwave buzz to the national Electric Automobile Association's site.
Lastly, to prove that we really do know how to build incredible Websites, we built one ourselves, the ZD Internet MegaSite (www.zdimag.com). The MegaSite is a technology-driven Web 'zine that comes complete with news features, our latest product reviews, innovative applets, dozens of demos, some roll-your-own code, and valuable downloads. Its cornerstone is the MegaSource, which is the reference library component of ZDNet's Whole Web Catalog.
Tell us what you think of ZD Internet Magazine and the ZD Internet MegaSite. Get to know who we are, and send us an e-mail message. (Just to prove we're not shy, check out the unofficial staff swimsuit picture.) Help us build a magazine and a Website that tells you what you really need to know.

Melanie McMullen
Editor-in-chief

Melanie McMullen can be reached via email at melanie_mcmullen@zd.com.
www.zdimag.com