Silicon Times Report "The Original Independent Online Magazine" (Since 1987) July 04, 1997 No.1327 Silicon Times Report International Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155 R.F. Mariano, Editor STR Publishing, Inc. Voice: 1-904-292-9222 10am-5pm EST FAX: 904-268-2237 24hrs STReport WebSite http://www.streport.com STR Publishing's FTP Support Server 10gb - Back Issues - Patches - Support Files (Continually Updated) ftp.streport.com Anonymous Login ok - Use your Email Address as a Password Check out STReport's NEWS SERVER NEWS.STREPORT.COM Have you tried Microsoft's Powerful and Easy to Use Internet Explorer? Internet Explorer is STReport's Official Internet Web Browser. 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Jacobson Court Decision Spurs White House Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that tried to restrict "indecent" communications on the Internet, the White House began talk yesterday of a "counteroffer" to protect children from cyber-smut. Speaking with reporters on his flight last night back to Washington from New York, President Clinton said he will meet next week with computer industry leaders and advocates for parents and children to develop some Internet limits that could better withstand a legal challenge. United Press International quotes the president as saying, "We'll have a counteroffer." As reported earlier, the Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional the controversial Communications Decency Act which would have levied fines of up to $250,000 and two-year prison terms to those convicted of distributing to minors indecent or "patently offensive" materials on the Internet. White House press secretary Mike McCurry told UPI the President, anticipating the court's ruling, has already planned a gathering next Tuesday of industry leaders, advocates for children and parents and other interested parties. McCurry told the wire service those involved will "talk about ways in which we might find solutions that will fit within the contours and laws defined by the court." Meanwhile, industry executives and free-speech advocates continue to express elation over the ruling. Director Jerry Berman of the Center for Democracy and Technology told The Wall Street Journal this morning, "The Supreme Court has written the First Amendment for the 21st century." Attorney Bruce Ennis, who represented the 50-odd groups challenging the law, added the the ruling is "the legal birth certificate of the Internet." On the other side of the issue, Cathleen Cleaver, director of legal policy of the conservative Family Research Council in Washington, told Journal reporters Edward Felsenthal and Jared Sandberg, "Given the open door the court has given today, there will be efforts to (design) a more carefully drafted statute to protect children from pornography online." But the tone of the earlier court opinion made it clear such efforts will be scrutinized very closely. Said Ennis, "There will be very few ways that Congress can restrict the growth of the Internet given the breadth of this decision." Clinton to Propose Net Tax Ban Look for President Clinton next week to announce a nine-point plan to spur electronic commerce around the world by making the Internet a tax-free zone. Reporting from San Francisco, writer Samuel Perry of the Reuter News Service quotes Commerce Secretary William Daley as saying the Clinton administration sees itself and other government leaders as "ambassadors of electronic commerce around the world." In a speech prepared for high tech executives in San Jose, California, Daley said, "We must work to ensure the approach to electronic commerce adopted by other nations is consistent with the principles and conditions we have cultivated." Perry reports Daley and the head of a U.S. trade policy delegation, who spoke separately to a gathering of industry executives in San Francisco, say Clinton will recommend a tariff-free environment that is flexible on emerging standards. Daley said parties should be free to negotiate terms according to widely accepted legal principles, intellectual property rights should be protected, and privacy must be ensured to enable people to feel comfortable. Add Reuters, "Sophisticated encryption, to enable security of data like credit card numbers, is necessary, but extremists must be prevented from exploiting the ability to encode their data transmissions, he said. Uniform rules and rights, along with industry self-regulation, should be primary considerations, while the marketplace should be allowed to determine technical standards, the commerce secretary added." James Johnson, who heads the U.S. delegation to the Group of Seven major industrial countries' electronic commerce policy group, said the White House will put forward its policy by next Tuesday. Johnson said the administration reasons that it is difficult to track what boundaries apply to commerce conducted in cyberspace and that the history of much of this century has been an effort to reduce global tariffs. The Clinton administration would make this a key element of its "agenda for action," he said at a Giga Information Group conference. As reported earlier, a resolution of the U.S. Conference of Mayors last week opposed federal legislation to prevent state and local governments from slapping new taxes on Internet transactions. But Daley says, "Regulations that are now routinely applied to objectionable content in broadcasts do not, and should not, apply to the Internet." He argues, instead, for self-regulation and technical solutions like filters and age verification. The statement represented an anticipated shift in administration policy. Meanwhile, Johnson said Washington considered it critical to seek the involvement of the computer industry in setting out standards for electronic commerce, Johnson said, including complex issues of security and use of cryptography on which the industry and the U.S. government have been at odds recently. Net Tax Ban Bill Sidetracked Federal legislation that would impose a moratorium on new taxes on the Internet apparently has been seriously sidetracked because of opposition from state and local governments. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) said his bill, the Internet Tax Freedom Act, was scheduled for a vote Thursday in the Senate Commerce Committee, but, writes reporter Aaron Pressman of the Reuter News Service, "that plan was put on hold indefinitely after several lawmakers raised objections." A spokesman for Wyden told Pressman, "The bill has been put on hold. We are going to be talking with our supporters and getting it ready and doing a bit of fine-tuning." As reported earlier, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has come out against the measure. Reuters says the National League of Cities, the Council of State Governments and other groups also have joined the protest. Pressman says Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) "took up the objections raised against the bill, forcing Wyden to back down." Reacting last night, President Mark Schwartz of the National League of Cities called the indefinite delay "an important acknowledgment that the impacts of this legislation have yet to be fully examined and fairly considered in the context of crucial issues involving state and local revenue systems." Schwartz said many governments that rely on traditional sales and excise taxes fear that their tax base could be eroded as commercial transactions increasingly move into cyberspace. As noted, the Wyden bill, along with companion legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Chris Cox (R-California), would have imposed an indefinite moratorium on new taxes on electronic commerce. Now the spotlight switches to the Clinton administration, which last year urged that no special taxes be imposed on the Internet. The administration has said it backed the "goals and underlying objectives" of the Wyden proposal. However, notes Pressman, in a meeting several weeks ago with state and local officials, Vice President Al Gore said the administration had not made a final decision on whether to fully endorse the bill. As reported earlier, word from other administration officials is that Clinton next week is to announce a nine-point plan to spur electronic commerce around the world by making the Internet a tax-free zone. Clinton Report to Oppose Net Tax Word from Washington is that after a two-year study, the Clinton administration is set to call for no new taxes or regulations on business conducted over the Internet. The Washington Post reports this morning the report, to be released tomorrow by the president, will endorse letting the private sector largely determine how it will operate in cyberspace. Adds the Reuter News Service, "In the final draft of the report, the U.S. government argues for a non-regulatory, market-oriented approach in order not to hamper development of business on the Internet, which it estimates could total 'tens of billions of dollars by the turn of the century.'" The Post quotes the report as saying, "Unnecessary regulation could cripple the growth and diversity of the Internet. The administration therefore supports industry self-regulation, adoption of competing ratings systems and development of easy-to-use technical solutions... to assist in screening information online." Reuters says the report advocates that other governments adopt a similar approach toward taxes and content regulations in an effort to ease electronic transactions across national borders, adding, "Within the United States, sales taxes, levied by states, would still apply to goods purchased on the Internet." Quoting an unidentified senior administration official, The Post says that after unveiling the report, Clinton is expected to: ú Issue a series of challenges to federal agencies, Congress and the private sector to implement specific recommendations. ú Set up a commission, to be chaired by Vice President Al Gore, to oversee the effort and ensure its completion by Jan. 1, 2000. Reuters says the report calls for giving companies and advocacy groups a chance to devise technologies and practices to control the collection of information such as names, addresses and telephone numbers from children. If the issue is not given prompt attention the document urges government action, according to the newspaper report. The report urged continued government controls on the export of software with strong encryption technology. The administration action comes in the wake of a setback for Net tax opponents in the U.S. Senate. As reported earlier, federal legislation that would impose a moratorium on new taxes on the Internet was sidetracked last week because of opposition from state and local government groups, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities and the Council of State Governments. Some Praise Feds' New Net Effort Praise -- and some anxiety -- greet the Clinton administration's new "hands off" policy for Internet commerce, to be formally unveiled today in the company of dozens of computer industry moguls in Washington. As reported earlier, President Clinton is calling for no new taxes or regulations on business conducted over the Internet, based on a two-year study that concludes the Internet could provide a huge boost to the U.S. economy if the government pursues market-oriented policies. Reporter Aaron Pressman of the Reuter News Service says Clinton will promote the report by issuing an executive order declaring it official U.S. policy, administration officials told business leaders this week. Reacting, Chairman Paul Misener of the Internet Access Coalition told the wire service, "With a few exceptions, it's an excellent policy. It emphasizes the market's ability to work out many of these issues." Says Pressman, "The Clinton report seeks to recognize the Internet's growing importance and define some of the legal parameters needed to foster its continued evolution. The report includes recommendations on nine topics, ranging from taxation and customs to security and privacy, all issues of grave importance to businesses." Reuters notes commerce over the Internet is projected to grow from less than $1 billion last year to perhaps $5 billion to $10 billion by the year 2000. As expected, the controversial sections of the report deal with security, particularly protection of privacy and the use of encryption. Privacy advocates praised the report's recommendations that could lead to new laws preventing companies from collecting information from children. Director Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center told Pressman, "It's clear the administration is taking privacy issues more seriously. On the issue of kids' privacy, they may be prepared to back some legislation." Where the tensions arise is in the report's reiteration of the administration's hard line on encryption. Rotenberg argues that while the government wants to keep strong encryption out of the hands of criminals, his organization maintains that ordinary citizens need encryption to protect their privacy, adding encryption can safeguard sensitive medical records or keep unintended recipients from reading an e-mail message. Says Rotenberg, "Good cryptography is inextricably intertwined with online privacy. They've tried to treat the two as being separate." Meanwhile, some analysts tell Reuters that more direct government involvement may be required in the future to keep Internet commerce thriving. Says President Gary Arlen of Arlen Communications, "Commercial interests are going to try and do all kinds of things to protect themselves. At some point, it's poppycock to think the government can stay out of it. Governments are going to have to wind up playing some role as arbiter." Clinton Asks World for Net Help President Clinton says he wants the U.S. to work with the World Trade Organization to create a "free trade zone" for Internet commerce. To that end, "I'm directing our ambassador for trade, (U.S. Trade Representative) Charlene Barshefsky, to work within the WTO to turn the Internet into a free trade zone within the next 12 months," Clinton said yesterday at a ceremony announcing a comprehensive policy to promote electronic commerce. As reported earlier, the Clinton administration says business needs a stable environment free of new taxes, tariffs and burdensome regulation to allow cyberspace commerce to flourish. The Reuter News Service quotes the president as saying, "Where government involvement is necessary, its aim should be to support a predictable, consistent, legal environment for trade and commerce to flourish on fair and understandable terms." Clinton also said he will direct U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin to negotiate agreements to prevent new discriminatory taxes in electronic commerce. Reuters says U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley and Ira Magaziner, who headed development of the administration's Internet policy, will lead a delegation of business leaders to Europe later this month to outline the U.S. vision for international electronic commerce. United Press International notes the new policy calls for allowing the industry to decide its own uniform code for commerce, develop its own technical systems and strive to ensure the protection of intellectual properties and copyrighted materials. IBM CEO Louis V. Gerstner told UPI the new policy clears the way for the information superhighway to become "the richest, most diverse, borderless, sleepless marketplace the world has ever seen," adding a tax- and tariff-free Internet will allow students to access the best information and teachers. The administration report, "A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce," also includes a call for self-regulation of content such as sexually explicit materials that may not be appropriate for children. And The Associated Press reports that in the East Room ceremony, the president also committed the administration to a schedule that would allow a full array of international online business transactions by 2000. Government involvement in the venture, he said, should encourage online commerce to flourish rather than drown in a sea of regulations. Despite the White House goal of a hands-off, no-new-taxes approach to regulating commerce on the Internet, some industry leaders tell AP writer Sandra Sobieraj they remain unhappy that Clinton has moved slowly and has not budged on the restricted sale of encryption devices. Dennis Tsu, director of electronic commerce for Sun Microsystems, told AP, "We don't feel the United States is necessarily in the lead on this." It is good news, he said, that the task force recommended letting the Internet industry regulate its own business in cyberspace, but the pace of key decisions on patents, copyrights, protection for intellectual property and tariffs were "not happening fast enough." As a result, Tsu said, the United States risks being locked out of trading blocs, in Southeast Asia, for example, where more aggressive governments have already moved to encourage international online business. Meanwhile, a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Sobieraj such dire warnings are premature, that the issues are still open in most countries and that Clinton intends for the United States to be in the lead. New Copyright Bills Coming Look for the Clinton Administration soon to propose legislation to Congress that would implement two international treaties to update copyright laws to the digital age. Speaking with reporters in Washington, Commerce Secretary William Daley said, "I would hope that in a very short period we will have legislation to put forward." The Reuter News Service notes the treaties agreed to by the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization in December have to be ratified by the Senate, and implementing legislation has to be passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Daley told the reporters it is important the U.S. acts on the treaties that update international copyright laws to take account of new digital technologies before the end of the year, adding, "Until we act we can't expect others to." A dispute is brewing between Internet service providers that do not want to be held liable for third party transmissions of pirated material and copyright owners who want their works protected, Daley acknowledged, saying, "There is a great controversy of content-versus-liability issue that has to be addressed." Daley is quoted by Reuters as saying the legislation was one of the department's most immediate challenges in trying to carry out President Bill Clinton's proposals announced on Tuesday to promote commerce in cyberspace. He leaves for Germany next week to attend a European conference on global information technologies being held in Bonn. The United States will participate only as an observer, but Daley will have a chance to outline Clinton's vision of cyberspace commerce largely unfettered by government regulation and taxes. New York Passes Net Gambling Ban The state Senate in New York has passed a bill seeking to regulate out-of-state and foreign companies that offer gambling in New York via the Internet. In Albany, New York, the bill's sponsors told United Press International the measure is the first effort to give recourse to people who fall victim to gambling scams on the information superhighway. "Under this legislation," says Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, "New York would become the first state in the nation to protect consumers against Internet gambling schemes," adding it "recognizes that companies based on the Internet, like any other corporation conducting business in this state, must comply with our laws and regulations." UPI says the measure is a response to increasing reports of people who get taken in by betting scams that ask for checking, banking and credit card numbers. Once obtained, the numbers can be used to raid the victims' financial assets. The bill calls for any company that offers gambling to New Yorkers to have to register with the state's Department of State. Sen. Bill Larkin, the bill's sponsor, says the companies would have to provide the names and addresses of their officers so that scam victims and investigators could pursue companies who rip-off consumers. "The bill does not say how the measure would be enforced," UPI adds. Hackers Scam AOL Users The National Computer Security Association and America Online Inc. are warning AOL users of the "significant prevalence" of Trojan Horse programs that capture and e-mail passwords to hackers for access to victims' AOL accounts. The NCSA notes that Trojan Horse programs only pose a threat when a file is downloaded and executed. "In general, users should never run unsolicited software attached to e- mail or received by any other means or via any service provider whether they are AOL members or not," warns Peter S. Tippett, the NCSA's president. "Specifically, AOL users should not run any programs, such as SETUP.EXE, which are portrayed as applications which 'enhance' the security of your AOL software." Judge Warns Kevin Mitnick Notorious computer tweaker Kevin Mitnick has been ordered by a federal judge to stay away from all computers, cell phones and software when he is released from prison. Reporting from Los Angeles, the Reuter News Service quotes U.S. District Court Judge Mariana Pfaelzer as saying Mitnick also is prohibited from being employed in any job that would allow him to have access to computers without approval from a probation department officer. Thirty-three-year-old Mitnick, held in custody since 1995, was sentenced last week to 22 months in federal prison for possessing illegal cellular phone codes and for violating his parole. As reported, Mitnick pleaded guilty last year to one count of possession of fraudulent cellular codes that he used to illegally access cellular phone networks. The crime occurred while Mitnick was on supervised release for an earlier computer intrusion offense. Mitnick faces another 25-count indictment for alleged computer intrusions and theft of millions of dollars of software during the 2 1/2 year period he was a fugitive, Reuters notes. Ramsey Files Lost to Malfunction Authorities in Boulder, Colorado, now say it was a computer malfunction -- not an intruder -- that caused problems in the computer system set aside for investigators looking into the murder of 6-year-old beauty pageant winner JonBenet Ramsey. According to The Associated Press, a short-circuit in the equipment resulted in a power failure that made it appear initially as if a vandal had broken into the files. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation said the computer in the "war room" at the district attorney's office holds information that police share with prosecution investigators. The child was found beaten and strangled in her family's basement on Dec. 26 about eight hours after her mother discovered a ransom note demanding $118,000. There have been no arrests. Doctors Blast Net Health Data "A sea of poor-quality information" is how a team of Italian doctors describes self-help medical advice they found available on the Internet. The Reuter News Service says the doctors tested the World Wide Web by looking for pages advising parents on how to treat a feverish child, "but they found to their dismay that very few pages offered all the up-to-date information that parents would need to properly assess and treat such a case." Forty-one different Web pages were checked by Dr. Maurizio Bonati and colleagues at the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research in Milan, says Reuters, adding the team used the search engines Yahoo and Excite. But, writing in the British Medical Journal, the team said, "Only a few web sites provided complete and accurate information for this common and widely discussed condition," and some pages offered misleading information. For example, some recommended giving ibuprofen to the child, which is not approved in all countries. Tests on whether ibuprofen is safe for small children have not been completed. Says the article, "This suggests an urgent need to check public oriented health care information on the Internet for accuracy, completeness and consistency." And Dr. Jeremy Wyatt of Britain's Imperial Cancer Research Fund agreed, saying in a commentary, "Although the web makes it absurdly easy to disseminate information, by allowing anonymous authors to conceal commercial or other conflicts of interest, it does not help readers to discriminate between genuine insight and deliberate invention. Unless we evaluate the quality of clinical sites and their effects on users, we risk drowning in a sea of poor quality information." Neurodynamics' Witness Technology Revolutionizes Surveillance and Security Monitoring ú Neural Networks and Digital Image Technology Combine to Create Ground-breaking, Cost-effective Security tool Innovative Use of DAT Tape Technology, and Elimination of Static Imagery ú Provides Unrivaled Capacity and Unparalleled Effectiveness in a Flexible Format ú Three customizable configurations ensure high-quality digital recording and storage for a variety of situations demanding vigilance and reliability. Neurodynamics, Inc., a world-wide leader in the development of neural network and pattern recognition technologies, today announced the North American availability of Witness(R), a powerful and cost-effective video image recording and retrieval system for deployment in security and surveillance situations, such as banks and ATMs; perimeter surveillance; remote multiple location monitoring; building compartment supervision; and access control. Neurodynamics has made Witness technology available in three different formats designed for a variety of security situations: ú Witness, which provides the basis for low-cost, highly effective digital video surveillance and recording for a wide range of circumstances. ú Remote Witness, which combines the error resiliency and high-compression capabilities of Witness in a configuration ideal for ú off-site locations via a small, stand-alone "Send Station," that transmits images over unreliable, low bandwidth communication links such as standard telephone infrastructure. ú Witness ATM, an option ideal for low-cost, high-quality monitoring of off-site ATMs, or similar locations, to help prevent fast-growing ATM crimes such as fraud, vandalism, and robbery. The escalating phenomenon of ATM crime, where criminals lurk in the vicinity of cash machines waiting for a victim, has caused a great deal of public concern. In the past, typical ATM surveillance systems have provided poor quality visual evidence when such crimes have been committed, offering law enforcement authorities little or no help. Witness solves this problem by supplying high quality imagery in an easy-to-use digital format. Witness uses standard video camera input to capture images, then compresses and digitally records those mages onto digital audio tape (DAT). Images are then automatically cataloged with date and time information for rapid retrieval. A DAT tape's half million image capacity using Neurodynamics technology gives Witness up to 6 days' worth of continuous recording time between tape changes -- greater than standard VHS/analog-based recording systems, and with far fewer tapes required for archiving. And because the quality of DAT recordings do not deteriorate as fast as VHS/analog recordings, Witness-captured images represent a better archive resource. In addition to date and time identification, Neurodynamics' use of intelligent video motion detection to "filter" images reflecting no activity means only significant imagery is recorded, rather than wasting valuable storage space with images depicting no change in status. This further extends the recording capacity of Witness, resulting in a visual database packed with quality imagery ready for quick retrieval. And because Witness can be configured to record at either a higher rate of speed or at higher resolution under circumstances when more precise recording may be required, its efficacy as a security and crime-fighting tool is even greater. These features give Neurodynamics' Witness surveillance system unrivaled utility in the industry and capabilities far beyond the reach of standard surveillance systems. "The implications that products such as Witness hold for the security industry are tremendous and important," said Jeff Rider, Director of Technical Services for Comsec Narragansett Security, one of the country's largest and fastest growing providers of electronic and surveillance security systems. "Our customers rely on us to supply them with tools that are both effective deterrents to crime and vandalism, as well as asset protection and a means of recovery in the event of an incident. The use of Witness would be a significant and competitive differentiator toward that objective." Another advantage to the Witness system is the lack of costly video infrastructure. Because Witness transmits its video image data over standard phone lines, eliminating the need for coaxial cabling, the system is easy and cost-effective to install. This gives Witness a flexibility unequaled in video surveillance. Covert monitoring can be set-up quickly and discreetly; video capture units can be moved rapidly to sensitive areas; and remote monitoring dial-up capability increases effectiveness without increasing cost. The combination of digital image recording and potent computer technologies create a list of features that make Witness a surveillance platform far superior to standard VHS-based systems: ú Rapid image retrieval based on electronic date & time coding; ú Storage capacity of up to 500,000 images per DAT tape; ú Alarm activated dial-up over standard phone lines; ú Easy integration with existing alarm systems; ú Minimal tape library storage requirements; ú Local or remote monitoring capability; ú Motion or Alarm activation; ú Low-cost infrastructure; and, ú Portability. Furthermore Witness functions intuitively on a PC as a standard Windows(TM) application. This means costly training and familiarization is minimized, while maintaining effective system operation. "The Witness image capture and retrieval system is bringing security and surveillance monitoring into the digital age," said Peter Riordan, president and CEO of Neurodynamics' North American operation. "I'm excited that, through this technology, we are able to provide public and private security concerns with such a potent weapon." Neurodynamics is the world's leading recognition company. By exploiting the most advanced neural network techniques, Neurodynamics produces operationally proven, high performance solutions to previously unsolved problems. Applications to Neurodynamics pattern recognition technology span the strata of industry including law enforcement/security, manufacturing, distribution, and others. Neurodynamics is active internationally and has offices in the US and UK, with clients worldwide in both the private and public sectors. HP Offers Variable Format Printer Hewlett-Packard Co. has released its first color ink-jet printer that can print on various-sized media, ranging from 4-inch by 6-inch post cards to 11-inch by 17-inch (B-size) paper. The HP DeskJet 1000C Professional Series is available in two versions, each costing about $499. The DeskJet 1000Cse comes bundled with Corel Print House Select 1.1, MySoftware Inc.'s MyColor Marketing Materials and a sample pack of 11-inch by 17-inch HP Bright White paper. The DeskJet 1000Cxi includes Corel Print House Select 1.1, Softkey Corp.'s Calendar Creator and a sample pack of 11-inch by 17-inch HP Bright White paper. "The DeskJet 1000C printer gives small-business owners an affordable way to create professional-looking, customized business collateral," says Phua Han-Tian, general manager of HP's Asia peripherals division. "Now they can easily print brochures, posters, business reports and newsletters without always having to run to a service bureau." Gates Considering Buying CBS? Word on the street is that Microsoft Corp. chief Bill Bates is considering a takeover bid for CBS, eying the television network as a colossal boon to his entertainment holdings. The New York Post reports this morning Microsoft and Montreal-based Seagram both have made preliminary expressions of interest in purchasing CBS. The paper cites sources close to the situation as reporting four Microsoft executives are examining the books of the network, whose media operations have an estimated value of $14 billion. The Post notes Microsoft itself is worth $153 billion and has some $9 billion in cash on hand. The Associated Press reports CBS' owner, Westinghouse Electric Corp., has announced plans to split the company's industrial holdings from its entertainment