Volume 4, Issue 44 Atari Online News, Etc. November 1, 2002 Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2002 All Rights Reserved Atari Online News, Etc. A-ONE Online Magazine Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor Atari Online News, Etc. Staff Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking" Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile" Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips" Rob Mahlert -- Web site Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame" With Contributions by: Martin Elsaesser Kevin Savetz To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe, log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org and click on "Subscriptions". OR subscribe to A-ONE by sending a message to: dpj@atarinews.org and your address will be added to the distribution list. To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to subscribe from. To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the following sites: http://people.delphiforums.com/dpj/a-one.htm http://www.icwhen.com/aone/ http://a1mag.atari.org Now available: http://www.atarinews.org Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi! http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/ =~=~=~= A-ONE #0444 11/01/02 ~ AOL Spin-Off Unlikely! ~ People Are Talking! ~ HighWire News! ~ Can Spam Be Stopped?! ~ New AniPlayer Version! ~ KEYTAB 09 Available! ~ Online Gaming Ramps Up ~ Victory Against Aimster ~ New Undercover Out! ~ PayPal Users Targeted! ~ Bulk E-mailer Spam Ban ~ Augie Liguori Fired! -* Free Tax E-Filing Approved! *- -* Are Pop-Up Ads Killing Themselves?! *- -* Microsoft Antitrust Case Decision Today!? *- =~=~=~= ->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""" Happy belated Halloween!! We had lots of little ghosts and goblins and everything in-between drop by last night. I really enjoy this "holiday", even if there are many out there who consider demeaning to "real" witches and the like. It was fun when I was a kid and it's fun seeing the kids now that I'm an adult. Many houses in our neighborhood are decorated in spooky regalia - some really go all out in "traditional" haunted house fashion. My regret this year is that my wife gets to greet the 'trick-or-treaters' while I made sure that our two dogs remained quiet (they love barking at the revelers!). I managed to get a glimpse of the kids from a good window vantage point, though! But back to traditional news. It appears that there will be a decision regarding the Microsoft antitrust case today. If we learn of the decision before this issue "hits the streets", we'll have it available for you, along with the highlights of the decision. It should be an interesting decision that has taken far too may years to reach. Again this week, the proliferation of spam continues to be a hot topic. Another company that produces bulk e-mail has been punished for its practices. We can only hope that this treatment of the bane of the internet will continue! Until next time... =~=~=~= HighWire 0.09a Released Development on HighWire is still going on after a summer break. So what's new in this release? HighWire now supports SOME of the FORM tags with place holders, not all tags are currently supported at this time. Also, HighWire supports displaying of TTF fonts in 8 bit mode only. The TTF support isn't that pretty yet, but at least useable. Change.Log for this release: - Multiple Windows are now supported for the frame target "_blank". Also ALT+ mouse click on a link opens it in a new window. - Displaying of non-Speedo fonts is working now so far. - Implementation of wheel mouse support. - Realtime scrolling for slider usage. - Highlighting of links improved. If the mouse pointer is over a link the target will be shown in the window's info line. - Improved parser function to also recognize quotation. - Overworked text floating around images and tables. - Slightly improved Nearest Colour algorithm for resolutions <=256 colours - Closed some memory leaks To download and more information, visit the HighWire website: http://highwire.atari-users.net KEYTAB 09 Available KEYTAB 09 is released on 2002-10-28 as a Bugfix for KEYTAB 08. KEYTAB is a little system utility which offers routines for converting chars between charsets (i.e. Atari->Windows ANSI, ISO-8859-1 (ISO Latin1) -> Atari, etc.). KEYTAB is freeware incl. utilities, the library for developers (Pure-C, GNU-C, Pure Pascal, GFA) and all sources. The implemented charsets are: Atari, Windows Codepage 1252, Macintosh (or Apple Roman), MS-DOS Codepage 437, MS-DOS Codepage 850, US-ASCII, ISO-8859-1 (or ISO Latin 1), ISO-8859-2, ISO-8859-3, ISO-8859-4, ISO-8859-7, ISO-8859-8, ISO-8859-9, ISO-8859-15, Sinclair QL, NeXTStep, IBM Codepage 437, IBM Codepage 850, ISO-646-US, ISO-646-DE. Furthermore there are unicode conversions: from any of the supported charsets chars and memory blocks can be converted to unicode and backwards. In addition to the Conversions of 8-Bit-Charsets there are unicode-docings with variable length UTF-8, UTF-7 and UTF-7,5, UTF-16 and UCS-4 (UTF=Unix Transformation Format). With the implemented functions there are conversions between all charsets incl. the unicode-codings in any other charset - internally via the atari charset or via unicode. KEYTAB can be downloaded from . Gruss Martin [PGP-Key available] --- Martin.Elsaesser@T-Online.de New Version of Aniplayer A new version of Aniplayer has been released with lots of new additions. Follow the link for all the details. http://perso.wanadoo.fr/didierm/index-e.htm Undercover 23 Is Out The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation in heavy cooperation with Dune and Sector One has just released "Undercover Magascene # 23" last night. There are two versions available, a full featured one for Falcon and hard disk based ST systems and a lite one for disk-based ST systems... Online version in preparation... http://www.dhs.nu Executive Duo Tossed Out of WWE Ring World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on Thursday pink-slipped chief financial officer Augie Liguori and chief marketing officer Julie Hoffman. Until the WWE finds full-time replacements, Frank Serpe will be acting CFO and Basil DeVito will run marketing. Both Serpe and DeVito are longtime employees of the WWE. A statement attributed to Linda McMahon, CEO of the WWE, said, "We seek to bring in new leadership in both the financial and marketing areas," citing the company's focus "on strengthening our core product." The ratings of the WWE's bellwether weekly TV series "WWE Raw" on TNN (Monday, 9-11 p.m.) and "Smackdown" on UPN (Thursday, 8-10 p.m.) have softened somewhat over the last year. But in most weeks TNN's "Raw" is the highest-rated regularly scheduled series on basic cable, while "Smackdown" continues to keep UPN competitive against such powerhouse shows as "Survivor" and "CSI" on CBS and "Friends" and "Will & Grace" on NBC. Liguori joined the WWE in September 1998 after serving as chief financial officer of Atari. The WWE hired Hoffman in April 2001. She had been executive VP of communications consultants Shepardson, Stern and Kaminski. Before that, she was exec VP of Gray Advertising. =~=~=~= PEOPLE ARE TALKING compiled by Joe Mirando joe@atarinews.org Hidi ho friends and neighbors. As I sit here on Halloween night, waiting for the Trick-or-Treaters to ring the doorbell, I can't help but think back to when I was a kid. Halloween was different then. The streets were loaded with kids going from house to house, ringing doorbells and