Wednesday, September 8, 1999 — North Shore News — 25 north shore news HIGH TECH . NEWS photo Cindy Goodman TREVOR Mayes (right) is hoping he’s got local politics in the palm of his hand. He and partner Ray Ragers have created a Web site, , that politicians like NV District Coun. Zrnie Crist (centre) will use during the upcoming municipal elections. Michael Becker News Editor michael@nsnews.con . - X¥OU_ have two months “and 12 days to make “your decisions about ’ ‘the people you will choose to represent “your interests at ' umunicipal council and fon the school board. place across B. LA North - Vancouver com: pany is setting itself up to cash-in. on. the ‘simmering’ h anew Web political heat wi ite: . ite! is the brainchild of Trevor’. Mayes,. creative : ‘director at iCorp Design Inc., . ogers, the. compa- * ny’s technical director. Mayes: recently left a job_ North. working *.-_ for. Vancouver ' District ‘as. the Webmaster. ‘orks on the pro- grammin for -*. the -YourPolitician:com database. Mayes builds- the. site. Said . ‘Rogers, “It’s a good fit for us. Pve really enjoyed work- ing with Trevor.” Mayes’ thoughts turned to the notion of bringing pol- itics to the Internet as a pack- age while working for North Vancouver District. “For the last election we would get a lot of (Web site) users asking us, ‘Why don’t you have any information about the candidates on your Web site?” ~ “Unfortunately we had to, “tell ‘them: that the district’s “role in.an election is just facil- itative’ We couldn’t actually take a role in promoting spe- cific candidates, with ‘the. new technology _coming around that we could . set up a site where users can -come-to-it and get informa- “glance and not have to worry «about going to all the all-can- didates meetings or missing a specific article inthe newspa- per. They could just go to the Web site. We thought. it would be’ good not only for elections, but as a way to “communicate with the. con- stituency year round.” --“I thought this is the time: tion'on all the candidates-at 2 The company offers a number of templates to politicians. The deluxe option, which comes with a monthly fee, enables candi- dates to choose from a num- ber of Web displays. Said Mayes, “They can have their own unique identi- ty online rather than having a cookie cutter Web site.” A free-of-charge option let's them have one single page, without a picture. Said Mayes, “We don’t ‘expect to make too much moncy,. particularly in the B.C. market, but it’s more of a pilot at this stage. Next year there will be more municipal elections occurring in differ- ent provinces.” ‘The company plans to sell banner ads targeting specific municipalities. As it grows, Rogers says the site will become more interactive. “People can register with | . their community, so if a new politician signs up or when a new issue is introduced, the people will be notified auto- matically by e-mail. “We're hoping to set up a New Web site puts poli forum area where people can introduce topics that are rele- vant to" ‘their community or larger regions. Politicians can respond to those forum top- ics. “For the politicians we hope to set up a list server so politicians can have access to other ', Politicians in ‘similar Areas.” Rogers would also. like to host. live election’ results. f any communities that wish to provide the information. He, said about a dozen communi- ties have signed up to post election results five to date. On Monday, the following“. North Shore incumbents and ~ hopefuls’ had at least: the beginnings of a presence at- the site: West Vancouver Coun. Bili Soprovich; North Vanconver District school trustee ©: candidate — Len Henriksson; North Vancouver District school trustee Barbara MacLellan; - North Vancouver City coun- cil candidate Debbie Tardiff, - North Vancouver City Coun. Darrell; North Vancouver District “Coun. . Glenys Deering-Robb; ticians :-North 2 Vancouver District council candidate . Bill . Denault; North Vancouver _ District. council candidate Margaret Fraser; North Vancouver District council - candidate | Doug Mackay-Dunn; North Vancouver. District Coun., Ernie Crist, wes Crist, “: self- described” as: of Motion”, as indicated, on - his. Web pages, has embraced the technology.” * What does the new forura ‘ mean to the seasoned politi-. cal veteran}: Said Crist, “iy $ to convey - a message-to the. public that we are part” of. the «garde, We want to do it'the modern way and that.we are right up to date. : “We want to-imake it pos, sible to inspire people, partic- ularly. the young people. They are very adept with the © new clectronic age and. I think the youth is the key. If we want to achieve ‘some-. thing worthwhile, we have to reach the young people. “I want to see how we can ‘stimulate. an. election ‘debate at every level. 7 pant. : internet celebrates 30 years LAST wee! many of us took note of an impor- tant celebration. We also heard a renewed battle cry from one of the titan companies in the PC industry challenging the Microsoft and Intel Corporation's dominance of the Windows-based computer’ platform. These stories are very much related. Let me explain. Tt may seem that this Internet phenomenon has only recently expioded on the scene. However, on Sept. 2, it celebrated its 30th birthday! Back in 1969 when men were first walking on the. moon and a bit cia gathering was happening at a place.” called Woodstock, scientists " were experimenting with the tansfer of data between nvo | computers at a University of -: California Los Angeles lab. Many observers marked .- this as the beginning of com-.; “ Teer networking that would”. © later become the backbone of. : _ the modern day Internet... ~ That simple connection and “Mr. North:Shore -and“Man™: transfer of a minute amount - Of data between two mon ", strous computers 15 feet apa “was'akin to the famous - “- “Watson, come here,”. : by. Alexander Graham Bell: > many: years. before: : This experiment began Cold War project to create communications network. imaminne to'nuclear attac! The ‘concept of sharing infor- «,, Mation over a secure network originated with the U; - Department of Defencé und its Advanced Research’: “Projects Agency (ARPA), which was formed after the launch of the Soviet Union’s =: Sputnik, the first satellite to. ‘orbit the earth, in 1957. 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