Silicon Times Report The Original Independent OnLine Magazine" (Since 1987) May 17, 1996 No. 1220 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: 1-904-292-9222 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! Client/Server BBS Version 5 95/NT Featuring a Full Service Web Site http://www.streport.com Join STReport's Subscriber List receive STR through Internet MULTI-NODE Operation 24hrs-7 days Analog & ISDN BRI Access 904-268-4116 2400-128000 bps V. 120-32-34 v.42 bis ISDN V.34 USRobotics I-MODEM NT-1 FAX: 904-268-2237 24hrs BCS - Toad Hall BBS 1-617-567-8642 05/17/96 STR 1220 The Original Independent OnLine Magazine! - CPU Industry Report - WS_FTP32 Viewed - Linux News - The Kids Corner - Apple CUTS Lines - Apple Chips BAD - ISDN Referrals - Brewer to Broker - Pet Peeves - Nintendo 64 RSN - People Talking - NBA JAM Review Prodigy SOLD! Big "Doin's" at CIS! Seagate Settles With IRS STReport International OnLine Magazine Featuring Weekly "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports STReport's BBS - The Bounty International BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the ITC, Fido, Internet, PROWL, USENET, USPOLNet, NEST, F-Net, Mail Networks. You may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-268-4116. Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to all computer types, worldwide, through the use of excellent International Networking Systems. SysOps and users alike worldwide, are welcome to join STReport's International Conferences. ITC Node is 85:881/250, The Fido Node is 1:112/35, Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620. All computer enthusiasts, hobbyist or commercial, on all platforms and BBS systems are invited to participate. WEB SITE: http//www.streport.com CIS ~ PRODIGY ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX ~ USENET USPOLNET CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ PROWL ~ FNET ~ AOL IMPORTANT NOTICE STReport, with its policy of not accepting any input relative to content from paid advertisers, has over the years developed the reputation of "saying it like it really is". 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: 5/11/96: 2 of 6 numbers with 0 matches From the Editor's Desk... Every so often, a program comes along that we find ourselves using with such regularity that it becomes "second nature" in doing so. With the advent of the Internet looming large as more a necessity than a luxury, this program virtually became a "must have". The name of the program is WS_FTP32 by John Junod. For almost as long as I can remember, I've been using (with great success) WinSock FTP 32 each and every week. In that time, I never paid much attention to the nurtured growth of the program. That is.. until this past week. It has been so closely supported that checking for updates became a routine matter. So much so that doing so was actually a "habitual thing". The program is about to "grow-up" ..so to speak. John Junod should be an inspiration to the young budding programmers out there. Especially when it comes to "how to do it to it" the right way. WS_FTP32 has really come a long way from its very humble but classy and efficient beginnings. The latest version, and LE version of a soon to appear PRO version is simply put.. elegant. Its available at a number of sites on the WEB including the main site; . Folks, this program is the ultimate in FTP wares. In fact, the support and update efforts by Junod should be observed by all programmers and perhaps, an industry standard set to parallel Junod's examples. John has a firm grip on the meaning of consumer support and responsiveness to their suggestions and needs. It is a certainty that, in the future, his standards will assure him success in his software development endeavors. STReport highly recommends the WS_FTP ensemble.. its available in 16 and 32 bit versions. On another front.. Changes at Compuserve. Some real shakeups or, should I say "shakeouts" going on there. How long will Denny stick around now that Dick is gone. This reporter fully expects to see COMPUSERVE COMPLETELY WEB ORIENTED AND BROWSER DRIVEN within a year or less. This reporter's opinionated observation is ..simply put; "A * Secret Code Named Project * is seen as the "Battle of the Bulge" for CIS! Its now or never ..if they are to be a first rate contender in the online marketplace at all. Especially as "the hoped for" ..Super Internet Service Provider." Secondly, about that "thing" called "WOW" .all that can be said about it, in this reporter's humble opinion, is; NEXT! Compuserve simply must get with the nineties and forget the old, worn out seventies/eighties concepts they've seemingly been pursuing. STReport has been asked by a number of users concerning the strange disappearances of user posted info about the "do it yourself" modifications of WOW software which involves swapping Internet Explorer and Netscape. We had no answers for them at this time. STReport was unable to locate any such message traffic that the users reported as having posted. Were the messages, in fact, lost or perhaps deliberately removed? Compuserve's impeccable reputation of "no censorship" is at stake here. Is WOW pursuing a different philosophy? (Stay tuned, STR Confidential's "Super Snoop" is on the job.) Compuserve is definitely going through some "changes". Its fairly obvious more are needed. Will the "NEW, Secret Code-Named Project" succeed?? Will the half-hearted ISDN implementation ever get off the ground? Will Compuserve ever be "The Giant" it once was? Or, will it soon go the route a few other, well known, services have gone. Sold and Re-organized? Time will tell. Its certain "the suits" at the top are getting the much needed wake-up calls. 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 IBM, Sears Sell Prodigy Service As predicted, the Prodigy online service has been sold by founders IBM and Sears, Roebuck and Co. The firms announced the sale Sunday of the company to White Plains, New York-based International Wireless Inc., and a group of Prodigy executives. The sale price was not disclosed, but United Press International quotes sources as indicating it could have been as low as $200 million. The sale was announced late yesterday by Greg Carr and Terry Dillon, co- chairmen of International Wireless, and Prodigy President/CEO Edward Bennett, who said the agreement calls for International Wireless to acquire the entire Prodigy service. Federal approval of the sale, which was led by Prodigy management, is expected next month. "If the $200 million figure is correct," says UPI, "the sale price is far less than the $500 million Sears was believed to have sought for the sale of its half of Prodigy last year. Sears, IBM and original partner CBS Inc. had invested more than $1 billion in Prodigy since 1984." Bennett, a former Viacom Inc. cable-TV executive, was installed last year by Sears and IBM after the service fell to third place in membership behind America Online Inc. and CompuServe Inc. As reported earlier, Bennett was said to have initiated the buyout plan after buyers failed to materialize. UPI says International Wireless is a global communications company with interests in cellular telephone properties, online services and Internet content development. Also participating as a financial partner in the dealwas Grupo Carso, a Mexican telecommunications corporation that includes TelMex, the country's main telephone utility, among its holdings. The agreement calls for Bennett to continue as Prodigy president/CEO of Prodigy and to become a member of the International Wireless board. He led the team of Prodigy senior executives in acquiring the service through the investor-funded management buyout. Sandy Trevor , Richard Brown Leave CompuServe One of the online community's best-known innovators -- Alexander B. "Sandy" Trevor - has, two weeks ago, left CompuServe, where he has been a vice president for more than two decades. In a statement from the company's Columbus, Ohio, headquarters, CompuServe says Trevor resigned last Friday in order to join a family business. Trevor had been with CompuServe since 1971. He was appointed vice president in 1974, and was elected to the board of directors in 1985. He is best known to the Net world as the inventor of multi-user real-time computer conferencing, originally known as CompuServe CB. "Sandy has been a valuable asset to CompuServe," CompuServe President/CEO Bob Massey said in the statement. "He helped us build our business from the ground up. We wish him well in his future endeavors." Richard Brown, known as an aggressive go-getter, was the driving force behind the wobbly 40 million dollar WOW network CIS recently introduced. Many industry observers offered the opinion that competing with "one's self" in the Online business was a bit "far fetched". Its also been said the software was pretty but the content was far too lean. Now, with this recent exodus of a number of old-time "pinstripes" from Compuserve, there is a good chance that the NEW, "Secret Code-Named Project" at CIS will stand a good chance to succeed. Apple Notes Chip Defects Officials with Apple Computer Inc. say defective chips are freezing up some of its most popular models, and the company has set up a program to provide free repairs. Reporting from Apple's Cupertino, California, headquarters, The Associated Press says the defects occurred only in a limited number of computers, and problems will be fixed only as they appear. "Owners of PowerBooks, Power Macs and Performas should not send healthy computers in for a repair," AP says. "The notice to Apple's 8,000 distributors went out Wednesday." Apple spokeswoman Nancy Morrison told the wire service the defects in the Performa and Power Mac desktops will be repaired through dealers. In some models, color hues may change and the system can freeze. AP says the problem arises from defective memory and clock chips and that Apple will fix the defects for free at any time over the next seven years. Morrison told the wire service her employer hasn't yet determined if the defective chips were installed only in certain factories or in certain lots, and therefore the company can't estimate how many devices might be affected. "In the PowerBook 5300 and 190 laptop models, the company has found cracks in the housing around the hinge in some models," AP says, "and in others, the AC jack may become loose or cease to work." Morrison commented, "On the PowerBook side, we feel we can do a better fix if we have the customers send the computer back to a central repair depot." She added the PowerBook logic boards will also be upgraded, but emphasized it will not include all of the approximately 1 million PowerBooks and Performas. AP says the memo instructs dealers to take machines to Apple service providers for repairs or to call 1-800-SOS-APPL. Owners of the machines who think they have problems also should call the toll-free number. Amelio to Cut Apple Product Line Apple Computer Inc.'s new CEO says the struggling computer maker will cut costs by reducing its existing product lines by half, while at the same time racing into new markets. At yesterday's meeting of software developers in San Jose, California, Apple chief Gilbert F. Amelio said the firm will focus on the Internet by: 1. Making current products like the Newton hand-held computer and the Pippin CD-ROM player Net-compatible. 2. Creating new Internet products, such as a relatively low-cost "information appliance" that provides Internet access and other features. The Wall Street Journal this morning quotes Dr. Amelio, who joined Apple three months ago, as saying the reducing the number of current Macintosh models by 50 percent could cut Apple's costs and, says Journal reporter Jim Carlton, "give it a chance to find new profit sources that aren't already dominated by so-called Wintel competitors using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software and Intel Corp.'s microprocessors." Speaking to some 4,000 developers for Apple's Macintosh computer, Amelio, who has a doctorate in physics, commented, "We are taking the necessary steps to permanently strengthen our cash position and financial health. I think a year from now, people will look back at this period and wonder what all the fuss was about." Carlton writes Amelio already has cited innovation as crucial to his plan because he eventually wants to restore Apple's ability to command premium prices for premium products, "but," says the paper, "many industry observers don't believe Apple has enough time." Noting Apple reported a $740 million loss, or $5.99 a share, for its fiscal second quarter ended March 29, and its operating losses are expected to continue for several more quarters, Carlton commented, "The new initiatives may be unable to produce significant revenues and profits for years. What's more, there are signs that demand for Apple's core product, the Macintosh, may be fading. While the personal-computer industry's U.S. unit sales jumped nearly 15 percent in the first quarter, Apple's dropped 22 percent." Furthering the difficulty, Apple's next major technological advance - the Copland operating system -- has been delayed until next year and, writes Carlton, "doesn't appear to have many features to differentiate itself from Microsoft's products." Still, some analysts and developers told the Journal that Amelio appears more keenly attuned to Apple's problems and the steps needed to solve them than his predecessors, John Sculley and Michael Spindler, each of whom was after Apple slipped badly. "If anybody can do this, I think he is on the right track," said Fred DeLisio, principal scientist at Digital Sapients Inc., a developer in Pacifica, Calif. And analyst/consultant Tim Bajarin told the paper, "Before today, I gave Apple a 50-50 chance of surviving (as an independent company). "Now, I give them a 60-40 chance. He set in motion vision and direction. Now, we have to see the implementation." Amelio outlined other steps he believes can take Apple beyond the battle of the desktop PC and into new markets, including: 1. A push into the so-called information appliance market of devices that can peruse the Internet's World Wide Web but cost less than $1,000. (Apple is designing its hand-held Newton computer to have wireless access to the Internet.) 