August 12, 1995 -- Scottsdale, AZ -- The Coriolis Group today announced a major technology break through for the dissertation, publishing and software industries called the Author Collar. This device, created by Coriolis' Managing Editor, Ron Pronk, provides an innovative system to track and manage projects being developed by authors, PhD dissertation writers, software developers, and other freelance staff who are critical to the success of publishing-related projects. The Author Collar is designed to be worn around the neck of an author and connects to a personal computer using a standard SCSI port. With custom software developed by the Coriolis Group, the Author Collar can be connected to the Internet using a standard SLIP or PPP connection. Once connected, a product manager/thesis advisor can monitor the productivity of an author. If the author gets behind on an important project, the manager/advisor can send an email message and 'zap' the author a low-voltage electronic shock to keep him or her on schedule. This is the first time a technology like this has been developed to be used over the Internet. "We've been testing the Collar on some of our authors/dissertation writers for the past few months and it has helped to increase writing productivity over 72%," stated Pronk. "I especially like the Collar because I can get instant results. Instead of waiting days or perhaps weeks for a delinquent author/dissertation writer to get back to me, I can send a message across the Internet, 'zap' the author to get his or her immediate attention, and get a phone call/Email back in no time at all. With the use of this innovative technology, I can manage many more projects than I was able to in the past." "We've had especially gratifying results from disseration writers with small children. We've installed the device on the children. The productivity improvements are close to 100%. It is especially important to know when to zap the little tikes. Early hours of the AM, say 2 or 3 are not productive. The children only wake their parents and that slows productivity. During the day is not too good either because the kids are out to play or at baby sitters. The real good time is in the early evening when the kids are taking a bath. The zap is especially enhanced..." "The only real surprise has been with authors who have teen-age children. When the device is connected to the teen-agers, productivity decreases. Seems the parents look forward to the zapping event." "A few authors were reluctant to participate at first," Pronk admitted, "but after they overcame their initial hesitation, they've actually come to like it. An interesting thing happens. Authors no longer go through the day with that nagging stressed-out feeling that comes from ducking my phone calls. Instead, I give them a mild 'zap,' which essentially tells them, 'hey, let's pick up the pace, here.' It actually removes some of their guilt feelings about being late, and at the same time encourages them to deliver material more quickly. So it's a win-win situation for everybody involved." "We've invested heavily in this technology to give our company a competitive edge over other publishing companies in our market," stated Coriolis Publisher and CEO Keith Weiskamp. "With the Author Collar, any of our authors can easily crank out a 1,000+ page book in 21 days or less. In terms of productivity savings, Author Collar may turn out to be one of the most useful tools developed using the dynamic power of the Internet." The Author Collar can be used for a wide range of industries and applications. The Collar requires an IBM compatible PC or Macintosh with a SCSI port. In addition, a willing participant is required as well as a PPP or SLIP Internet connection. Pricing for the Author Collar has not been determined. A deluxe version of the Collar is under development that would allow managers to assign unique "hot keys" for activating multiple Collars, directly from the keyboard.