business. The Post quotes sources close to CBS as saying the company is not for sale, but that there is impatience among Westinghouse investors at the company's poor performance, which is blamed on CBS. The paper says some investors might be receptive to a takeover bid. As noted, Microsoft has invested $220 million in its MSNBC cable news partnership with General Electric's NBC, a deal that certainly would be terminated if Microsoft bought CBS, the Post says. Acer Sued by Lucent Technologies Taiwan computer maker Acer Inc. has been named in a patent infringement suit brought in the U.S. District Court in Delaware by Lucent Technologies Inc. The Reuter News Service quotes the Lucent as alleging in its suit that Acer violated eight patents relating to semiconductor manufacturing technologies, speech and video coding and computer display technologies. Lucent says the suit affects Acer's desktop and laptop computers. Chess Champ Wants Laptop Help World chess champion Garry Kasparov, six weeks after being defeated by IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer, is proposing that top players be allowed to use laptop computers to plot strategy during their matches. "Today people are not only looking for excitement, but also for very high quality play," Kasparov told the Reuter News Service at a Madrid press conference. "If a professional grandmaster is assisted by a small laptop computer, it dramatically increases the quality of their analysis and game." The 34-year-old Russian noted that just as mathematicians rely on calculators, laptops should become an acceptable tool in chess. "It doesn't help a weak player or even an average player but for the good player it opens new horizons and it could let us play phenomenal games," stated Kasparov. New News Site Launched Linking some 150 local newspapers around the country, a new Web site called NewsWorks is being launched by New Century Network, a consortium of nine large newspaper publishers. The site (accessible on the World Wide Web at address http://www.newsworks.com) is the partnership's first product since it was founded in spring 1995. The Associated Press says the service has an editorial staff of 18 editors, designers and others who sort through the day's news and list appealing stories. Readers who click on brief story outlines are taken to the affiliate newspapers' own Web sites, where the stories themselves are found. Editor John Papanek told AP, "The best way to describe it, I think, is a supersmart newsstand that is able to guide readers to whatever information they want that has been published in any one of the more than 130 affiliate newspaper Web sites." He said by year-end he hopes to have close to 200 papers on NewsWorks, adding that of the 150 current papers -- some Web sites have more than one newspaper -- about half are not from New Century partners. Partners in the venture include Advance Publications Inc., Cox Newspapers Inc., Gannett Co., The Hearst Corp., Knight-Ridder Inc., The New York Times Co., Times-Mirror Inc., Tribune Co. and The Washington Post Co. Of the nine, two flagship newspapers -- The New York Times and Gannett's USA Today -- have not contributed to the site. Both, Papanek said, withheld their content because they are national newspapers and NewsWorks focuses on local content. Other papers of those companies, however, are participating. "In addition to World Wide Web links provided by NewsWorks' editors," says AP, "the site also contains a search engine that allows readers to electronically sort though the contents of all 150 newspapers by looking for specific words or phrases. The project, which employs a total of 50, can sell both national advertising on the site and local advertising by individual affiliate newspaper or section." Telecommuting on the Rise In a new survey of 106 human resources executives, KPMG Peat Marwick LLP discovered that one out of four (23 percent) of Fortune 1,000 companies have employees who regularly telecommute either part- or full-time. Companies that have telecommuting programs are likely to be larger, with average revenues of $7 billion, finds the study. The average revenue for the group surveyed was $5.4 billion. The survey also finds that 53 percent of those companies with telecommuting programs found increased productivity and job satisfaction among employees who telecommute. One third (30 percent) of companies with telecommuting programs reported lower real estate costs and reduced employee turnover. "Telecommuting is being integrated into major corporations at a greater pace than we expected," says Joseph Parente, manager of KPMG Peat Marwick's telecommuting practice. "Possible reasons could be that the shift toward an information-based economy and continued technical advancements are allowing companies to have employees working offsite, whether at home, satellite centers or on the road." Small Biz Resists Cyberspace The vast majority of small businesses are computerized, but most are not cruising the information superhighway, finds a new study. According to the study, based on a Gallup poll of 1,000 members of the National Federation of Independent Business, 77 percent of small businesses report having computers, but only about 40 percent are online. The study finds that computer usage among small firms will continue to grow, although at a slower pace than in recent years. According to the report, the number of small businesses with at least one computer increased by about two percentage points per year from 1994 to 1997, about half the rate of increase logged from 1990 to 1994. The study also notes that rates of computer ownership, online usage and e-mail addresses vary significantly according to several factors. Compared to older business owners, owners under age 55 are more likely to have computers and be online. Rates don't vary significantly among the younger age groups. Compared to businesses in rural areas (less than 5,000 in population), owners in metropolitan areas (500,000-plus population) are more likely to have computers and e-mail addresses. The likelihood of firms being online and having e-mail addresses increases with the number of employees, notes the study. Fewer than one in three (31 percent) of the smallest firms (1 to 4 employees) are online, while 71 percent of firms with 20 or more employees are connected to cyberspace. Only 19 percent of the smallest firms have an e-mail address. "Online penetration of the market is still relatively low, and the proportion of businesses actively using the Internet -- as indicated by having an e-mail address -- is no more than a quarter of the small-business community," says William J. Dennis, an education foundation senior fellow at the Washington-based NFIB. A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N LEXMARK OPTRA C COLOR LASER PRINTER For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent to you that demonstrates LEXMARK Optra C SUPERIOR QUALITY 600 dpi Laser Color Output, please send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business sized envelope please) to: STReport's LEXMARK Printout Offer P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155 Folks, the LEXMARK Optra C has to be the very best yet in its price range. It is far superior to anything we've seen or used as of yet. It is said that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. The out put from the Lexmark Optra C is worth ten thousand words! Send for the free sample now. (For a sample that's suitable for framing, see below) Guaranteed. you will be amazed at the superb quality. (Please.. allow at least a two week turn- around). If you would like a sample printout that's suitable for framing. Yes that's right! Suitable for Framing. Order this package. It'll be on special stock and be of superb quality. We obtained a mint copy of a 1927 COLOR ENGRAVER'S YEAR BOOK. Our Scanner is doing "double duty"! The results will absolutely blow you away. If you want this high quality sample package please include a check or money order in the amount of $6.95 (Costs only) Please, make checks or money orders payable to; Ralph Mariano. Be sure to include your full return address and telephone number . The sample will be sent to you protected, not folded in a 9x12 envelope. Don't hesitate.. you will not be disappointed. This "stuff" is gorgeous! A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N Shareware Treasure Chest STR Feature "The Latest & Greatest" Shareware Treasure Chest By Lloyd E. Pulley lepulley@streport.com ------------ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Eudora Pro 32-bit 3.0.3 7/02/97 5.00mb Shareware This is an update for users of 3.0 or higher One of the best email clients around. It features: *Enhanced message filtering *Multiple e-mail accounts *Plug-ins *Stylized text *"Drag and Drop" support and almost everything else you can think off. Eudora Lite 32-bit 3.0.2 7/02/97 4.10mb Free The newest release of one of the best free email programs around. Powerful Filters, Extended Message Services, Display stylized text, "Drag and Drop" support, Active hot links and much more. Home Page Site - http://www.eudora.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price TextPad 32 Version 3.1 RC1 6/27/97 1,191kb Shareware $27.00 TextPad is the most powerful and flexible text editor on the market. Clean and uncluttered, the interface does not get in the way. Yet hiding just a few mouse clicks away are powerful search and replace, macro commands, and a highly customizable interface. When you need more than notepad can offer, TextPad is the obvious next step. This unlicensed version is fully functional, with no shareware nags, but will timeout on 1st June, 1997. (Registered users will be able to obtain a free upgrade to the final release before then.) You are welcome to evaluate it, and we look forward to receiving your feedback. In particular, we would like to know about any problems with the Spanish and Italian translations, and with the features for customizing the keyboard. Home Page Site - http://www.textpad.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Thumbs Plus 32-bit 3.0g beta 4 6/27/97 2.60mb Shareware $65 ThumbsPlus is a graphic file viewer, locator and organizer which simplifies the process of finding and maintaining graphics, clip-art files, fonts and animations. It displays a small image (thumbnail) of each file. You can use ThumbsPlus to browse, view, edit, crop, launch external editors, and copy images to the clipboard. You can use drag-and-drop to organize graphics files by moving them to appropriate directories. ThumbsPlus will also create a slide show from selected graphics, and install bitmap files as Windows wallpaper. You can print individual graphics files, or the thumbnails themselves as a catalog. ThumbsPlus can convert to several formats, either one at a time or in batch mode. You can also perform image editing in batch mode. ThumbsPlus will also convert metafile graphics to bitmaps (rasterize). One important new feature in 3.0g is the ablity to generate Web pages of thumbnails. Home Page Site - http://www.cerious.