2. A Web-browsing version of the Pippin game-and-music player it recently licensed to Japan's Bandai Corp. Amelio said there is great potential for untapped growth, because far less than 10 percent of the world'spopulation has computer access. Judges Hear Net Case Arguments The three-judge panel that will rule on the constitutionality of the new Communications Decency Act that seeks to ban obscene speech on the Internet now have heard final arguments in the case. "This is a criminal statute that carries the penalty of fines and imprisonment and a criminal record," said plaintiff attorney Christopher Hansen of the American Civil Liberties Union. "It is aimed at speech which all parties agree is constitutionally protected speech, at least for adults." As reported, the ACLU is among more than 20 plaintiffs asking the judges to declare the three- month-old act unconstitutional. They claim the law fails to define "indecent" and is vague, overly broad and impossible to comply with. United Press International notes proponents of the act said the decency standards are necessary to protect children from viewing sexually explicit material. In court yesterday, Anthony Coppolino, lead counsel for the Justice Department, said, "The protection of minors is what the government's compelling interest is." Hansen countered, "In the guise of protecting children, we've required that all speech be brought down to level of the most vulnerable minor." UPI says Coppolino likened the Net to cable television and said it should be governed by the same restrictions. Hansen argued, on the other hand, that because of the ease of access and the fact that all users can contribute, the Internet bears little resemblance to television or radio. He said the Internet should have unlimited protection under the First Amendment. "It's entitled to the highest protection because it empowers the most number of speakers." Also Bruce Ennis, a lawyer for another plaintiff, the American Library Association, said the law would be useless in controlling the estimated 30 to 40 percent of sexually explicit material that originates in foreigncountries. Said Ennis, "It's a truly global medium that Congress forgot about. Everything that's posted abroad is instantly available in every home in America." Meanwhile, Randall Mikkelsen of the Reuter News Service notes the judges hearing the challenge grilled government and civil liberties lawyers. "In questioning that ranged from topics including the novel 'Tropic of Cancer,' the 'Bianca's Smut Shack' Internet site and arcane computer jargon," says Mikkelsen, "members of a special three-judge panel wrestled with fundamental issues such as the nature of the Internet and definitions of indecency." Reuters observed the judges' "clearly expressed frustration" with language of the new law. "You're asking us to be the activist judges that some members of Congress excoriate," complained U.S. Third Circuit Appeals Court Chief Justice Dolores Sloviter, in questioning Justice Department Attorney Anthony Coppolino on the definition of what is prohibited communication. "You're asking us to rewrite the statute, to put words into the statute that aren't there." And the ACLU's Hansen found himself being grilled over his position that the law was unconstitutionally vague, as the judges cited existing rules prohibiting indecency broadcast programming. "But," says Mikkelsen, "the judges -- while saying their questioning did not indicate how they might rule on the case -- saved their heaviest interrogation for the Justice Department lawyers. Questions focused on how someone communicating over the computer networks could be sure of avoiding prosecution and the technical feasibility of complying with the law." U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell commented, "In First Amendment cases...the chilling effect of prosecution is something we need to consider." Citing the Justice Department's referral to the FBI of a recent request by a Christian watchdog group that a portion of CompuServe be investigated under the act, Dalzell said there was some urgency to the issue. "We have to do this now," he said. "It (the act) is having effects now." The act, which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence and up to $250,000 in fines, was signed into law Feb. 8 and was immediately the subject of lawsuits. A federal judge in Philadelphia ruled that it can't be enforced until the legal challenge is resolved. UPI observes that while a ruling is not expected for several weeks, Judge Sloviter appeared to sympathize with the plaintiffs when she noted, People are entitled to know what it is they may be prosecuted for." FTC Asked to Probe Web Site The Federal Trade Commission says it will look into an Internet web site that a complaint from a private group contends is luring children to advertisements and marketing surveys by posing as educational. At issue is the Center for Media Education's complaint against the KidsCom web site, operated by SpectraCom Inc. of Milwaukee. The Associated Press reports SpectraCom officials insist their web site does not exploit children. Says AP, "The company does, at one spot on the site, occasionally gather information from children about their likes and dislikes, using 'standard marketing techniques' that site developer Jorian Clarke compared to asking people questions in shopping malls." Clarke told the wire service the information, without the children's names, is passed on to the company that paid for the survey, adding the area on the site that asks these questions is optional, and includes a line encouraging children to get parents' permission. Most of the site is educational or games, she asserts. However, the media education center contends the site "was set up by a marketing firm with the sole purpose of monitoring children's online behavior, collecting personal data and aggressively promoting products," according to president Kathryn Montgomery. Last month the media watchdog group released a report alleging that several firms, including SpectraCom, have designed web sites - places on the Internet where companies or individuals can be reached -- "to capture the loyalty and spending power" of children. AP notes the FTC does not regulate ads for children over the Internet, but its jurisdiction over deceptive market practices does extend to the computer network. The agency plans a conference next month on the issue of privacy in cyberspace, with one day devoted to children's issues. Ziff-Davis Buys Magazine Publishers For undisclosed terms, the Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. has acquired the Sendai Publishing Group and Decker Publications from founder and owner Steve Harris. Based in Lombard, Illinois, Sendai and Decker publish Electronic Gaming Monthly and six other magazines in the video game and electronic entertainment category. Sendai also publishes a variety of buyers guides and theme-specific newsstand annuals, has a leading gaming site on the World Wide Web and operates a touring game showcase. Harris will remain with Ziff-Davis after the sale, says a statement issued by the company. After a transitional period handing over the reins of Sendai and Decker's print publishing operations to the Ziff-Davis' consumer media group, he will join the Ziff-Davis interactive media and development group as vice president of online entertainment. "Sendai is the nation's pre-eminent publisher serving the $7.6 billion market for electronic game software and hardware," says Scott Briggs, president of Ziff-Davis' consumer media group. "It is also one of the fastest- growing publishing companies of any kind. We are extremely excited about the addition of the Sendai and Decker magazines to our very successful titles in the Ziff- Davis Consumer Media Group -- Computer Life, Family PC, and Computer Gaming World. The Sendai magazines are a wonderful complement to our existing positions and extend our reach into the vital teen market." U.S. Challenges China on Piracy The White House is challenging China over copyright piracy, a move to hit $2 billion of Chinese imports with punitive 100 percent tariffs that analysts say could spark a retaliatory trade war. In Washington, reporter Donna Smith of the Reuter News Service quotes U.S. officials as saying dozens of factories in China are producing millions of counterfeit software compact discs, music discs and videos, much of which is exported to third countries. U.S. industries estimate their losses this year to Chinese pirates at about $2.3 billion. Reuters says the U.S. Trade Representative's office is set to publish a list of $3 billion in imports from China that could be hit with punitive duties to punish Beijing for failing to enforce a 1995 agreement to protect U.S. copyrights, patents and trademarks from widespread counterfeiting. Says Smith, "The list -- which is likely to include a wide range of items including toys, sporting goods, textiles and electronics -- will be cut to $2 billion in goods to be slapped with duties in mid-June." The wire service adds the 30-day process is intended to give U.S. companies and other interested parties an opportunity to comment on the list, "but it also gives U.S. and Chinese negotiators time to try to resolve the dispute." (U.S. Trade Representative Lee Sands is in Beijing this week to talk with Chinese officials, but some U.S. trade analysts believe sanctions may be inevitable.) Seagate Settles With IRS Disk drive maker Seagate Technology Inc. has reached a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service over $43 million in back taxes and $28 million in interest allegedly owed by its Conner Peripherals Inc. subsidiary. Reporting from the company's Scotts Valley, California, headquarters, United Press International says the settlement calls for payment of $5.3 million for back taxes and $4.3 million in interest. The wire service quotes Vice President Donald L. Waite as saying, "We are pleased that this case has been brought to a most successful conclusion." Seagate bought rival Conner earlier this year for $1 billion. UPI says the IRS notified Conner in 1994 of the tax payment shortfall for 1989 and 1990 in a dispute over the allocation of income between Conner and its foreign manufacturing subsidiaries. Conner filed a petition with the United States Tax Court in March 1995 contesting the IRS ruling. UPI says Seagate is on track to sell more than $8 billion of computer components this year. HP, Netscape Team on Intranet Hewlett-Packard Co. has agreed to sell Netscape Communications Corp.'s World Wide Web server and Internet-browser software as part of the package of software applications included with HP computer systems. While other computer makers -- such as Compaq Computer Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. -- have struck similar bundling arrangements, "this one involves cooperation on a variety of fronts, such as marketing and product development," reporter Ralph T. King Jr. observes in The Wall Street Journal this morning. "Netscape's customers, for example, can tap H-P's worldwide service and support," King writes, "and the alliance catapults H-P into the race to provide Internet products, something it has done in only a limited way to date, in contrast to rival Sun." The Journal characterizes it as "part of a trend to exploit the accessible, universal features of the Internet by grafting them onto corporate networks." Says King, "The result, commonly referred to as the Intranet, enables users to communicate and collaborate with colleagues anywhere in a way that until recently was possible only with powerful, expensive software, such as (IBM's) Lotus Notes." The paper adds that a company's Intranet allows its employees, and eventually its suppliers and customers, to communicate directly with the company's own databases, often in completely automated fashion. "Another key aspect of the arrangement," says the Journal, "is that the companies will provide Intranet capabilities for computers equipped with either Unix or Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT operating systems." This could "complicate Microsoft's belated attempts to take advantage of the Internet," King comments. Netscape President/CEO James Barksdale told the paper, "We intend to work together to deliver cross-platform solutions, products based on open Internet standards and innovative technology focused on Intranets and collaboration," noting one example is that H-P's and Netscape's electronic-mail systems will be compatible under their alliance. National Semi Buys Cirrus Unit For undisclosed terms, chipmaker National Semiconductor Corp. has agreed to buy chipmaker Cirrus Logic's PicoPower components business. Reporting from Santa Clara, California, United Press International notes Cirrus Logic, has been hit hard this year by declining demand for its advanced design PicoPower chips, which are used in power management applications and function as a sort of "traffic cop" between central processing units and memories within computers. For Nat Semi, says the wire service, the disclosure is its first step since last week's move to hire LSI Logic Corp. executive Brian Halla as its CEO to replace Gilbert Amelio. "Analysts were pleased with Halla's hiring," says UPI, "as it indicated Nat Semi was starting to move out of commodity chips and more toward higher-margin cutting-edge devices." Officials with the companies say the firms have signed only a memorandum of understanding and expect to reach a definitive agreement by the end of the month. Nat Semi and PicoPower have been collaborating since early 1994 with the first generation devices to be announced shortly, UPI notes. ISDN Referral Program Launched Bell Atlantic Corp. has launched a referral program that's designed to promote the use of Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) technology by its residential customers on the Internet. Under the program, Internet service providers (ISPs) and online service providers will receive $15 for each residential customer they refer to Bell Atlantic who signs up for the high-speed digital telephone service. "We believe our new referral program will benefit Internet service providers, customers and Bell Atlantic," says Curt Koeppen, Bell Atlantic's vice president for ISDN. "ISPs need to offer higher speed and higher quality data services to attract and keep customers, consumers want to enjoy the services they spend time and money on and Bell Atlantic wants to give customers another reason to use ISDN at home," Koeppen says. ISDN, recently introduced by Bell Atlantic in the residential market, improves the speed and quality of cybersurfers' online time. The digital service integrates voice, data and video signals on a single, high-speed digital phone line and can support transmissions up to nine times faster than regular analog phone lines. This allows users to quickly download large data files or complex graphics. ISDN provides high-speed access to the Internet as well as access to remote computers and LANs (corporate computer networks). Participants in the referral program will include current or future ISPs and online service providers who support dial-up ISDN service for consumers in at least some part of the Bell Atlantic service area. ISPs may promote Bell Atlantic's ISDN service to their customers in many ways -- such as establishing a hyperlink from their World Wide Web site to Bell Atlantic's home page, sending an e-mail message to their high-volume customers in the Bell Atlantic service area or sending direct mail advertising to prospective customers noting how ISDN service can enhance the customer's use of the ISP's Internet service. ISDN service currently is available to Bell Atlantic residential customers in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia. Bell Atlantic's request to offer ISDN service to consumers in Washington, D.C. is awaiting approval from the D.C. Public Service Commission. Unisys Unveils Aquanta PCs Unisys Corp. is hoping it can make an impact in the PC market with a new line of custom-built machines. The company's Aquanta systems can be ordered in a specific configuration, including processor, storage and operating system options, determined by the customer. The models sport a distinctive "wave" design. The PC or server is built by one person, helping to boost overall quality, says Unisys. Once built, a customized operating system is preloaded into the PC and the system is extensively tested prior to shipping. "The Aquanta products enable customers to order products specific to their needs and rely on truly worldwide service and support from Unisys," says Frank Brandenberg, vice president and general manager of Unisys' PC division. "We deliver quality at a competitive cost by leveraging unique manufacturing processes and working with our partners to offer the latest technology as soon as it is available." "This announcement has more potential than anything I have heard before from Unisys," says Richard Zwetchkenbaum, director of brand research for market researcher International Data Corp. Sony Agrees to Acquire Etak Sony Corporation of America says it has agreed to acquire Etak Inc., a leading developer of digital map data for automobile navigation systems. The deal's terms weren't disclosed. Sony said it expects the acquisition to become effective following the conclusion of customary government reviews. Based in Menlo Park, California, Etak is currently a subsidiary of The News Corporation Ltd. Upon the deal's completion, Etak will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. "Strategically, this acquisition provides Sony with Etak's tremendous expertise in digital mapping and navigation software to partner with Sony's mobile navigation hardware," says Ted Kawai, deputy president of Sony Corporation of America. "This will solidify Sony's position as a leader in mobile navigation." "This commitment on Sony's behalf will be a benefit to both Etak's automotive and non-automotive customers," says George Bremser Jr., Etak's chairman and CEO. "Sony is also interested in expanding the range of our software applications to future platforms for mobile navigation." Etak's licensees include major mobile electronics manufacturers, including Sony, Robert Bosch, General Motors, Delco Electronics, Motorola, Clarion and Pioneer. CompuServe to Rate Internet Content CompuServe Inc. says it has expanded its commitment to the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) rating platform and announced that all CompuServe content on the Internet would be PICS compliant by July 1. Additionally, CompuServe has announced a corporate sponsorship of the Recreational Software Advisory Council on the Internet (RSACi) content- labeling advisory system, a PICS-compliant rating system that will be used to rate CompuServe's Internet content. CompuServe says it will encourage its third-party content providers and users with personal home pages to use the RSACi rating system. RSACi, or RSAC on the Internet, is the objective content-labeling advisory system for the Internet created by RSAC, an independent, non-profit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Besides rating its own content, CompuServe will provide its members worldwide with access to RSACi through Microsystems' CyberPatrol blocking software, already available for free to CompuServe members (GO PATROL). CyberPatrol, the first commercially available parental control software to support the PICS standard, allows consumers to determine the kind of material they choose to experience on the Internet. "CompuServe today strengthened our commitment to empowering the user," says Denny Matteucci, president of CompuServe's Online Services Division. "It provides our users with the tools to shape the online and Internet experience to fit their own values. We will ensure that anyone who wants to use a PICS rating system to rate our content can do so. Further, we are sponsoring RSAC and will serve on its advisory committee because we support independent efforts to rate content without imposing censorship and limiting Internet access." The RSACi rating system is a fully-automated, paperless system that relies on a questionnaire that the Webmaster, who owns/operates a specific Web site, completes at RSAC's home page (http://www.rsac.org). The questionnaire runs through a series of highly specific questions about the level, nature and intensity of the sex, nudity, violence or offensive language (vulgar or hate- motivated) found within the Webmaster's site. Once completed, the questionnaire is then submitted electronically to the RSAC Web server, which tabulates the results and produces the HTML advisory tags that the Web master then places on their Web site/page. A standard Internet browser or blocking device that has been configured to read the RSACi system can recognize these tags, allowing parents who use the browser to either allow or restrict their children's access to any single rating or combination of ratings. DRAM Chip Prices Seen Lower Analysts predict the average price for four-megabit DRAMs (dynamic random access memories) will be $6 this year and the average price for 16-megabit DRAMs will be $24, both down from price levels in 1995. Speaking to seminar in Tokyo, Dataquest senior analyst Jim Handy said today the price declines reflect an oversupply in the market, but noted DRAM makers still are likely to secure sufficient profits from the chips in 1996 because DRAM prices are unlikely to fall below cost. According to the Reuter News Service, Handy said the estimated manufacturing cost for four-megabit DRAMs was $3.24. The four-megabit DRAM price could fall to that cost level if world personal computer shipments in 1996 drop below 45 million units. However, Reuters says, Dataquest expects world PC shipments in 1996 to rise to 72 million from 1995's 60 million. He added that recent declines in DRAM prices were caused by fewer orders from PC makers, but also said if prices fall, that would encourage PC makers to buy more DRAMs this year. Disney Buys Software Studio For undisclosed terms, Walt Disney Co. has acquired Sanctuary Woods' British Columbia entertainment software studio and game development technology. Reporting from Burbank, California, United Press International quotes Disney officials as saying the company will retain most of the 36 employees in Victoria and expects the operation to produce four to six titles annually. Vice President Steve Fields of Disney Interactive Edutainment & Multimedia told the wire service, "This acquisition will help us meet an aggressive schedule of new software title production. The studio, its talented team of artists, programmers and designers and its unique software development tools match Disney's creative vision perfectly." The studio became available when Sanctuary Woods focused development solely on its curriculum-based education products produced at its Toronto and San Mateo, California, studios. Disney noted the technology being acquired is highly compatible with Disney's CD-ROM products and will be utilized throughout Disney Interactive business units. The deal is the second to be announced by Disney since it completed its $19 billion buyout of Capital Cities/ABC Inc. in February. It announced in mid-April it had acquired visual effects studio Dream Quest Images for an undisclosed price. Looney Tunes Headed to CD-ROM Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Virgin Sound and Vision say they have finalized a multi-year agreement to create children's software featuring the Looney Tunes characters. Targeting kids under 12, the titles will be designed to fill a niche for entertainment CD-ROMs for older children. The companies promise that all of titles will feature TV- quality animation and character voices for the Looney Tunes gang, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester & Tweety, Wile E. Coyote, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian and others. The first titles are scheduled for release in 1997. Virgin Sound and Vision and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment say they will collaborate on creative development and marketing strategy. Virgin Sound and Vision will assume responsibility for implementation of all marketing, sales and distribution efforts. "We are delighted to partner with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on the development of such an important global property," says Tom Turpin, CEO of Virgin Sound and Vision. "The Looney Tunes characters have great recognition and appeal among children and adults, and therefore should be well-received by families everywhere." "We feel that Virgin Sound and Vision's dedication to the highest-quality software development and CD-ROM family entertainment is an ideal match with our own goals for Looney Tunes and for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment," adds Dan Romanelli, president of Warner Bros.' Worldwide consumer products unit. "We look forward to bringing our characters to the children's software arena where kids can actively participate with their families." Survey Profiles Cybernauts A new survey of Internet and online service users