yelling "Trick or treat!" Sure, there were sick-o's back then too, but it was something that no one considered when planning for "the big night". The worst thing my parents worried about back then was getting the house toilet-papered. And as I sit here waiting for the kids dressed as Spiderman and the Powerpuff Girls, I have to wonder if things will ever be like they were when I was a kid. I doubt it. History is against it. It's now 9:30 pm and there hasn't been a single kid at the door. There was a neighborhood party at the church down the street, as there has been every Halloween for the past five or six years, but this is the first year that at least some of the neighborhood kids haven't made the rounds. While I understand that it's safer for the kids, and allows the parents to relax and leave the worrying behind for a while, I find it sad that it's necessary at all. I must admit that it felt good to sit on the front porch and watch the youngsters parade by in their costumes.... no matter whether they were home-made ho-bo's or store-bought spacemen, they were happy and excited. My favorite recent Halloween memory is from about five years ago when one of the neighborhood mothers came up the sidewalk with her three kids and said to them, "It's okay to go to THEIR house, they're nice". Yeah, it's a small thing, and it WAS only a couple of pieces of candy, but it still made me feel good to think that maybe there was still a chance to get back to... "The Way Things Used To Be". OH! One other thing I'd like to mention... I think that there should be a $10,000.00 fine for each time during a political ad that a candidate even mentions his/her opponent. And just to make things interesting, they could be forced to give the money to the Green Party. Well, let's get on with the news, hints, tips, and info from the UseNet. From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup ============================== Martin Tarenskeen asks about TOS Clones and emulators: "Reading the discussions about fast TOS clones vs emulators another subject came into my thoughts: benchmark tests. There is a problem with the existing benchmark tests that I have seen so far (qindex, gembench, gemtest, zbench). All these programs are based on a similar principle. Let the program perform a certain action (calculation, graphics, etcetera) and repeat this action an x number of times. Then measure the time it took to do all that. But the difference in speed between an 8 MHz ST, and an emulator running on a 2 GHz pentium PC is huge. This makes old benches that were made with the old ST in mind useless. The measured times would be very small, or even zero on such a fast system. On the other hand a new, similar, benchmark test that would be designed to measure higher speeds, using more repetitions and/or more complex tests and calculations wouldn't be very suitable for an old ST because the tests would take so much time. My suggestion would be to develop a benchmark test that follows a different principle: It should measure the number of times a system can perform a certain action (calculation etc.) in a fixed time. For example 10 seconds. In that case such a benchmark test would always take 10 seconds, no matter if a 8 MHz ST or a TOS emulator on a 2 GHz Pentium IV would be used to run test. The precision of the test could be influenced by selecting a longer or shorter testing time value. Johan Klockars tells Martin: "VDIBench has always worked like that, for exactly the reasons you mention. I seem to recall Kronos working like that too, but I'm not sure about that. Another problem with most benchmarks is that they insist on performing some kind of 'average performance' computation. Not only is this often calculated in very dubious ways, it also often combines data from completely unrelated tests (many of which are often completely irrelevant to anything anyone would ever do on a computer). The end result really says nothing at all, which is quite unfortunate since that is the only number most people will ever mention..." Kenneth Medin tells us that he... "Got the ISA EtherNEC Ethernet to ROM port adaptor from Lyndon Amsdon today. Works perfectly with STinG on my Stacy with Geneva. On the TT however it does not work at all. My STinG setup is in good working order and I have tried both ENEC.STX and ENEC3.STX without success. On a very basic TOS 3.6 setup with nothing except what is needed for STinG the .STX manage to read the MAC address but nothing goes out. The LED flickers but all packages gets dropped. The very same setup but with Magic 6.20 results in the .STX even can't read the MAC address but pops up with FE, FE, FE, etc. This is if I start without any STING.PRT file. My present conclusion is that the STinG drivers by Redelberger does not work on a TT. Anyone who have got it working? I'm using the latest drivers from his homepage. And, I did copy ROUTE.TAB from the working Stacy TOS 1.4 setup just to by sure." David Wade tells Kenneth: "I have one working on my TT. I did have to waggle the interface card a bit to get it to work. Have you tried the test programs?" Jan Krupka adds: "I have another experience. I have tried EtherNEC on 3 TTs. It works perfectly on two of them (on one I must change bad fuse for 5V Ucc for ROM port) but on last TT I cannot start the connection. The MiNT driver starts ok. The MAC address is ok. I can do ifconfig and route without problems but it is all. The next communication doesn't work. And I don't know why, because the same hardware works nice on my Falcon." Kenneth comes back and posts: "I have now made some further tests. Note that I have only tested the STinG versions sofar. Guess I will have to try MagicNet as well... Stacy (ST TOS 1.4) and Mega STe (TOS 2.6) running Geneva both works perfect with the ENEC.STX . Tested both ENEC.STX and ENEC3.STX on my three TT:s and none of them work. With Geneva the MAC address is read but with Magic 6 not. Just tried to change the program load flags on ENEC3.STX to load and allocate from TT RAM and with this setting this TT now reads the MAC address under Magic6 too! When I try to Ping my main router data goes out on the Ethernet line (lights flicker on both ends) but they seem garbled as nothing comes back. Double checked my ROUTE.TAB by using the other parallel-to-Ethernet adaptor. Also tested HT2ENEC.TOS and it will read the MAC address on the TT under Geneva with an output as follows: ----------- Test EtherNE with NE card but without any STing, MagiCNEt, MINTNet Software (C)2002 Dr. Thomas Redelberger Interrupt Status register after Reset (should read $80): $c0 Reading the NE PROM. The first 12 bytes are the 6 byte MAC address Each byte is doubled up (this is normal): 0000c0c0 dfdfc4c4 45456565 20202020 20202020 20202020 20202020 42424242 Press any Key ---------- Everything is fine except for the interrupt status register? Now under Magic 6.20 and STinG not installed: ---------- Test EtherNE with NE card but without any STing, MagiCNEt, MINTNet Software (C)2002 Dr. Thomas Redelberger Interrupt Status register after Reset (should read $80): $80 Reading the NE PROM. The first 12 bytes are the 6 byte MAC address Each byte is doubled up (this is normal): 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 Press any Key ---------- Here the Interrupt register is ok ($80) but no MAC address. Strange... I really have a feeling there are some timing problems. A quick look in the source code HT2ENE.S showed these lines: move 10000,d0 ; wait 2ms .t1 dbra d0,.t1 That must give very different results on different hardware. Has anyone got this Ethernet adaptor running with STinG on a TT??" Dave Wade tells Kenneth: "Yes, it appears to work on mine, but it is a very stock TT...." Kenneth asks Dave: "Under standard TOS or Magic? Strangely I have three TT:s here and none seem to work properly with the adaptor. Two of them are of the older type with metal shieldings. One with original TOS 3.1 and only 4 MB ST RAM. The other upgraded to TOS 3.6 and 36 MB RAM (4+32), some hard disks and CDROM. The third TT is from March 1991 and has been downgraded to TOS 3.1 . All three have working cartridge ports." Carey Christenson asks about replacing the memory in his Falcon: "I have a memory board installed on my Falcon030 that takes just 1 16 meg simm. The simm is located on the underneath side of the RAM board. What kind of memory am I looking for to replace a bad simm??? I have place called JDR that I can order FPM or EDO here is what I can get listed below: 72 pin FPM simms: 16MB Non-Parity 4Mx32, 60ns 16MB Parity 4Mx36, 60ns 30 pin FPM simms: 16MB Parity 16Mx9, 60ns, 9 chip 72 pin EDO simms: 16MB Non-Parity 4Mx32, 60ns These are all of the 16 meg simms besides a 168 pin which I am sure is not compatible with my Falcon030. Any help that anyone could provide me with information on the correct RAM to use on this computer would be greatly appreciated." Robert Schaffner asks Carey: "Which memory board do you have? Some boards needs fast page edo 16Mb / PS2, other boards needs parity ram modules. Falcon can be expand with memory boards from wizztronics, h&n, wb-systemtechnik, centek and some more." Michael Schwingen tells Robert: "Since the memory controller in the falcon does not handle parity, installing parity SIMMs seems like a waste of money - it can even hurt stability if the board leaves the parity data lines floating." Greg Goodwin tells Carey: "If you remove the cover (7 screws) and the first section of shielding (about 10 screws) you will see the memory board a little toward the keyboard and right of center. You should be able to read the SIMM without much trouble. What does it say?" Jean-Luc Ceccoli adds: "Both EDO and FPM 72 pins modules work fine ( I tried both)." Chris Friend asks about choosing between a TT and a Falcon: "OK, I have a TT (2ST/4TT/200MB HD) and a Falcon (4/80) that I can get for around the same price ($300-$250 respectively). Which one is better for running newer Atari software? I know each has tradeoffs (TT has faster processor and more expandibility), Falcon has DSP. What the the falcon's highest native resolution? Help! Need more info. The best ST I've ever used is a Mega ST4." Adam Klobukowski tells Chris: "Falcon can do beyond 1000x600 but these resolutions are available only when running a software enchancer (no hardware needed). I do not remember the maximal value. Note that bigger resolutions eat speed. Note also that in TC the maximum resolution is smaller. Without screen enhancing software the max you can get is 640x480." Carey Christenson adds: "Depends on what you want to do with your Atari Computer. I can tell you right now that the Falcon will beat any Atari computer at Audio apps. Apps like Aniplayer or Falcamp just to name a few. Converting MP3's to wav's with Aniplayer is much faster on the Falcon because of the DSP, which Aniplayer uses. Yes, the TT030 has a faster processor but this computer is built more for desktop publishing. As far as expandability I am unsure on the TT030 what is available. But the Falcon will soon have the CT60 (which I am in line to get) which will take the processing power up to a 72 mhz. 060 which will make the Falcon the most powerful Atari computer available. Not to mention NATURE is working with R. Czuba on making a FULLY COMPATIBLE graphic card which will plug into the CT60 which will give us 1600x1200 resolution in 32 bit color all with 32 megs of DDR SDRAM, they claim 99.9 percent compatibility with Atari related software. I have the ECLIPSE graphic card adapter with an ATI Rage with 4 megs of VRAM and I don't get know where near 99.9 percent Atari software compatibility. At the moment a stock Falcon is capable of 640x480 in 256 colors which is adequate not sure about the screen enhancement software someone else spoke of. But if there is such a thing I would agree that it would take a lot more processing time to run such a program. But go with either the TT030 or the Falcon030 but I would steer clear of the ST's unless they were considerably cheaper." Frederic Fouche adds: "The TT is really nice, but I would only choose it for development if it was me, otherwise the falcon is a better choice in my opinion. The falcon is broader, games, music, graphics etc. The slower CPU in the falcon can be upped to match (actually even faster than TT) if you are concerned about the cpu speed (ct2 boards etc). TT natively can take more RAM than stock falcon which can be good for some things. All depends on what you want to do really and if you want to put a little extra money to be comfortable with the machine you would choose to get." Dave Wade tells Chris: "I would go for the Falcon UNLESS I had specific requirements that only the TT can answer. As far as I know the main one of these is ASCI port...." Greg Goodwin adds: "The TT is faster and is easier to add a graphics card to. The Falcon has superior sound, and will be faster if the CT60 comes out and works as advertised. The Falcon's highest native preset resolution is 640x480x256 @ 60 Hz, but an auto folder program (Videlity) exists that allows for 800x600x256 @53 Hz (a bit hard on the eyes, if you ask me). With a video card, much higher is possible, of course. My personal opinion is that the Falcon is the superior computer for most home users unless your TT happens to have a nice 1280x960x2 ECL monitor." Well folks, that's it for this time around. Tune in again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING =~=~=~= ->In This Week's Gaming Section - 'BloodRayne' Full of Bite! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Game Fans Flock to 'Vice City'! Online Gaming Quest Expands! And more! =~=~=~= ->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Sexy Vampire Has Plenty of Bite Blood and gore reign supreme in "BloodRayne," the new horror-shooting-slashing game released just in time for Halloween. All the bloodshed is hardly surprising as Rayne, the heroine of this Terminal Reality game, is half human and half vampire. Cool and sexy, she's also adept at slicing and dicing her victims, thanks to attributes such as superhuman speed, enhanced vision, hinged wristbands that hold 3-foot jagged-edge swords, and a set of spike-heeled shoes that are in fact stilettos. Oh yes, she's pretty handy with firearms as well. Rayne is a dhampir, the daughter of a vampire and human mother. She's got the dental profile of traditional Hollywood vampires, a lust for blood, extraordinary strength, and the ability to leap high enough to jump through a second-story window. But, because she has a human side, sunlight won't kill her and religious artifacts don't bother her. It must have made for an interesting childhood. In the beginning of "BloodRayne," set in 1932, we see the young heroine prowling the cobblestone streets of a European city filled with vampires. After a fight with several of the bloodsuckers, Rayne is recruited by an organization known as the Brimstone Society, a secret group that tries to counter supernatural threats. (The society is similar to The Spookhouse in Terminal Reality's 1999 hit "Nocturne," an organization revived a year later when the company released "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr," which was far more chilling than the movie that served as the basis for the video game.) A brief tutorial teaches players how to make Rayne leap, crash through walls, walk along power lines and sink her fangs into victims' necks. After that we're off to a Louisiana town where most of the folks have been turned into zombies and huge spider-like creatures lurk at every corner. Rayne must find the source of the scourge without getting shot or chopped up herself. To further complicate things, much of the town is flooded -- and prolonged contact with water can be fatal to Rayne. At one point, players must make her leap rapidly from rooftop to rooftop and race along power lines in an attempt to follow one of the creatures back to its nest. The task is incredibly challenging because it can be difficult to judge distance in this game. As a result, if you drop Rayne hip-deep in bayou water, she begins to sizzle and sputter like bacon on a hot griddle. Fortunately, other elements of the game are more forgiving. If you move her a little too much to the side while she's walking along the power lines, the game allows her to stand in mid-air rather than making her fall. Rayne eventually uncovers the source of the infestation ... and who should turn out to be involved? As in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," it seems that Nazis are poking around in the supernatural realm again. After the Louisiana menace is removed, the game flashes forward to 1938, when Agent BloodRayne is sent to Argentina to check out rumors that Hitler's minions are searching for a lost relic with immense otherworldly powers. For that mission, Rayne has the power to slow down time, allowing her to dodge bullets like characters in "The Matrix." Rayne also has a snazzy harpoon that lets her snare hapless prey so she can feed on them. By the way, if Rayne isn't given something to do for a minute, she starts licking blood off one of her blades. Unfortunately, you can only save your position at the beginning of each level. I was also frustrated by the inability to change the camera position, which means it's easy to be attacked from behind with no warning. However, the Xbox version that I played had a button that allowed you to instantly spin around to check behind you. One of the nice features of the game, at least on the "easy" setting, is that Rayne automatically looks and points her weapons at any nearby threat, offering a clue that something needs to be checked out. If you run into problems, Prima sells a $15 strategy guide. In addition, you can also go on the Internet at sites like http://www.gamewinners.com to find codes to restore your health, freeze your enemies, or make you invulnerable. There's also a "gratuitous dismemberment" mode, which is yet another reason why "BloodRayne" is rated for mature audiences. Like its namesake, once the game sinks its teeth into you, you'll have trouble getting free. "BloodRayne" for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube sells for $50. The Windows version is scheduled to be released in March. Video Game Fans Flock to Debut of 'Vice City' For video game enthusiast Eric Fort, the most hotly anticipated game of the year is all about one thing: "freedom" - freedom to carjack a police cruiser, run over pedestrians and shoot anything that moves. "I don't think there's anything out there like this," said Fort, 23, at an event to mark the launch of "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," the follow-on to last year's chart-topping game, "Grand Theft Auto 3." Hundreds of video game fans, including Fort, turned out early Tuesday morning at an Electronics Boutique video game store outside Los Angeles for a first look at the criminal-adventure game, which features sunny beaches, scantily clad women, a 1980s soundtrack and edgy violence. "Vice City," published by the Rockstar Games imprint of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., is widely expected to be the best-selling game of 2002 and possibly among the top sellers of all time. The game's controversial predecessor, released a year ago, established a formula that gamers loved and critics panned for its use of wild car chases and gratuitous violence. The earlier game also sold more than 7 million copies, grossing an estimated $350 million -- more than all but a handful of Hollywood hits. As a result, New York-based Take-Two has gone from the bottom of the industry to being the No. 3 independent publisher in just about a year. Its stock price has soared, rising 55 percent in 2002 to outpace industry rivals. "Vice City," set in a city modeled on Miami, features voice tracks from some known Hollywood talent, including Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Lee Majors and Dennis Hopper. Porn star Jenna Jameson, former football player Lawrence Taylor and 1980s TV icon Philip Michael Thomas also turn up. "It has a completely different vibe than GTA 3 does," Rockstar spokesman Rob Fleischer told Reuters. "Vice City" is much larger than its predecessor, with a 1,000-page script and 90 minutes of video interspersed throughout the game. The game's target demographic was clear from the dozens of people milling about the Los Angeles launch: males in their late teens and early 20s, largely clad in baggy jeans and sweatshirts. An Electronics Boutique spokeswoman told Reuters the "Vice City" launch was about three times bigger than any other game launch in the company's history, based on number of units presold to consumers who put down a $5 deposit. She said at least 200 of the company's 1,000-plus stores were holding midnight events to launch the game nationwide. In fact, fans who pre-purchased were the only ones getting their hands on "Vice City" Tuesday morning. Store managers told people who walked in off the street wanting to buy a copy to check back and sign up for a pre-order program for next week. Interest was helped by on-air promotions for the event by one of Los Angeles' leading hip-hop and RB49.95 price as the game. "Vice City," which carries a "Mature" rating, is exclusive to Sony's PlayStation 2 game console. Charles Kim waited from 11 a.m. on Monday to be first in line to get into the Marina del Rey, California store at midnight, which he did, fists pumping in the air. Asked if he planned to take his new game home and play through the night, he said "not just all night -- all day tomorrow." Nintendo Launches GameCube Online Adapters Nintendo Co. Ltd. on Wednesday said it has released adapters for its GameCube console, that allow some games to be played online. Two separate $34.95 adapters are available, one for dial-up Internet connections and one for broadband. They plug into a port on the bottom of the unit. The first online game to be released for the GameCube is Sega Corp.'s "Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II," which came out on Tuesday. The online service for that game, which Sega provides, costs $8.95 a month. As opposed to competitors Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp., who are making major online pushes with their PlayStation 2 and Xbox respectively, Nintendo has said it considers online play more of an extra feature than integral to its plans. Sony released a network adapter for the PS2 in August that supports both dial-up and broadband. The Xbox comes with a broadband connection built in. Like Nintendo, Sony does not offer a central gaming service, whereas Microsoft does have such a system, Xbox Live, that will launch in November. Sony, Nintendo Expand Online Gaming Quest Following in the footsteps of Microsoft, which plans to invest at least US$1 billion to promote its Xbox as a multi-use Internet device, Sony and Nintendo have unveiled plans and products aimed at boosting online gaming. Sony intends to launch a "broadband gaming pack," with a price tag of $70, first in the United Kingdom and on mainland Europe by next spring. In addition to an Ethernet adapter, the pack will include a game and a start-up disc. The company's plans mean that both it and Microsoft will reach the European market with online gaming offerings around the same time. Microsoft already has said it will launch a similar service in March in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Nintendo said an adapter enabling its GameCube to be connected to the Web via dial-up or broadband has been shipped to U.S. stores. The company noted that a similar product release in Japan has resulted in some stores selling out of the adapter kit. The adapter will sell for $34.95 in the United States. Nintendo also offers a monthly premium online gaming service for $8.95 per month through its Sega brand, but emphasized that its adapter is designed to let GameCube users access any online gaming venue they choose. Nintendo vice president Peter MacDougall added that Nintendo avoids "console access charges" and allows gamers to use their existing Internet service provider. Game console makers are not the only ones seeking to capitalize on the potentially lucrative online gaming market. Earlier this year, Yahoo! announced it would launch a site where competitors could square off via the Web for a fee. IDC senior analyst for gaming devices Schelley Olhava told NewsFactor that companies are still determining how best to make money in the online gaming marketplace. While nearly 50 million gaming consoles have been sold, IDC has estimated that only about 2 million will be connected to Web gaming sites by the end of 2002. "If you want people to pay, you have to offer something special, something that improves the experience," Olhava said. "Obviously, the growth of broadband makes this much more likely, but it still isn't clear what kind of model is going to emerge the winner." In fact, Nintendo's MacDougall admitted recently that Nintendo has deliberately chosen not to be a pace-setter in the bid for online gaming dollars, a move Microsoft made by announcing it would invest $1 billion to promote Xbox and Xbox Live. "We really don't know how big a segment it might become," MacDougall said. =~=~=~= A-ONE's Headline News The Latest in Computer Technology News Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson Judge OKs Microsoft Antitrust Settlement A federal judge on Friday endorsed the antitrust settlement that Microsoft Corp. reached with the U.S. government and nine states a year ago, in a victory for the software giant that was cheered by investors. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected the alternative demands of nine other states saying they "present little, if any, legitimate justification for these remedies and in most instances these proposals are not supported by any economic analysis." There was no immediate word on whether the nine states, which had rejected the settlement as too weak to stop Microsoft's illegal behavior, would appeal Kollar-Kotelly's decision. An appeals court ruling in June 2001 upheld trial court findings that Microsoft had illegally maintained its Windows operating system monopoly, but rejected breaking the company in two. The case was then transferred to Kollar-Kotelly to determine the appropriate remedies in the case. Microsoft reached the settlement with the Justice Department and nine states in November 2001 after Kollar-Kotelly urged the parties to reach an agreement. The settlement gives computer makers greater freedom to feature rival software on their machines by allowing them to hide some Microsoft icons on the Windows desktop. Microsoft is prohibited from retaliating under the settlement against those who choose non-Microsoft products. Nor could it enter into agreements that require the exclusive support of some Microsoft software. Under the settlement, Windows will be sold under a standard license to the major computer makers, although discounts would still be allowed according to the volume of the order. The nine states that declined to settle were California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah, West Virginia, plus the District of Columbia. These non-settling states had asked for greater disclosure of Microsoft's code to allow rival software to work better with Windows. They had also sought a version of Windows with removable add-on features to create opportunities for competing versions of features like Internet browsers and media players. Microsoft has long argued the restrictions sought by the states would benefit rivals like AOL Time Warner and Sun Microsystems Inc., and would deprive consumers of a reliable platform for software. Microsoft Says Reviewing Judge's Ruling Microsoft Corp. said on Friday that it would take some time to review a federal judge's endorsement of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and had no immediate comment. Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said that the company was preparing a fuller response to the ruling, in which U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly had rejected the alternative demands of nine states opposed to the settlement reached last November. "The issues in the case are significant for Microsoft and for the industry as well," she said. Microsoft said that it had not yet set a time for an expected news conference later on Friday. U.S. Says Pleased with Judge's Microsoft Decision Attorney General John Ashcroft on Friday applauded a federal judge's decision approving the Justice Department's settlement with computer software giant Microsoft in the landmark antitrust case. "The Department is pleased with the court's decision approving the department's settlement with Microsoft," Ashcroft said in a statement issued by the Justice Department just minutes after the court's ruling. "That decision confirms that the final judgement furthers the public interest by fully and effectively addressing Microsoft's unlawful conduct and restoring the competitive conditions in the computer software industry," he said. Ashcroft said the Department of Justice was "strongly committed" to ensuring that Microsoft complies with the settlement and will continue to closely monitor the company's implementation of its terms. Highlights of Microsoft Decision Highlights of U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's decision in the Microsoft antitrust case. * Approved almost all aspects of the federal settlement. The deal prohibits Microsoft from retaliating against computer manufacturers; allows customers to remove icons for some Microsoft features and requires that Microsoft disclose some technical data to software developers. Microsoft has already started complying with much of the agreement. * Denied all stricter remedies requested by the nine non-settling states. Those states wanted Microsoft to let users remove some Microsoft features from Windows entirely, divulge the blueprints to its Internet Explorer Web browser, and force the company to let its Office productivity software be translated to other operating systems. * Criticized the strategy of those states, saying they opted for a kitchen-sink approach to the case by asking for penalties that would address every rival's complaint. Said that those states neither justified their requests nor would they fix new illegal conduct. * Created stronger oversight capabilities for the judge. She said Microsoft frequently minimizes the effects of its illegal conduct, and that she needed the ability to make further changes in order to ensure compliance. * Warned Microsoft executives, who are responsible for the company's compliance with the deal, that she will be closely watching their efforts. Case Mentioned AOL Spin-Off, but Move Not Seen AOL Time Warner Inc. Chairman Steve Case has discussed spinning off the embattled America Online Internet division he co-founded, but analysts do not expect his wish to come true any time soon. Less than two years after consummating the deal that used AOL's soaring stock price to acquire media giant Time Warner, Case mentioned spinning off now embattled America Online as part of discussions about the division's strategic direction ahead of a Dec. 3 meeting with investors, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Company executives are expected to detail turnaround plans and near-term prospects for America Online at the meeting. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Case told some senior executives he would just as soon take back the unit through some sort of a spin-off. The America Online division, suffering from a sharp slowdown in advertising and subscriber growth as well as federal probes into its accounting practices, has hampered growth at AOL Time Warner and offset strength at the former Time Warner businesses, including cable networks and film. Investors' anger has heightened as America Online's woes have deepened and it has recently been targeted at Case, co-founder of the online giant and the last senior executive standing from the team that engineered AOL's $106.2 billion purchase of Time Warner. "This is Steve Case's home and he hates to get trashed publicly or privately so I'm sure he's feeling bad about that and in a wishful way, thinking 'Why don't you just get rid of me and get me back with America Online," said Mark Edmiston, managing director of investment banking firm AdMedia Partners. Many industry insiders have said Case will likely leave the company sometime next year, possibly around the time of the shareholder meeting. Comments about spinning off America Online only add to that sentiment, they added. AOL Time Warner Vice Chairman Ted Turner, who has lost billions of dollars as the single largest investor in AOL Time Warner and backed a Case departure, has vocally criticized the merger and would likely support a move that would get the online unit out of the equation, industry players said. Chief Executive Richard Parsons, however, has squashed past talk of a possible spin-off. He told investors in May, "There is really no analytic reason to think that disaggregating the company is somehow going to increase the value. There is no current thinking about breaking up the company." If Case aggressively backs a spin-off, he could find himself at odds with another senior AOL Time Warner executive. While Parsons said Case was his partner in May, he made it clear he would have the last word on strategy issues. "Ultimately, (the strategy) has to be something the CEO can embrace and drive," Parsons said in May. A company spokeswoman said on Tuesday there were no plans to spin-off America Online nor serious discussions about it. Spinning off the online business -- the company already plans to spin off its cable business next year -- would give shareholders more value because the market could price the businesses independently, Edmiston said. "It's a way of literally putting the parts back where they were and an admission of defeat," Edmiston said, adding he too does not see such a move any time soon. Media veteran Hal Vogel has been a vocal proponent of removing AOL from the company's name and spinning off the online unit, but he also does not see such a move soon. "They have to have a better stock market and the debt level on the Time Warner side has to come down a bit," said Vogel, head of Vogel Capital Management. "I don't know if (Parsons) is so against it. It could just be posturing. They can't do it right now anyway, so why discuss it publicly?" Despite the division's woes, some analysts are not ready to write off the business, which generated $2.2 billion in revenue and $432 million in cash flow. Some industry insiders said failure to get the spin-off could also offer Case a "face-saving" excuse to leave. PayPal Users Targeted by E-Mail Scam - Again Users of online payment service PayPal have again been targeted by scam artists trying to steal their personal data, including name, address, home and work telephone numbers, and credit card information. Last week, a reader e-mailed Computerworld saying he had received a message allegedly from "CustomerService@paypal.com" with the subject "PayPal Security Update." Last month, PayPal users were hit by a similar scam. The October 22 message, which arrived as an HTML e-mail replete with grammatical mistakes, was set up to mimic PayPal's Web site, and said: To confirm that you are an authorized PayPal member, authorization is needed. The New SSL 4.0 Secure Socket Layer has been updated to the PayPal servers. To be authorized, please visit https://www.paypalauthorization.com/. After completion, you will recieve[sic] and [sic] email confirmation within 24 hours of reciept [sic]. Thanks for using PayPal!, PayPal Security Team. The Web site address listed in the e-mail took users to an official-looking site that asked for their personal information. The reader said he was fooled into entering his user name and password, his address, and half of his credit card number before he realized he had been scammed. He said he immediately changed his PayPal log-in password, removed his credit card and bank information from his PayPal profile, sent an e-mail to PayPal's customer service department, and filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Fraud Complaint Center. As of late Thursday Eastern time, the spoofed PayPal site was still available. It wasn't available Friday. PayPal spokesperson Julie Anderson said the company was notified of the spoof site Thursday morning, immediately contacted the Web host for the site and asked that it be removed. The company also plans to file a suspicious activity report with law enforcement officials. Previously, Anderson had said spoof sites are very common. She said the scam artists probably got hold of a database and sent messages to thousands of people, hoping to hit some PayPal account holders. "[These scams] happen often, and they happen often to successful Web sites like eBay, PayPal, and other financial services sites," Anderson said last month. "Fortunately, we know from experience that PayPal users are for the most part savvy enough not to fall for them. But in the end, if they do, they are certainly not liable for any losses." A "whois" search on the domain name used in this week's scam showed that it was registered on September 29, 2002, to a woman in Jacksonville, Florida. However when reached for comment, the woman said she was the victim of a similar scam targeting users of Dulles, Virginia-based America Online. The woman said she had only been a member of AOL for one week when she received a message allegedly from the company saying there was a problem with the credit card information she had provided and her service would be shut off immediately if she didn't provide the number of a different credit card. She said she complied with the request and then said she was asked to resubmit the number and expiration date of the card she originally provided. Again she complied with this request. Shortly thereafter, the issuing banks called her because they determined there had been some suspicious activity on her card. She said that's when she realized she had been victimized. AOL couldn't be reached for comment Friday. Russ Cooper, a security consultant at TruSecure in Herndon, Virginia, said that in addition to the security center PayPay has on its site--complete with tips for users, including a warning that they never share their PayPal password with anyone--the company could do more to protect users. He suggested that PayPal use digital signature technology that would allow users to determine the veracity of an e-mail purporting to be from PayPal. He also said PayPal could alert users to this technology by posting information about it on a prominent place on its site. Verizon, Spam Co. Reach Settlement One of the world's most prolific purveyors of bulk e-mail, or spam, has been barred from sending messages to Verizon customers under a legal settlement. Under the agreement, parts of which are secret, Verizon's 1.64 million Internet customers in 40 states will no longer receive spam from Alan Ralsky, whose Michigan-based company, Additional Benefits LLC, is considered one of the largest sources of bulk e-mail. "It's not like these guys file SEC reports, but as best as folks can tell he is one of the bigger spammers out there," said John Mozena, a spokesman for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail. Verizon filed its lawsuit against Ralsky in March 2001 in Virginia federal court after several 2000 incidents in which Verizon Online customers were inundated by millions of e-mail solicitations from companies that work with Ralsky, said Verizon spokeswoman Bobbi Henson. The initial lawsuit against Ralsky had sought to shut him down entirely but Henson called the settlement a victory. "People should see this and think twice about sending spam on our lines," Henson said. She said Ralsky must also pay an undisclosed fine. Ralsky's company would send e-mail solicitations for online casinos, diet pills, and companies that promise to fix bad credit, among others, according to the complaint filed by Verizon. The complaint said Ralsky broke federal and Virginia law by among, other things, clogging Verizon's network with a flood of illegitimate e-mails. Mozena said most Internet providers work hard to keep spam from their customers, using filters and other technology, although the recent telecom meltdown has left some cash-strapped providers dependent on money they can earn from trafficking in spam. Occasionally, he said, a provider will file a lawsuit against a person or business it considers a particularly egregious abuser of its e-mail network. Major providers like America Online and EarthLink have won settlements in recent years on grounds similar to those cited in the Verizon lawsuit. Ralsky has said he has lists of 150 million e-mail addresses as a part of his business, so the Verizon case would likely make only a small dent in it. Ralsky's lawyer did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. Ralsky told The Detroit News he denies any wrongdoing. The Unstoppable Flood of Spam Perhaps the time has come for Internet users to accept the unpleasant likelihood that nothing will ever stop spam. Filtering software has, by most accounts, fallen short. Seemingly airtight privacy policies always seem to have at least one loophole that allows marketers to ferret out even the most carefully guarded e-mail address. Lawsuits have been cited as the next best hope. A class-action suit filed in August against senders of junk faxes has been cited as a model for anti-spam suits. Yet, most experts say such lawsuits are unlikely to slow the march of junk e-mail into the inboxes of the world's computer users. "Spam is inexpensive and can be effective at times," GartnerG2 analyst Denise Garcia told NewsFactor. "That's a powerful combination, one that [attracts] a lot of marketers who don't have to worry about their brand image." Spam's many detractors have a new ally in their fight, however. After remaining neutral for some time, much to the dismay of such groups as Junkbusters, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced last week that it will support state and federal legislation aimed at curtailing spam. DMA president H. Robert Wientzen said the move is a recognition that spam hurts direct marketers who use e-mail carefully and that anti-spam regulation will help "preserve the promise of e-mail as the next great marketing channel. Without a solution that includes legislation, legitimate marketers who use e-mail to communicate with consumers will continue to suffer at the hands of spammers." But legislation could be difficult to enforce, because spammers can strike from any location around the globe. And analysts say that despite the DMA's insistence to the contrary, direct marketers must acknowledge that even legitimate marketers are guilty of adding to the flood of e-mail clutter. "Every marketer that sends irrelevant, unwanted messages contributes to the problem," Forrester Research analyst Daniel O'Brien told NewsFactor. "There is a lot of clutter, and even things that aren't necessarily spam to marketers fall into that category if it's not done right." Others say the biggest problem with spam now is that even though most above-the-board consumer product makers and marketing firms have turned their backs on massive e-mail blasts, plenty of underground merchants seem willing to take over. Based on consumer complaints to state and federal regulators, most annoying and offensive junk e-mail barrages currently are generated by shady marketers pushing such products as anti-aging potions, sexual aids and pornography. These unscrupulous marketers are constantly devising ways to evade filters. Both MSN and AOL touted improved e-mail filtering as a highlight of their version 8 launches earlier this month, an admission of sorts that previous offerings have not done the trick as spammers continue to search for new e-mail addresses. "If you have a list of e-mail addresses, someone will pay you for it, and it can be resold countless times," said O'Brien. "It becomes a valuable commodity." Just how much spam is out there? Two recent studies put spam's percentage of e-mail volume at either 17 percent or 38 percent. Despite the disparity, either ratio represents a giant quantity of unwanted e-mail. According to research firm IDC, some 31 billion e-mail messages will have been exchanged in 2002 by year's end. That number will double to 60 billion within four years, IDC vice president Mark Levitt told the E-Commerce Times. "E-mail is a valuable tool for both business and personal communication," Levitt said. "But it's easy to see how all that value could be crushed under the sheer weight of that much e-mail before too long." IRS, Preparers OK Free E-Filing Up to 78 million taxpayers will probably be able to file their tax returns electronically without charge under an agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and a group of tax preparers and software publishers. "This represents an important step forward for taxpayers and our e-filing efforts," said IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti, who signed the agreement Wednesday with Free File Alliance manager Mike Cavanagh. Taxpayers usually pay a fee, averaging $12.50, for online filing, and that is on top of fees for preparation services or computer software. Of the 125.6 million tax returns filed this year, 46.5 million were filed electronically. Under the terms of the agreement, participants in the consortium of preparers and filing services must provide free services to at least 10 percent of the taxpayers they serve in order to become a member of the consortium. But IRS expects far more than 10 percent of taxpayers to receive free electronic filing, and to persuade preparers and services to join the consortium, IRS has agreed not to compete with consortium members in providing tax preparation and filing software. The goal is for 60 percent of the 2002 tax returns, or about 78 million, to be filed for free next year. Public access to the free service will be available on a website to be launched in January, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said. Links to the service will be available through www.irs.gov and www.FirstGov.gov. With the signing of the agreement, most major tax preparers are expected to join the consortium. President Bush has also proposed a 15-day extension for taxpayers who file electronically, including those who take advantage of the free-filing initiative. That proposal awaits approval by Congress. Are Pop-Up Ads Killing Themselves? Pop-up ads can interrupt, slow or even ruin a Web search or news headline scan, but these annoying products of the online ad slump can be eliminated using a number of methods - including free, third-party software that deflects unwanted browser windows. While experts say there has not been a pronounced surge in downloads of pop-up killing (PUK) software, such programs are readily available online and have garnered a significant user base. After all, although anti-pop-up activity may frustrate marketers seeking to reach consumers at any cost, PUK freeware puts control of the Web browsing experience back in users' hands. However, as more Internet service providers and Web sites banish pop-ups of their own volition -- and as advertisers realize pop-ups are becoming ineffective and steer away from them to avoid damaging their brand -- PUK utilities may become less essential. A broad range of free PUK software is available on the Internet, such as Panicware's Pop-Up Stopper, Ecom Software's PopUpBuster and Sureshot's Stop-the-Pop. "It's increased in popularity over the last couple of years as pop-up ads have increased," Gartner vice president David Smith told the E-Commerce Times. But one factor that tempers use of PUK freeware is that glitches can occur in connection with installation of third-party software that is not supported by a vendor. For example, third-party software can cause configuration or stability problems, Smith said. He added that some pop-up killing utilities trade one problem for another because they include spyware, which tracks users' Web browsing habits. Nielsen//NetRatings vice president of analytics Charles Buchwalter, who said pop-ups represent just 20 percent of online ads, told the E-Commerce Times that hassles related to installing freeware can "mess you up for months." But the need for third-party pop-up killers may be lessening as Internet service providers and highly trafficked Web sites begin to include this functionality. For example, EarthLink, iVillage and AskJeeves have voluntarily removed pop-up ads from their sites. In fact, pop-up removal has become a competitive battle, with AOL announcing plans to banish pop-ups sponsored by outside companies and Microsoft's MSN trying to up the stakes by banning all pop-ups in its newest version. In addition, pop-up prevention methods have crept into some Web browsers, including Mozilla and Netscape, which feature settings that block these ads. With all of this pop-up killing going on, is third-party software - free or not - still necessary? The answer is that pop-ups are unlikely to disappear completely because niche advertisers will hang on to them. However, they almost certainly will become less prevalent as advertisers shy away from the potential brand damage that can result from alienating consumers. Therefore, third-party pop-up freeware may lose any "must-have" luster it has gained. Buchwalter said that in the end, pop-ups will be a footnote rather than a chapter in the annals of Internet history. "I don't think [PUK software] is going to be necessary," he noted. "Advertisers are going to realize the benefit/response rate and that they are [angering] a lot of potential consumers ... and tarnishing their brand. People are veering away from it from that standpoint." RIAA Scores Victory in Aimster Case The recording industry on Thursday claimed a victory in its ongoing legal assault against online piracy after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against file-swapping service Aimster, which recently changed its name to Madster. The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents industry giants like Bertelsmann AG's BMG, EMI Group Plc, AOL Time Warner Inc. Vivendi Universal and Sony Corp. said the court's decision follows a Sept. 4 ruling granting the record companies' request for a preliminary injunction. Madster -- a well-known file-sharing service that emerged in the wake of now idled Napster and allows members to download and swap copyrighted songs -- was not immediately available. The RIAA said Judge Marvin Aspen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Wednesday night ordered Madster implement filtering technologies so that it does not infringe copyrighted works over its network. The legal battle between Madster and the music and movie industries dates back to Spring 2001. The central issue in the case was whether Madster, formerly known as Aimster, violates copyright laws because users can exchange pirated material. Madster operates by piggybacking on the instant messaging (IM) network of AOL Time Warner's America Online so that an Madster member becomes an online "buddy" of every other Aimster user and can access songs from other member's files. Madster argued it was protected by the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, which ensures the right of consumers to make analog or digital recordings for private, noncommercial use. Various suits against Aimster were consolidated before Judge Aspen, who ruled last month that Madster must make changes to prevent copyrighted material from being exchanged. Aspen, however, said certain aspects of the service, like sharing personal text messages, should be allowed to continue. Earlier this year, two companies that run Madster and Madster's founder John Deep himself filed for bankruptcy protection, according to press reports. The RIAA said it was continuing its crusade against other file-sharing services. "Other unauthorized peer-to-peer networks should take note of this decision....should also take advantage of these technologies and prevent illegal trading of copyrighted works on their systems," said Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA. =~=~=~= Atari Online News, Etc. is a weekly publication covering the entire Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted at the beginning of any article, to Atari user groups and not for profit publications only under the following terms: articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of request. 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