 Cool
Stuff We Like
At Webcurrent Communications, we strive to keep pace with the developments
in our field. Here are a few of the web-building techniques we've
been working on. If you see something you'd like for us to incorporate
into your web site, be sure to let us know!
QuickTime VR (QuickTime plug-in
required)
 Virtual
reality panoramic photography has great potential for web sites.
With it, you can give your visitors virtual tours of your facility,
three- dimensional views of your products, or scenic tours of your
town. This one shows a view
of southeast Missouri's beautiful Current River, the inspiration
for our company name.
We create our panoramas using a tripod, a digital camera and
a 35mm camera with a wide-angle lens, Adobe Photoshop, Picture Works
Spin Panorama, Apple QuickTime Pro software, and ATI XclaimVR.
Java/JavaScript
 Java
and JavaScript have been revolutionizing web design. Java-based
applets are mini applications that run within a browser. JavaScript
is a scripting language within HTML that enhances a page.
Both offer a wide range of bells and whistles, from animated banners
and paint programs to games, chatrooms, databases, pop-up windows
and forms validation.
We have Open Cube's Web
Effects Java Ware collection available for use in our client
web sites. This collection makes use of special effects including
expanding menus and messages, sliding billboards, typewriter scrolling,
user-scrollable message windows and more.
There are many other Java applets and JavaScripts in the public
domain available for us to customize for you. Many developers offer
use of their applets for a minimal licensing fee. We love Java,
but Java applets typically are slow to launch in a browser, and
sometimes that alone is enough to send your impatient web visitors
elsewhere, so use these with caution. JavaScript had some incompatibility
issues with the Explorer 3.0 browser, but for the most part these
have been resolved.Here are two examples:
Java Applet Games & Puzzles
Streaming Audio/Video
 Multimedia
elements can enrich your site. We like to use RealAudio
plug-in for audio streaming. It's excellent for sound, but we think
the quality of streaming video, however, has a long way to go.
The Beatnik plug-in
makes use of a rich music format that outperforms most any midi
file. We especially like the Beatnik control panel. It's small and
very cool.
CGI Scripts
We like the cgi-scripting environment to customize interactive
pages. Here are some examples:
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