Silicon Times Report The Original Independent OnLine Magazine" (Since 1987) May 24, 1996 No. 1221 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! 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The Publisher, Staff & Editors Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35 Results: 5/18/96: 4 of 6 numbers with one 3 number match From the Editor's Desk... Ah.. Memorial Day Weekend. the beginning of the summer season and of course the time we hear "School's Out" is fast approaching. The kids are already out there on their bicycles in droves so. keep an eye out for them while driving. Also, this weekend is a race fan's dream weekend both the Indy circuit and NASCAR are on the top billing for Sunday's Car Racing fun. Which brings me to talking about my oldest son Ralph. he and his brothers have begun a Racing Team and have their first NASCAR Sanctioned car. its going to get interesting. My Dad was a Race Driver at Long Island's Freeport Speedway many years ago in the midget races. I, as a young man, Raced in the quarter mile Drags all up and down the east coast in AHRA Gas and Fuel Classes. My last car was a '65 Vette (327/365hp Fuel Injected and finally.. 671 Blown, Isky 505 Roller Cam & Lifters). Seeing Ralph and his brothers go for it feels pretty good to me.. they're (all four of them) very serious and truly applying themselves as I've never seen before out of any of them. They already have three motors built up and the major portion of the paraphernalia needed to carry on a successful racing enterprise. Of course, at this point its all amateur, but who knows? Maybe ..just maybe they'll be racing near your hometown in the near future. Please.. For this long, glorious holiday weekend. don't drink and drive.. enjoy the Beach, Pool and BBQs but if you're gonna imbibe. don't drive. Have a Great Holiday Weekend! 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 Internet Pioneer Wins Award Vinton Cerf, often referred to as the "Father of the Internet," has won the prestigious MCI Information Technology Leadership Award for Innovation. Cerf's work will be honored on June 3 at the annual Computerworld Smithsonian Awards ceremony in Washington. Cerf is currently senior vice president of data architecture for MCI's data and information services division. He's responsible for the design and development of the network architecture to support MCI's future data and information services. Previously, Cerf was vice president of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives of Reston, Virginia, where he conducted national research efforts on information infrastructure technologies. Cerf co-developed the Internet's TCP/IP computer networking protocol. He also played a major role in sponsoring the development of Internet-related data packet technologies during his stint with the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency from 1976 to 1982. The MCI Award recognizes individuals who use information technology to design, implement, manufacture or manage technological innovation. In receiving the award, Cerf joins an illustrious group of information technology leaders, including C. Gordon Bell, architect of the world's first minicomputers; Seymour Cray, founder of Cray Research; Kenneth Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment; Gordon Moore, chairman of Intel; and Erich Bloch, former director of the National Science Foundation. Five Seek Net Computer Standards Five high-tech giants -- Apple Computer, IBM, Netscape, Oracle and Sun Microsystems -- are seeking to set a standard for so-called "network computers," units devoted exclusively to simple, cheap access to the Internet. The firms say they have agreed on technical details for network computers, less powerful and versatile than PCs but good enough for exchanging electronic mail and surfing the Internet. Business writer Catalina Ortiz of The Associated Press quotes IBM officials as saying the firm will have several NCs on the market by the end of the year ranging from around $500 to $1,000, compared with PCs that sell for $2,000 and up. "It will change the way we communicate ... the way we do commerce," says Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison, a leading proponent of the NC. "It will change our economy. It will change our culture. It will change everything." Ortiz says that while the executives noted the agreed-on specifications -- which let different kinds of computers work together -- already are widely used, they and analysts called the announcement a boost for the latest branch of computing. For instance, President Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies Research International in San Jose, California, told AP, "It is being defined now and referred to as a platform. They are trying to set in motion a set of standards ... so you can get something with an NC logo on it that says (it) is being backed by IBM, Apple and the others." Businesses Show No Browser Loyalty The most recent Web browser census conducted by Zona Research Inc. reveals that Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are the most commonly used Web browsers, but that companies have yet to develop an unshakable loyalty to any one browser brand. According to Zona, the latest results indicate that, on average, corporate users have two brands of Web browsers available to them. Also, the majority of companies have not yet created a policy regarding the use of a specific brand, nor have they adopted a corporate standard. The census finds that Netscape Navigator is the dominant primary browser, in use as the primary browser by 87 percent of the respondents. Microsoft Internet Explorer holds second place, mentioned as the primary browser by 4 percent of the respondents. However, when looking at all browsers used as primary or otherwise, the differences are less dramatic, with Navigator holding 59 percent of the market and Internet Explorer holding 17 percent. Within the sample, the average number of browsers available to a user was 1.98. "Netscape's dominant market position is a reflection of their success at being the first widely available and promoted Web browser," says Stephen Auditore, president of the Redwood City, California, market researcher. "We see Netscape remaining strong, but expect Microsoft to gain ground as Windows 95 with Internet Explorer starts shipping." First Pippin Due in September Bandai Digital Entertainment, the first licensee of Apple Computer Inc.'s Pippin multimedia and Internet information appliance, has announced its plans for the technology. Bandai Digital Entertainment, the U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Bandai Co. Ltd. -- a company best known for its Power Rangers characters - says its @World Pippin-based system will go on sale in September for $599. Pippin-based systems will inherit the Macintosh's interface and will be based on the PowerPC RISC microprocessor. Much of the system software code, integrated cells and integrated circuits also come from the Macintosh. Apple expects that the PowerPC will allow Pippin systems to accommodate future generations of interactive CD-ROM titles and Internet browsing. Apple notes that Macintosh software can be easily adapted to run in the Pippin environment. In addition, any Pippin title can play on the Macintosh platform. "With the Pippin architecture, Apple leads the world in developing the first low-cost Internet and multimedia information appliance and enables us to recast the television set as an entry point to the Information Highway," says Satjiv Chahil, Apple's senior vice president of corporate marketing. "Pippin has unleashed a huge market opportunity and Bandai is the first to take advantage of it. Pippin products are aimed at offering millions of TV set owners exciting, easy-to-use multimedia and Internet capabilities never before available." "We feel that Bandai's @World will be a perfect fit for the U.S. market due largely to the enthusiasm that U.S. consumers have shown towards the Internet and the World Wide Web," adds Makoto Yamashina, president and CEO of Bandai Co. "The @World Pippin-based product offers families access to the world in their family room." AST Shipping to Wal-Mart Trying to raise the stakes in the contest for the low-end home market, AST Research Inc. has began shipping to Wal-Mart Stores PCs that are priced at less than $1,000, including monitors. According to the Reuter News Service, the $997 Advantage computer is AST's effort to compete with network computers, the stripped-down machines that will give users access to the Internet. The new AST units have an Intel Corp.-class '486 chip with 66MHz of speed and features Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95. Look for Wal-Mart to begin selling the models later this month. HP Shuts Down Mainframes Hewlett-Packard Co. says it has severed its dependency on the mainframe computer, becoming the largest company in the world to run its mission- critical applications exclusively on distributed open-systems platforms over the world's largest intranet. Thirty applications were migrated from a mainframe in fewer than 28 months during the most recent phase of HP's transition, including the company's most mission-critical applications, such as order processing, purchase agreements and payroll. "The $8 million in yearly maintenance savings generated by this unplugging alone can be well spent preparing our people and infrastructure for a future of virtual offices and knowledge networks," says Robert P. Wayman,HP's executive vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer. "The $25 million to $30 million additional annual savings from implementing our PC common operating environment over our intranet allows us to invest more for HP's future." HP's intranet, serving 90,000-plus employees at more than 400 sites, is believed to be one of the world's largest internal, private networks. HP's Intranet environment includes the following: " 84,000 PCs running the same core software applications. " 23,000 UNIX system desktops. " 6,000 servers. " 1,600 Web servers. " Netscape on 60,000 desktops. Atari Narrows Its Losses Citing a gain of $6.3 million from the sale of some of its holdings, 20-year- old video game veteran Atari Corp. reports its first quarter losses narrowed to $806,000 from $4.42 million during the same period last year. Reporting from Sunnyvale, California, United Press International notes Atari sales plunged 75 percent to $1.27 million from $4.87 million a year ago. Now Atari says its latest loss included a gain of $6.3 million on the sale of the remaining balance of the company's holdings in a publicly traded security. Officials with the video game maker told UPI that sales of the Jaguar continue to be disappointing and the company made substantial writedowns of inventory in the first quarter of 1996. Atari said it is pursuing sales of its inventory of Jaguar product in Europe and North America. As reported, last February Atari and JTS Corp. announced plans to merge the two companies. JTS is a manufacturer of personal computer hard disk drives. Under the terms of the agreement, the new company will operate under the name of JTS and the officers of JTS will become the officers of the merged company. The Atari entertainment business and the JTS disk drive business will operate as separate divisions of the new merged company. McAfee Launches Web-Based Backups McAfee Inc. has launched a low-cost electronic vaulting service that allows desktop computer users to backup and restore personal data files over the Internet's World Wide Web. The McAfee Personal Vault service utilizes McAfee's WebStor client backup software. WebStor simplifies the backup and recovery process by utilizing the Windows 95 Explorer interface. For example, to restore from the McAfee Personal Vault, a user simply mouse clicks on a file to bring it back to its directory of origin. Users can also configure WebStor to back up selected files to The McAfee Personal Vault at predetermined times. To restore an item, users simply access The McAfee Personal Vault and drag the data file back to its original directory position. WebStor is a true 32-bit application. "The McAfee Personal Vault and WebStor leverage the high availability of the Internet to provide near instantaneous backup and retrieval of personal data files without the hassles associated with traditional tape backup systems," says John Staudenraus, product marketing manager at McAfee. "Road warriors will find that our solution is ideal for protecting laptops and desktop- based data. With 24 hour access from anywhere in theworld, the vault will be popular with anyone who uses the Internet." Wired's HotBot Hits the Web Nothing wows the Web like a new search engine, so the Net community is lining up to give HotBot a try as it makes its debut today. HotBot -- created in a partnership between Inktomi Corpornia of Berkeley, Calif., and Wired Magazine's HotWired Ventures of San Francisco --"purports to search every last one of the estimated 50 million or more Web pages currently in existence," writes Elizabeth Weise of The Associated Press. Weise adds, "With the search service, Wired becomes one of the first media firms to use something beyond traditional news and feature articles as a lure for delivering advertising messages on the Web." HotBot Marketing Directory David Pritchard told the wire service, "There's certainly more traffic on a search service than on HotWired. We're trying to help advertisers reach an audience that is in a specific mindset and also, we hope, make advertising more relevant to individuals." AP says the new engine (reached at Web address http://www.HotBot.com) is the first to apply Inktomi's technology for locating information on the Internet's World Wide Web. "Whereas most current indexes work from a single, extremely large, fast -- and expensive -- computer," says Weiss, "Inktomi takes a bunch of smaller computers and networks them together to do the work." Company co-founder Eric Brewer told AP, "By using a bunch of little machines instead of one big machine we get no limits on growth, better cost performance and better fault tolerance because if one node fails the rest can cover for them." HotBot is a direct challenge to AltaVista, said to be the Web's largest search tool to date, created by Digital Equipment Corp. to show off the power of its AlphaServer 8400 machines. AltaVista index covers 30 million Web pages, a little more than half of those in existence (everything but pages that specifically say they don't want to be indexed and corporate sites not meant for public view, backers say.) Weiss notes HotWired and Inktomi dispute that figure and also say HotBot will index the entire Web weekly. China Creates Its Own Network Censorship Raises its Heavy Hand Worried about what it considers the subversive dangers of the Internet, China is creating a nationwide network of its own with only limited links to the outside world. Reporting from Hong Kong, Craig S. Smith of The Wall Street Journal says the country's powerful Ministry of Post & Telecommunications is unveiling the first of a series of regional networks that eventually will knit together to form an "intranet" closed to the rowdy Internet that has proven so difficult to control. Dubbed GNET and covering southern Guandong province, the new net will be offered free for one month to subscribers in Guangdong and Hong Kong. China Internet Corp. controlled by state-owned Xinhua News Agency, will form a joint venture with the ministry to act as a gateway between the network and the Internet. CIC Chairman James Chiu told the paper only relevant international business information will be allowed to pass, adding, "In essence, they're creating a different Internet for China's use." He said full Internet access will probably be restricted to foreigners and selected Chinese nationals, while most people in China will be allowed only to use the closed network. "It makes it a lot more useable, without worrying about breaking the law," he said. As reported, China earlier this year announced restrictions of Internet access for most Chinese, who now have to register with China's state police before being allowed to log on, rules that "have quelled the swell of connectivity that swept the country last year as tens of thousands of Chinese gained access to the Internet through a half-dozen service providers, including the ministry's Chinanet, the largest of them all," Smith writes. Beijing -- concerned computer-disseminated pornography and political dissent would erode morals and Communist Party support -- now vows to create a closed system for China that could be more easily monitored and kept free of undesirable information from abroad. The Guandong network will provide the province's businesses and individual users with education, entertainment, shopping, real estate, health and financial information as well as news, the Journal writes. Selected information from international businesses will be provided through CIC, which already has established a skeletal closed network using Xinhua's existing infrastructure. Editor Note: ------------ Did they call it..Guandong Network or.. "GuanoDung" Network?? How FAR must the RED Chinese Government go in the area of Civil Rights Suppression before the US Government finally REVOKES "Most Favored" status? Which, in our opinion, should have been revoked immediately after the Bejing Massacre! Where are the STRONG USA Politicians of yesteryear?? Those whose backbones were strong and laced with all American Blood! Not pasty yellow paste in gelatin. The Internet PC By BILL GATES Almost everyone agrees that the potential of the Internet to improve personal computing is inspiring. What is hotly disputed is exactly how using a PC or browsing the Internet will change. Microsoft's aim is to make Internet technology central to the PC experience, but other companies riding the Internet tidal wave have their own strategies and visions. Some companies promoting server hardware more expensive than PCs suggest that the Internet will finally do for them what they've dreamed of all along-that it will kill the movement toward powerful personal machines, and recentralize computing. They believe that a vaguely defined "Internet terminal," connected to an expensive central server, will supplant the PC. Anyone reading this online knows that the Internet is changing the way people get information and interact. The Internet gives anybody with a computer and a modem the opportunity to reach a global audience. As exciting for me is the tremendous potential of the Internet to reduce the cost and complexity of using a PC or a network of PCs. There are promising hints already. You can click your mouse to update or configure software, including the web browser itself. You can browse or search for answers to technical questions. Soon you'll even be able to use the Internet to show your screen to remote support personnel, so that they'll be able to see your problem for themselves. These innovations are just the beginning. Inexpensive PCs are coming. It's axiomatic that you're always able to buy more personal computer for your money than you could a year earlier. But prices have not fallen as fast as they might have, because surprising growth in PC sales volumes has kept components in relatively short supply. With growth rates moderating now and components becoming plentiful, in the not-too-distant future you'll almost certainly see capable PCs priced well below $1,000. Simple PCs are coming, too. I recently announced an initiative, supported by many leading hardware manufacturers, to create what we call the "Simply Interactive Personal Computer"-or SIPC. It is a framework of technologies that will make the PC platform the center of entertainment, communications and productivity in both home and office. A SIPC system will be quite easy to use. It will turn on instantly, like most other consumer appliances. It will interconnect with VCRs, stereos, and TVs. And every SIPC will run thousands of Windows applications, including web browsers and software for faxing, voice messaging, conferencing, and exchanging e-mail. The Latest Killer App Our industry is always looking for the next "killer application"-for a category of software that, by its utility and intelligent design, becomes indispensable to millions of people. Word processors and spreadsheets were the killer applications for business PCs starting in 1981. The latest confirmed "killer app" is the web browser, the kind of software you're probably using right now to read these words. A browser lets you move from page to page on the Internet's World Wide Web, or to navigate the private "Intranets" that corporations are establishing to improve internal information-sharing. Today the most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator, which got an early following because it lead the way with speed and features and used to be free, and Microsoft Internet Explorer, an offering that will be free forever on both the Windows and Macintosh platforms. Netscape and Microsoft have overlapping visions of the future of the Internet. Each company is working as hard as it can, as fast as it can, to develop software that supports its approach. One consequence of this feature race is that browsers are evolving from relatively simple pieces of software into large programs, enhanced with various extensions, that engage every element of a personal computer. Browsers must be large, to support web pages that use active controls, Java programming, Shockwave animations, Acrobat files, compressed graphics, video, rich fonts and the like. Future web pages will make more use of audio, and future browsers will let people add annotations to a page or explore such things as the history of changes to a site. Even without the new wonders coming up, contemporary browsers have already reached the point where they're more demanding of a computer's resources than any other applications-even high-end word processors and spreadsheets. "I don't know that it's bad to be big," Marc Andreessen, a cofounder of Netscape, said in a recent interview about his company's browser software. "If you're adding functionality that people want, you pretty much have to [create a large browser]." Netscape's strategy is to make Windows and the Apple Macintosh operating system all but irrelevant by building the browser into a full-featured operating system with information browsing. Over time Netscape will add memory management, file systems, security, scheduling, graphics and everything else in Windows that applications require. The company hopes that its browser will become a de facto platform for software development, ultimately replacing Windows as the mainstream set of software standards. In Netscape's plan, people will get rid of their existing PC and Mac applications in favor of new software that will evolve around the Netscape browser. Under ordinary circumstances, it would seem unattractive to build an incompatible operating system on top of an existing operating system. But because the widespread adoption of the Internet is a sea-change, Netscape's strategy could conceivably work if Microsoft wasn't bringing fast-paced innovation to Windows. But at Microsoft, we're not standing still. On the contrary, the Internet opportunity and the competition have us as charged up as we've ever been. Windows to the Future Microsoft's approach is to make Windows so Internet-friendly that no one using it will want a separate browser-not even a free browser. In Microsoft's view, people will use Windows to browse the web, just as they already use it to "browse" servers on corporate networks or files on local disks. It makes little sense to have two separate worlds, one for PC applications running Windows and the other for Internet applications written for a browser operating system. Our goal is to meld the best of the PC with the best of the web, creating a single world of great promise. Windows 95 already allows a folder to contain links to files and other folders. These links are called shortcuts. In an add-on product to be released later this year, we'll enhance Windows so that any folder can be a web page-complete with descriptive text and graphics, as well as the links to files and folders. Here's a simple example of how this is already working in pre-release versions of the add-in product: A folder can be displayed conventionally, as a list of file names or as a collection of icons. Double-clicking on a name or icon takes you to the item, as you would expect. But switch to web view, and the files are represented as links on a full-fledged web page-complete with graphics and descriptive text that makes it clear what role each link plays. In web view, a single click takes you to an item. Microsoft believes that local and remote data should be treated identically. We expect browsing to be the dominant metaphor for using a computer. Microsoft will embrace and extend standards and technologies coming out of the Internet, and provide great implementations for the PC and Macintosh. The moniker we've given our cross-platform technologies is ActiveXT-a name that reflects our belief that the days of static, lifeless web pages are numbered. We expect to see popular web pages enhanced with video, sound, and programming. In short, we expect pages to come alive. An important benefit of Microsoft's strategy is that it preserves the tremendous investments that people and companies have made in computer hardware, software, and training. The world has more than 150 million users of Windows, and there are 5 million people developing Windows software, most of them with Microsoft Visual Basic. More than 1,000 companies supply component software that will adapt in pretty straightforward fashion into ActiveX features. Microsoft's Internet strategy rewards rather than discards the investments these people and companies have made. Netscape shares Microsoft's view that users will get the most from the Internet by using capable personal computers that can store and process information locally as well as connect to powerful servers. But not every company shares this enthusiasm for personal computing. A Terminal Idea Sun Microsystems and Oracle are the two most vocal proponents of replacing PCs with special-purpose terminals that draw information from centralized servers. These companies, which sell servers and server software, contend that the combination of powerful database servers, downloadable component software, and fast communications links will make it unnecessary for people to have real personal computers connected to the Internet. They extol the virtue of networked terminals that are, by design, incompatible with today's PCs and applications. These so-called "Internet terminals" or "network computers" haven't come to market yet, and specifics about them are scarce. The price tag is said to be about $500, for a terminal that lacks certain elements of a real PC, such as disk or CD-ROM drives. It's easy to paint a rosy picture when details aren't in focus. To bring the Internet terminal into focus, we must ask what tradeoffs it embodies: What else, in addition to disk drives and compatibility with mainstream software, is being left out in order to make the machine a few hundred dollars less expensive than a PC? Until terminals actually hit the market, we really won't know. We can, however, speculate. Presumably the terminal's browser software will be stored in read-only memory (ROM), since there won't be a disk drive. This is a serious tradeoff, because ROM-based software cannot be updated. It all but guarantees a terminal's early obsolescence, because browser software is evolving rapidly. Users of software applications have never been satisfied for long with static features or functionality. The consumer's appetite for constantly improving performance is what has made the PC industry so vibrant and innovative-and what makes it so hard for computer companies to find buyers for last year's models, even at great prices. There is a precedent for weighing terminals against PCs. Sun and Oracle used to promote diskless "dumb terminals" for corporate local-area networks. You can make a case for the practicality of terminals that are connected to broadband networks. That's because local drives are less important when large amounts of data can be downloaded rapidly. As it happened, though, the so- called "X-terminal" didn't end up much cheaper than a PC, and never achieved even 1 percent market share. Sun, Oracle, and a variety other companies have higher hopes for Internet terminals. One of their main arguments is that the networked nature of the terminals will simplify tasks such as upgrading software. But these ease-of-use advantages can accrue to any connected computer. People and companies alike will reap these benefits from the Internet-but not because their computers no longer have adequate memory or can't run all of today's applications. Without a doubt, some people will buy Internet terminals. The machines may find a place in the corporate marketplace, where Intranets are becoming vital and broadband networks are fairly common. The terminals would have better prospects, though, if they were compatible with mainstream corporate software. Terminals will find less acceptance in homes, where narrowband and midband connections to the Internet will be the rule for several years. Midband connections, provided via the likes of ISDN and cable modems, will be fast enough to please people who use PCs but not necessarily people who use terminals. The rich content and applications that will be popular in homes won't be well suited to weak computers (terminals) tied to weak networks. From a price standpoint, terminals will be squeezed in the home marketplace between PCs getting cheaper on the high end, and people hooking TVs up to the Internet at the low end. The Internet terminal is too close to being a PC, without really being one. It loses the advantage of being a general-purpose computer able to run off-the-shelf software, yet offers little in return other than a somewhat lower price-tag. The tradeoffs may be more attractive for several other potential devices that you'll connect to the Internet. These are machines you'll use in addition to, rather than instead of, a PC. For example, a telephone handset connected to the Internet involves major compromise. You give up everything except voice communications. But because a handset will be dramatically cheaper and more portable than a PC, the tradeoffs make sense. New-generation set-top boxes will allow television sets to retrieve content from the web, but there will be ample compromise. Usually there won't be keyboards, although remote controls can function as mice. And televisions screens don't display text well. Furthermore, nobody publishes information on the Internet for display on TV screens yet, although that will change. Overall, however, the tradeoffs for the set-top box look pretty good, especially considering that TVs hooked to the Internet could allow people from every economic sphere to enjoy the Internet's benefits. Keep in mind, though, that communications charges will mount up in the long run. Game machines and consumer-electronics devices, such as some of the forthcoming Digital Video Disk (DVD) Players, will connect to the Internet, using a slender cousin of Windows as the operating system. We'll see an explosion of interest in multi-player games, where the contestants meet only in cyberspace. Hardware companies will begin selling handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs) that rely on another cousin of Windows. These miniature information appliances will have LCD screens and connect wirelessly to desktop machines and networks, including two-way pager networks. Because these networks will, in turn, tie into the Internet, you'll be able to use the PDAs to browse the web or exchange e-mail. Over time, PDAs will evolve into what I like to call "wallet PCs"-all-in-one pocket-sized devices that will serve as personal communicators, maps, guide books, repositories of digital money and credit information, identification, tickets, and so forth. It's clear that a number of information appliances are going to become common in homes as well as in our pockets, and that these devices can't all be expensive. Keeping costs down is a priority, but people won't settle for underpowered tools. The Internet era is a challenge and an opportunity for every person and for most companies. It certainly is for Microsoft. We've had a lot of challenges in the past 20 years, but this one happens to be great fun. We're optimistic about the outcome because we can see how combining the best of Windows and the Internet will make personal computing easier and better-all without asking people and companies to throw away their existing investments. I'm betting on the PC, as I always have. I'm betting on Windows, too. I think most people will, and for good reason. EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed Edupage Contents Edupage In Slovak FBI Scolded By Judge U.S. Buys Supercomputer From Japan Silicon Graphics To Sell Cray Assets PC Tune Up IBM Networking With 3Com And Bay Are Cell Phones Hazardous To Health? Closed-Captioning The Web CERT Is No Security Blanket For Corporate Computers Deep Blue Debriefing Talent Shortage Voice On Net New Bug Found In Netscape's Security "Oyez, Oyez" On The Web Technology As A Junk Food PC Homes Up 16% From Last Year NC Supporters, Unite "Security Is No. 1 Problem" For University Computer Systems Hang On To Your Laptop! Reed Explains It All CompuServe Ditches Proprietary Software Banking On Change Smooth Sailing For Telemedicine In The Military New Search Engine The Net Meaning Of Life EDUPAGE IN SLOVAK We are pleased to announce a Slovak-language version of Edupage, prepared by Vladimir Bibel in Bratislava and included in InfoDigest. Welcome to our Slovak readers of Edupage! Vitame slovenskych citatelov Edupage! For the Slovak edition of Edupage, go to < http://www.eunet.sk/idigest/0000v.htm > and enter username idigest and password idigest. (Besides English, Edupage is now available in eleven other languages: Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, and Spanish.) FBI SCOLDED BY JUDGE IN COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY CASE Federal Judge Stewart Dalzell, a member of the three-judge panel in Philadelphia hearing a case challenging the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act, has reprimanded the FBI for conducting a review of charges that CompuServe was in violation of the act. The "review" (which the FBI claimed was not an "investigation") violated a court-ordered stipulation that the Government would pursue no investigations pending the resolution of the case, which was brought by 47 plaintiffs (including the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Library Association and CompuServe) who argue that the Communications Decency Act is an unconstitutional violation of free speech. (New York Times 19 May 96 p8) U.S. BUYS SUPERCOMPUTER FROM JAPAN The National Science Foundation has chosen a NEC supercomputer for its Colorado weather research center, the first time the U.S. government has bought such a machine from a Japanese company. U.S. supercomputer company Cray Research had lobbied hard against the purchase, saying that NEC was unfairly offering the machine below cost. (Tampa Tribune 19 May 96 A8) SILICON GRAPHICS TO SELL CRAY ASSETS TO SUN MICROSYSTEMS Silicon Graphics, which recently acquired Cray Research Inc., will sell parts of Cray's assets that are closely tied to Sun Microsystems technology, such as the Cray CS6400 enterprise server based on Sun's SPARC/Solaris microprocessor chip and operating system. The deal will allow Silicon Graphics to reorient the basic architecture of Cray computers so that they run on Silicon's MIPS microprocessors rather than those made by its rival Sun. (Investor's Business Daily 20 May A18) PC TUNE UP Now there's a PC service center on the Web. TuneUp.com will scan subscribers' computers for viruses, update their printer drivers, and give them e-mail access to industry experts for consultations on specific problems. The service costs $3.95 a month. (Business Week 20 May 96 p61) IBM NETWORKING WITH 3COM AND BAY IBM is working with 3Com Corp. and Bay Networks to make some of their networking products inter-operable with each other. The move will put the three companies in a better position to compete with networking giant Cisco Systems. "What they are doing is because of Cisco," says an industry analyst. "The Cisco/StrataCom deal has everyone freaked out." The companies hope to market "virtual local area networks" -- where individual workstations won't have to be recabled to tie into a LAN. (Investor's Business Daily 20 May 96 A20) ARE CELL PHONES HAZARDOUS TO HEALTH? A Mayo Clinic study warns that digital cellular phones can cause heart- regulating pacemakers to slow down, shut off or even speed up the heart rate. Bell Mobility notes newer models of pacemakers are built with electronic shields. (Toronto Star 17 May 96 E1) CLOSED-CAPTIONING THE WEB The Corporation for Public Broadcasting/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) is developing technology to bring closed-captioning to the Internet, high-definition television and multimedia. NCAM's director says the group is trying to "stay ahead of the curve," when it comes to making new media more accessible, because it's easier to build in the technology from the start rather than add it on later. "It was clear to us when the World Wide Web was beginning to take off that this was a new media with innate barriers to people with disabilities." The Internet project is exploring how HTML code can be written so that text is picked up by the screenreader used by visually impaired users, and descriptions substituted for some of the important graphics and pictures. For a prototype, check out < http://www.wgbh.org/ >. (Broadcasting & Cable 13 May 96 p64) CERT IS NO SECURITY BLANKET FOR CORPORATE COMPUTERS Companies are beginning to realize that they can't depend on outside help when a computer security breach occurs, and are starting to staff insiders to do combat with crackers. The Computer Emergency Response Team at Carnegie Mellon University acknowledges that it can't possibly keep up with the needs of the business community, and says it supports the development of internal response teams. Meanwhile, the trend is occurring in big government, too, where many agencies are setting up their own teams, rather than relying on the Energy Department's Techwatch service, which has handled computer security for other government agencies for many years. The National Institute of Standards and Technology plans to request funding for an incident-handling group that would provide services to other agencies on a fee-for-service basis. (Information Week 13 May 96 p14) DEEP BLUE DEBRIEFING IBM's Deep Blue computer was programmed to evaluate a total of about 20 billion moves within the three- minute window allotted for each move in a formal chess match. That capability is enough to consider every possible move and countermove 12 sequences ahead and selected lines of attack as much as 30 moves beyond that. The fact that this omniscience was not enough to beat a mere human is "amazing," says one of Deep Blue's programmers. The lesson here, says another, is that chess masters such as Kasparov "are doing some mysterious computation we can't figure out." Still, the IBM team got what it needed out of the match -- their goal has always been research to show how parallel processing can be used for solving complex problems such as airline scheduling or drug design, not to be world chess champions. After all, this *is* IBM, says an IBM PR person. (Scientific American May 96 p16) TALENT SHORTAGE Across Canada, there were 7,000 unfilled software jobs, about 3,000 in the Ottawa area alone. Technology firms find they must often boost salaries for software workers by up to 10% each year to keep them. Competition for talent is pushing up wages: some with graduate degrees and expertise in multimedia and Internet design are earning close to $100,000 annually. (Ottawa Citizen 18 May 96 B1) VOICE ON NET Although the quality of voice communication over the Net is still far from perfect, Internet telephony is gaining in popularity and causing the long- distance phone companies enough concern that they've petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the providers of Internet voice- communications software as if they were telephone companies. Jeff Pulver of the Voice On Net Coalition, a group formed to coordinate the promotion of Internet telephony, says that "this stuff really works. No doubt there are going to be tremendous applications in business." The Coalition's site is < http://www.von.org >. (New York Times 19 May 96 p8) NEW BUG FOUND IN NETSCAPE'S SECURITY Computer science researchers at Princeton University have uncovered a new flaw in the 3.0 beta version of Netscape Navigator software that supports Sun's Java programming language. Programmers with malicious intent could write destructive software "viruses" that could use the security flaw to invade computers using Netscape to surf the Internet. Netscape acknowledges the problem and is releasing a fix for the bug. (New York Times 18 May 96 p17) "OYEZ, OYEZ" ON THE WEB A Northwestern University professor has developed a Web site that features oral arguments made before the Supreme Court, accessible with a Web browser and RealAudio software < http://www.realaudio.com/ >. Fifty hours of arguments from 60 cases are available, including such cases as the United States v. Nixon, which denied a sitting president the power to withhold audiotapes from investigators. Jerry Goldman, the site's creator, hopes one day to expand the offerings to include recordings from 500 cases: "Someday, this is going to be the compete Supreme Court reference." < http://oyez.at.nwu.edu/oyez.html/ >. (Chronicle of Higher Education 17 May 96 A28) TECHNOLOGY AS A JUNK FOOD In the next issue of Educom Review, technology visionary Alan Kay says in an article on "the use and misuse of computers in education" that it makes him sad to be shown a classroom full of children joyfully using computers: "This is technology as a junk food -- people love it but there is no nutrition to speak of." In the July/August issue you will also meet learning technology entrepreneur Bernie Gifford, Internet pioneer Vint Cerf, and tele- communications policy expert Eli Noam, and read about "Ethics Online," "Should Distance Learning be Rationed," and much more. (Educom Review Jul/Aug 96; for info: offer@educom.edu). PC HOMES UP 16% FROM LAST YEAR The number of households that own personal computers grew by 16% last year, according to a new survey by Computer Intelligence Infocorp., which interviewed 11,500 PC users. That puts the total percentage at 38.5% of U.S. homes that have one or more PCs. "We were surprised to see penetration levels jump five percentage points," says a Computer Intelligence analyst. "That is a very healthy increase." Recent buyers tended to be older and less-affluent Americans. The growth in PC ownership among households making $10,000 to $30,000 is up nearly 25%, to a range between 10% and 30% of the total, and about 20% of households headed by people over 60 now contain a PC. (Wall Street Journal 21 May 96 B10) NC SUPPORTERS, UNITE Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Netscape and IBM have developed a set of software standards to operate the Network Computer, and Sun, IBM, Mitsubishi, Olivetti Group and several other manufacturers have pledged to begin making the devices this fall. The machines won't all meet Oracle CEO's benchmark price of $500 -- some may cost twice that -- but they all promise ease of use and a focus on the Internet for work and entertainment. Predicts Ellison: "There will be more NCs sold by the turn of the century than PCs." (Business Week 27 May 96 p38) "SECURITY IS NO. 1 PROBLEM" FOR UNIVERSITY COMPUTER SYSTEMS University computer systems administrators are spending more and more time and resources on tracking computer vandals and cleaning up the messes they leave. "Security is the No. 1 problem I worry about," says a Clemson University systems programmer. "Universities face a particularly daunting challenge, because we require openness," says a University of Maryland computing administrator. "As of this moment, the hackers are actually winning the battle." The problem could lead to more universities installing corporate-like firewalls to foil crackers, such as the one recently added to Cornell University's computer science department. Cornell's computer security policy is left up to individual departments -- there is no university-wide firewall. "It's politically impossible," says a Tufts University professor. "It's difficult to justify security measures, even if they're obviously needed, because of the potential cost, and in particular the cost of supporting such a measure." (Chronicle of Higher Education 24 May 96 A19) HANG ON TO YOUR LAPTOP! Laptop theft rose 39% last year from the year before, with the hardware alone valued at $640 million. But the software -- specifically critical competitive business information -- is what really hurts, say many corporate executives. Vendors are responding to the problem in several ways: Panasonic Personal Computer Co. next month will release its CF-62 notebook, which will include a removable PD optical disk drive, allowing users to store data separately from the machine, and NEC Technologies has incorporated an audio alarm into its docking station that goes off if someone tries to pull the computer out without unlocking it first. (Information Week 13 May 96 p16) REED EXPLAINS IT ALL FCC Chairman Reed Hundt uses a sports analogy to explain the new rules of competition for telecommunications companies: "Suppose the competitor of the local phone company were the Washington Redskins and the incumbent phone company was the Dallas Cowboys. Congress has said that the Redskins have the right to borrow Emmit Smith for any number of plays. That is called unbundling an element of the incumbent's network. And the Redskins can use the entire Cowboy team at a discount off what Jerry Jones has paid them. That's called resale. Also the Redskins can hand off the ball to Smith if their own runners aren't doing so well. That's called interconnection. If Smith helps the Redskins get a touchdown, that's called termination, for which some think the Cowboys should be paid nothing but the Skins should get the points." (Investor's Business Daily 20 May 96 A6) COMPUSERVE DITCHES PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE CompuServe is phasing out its proprietary software in favor of a more "open" Web environment. The move underscores the power of the Internet, which has been embraced by other commercial providers such as Microsoft, Prodigy and AT&T. CompuServe subscribers will retain access to its online content, which will be inaccessible by nonsubscribers. "The pain of a proprietary online service isn't going to be worth the effort," says one analyst. "The future is going to be on the Web." Right now, it's uncertain how CompuServe's new strategy will affect its Internet-only Sprynet unit, and its WOW! service targeted toward families and children. (Wall Street Journal 21 May 96B10) BANKING ON CHANGE A report from Ernst & Young and the American Bankers Association analyzing U.S. and Canadian banking practices says that home banking, telebanking, automated teller machines and other nontraditional banking channels accounted for 45% of all banking transactions in 1995 -- with that percentage expected to grow to 60% by 1998. (Computerworld 20 May 96 p73) SMOOTH SAILING FOR TELEMEDICINE IN THE MILITARY Whereas telemedicine has hit several bureaucratic barriers in the civilian world, it's been smooth sailing in the military, where issues such as interstate medical licensing don't matter. The aircraft carrier George Washington, stationed in the Adriatic, is equipped with a radiography unit made by Fuji Medical Systems USA that can transmit X-ray images to Navy hospitals in the U.S. for diagnosis and consultation, and a mobile Army unit in Bosnia is now has the same capability, sending its images to U.S. military hospitals in Europe. (Investor's Business Daily 21 May 96 A8) NEW SEARCH ENGINE A new search engine called Hotbot uses "hive computing" that links several workstations into a network so that each machine can work on part a separate part of a search of the approximately 50 million pages now on the World Wide Web. A public beta version is at < http://www.hotbot.com > (New York Times 21 May 96 C5) THE NET MEANING OF LIFE Venture capitalist John Doerr says that the value of "the big new Net applications" is not that they lower an organization's costs but that they expand its opportunities: "They amplify the 'top line' of an organization's mission, whether for profit, education or government. So the compelling new Net applications help us sell, entertain, inform, educate, inspire, communicate, govern, chat, collaborate and even make meaning out of life." (U.S. News & World Report 27 May 96 p62) Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas (douglas@educom.edu). Voice: 404-371-1853, Fax: 404-371-8057. Technical support is provided by the Office of Information Technology, University of North Carolina. EDUPAGE is what you've just finished reading. To subscribe to Edupage: send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type: subscribe edupage Marvin Minsky (assuming that your name is Marvin Minsky; if it's not, substitute your own name). ... To cancel, send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type: unsubscribe edupage... Subscription problems: educom@educom.unc.edu. EDUCOM REVIEW is our bimonthly print magazine on learning, communications, and information technology. Subscriptions are $18 a year in the U.S.; send mail to offer@educom.edu. When you do, we'll ring a little bell, because we'll be so happy! Choice of bell is yours: a small dome with a button, like the one on the counter at the dry cleaners with the sign "Ring bell for service"; or a small hand bell; or a cathedral bell; or a door bell; or a chime; or a glockenspiel. Your choice. But ring it! EDUCOM UPDATE is our twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational news and events. To subscribe to the Update: send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type: subscribe update John McCarthy (assuming that your name is John McCarthy; if it's not, substitute your own name). INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE The CAUSE organization's annual conference on information technology in higher education is scheduled for the end of this month in New Orleans. The conference will bring together administrators, academicians and other managers of information resources. For full conference information check out or send e-mail to conf@cause.colorado.edu. ARCHIVES & TRANSLATIONS. For archive copies of Edupage or Update, ftp or gopher to educom.edu or see URL: < http://www.educom.edu/>. For the French edition of Edupage, send mail to edupage-fr@ijs.com with the subject "subscribe"; or see < http://www.ijs.com >. For the Hebrew edition, send mail to listserv@kinetica.co.il containing : SUBSCRIBE Leketnet-Word6 or see < http://www.kinetica.co.il/ newsletters/leketnet/ >. For the Hungarian edition, send mail to: send mail to subs.edupage@hungary.com. An Italian edition is available on Agora' Telematica; connection and/or free subscription via BT-Tymnet and Sprint (login: I'll make a deal with you... Send me email any time you want to with whatever you want to say, be it about the heat, questions about using the Internet, or about the status of HMI for the Atari ST series of computers. Now let's get to the purpose of this column in the first place... all the great news, hints, tips, and info available every week right here on CompuServe. From the Atari Computing Forums John Boraston asks: "Does anyone know what has happened to the Atari World Magazine? I received the March issue but nothing since and have been unable to raise them on the telephone." My pal Simon Churchill tells John: "Atari World and Companion company COMPO UK are currently in receivership, there will be no more issues unless a new financial deal is arranged, however the gentleman behind both companies when last heard was winding them both up." It seems that things are disappearing all over this week... Robert Aries asks: "What happened to the Atari file finder? Unless I've lost a few too many brain cells, I used to type GO ATARIFF. Now, that command results in "Atariff is unrecognized"! I wanted to find a uuencode program to decode a file I got over the internet. Browsed libs 2, 4 and 5 with keyword "UUE". No files found. Man, retirement time is coming sooner than I thought for this old computer." Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Online Magazine tells Robert: "I can understand why the Atari File finder is no longer here. There is only one computer forum. You should be able to find UU(DE/EN)CODE program by browsing all libraries in this forum. I believe ENCODE or DECODE was one of the keywords." Chief Sysop Ron Luks adds: "The Atari File Finder was needed when there were more than one forum with Atari files. Since all the Atari Computer forums have been consolidated into one (this forum) the ATariFF was redundant and was removed from the system." It's a sign of the times, I'm afraid. The market, resources, and interest is dwindling.... get use to it. Case-in- point, Phil Warnell posts: "CompuServe requires CIM to register your new personal address. How to get around this problem. Help!!!!" Sysop Keith Joins tells Phil: "The new personal addresses or aliases will only be available in NEWMAIL which runs under HMI. Unless an HMI program is developed for the Atari you won't be able to make use of them." Michael Robillard asks for help with his modem: "When I try dialing with my zoom modem it keeps saying that a connection has been made while it's dialing or just at the start of the dial.This causes me problems with some software which looks for connect and then proceeds like I'm online when I'm not." Albert Dayes asks Michael: "Have you attempted to change your modem initialization string?" Michael asks Albert: "What do you recommend for the following: 1. STORM 2. KAQ9 NOS 3. FREEZEDRIED 4. STIK/CAB I NOTICED that when I turn the modem on when running Freezedried the program thinks I'm online and I have to use ALT_H to hangup so I can dial. I usually use ATZ (as an initialization string). Albert tells Michael: "I use FLASH II for my telecommication needs. I assume STORM should also work okay and is shareware. There is also STALKER v3.x from Gribnif too. Have you attempted to reinstall the freeze-dried software and see if that helps?" Michael tries it and reports back to Albert: "I've reinstalled the original version of Freezedried and everything seems to be ok right now.I'm experimenting with the following inits AT &C? &D? or AT &F &C? &D?. The modem seems to be operating ok now so thanks again for your help!" John Watson asks: "Now that Atari World has ceased publication in the U.K., can anyone recommend another magazine which covers the more serious applications aspects of the ST? I notice that Denesh Bhabuta is advertising a Canadian magazine called Current Notes. Has anyone seen this? Also there must be a German magazine. Does anyone subscribe? Is it expensive? Is it worthwhile if you can read a little German? Any information and comments on your favourite magazine would be welcome, as there appears to be nothing in the shops here now and it is necessary to subscribe by post and this can be a fairly large outlay! Any comments most welcome." Hans Romer tells John: "Here in Germany there are still two ATARI-magazines available: 1. ST - COMPUTER / Monthly / DM 8,-- O Maxon Computer GmbH, O Fax 06196/41137 Compuserve 100070,1744 2. ATARI inside / all two months / 6,80 O Falke Verlag, 24226 Heikendorf, Fax 0431-2736-8 O Sales office: IPV Inland Presse Vertrieb, 20022 Hamburg, Postfach 10 32 46" Simon Churchill adds: "In the UK we still have two magazines still running strong, ST Format is still available, either subscribe or special order through your newsagent. And ST Application's is now in many form's available on subscribtion from the FaST Club (Correct Letter capitalising for there name Falcon/ST)" Marc Grun adds: "If you read a little French there's also a very good french magazine still available, called ST MAGAZINE. It's a magazine with disk. You can contact them at: LA TERRE DU MILIEU Les Marmottieres F-74310 LES HOUCHES Tel:+33 50 54 49 77 They provide very interesting information about everything going on in the world ATARI. Of all other magazines (I know them all) reported in the other mails, this french magazine is the best one. It cost 32 FF." John Watson replies to all who helped him out: "Many thanks to Hans and Marc for posting details of their magazines. It is very pleasing to hear that Atari magazines are flourishing in Germany and France. I would like to subscribe to one of these magazines but there is a problem which unfortunately the EC has not yet solved. Banks make large charges for converting currency and this adds greatly to the cost of subscribing. Has anyone found a way round this problem? Maybe Compuserve can help. I have read that they have a scheme for payments for shareware registrations and perhaps they also do the same for magazine subscriptions. Does anyone know about this or where you enquire to find out?" Mark tells John: "As I wrote in my message the french ST Magazine, which is run by a company called Terre du Milieu, supports also some sort of Atari Club (which is called "Club ST", you get special prices on software an hardware if you're a member of this club). I contacted them to get member of that club and asked them how I should do for the payment of the registration. I myself wanted to do it by Eurocheque, and they told me that this would get to expensive (80 FF of charges for the cheque), so they told me to send them the money via the post by a method that's called MANDAT POSTAL (i don't know the english word of it) to LA TERRE DU MILIEU, etc. So I suppose that you could subscribe to this magazine by the same way as you would do to register to their club." Tom Sheets posts: "...[In the near future] I will have to go IBM or Gateway. I am sad to do this, but I fear that I have no other options at this time." Dave Hudspeth tells Tom: "Right--just don't buy a Mac, is all . Unless you wanna buy *another* orphan computer..." P.Walding tells Dave: "I guess it depends how far into the future you look for a life span of computers , as to whether the Mac is an orphan. Also what you want from the computer. I have had involvement with most 8-bit and 16-bit systems over the last 14 (?) years. The long lasting love of my life is the Atari , currently manifesting itself in my Mega4STe (CD II graphics card / Geneva / Neodesk 4). As a productivity output grading , it runs rings around the 486 SX 25 I use for Crystall Report Writer , etc. When Atari hardware upgrading became necessary , I baulked at buying a TOS clone due to the logistics of getting service support if something went wrong with the hardware in our neck of the woods. I suspect that support would have been 1/2 a world away. I ended up buying a Mac and MagicMac and it has truely given me the best of both worlds. I can pick the eyes out of Mac and Atari software. Soon I will have to add a 486 or pentium and then I can pick the eyes out of Windoze software also. This is only because printer drivers for what I am buying are only available for software under the Windows platform. I knew when I bought the Mac that I was acquiring another minority computer. However in the near (3 year) time frame it wasn't a problem and past that I suspect at the rate that hardware is evolving at. Anything I buy now will have become substantially dated." Dave tells "P": "I'd say you've gotten your money's worth out of it, since you've been using it that long. My post was merely a warning to potential Atari converts thinking the Mac would be their best choice, that they might wanna wait a bit and see how Apple fares in the near future. If they suffer another near- billion dollar loss quarter or two, I'd think they would be in huge trouble. If you follow the ISV gossip, most of them are seriously considering abandoning Apple. With little new or innovative software, the Mac's days would be numbered. At any rate, I predict Apple is going to be acquired in a buyout by IBM or Motorola this winter, if they have another really bad quarter..." Tom Sheets adds: "Yeah, I know. I don't want a Mac. I want one that has all the features and all the hardware and all the goodies that are built in the computer. I want a 150Mhz or faster and all that. I want a super fast modem and all the gadgets. Know what I mean? But I know that I will be paying alot of money for a computer of that nature. oh well. Maybe someday." Hey, don't we all want "bigger, faster, newer, easier"? Somehow, I don't think "easier" than the ST will come along for quite a while. Anyway, Dave asks Tom: "Have you considered building one yourself? I just bought an Ocean Info Systems "Rhino-9" (don't ask me what the name means ) motherboard, that uses the Triton-II (430HX) chipset from Intel, a Pentium-150, and 32 megs of EDO memory for under $1K. Currently, memory goes for around $10 a meg--about a quarter of the price it was 18 months ago. You can get an older Triton-I mobo with a Pentium-75 for under $300 mailorder. That with 16 megs EDO, a 3.5" floppy and a case with power supply would cost about $500. I would get the newer mobo, however (they usually support CPU speeds of up to 200 MHz), and later upgrade the CPU. The new mobos have all the serial & parallel and enhanced IDE and floppy ports built into the mobo-all you need are ribbon cables to attach the components. A Western Digital 1.2 gig HD goes for $199 (Drive Outlet Center's ad in the current Computer Shopper), a 6X IDE CDROM drive for $99, the Diamond 3D Stealth 2000 (a true 3D video card, with z-buffering, gouraud shading, 2 megs of 40 ns EDO memory onboard, etc) from Computability is $175, and a generic 16-bit sound card for way under $100. A Microsoft compatible mouse is $6. The biggest single-expense item would be a decent 17" monitor, and for my tastes, the Iiyama 9017E goes for under $900. I just recently upgraded my Pentium-90 on an old Plato (Neptune chipset) mobo, to the Rhino-9 and a Pentium 150 (which I plan to overclock to 166 MHz), and am now planning to upgrade the rest of the hardware as well, one piece at a time. When I'm done, my kid will have the Pentium-90 system ." "Thomas" tells Dave: "Hmm, That sounds really nice all for under $1k? That is a good price. But, how long does it take to put together? I really would like to build my own PC, but I think it would take up alot of time, but in the end, it would be how I wanted it. I mean, none of this direct solder in the motherboard stuff, I would use chip sockets and stuff of that nature. I would do it right so I don't have to do it a second time or send it in for repairs. I don't have the $ right now to get one. I will have to look in to it. My Atari Mega ST 4 is suiting my purposes for the moment. Computers are real expensive and hard to keep up with. I mean, with all the new technology out there, these big time company's are coming out with smaller, faster, more powerful machinces with better graphics, better sound and better all around. I guess I have been out of the computer biz too long to remember what the heck I was even doing. Well, I'll be a shopping and looking around for a good deal." Dave tells Thomas: "It doesn't usually take more than a day--all the components are pretty standard. Try visiting the PC Hardware forum (go PCHW) and read the posts from novices to systems builders who make their living doing this stuff. There's no soldering, etc. involved--you merely install the mobo into the case, connect the power supply plugs, install the CPU (most mobos have a ZIF socket--makes it really simple to insert or remove the CPU) and memory SIMMs, configure the jumpers on the mobo for the CPU speed according to the manual, then start installing all the daughterboards & peripherals. Once you're done with the hardware, you have to install the software. Depending on what OS you decide to use, this can be easy or a pain in the neck . The later, auto-detecting OSes such as OS/2 Warp, Win95 and NT can determine with a pretty good degree of accuracy what hardware you've installed, and set up the appropriate drivers. If you decide to stick with Windows 3.1 and/or DOS, then you'll have to set things up without help from the OS. Most BIOSes and many peripherals now are "Plug & Play", and generally you don't have to do any configuring of interrupts, addresses and/or DMA channels if you use Win95. Not as simple as the Mac, but then usually cheaper..." Thomas tells Dave: "Sounds like it will be easy to install. I don't know when or where I'll get it, but as soon as I have a bunch of bills paid off and all that good stuff, I will look into it and see if I will get one or not. Anyway, it sounds like it's not so complicated." Well folks, that's about it for this week. Tune in again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING STReport Confidential News, Tips, Rumors, Expos‚s1, Predictions ú Columbus, Ohio CompuServe to make Sweeping Changes "Super Snoop" has been very busy this past week. Last week we broke the story of CompuServe having a secret project underway. A project designed to make CIS "THE" Internet Service Provider. We did not however have the ID of this "Secret Project" last week. We do now . Its called "Red-Dog". Further developments: Its come to Snoop's attention. CIS staged an 800 conference call "experience" this past week in an attempt to "inform the press" of its true intentions. Seems though, that when the question of whether or not its current software was being abandoned. the line went silent and no forthright answer was offered. Apparently, Wincim and its relatives may see another "patch-like" version. Then HMI will literally "bite the dust" in favor of HTML. Its a well known fact, in the industry, that CIS' new servers are all WinNT (NISA) and.. HMI is choking and choking hard. Of course, Lex Crosett, the person responsible for affecting a smooth transition of HMI to the NT environment has seemingly failed miserably. Other industry observers have offered the opinion He and a few others at or, near the top apparently either lack the ability or, the interest in meeting the challenges of today's online community and are likely to experience some "profound changes". In the world of Digital Communications, CompuServe was "looked to" as the Service that could and would lead the way . so much for "fairy tales".. Unfortunately, its fairly obvious CIS has literally "dropped the ball" as far as ISDN is concerned. The backbone is slow. they're using an aged, inadequate protocol (v.120) and then; incredibly . at 57.6kbd. The rest of the world is using bundled 64kbd yielding 128kbd! On top of which, the number of ISDN nodes in the States can be counted in less than three seconds. Whereas other nets have high speed ISDN nodes operable in most every major US City. One of many typical voices offering opinions relative to the "poor state of CIS' ISDN service". "Whether CIS needs to move to ISDN or to cable modems, they're going to need the infrastructure to support very high speed connections to the desktop. The current limit of 57.6 at the asynch centers just will not cut it as customers begin to demand the 128Kbps from ISDN or the multiple MBps coming from ASDL and cable modems. What we, as CIS subscribers DON'T want to see is another situation where CompuServe is lagging far behind the consumer in installing these high speed access devices. Saying "Believe in CIS" to a user who waited a year to get 28.8 access is like saying "Believe in IBM" to an OS/2 user :^) It just doesn't cut it. CIS needs to be at the forefront in implementing this technology. ISDN isn't new; it's been available for over ten years now. It shouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to see that the demand for bandwidth at the desktop was going to grow and to have solutions ready to be dropped in place as soon as the consumers clamor for them. Additionally, CIS must realize consumers won't clamor for the services until they know they're available and usable. How many people do you think were told that yes, ISDN was available, but they couldn't use it with CompuServe, so they just didn't bother pursuing it any farther? I think CIS has a great chance to make its own marketplace here!" WOW the "new offering" from CIS is apparently falling far short of expectations . seems close to or over forty million dollars was spent in advertisng and promoting this venture and so far. its only garnered fifty one some odd thousand subscribers. Further, it was noted that WOW at 17.95 per month was two dollars cheaper than its CIS owned and operated cousin, Sprynet at 19.95. Experienced industry observers chanted alike; "at this time CompuServe resembles a Rudderless Ship in every aspect of its activities." The once "Proud and Mighty CIS" is making all the "creaking and screeching" noises of an old, wooden Ferry Boat that's "missed the Slip" and hit the pilings of indecision and lack of direction. Many of CIS' Information Providers (Forum Contract Holders) are extremely upset with management and some are reportedly "pulling out" lock stock and barrel, ala Microsoft. Among the many reasons cited as cause for such drastic actions are: " a lack of serious communications with the "brass" " excessive interference in the operation of forums " implied if not direct influence on the editorial content of forums " inability of top brass to "work with" the Ips. " lack of faith in the leadership of CIS on the part of the Ips. " Of those IP's snoop spoke to.. They were unanimous in their dissatisfaction and were all ready to leave CIS. A few of those were extremely upset.. "things, in general, do not bode well for CIS if the Brass doesn't get with the times and darn fast".. was a often heard remark. EDITORIAL QUICKIES "ENJOY A SAFE AND FUN FILLED WEEKEND!" 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 24, 1996 Since 1987 Copyrightc1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 1221