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price GL Version Demo 6/15/97 1,837kb Freeware A new application for guitar players which will allow you to have guitar lessons on your PC. The demo version includes one full lesson! ... v1.0 will be out pretty soon and it'll be freeware! Home Page Site - http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/5102/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Kripter Version 1.00 6/25/97 400kb Freeware A security utility that allows you to scramble your text with an infinite variety of personalized key codes. You can even scramble text twice, using a second key code to scramble already scrambled text. The copy and paste features allow you to quickly scramble text in your email messages. Home Page Site - http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/5043/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Lview Pro 32-bit 2.0 6/27/97 1.30mb Shareware $40 LView Pro is a full featured Image Processor program, that handles the image formats found on Microsoft Windows environments and Internet Web pages. You can use LView Pro to view, edit, create, and catalog images for all your professional needs, and for leisure. LView Pro features image animation, transparency, interlacing, painting, etc. All you need to create functional, precise, and perfect looking images, with minimal effort." "LView Pro is a full featured Image Processor program, that handles the image formats found on Microsoft Windows environments and Internet Web pages. You can use LView Pro to view, edit, create, and catalog images for all your professional needs, and for leisure. LView Pro features image animation, transparency, interlacing, painting, etc. All you need to create functional, precise, and perfect looking images, with minimal effort. Home Page Site - http://www.lview.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price WordSearch Finder Version 1.0 6/15/97 134kb Freeware Have you ever had school teachers assign word search puzzles and asked yourself, "What can I learn from this?" I have asked this question many times and found myself doing hours of busywork. WordSearch Finder allows you to bypass the unneeded busywork by solving the puzzle for you! Home Page Site - http://msm.byu.edu/emp/cca/comp.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price Auto-Bot 32-bit 1.0c9 6/27/97 2.00mb Freeware Auto-Bot will download your waiting email, setting your system clock to the Internet time, and (for the power users), executing timed telnet sessions. This is just the start, with more actions coming in future releases. Home Page Site - http://www.starbase21.com/winsock.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Football Fury Version 1.0 6/25/97 798kb Shareware $12.00 The football strategy game for Windows. Pick your plays from over a dozen available to get your team into the endzone as soon as possible. Play by yourself, with a friend, or just watch "from the sidelines" and let the computer do all the work controlling both teams. You can get up-to-the- minute statistics on your game, go for a two point conversion, risk an onside kick, pick any team from the '97 pro football roster etc. An attractive and easy to use interface makes it quick to learn and enjoy right away. Home Page Site - http://www.kagi.com/micromatt/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Streaming Shockwave 32-bit 6.0 release candidate 2 Plug-In 6/27/97 1.30mb Freeware Macromedia Shockwave gives you fully interactive multimedia clickable and dynamic animations, graphics, text, and audio from directly within your web browser. Install Shockwave and get immediate access to: ú Thousands of cool web games ú On-demand, streaming audio ú Live concerts and radio ú The latest interactive news, sports, and information. This new version also streams the animations and movies to your computer instead of having to wait for the whole thing to download first. Home Page Site - http://www.macromedia.com/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price ChemTool Version 1.02.2 6/26/97 653kb Freeware Calculates the mass, elemental analysis, isotopic pattern for a given chemical formula. One can compare a experimental mass spectra with the simulated pattern. It generates possible chemical formulas for a given mass within a range of chemical elements. The periodic system of elements is editable. One can also calculate the amount of chemicals for a given sequence of reaction equations. It's for the every day synthetic chemical laboratory work. Home Page Site - http://casgm3.anorg.chemie.uni- tuebingen.de/ilmari/CHEMPUTER.HTML Name/Version Release Date Size Price PerspectaView 32-bit 1.2. beta 3.0003 plug-in 6/27/97 3.00mb Free Searching a web site with traditional indexing technology can lead to information overload with long lists of potentially irrelevant and unrelated information. The Perspecta SmartContent System is a fundamentally new approach for adding value to information whereby the user can dynamically interact with information, organize it according to their own point of view, and discover related information." It's kind of hard to explain, but basically it lets you "fly" through information. I saw this program in action the other night on the Site (that goofy computer TV show) and it did look pretty cool... Home Page Site - http://www.perspecta.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Master Converter 32 Version 1.80 6/22/973 58kb Shareware $15.00 Master Converter is a powerful Microsoft Windows utility that can quickly and easily convert to and from 399 different units in 22 categories. The categories include: length, area, volume, dry volume, time, speed, mass, density, force, pressure, energy, power, flow, dynamic viscosity, kinematic viscosity, temperature, conductivity, thermal conductivity, angle, light, numbers, and fractions. Home Page Site - http://www.owt.com/users/rsavard/software.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price 301 Scorer for Win 95 Version 2.0 6/15/97 933kb Freeware Program for keeping score of a dart game of 301. Supports up to 4 players and has options for starting points and sound. Requires the VB 4.0 Runtimes. Home Page Site - http://user.mc.net/~scorpion/cheap/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Easy MP3 for Windows 95 Version 2.0 Beta 1 6/27/97 399kb Shareware $5.00 This very simple Windows95 front-end shell lets you easy convert WAV to MP3 format and vice versa. This app adds an Convert option to your popup menus (WAV) and lets you convert your files hidden. It also notifies you when your convert is done asking you what to do: delete the source, open the folder or play the output. L3Enc and L3Dec must be installed. Home Page Site - http://www.mlc.nl/users/rvdplas/plasdev/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Polyview 32-bit 2.90 beta 8 6/28/97 1.40mb Shareware $20 PolyView is a BMP, GIF, JPEG, photo-cd, PNG, and TIFF graphics viewer, file conversion, and printing utility for Windows NT and Windows 95. PolyView features fast image rendering, panning, and zooming that is optimized for Windows 95 and Windows NT. PolyView is a 32 bit application that uses multithreading to enhance usability and allow time consuming operations, such as image file reading and writing, to be performed in parallel with user interface operations. PolyView's multithreaded nature also allows the reading and writing of multiple image files at the same time. With its image appearance manipulation, copy and paste facilities, and DDE execution capabilities, PolyView is an excellent companion to your favorite Web browser. Home Page Site - http://www.netins.net/showcase/polybytes/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Wordsearch Mania! Version 2.01 6/29/97 2,811kb Shareware $25.99 Great for teachers and newspaper editors as well as the average word search solver! Comes with >200 puzzles to solve. Build your own puzzles to solve, or let the computer build them for you, using its 70,000+ word dictionary! Never run out of puzzles to solve! Build attractive puzzles with graphics! Solve puzzles with a time limit! Change the puzzle font! Circle words in three different ways! Solve up to 10 puzzles simultaneously! Print puzzles with or without circled answers in any font! Home Page Site - http://www.crystaltech.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price VDOphone for Win95 2.0.4 6/28/97 2.10mb Shareware $99 Experience the future of communication over the Internet, moving you past email and Internet phones to a new era of simultaneous two way video and audio.VDOnet's VDOPhone lets you place a call to, or receive a call from, any other Internet user with a VDOPhone and transmit two-way COLOR video and audio, or audio only, over modem connections at speeds of 14.4kbps and up. Home Page Site -http://www.vdolive.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Spam Exterminator Version 1.5 6/27/97 990kb Shareware $27.95 Unlimited ways to exterminate SPAM from your e-mail.! In addition to the included list of 1,500 known Spammers, you can also set any number of "Rules" that SpamEx will use to weed out unwanted SPAM messages. Optional retaliation options allow you to reply and report the SPAMer to thier domain postmaster. Plus, quick mail preview feature allows you to instantly see if and what mail is waiting for for you before you download it. This is absolutely the most powerful and easy to use product in it's class. Don't waste your time with the others -- arm your self against Spam. Home Page Site - http://www.unisyn.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Cosmo Player 32-bit 1.0 plug-in Official Release 6/28/97 2.60mb Free Cosmo Player was the first browser to support VRML 2.0, the industry standard for 3D worlds on the Web with sensors, scripts and sound. To boost your way through the infoverse, Cosmo Player has plenty of Silicon Graphics visual simulation technology packed into it's engine room. Now you can experience vast 3D universes on your PC without getting bogged down. It has Spatial audio for presence in the virtual world, Embedded audio and video to enliven the virtual world, and Constant frame rates for smooth interaction with large worlds. Home Page Site - http://webspace.sgi.com/cosmoplayer/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Zip Wizard Pro Version 2.0 6/24/97 820kb Shareware $29.95 Dual mode operation for novices and advanced users. Zip and UnZip Wizards, IntelliZip technology, Zip List with docked view, home folders, built in Zip/UnZip with support for disk splitting and encryption. Built in Zip Pro Navigator-Multiple, Computer views, Zip views, Finder views. Full click and drag File and Zip management, Click Finder with transfolder content views. Home Page Site - http://www.zipwiz.com/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price WorkStation Lock 32-bit 2.3 6/29/97 .25mb Shareware $5 WorkStation Lock provides a simple and inexpensive, but effective way to password protect your system without involving a screen saver. It is easy to configure and requires no modifications to your current system configuration. Home Page Site - http://posum.com/prods32.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price WarpCycle 2 Version 1.0 6/27/97 688kb Freeware A game for 2 or 1 players that was inspired by the infamous 'Light Cycle' game known from the early 80's Walt Disney movie 'Tron'. We decided to implement some new features to wipe the dust off this old game concept - for example 45ø turns rather than 90ø, and more...just give it a try! Home Page Site - http://members.aol.com/bischo6639/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Windows Enforcer 32-bit 4.1 6/29/97 .40mb Shareware $9.95 Windows Enforcer protects systems that are accessible to many people and require a consistent configuration and a consistent, limited selection of services. This is accomplished by insuring that specified tasks either never run or always run. It is easy to configure and requires little to no modifications to your current system configuration. Home Page Site - http://posum.com/prods32.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price SafeHouse Version 1.80 6/26/97 953kb Shareware $79.99 Provides transparent "on-the-fly" encryption for your notebook or desktop personal computer. Using SafeHouse, you can allocate portions of your existing hard drives to be reserved for encrypted data. SafeHouse encrypted volumes appear on your PC as another DOS drive letter. All encryption is performed automatically and transparently on the fly. You can do anything with a SafeHouse virtual drive that you can do with a normal hard drive; only that with SafeHouse, the encrypted volumes require password authentication before the files become accessible. SafeHouse encrypted volumes can range in size from 1 Kilobyte to 2 Gigabytes. The only limitation is the size of your hard drive. Volumes are mapped to a standard DOS drive letter in a single step. Just type your secret password and the entire contents of your encrypted volume will be instantly available. No waiting! When you're done, either click the unmap icon or turn off your PC. Unlike many competing products, protected files are never temporarily decrypted and stored back to disk, meaning that the secrecy of your data will not be compromised if you forget to re-encrypt, unmap or unexpectedly lose power to your PC. Download contains 40-bit encryption and is licensed for general Internet distribution by BXA. Registered users receive the 56- bit version by mail. Home Page Site - http://www.pcdynamics.com/SafeHouse/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price HandyCd Version 4.0 6/26/97 899kb Freeware This handy, freeware tray cd player now features a program and shuffle function. Fully compatible with the Windows 95 CD Player. Lots of options, unbeaten ease of use. Home Page Site - http://www.cs.vu.nl/~jmulder/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price WinImage 32-bit beta Release Candidate 3.04.3040 6/29/97 .25mb Shareware $30 WinImage is a powerful disk utility that enables users to make disk image from floppy, extract file from image, make an empty image, put the image on blank disk. WinImage also supports many different standard and non-standard formats, including Microsoft new DMF format. Home Page Site - http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gvollant/winimage.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price Secret Number Version 1.0 6/29/97 25kb Shareware $7.50 Great game that'll keep you busy for hours! Many Options, OnePlayer/TwoPlayer, Different Secret Number Ranges, etc. Basically you just try to guess the "secret" number. Computer generates number automatically except in two player game. Home Page Site - http://www.geocities.com/Baja/2857/secret.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price NetLoad 32-bit 3.6e 6/29/97 .36mb Shareware $34.95 NetLoad is a fully automatic smart file transfer system which maintains remote sites using conventional FTP. Only new or updated files are transferred, and entire directories and sub-directories are recreated based on your directory structure. It now includes mirroring of remote sites. Home Page Site - http://www.aerosoft.com.au/netLoad/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price RInstall Version 3.51 6/30/97 182kb Shareware $20.00 Support Spaces in "Ini" Section, test disk space, delete file, rename file, Files copy (with expand), Select and Create groupe, Write ".ini" files, Read ".ini" files in user data, Display "gif" image during install, Exec programme, Get user data, Uninstall, test file. Home Page Site - http://www.pratique.fr/~rberthou/us Name/Version Release Date Size Price IPage 32-bit 1.0 Official Release 6/30/97 2.40mb Free With ipage a quick glance of your list of "friends and associates" will let you know who is online at that moment. Contact any number of friends and associates and bring them all to a private chat room for group discussions or just to catch-up. Send links to any Real Media file to friends and associates and ipage will instantly launch the Real Player. Home Page Site - http://www.ichat.com/pager/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Space Invaders: The Year We Make Contact Version 2.1 6/30/97 1,024kb Shareware $10.00 A clone of the orginal Space Invaders to Windows 95. Except with better graphics, sound, and perhaps even gameplay. Home Page Site - http://home.thezone.net/~jmccarth/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Microsoft Internet Information Server 32-bit 4.0 beta 2 6/30/97 48.00mb Shareware With IIS 4.0, Windows NT Server is now also the best platform for building a new generation of Internet-enabled Web applications. IIS 4.0 brings together the integration of the Windows NT Server core system and networking services, with the complete and easy-to-use Web services of IIS, and the distributed application infrastructure of Microsoft Transaction Server. These operating system-level features enable developers to build applications designed expressly for the network. Applications can be delivered through a combination of HTML pages over HTTP and ActiveX components communicating through DCOM over the network. Any browser can securely and reliably interoperate with any backend data source. Developers are free to choose the languages, tools, protocols, and architectures best suited for their applications. Home Page Site - http://www.microsoft.com/iis/beta/default.asp Name/Version Release Date Size Price Go!Zilla 32-bit 2.1 6/30/97 .92mb Shareware $15 Go!Zilla is an internet file management and retrieval system. Gather URL links to files that you want to download by simply Dragging them from your favorite internet browser. Instantly see file sizes, estimated download times and network connection performance. You can even add as many different locations for a single file as you can find or let Go!Zilla do the work by quickly searching FTP archives. Then when Go!Zilla retrieves the file for you, it checks all available locations and delivers the fastest possible connection. Go!Zilla will even resume a failed download from both FTP and HTTP web sites. Downloads can be started at any time, or scheduled for later when network traffic dies down. Home Page Site - http://www.gizmo.net/gozilla/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price FTP OutBox 32-bit 1.50 6/30/97 .27mb Shareware $15 FTP OutBox is a Windows95 FTP uploading client and it is arguably the fastest FTP uploading program that's currently available in the market. Unlike all other FTP clients available currently, FTP OutBox does not require you to run it in order to use it and it doesn't even require you to logon to the destination host. All that is needed from you is to just select the files that you want to be uploaded from Explorer and drag-and- drop them into the FTP OutBox icon on your desktop. FTP OutBox will then take care of the rest and ensures that your files reach its destination safely. Home Page Site - http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~mannfai/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Multimedia Xplorer 32-bit 1.23 6/30/97 .80mb Shareware $20 Multimedia Xplorer is a new, powerful 32-bit application (Windows 95/NT 4.0) for handling most types of multimedia files including images, sounds, videos and icons. Main idea is to provide ONE application that handles all these different media types easily, so no need to mess with different applications. It is designed to be powerful for powerusers and at the same time it is as simple as possible, so novice users can view and manage files easily. Multimedia Xplorer has some unique ergonomy features that make it very handy to use. Home Page Site - http://www.moonsoftware.ee/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price CMED 32-bit 2.1b 6/30/97 1.40mb Shareware $25 A HTML editor with full support for HTML 2.0, HTML 3.2, Netscape tags, and Internet Explorer tags. Home Page Site - http://users.highway1.com.au/~cmathes/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price DriveView Version 1.0 7/01/97 450kb Shareware $13.95 A Windows95/NT utility that provides an easy way to 1) determine how much free space is left on any drive, 2) provides quick and easy access to any drive, 3) provides quick and easy access to items on the desktop, and provides warnings when your main drive (whichever you choose) reaches one of two warning points. All of this functionality is available directly from your System Tray. DriveView 1.0 work with any local, networked, or removeable drive connected to your system! You Control how often it checks the drives, You Control which drives are included, You control how and when it warns. Home Page Site - http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nogard/tlssoft.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price IPSentry 32-bit 2.3.13 7/01/97 4.70mb Shareware $79 PSentry is a Windows NT / 95 utility that will continuously monitor all your internet and intranet TCP/IP services 24 hours a day, ensuring your email servers, web sites, ftp servers, news servers, and any other TCP/IP based services are active and responding. In the event of failure, IPSentry will notify you (according to the defined schedule) via any or all of several different methods; PAGER, EMAIL via SMTP, AUDIBLE via .WAV or PC speaker, Launch external command. Utilize alert frequency scheduling, machine downtime scheduling and many more feature. Home Page Site - http://www.crackthecode.com/IPSentry/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Crumbler97 Version 2.0 7/01/97 800kb Shareware $10.00 A Cookie CRUBMLER!! Crumbler97 works in the background, allowing you to stop pushing NO everytime an Alert comes up that a cookie is being sent..Heres how it works...Crumbler97 sits in the tray, and,every 45 seconds, it deletes all the cookies in the Cookie Folder. No Mess, no Bother. Home Page Site - http://www.scscorp.com/personal/scottmac/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price VoxPhone 32-bit 3.0 beta 1 (Formerly TeleVox) 7/01/97 1.90mb Free TeleVox provides real-time, high-quality voice connections between one or more users over IP networks such as the Internet. You can place calls, conduct conferences of up to five users, or send voice messages to any TeleVox user in the world for the price of a local Internet connection. TeleVox 2.5 is in full compliance with the ITU's H.323 standard for call establishment and data transport, eventually allowing TeleVox to communicate seamlessly with any H.323 phone. Home Page Site - http://www.voxware.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price RoundClock Version 1.20 7/01/97 340kb Shareware $10.00 Not just another clock for Windows, it is a real round clock. RoundClock uses a real round window to display its clock face. RoundClock is highly configurable, has lots of features like complete alarm functions, and it runs with both Windows 95 and Windows NT. Home Page Site - http://www.fkware.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Downtown 32-bit 1.0 7/01/97 1.90mb Free Downtown is a comprehensive 'push' software product which automatically delivers the latest information from your favorite web sites right to your desktop. How it works: You create channels on the Downtown channel bar (similar to a toolbar) for each of your preferred sites. Downtown continually searches your channels' sites for new content, automatically downloads it, and notifies you when new content is available. When you are ready to view it, you just click the item of interest and instantly access the associated web pages. Home Page Site - http://www.incommon.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Voice Clock Version 1.0 7/01/97 322kb Shareware $5.00 Voice Clock is a Windows 95 system tray utility that announces the time at 15, 30 or 60 minute intervals. Home Page Site - http://www.coe.uncc.edu/~salanfor/voiceclock.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price WetSock 32-bit 3.0 Official Release 7/01/97 1.10mb Shareware $12 WetSock shows your current weather conditions and forecasts as an icon on the tray notification area of the system taskbar.Designed specially for Windows 95, WetSock will keep you updated about the weather over Internet without even needing to dial into your Internet Service Provider. If you periodically dial in for surfing, checking your mail etc., WetSock will connect to the weather server and get the weather information in the background , but can also dial in and hang-up by itself. WetSock is a Winsock compliant weather client for PCs running Windows 95. Home Page Site - http://www.locutuscodeware.com/wetsock.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price PICSure Version 1.1 7/01/97 1,300kb Shareware $19.95 An image viewer and image file manager for Windows95c. It can be used to preview, copy, and delete files of five different format types; bmp, gif, ico, jpeg, and jpg. Images that are too large for the viewing area, can be seen by using built-in scroll capabilities or forcing them into the viewing area. It is an excellent tool for just going through your image files, or arranging them into folders. Home Page Site - http://207.201.233.107/ztoz/picsure/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Crescendo 32-bit 3.0 beta 4 Plug-In 7/02/97 1.00mb Free Quite simply, it is a Plug-in for Netscape Navigator browsers that lets you listen to background music as you browse a web site. Of course, that depends on the site actually designing background music into its pages. Home Page Site - http://www.liveupdate.com/crescendo.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Big2 and Friends Version 0.34 7/01/97 315kb Freeware Play the popular card game Big2 ("Chor Di Dee") against three computer opponents. Multiplayer version coming soon. Many bugs fixed and new title graphics (in 3D and in Chinese) added. Home Page Site - http://www.loom.com.au/home/alf/programming/big2/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price BackWeb 32-bit 2.1 7/02/97 2.00mb Free Download BackWeb today and you'll be on your way to getting personalized information, entertainment, and software delivered automatically to your desktop. BackWeb makes this possible by sending data to you in the background, taking advantage of your Internet connection's idle time while you're connected to the net. This means you no longer have to wait for long downloads or go out and search for information. You subscribe to the Channels you're interested in once and from then on information is automatically delivered to your desktop. Home Page Site - http://www.backweb.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price DTS Mail Version 2.30 build 121 7/02/97 2,360kb Shareware $30.00 A sophisticated Internet E-mail program that features a Message filter to help you organize your mail automatically or at the click of a button, Send and receive files as attachments to messages, Launch attachments with the associated application, Launch your favorite web browser while viewing mail with embedded http URL's simply by clicking on the URL, supports voice messages and more. Home Page Site - http://dtsoftware.simplenet.com/dtm.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price PureVoice Player-Recorder 32-bit 1.0 7/02/97 1.30mb Free Introducing PureVoice Technology and its first Internet application: A Player-Recorder for voice messages that you can use with your email software. There's a Plug-in specifically for Eudora software, and a separate application for other email products." The sound quality is about the same as you'd expect on a standard telphone call and are very small. PureVoice files can be up to ten times smaller than comparable .wav files. Home Page Site - http://www.eudora.com/eudorapro/purevoice.html/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price AVI Screen Saver Version 2.50 7/01/97 104kb Freeware If you have AVI, QuickTime, or MPEG movies, this program will allow you to create a playlist of those movies to play as your screen saver. Features include: Random play, Looping, Scaling, Password Protection, Power Management, Mute, and individual movie settings. (QuickTime requires QuickTime from Apple; MPEG requires ActiveMovie from Microsoft) All feature requests from Version 1 have been implemented in Version 2! Home Page Site - http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~bfcarter/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Microsoft Gif Animator 32-bit 1.0 7/02/97 1.00mb Free Make your Web sites come alive with motion! "Microsoft GIF Animator is the fast and easy way to create and customize animations for your Web sites. No code is required to make your Web sites more eye-catching. And... it's free. Better yet, GIF Animator is designed to work in tandem with Microsoftr Image Composer to produce the animations you want. Simply drag and drop your images from Microsoft Image Composer into Microsoft GIF Animator and you can create an animation in minutes. Microsoft GIF Animator creates animations based on the GIF89a file format, which stores timing information to create the illusion of animation like a cartoon flipbook. Home Page Site - http://www.microsoft.com/imagecomposer/gifanimator/gifanin.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price Disk Format Quick Version 1.00 7/01/97 241kb Freeware You need a tool to quickly and correctly format a diskette? Now you get it with DF. You simply have to right click the small symbol in the task bar, choose "Format diskette" from the popup menu and you'll get the format dialog. It's as easy as it looks like. Home Page Site - http://strebersdorf.ac.at/CMSystems.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price PeopleLink 32-bit 1.06 7/02/97 .53mb Free A new ICQ clone. "PeopleLink is a new communications service that combines the interactivity of chat with the selectivity and privacy of email to create the simplest, safest and most dependable way for you and your friends and colleagues to connect and communicate online. It eliminates the clamor of chat rooms and the delay of email by sparking instant real-time conversation when you choose to be linked, no matter where you are on the Internet. Home Page Site - http://www.peoplelink.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Cache Browser For MSIE Version 1.0 7/01/97 1,270kb Shareware $20.00 Easy offline-access to all Web pages that have been cached by the MS Internet Explorer. Contains the ability to extract entire document trees. Organizing functions like intelligent domain sorting and deleting documents. Helps you to keep track of important things in the browser cache universe. Home Page Site - http://www.stpt.net/shareware/cbrowser/ EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed Edupage Contents Clinton Endorses Market Rule Of The Net Case Dismissed Against German Who Linked To Radikal Web Site NBC To Offer Digital Info Along With Shows Virtual University Goes International Online Newspaper Alliance More Jobs Involved Internet Activities Power Computing To Offer Wintel Machines Digital Watermarks Embedded In Playmates Nielsen Hooks Up With Lucent To Count Eyeballs SBC Challenges Telecommunications Act AT&T Alliance With StetThe Unlinking Of The Web?Sun Sticks With UnixHP Eyes $40-Billion Photography Market Women Surfing At The Top Of The Wave Field Of Schemes Telecommuter Ranks Expanding Old PCs Provide "A Trail Of Intellectual Breadcrumbs" CLINTON ENDORSES MARKET RULE OF THE NET The Clinton Administration has endorsed a policy study that says the Government should refrain from creating new taxes or regulations on Internet business, and that the private sector should be left alone to figure out the rules of cyberspace. The study, prepared by a task force led by Ira Magaziner, asserts: "Commerce on the Internet could total tens of billions of dollars by the turn of the century. For this potential to be realized fully, governments must adopt a non-regulatory, market-oriented approach." (Washington Post 30 Jun 97) http://www.washingtonpost.com CASE DISMISSED AGAINST GERMAN WHO LINKED TO RADIKAL WEB SITE A judge in Berlin has dismissed a case against a German woman who had linked her homepage to a Netherlands Web site for the left-wing magazine Radikal, which the German government has outlawed because it has published material considered seditious, including instructions for derailing trains. Because the judge's ruling was made on very narrow grounds, the decision will have very little impact on the legal and political questions related to attempts to regulate content on the Internet. (New York Times 1 Jul 97) http://www.nytimes.com NBC TO OFFER DIGITAL INFO ALONG WITH SHOWS NBC is working with software developer Wink Communications on a new technology that would enable viewers of NBC's news, entertainment and sports programs to access further information with a click of the remote control. Sports event watchers could call up players' statistics and biographies, for instance, or would-be cooks could order up a recipe featured on the "Today" show. Commercials aired on the network would come equipped with their own technology for linking viewers to coupons or brochures for products. The service will debut in the fall, initially to about 800,000 viewers with specially equipped set-top boxes. By the end of 1998, the enhanced service will be available to about 4 million viewers. (Wall Street Journal 30 Jun 97) http://www.wsj.com VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY GOES INTERNATIONAL The Western Governors University, a so-called "virtual" university that plans to begin offering courses electronically next year, reports "explosive" interest from students in foreign countries and has announced collaborations with institutions in Great Britain, Canada and Japan. Britain's Open University, the Open Learning Center in British Columbia, Canada, and Japan's Suwun and Tokai Universities all are working with WGU, and university administrators are discussing collaborative efforts with officials in Mexico and China. "The Western Governors University is essential to a strong international economy," says a spokeswoman for Mike Leavitt, governor of Utah and one of the project's co-founders, "because it provides an unprecedented access to higher education that students in remote locations just haven't had." (Chronicle of Higher Education 3 Jul 97) http://chronicle.com ONLINE NEWSPAPER ALLIANCE The 125-newspaper New Century Network alliance is unveiling its NewsWorks Web site (www.newsworks.com), which will contain features from individual newspapers, as well as an overview of national news stories assembled from various publications. The New Century Network includes Advance Publications, Cox Newspapers, Gannett, Hearst Corp., Knight-Ridder, the New York Times Co., Times-Mirror, Tribune Co. and the Washington Post Co. (Broadcasting & Cable 23 Jun 97) http://www.broadcastingcable.com MORE JOBS INVOLVED INTERNET ACTIVITIES A recent study by Buck Consultants found that companies now dedicate an average of 14 employees to Internet and Web site operations. Most of the Internet positions surveyed had salaries of $40,000 and above, with at least one topping $100,000. (Investor's Business Daily 1 Jul 97) http://www.investors.com POWER COMPUTING TO OFFER WINTEL MACHINES Power Computing, the biggest cloner of Apple Macintosh computers, says it plans to begin selling machines based on the Microsoft Windows/Intel microprocessor "Wintel" standard sometime in the second half of this year. "The way you win is by volume, and they would never get serious profitability on the Mac side because the volume is not there," says an industry consultant. (Wall Street Journal 1 Jul 97) http://www.wsj.com DIGITAL WATERMARKS EMBEDDED IN PLAYMATES In an attempt to put a stop to Net piracy, Playboy magazine is going to begin placing invisible digital "watermarks" in the images it posts on the Internet. The magazine will use watermark technology developed by Digimark Corporation in Portland, Oregon. The digital watermark is a pattern of pixels concealed in an image and coded with information about the image's owner and any copyright restrictions placed on its use. Playboy will also be using Digimark's Markspider, which crawls the Net looking for images that contain its watermark. A Playboy executive says, "The worm is very appealing. We try to see who's doing what, where and when to our stuff." (New York Times 30 Jun 97) http://www.nytimes.com NIELSEN HOOKS UP WITH LUCENT TO COUNT EYEBALLS Nielsen Media Research, under fire for perceived inaccuracies in its current television-ratings system, is working with Lucent Technologies to develop new ways to count audiences for digital TV and the Internet. Much of the technology will be developed at Bell Laboratories, Lucent's research and technology arm. "It's not just doing the basic measurement task, it's figuring out ways to do it better, faster and cheaper," says Nielsen's president. The technology will have to accommodate digital television's hundreds of channels, each one transmitting dozens of programs at the same time. (Wall Street Journal 30 Jun 97) http://www.wsj.com SBC CHALLENGES TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT SBC Communications, one of the six regional Bell operating systems that provide local telephone services, is suing the federal government to overturn a portion of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which it contends is obstructing competition in the long-distance markets by preventing the Bell companies from competing against the long-distance carriers. The Act prohibits the Bells from offering long-distance service until they have opened up their own local monopolies to competition. (New York Times 3 Jul 97) AT&T ALLIANCE WITH STET A new alliance between AT&T and Stet, Italy's state-owned telecommunications company, will make the two companies 50-50 partners in a venture providing phone services to Latin, where telecom revenue is expected to grow 70% over the next two years. (USA Today 3 Jul 97) THE UNLINKING OF THE WEB? Some companies are concerned about the Web's ability to link any two sites together, regardless of whether both parties agree to it or not. The recent lawsuits involving Ticketmaster vs. Microsoft, and six media companies vs. TotalNEWS.com are just the beginning, say some lawyers, who predict "link licenses" will become more commonplace in the near future. "Links establish a connection between two businesses, and people really want to be able to control that," says an intellectual property attorney. "A lot of our clients get upset with pornography sites linking to them -- they don't want that kind of connection." Meanwhile, a federal court's ruling two weeks ago, on First Amendment grounds, that a Georgia law forbidding use by a Web site of another company's trademark or symbol could be challenged appears to add some protection to the right to link. "That isn't to say you can't have some extensions of existing copyright and trademark protections to the Internet," says an ACLU lawyer, "but it's a very different matter altogether to say that people can't reference our site, which is what a link is." (Wall Street Journal 2 Jul 97) SUN STICKS WITH UNIX Sun Microsystems has reaffirmed its decision to stick with Unix, saying it has no intention of offering Microsoft's Windows NT software. "Being an NT reseller doesn't deliver any value to our customers," says a VP and general manager for the Solaris group. "We think there's a need for a more scalable, reliable alternative... Our position on NT is that we're going to compete with it, and we're also going to interoperate with it. We have to make sure we interoperate with Microsoft." Sun's Solaris server software can cost up to twice as much as Windows NT, but NT critics say the Microsoft product has trouble taking on complex tasks and heavy traffic, two aspects essential to server activities. And while NT is winning on volume of sales, a Unix server can accommodate many more processors than an NT server, says an IDC analyst. (Investor's Business Daily 3 Jul 97) HP EYES $40-BILLION PHOTOGRAPHY MARKET Industry observers say Hewlett-Packard's entry into the digital camera market is a back-door approach aimed at turning its gear into the "home digital darkroom" of the future -- promoting its printers as the replacement for old-fashioned film developing. Next year, HP will debut a printer that can download pictures directly from a digital camera -- no PC needed - and future plans call for a "digital mailbox" specially designed to zap photos and other images to your friends and loved ones via the Internet. "It will fundamentally change the way people think about photography," says HP CEO Lewis Platt. Kodak CEO George Fisher responds, "I find the idea that HP is somehow going to take over photography somewhat humorous. People know what a Kodak moment is, but an HP moment? I don't think so." (Business Week 7 Jul 97) WOMEN SURFING AT THE TOP OF THE WAVE Taken by 16,500 Internet users, the "MCI Great American Net Test" (cosponsored by the Educational Testing Service) yielded results indicating that women are superior surfers. Of a possible 100 points, the average score for men was 78.29 and the average score for women was 79.91. And women 60 years of age and older scored 71.38, whereas boys 17 and younger had an average score of only 70.64. MCI executive Vinton Cerf says: "The actual variation in scores is rather small. What is significant is that 60-year-old women can keep up with the younger guys." (New York Times 3 Jul 97) http://www.nettest.mci.com FIELD OF SCHEMES Investment watchdogs in two Canadian provinces have joined their American counterparts in a crackdown on a new breed of investment scams that include Internet shopping malls. The crackdown and education campaign, called "Project Field of Schemes," was created because the Internet increasingly is being used as a hook for scams, mainly because it offers a broader range of potential victims than senior citizens often targeted by telemarketers. (Toronto Star 2 Jul 97) TELECOMMUTER RANKS EXPANDING A study released Wednesday by Telecommute America, a public/private telecommuting advocacy group, says the number of U.S. telecommuters has surged 30% in the past two years, to 11 million. That doesn't count the people who work at home full-time but have no corporate office. Meanwhile, one in four Fortune 1,000 companies now have employees who telecommute either part- or full-time, according to a study released this week by KPMG. (Tampa Tribune 3 Jul 97) OLD PCs PROVIDE "A TRAIL OF INTELLECTUAL BREADCRUMBS" With computers averaging only a three- to five-year life cycle before becoming obsolete, there are plenty of old PCs cluttering up closets and garages, but many people find it emotionally wrenching to part with their outdated machines: "The reason you can't throw it away like an old shoe box is precisely because you've established a prior relationship with it," says an anthropologist at Xerox Corp. Part of the problem is the rapid pace of technological advancement: "My theory is that these folks are so giddy with the pace of change that they keep this junk around as a trail of intellectual breadcrumbs, leading them back to their computing origins," says futurist Paul Saffo. Meanwhile, computer critic Clifford Stoll recycles his machines into other useful household objects -- his one-piece Macintosh Plus is doing double duty as an aquarium, and the shell of an old IBM PC is now used as a cat litter box. (Wall Street Journal 2 Jul 97) 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: