The World Wide Web Consortium has accepted XML (extensible markup language) as a standard. "Although predictable, this is a Very Big Deal." When widely implemented, XML will allow the integration of online databases with browsing and search tools. The Web will change from being document-centered to data-centered, and will be much more suitable for business transactions. [Mark R. Anderson , SNS, 11Feb98.]

XMLINFOLIST is a moderated discussion list and announcement channel about XML, the next generation of extensible markup language. Send a "subscribe xmlinfolist" subject line to . [Howard V. Barton , NEW-LIST, 03Dec97.]

Something new on the Web: As the Clinton/Lewinsky "Interngate" scandal broke, most online publications posted the latest news immediately instead of wait for print deadlines. . [NEWS.COM, 22Jan98.]

Send email to your Congress members and you'll probably get snail mail back. There's a belief on Capitol Hill that you will prefer a reply printed on watermarked Congressional letterhead. Internally, 90% of offices make use of email. [Washington Post, 17Feb98. EduP.] (So what we need are home printers that can add a watermark. :-)

Prodigy has terminated its "content" development efforts, and 50 related staffers. It will now be just an Internet service provider (ISP), with content licensed from Excite. [WSJ, 22Jan98. EduP.]

New websites are at least doubling each year. Sun has been the leader in servers for this market, but a survey of ISPs showed that Compaq is already pulling ahead of Sun in plans for 1998 purchases. Unix still has the bulk of the business, with Windows only planned for 26% of the new servers -- but Mark R. Anderson thinks it may turn out closer to 50%. As for current servers, an auto-poll of almost 2M servers showed that 46% were using the free Apache host software, 22% Microsoft, 10% Netscape, and 4% NCSA. Microsoft supplies almost 93% of client operating systems, running on a similar percentage of Intel processors. [, SNS, 11Feb98.] (However, there are also a very large number of Macintosh servers out there -- and Macs are also a favorite for producing Web content. Macs aren't efficient enough (yet) for ISP use, but they make a good choice for home or small business servers.)

Silicon Valley will soon have a new magazine called The Internet Industry Standard, said to be a combination of Variety and The Economist. Its founders are from Wired, Upside, and the LA Times. [Chris Nolan, SJM, 12Jan98, 1E.]