Smokers now have a new option if they decide they want to quit. Tobacco School, which was founded in Ottawa in 1988, offers treatment programs for people addicted to tobacco. The school now offers its courses on-line at TobaccoSchool.com. According to the school, it offers education and prevention through a curriculum-based program. The course structure is divided into four stages of recovery-strategy, planning, action and maintenance. Subscribers to the courses choose support and learning tools through a 90-day lesson plan. Subscribers are urged to do one lesson per day, and e-mails are sent to the subscribers if they miss a certain amount of lessons to encourage them and offer support. On-line features include bulletin boards, on-line counselling and chat rooms. Individual subscriptions cost $90 per year, and organizations such as businesses and schools are eligible for a member-per-year rate.
Canadian toy shoppers get more info, but no e-comm
Toys “R” Us Canada announced it has launched a site in time for the holiday season, but you won’t be able to buy anything from them on-line. Its all new Canadian Web site, toysrus.ca, offers information on store locations, hours of operation and the latest toys. According to the company, the site allows its customers to access Canadian-specific information about pricing, special offers and promotions. The Canadian site offers no e-commerce because the company will become part of the American toysrus.com site in 2001. The company said in a release that it wants to be fully prepared to be able to handle distribution and other factors involved in e-commerce to make the on-line purchasing process seamless for its customers. Toys R Us in the U.S. is a partner with Amazon.com.
Young at heart are on-line more often
A study was released last month by Media Metrix Canada, which indicates that Web surfers aged 55 and older in Canada spend more time on the Internet than any other age group. The report noted that the 55+ age group is the smallest on-line, and represents only seven per cent of all visitors to the Web. According to a press release issued by the firm, this group has grown considerably in the last year, increasing 41.6 per cent since last January. French Canadian Web surfers in this age group have grown 20.8 per cent since last May. Other data in the report says that the gender gap between men and women on-line in this age group is narrowing. According to the findings, men are at 54 per cent and women are at 46 per cent. But the findings for French Canadians differed, with men at 61 per cent and women at only 39 per cent.
Yahoo! must block users: court
A court in Paris last month ruled that Yahoo! would have to block French Web users from its auction sites which sell Nazi memorabilia. The Internet company was told that it would have three months to figure out how to block French users, and that it would be charged a 100,000 franc (US$13,000) fine for each day after that. The French court also ordered Yahoo! to try to block users who sell Nazi memorabilia, such as swastika-emblazoned flags and weapons. It is illegal to sell or display anything that incites racism in France. Almost a year ago, two anti-racism groups in France sued Yahoo! because racist objects were available through its auction sites. In May, Yahoo! was ordered by the court to pay US$1,000 to each of the plaintiffs. Yahoo! is reportedly arguing that blocking keywords, such as “Nazi,” would affect people doing legitimate historical searches and would also hinder free speech.
Video venture unveiled
Visitors and members of FortuneCity.com will be able to take advantage of video e-mail technology, thanks to an agreement the site has made with Digital Media Works. Based in Irvine, Calif., Digital Media Works is a provider of video editing tools and services. Its video e-mail technology, VideoMail Studio, will be provided to FortuneCity visitors, enabling them to record, edit and send video e-mails, and to host video on their Web sites. Users will be able to store video messages on their PCs or on the Internet through the Digital Media Network. The technology will also allow users to create their own video greetings for Web sites.