Local Government on the Web

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In this issue:
• Local Government on the Web '98
• Sub-section headers in MS-Word
• Positioning pictures in MS-Word
• Y2K issues with MS-Word
• Compuserve Porn Case - Does it make sense?
• World's fastest web site
• Free Word Quick Reference Cards

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ON THE WEB - 98

I was pleased to be speaking to the Local Government Associations special conference on LGA and the Internet last week.

As many of you will know we conducted the first ever review of LG sites, way back in '96 when there were only 47 of them! Now the LGA is running its own review so if you want to include your site then contact them now.

We were also chuffed to see that two of the sites we had singled out in '96, Weymouth and Surrey, were selected as case study speakers in '98. Undoubtedly there web sites have matured considerably in that time and this clearly shows the benefit of starting early.

Web sites do mature, they grow and develop and evolve over time. Your second round of web development will be better than your first and so on. Even if you think the web is not for you *yet* we would still advise dipping your toe in the waters now.

Incidentally, the Society of Local Authority IT Managers have just published a new report "Achieving Service Excellence in IS/IT" which amongst other things case studies web and internet activities

MAKING HEADERS TRACK PAGES IN WORD

A very common question with Word is can I make the Header or Footer reflect the current page contents? The other variation is where you want the header to change as you move through the document - for example section headings.

Now you can do this by creating new sections as you go, but frankly it is all a bit of a pain in the posterior, so here's a slightly more complicated way to grasp, but so much easier to use method.

Step 1) On the pages were you want the heading to change make sure your new heading is set to a specific style, for example "Heading 2"

Step 2) View your header and select Insert, Field, Links and References, Styleref.

Step 3) In the dialog enter {STYLEREF "Heading 2"}

Step 4) Accept the dialog box and the field command is inserted into your header. Now as you step through the pages your header will automatically update to reflect the last used "Heading 2" style in the document. Brilliant.

POSITION PICTURES IN WORD 97

This is a problem that has been driving me wild for months and I am indebted to PC Magazine for an answer, which - like all the best answers - once you know it is obvious and simple.

Here's the problem, in Word 97 position pictures so they stay permanently positioned relative to the page is tricky, you modify the text around the image and all of a sudden it goes whizzing off somewhere else on the page (and it ain't obvious why it goes where it goes either)!

In Word 6.0 you would have inserted a frame and locked its position, but in Word 97 you don't have frames, so what do you do?

The answer, uncheck the "Float Over Text" option on the Format, Picture, Position dialog and the image will move with text and with proper text wrapping as you'd expect it to.

Y2K BUGS IN WORD

Well, after Microsoft has been saying for months that there are no Year 2000 bugs in the current versions of the product they are now admitting that there are.

One of the more obvious is in date formatting in Word, where any date with two digit years 00 and 29 are treated as 2000- 2029, but dates 30 onwards are treated as 1930 plus.

Now for most of us, this is actually going to work the way we want it, but insurance companies and the like who deal with long term contracts say should be wary.

We'll be issuing news later on in the year on the kind of Year 2000 issues you can expect in Office, Windows and NT.

COMPUSERVE PORN CASE - DOES IT MAKE SENSE

So, Felix Somm, former head of Compuserve Germany has been given a 2 year suspended sentence and a 35,000 pound fine payable to a charity.

Why? Because of web sites carrying pornography on the Compuserve system.

But actually, all is not as clear as it seems. Firstly, both the defence and the prosecution asked for the case to be dropped.

Secondly, under current German law the case could not have been brought.

Thirdly, does it make sense anyway? Is this an infringement of our civil right to free speech? Is it fair to treat internet service providers (ISP's) differently to the post or telephone companies? What responsibilities do we and the ISP's have anyway?

Is this an infringement of our right to free speech?

Well, like Voltaire, I might not agree with what you say, but I would defend your right to say it. Now, if that is just defending one persons opinion against another that is OK. I guess we would all promote free speech in oppressive regimes. But, does free speech extend to pornography? Does it extend to paedophilia? Is there a line to be drawn?

Personally, I don't have an issue with porn sites. A think sane adults can choose what they view and what they don't. There are systems around which protect children if you are concerned about it.

But paedophilic sites? Well, to protect them really means that I'm protecting the rights of others to abuse and exploit vulnerable children - and that doesn't make sense.

I suppose that means that the sensible view is that there has to be a line drawn somewhere - but how you determine what the line is I admit I have no idea.

Is it fair to treat Internet Service Providers differently to the Post or Telephone companies?

The ISP's argue that they cannot possible keep track of what goes through the internet and so cannot possibly be responsible for it.

On the face of it you have to accept that argument, but what if the ISP has been notified of "unacceptable" material? A web site can be pulled, a newsgroup does not need to be hosted.

ISP's already take action against "spammers" (junk emailers) because spam threatens the internet, but some will not take a stand against web sites and newsgroups.

Sorry, I can't see their argument makes sense. If they are notified of carrying unacceptable material they should prevent access to it (where they can - I'll come to that later).

There is a recent case coming to court of a lecturer taking Demon to court because they failed to pull an individual message from a newsgroup which he alleged was libellous.

Demon probably could, but the libel is only alleged, so should they? In the UK printed media the distributor of the libel is also responsible, hence WH Smiths pulling copies of Private Eye when they get in trouble. Should ISP's be different.

Again, if we apply common sense, we have to say that if notified and if possible, an ISP ought to prevent distribution of the material.

But the ISP's argue that they are the same as post and phone companies. Both of whom have explicit legal positions as "common carriers" and cannot be held responsible for the content of what they carry. Would we expect the post office to reject post from the Private Eye because it could be potentially libellous?

As is often the case with Internet legal issues the problem itself is messy and framing legislation that works as intended is fraught with difficulty. Not only that, but of course the whole world wide nature of Internet means that country law may mean nothing to the world at large.

This whole area will undoubtedly run and run.

WORLDS FASTEST WEB SITE

The latest launch of the Discovery Space Shuttle is carrying its own website, circling the Earth at five miles per second (18,000 mph) which must make it the worlds fastest web site!

FREE WORD QUICK REFERENCE CARDS

Well, sort of free... We have several hundred quick reference cards for Word 97 that detail all the keyboard shortcuts for Word available to you free of charge from us, but we would ask for a suitable donation to a charity either of your choice or we will collect for Action Aid.

Just send us a cheque or copy of your cheque, your address and the number of cards you would like and they are yours.

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