Silicon Times Report The Original Independent OnLine Magazine" (Since 1987) April 19, 1996 No. 1216 Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 STR Electronic Publishing Inc. A subsidiary of STR Worldwide CompNews Inc. R.F. Mariano, Editor Featured in ITCNet's ITC_STREPORT Echo Voice: 1-904-268-2237 10am-5pm EST STReport WebSite http://www.streport.com STR Publishing Support BBS THE BOUNTY INTERNATIONAL BBS Featuring: * 5.0GB * of File Libraries Mustang Software's WILDCAT! 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When it comes to our editorials, product evaluations, reviews and over-views, we shall always keep our readers interests first and foremost. With the user in mind, STReport further pledges to maintain the reader confidence that has been developed over the years and to continue "living up to such". All we ask is that our readers make certain the manufacturers, publishers etc., know exactly where the information about their products appeared. In closing, we shall arduously endeavor to meet and further develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come to expect in each and every issue. The Publisher, Staff & Editors Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35 Results: 4/13/96: 3 of 6 numbers with 3 matches in 2 plays From the Editor's Desk... Gotta make it short this week.. Big doing's in Jacksonville this weekend. A close friend of the family is getting married. I can practically call him a "son" too. He was at our house more than his own for what seems like forever. In any case, "another one bites the dust". Comdex is coming up fast. The NEW EIDE SUPER Drives (2.5gb) are starting to hit the marketplace. (They are fast and present a serious threat to the low to mid-sized scsi hard drive marketplace. When one considers the cost of a 3-10gb scsi hard disk and a fast host adapter, the 2.5gb eide drives look great. Especially with the newer, PCI motherboards with high speed, built-in, eide pci controllers that'll handle four hard drives with ease. Imagine 10 gigabytes of high speed storage for around one thousand dollars. That is a definite bargain. Western Digital leads the way with the new high quality moderately priced Caviar performers. We have a tear sheet in this week's issue telling you about them and a very special rebate too. This Spring's Comdex is going to be featuring software updates (as always) and a number of innovative hardware creations. Stay tuned as we try. to bring you the very latest info about the new hardware. Look for some very special "motherboards" in the PnP family that do the job. Ram prices are dropping as are Pentiums. The newer, high performance Pentium Pro's are still up there price wise. Then again, so is the performance offered by them. Ralph... Of Special Note: http//www.streport.com STReport is now ready to offer much more in the way of serving the Networks, Online Services and Internet's vast, fast growing site list and userbase. We now have our very own WEB/NewsGroup/FTP Site and although its in its early stages of construction, do stop by and have a look see. Since We've received numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide variety of Internet addressees, we were compelled to put together an Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wished to receive STReport on a regular basis, the file is ZIPPED, then UUENCODED. Unfortunately, we've also received a number of opinions that the UUENCODING was a real pain to deal with. So, as of October 01,1995, you'll be able to download STReport directly from our very own SERVER & WEB Site. While there, be sure to join our STR list. STReport's managing editors DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU! Ralph F. Mariano, Publisher - Editor Dana P. Jacobson, Editor, Current Affairs Section Editors PC Section Mac Section Atari Section R.F. Mariano J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson Portable Computers & Entertainment Kid's Computing Corner Marty Mankins Frank Sereno STReport Staff Editors Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin John Szczepanik Paul Guillot Joseph Mirando Doyle Helms John Duckworth Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur Melanie Bell Jay Levy Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian Vincent P. O'Hara Contributing Correspondents Dominick J. Fontana Norman Boucher Daniel Stidham David H. Mann Angelo Marasco Donna Lines Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller Craig Harris Allen Chang Tim Holt Patrick Hudlow Leonard Worzala Tom Sherwin Please submit ALL letters, rebuttals, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: CompuServe 70007,4454 Prodigy CZGJ44A Delphi RMARIANO GEnie ST.REPORT BIX RMARIANO FIDONET 1:112/35 ITC NET 85:881/253 AOL STReport Internet rmariano@streport.com Internet CZGJ44A@prodigy.com Internet RMARIANO@delphi.com Internet 70007.4454.compuserve.com Internet STReport@AOL.Com WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.streport.com STReport Headline News LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson Witness Describes Net Smut A government witness has told a federal court that despite special software designed to block it, some adult-oriented sites on the Internet still are accessible to children. However, computer researchers testified the software to prevent children from finding cybersmut was getting better all the time. Covering the second round of testimony in the federal appeals court hearing in Philadelphia on suits challenging the constitutionality of the new Communications Decency Act, reporter George Lerner of the Reuter News Service heard "sharp divisions over how to shield children" from Net smut. Albert Vezza, associate director of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, told the judges a standardized rating system soon will be in place to enable parents to gauge whether their children should have access to certain types of materials. He said the system, modeled on the ratings applied by the motion picture industry, also could be applied to international Internet sites, which are not affected by the CDA, adding, "With a rating system, the United States could rate foreign cites according to U.S. values and foreign countries could rate U.S. cites according to their own values." However, Howard Schmidt, supervisory special agent at the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, said minors with even a beginner's knowledge of the Internet could light upon sexually explicit sites, sometimes through innocuous searches and that blocking software "could stand some improvement." As reported earlier, critics say government restrictions on the Internet poses serious first amendment concerns and could preclude the more effective private initiatives. Lerner reports the three-judge panel "seemed responsive" to the two challenges brought separately by the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Library Association. For instance, he quoted Judge Stuart Dalzell as saying Vezza, "There are enormously powerful market forces that are driving this (rating process), aren't there?" Testimony continues Monday with a decision expected by June. As noted, however the judges rule, the case was likely to eventually be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court. Clinton Worries About Internet President Clinton acknowledges he worries the Internet could aid international terrorism if it makes it too easy for sinister forces to learn how to make bombs or produce nerve gas. Responding to a question today at a news conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Clinton said, "Are people learning, for example, from the Internet how to make the same sort of trouble in the United States that was made in Japan with sarin gas? Isn't it a concern that anybody, anywhere in the world, can pull down off the Internet the information about how to build a bomb like the bomb that blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City?" Reporting for the Reuter News Service, writer Olivier Fabre quotes Clinton as saying Japan and the United States, both victims of home-grown terrorism last year, should learn from each other about how to deal with the issue. Clinton added in the next 20 years "every great nation will have to face" the question of terrorist access to the Internet. Fabre also notes the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that campaigns for civil rights, said in a recent report that in the U.S. anti-government groups are linked "like no rebel force has ever been" by the Internet and fax. Meanwhile, says Reuters, a recent magazine report says the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect) was able to download from the Internet a formula for synthesizing green-mamba snake venom. Cult leader Shoko Asahara goes on trial next week charged with the murder of 25 people, including 11 who died in a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway on March 20, 1995. Teen Tracks Washington Cracker An Evanston, Illinois, teen-ager is being credited with tracking down a computer intruder blamed for costing the Seattle, Washington, library some $250,000 when he twice shut down the institution's network. Nineteen-year- old Tom Ptacek was called in on the case by his uncle, King County, Washington, library director Bill Ptacek, after the sabotage of the Seattle library's computer system in January and February. It was a natural assignment for the young man, since he helped develop the system two years earlier. According to The Associated Press, Ptacek, working from a computer in Chicago, retraced the intruder's movement into the library system. Says AP, "He tracked the hacker's steps into the library system and discerned that the culprit gained access through the Internet connection open to all users. Tom then scanned the system's computer files until he found the hacker's computer nickname. He said he found the teen's handle on an Internet 'chat' system and deciphered the boy's Internet address about 10 minutes later. Police took over the case from there. During the computer network's outages, the staff of the library boasting the country's second largest collection had to scour shelves for books and check them out by hand. Hundreds of patrons were unable to dial into the library's system from their home computers to gain Internet access. The wire service says the 17-year-old alleged intruder is expected to be charged with malicious mischief and computer trespassing, said Dan Donohoe of the King County prosecutor's office. Ptacek, who works for a Chicago company that sells Internet access to corporations, says the alleged vandal had established his own file in the system to store the library software he was reportedly pirating and posting onto electronic bulletin boards. He added, "I know a lot of people who break into computers for the technical challenge but don't remove any files. This kid is different because he has no computer ethics. He took the system down on purpose and he cost the library a lot of time and money." Says AP, "Ptacek is not getting any reward for his role in tracking down the hacker because, he said, he did it for his family. Instead, he's counting the experience as a milestone in his effort to learn everything there is to learn about computers." Judge Weighs Code as Free Speech Declining to dismiss a challenge to the government's ban on exporting formulas that turn computer language into secret codes, a federal judge has ruled computer codes are protected under laws guarding freedom of speech. As reported, the federal government generally argues encryption technology is so sensitive that it is on the U.S. Munitions List and cannot be sent abroad -- even via the worldwide Internet -- without a State Department arms export license. However, in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel has ruled mathematician Daniel Bernstein can try to prove the ban is too broad and that it violates his right to communicate with other scientists and computerists. According to Associated Press writer Bob Egelko, Patel ruled the coded language in which computers and their users communicate is protected by freedom of expression, just like use of a foreign language, mathematical equations or music. Judge Patel says the government's export regulations for cryptography "appear to relate to the suppression of free expression and may reach farther than is justifiable." Bernstein, who now is at the University of Chicago, developed his encryption program, called Snuffle, and a decryption program (Unsnuffle) while a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley. Snuffle converts a readable message into a code that can be read only by using Unsnuffle. As reported, in another celebrated recent case a federal prosecutor decided in January not to prosecute Philip Zimmermann, the author of the encryption program PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), which is widely used on the Internet. And in the only other reported federal ruling on the subject, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., recently upheld the export ban. Lawyer David Banisar with the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington told Egelko, "It's important to recognize that computerized information has the same kind of legal protection that printed information has." Cindy Cohn, Bernstein's lawyer, adds free-speech protections require the government to detail and justify its regulations and make them subject to court challenges. On the other hand, Justice Department lawyer Anthony Coppolino, in arguments before Patel last October, said a code whose sole function was to create secrecy was not entitled to constitutional protection, adding, "We just don't think that a functioning commodity that can maintain confidentiality is speech." The case started in 1993, when the State Department decided Bernstein's programs and an academic paper he wrote were military articles that required licenses to communicate abroad. AP notes Bernstein sued after the department withdrew that designation for the academic paper in 1995 but left it in place for the programs. Apple loses $740 million CUPERTINO, Calif., April 17 (UPI) -- Struggling personal computer producer Apple Computer Inc. reported Wednesday it lost $740 million in its second quarter ended March 29, compared with earnings of $73 million in the 1995period and far wider than its previous forecast of a $700 million loss. Apple, which released the results after the stock market closed, reported sales fell 18 percent to $2.19 billion and that it plans to eliminate 2,800 jobs over the next 12 months in addition to the 1,300 it has already cut. In another sign of the PC giant's deteriorating condition, Apple disclosed that its cash on hand has fallen by more than a third during the past six months. It announced Wednesday it will refinance some of its loans, simplify its product line and sell non-core assets. The revenue decline and layoffs had been widely expected with industry trackers waiting for Apple to disclose specifics as part of the earnings report. Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., ousted Michael Spindler two months ago as chief executive officer and replaced him with Gilbert Amelio, who had headed National Semiconductor. Amelio disclosed two weeks ago Apple would lose $700 million, with most of the loss used to cover inventory writedowns and the costs of job cuts. The report confirms speculation by analysts that Apple's problems are far worse than previously thought. The decline in revenues represents a significant erosion in demand for Macintosh products. Apple said Wednesday the inventory write-downs amounted to $388 million after tax and the restructuring charges for job cuts were $130 million after tax. Apple also disclosed cash at the end of the quarter totaled $592 million, a decline of $360 million since Sept. 30. Accounts receivable shrank to $1.37 billion from $1.93 billion during the same period. The company, which was the focus of takeover rumors before Spindler was ousted, said it will move to strengthen its cash position by renewing some short-term loans and by pursuing additional financing alternatives. It did not disclose the specifics of those alternatives but the announcement is certain to spark rumors that Apple will seek a buyout or investment by a another player in the industry. Workstation leader Sun Microsystems was viewed as the most likely suitor earlier this year with widely reported talks falling apart over the price of such a deal. Amelio, who is Apple's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "In my first two months at Apple, I've focused on understanding the income and balance sheet dynamics of the company as well as the strategic actions we must take to return quickly to sustainable profitability." "With regard to ongoing financial results, it is clear that we need to reduce fixed costs, simplify our product lines and streamline our business systems," he said. "Over the next 12 months, Apple will implement actions in these areas including increased outsourcing of various operational functions, liquidation of certain assets, and reductions in total headcount of around 2,800 over the next 12 months." Amelio said Apple's strategic direction will be designed to focus on the ongoing convergence of computers and communications. "We will focus the energies of the company on migrating to an Internet-based computing architecture while retaining the characteristic ease-of-use for which the company is so well known," he said. "Despite the obvious disappointment in the company's current financial performance, I want to reaffirm my strong belief that the foundations of our business are sound," he said, citing strong market positions in Internet software, its flagship Macintosh line, its Newton hand-held computers and its loyal customer base. Apple Posts $740 Million Loss Apple Computer Inc. is more than doubling the size of previously indicated layoffs as it posts a record $740 million loss in the fiscal second quarter. "In the face of a worsening cash situation," writes reporter Jim Carlton in The Wall Street Journal this morning, Apple's loss for the period ended March 29 was $40 million wider than officials had predicted in a warning to analysts last month. The Journal says: ú The $5.99-a-share loss compares with year-earlier profit of $73 million, or 59 cents a share. ú Revenue fell 18 percent to $2.19 billion from $2.65 billion a year ago. ú Gross profit margins dropped to 9 percent from 15 percent in the quarter ended in December. The computer maker's profit margins had hovered at 50 percent about five years ago. Nonetheless, the Journal found analysts unalarmed by the wider-than-expected loss because they had expected new CEO Gilbert F. Amelio "to essentially write off this quarter in anticipation of improvements." The paper says more than half of the quarterly loss -- $388 million -- went toward write-down of inventory. Under former CEO Michael Spindler, who was ousted by the board in February, "the company grossly overstocked low-end Macintosh Performas during the Christmas season," Carlton commented. "With consumers then wanting higher- range computers, the Performas languished on store shelves." The Journal notes another $130 million of the loss was for a previously announced restructuring, "which the company said now is being widened to layoffs of 2,800 people, or 20 percent of the work force, from an initial round of 1,300, or 9 percent announced in January." The staff reductions are to take place over the next year, "while the company undertakes other expense-trimming actions such as outsourcing various operational functions to other manufacturers and liquidating certain assets," Carlton reports. Spindler Accepts Apple Blame Former Apple Computer Inc. CEO Michael Spindler says he accepts full responsibility for troubles that prompted the board of directors to fire him. Speaking with The San Francisco Chronicle, Spindler said the board "did what it had to do" in removing him last February and that he's not dwelling on what occurred. "I'm more interested in looking at the big picture than coming off as some whiner." The 54-year-old Spindler, named Apple CEO in 1993, is credited for guiding the company's transformation of its entire product line. However, as The Associated Press notes, "he also has been given - and accepts -- the blame for the problems that sank Apple's market share, profits and stock price. Apple, under Spindler, didn't forecast demand accurately and failed to sign up more than a few small companies to 'clone' the Macintosh." At the same time, Apple was squeezed between high development costs and the need to slash prices to compete with personal computers based on Intel Corp. chips and Microsoft Corp. software, the wire service comments. The Chronicle says Spindler was neither enthusiastic nor critical when asked about Amelio, saying only, "Will he do a good job? I don't know." But he was confident that Apple will endure. He pointed to past financial crises, times when critics also questioned the company's future. "It will survive. It always has," Spindler said. Prodigy Lays Off 115 Employees Some 115 of Prodigy Services Co.'s 680 employees have been laid off as, says a spokesman, the firm changes its online service to be more directly associated with the Internet. The Associated Press quotes spokesman Barry Kluger as saying the employees were notified of the dismissals last week. Kluger added, "These jobs were eliminated because some were duplicative. Some of the skills really became unnecessary with the direction Prodigy seems to be moving from simply a proprietary online service to an Internet service." As reported earlier, Prodigy managers have hired an investment banking firm to try to launch a management buyout and possibly take the company public. Prodigy is a joint venture of Sears and IBM, but Sears announced in February it wants to sell its stake. Hayes Emerges From Chapter 11 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. says it has emerged from Chapter 11, having paid all creditors in full plus interest. To fund its court-approved reorganization plan, the modem maker says it has closed several equity investment transactions totaling $35 million for a 49 percent stake in the firm. The company also has finalized a $70 million line of credit with the CIT Group/Credit Finance, on which it will initially draw $14 million. "This is a great day for our company, our customers, our suppliers, and our employees. We kept our word and did what we had to do to pay our creditors in full," says Dennis C. Hayes, the firm's chairman. "We have closed the book on Chapter 11 and have our sights focused straight ahead. Our plan is to launch an initial public offering within two years." Hayes has rebuilt its core management team in recent months with the addition of a new chief financial officer, James A. Jones, a new chief technical officer, Alan Clark, and a new vice president of sales, Raymond Malcoun. Hayes says it's continuing its efforts to recruit a new vice president of marketing. Hayes also says it will soon announce the appointment of its new president and CEO, who is expected to join the company on May 1. Dennis Hayes, Hayes' founder, will continue to serve as chairman. Hayes originally filed for Chapter 11 protection on Nov. 15, 1994. Apple Exec to Head AT&T Labs AT&T Corp. has tapped Apple Computer Inc. executive David C. Nagel to become the first president of AT&T Labs. Nagel, 50, was most recently a senior vice president at Apple, leading the computer maker's worldwide research and development group. He was also a member of Apple's six-member executive management team. Nagel will be responsible for AT&T's worldwide research, applications development, as well as technical collaboration with other companies