conducted by A.C. Nielsen finds that cybernauts tend to be young, male, smart and wealthy. Specifically, the study notes that Internet and online service users areyoung males with higher than average household incomes and education who hold professional occupations. Driven largely by a high level of disposable income, households with access to the Internet and online services spend significantly more than their non- wired counterparts on non-consumer packaged products, including: ú 25 percent more in music stores. ú 91 percent more in office supply stores. ú 22 percent more in hardware/home improvement stores. ú 21 percent more in automotive stores. ú 15 percent more in toy stores. ú 78 percent more in electronic stores. ú 29 percent more in department stores. ú 12 percent more in warehouse stores. ú 36 percent more through mail order. ú 17 percent more in pet stores. ú 39 percent more in bookstores. On the other hand, says Nielsen, there's little difference in expenditures for consumer packaged goods, particularly groceries, between the two groups. But the pattern of expenditures among certain categories of dry groceries was very different, notes the market researcher. For example, Internet households spend 24 percent more on breakfast foods and 13 percent more on soft drinks. Surprisingly, wired households spend 10 percent less on coffee than households that don't surf electronically. Nielsen mailed its survey to 40,000 U.S. households. Overall, 24,488 households responded -- a response rate of 61.2 percent. Survey respondents were the primary computer users within each household. Special Notice!! STR Infofile File format Requirements for Articles File Format for STReport All articles submitted to STReport for publication must be sent in the following format. Please use the format requested. Any files received that do not conform will not be used. The article must be in an importable word processor format for Word 7a.. The margins are .05" left and 1.0" Monospaced fonts are not to be used. 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Besides, STReport will not be caught in the old, worn out "downward compatibility dodge" we must move forward. However, if the ASCII readership remains as high, rest assured. ASCII will stay. Right now, since STReport is offered on a number of closed major corporate networks as "required" Monday Morning reading.. Our ascii readers have nothing to worry about. Many grateful thanks in advance for your enthusiastic co-operation and input. Ralph F. Mariano, Editor STReport International Online Magazine EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed Edupage Contents Web Rating System Unveiled FBI "Decency" Inquiry Criticized In CIS Lawsuit Microsoft & NBC To Market Personalized News MicroUnity's "Cray On A Tray" Zenith To Build A Web-TV BBC Goes High-Tech New Anti-Theft Software For Cell Phones Does Information Technology Aid Productivity? Compaq Picks VideoLogic For 3D Graphics Copland Release On Hold Student Charged With Online Child Pornography Apple To Take "Small Steps" For Mankind Prodigy Sold For $250 Million Network Computer Standards Close To Agreement Brewer Turns Broker More Computers = More Pay? PCs In Europe Cost 34% More HP, Compaq To Invest In Flat Panel Start-Up USTA Outlines Plan For Wiring Schools Novices Need Not Apply, Says PSInet New Chip For High-Speed Analog Communications Phone Companies: Untwisted Pair? More Mac Clones "Universal" Computer New Digital Cellular Systems All Set To Go Agriculture Network Sows Seeds Of Success IBM In Home Banking Electronic Banking Could Be Big Business AOL Teams Up For E-Commerce CIO Control Freaks Are Counter- Productive Internet In Africa Horus Software Spells Reliability Attempt To Block Use Of Canadian Satellites Hitachi Plans To Shake Up Laptop Market Nintendo's Next-Generation Video Game Machine WEB RATING SYSTEM UNVEILED The long-awaited PICS (platform for Internet content selection) system is now functional, allowing parents to screen and block content they deem unsuitable for their children. Thirty-nine Internet-related companies plan to offer their customers software that enables them to filter out pages according to their own choice of tolerance level for violence, sex, nudity and language. Web page sponsors can get their sites rated, on a scale of zero (innocuous) to four ("X-rated"), by filling out an electronic questionnaire. Parents can set the level at which content will be blocked and can also block all unrated sites. A password gives parents access to those areas they've blocked for their children. (Investor's Business Daily 10 May 96 A18) FBI "DECENCY" INQUIRY CRITICIZED IN CompuServe LAWSUIT An FBI inquiry into citizens' accusations that CompuServe was violating the Communications Decency Act has been harshly criticized by one of the three judges hearing a suit brought by CompuServe and groups such as the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. The plaintiffs are arguing that the law is unconstitutional because it constrains free speech. The FBI inquiry took place despite the fact that the government had promised to refrain from investigating complaints about online "decency" while the lawsuit was being heard. The plaintiffs dismissed as a "semantic fine quibble" the Bureau's assertion that it had conducted a "review" rather than an "investigation." The Communications Decency Act is intended to make it a crime for "indecent" or "patently offensive" sexual material to be made available to children over computer networks. (New York Times 11 May 96 p8) MICROSOFT & NBC PLAN TO MARKET THE NEWS "The future of TV news is personalized -- it's giving users the ability to draw on a huge source of information that will cater and be customized to personal interests," says the president of NBC Cable. To achieve this new vision, NBC is developing a "circle of cross promotion" for MSNBC, the new venture between Microsoft and NBC. "MSNBC is very much a marketing vehicle. It's a conscious way to use the brand power of a TV network to drive people to become online users and the online service to become a regular part of the way people use television." (Broadcasting & Cable 6 May 96 p43) MICROUNITY'S "CRAY ON A TRAY" MicroUnity Systems Engineering has spent the last seven years developing a microprocessor that uses parallel processing to zip through video, audio and data streams at speeds a thousand times faster than today's chips. "The PC architecture is nearing the end of its life cycle," says Chairman John Moussouris. If all predictions come true, the MicroUnity chip will not only be super-fast -- it will also be super-cheap, inexpensive enough to be used in budget-priced cell phones. And as technology changes, the chips will upgrade easily, simply by loading new software. (Business Week 13 May 96 p78) ZENITH TO BUILD A WEB-TV Zenith Electronics is planning a television set that will incorporate a microprocessor and modem, as well as technology developed by Diba Inc. that allows viewers to surf the Web via a remote control device. (Wall Street Journal 10 May 96 B3) BBC GOES HIGH-TECH The venerable British Broadcasting Corp. is getting a digital makeover -- with plans to spend more than $300 million on new subscription and multimedia channels, on-demand news and sports, and an expanded presence on the World Wide Web. "The BBC is going through a cultural revolution," says a media analyst at Goldman Sachs. The company hopes that the new offerings will help it rebuild a steadily dropping viewership, but some analysts say that scenario is optimistic, given that it's unknown if viewers will be willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for the set-top boxes required to receive the new channels. (Wall Street Journal 10 May 96 A5B) NEW ANTI-THEFT SOFTWARE FOR CELL PHONES AT&T and Bell Atlantic are installing new anti-theft software in their cellular service network computers, designed to prevent rampant "cloning" of cell phones. The authentication software exchanges a series of passwords between the cell phone and the wireless network exchange before a call is placed or received. The system is already installed in AT&T's New York and Florida systems, and Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile has introduced the technology in its New York and orthern New Jersey regions. (Wall Street Journal 10 May 96 B3) DOES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY? Economics Nobel Prize laureate Robert M. Solow suggests that claims of increased productivity from information technology are highly exaggerated: "The hype about productivity has been much greater than the performance. Maybe we have gotten so good at hype that the information revolution seems bigger to us than the electric motor seemed when it was invented. But the electric motor had a big impact on how many shirts you could sew in a day." (New York Times 12 May 96 Sec4 p1) COMPAQ PICKS VIDEOLOGIC FOR 3D GRAPHICS Compaq Computer has selected the U.K. company VideoLogic to supply 3D graphics circuit boards to give Compaq's Presario line of computers "aracade- quality" graphics capabilities. (Financial Times 10 May 96 p19) COPLAND RELEASE ON HOLD Apple Computer will delay until 1997 delivery of its new Copland operating system for the Macintosh, to give the company time to improve Copland's integration with the Internet. "Amelio has expressed his desire to integrate Internet access much more seamlessly with the base operating system, and that wasn't the original design goal for Copland," says the editor of an industry newsletter. In addition, Apple may be considering making Sun Microsystems' Java part of the mix in the same way that Microsoft is embedding Java in its Windows 95 software. (Information Week 29 Apr 96 p15) STUDENT CHARGED WITH ONLINE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY A student at Adelphi University in Long Island, New York, has been charged with using a university computer to retrieve (from computers in Sweden and the Netherlands) photos of children engaged in sex acts and to retransmit the photos to people in the U.S. who requested them. The charge of promoting the sexual performance of a child is a felony and is subject to punishment by up to seven years in prison. (New York Times 11 May 96 p16) APPLE TO TAKE "SMALL STEPS" FOR MANKIND Declaring that his company is at a crosswords where one path will lead it to a "decline into irrelevancy" while the other path will return it to its mission of "changing the world," new Apple CEO Gilbert F. Amelio used his first public strategy speech to promise a series of "small steps" that he says will restore the company to its former prosperity. As part of Amelio's new plan, Apple will focus on "megatrends" (such as the Internet and multimedia products and services) and will refocus and simplify its product lines, which will now be reorganized around four product groups: the Macintosh computer line; the "information appliance" business comprising products under $1000; printers and modems; and the Advanced Technology Group devoted to "alternative platforms" such as the CHRP ("common hardware reference platform") computer that Apple co-designed with IBM. (New York Times 14 May 96 C1) PRODIGY SOLD FOR $250 MILLION IBM and Sears have sold their Prodigy online service for around $250 million to an investor group, recruited by Prodigy's current management team. Mexico's Grupo Carso, owner of telephone giant Telefonos de Mexico, is part of the International Wireless Inc. purchasing group. (Wall Street Journal 13 May 96 B2) Prodigy management will retain their jobs under the sales agreement, and have voiced plans to concentrate on Internet-related services and global marketing. "The new Prodigy is going to be the world," says Prodigy's CEO. (Investor's Business Daily 14 May 96 A8) NETWORK COMPUTER STANDARDS CLOSE TO AGREEMENT IBM, Oracle and Sun Microsystems are working up technical specifications for a class of low-cost Internet appliances that can be used to tap into the Web. The new specifications will be licensed to any appliance maker who wants them. The joint effort is seen as a strategy to avoid a scenario where one company overwhelmingly dominates the market, as is the case with Microsoft and PC operating systems. The technical standards will make it easier for software firms to write applications programs, and will allow manufacturers to use a variety of operating systems or microprocessors, so long as they work with Sun's Java. (Wall Street Journal 13 May 96 B2) BREWER TURNS BROKER Spring Street Brewing Co. soon will be cooking up deals instead of hops, says company founder Andrew Klein. After an initial foray into online stock trading a couple of months ago when Klein was granted SEC approval to offer Spring Street shares for sale via a Web site, Klein now plans to "build the world's first investment bank and brokerage firm dedicated to arranging the public offering of securities through the World Wide Web." His new entity, Wit Capital Corp., will offer businesses "an array of financial advisory services" and "will act as an agent on the public offering of securities through the Internet." (BNA Electronic Information Policy & Law Report 12 Apr 96 p15) MORE COMPUTERS = MORE PAY? A study by two professors at the Wharton School indicates an inverse relationship between workers' and managers' use of computers and pay scales. When managers' use of computers doubled, the workers' salaries increased by 3% annually. Conversely, when employees' computer use doubled, managers' pay rose by 3.5%. The latter results suggest that when computers are introduced into a company's operations, managers are freed from some types of work and are able to take on more complicated duties, which often increases their salaries. (St. Petersburg Times 13 May 96 p13) PCs IN EUROPE COST 34% MORE A new report from IDG Group says that after taxes, PC prices in Europe average 34% higher than the U.S. for the same machine. Still, sales are expected to continue to rise, with an anticipated 6.4 million units sold this year, up from 5.4 million last year. (Investor's Business Daily 14 May 96 A9) HP, COMPAQ TO INVEST IN FLAT PANEL START-UP Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer are among 27 investors in a Silicon Valley start-up that plans to manufacture a prototype of a flat-panel display with full-motion color capabilities. Silicon Video's display measures 1/4-inch thick and uses cathode-ray tube technology. The company expects to have the prototype ready within a year. (Wall Street Journal 14 May 96 B6) USTA OUTLINES PLAN FOR WIRING SCHOOLS The United States Telephone Association has proposed a plan to give schools and libraries free access to the Internet and advanced telecommunications services, to be paid for through a universal service fund that would collect revenues generated through interstate telecommunications services. Providers of the services would pay in an amount based on their interstate retail revenues, and subscribers would pay a 4% to 5% surcharge on their calls. The USTA estimates it will cost between $930 million and $1 billion to link all the facilities over four years. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 8 May 96 A25) NOVICES NEED NOT APPLY, SAYS PSINET PSINet will gear its online access service toward experienced users rather than the mass market, citing the expense of providing customer support to computer novices. "We're going to no longer serve the low-end consumer," says the companies CEO. "We were not making money at that part anyway. If AT&T gives away training to 80 million customers, we'll take their graduates. I can make a billion-dollar company on their crumbs." (Investor's Business Daily 13 May 96 A7) NEW CHIP FOR HIGH-SPEED ANALOG COMMUNICATIONS IBM and Hughes are planning to use a new microchip combining silicon and germanium to develop extremely high-speed analog communications products, such as a small radar system that could be installed in automobiles to help prevent collisions. (New York Times 13 May 96 C6) PHONE COMPANIES: UNTWISTED PAIR? With the Internet increasingly used to provide such traditional phone services as faxing and Videoconferencing, the British consulting group Analysis is urging the phone companies to respond to new competitive realities by breaking themselves into two parts, with one part managing and selling network capacity and the other part offering services, including voice service, news and financial data. (The Economist 11 May 96 p60) MORE MAC CLONES Several Taiwanese firms are gearing up to produce Macintosh clones, giving a boost to Apple efforts to build market share. Umax Group began shipping its high-end clones this month, with systems based on the 150-MHz and 180-MHz PowerPC chips, and IBM's recent agreement to license the Mac operating system will allow it to sublicense MacOS to two Taiwanese system makers. IBM doesn't plan to build the machines itself, but hopes that bundling the Mac software with its PowerPC chip will encourage other component makers to comply with the PowerPC platform, freeing clone makers from exclusive reliance on Apple for parts. (Information Week 6 May 96 p24) UNIVERSAL COMPUTER Saying "this is not a P.C" but rather "an appliance that is dramatically cheaper and easier to use," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison heralded the "network computer" (a cheap and simple alternative to personal computers) as "the first step beyond personal computing, to universal computing." Oracle has announced technology partnerships with a group of about two dozen companies, including Mitsubishi, Nokia, Acer, Motorola, Digital, Cirrus Logic and Corel, that will either manufacture or contribute hardware or software components to a network computer, designed to receive its applications software from the network on an as-needed basis. IBM and Sun are expected to join Oracle and Netscape in an endorsement of standards for the network computer. (New York Times 16 May 96 C2) NEW DIGITAL CELLULAR SYSTEMS ALL SET TO GO Despite lingering questions about the viability of CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, AirTouch Communications has begun offering its Powerband commercial digital cellular service in the Los Angeles area. Meanwhile, Motorola has lined up contracts for CDMA networks in China, Peru and Zambia, and PCS Primeco, a consortium of communications companies, will launch a CDMA system later this year. Some critics have accused Qualcomm, which owns the rights to much of the CDMA technology, of overselling its capabilities, which were initially touted at 20 times the capacity of traditional analog systems. AirTouch says actual increases are more like nine-fold, but that's still an improvement over clogged analog systems. (Wall Street Journal 15 May 96 B6) AGRICULTURE NETWORK SOWS SEEDS OF SUCCESS Forty chemical and agricultural companies are teaming up to develop an intranet and secure Web site that will allow subscribers to access to databases on regulatory and industry issues, conduct electronic data interchange (EDI), and perform electronic funds transfer (EFT) over the network. The PowerAg Network will also provide full access to the Internet. Web site will enable agricultural chemical companies to manage inventory more efficiently, reducing an annual overproduction of $1.5 billion worth of tightly regulated chemicals. "It's eating the industry alive," says the president of the consortium sponsoring the effort. (Information Week 6 May 96 p42) IBM IN HOME BANKING IBM is working with 10 large financial institutions to form a company to provide a complete home-banking service. INET, as the venture is tentatively called, would compete directly with banking services offered by Microsoft and Intuit. (Wall Street Journal 15 May 96 B6) ELECTRONIC BANKING COULD BE BIG BUSINESS A new study by San Francisco-based Killen & Associates predicts electronic transaction revenue growing to more than $10 billion by the year 2000. The company suggests that rather than just concentrating on the payment side of electronic commerce, however, banks and others should help merchants with order fulfillment and shipment -- markets that are still up for grabs. (Investor's Business Daily 16 May 96 A8) AOL TEAMS UP FOR E-COMMERCE America Online has cut deals to license encryption, digital signature, and electronic transaction and funds transfer technologies from a variety of companies, including CyberCash, IBM infoMarket, RSA Data Security, Terisa Systems and VeriSign. "These new relationships will provide the building blocks for a secure electronic commerce platform," says AOL's VP of product marketing. The online service plans to integrate the electronic commerce technologies into both its online service and its Global Network Navigator Internet access service. (Investor's Business Daily 16 May 96 A9) CIO CONTROL FREAKS ARE COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE A Forrester Research report says that businesses that force workers to give up their favorite software tools in order to conform to a company technology standard may be shooting themselves in the foot. "Out in the business trenches, people need to solve problems yesterday. They will grab the tools that work to get the job done. Flexibility and responsiveness are more important than a corporate-wide infrastructure policy," says the report's author. He warns CIOs to go slow in adopting technology standards, particularly when it comes to the Internet, because "no one knows how the Internet market is going to shake out." (Investor's Business Daily 15 May 96 A6) INTERNET IN AFRICA Speaking by satellite to a conference in Johannesberg, U.S. vice president Al Gore announced a five-year program to improve Africa's access to the Internet. Details of the program, estimated to cost about $15 million, are being finalized. Ollivetti CEO Carlo di Benedetti told the conferene: "The developing world now has a rare opportunity to make a quantum leap ... to close the gap between rich and poor, not through traditional industrialisation, but by joining at the same level in exchange of skills and know-how." (Financial Times 15 May 96) HORUS SOFTWARE SPELLS RELIABILITY Researchers at Cornell University have developed a network reliability system called Horus, which provides a set of software tools that can be tailored to specific redundancy needs, such as data encryption or communications failure. Programmers can choose which properties their system actually needs, and custom-designed blocks can be developed for special circumstances. < http://www.cs.cornell.edu/Info/Projects/HORUS/ >. (Scientific American May 96 p64) ATTEMPT TO BLOCK USE OF CANADIAN SATELLITES MCI Communications, AT&T and EchoStar Satellite all have filed additional complaints this week with the FCC about proposals made by rivals Tele- Communications Inc. and TelQuest Ventures that cite Ottawa's refusal to allow American companies to beam their programs into the United States as cause for the FCC to deny the application. (Toronto Financial Post 16 May 96 p3) An ex-FCC official says the American regulator is unlikely to approve the use of four Canadian satellites by US-based TelQuest Ventures and Tele- Communications Inc. to beam signals to the American market unless Canada's market is opened up to U.S. services. (Montreal Gazette 15 May 96 G3) HITACHI PLANS TO SHAKE UP LAPTOP MARKET Hitachi Ltd. is launching its new notebook line this week, with machines built for connectivity (the C series) priced between $2,000 and $4,000, and multimedia machines (the M series) costing from $2,400 to $5,500. One way they plan to differentiate themselves is by cutting their product update cycle to six months: "What we're saying is that every six months we will do major launches. The market is going to be shocked by that. Everybody has talked about bringing it down from a year to nine months. But we're bringing it straight down to six months," says Hitachi PC's CEO. (Investor's Business Daily 15 May 96 A6) NINTENDO'S NEXT-GENERATION VIDEO GAME MACHINE Nintendo's new 64-bit video game player will be available in the U.S. this fall for about $250, with performance levels substantially higher than those possible on current personal computers. With industry analysts expressing skepticism that standalone single-player game players will prove competitive against multi- player gaming via the Internet, Nintendo of America chief executive Howard Lincoln responds: "Like everyone else in the Industry we have an Internet strategy, but we can't say what it will be yet." (New York Times 16 May 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... 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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: ). So in order to keep in contact with people, I had to devise a system that would enable my clients and staff to reach me when on location. Locally, I use numeric pagers for these ease of use and low cost. But for myself and a couple others, we have nationwide pagers and cellular phones. For the pager, we chose the Socket PageCard. This allows anyone to send a message via the Internet to the pager, have the pager go off and then insert the pager, which happens to be a PC Card device, into a laptop or PDA and receive the text of the page. And while the PageCard does have an LCD display, it is limited to one line for the message, making it really hard to track information in a timely manner. When the page is received, it downloads into the memory of the laptop or PDA and can be extracted into a database of tasks. For the laptops users, it goes into a FileMaker Pro database. For Newton MessagePad users, it goes into a NewtDB database or a NotePak todo list. This system has been the best solution as we can be reached at anytime. Then fitted with a cellular phone, we can make a phone call or use a PC Card cellular-compatible modem to send and receive e-mail and files from the Internet and online services (we use CompuServe for most stuff, only bringing in AOL and Microsoft Network for specific purposes). I choose to use the Motorola Power PCMCIA 14.4 modem for my cellular use as it works with all of the devices I use on the road. For laptop use, we can use a simple FileMaker Pro database to generate invoices and price quotes to get information into the system right away. Our use of paper is mostly print outs and faxes that need to be sent and received. Sometimes, in a critical situation, we'll have a stack of sticky notes around, but that's about it. We always have an Iomega Ditto 800 parallel port tape backup with each person on the road for those times when a backup is needed. Our choice of programs for backups is limited, considering we run Windows 95 on almost all of the notebooks and a restore in a disaster is not pretty. We hope that our requests to Cheyenne to make ArcSolo for Win 95 much more capable in its support for external tape drives. We are looking at using external storage solutions like Zip drives and the newer EZ135 format from SyQuest (which we use back at the offices), but they only work for common data files, requiring us to reinstall programs. We also have one Toshiba laptop that is running MS NT Server 3.51 for network connections and other purposes. It has disk images off many programs on it that we can copy off, along with an internal CD-ROM drive. The laptop is not ours (yet), so we have to be picky of who gets it and for what purpose. It's highly useful and we hope to get larger hard drives to be able to get NT on more laptops, so that each person can have the same configuration. Limitations like the availability of CD-ROM drives is something that still needs to be addressed. We have the capability of sending and receiving data on the laptops, but most of the synchronizing of what we've done is taken care of when we get back to the offices. Our database of choice is Access 2.0, even though most of the machines are running Win95. This is because we have many programs that we use with clients, who have not all moved to Win95 (just yet). Also, the conversion of some programs we have written are compiled to a royalty-free EXE file, which has no reason to be under Win95 unless all clients are Win95 and using the same program. While it has some limitations, Access 2.0 is fine for our needs until we get some time to convert databases to Access 7.0 for Win95. CONCLUSION So you now see the kind of life I lead - a very busy one! As my career of being a network consultant winds itself down, my experience with this part of the computer industry will be translated into a lot of articles to help those who manage networks. And freeing more of my time is something I am really looking forward to, expanding the thing I love the most - writing about technology. Atari: Jaguar/Computer Section Dana Jacobson, Editor From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" It's mid-May. where is the Spring weather (other than an occasional day)? Sheesh, I realize that I'm in New England, but the warm weather should be the norm right about now. It's been one of those weeks where not much is happening on the home front. This is usually frustrating, but fairly predictable. What made this week worse was the fact that I received my annual budget proposals package at work. If you've ever had to do a budget proposal, you'll understand my being a little cranky. As per usual, we're asked to cut expenses, yet again this year. Of course, you can't cut some services that may be costly and unnecessary because there's always "someone" who doesn't like the idea. Not to mention that your department's workload keeps increasing and the demands keep changing. And then I'm supposed to sound "up" in these pages? Hehehe.... Speaking of positive attitudes, there's a potential new entrepreneur who is considering a new Atari hard copy magazine. I included his online comments and ideas below. As an Atari user and past & present subscriber to almost every U.S. Atari magazine available, I'd love to see another magazine cover my computer of choice. However, I hope that this gentlemen takes a long hard look at a variety of factors, including the historical factors of Atari magazines before making his decision. No, I'm not saying he shouldn't start a magazine. I am saying that doing so will not be easy; and many others have come and gone before him - some with zero to afew issues to show for it. If the magazine happens, I'll look forward to reading it. If it's decided that it's not possible, that will be fine also. Regardless, I thought his comments & ideas were worthwhile and I hope to learn more in the near future. Until next time... High Hopes STR Focus NEW ATARI MAGAZINE ON THE HORIZON? Let me introduce myself. My name is Thomas (TJ) Ferreira and if you have not noticed lately in the Atari newsgroups that I have been posting notes about a possible new Atari based magazine that I may be producing. Here are the letters I have posted thus far: #1 message Hello there folks! I am doing a little research and thought the newsgroups would be a great place to start. I have been toying with the idea for years to produce an Atari based magazine and would like to get some feedback from all you Atarians out there. Here in North America we do have (2) very fine Atari based magazines; Atari ST Informer from USA and Current Notes from Canada. I want to feel the waters and see if the current market would receive well a new and fresh look at an Atari based magazine. I have many very good, fun, and new ideas for this Atari magazine and am almost to the point of jumping aboard and joining the Atari magazine crowd. This magazine will mostly cater to the Atari computer line but will have some info for the gamers at heart. If you are one that currently subscribes to other Atari magazines and would most likely subscribe to a new magazine, I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!! Please email me at: tj@godfather.com Just let me know your thoughts and if you truly believe you would be a potential subscriber. Thanks for help and look forward to many many responses. I would also love to hear from other Atari based magazines on there ideas and insights of the Atari magazine market. Thanks Again!!!! Thomas Ferreira #2 Message I have had this message posted online for a couple days and have had a good amount of responses. If you have not responded so far my email about your ideas and thoughts of this new magazine, THEN I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. I wish to hear your ideas and responses. Do you want to keep the Atari platform ALIVE and WELL?? Then respond and be heard. I want this magazine to happen for me, for you, for advertisers, and for all computer enthusiasts. This Atari platform is FUN and we have years of life left right now if we all work together. You never know, if we keep the ball rolling long enough, someone or some company may bring back the Atari concept! Would it not be great if someone acquired the rights to say the never release ST BOOK notebook that Atari was producing and revamp slightly for today's market!! I would buy one for sure. Anyway, I want to hear from you and need the further data to get the magazine going. EMAIL TODAY!!!!! Anyway, as you can tell I am actively collecting data so I can make this possible venture a reality. Since you are still dealing with Atari product, do you believe you would be interested in this new magazine to: A.) Advertise B.) Subscribe C.) Sell Retail if you are a dealer D.) Make available to your user groups if you are part of a club etc... I want to make sure enough readers and advertisers are out there for this new magazine. If you develop products, I would also like to discuss possible special subscription rates for your registered users. If they buy your product, they also get special rates on this new magazine, etc... Ideas like this so we can all benefit and keep the user informed. I have many dealer/developer ideas I would like to use when the time comes and would like to discuss.... Anyway, just pop me a note about your thoughts on this project and we will go from there. Thanks, Thomas Ferreira Jaguar Section NBA Jam TE Review! - Nintendo 64 News! Atari Web Site Ranked in Top 5%! Defender 2000 Easter Egg! And More... From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is! I'm not a big local newspaper (Boston Globe and the Boston Herald) during the week, but I do enjoy the USA Today. I don't often see many articles pertaining to video gaming, but since E3 is upon us, there was an articleconcerning to the pending release of the Nintendo 64 machine this fall. However, after reading the article, it seemed to me that the author was focusing more on the viability of the game console market more than the N64 machine. The article got me thinking more about the Jaguar (it's "failure") and the other systems. None of the current game console systems have taken the world by storm, including Sony's Playstation (supposedly the highest ranked system available). The article did speculate about Nintendo's chances for success with their new N64 system coming this fall. The author felt that this "first" big 64-bit system (excuse me, but apparently you're not aware of the Jaguar!) was going to be extremely powerful and capable of "the best". We've all read similar rhetoric for past systems, and will for any in the future. However, the points that caught my eye was the future of console gaming and the effects of PC gaming on the consoles. Has the era of console gaming come and gone, again? The success and failures of the current systems "seems" to bear this out. Will the N64 meet with the anticipated success (read "hype") or will it be met with moderate success? With the name Nintendo to back it up, this new machine may be more successful than its predecessors, but I'm not sure. More and more people are purchasing computers these days. That's a heavyinvestment. Do you spend another $250 on a console and then subsequent $40-$80 games; or do you purchase games for the existing computer at a considerably less cost? For the average consumer, this answer is a simple one. I believe that consumers will eventually, more sooner than later, focus on computer games rather than the console ones. It may be a choice of cost, quality, or convenience. The market seems to be heading in thisdirection, but I could be wrong. So, what does all of this have to do with Atari and the Jaguar? Maybe this concept has played a role in the "failure" for the Jaguar to catch on. Surely, Atari had a major role as well. But, did this "trend" toward PC gaming enter the minds of those at Atari and influence their decision to downsize the Jaguar support? We'll probably never know for sure. I just thought that I'd throw the idea out there and see what you thought. Comments? Until next time... Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News! Atari Web Site Wins Recognition! Atari Corporation is Rated in the Top 5% Sender: todd@lycos.com Congratulations! Greetings! We're very glad to tell you that the editors of Point have reviewed your home page for our "Top 5% of the Web" catalog. Your page will now be listed with other great sites on Point, with the review by our editors and a direct link to your site. (You can see our reviews at http://www.pointcom.com) Point is a free service which rates and reviews only the best, sharpest, and funniest home pages on the World Wide Web. Our ratings and reviews have been featured on CNN and in many publications around the world, including our new Macmillan book "The World Wide Web Top 1000." A Point review should increase your exposure and attract new visitors to your site. We invite you to display Point's pretty-darned-prestigious "Top 5% of the Web" badge. It's available in the badge directory at: http://www.pointcom.com/badges/ And we invite you to link back to us at: http://www.pointcom.com Also, we've recently launched Point Now!, which offers details of daily events across the Web, along with new sites, contests and world news. Please let us know about new features on your site that you'd like to see featured in such a calendar. Here are a few questions people commonly ask about joining the Top 5%: Q: Do I need to do something now to have my review posted? A: No. Your site has already been reviewed and placed in our catalog. Q: Is this one of those Ed McMahon sweepstakes scams, where everybody in the world gets this letter saying they're a big winner? A: Nope. Point really does choose only the best sites on the Internet. If we didn't pick only the best sites, we'd have nothing to offer our users. Q: Point, McKinley, Riddler... jeepers, tons of people are sending out badges and logos. What gives? A: It's true: lots of people are on this bandwagon. If we might blow our own horn a bit, Point was the first to offer this service and we're still the only service to emphasize quality, not mass listings. We think that makes our badge something special. Q: Isn't this badge just a way for you to get a lot of free advertising? A: Nope. We are a commercial service, but the Point badge should benefit you. It won't automatically make your site a hit, but it will tell visitors it's worth their while to stop and look around. Posting or not posting the badge is entirely up to you. Q: Please, I want to know more! A: For tons more straight talk about Point and its ratings system, check our cheerful FAQ at http://www.pointcom.com/gifs/welcome/ Thanks for your time -- and again, congratulations on your fine site! Sincerely, Todd Whitney Point Communications Director of Network Relations http://www.pointcom.com 212/674-0200 x155 212/674-2700 fax Nintendo's N.64 Unit Unveiled Things are heating up in the video game wars as Nintendo plans finally to unveil its next generation of game systems, the long-awaited N.64 machine. The debut is set for next week at Los Angeles' Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as E3. Business writer Evan Ramstad of The Associated Press says Nintendo actually plans to grab the spotlight by introducing N.64 on Wednesday, a day before the convention opens. "The company, which trails Sega and Sony, needs the N.64 to help it regain the No. 1 spot it once held in the video game business," Ramstad comments. "So the company is using marketing strategy as well as technology to achieve its goal." Word is the machine will be priced around $200 to $250, which "could force Sega and Sony to lower prices on their machines, which came out last fall at $300," Ramstad says. AP says Sony's Playstation has dominated the first months of sales. (The company a few weeks ago claimed to have shipped 1 million units to U.S. retailers.) Sega, meanwhile, said it has sold 400,000 units of its Saturn machine in the United States. Sales jumped after it cut Saturn's price last month to $250. Says Ramstad, "Many video game owners are believed to have been waiting for Nintendo's product so they can make a comparison before buying an advanced system." Sega's Saturn and Sony's Playstation are 32-bit machines that play games from compact discs like those in stereos or personal computers. But Nintendo will be a 64-bit system that plays games from custom magnetic cartridges. Sony Looks to Sell Game Unit Sony Corporation of America says it has engaged SBC Warburg, an investment banking firm, to assist it in evaluating all strategic options with respect to its interest in Psygnosis Ltd., including the possible sale of the video game developer and publisher. Psygnosis, based in Liverpool, England, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. "In a highly competitive market, Psygnosis' developmental technologies and marketing skills have distinguished the company as a leading-edge software developer and publisher," says Ted Kawai, deputy president of Sony Corporation of America and a Psygnosis director. "However, Sony's strategic imperative is now centered on developing its successful PlayStation business, whereas Psygnosis' strengths are as a multi-platform publisher." Psygnosis, the largest developmental studio in Europe, has created and published more than 100 titles for a variety of computer and video game platforms. Current titles include Destruction Derby and WipeOut, which together have sold more than 1 million units across all platforms worldwide. In the coming year, the company is scheduled to release 50 new stock keeping units (SKUs), representing 23 new titles, for the key platforms it supports: Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PC CD-ROM. LEGO CD-ROM Games Planned The LEGO Toy Co. and Mindscape Inc. have announced the first title in their agreement to develop and market a line of CD-ROM games for children. Developed by Mindscape and marketed under the LEGO brand name, Adventures on LEGO Island is a role-playing adventure game in which kids ages 6 to 12 solve a series of missions as they interact, explore and build to in a world filled with LEGO characters. Adventures on LEGO Island is scheduled for release in spring 1997. No price has been announced. "LEGO toys are a childhood staple found in millions of homes around the world," says John Moore, Mindscape's CEO. "Our goal in translating LEGO brand to a digital medium is to preserve all the time-tested fun and fantasy role-playing aspects of classic LEGO System play themes, while adding a new dimension of interactivity and first-person involvement." "The LEGO CD-ROM game will reflect the values of our classic product line, but will allow children to immerse themselves in LEGO toys in a new and exciting way," adds Richard A. Garvey, vice president of marketing for LEGO Systems Inc. CD-ROM Game Now a TV Pilot Ground Zero Productions says its live-action CD-ROM game, TERROR T.R.A.X., has become the first interactive computer game to be picked up for development as a prime-time television series. Renny Harlin, whose credits include the films "Die Hard II," "Nightmare On Elm Street IV" and "Cliffhanger," will direct and produce, and Geena Davis will executive produce the pilot for Paramount Television through their production company, The Forge. The TERROR T.R.A.X. game and television series both feature elite undercover police officers who battle against the forces of evil. Operating under the mission to Trace, Research, Analyze and eXterminate, the high- tech officers respond to emergency calls regarding vampires, ghouls and other undead. Ground Zero notes that the television series will be produced in a linear format, presenting ongoing episodic stories and featuring the game's characters and milieu. Interactive game designer and feature film/television writer Flint Dille of Ground Zero Productions created the TERROR T.R.A.X. CD- ROM and will executive co- produce the pilot. The TERROR T.R.A.X. game is published by Grolier Electronic Publishing Inc. Jaguar Game Title STR Review - "NBA Jam Tournament Edition" Available Now By Frank Sereno Developed by: High Voltage Software Published by: Atari Corporation Price: $57.99 Cartridge game "Welcome to N-B-A Jam!" shouts the game$s announcer and then you are ready for ACTION! NBA Jam Tournament Edition brings arcade excitement and awe- inspiring athletic action to the Atari Jaguar. This game is a tour de force of the programming prowess of Adisak Pochanayon and the crew at High Voltage Software. The premise of the game is that NBA teams are having a 2-on-2 tourney. Each team consists of three players with one on the bench available as a substitute at the end of each quarter. If you can defeat all twenty-seven teams (Vancouver and Toronto were not in the league when the arcade original was released), you earn the NBA Jam Trophy and the opportunity to play many special teams and experiment with new options. Defeating all twenty-seven teams will be an arduous, but fun task! The game features gorgeous graphics and uses fluid animation. Only one half of the court can be seen at a time, so the "camera" pans along with the ball. Often players are off-screen that makes defense very challenging, especially when players break out early on a rebound for a home run pass. NBA Jam TE features attention to small details with cheerleaders in the corners, scorekeepers at center court and more. The visual effects are impressive and the dunks are amazing. Adding to the gaming excitement is the presence of an enthusiastic announcer. He'll shout "boom-sha-ka-locka" after a dazzling jam or twisting layup or intone "From downtown" on a three-point try. Occasionally he will announce that a shot was missed when it was made, but having listened to Harry Caray announce Cubs games, I'm used to announcer mistakes. It just adds to the realism, heh. The crowd noises and grunts of the players add to the realism of the game. The music is rather generic and isn't equal to the quality of the game's other features, but it is acceptable. The gameplay is quick, fast-paced and fun. NBA Jam TE supports the Atari Team Tap so up to four human players can frenetically compete for basketball dominance. The game features Head-to-Head mode against human or computer opponents, Team Game that allows two players to be teammates against the computer, and Practice mode that allows perfecting of passing, shooting and jamming skills. You can customize many features of the game through the options menu. The cartridge has a battery-backed memory that will record your progress in the tournament mode. The cartridge recognizes when you are playing a game against a human opponent and when you are playing against the computer in the tournament. The game's controls are very simple and accurate. NBA Jam TE uses the directional pad for controlling movement and the A, B and C buttons for initiating actions. The B button activates turbo mode on both defense and offense. Using the turbo button in combination with the other buttons increases the player's chances of success in the intended action (shot, steal, block or rebound). The A button launches a shot if you have the ball on offense or will cause the player to jump for a rebound if he is not in possession of the ball. On defense, the A button is used to block shots or rebound. The C button is used to pass on offense or to make a steal attempt on defense. Using an A-B combo while driving the hoop can reward you with a spectacular jam. NBA Jam has always been noted for its cool codes. These codes allow the use of secret players or game modes. It's neat to play the game as Bill or Hillary Clinton or Benny the Bull. Who knows what codes you may discover in the game! The Jaguar version even contains some exclusive codes, including Leonard Tramiel as a secret player. Here's a partial listing of Jag codes: Partial List of Cheats for the Jaguar Version of NBAJ TE Standard Cheats Team Substitutions at Player Substitution Screen Hold DOWN+C+A at screen Cheats entered at Tonight's Match-Up BABY MODE babudlr SHOT % ON dudbu QUICK HANDS lrabrl GOALTENDER ruddru STRONG MEN rulrbda FIRE POWERUP draabl TURBO POWERUP bbddaaul OFFENSE PUP aubdblr 3 POINT PUP uddllru DUNKS PUP rlbaba PUSH PUP bradarb PUSH BOTH PUP dudullllaa PUSH OTHER PUP dlrullllab TELEPORT PASS drraadllrb HIGH SHOTS ulldruabaaad SPEED PUP uuddlrllba SLIPPERY COURT badabrrrrr BIG HEADS uca SECRET CHARACTERS For secret character cheats, '[' = space. Enter initials while pressing appropriate fire and holding option for that initial. "N" means any fire with no option. For example, to play as Larry Bird enter "B" while holding option and fire A, then enter "R" while holding option and fire C, then enter "D" while holding option and fire A. CHEAT 'RBG',A,A,A,BobG ; HVS PEOPLE!!! CHEAT 'KJG',B,B,N,Kerry CHEAT 'ALP',C,B,A,Adisak CHEAT 'DJD',A,B,C,Damion CHEAT 'K[M',C,C,C,Morty CHEAT 'HAM',A,N,A,Harold CHEAT 'RJR',C,A,N,Rivett ;Jamie Rivett CHEAT 'SAL',N,C,A,DiVita ;Sal Di Vita CHEAT 'MJT',A,N,A,Turmell ;Mark Turmell CHEAT 'BRD',A,C,A,BIRD ;Larry Bird [NBA.] CHEAT 'BLZ',C,N,C,BLAZEKOWSKI ;Carol Blazekowski [NBA.] CHEAT 'BNY',C,N,B,BENNYBULL ;Benny (Bull Mascot) [NBA.] CHEAT 'HGO',A,C,N,HUGOHORNET ;Hugo (Hornet Mascot) [NBA.] CHEAT 'CRN',N,B,A,CRUNCHWOLF ;Crunch (Wolf Mascot) [NBA.] CHEAT 'GOR',B,B,N,SUNSGORILLA ;Suns Gorilla (Mascot) [NBA.] CHEAT 'HC[',N,B,N,HClinton ;Hillary Clinton CHEAT 'CIC',B,N,A,BILLCLINTON ;Bill Clinton CHEAT 'ROY',N,A,B,PRINCECHARLES ;Prince Charles CHEAT 'RAY',N,A,B,Danny ;Weasel [Acclaim.] CHEAT 'AIR',B,N,C,Eric ;Air Dog [Acclaim.] CHEAT 'XYZ',A,B,B,Alex ;Alex [Acclaim.] CHEAT 'DAN',A,B,N,Kabuki ;Kabuki [Acclaim.] CHEAT 'HVY',B,N,A,HEAVYD ;Heavy D CHEAT 'JAZ',A,A,C,JAZZYJEFF ;Jazzy Jeff CHEAT 'WIL',N,B,C,FRESHPRINCE ;Will "Fresh Prince" CHEAT 'SOX',A,N,B,FRANKTHOMAS ;Frank Thomas CHEAT 'MKD',C,N,C,MIKED_BB ;Mike D [Beastie Boys] CHEAT 'ADR',B,C,N,ADROCK_BB ;AdRock [Beastie Boys] CHEAT 'MCA',N,B,B,MCA_BB ;MCA [Beastie Boys] CHEAT 'FIL',B,A,B,PhilG CHEAT 'PAY',N,N,C,LPacey CHEAT 'CRL',C,A,N,Correll CHEAT 'FAR',A,N,N,Faran CHEAT 'KC[',N,A,N,Kristine CHEAT 'LAT',N,C,B,LeonArdTramiel CHEAT 'THE',C,A,B,Theinvanich CHEAT 'SR[',N,N,A,ShawnR CHEAT 'WAN',B,N,B,Wanat CHEAT 'GUN',C,C,A,Gunter CHEAT 'SET',N,A,B,SethR ----- "Extra Jag Cheats" ----- Get Extended Roster Hold 1+5+9 as select screen appears Defeated 26 teams Hold 2+4+6 as select screen appears Defeated 27 teams Hold 4+7+8 as select screen appears "Extra Match-Up Cheats" SHRUNKEN HEADS uuubcaaaaaa SMALL BALL rrrrrrbbb SMURF GAME abcddddddd FLAME GAME alldraabbl 32X DOOM MODE abccbaabccba "CD" MODE cdcdcdcdcd Story: L1469 at attract mode roster from Pad 0 Adisak Attack: Extended Roster + Baby Mode + Wait NBA Jam TE is a great game and a wonderful addition to the Jaguar software library. If you enjoy sports, this is a must have in your collection. The unfortunate news is that NBA Jam TE appears to be the last game that High Voltage and Adisak will ever do on the Jaguar. It is very discouraging to see another developer that has learned the Jaguar's intricacies and harnessed its power has been forced to move to more profitable platforms. Graphics 9.0 Sound FX/music 9.0/7.0 (tunes were a bit bland to my taste) Control 9.0 (very responsive and accurate) Manual 9.0 (easy to read, chock full of good information) Entertainment 10.0 (I LOVE THIS GAME!) Reviewer's Overall 9.0 (The best sports game on the Jaguar) Jaguar Cheats, & Hints STR InfoFile - Solving Those Riddles! Similar to those other two easter eggs (NOLAN, OVINE), just enter "BEEST" as your name for the scoretable. You'll hear an acknowledging "baaaaaah!"as the score table is displayed. During play (D2K-mode) you can press "3" to advance one level or "6" to enter warp. Have fun! ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! PEOPLE... ARE TALKING On CompuServe compiled by Joe Mirando 73637,2262 Hidi ho friends and neighbors. If you read last week's column, you may remember that I mentioned my new "neighbor", Alejandro Aguilar. Of course I didn't mention his last name because I hadn't gotten his permission to show you the email he sent me. The problem was that, when I tried to reply to thank him for his email, I got a message from the Internet mail server that said that the email was undeliverable. Well, Alejandro read that too and replied right away. He told me that it was okay to let you in on his thoughts and opinions, so I'm going to re-print some of his message: "My name is Alejandro Aguilar and I am writing this letter from Costa Rica, in Central America. Since I have access to Internet I am looking for information for my favorite computer system (another lonely Atarian). Since I found STReport I read your column with great interest, because of the useful information that the forums provide me. I also looked in FTP's for old copies of the magazine to read more from the ATARI world. It's a shame that I don't have access to a forum like the one on CompuServe, for help and guidance. Here in my country, the Atari community is very small (like in the rest of the world, I suppose). We are dispersed in these days, but I will want to join us again. This is the reason for the quest for information: The Ataris are not Dead !!!!!. Thanks to you and the other Atarians that believe in and continue supporting our Atari Computers. I'd like to make a few comments about a post by Richard Brown and "printed" in your column of March 8, 1996 about ST emulation on other platforms and developing programs for that platforms in this way: The Atari Computers - and its programmers - are known for their efficiency in making fast and efficient programs. For example, the Page Stream 2.2b that I use on my standard 1040 STe (4 MB of RAM) runs at the same speed (and in some aspects faster) as the Corel Draw 5.0c that I use in my job on a 486/33 Mhz. (without counting the fancy special effects and the extended drawing capacities of C.D. and the D.T.P. functions of P.S. the programs are very similar). The Atari computers (and clones of course) had a very compact operating system (256K in the ST's, 512K in the Falcon), versus aprox. 10-30MB or more for System 7.5 on the Mac or Windows 95 on that infamous INTEL computers (Gateputers maybe?), not counting the time that these computers need to load their respective operating systems (obviously their O.S.'s can't charge totally in RAM, augmenting the time when I need to access a function - like opening a directory window for example - by accessing that function from disk). Since TOS is accessible all the time from ROM (or RAM in the case of MAGIC and MAGICMAC), and the structure is much simpler (and smaller) than Windows/System 7.5, the performance of an ST computer with a less powerful processor is better. If you see at the hardware point of view, the ST's are still winning, because of their architecture. All the components (video, memory, ports, interfaces, etc.) are here. They don't have to wait to load modules (read drivers) for the video card, mouse, hard disk, printer, keyboard, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., ;-) that takes processor time and makes the O/S complex and slowwwwww. At this point the ST's are the only computers that can use accelerators made totally by software !!!!!. The Atari Emulators for running ST/TT/Falcon programs on other platforms seem to improve the execution of the Atari programs, at least in the area of speed. Only translating the simplicity of the ST's via the emulators does the trick. MagicMac does that by following very strict TOS programming conventions, and Gemulator does it by making programs "think" that they are running on a plain 1040STf/e. If someone writes a program for a particular application that runs quicker on an Atari computer, and can compete with, or better, outperform an application running in a PC and/or MacIntosh computer, why not use an application like a MagicMac to "port" a program to other platform and "accelerate" that without much effort?. I have a project that involves the use of a GEMmulator on my Office's computer for developing programs for internal use, in many cases in a quicker manner with my ST programming tools than using those Windows tools and conventions. Another advantage of doing programs in this way is the instantaneous protection that my programs are going to have - if someone wants to run my programs, he needs the Gemulator card and program ;-) -. Programs developed with GFA Basic, for example, that "fly" in my 1040STe, will run even faster in a Pentium "Gatesputer" with the emulator. For the facts described above, I think that Richard Brown can do whatever he comments in his post, and I believe, like him, that MagicMac can serve as a program accelerator and not only as a simple emulator. I appreciate your efforts in maintaining your People... Are Talking column and I hope that your column continues for many years more, as our Atari computers too. I would like to continue establishing contact with you by writing additional comments about topics published in your column, something like this, you know." Well folks, they you have it... The first Internet message published in this column. I know, I know, it's not like man landing on the Moon or anything, but you've got to take your victories where you can find 'em, right? Well, let's get on with the purpose of this column... All the great news, hints, tips, and info available every week right here on CompuServe. From the Atari Computing Forums Rosanna Van Gelder asks: "Can anyone help my son? He has an Atari Falcon 030 and tells me his hard drive crashed and he cannot reformat it. I download the files: HDX503, EPRO210 & Epro 230. But these do not help. It says on screen: "Boot corrupted" Any help or advice?" Simon Churchill tells Rosanna: "The Message "Boot Corrupted" mean's the very first sector or bit of the hard disk is either damaged or as it say's corrupted. It would be wisest to either purchase a commercial program like Diamond Edge 2 which can examine and possably fix bug's like this or have a ST Repair company have an examination of the Unit." Michael Westeroth asks for help with MagicMac: "I have some problems with MagicMac, to get some files ASCII from MagicMac via Clipboard to MacOs. The clipboard evrytime is empty when I go to MacOs." Mark Kelling tells Michael: "The Clipboard you save to while in MagicMac is the Atari Clipboard, _not_ the Mac one! Look in your MAGIC_C folder and you will find a CLIPBRD folder. This is where whatever you saved while in MagicMac will be found. It would be nice if a future update to MagicMac would combine both clipboards wouldn't it?" Steven Gaskell posts: "I have a gemulator 4 which I use on my pentium 100 which has a cheap 16 bit sound card and matrox millennium graphics card. I works reasonably well with serious software, although the sound does not work and screen updates can be slow in high resolution colour modes. It is significantly faster than my STe with t28 fitted on processor intensive applications however. Calamus SL works very well as does Gemview 3, nvdi, Ease 4 and kobold. Calligrapher works, however disk access is limited to Gemulators virtual drives. Over all I'm pleased with it." Ryan Ridgely asks Steven: "Is the Gemulator readily available at my local computer dealer and roughly how much is it?" Albert Dayes jumps in and tells Ryan: "It could be available at your local dealer. If not you can try Toad Computers at 800-448-8623." Steven adds: "If you live in UK try FAST computer club nottingham. If your not in UK I'm afraid I cannot help. Nice to see the Atari presence on line, though." "Mark" posts: "I have an ICD hard drive gone bad. Its not all that old (1993) It appears to have a 40 Meg Seagate drive and a good host adapter. I of course want more megs with a new drive. How far can I go? I have ICD HD utilities of the same year." Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Online Magazine tells Mark: "With the new ICD HD utilites you can have a few gigabytes online. I believe it requires the ICD AdSCSI host adapters or the link series of adapters. This also requires a SCSI hard drive which are fairly inexpensive these days." Mark tells Albert: "I already have an ICD host adapter which my current software recognizes. Maybe it will only recognize a small size of partitions at this point. In other words, to support a bigger drive, will I have to upgrade to a new host adapter and software? I'm not quite through. I also have an older "Astra" HD with a 32 Meg drive but it has extra room for a second drive. What do you think are my options here. I'm using "Superboot" on floppy A for boot up. According to my paperwork on the Astra, it won't auto boot. Well, what do you think? Sure good to hear that there is some expertise on these matters!" Albert replies: "It depends on the host adapter and which ICD one you have? Do you have the Advantage series or the AdSCSI series? Partition size is generally due to what version of TOS (the operating system) you have. TOS version 1.4 and later can use 32 megabyte partitions. I have never used an Astra hard drive or worked with them to know what type of host adapter or software used with it." Mark continues: "Well, I see I'm due for a TOS upgrade as the best I have is 1.2. I'm pretty sure I have the older ICD host adapter and assuming this, what would I be limited to in Meg size with my present equipment?" Albert replies: "I am not sure of what the limits are the the Advantage series but I do not believe the most current software ICD 6.5.5 supports it any longer. With TOS 1.2 the limit is 16 megabyte partitions but since you can have 12 partitions of 16 megabytes each = 192 megabyte (so a 200 megabyte drive would work). On TOS 1.4 you have 32 megabyte partitions and BGM partition support which is larger still using the appropriate drivers." Tom Sheets asks: "I am wondering if there is any Atari Support out there for the Atari computers anymore. I don't know of any up here in Alaska. I practically don't know of anyone here in Alaska that has an Atari computer. I like my Atari computer, but I may ot to mention that the so software isn't exactly plentiful either. I would like to get any and all info there is on Atari Support here in America. If anyone can supply me this that would be great." Richard Rives tells Tom: "I think the nearest store to you is Computer Direct in Canada in Edmonton, Alberta. Tel 403 496-2488, 800 547-9203, Chris Krowchuk is the person in charge. Very knowledgeable and helpful." Tom tells Richard: "Thank you... I could use a lot of help up here. NO one up here has an Atari anymore. I don't find much people that do have one. Sometimes I think that I am the only one here in Alaska that has an Atari computer any more. I will have to give Chris a call sometime." Well folks, that's about all for now. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you're thinking. Tune in again next time, same time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING EDITORIAL QUICKIES (overheard on the Internet) "Before going to Europe on business, a man drove his Rolls-Royce to a downtown NY City bank and went in to ask for an immediate loan of $5,000. The loan officer, taken aback, requested collateral. "Well, then, here are the keys to my Rolls-Royce", the man said. The loan officer promptly had the car driven into the bank's underground parking for safe keeping, and gave him $5,000. Two weeks later, the man walked through the bank's doors, and asked to settle up his loan and get his car back. "That will be $5,000 in principal, and $15.40 in interest", the loan officer said. The man wrote out a check and started to walk away." "Wait sir", the loan officer said, "while you were gone, I found out you are a millionaire. Why in the world would you need to borrow $5,000?" The man smiled. "Where else could I park my Rolls-Royce in Manhattan for two weeks and pay only $15.40?" STReport International OnLine Magazine [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport HTTP://WWW.STREPORT.COM AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE ON OVER 100,000 PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS All Items quoted, in whole or in part, are done so under the provisions of The Fair Use Law of The Copyright Laws of the U.S.A. Views, Opinions and Editorial Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors/staff of STReport International OnLine Magazine. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue number and the author's name. STR, CPU, STReport and/or portions therein may not be edited, used, duplicated or transmitted in any way without prior written permission. STR, CPU, STReport, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate. STR, CPU, STReport, are trademarks of STReport and STR Publishing Inc. STR, CPU, STReport, its staff and contributors are not and cannot be held responsible in any way for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom. STR OnLine! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" May 17, 1996 Since 1987 Copyrightc1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 1220