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If you like the new HTML version, we’ll keep sending it to you. If you’d prefer to receive the plain-text version, we’ll be happy to switch you back.

Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy this issue of QuickTime News.

Television special effects designers Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt completed their first independent short film, “405,” in just three months using their own computer equipment and about $300 (to pay the traffic tickets they got while filming). After posting their movie to iFilm, it quickly became a runaway hit—in more ways than one.

“405” is the story of a DC-10 that avoids disaster by landing on Los Angeles’s 405 freeway—despite the fact that several hapless motorists get in its way. About a third of the shots were digitally generated, including incredibly realistic footage of the DC-10, two vehicles in its landing strip, and the 405 freeway itself.

At about the time “405” logged its millionth download, Branit and Hunt were snapped up by CAA and quit their TV jobs to pursue Hollywood development deals.

He was vilified; his work, ridiculed. But Dr. Judah Folkman believed he understood how some forms of cancer grow and spread—tricking the body into nourishing the tumors that would eventually destroy it—and he persisted.

In NOVA’s “Cancer Warrior,” WGBH in Boston brought his story to millions of interested viewers, but even if you missed it when it aired on national TV, you can watch it on NOVA Online as part of a special WGBH NetCast.

Jennifer Lopez is definitely on a roll: both her recent movie, “The Wedding Planner,” and her new album, “J.Lo,” have been runaway hits. The latter, a follow-up to her multi-platinum debut album, “On the Six,” offers not only an engaging blend of dance, R&B, and hip-hop but also a QuickTime exclusive.

If you have the CD and visit her website, you can watch a music video available nowhere else and catch interview footage in which Lopez responds to a series of questions about her newest album and her life.

A “Beautiful Day,”
Irish rock band U2 just won three Grammy awards for “Beautiful Day,” snagging statuettes for best record, song of the year, and best rock recording by a duo or group.

They don’t award Grammys for music websites, but if they did, U2 would likely be a serious contender in this category, as well. Visit the U2 website and click on “E” (for “exclusives”) for QuickTime clips of band news, interviews, concert footage, and music videos.

Zap Mama Comes to Rolling Stone
This week, the Rolling Stone Concert Series presents Zap Mama, the all-female European band whose music is inspired by the group’s African heritage. While you’re there, you can also listen to past concerts by Local H, Chumbawamba, Sunny Day Real Estate, and others.

For droolworthy coverage of the most exotic new cars made in Europe, you can’t beat Switzerland’s annual Geneva Motor Show. Motor Trend presents the highlights of the 2001 show on its website, featuring many cars we couldn’t import into North America, even if we could afford the astronomical price tags.

Check out the Lotus Exige, Pagani Zonda, Pininfarina Osee, and Morgan Aero 8 by scrolling about three-quarters of the way down the page and clicking on the Exotic Cars Tour. Be sure to bring a napkin.

Macintosh fans take note: the Nissan “Chappo”—a concept car billed as a “living room on wheels by Motor Trend”—boasts an onboard computer and entertainment center: two Power Mac G4 Cube computers. Check it out.

What’s Happening!?
Take 20 contestants to dark and abandoned buildings, scare the heck out of them, and see who’s still standing (and still sane enough) to win a cache of prize money at the end. Such is the premise of “Scream Test,” a new reality TV program from Australia.

On the Screamtest website, you can read the background about each location, watch rebroadcasts of each episode, and view the contestants’ video diaries. Vote for your favorite contestants to help their chances of shivering their way to the finals. And, oh yes—don’t forget to open up and say, “Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!”

Comic Relief
Ready for some serious funny business? HBO Comedy brings you highlights from the 2001 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, which was held February 28 through March 4. View snippets of featured celebrity comedy sketches, find out who is the funniest college student in America, and watch an interview with funnyman Bob Newhart as he toasts marshmallows with comedian Dave Chappelle.

It won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is sure to be one of the most talked-about movies when it comes to U.S. theaters later this month.

“Memento” tells the story of Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), whose wife was murdered during a brutal attack in their home. Shelby wants to avenge his wife’s murder, but as the result of the injuries he sustained during the attack, he suffers from amnesia, and his memory now works for only 15 minutes at a time. To help him hang on to the information he uncovers, he tattoos himself with clues, carries snapshots of people and events, and scrawls notes to himself written in the second person.

And we understand his plight all too well, for “Memento” unfolds in reverse chronological order, putting us in the same predicament as Shelby. We view every scene the way he does: without any knowledge of how he came to be there.