and institutions. He will join the firm's global operations council and advise Chairman Robert E. Allen and the company's executive policy committee. AT&T Labs was formed around a core of Bell Laboratories scientists and engineers who performed research and development for the company's communications services businesses prior to AT&T's restructuring announced last September. Nagel holds undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees from UCLA and a Ph.D. in perception and mathematical psychology, also from UCLA. Prior to joining Apple in 1988, he was chief of human factors research at NASA's Ames Research Center. AT&T Labs currently has 1,900 staff members in New Jersey, California, Washington and Massachusetts. Its expertise spans a wide range of technologies, including mathematics, computer science, software development, wireless services, and network design and management. "Dr. Nagel is a world- class talent in the development of easy to use, 'people- centered' technologies," says Allen. "By training and experience, he is the ideal leader for the people of AT&T Labs, who we're counting on for innovations that will give our customers easy access to the people and information they want to reach -- anytime, anywhere." "Bob Allen has given me a unique opportunity," says Nagel. "He asked me to help create a new future for AT&T customers, and he gave me the resources and the team to do it. I'm delighted to be joining AT&T at this point in its history." CompuServe, SoftKey Set Deal CompuServe Inc. says it has entered into an exclusive marketing agreement with consumer software publisher SoftKey International Inc. to integrate CompuServe software products into SoftKey's Windows-based CDs. The deal calls for SoftKey to supply interface software for the CompuServe Information Service, the new WOW! home-oriented online service, the World's Away animated virtual community and the SPRYNET Internet service. CompuServe says SoftKey will integrate the software into at least 15 million CD products each year for the next two years. The CompuServe products will be installed on the desktop (the first screen a user sees) when the CD is loaded, allowing users to initialize and launch a CompuServe product by clicking on an icon that's permanently located on the desktop. "CompuServe is pleased to be associated with SoftKey and its extensive list of quality consumer software," says Bob Massey, CompuServe's president and CEO. "This is an excellent way to introduce potential members to our wide variety of services and show them the choices that are available through CompuServe, whether they are interested in Internet- only capabilities or want a family-oriented online environment." Kevin O'Leary, SoftKey's president, adds, "SoftKey is one of the largest publishers of CD-ROM units in the industry, so its new online partnership with CompuServe is a tremendous opportunity to exploit a significant new distribution channel. SoftKey has always pioneered new marketing efforts in consumer software and this agreement is a logical and complimentary extension to its distribution strategy." Ziff-Davis Targets TV Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. says it has created ZDTV, a new independent unit that will produce television and Internet video programs. ZDTV's first project will be a daily, hour-long TV program devoted to covering the digital revolution. The new show is being developed and co-produced by MSNBC, the joint cable venture between Microsoft Corp. and NBC that's set to make its debut later this year. ZDTV will be based in San Francisco and will report to Jeff Ballowe, Ziff- Davis' president of interactive media and development. Ziff says the program will cover topics ranging from the latest technology news to consumer advice. The program will be featured on a dedicated area on MSNBC's World Wide Web site. Viewers will be able to go to the site for more information on show topics and to comment on what they have seen. There will also be behind-the-scenes information, scripts, transcripts andadditional video. "The information revolution is entering its second stage," says Eric Hippeau, chairman and CEO of Ziff-Davis "The first stage was to get a computer on every desk, and into every home. The second stage is to connect those computers, and the people that use them, together. The technology that is uniting the world is the Internet and, as more and more people join the net, a new medium is being created." Time Warner Plans Cable Modems Look for Time Warner Inc. this summer to begin commercial roll-out of online connections via cable modems, perhaps testing first in Ohio. A senior Time Warner executive, who spoke on a promise of anonymity, told the Reuter News Service the company likely will charge $25 to $40 a month and will supply customers with a modem capable of delivering over cable lines Internet graphics, sounds and text. Reuters says Time Warner probably will first offer the service to its customers in the Akron-Canton, Ohio, area and in San Diego, California, later this year. The wire service notes Time Warner has for about six months offered an experimental cable modem service in Elmira, New York. Mac CD-Recordable Kit Offered CMS Enhancements Inc. is offering a combination hardware-software package that allows Macintosh users to create their own CD-ROMs. The $1,095 CDMAker package includes an external CD- Recordable drive, software, a cable, a blank disc and an installation guide. The system can be used for copying files, folders, images and backing up hard disks, says the Anaheim, California-based firm. "CDMAker for Macintosh is perfect for a range of applications, most notably graphic design and desktop publishing or any time you need to digitize images," says Ken Burke, CMS's senior vice president and general manager. CDMAker features a 300K per second data transfer rate and a 2X recording speed. The system is capable of recording and playing audio CDs and is compatible with Red, Yellow, Green and Orange Book standards. CDMAker also supports single- session, multi-session and track-at-once writing methods, allowing users to record an entire CD at once, in severalrecording sessions or on a track-by-track basis. Matsushita Offers Memory Card A new personal computer memory card with maximum storage capacity of 40MB has been unveiled by Japan's Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Reporting from Osaka, the Jiji Japanese press services says the card is compatible with the current standard memory card for digital cameras. Company officials told the wire service the firm has completed a prototype and plans to put the new product on the market by the end of the year. "The company's patented technology for stacking four large-scale integrated circuits realized the big capacity," says JiJi, "which compares with the 2- megabyte solid state floppy disk card developed by Toshiba Corp. and the 4- megabyte miniature card of a 13-company consortium led by Fujitsu Ltd. and Intel Corp. of the United States." Toshiba Offers Smallest Notebook Toshiba Corp. has launched in Japan what it says is the world's lightest, smallest mini-notebook PC running Microsoft Corp.'s software Windows 95. Reporting from Tokyo, the Reuter News Service says the Libretto 20 measures 210 mm in length and 115 mm in width and weighs 850 grams. The unit is pre- installed with business application software such as Microsoft Works and Lotus Organizer R.1J and hit the Japanese market yesterday. The sales schedule in overseas markets has not been decided. Reuters says the system has a 6.1-inch thin-film-transistor color liquid crystal display, a lithium-ion secondary battery and 2.5-inch hard disk drive with a 270MB capacity that will last at least two hours from a single charge. Toshiba says it aims for 150,000 Libretto 20 sales in the year to end March 1997. McAfee Plans Cheyenne Takeover Anti-virus software specialist McAfee says it plans a hostile takeover of storage management software publisher Cheyenne Software in a stock swap deal valued at approximately $1 billion. McAfee says the merger would create the world's fifth largest software publisher, with combined revenues of approximately $340 million. Under the terms of McAfee's proposed acquisition, Cheyenne shareholders would receive McAfee common stock worth approximately $27.50 for each share of Cheyenne stock. McAfee says it has been conducting conversations since November with Cheyenne management regarding its interest in acquiring the Roslyn Heights, New York- based firm. "This combination is in the best interest of both companies' shareholders and customers," says Bill Larson, McAfee's chairman, president and CEO. "We are surprised by Cheyenne management's sudden turnabout and public rejection of our previously friendly merger discussions. We are especiallydisappointed with Cheyenne management's public disclosure of our private conversations." A statement issued by McAfee notes that both companies sell to a common target base of Fortune 1000 network administrators and both are leaders in their respective markets. Cyber Classroom Hits the Road CyberEd, a cyberspace classroom on 18 wheels, has hit the road. Financed with $1 million in contributions from MCI Communications Corp., the Milken Family Foundation, Microsoft Corp., Corning Inc., DSC Communications Corp. and the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, CyberEd aims to provide hands-on Internet and online communications training to local educators and community leaders across the country. CyberEd and other White House-sponsored programs will provide free hardware, connectivity, training and Internet access to more than 400 schools in 15 designated Empowerment Zones, communities with a demonstrated need for economic revitalization efforts. Tech Corps, a non-profit organization that takes volunteers into schools to introduce new technologies, will help train principals, teachers and parents. "CyberEd was created to support the White House initiative to foster meaningful partnerships between private sector businesses and their communities," says Tech Corps Executive Director Karen Smith. "We hope the CyberEd program will mobilize community members to seek out new ways to improve their educational resources." The truck is equipped with PCs, Internet connectivity, CD-ROMs, presentation facilities, printing, faxing and videoconferencing. Following its dedication at the White House yesterday, CyberEd departed Washington and headed for the first stop, Detroit on April 24. During the next five months, CyberEd also will travel to Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, the Kentucky Highlands, Los Angeles, the Mid-Delta region of Mississippi, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia- Camden and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Western Digital 2.1 & 2.5 gb STR Spotlight Caviar 2.1 and 2.5 GB EIDE Hard Drives The Quality and Capacity Choice from the Company that Makes the World's Most Recommended Hard Drives Just when a gigabyte seemed like a lot of storage, Western Digital breaks the 2 GB barrier for storage capacity with the introduction of the AC32100 (2.1 GB) and AC32500 (2.5 GB). The exploding need for mass storage and retrieval is insatiable. To meet the ever-increasing demand for data storage, drive capacity needs to be measured in gigabytes rather than megabytes. BENEFITS ú High Capacity and Superior Performance The AC32100 and AC32500 break the 2 GB barrier and deliver the performance and reliability you've come to expect. These drives offer a high data transfer rate, low seek times, a 5200 RPM spindle speed and cache buffering. They are the perfect solution for today's storage-intensive applications - from operating system applications such as Windows 95, Windows NT and OS/2 Warp to consumer and business applications. Increased storage capacity is also essential for multimedia, gaming, and information retrieval from on-line sources such as the Internet, America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy, and Microsoft Network. ú Exceptional Quality and Reliability Western Digital offers a 3-year warranty and a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of 300,000 hours of trouble-free operation. ú 100% Guaranteed Compatibility The AC32100 and AC32500 have been thoroughly tested in Western Digital's exclusive Functional Integrity Testing Lab (FIT Lab). The FIT Lab's extensive test base of computer systems, operating systems and storage devices ensures the highest standards of reliability, quality and compatibility. Choose the hard drive that's guaranteed. ú Comprehensive Customer Support Our technical support staff is available 6 days a week to answer questions and assist in making buying decisions. User guides, support utilities, and drivers for many of our products are available through our electronic bulletin board. An automated fax line will send requested literature any time, day or night. On- line services (Internet, America Online, and Microsoft Network) provide general product and contact information, down- loadable drivers, and answers to frequently asked questions. ú Target Applications Pentium 150 and 166 MHz-based systems ú High-performance desktop PCs ú PC network servers ú VESA and PCI local buses ú Capacity-intensive consumer and business applications, multimedia and gaming Caviar 2.1 and 2.5 GB Hard Drive Specifications Model AC32100 AC32500 Form Factor 3.5-inch 3.5-inch Interface AT-EIDE AT-EIDE Formatted Capacity 2.1 GB 2.5 GB Average Seek Time Sub 12 ms Sub 12 ms Data Transfer Rate 16.6 MB/s PIO Mode 4 16.6 MB/s PIO Mode 4 16.6 MB/s DMA Mode 2 16.6 MB/s DMA Mode 2 Spindle Speed 5200 RPM 5200 RPM Buffer 128 KB 128 KB MTBF 300,000 hours 300,000 hours Warranty 3 years 3 years * Western Digital defines a gigabyte (GB) as 1,000,000,000 bytes. Customer-focused We've built a reputation as a customer-oriented company. Western Digital is the first U.S.-headquartered, multinational company to have been awarded company-wide ISO 9001 registration, linking all Western Digital organizations with a consistent global standard for quality processes and customer satisfaction. Our hard drives have received so many awards that it's difficult to mention them all. PC World has awarded our hard drives with their World Class Award for three years in a row. And Computer Reseller News has declared Western Digital drives their Channel Champions for three consecutive years also. Everyone from editors of computer magazines to PC manufacturers to retail customers have recognized the excellence of our drive products. We think you'll agree. Why a Higher Capacity Hard Drive is Important: The chart below illustrates how much hard drive space an average computer user would require over a three-year period (over 2 GB). A Western Digital high-capacity, high-performance hard drive lets users efficiently run more of today's software - and tomorrow's. APPLICATIONS AND STORAGE OPERATING SYSTEMS REQUIRED Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2 50-150 MB Business, graphics and 150-500 MB utility software Games/education 100-400 MB USER DATA: 3-YEAR LIFE Graphics, presentations, 300-600 MB spreadsheets, etc. Image scanning 100-300 MB MULTIMEDIA AND INTERNET Sound - 30-40 min high fidelity 225-450 MB Video - 30-40 min. compressed 270-540 MB On-line services, Internet: 100-500 MB downloaded files WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH AN EXTRA $100? FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY You can receive a $100 rebate if you trade in your old hard drive for a 2.1 or 2.5 GB capacity Western Digital-packaged hard drive kit. To receive this $100 trade-in rebate, customers must enclose: ú The proof of purchase label from their Western Digital Hard Drive Kit box. ú The original purchase receipt. ú Your old hard drive (any model) after backing up and removing all valuable data. ú The original trade-in coupon available at ú Postmark by May 31, 1996 to the return address listed on the coupon. This offer is valid only through This mail-in offer is valid only on 2.1 GB and 2.5 GB retail packaged drives purchased during the promotion period of March 25, 1996 to May 5, 1996. This offer may not be combined with any other promotion. There is a limit of one request per name/family/address. Offer good only in USA. Western Digital accepts no responsibility or liability for any data on old drives submitted in connection with this promotion. EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed Edupage MSN CONTENT PROVIDERS MIFFED Content providers who signed up early for the Microsoft Network are upset over Microsoft's restructuring of the service to focus on the Web, rather than proprietary forums. Some independent content providers, operating on the original MSN model, spent up to $250,000 to stake their claim on MSN. "That's life on the Internet," says Microsoft's director of marketing. A Dataquest analyst agrees that the content providers "have to realize that they are in a market that is evolving, and they got in at the wrong time." (Wall Street Journal 12 Apr 96 A3) WEB-SURFING WORKER WORRIES A Find/SVP survey reveals that workers who use the Internet from work tend to make a habit of it -- spending an average of 7.7 hours a week -- almost a full workday -- online. The average time online for all users is about 6.6 hours a week. The tendency to spend lots of time online while "taking care of business" has executives concerned over lost productivity and potential legal troubles. "We are still trying to figure out to what extent we are getting the benefit, as opposed to the downside of the Internet," says a national sales manager for 3Com, which has put all 800 of its salespeople on the Net. To alleviate bosses' worries, Sequel will introduce a Net Access Manager product that allows companies to control worker access to online services, and Optimal Networks' Optimal Internet Monitor will have a similar features. Both products will be available in the next couple of months. (Investor's Business Daily 15 Apr 96 A8) DIGITAL COPYING CONSTRAINTS PROPOSED The Motion Picture Association of America and the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association are crafting proposed legislation that would prevent consumers from making more than one copy of a digital broadcast or a digital cable signal. They would require distributors of information to transmit encoded "copy control" information that would allow viewers to make a single copy of a broadcast or basic cable signal. Copyright holders of pay- per-view and video- on-demand program could block any recording of their material. In addition, a new technical standard would prevent consumers from making copies of rented videos. (Broadcasting & Cable 8 Apr 96 p18) REAL AUDIO FOR INTRANETS Progressive Networks Inc. is licensing a new application for its RealAudio software that allows corporate intranets to broadcast sound, such as company announcements and training presentations, to workers' desktops. Already signed up are AT&T's Wireless division and the Kennedy Space Center. (Information Week 8 Apr 96 p32) REFEREEING VOICE ON THE NET An increasing number of software makers are offering products that make it possible for individuals to communicate by voice over the Internet rather than be restricted to using the services of a long-distance telephone company. Issue: Whether the Federal Communications Commission should ban Internet telephony. ACTA (the America's Carriers Telecommunications Association), argues that software makers are competing unfairly because they're not subject to the same FCC regulations that govern long-distance carriers, but VON (Voice on the Net), a coalition of high-tech groups, argues that it's in the public interest to leave voice telephony on the Internet unregulated. An attorney for the FCC says that "one thing is for sure. The commission is not interested in refereeing between technologies." (US News & World Report 15 Apr 96 p53) In Canada, TheLinc, a small Ontario phone company, plans to offer 15 hours per month of long- distance telephone service for $20 to anywhere in North America via the Internet. (Toronto Globe & Mail 11 Apr 96 A1) INTELLIGENT AGENT OR VECTOR MATCH? Apple Computer VP Donald Norman says "agent" technology is already in widespread use on the Net: "If you describe it as this wonderful thing to which you tell your preferences and it goes off and gives you a suggestion, now that's an agent. But if I simply say, It's just a vector match, it computes the vector on your preferences and puts it into the multi- dimensional vector space of all preferences of all people and finds the ones that are closest -- that sounds mechanistic, right? So where's the agent? And it turns out both phrases are describing the same thing." (Internet World May 96 p60) DIGITAL WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY APPROVED Motorola Canada says federal regulators have approved a new digital wireless technology, giving the world's largest cellular phone maker a new market for what it calls "next-generation technology." Industry Canada cleared code- division multiple access (CDMA) for use in cellular phone and data networks operating in the 800 Mhz band of the spectrum. CDMA is one of several technology options from which wireless carriers may choose that uses codes instead of separate requencies and channels to keep cell phone conversations secure. (Ottawa Citizen 12 Apr 96 B12) COMMUNITY ACCESS SAFETY NET Community-based programs in Charlotte, NC, Newark, NJ and Salem, Ore. Are providing access to technology for low-income people who otherwise would never be able to get their hands on a PC. For example, East Harlem's Playing to Win program provides six months of computer access in its facility for $35. "We're an economic safety net for those who can't afford more," says the director of Charlotte, NC's Charlotte's Web. Many of these are funded through the Commerce Department's NTIA and other government programs, but some feel that "corporate welfare" has gone on long enough and the big commercial providers should start doing their share. Others feel the government support is justified: "Business people here pay property taxes. Why shouldn't they benefit from low-cost Internet access?" says the director of Salem, Oregon's public library. (Business Week 15 Apr 96 p108) AMIGA BOUGHT BY VISCORP Visual Information Services Corporation is buying Germany's Escom AG's Amiga business for $40 million, along with the Amiga brand name and intellectual property rights. Visual Information already licenses Amiga technology for use in set-top boxes it's developing for interactive TV. (Wall Street Journal 12 Apr 96 B3) NEC TO STOP MAKING DESKTOP MACHINES IN U.S. As a cost-cutting move, Japanese computer manufacturer NEC will stop making desktop PCs in the U.S. (and will instead outsource the manufacture of machines it designs and develops for the U.S. market). Japanese notebook computers have done well in the U.S., but desktop machines have not. (Financial Times 11 Apr 96 p13) SECURITY DYNAMICS BUYS RSA DATA Security Dynamics Technologies Inc. is buying closely held RSA Data Security, the dominant supplier of electronic encryption software, for a reported stock purchase of $200 million. The deal will give Security Dynamics control over RSA's patents, which could play a significant role in transaction security for electronic commerce. Both companies are involved in producing devices that limit access to computer networks to authorized users. (Wall Street Journal 16 Apr 96 B1) PENTIUM POWER GOOD FOR ANOTHER YEAR The Pentium microprocessor accounts for 91% of processor shipments this year, and will continue as Intel's cash cow for at least another year, says MicroDesign Resources Inc., a Calif.-based research firm. MicroDesign predicts a major migration from the Pentium to the P6 chips in the first quarter of 1998. (Investor's Business Daily 15 Apr 96 A8) CRIME AND PUNISHMENT SOFTWARE Software developed by professors at Northwestern and Tufts Universities is demonstrating the importance of at least looking earnest in the courtroom. "Crime and Punishment" runs on CD-ROM and depicts video footage of a criminal trial, changing the appearance, race and/or sex of the defendant for each user. The software then tracks decisions made by different users, generating data on how personal attributes affect criminal justice in the U.S. "This has applications in sociology, psychology, law, and political science in the classroom," says Northwestern University professor Jerry Goldman, one of the software's developers, "and our hope is that it will be useful for things like training new judges -- to sensitize them to the kinds of extra-legal factors that might influence them." "Crime and Punishment" was developed with a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. (Chronicle of Higher Education 19 Apr 96 A28) DEMISE OF THE WEB PREDICTED Mark Stahlman, president of New Media Associates, predicts the death of the Web this year: "Advertisers will dump the Web, and businesses that depend on ad support will become uneconomic. But the cause won't be the poor performance caused by `clogged pipes';... it's more fundamental. The Web is a terrible place to manipulate people's unconscious fears, which is the aim of consumer advertising... Advertising on the Web has to be information, not manipulation. This is because the medium doesn't permit the psychological games that `impact' a modern audience.... unless the Web becomes television, as @Home and others hope. If the Web could readily deliver video-server-based moving images, then the manipulative techniques of TV ads could also be Web-delivered. But the bandwidth just isn't available, and probably won't be for as long as 10 years... But there's still a chance something quite new could happen. The Web is a medium for information and education -- not unconscious mental manipulation. What if the Web's real capability is taken seriously and it becomes the world's largest adult education system?" (Information Week 8 Apr 96 p100) BOEING LIKES ORACLE'S NC COMPUTERS Oracle CEO Larry Ellison says that the Boeing Aircraft Company has expressed an interest in buying 100,000 network computers, which Oracle has designed but which actually be built by some manufacturing companies to be announced next month. The network computer, or NC, will download both a small operating system and applications programs over a network used to access remote "server" systems holding data and programs. (Financial Times 16 Apr 96 p20) In other news, Oracle plans to let developers use its Designer 2000 and Developer 2000 tool sets to build applications in Java. Microsoft and Powersoft are planning similar features for their development tools (Visual Basic and PowerBuilder, respectively). Users would have only a Web browser on their workstations, and would leave their application code on a remote server. (Computerworld 15 Apr 15 p1) NBC TESTING NEW MCI SYSTEM NBC is testing MCI's new HyperMedia system, designed for video-on-demand, image storage and retrieval, corporate training and telemedicine. The HyperMedia system allows several affiliates simultaneously to access news reports and video from satellites at their convenience, rather than at pre- specified times, as is now the case. (Investor's Business Daily 16 Apr 96 A5) TV'S FUTURE IS DIGITAL, SAY NETWORK EXECS The heads of the Fox, NBC, and CBS television networks told a convention of broadcasters that broadcast TV needs to shift to digital technology into order to remain competitive, and Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch said: "We cannot allow free television to become a second-class medium." Digital TV is already available by direct broadcast satellite through services offered by DirecTV and USSB, but the cost for Fox to convert to digital television would be greater than $100 million. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 16 Apr 96 E3) PC-TV MAY NOT BE FOR EVERYONE The all-in-one PC-TV announced recently by Gateway 2000 may not turn out to be the family entertainment center that many electronics manufacturers envision: "They didn't call it a personal computer for nothing," says a general partner at Digital Video Investments, a New York investment research firm. "It's not called a family computer. Try experiencing the World Wide Web by looking over the shoulder of someone at a PC holding the mouse. For both people, it's as aggravating as back-seat driving. Now imagine the entire family doing this, when they can't even agree on something as simple as selecting from among a few dozen channels." (Investor's Business Daily 16 Apr 96 A10) WEB CALLED "ULTIMATE ACT OF INTELLECTUAL COLONIALISM" Anatoly Voronov, the director of Glasnet, an Internet service provider in Russia, says: "It is just incredible when I hear people talking about how open the Web is. It is the ultimate act of intellectual colonialism. The product comes from America so we either must adapt to English or stop using it. That is the right of any business. But if you re talking about technology that is supposed to open the world to hundreds of millions of people you are joking. This just makes the world into new sorts of haves and have nots." (New York Times 14 Apr 96 Sec.4 p1) Note: Edupage is translated from English into Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish. Not Russian, as yet. MORE MICROSOFT VIRUSES First there was the Word virus -- now there's a Word Prank Macro Virus, located in a document on ActiveVRML, Microsoft's software tool for developing 3-D Web sites. But what's worse, is that Microsoft had to inform the rogrammers who attended its Professional Developers Conference last month that one of the CD-ROMs it distributed was infected. A cure is posted on Microsoft's Web site < http://www.microsoft.com/ > (Investor's Business Daily 15 Apr 96 A8) MURDOCH THINKS THAT CNN LEANS LEFT Right-leaning Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox television network is planning to create an 24-hour all-news cable channel to compete with CNN, thinks that Ted Turner's CNN leans too far to the left. "I challenge Ted: I'll let him sit in the control room of Fox's news channel and edit if he'll let me do the same at CNN." Murdoch says the Fox news channel will offer unbiased coverage of events. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 16 Apr 96 E3) WHY ARE YOU STARING AT THIS? At the Second Luddite Congress held in Barnesville, Ohio, attended by 350 people who respect the technology-hating Ned Ludd who fought the Industrial Revolution, author and computer security expert Clifford Stoll, attacked "Internet hucksters" and derided the notion that people without computer skills will be unemployable in the future: "Jobs, as they always have, will go to people who can get along with others. Now, how do you avoid developing those skills? By standing at a keyboard and staring off into cyberspace for hours." (New York Times 15 Apr 96 A8) BELL ATLANTIC, NYNEX REVIVE MERGER POSSIBILITIES Bell Atlantic and Nynex are at it again -- they're back at the bargaining table, negotiating a possible $22 billion-plus merger that would create a telco entity second only to AT&T in size. The combined companies would serve more than 36 million residential customers in 12 states and the District of Columbia, and would have more than $27 billion in annual revenue. The companies have agreed that Bell Atlantic chairman and CEO Ray Smith could head the new entity for a few years, and then hand it off to Nynex's chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg. (Wall Street Journal 17 Apr 96 A3) ZENITH, MICROSOFT COURT STUDENTS ON CAMPUS Zenith Data Systems and Microsoft have formed a new partnership aimed at increasing postsecondary student ownership of PCs. The Campus Z-Station program is initially targeting 150 universities with plans to offer a combination of software and Internet access at prices low enough to entice the student population. The companies hope to expand the program nationwide as quickly as possible. (The Heller Report Apr 96) MICROSOFT TARGETS PRINT AND TELEVISION MARKETS Microsoft and NBC are working together to develop a nightly hour-long show focused on new media personalities and the digital revolution. The program will be the first product to air on MSNBC, a 24-hour cable news network linked to an online service. (Wall Street Journal 17 Apr 96 B9) Meanwhile, Microsoft is working on a series of local online entertainment publications targeting the same readership bases as online newspapers. The project, code- named Cityscape, is hiring editorial staff to work in some of the cities that Microsoft's planning to cater to. "Local content is the endgame for online services," says an analyst with Jupiter Communications. "In terms of local content and ad dollars, all newspapers have seen that as their domain. That is not something they are going to want to see slip to AOL or Microsoft." (Houston Chronicle 18 Apr 96 C1) THE TAX MAN COMETH A recent decision by the Florida Dept. of Revenue to levy a tax on Internet access services has resulted in howls of protest, but the move is inevitable, says the executive director of the Washington, DC-based Multistate Tax Commission. Already, at least seven states and the District of Columbia tax computer services, and many more are considering it. (Tampa Tribune 12 Apr 96 B&F5) INTERNET PHONE CONTROVERSY CONTINUES Initial attempts to rein in the Internet and regulate voice transmissions via the computer network have met with a barrage of opposition, including a statement from Educom, which calls the America's Carriers Telecommunication Association's request for FCC regulation "an attempt by a coalition of resellers of conventional circuit switched interexchange voice services to obtain favored treatment from the Commission. There is no longer a need to preserve a one-size-fits-all approach to voice services." (BNA Daily Report for Executives 15 Apr 96 A5) DATA WAREHOUSING EARNS BIG PAYBACK International Data Corp. reports that companies that have invested in data warehousing, which pulls data from various large databases into smaller ones to analyze trends and possible business opportunities have realized a 400% return on their investments over three-years. The study was based on 62 organizations that spent an average of $2.2 million each on their data warehouse operations. (Investor's Business Daily 18 Apr 96 A8) DIGITAL AND ORACLE OFFER CLUSTERING OPTION Digital Equipment and Oracle are jointly offering "Unix TruCluster Solutions" -- a combination of hardware and software designed so that users can string together servers into a cluster of machines that share memory, data and applications, significantly speeding up operations and reliability. A cluster of four Digital Alpha servers running Oracle's Parallel Server software can process more than 30,000 transactions a minute -- at least three times faster than rival products and less expensive per transaction, say analysts. (Wall Street Journal 17 Apr 96 B8) FIGHTING ANTI-RACISM ON THE NET The Canadian Jewish Congress, the World Anti-Fascist League, and the Ligues des Droits et Libertes have joined forces to create an anti-racist Web site. The site will be funded for three years by the Quebec government and will be up within a few months. It will be used to define racism and anti-Semitism for the public, to disseminate information on the groups spreading hate on the Net, and to teach students about tolerance. (Montreal Gazette 17 Apr 96 A4) IBM PROFIT UP, STOCK DOWN IBM posted better-than-average earnings but its stock fell 9 points because of Wall Street worries about its declining profit margins and the prospect of declining earnings from overseas markets. (New York Times 18 Apr 96 C1) APPLE LOSS AND LAYOFFS SEEN AS PATH TO PROFITABILITY Apple posted a $740 million loss for the second quarter and said that it will eliminate 1500 jobs in the next 12 months (in addition to 1300 job cuts previously announced). Apple CEO Gil Amelio explained that the company was acting to reduce fixed costs, simplify its product lines, and streamline its business systems. (New York Times 18 Apr 96 C2) NADER URGES U.S. CONTROL OF TELESAT SIGNALS The Consumer Project on Technology (CPT), a consumer group led by Ralph Nader, is asking the Federal Communications Commission to take control of some Canadian satellite frequencies to prevent American direct-to-home satellite companies using foreign satellites to dominate the U.S. market. (Toronto Financial Post 18 Apr 96 p1) INTERNET USERS JUST BLOWIN' IN THE WIND Estimates of the number of Internet users worldwide go up and down as arguments rage over statistical methods. The latest count from Nielsen Media Research, based on an August 1995 survey, says there are 19.4 million people who have accessed the Internet "in the last three months." Professors Donna Hoffman and Thomas Novak of Vanderbilt University say the correct number is closer to 16.4 million. Mark Resch of Xerox shrugs off the controversy: "Yeah, we're in a hurricane, and they are arguing about whether wind is blowing 150 miles an hour or 120 miles an hour. The argument is intellectually interesting, and it totally misses the point. Activity on our Web site is up 10% a month, steadily." (New York Times 17 Apr 96 C1) Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas (douglas@educom.edu). Voice: 404-371-1853, Fax: 404-371-8057. Technical support is provided by the Office of Information Technology, University of North Carolina. EDUPAGE is what you've just finished reading. To subscribe to Edupage: send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type: subscribe edupage Marvin Minsky (assuming that your name is Marvin Minsky; if it's not, substitute your own name). ... To cancel, send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type: unsubscribe edupage... Subscription problems: educom@educom.unc.edu. EDUCOM REVIEW is our bimonthly print magazine on learning, communications, and information technology. Subscriptions are $18 a year in the U.S.; send mail to offer@educom.edu. When you do, we'll ring a little bell, because we'll be so happy! Choice of bell is yours: a small dome with a button, like the one on the counter at the dry cleaners with the sign "Ring bell for service"; or a small hand bell; or a cathedral bell; or a door bell; or a chime; or a glockenspiel. Your choice. But ring it! EDUCOM UPDATE is our twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational news and events. To subscribe to the Update: send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type: subscribe update John McCarthy (assuming that your name is John McCarthy; if it's not, substitute your own name). INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE The CAUSE organization's annual conference on information technology in higher education is scheduled for the end of this month in New Orleans. The conference will bring together administrators, academicians and other managers of information resources. For full conference information check out or send e-mail to conf@cause.colorado.edu. ARCHIVES & TRANSLATIONS. For archive copies of Edupage or Update, ftp or gopher to educom.edu or see URL: < http://www.educom.edu/>. For the French edition of Edupage, send mail to edupage-fr@ijs.com with the subject "subscribe"; or see < http://www.ijs.com >. For the Hebrew edition, send mail to listserv@kinetica.co.il containing : SUBSCRIBE Leketnet-Word6 or see < http://www.kinetica.co.il/ newsletters/leketnet/ >. For the Hungarian edition, send mail to: send mail to subs.edupage@hungary.com. An Italian edition is available on Agora' Telematica; connection and/or free subscription via BT-Tymnet and Sprint (login: