Silicon Times Report "The Original Independent Online Magazine" (Since 1987) July 11, 1997 No.1328 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. STReport is prepared and published Using MS Office 97, Corel Office Perfect 8 & Adobe Acrobat Pro Featuring a Full Service Web Site http://www.streport.com Voted TOP TEN Ultimate WebSite Join STReport's Subscriber List receive STReport Via Email on The Internet Toad Hall BBS 1-617-567-8642 07/11/97 STR 1328 Celebrating Our Tenth Anniversary 1987-97! - CPU Industry Report - Adobe Spotlight - Links LS 98 Ships - Domain Name Probe - CC #'s Exposed - END Spamming SPAM! - Top Modem Co's Sued - Thumbs Plus 3.0g - Redneck Rampage - HOT DOG 4.0 beta - People Talking - Classics & Gaming Amelio OUT as Apple Chief Germany Passes Net Data Law Debit Cards a HIT! STReport International Magazine Featured Weekly "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports Adobe Acrobat Pro 3.0 Please obtain the latest issue from our Auto Subscription, Web Site or FTP Site. Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to all computer types, worldwide, through the use of the Internet. All computer enthusiasts, hobbyist or commercial, on all platforms and BBS systems are invited to participate. IMPORTANT NOTICE STReport, with its policy of not accepting any input relative to content from paid advertisers, has over the years developed the reputation of "saying it like it really is". When it comes to our editorials, product evaluations, reviews and over-views, we shall always keep our readers interests first and foremost. With the user in mind, STReport further pledges to maintain the reader confidence that has been developed over the years and to continue "living up to such". All we ask is that our readers make certain the manufacturers, publishers etc., know exactly where the information about their products appeared. In closing, we shall arduously endeavor to meet and further develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come to expect in each and every issue. The Publisher, Staff & Editors 1987-1997 Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35 Results: 07/05/97: two of six numbers with no matches From the Editor's Desk... This will be a very short editorial. There is much to be said about the future of computing.. especially in the areas of 75Mhz and 83Mhz. Those are bus speeds above the standard 66Mhz. Using these speeds in conjunction with "upped" CPU speeds is called "overclocking". Can you imagine a 133Mhz Pentium zooming along at say.. 150? Or more? In the coming weeks we'll cover the pros and cons of overclocking. Its become quite popular and successful. I believe you'll enjoy this series io articles. It'll also carry some very valuable information about the latest "auto-config" and "soft-menu" config motherboards. No more bothersome jumpers or "pia' dipswitches. This "computing thing" .it keeps getting better and better. Also, we'll be concentrating on Adobe's fine family of Graphical and Publishing products. As far as we are concerned, there's no finer than Adobe when it comes to Graphics and/or Publishing. Electronic or hardcopy, Adobe sets the standards by which all others are ultimately judged. This will be a highly informative series that'll take us right into the fall season. Of Special Note: http://www.streport.com ftp.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/FTP Site, 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. You'll be pleased to know you are able to download STReport directly from our very own FTP SERVER or WEB Site. While there, be sure to join our STR AutoMailer list which allows a choice of either ASCII or Acrobat PDF. STReport's managing editors DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU! Ralph F. Mariano, Publisher - Publisher, Editor Dana P. Jacobson, Editor, Current Affairs Section Editors PC Section Mac Section Shareware Listings R.F. Mariano Help Wanted Lloyd E. Pulley Classics & Gaming Kid's Computing Corner Dana P. Jacobson Frank Sereno STReport Staff Editors Michael R. Burkley Joseph Mirando Victor Mariano Vincent P. O'Hara Glenwood Drake Contributing Correspondents Jason Sereno Jeremy Sereno Daniel Stidham David H. Mann Angelo Marasco Donna Lines Brian Boucher Leonard Worzala Please submit ALL letters, rebuttals, articles, reviews, etc., via E-Mail w/attachment to: Internet rmariano@streport.com STR FTP ftp.streport.com WebSite http://www.streport.com STReport Headline News LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson Amelio OUT as Apple Chief Gilbert F. Amelio is out as Apple Computer Inc.'s president and CEO. The struggling computer maker says Fred Anderson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will assume responsibility for the company's day- to-day operations until a replacement can be found. Apple also says that co-founder Steve Jobs will assume an expanded role as a key advisor to Apple's board and executive management team. Amelio joined Apple in February 1996, replacing embattled chief Michael Spindler. Despite slashing the company's workforce by 30 percent and trimming its product line he has been unable to stem the firm's losses. Apple's stock recently hit a 12 year low. Another victim of the shakeup is Ellen Hancock, Apple's technology director, who is following Amelio out the door. "In recent months, Apple has made significant progress in addressing the crises which were threatening its viability," says Edgar S. Woolard Jr., Apple's board director and chairman of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. "In pursuit of the best interest of our shareholders and our customers, we now want to move forward and return the company to growth and sustainable profitability. We believe that with a customer focused CEO and Apple's product and technology portfolio, the company will have the necessary ingredients to return to success." Poll Finds Favor for Net Rules In what is certain to make online free speech advocates squirm, a new poll finds nearly a third of Americans believe the First Amendment goes too far in guaranteeing free speech and almost half favor government restrictions of speech on the Internet. The Chicago Tribune reports the poll, conducted for it by Market Shares Corp., surveyed 1,001 adults and has a margin of error of plus/minus three percent. Of those surveyed, says the Reuter News Service: ú 27 percent said the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went too far in the rights it guarantees. ú 55 percent said the guarantees were about right. ú 8 percent said the amendment did not go far enough. ú 11 percent said they did not know. And on the question of whether the government should restrict the kind of material that can be transmitted on the Internet: ú 50 percent said the government should. ú 31 percent said it should not. ú 08 percent did not know. ú And 12 percent were not familiar with the Internet. On other free-speech related issues, the Tribune poll also reported 58 percent of those surveyed said radio personalities who use implicit or explicit sexual expressions should not be allowed on the air, 35 percentsaid they should be allowed and seven percent said they did not know. Regarding the rights of anti-government groups, 52 percent polled said groups advocating overthrow of the government should not be allowed to make their views known to the general public, 40 percent said they should and eight percent did not know. Publisher Note; (Who REALLY took this Poll?? .Control Freaks Anoymous? ) Germany Passes Net Data Law A measure to keep out cyberspace smut and Nazi propaganda has been passed by German lawmakers, but critics are saying the law is too vague on what responsibilities online services had for content they didn't create or control. Associated Press writer Tony Czuczka, reporting from Bonn, says the law, which also aims at boosting electronic commerce, penalizes online providers for providing a venue for material that is illegal in Germany even if it originated beyond Germany's borders. Saying children must be protected against material deemed offensive, research/technology minister Juergen Ruettgers told the wire service, "That applies even to a network that knows no national borders. The Internet is not outside the reach of the law." He added the new law also clarifies key legal issues regarding commerce on the Internet. AP says this makes Germany the first country to set rules for so-called digital signatures, codes used to protect Internet communications and give them the status of a legal document. The law gained final approval in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, only six months after the government proposed it. It takes effect Aug. 1. However, attorney Christopher Kuner, a Frankfurt specialist on cyberspace issues, told Czuczka the law was too vague on what liability online providers have, that "it leaves a lot of things open." Also, the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany said liability for online services will have to be tested by court rulings, which "may cause prudent investors to hesitate." The new law says online providers can be prosecuted for offering a venue for content illegal in Germany if they do so knowingly and it is "technically possible and reasonable" to prevent it. This could apply to World Wide Web sites, chat rooms, bulletin boards and similar exchanges originating in other countries and offered by German online services without direct control over their content. Commercial services like CompuServe and America Online have maintained they provide only a connection like a telephone company, which is not held responsible for everything its customers say on the phone. Czuczka comments, "German prosecutors have been in the forefront of attempts to rein in the globe-spanning free-for-all on the Internet." He notes a leftist politician, Angela Marquardt, was charged with helping others learn how to commit crimes by linking her Internet site to an electronic magazine that included articles on how to build bombs and derail trains. A Berlin court has cleared Marquardt, without delving into the issue of how courts should deal with material banned in Germany but stored on a computer somewhere else. Publisher Note; (Speaking of Control Freaks.) France Applauds U.S. Net Policy While applauding President Bill Clinton for a laissez-faire policy on Internet commerce, French officials says they still worry that young people and consumers should be protected. As reported earlier, Clinton says he wants the U.S. to work with the World Trade Organization to create a "free trade zone" for Internetcommerce. In Paris recently, Junior Minister for Industry Christian Pierret told the Reuter News Service, "We agree with the United States that we must avoid holding back (Internet) development by imposing a paralysing regulatory scheme, but we must not ignore the serious difficulties that nations are encountering in attempting to assure the protection of consumers and to safeguard fundamental ethical principles, particularly with regard to young people." Reuters notes U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky later has said she hoped to start with a basic group of countries -- including the European Union -- to secure agreement on a hands-off policy on internetcommerce and build global support from there. Pierret told the wire service France wanted to be an active participant in the formulation of European and international policy on Internet and would make its views known at a coming meeting in Bonn on global information networks. He added Paris hopes the European Union will adopt a common position on the technology, saying the Internet would "without doubt be one of the most important elements of economic growth and job creation." Europeans Agree About Net Meeting in Bonn, Germany, this week, European governments have agreed to take a largely hands-off approach to regulating the Internet, leaving it up to industry to police its own online actions. However, says The Associated Press, the agreement by officials from 29 European nations also sketched out a role for government in ensuring the Internet's development. The wire service adds, "The non-binding resolution approved at a conference here borrowed from differing approaches toward Internet commerce recently adopted by the United States and Germany." As reported, President Clinton last week said the Internet should be a "global free-trade zone" where there is little interference by governments. The United States was among non-European nations invited to the Europeans' conference as guests. Meanwhile, Germany has passed a law that attempts to give a legal framework to the transmission of data on the Internet. The Europeans' so-called "Bonn Declaration" says expansion of the Internet "must essentially be market-led and left to private initiative." At the same time, it says, governments should work toward providing the frameworkfor electronic commerce and toward "stimulating new services." Speaking with reporters later, U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley said he is pleased with the "strong statement" by European officials that "the private sector must lead on so many of these (Internet) issues, and government should take a step back." Reporter Andrew Gray of the Reuter News Service says Daley acknowledged there were differences on some issues -- particularly over how to regulate encryption technology - - but said these were far outweighed by theconsensus on most points among ministers and industry leaders at the Bonn conference. Said Daley, "I think it's been a huge success because we seem to be in agreement on about 98 percent of the principles." EU Pledges No New Net Biz Taxes A European Union-sponsored conference on Internet commerce has agreed in principle not to impose new trade barriers or taxes on companies or individuals doing business in cyberspace. But the Reuter News Service reports that the conference, which was attended by 40 government ministers from Europe, the U.S., Japan andCanada, appeared to make little progress on how to regulate the encryption technology required for transaction security on the Internet. "The ministers agreed Internet regulation should be led by private enterprise rather than governments and embraced some ideas proposed by U.S. President Bill Clinton last week, but stopped short of advocating the U.S. proposal in full," notes Reuter. "We have agreed there should be no discriminatory taxes and laws placed on the Internet," German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt, host of the two-day conference, told Reuter. "The ministers have agreed that there should only be state regulation where absolutely necessary and private initiative and market forces should have as much room as possible." Justice Probes Net Naming An antitrust investigation into the business of registering Internet addresses has been launched by the U.S. Justice Department. Reporter Aaron Pressman of the Reuter News Service notes Network Solutions Inc., the leading registration company, has revealed it had received a request for documents from the Justice Department as part of the investigation. A Justice Department spokeswoman today told the wire service, "We're looking at the possibility of anti-competitive practices in the Internet address registration industry." Of course, all Internet addresses end with a short designation, usually three letters -- such as .com, .org, .edu, .net -- known as a top-level domain. Herndon, Va.-based Network Solutions has a monopoly to register Internet addresses in the most popular domains under a contract with The National Science Foundation. "The company," says Pressman, "has struggled to cope with surging demand for Internet addresses, dozens of lawsuits arising from alleged trademark infringements in address names and difficulty collecting fees from some Internet users. In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in preparation for a public stock offering, Network Solutions said it received on June 27 a 'civil investigative demand' from theJustice Department." Pressman says the demand requested documents and information from the company and its corporate parent, Science Applications International Corp. This follows a private lawsuit filed against the company in March alleging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In its filing, the company said it is not aware of the scope or nature of the investigation. In its initial public offering, the company plans to raise $35 million, but has not revealed how many shares would be sold or at what price. As reported, a group of Internet organizations and companies has proposed a new plan for assigning addresses through at least 28 competing registrars, but the plan may not go into effect. "The federal government has established an interagency task force to examine possible solutions," Pressman reports. "Last week, the Commerce Department asked for comments from the public on the issue." NEW LINKS LS 98 IN STORES Access Software's newest edition of its award winning LINKS LS in now in release and turning a quick profit for software stores everywhere. The first production run was entirely presold. "With the way LS 98 is selling right out of the `chute it looks like we'll keep our production facilities going full time, day and night," saiud Frank Bone, fulfillment manager for Access Software. The new LINKS LS features "look-ahead rendering" which has greatly reduced the waiting time between screen redraws to almost instantaneous. Its stunningly beautiful water reflections and improved sky panoramas recreate a beautiful golf day right on your PC. With LS '98 also comes the capability to have up to eight internet players at one time and multiplayer gaming over the net and lan has been greatlyh enhanced. Other new features include environmental animations such as waving pin flags, flying airplanes, balloons and blimps; improved haze and fog weather conditions as well as increased realism in terrain rendering. New shot formats include Scramble and Alternate in addition to Stroke, Skins, Match and Best Ball. Two additional Golfers (6 in all) Smart Camera views off- line Tournament play and other golfers on screen are some of the 25 new features of LS'98. LS '98 is now a native Windows 95 and NT (4.0 or higher) application with full Direct X support. As always, Access provides Toll Free support for all its products. Anti-Virus Upgrade Offered TouchStone Software Corp. has introduced a new version of its PC-cillin anti-virus software. The Huntington Beach, California, company says PC- cillin 3.0 offers users 100 percent protection from all types of viruses, as well as free Internet virus pattern updates for the life of the product and Microsoft Office 97 compatibility. According to TouchStone, new patent- pending MacroTrap technology protects users from both known and unknown strains of destructive macro viruses, which now account for more than 80 percent of all virus infections. "Computer viruses have become so clever and sophisticated, users need to prepare themselves with the best protection they can get their hands on and keep that protection constantly updated for it to be effective," says Larry Jordan, Touchstone's president and CEO. PC-cillin 3.0 is scheduled to become available in early August for $44.95. Digital Camera Market Continues to Soar Worldwide shipments of digital still cameras will reach nearly 10 million units in 2001, finds Lrya Research, Inc. The research firm, based in Newtonville, Massachusetts, projects that the market will advance at a compound annual growth rate of slightly more than 58 percent over the next seven years. "Total shipments will rise to more than 9.8 million units in 2001 from 990,000 in 1996, as the consumer and general business markets for the technology catch fire, driven by a host of new applications and falling digital camera prices," says Steve Hoffenberg, director of Lyra's Digital Photography Systems Advisory Service. According to Lyra, revenue generated by digital camera sales will expand to more than $3.6 billion in 2001, up from less than one third of that amount -- $984 million -- in 1996, according to Hoffenberg. "Thus far, the market for digital cameras has been largely confined to professional photography and vertical niche business applications," notes Hoffenberg. "But that is about to change. Beginning late this year, the consumer market will start to open up, as users of conventional film photography will finally have reasons to purchase digital cameras." Leading Modem Makers Sued Seven leading modem manufacturers have been named in a patent infringement suit filed by General Patent Corporation International of Monsey, New York. The suit seeks to enforce four of GPC's patents, which cover specific aspects of PC Card modems, the credit-card- sized modems primarily used in notebook and other types of portable computers. The alleged infringers are Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc., Boca Research Inc., Xircom, Inc., MaxTech Corp., Archtek America Corp., New Media Corp and Cardinal Technologies Inc., which was recently acquired by Hayes. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Orange County. In March, GPC filed a patent infringement suit against IBM Corp. and U.S. Robotics Corp. for alleged infringement of the same PC Card patents. "Every company manufacturing or selling PC Cards owes it to themselves to take a close look at our patents and consider taking a license," says Alexander Poltorak, GPC's chairman and CEO. The patents in question are U.S. Patent No. 4,603,320 ("Connector Interface"), U.S. Patent No. 4,543,450 ("Integrated Connector and Modem"),U.S. Patent No. 4,686,506 ("Multiple Connector Interface"), and U.S. Patent No. 4,972,470 ("Programmable Connector"). Trend Micro Sues British Firm Anti-virus software publisher Trend Micro Inc. is asking a federal court to stop Integralis Ltd., a British company, and its U.S. subsidiary Integralis Inc., from infringing on its patent covering virus detectiontechniques for data sent over the Internet and electronic mail. In legal documents filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle, Trend Micro identified Integralis' MIMESweeper andWebSweeper as products covered by the patent and asked the court to stop both Integralis companies from selling the infringing products to customers in the U.S. The lawsuit asks for damages, including trebledamages for willful infringement, and preliminary and permanent injunctions. The alleged infringement concerns U.S. Patent No. 5,623,600, which was issued to Trend Micro on April 22 and involves techniques used to protect large computer networks from viruses. The patented technology is used in Trend Micro's InterScan VirusWall product. It is also used in the server-based anti-virus products of a number of other vendors that have signed licensing deals with Trend Micro. The patent also applies to certain virus detection methods recently incorporated into some firewalls. "This action is part of our ongoing effort to protect our intellectual property," says Robert Lowe, general counsel for Cupertino, California- based Trend Micro. "The federal government has determined that our innovation in this area deserves patent protection. Our business is being damaged illegally every day that this infringement continues. This is the only way to enforce our rights." In May, Trend Micro sued its two largest competitors, Symantec Corp. and McAfee Associates Inc. for alleged patent infringement. That lawsuit, which remains pending, cited corporate anti- virus products such as McAfee's WebShield and GroupShield, as well as Symantec's Norton Antivirus for Internet Email Gateways, as infringing products. Trend Micro maintains the Antivirus Support Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.antivirus.com. Stop Spamming Spam, Hormel Asks Hormel Foods Corp. is tired of hearing the trademark for its famous canned meat product -- Spam -- being used online and in the press as a pejorative for junk e-mail. While the company has not filed suit, it has asked the nation's largest bulk e-mailer, Philadelphia-based Cyber Promotions Inc., to stop using the term. However, Cyber Promotions founder Sanford Wallace -- sometimes known as "Spamford" -- tells The Associated Press the company will continue using the word on its Internet site. Says Wallace, "The term `spam' is part of the vocabulary of 25 million Internet users. We didn't believe it's trademark infringement to use a slang word," adding he doubts the term "spam" would be confused with the food, Spam. AP notes a federal court in New York last year rejected Hormel's trademark infringement case against Jim Henson Productions for calling a pig-like muppet "Spa'am" in a recent movie. Incidentally, Wallace says he believes Spam became slang with a skit from the British comedy group, Monty Python's Flying Circus. In that skit, the word is repeated until one of the actors is driven crazy, he said. While Hormel wants Cyber Promotions to stop using the word Spam, it hasn't asked the company to stop using the term "spamming," a slang word that denotes mass junk e-mailing. Hormel spokesman V. Allan Krjeci says in a statement, "We want them to recognize that Spam has been a widely known Hormel Foods trademark for 60 years and they are not authorized to use that trademark for their commercial use." Also Austin, Minn., -based Hormel is asking Cyber Promotions to stop displaying cans of Spam when promoting the bulk e- mail business. Prof Sees Worker Privacy Threat Corporations are using advancing technology to spy on workers faster than the law can uphold privacy rights, says a University of Illinois legal scholar. United Press International, reporting from Champaign, Illinois, quotes a new study by law professor Matthew Finkin as saying employers are steadily narrowing their workers' legal "reasonable expectations" of privacy because of the nature of computers and other new technologies. Writing in the Chicago Kent Law Review, Finkin said corporations are taking advantage of this phenomenon to steadily narrow what courts are willing to deem as "outrageous" -- and therefore illegal - monitoring of workers' activities both on and off the job. Finkin notes courts have ruled it is not an invasion of an employee's privacy to read the employee's personal e-mail, peek into restrooms with video cameras or interrogate an employee in a locked room about the details of her sex life. With the advent of computers, he says, "as the worker watches the display terminal, the terminal can, in effect, watch the employee," thereby narrowing the employee's "reasonable expectation" of privacy. The deck is stacked against employees, he believes, by an antiquated body of U.S. law that is designed to protect corporations from government intrusion. "Liberty in the workplace," Finkin writes, "is conceived in terms of the employer's freedom from state control, in which the employee's freedom from employer control is, at best, derivative," adding European laws showit is possible to strike a better balance between privacy and the needs of employers. Credit Card Numbers Exposed Hundreds of ESPN Sportszone and NBA.com Web site users have received e- mail claiming their credit card numbers have been exposed to unauthorized access, reports The New York Times. In Thursday's edition, the paper said the messages were signed by "an anonymous organization seeking to make the Internet a safe place for the consumer to do business." The messages included the last eight digits of each recipient's credit card number, the newspaper stated. Both sites are operated by Starwave Corp. A Starwave spokesman confirmedto the Times that system security had been compromised and that the files of 2,397 customers were potentially exposed. The company added that none of the card numbers have been misused. The sites have been taken offline until an investigation has been completed, the newspaper said. 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 Quicktime Plug-in Version 2.1.2 7/01/97 869kb Freeware Allows you to view quicktime movies (.MOV) in your Web Browser. Home Page Site - http://quicktime.apple.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price CD Wizzard 32-bit 4.31 7/05/97 .32mb Shareware $19.95 Wizzard CD Audio Player for Windows has all the functions of a home CD player plus many, many more! It saves the disc and tracks names in its database. CD Wizzard has a full 3D look that is totally customizable. In icon mode, the icon is updated with the disc and track time. There is a full help file that describes all features of CD Wizzard. Home Page Site - http://www.bfmsoft.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Becky! Internet Mail for Windows 95 Version 1.21 7/03/97 1,219kb Shareware 40.00 Becky! is a multi-featured E-mail client specialized for Windows 95 and the Internet. You will find many features which are expected for an Internet E-mail software, and some of them would be beyond your expectation. Home Page Site - http://www.rimarts.co.jp/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Beatnik Plug-in Version 1.15 07/01/97 2,395kb Freeware A driver which manages the playback of RMF and other audio files within Web browsers. The greatest strengths of the Beatnik Plug-in are its high fidelity and its potential for interactivity. The sound quality is comparable to high-end PC wavetable sound cards even though the processing is entirely software-based. The potential for interactivity results from Beatnik's support of a comprehensive set of JavaScript functions, which allow for a richer and more personalized musical experience than other multimedia delivery solutions. Beatnik allows a Web page to play music not only on opening, but also on an event such as a "mouse click" or "mouse over." These events can also trigger individual notes, sampled voices, or sound effects; start or stop music; and change tempo, volume, pitch, or mix. This is revolutionary in that it allows and even encourages direct musical interactions with Web pages, instead of the current use of the Internet as a playback-only system. Home Page Site - http://www.headspace.com/beatnik/plug-in/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price ThumbsPlus Version 3.0g 7/03/97 3,021kb Shareware $60.00 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. This update has many bug fixes. Home Page Site - http://www.cerious.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Thing Viewer 32-bit preview release plug-in 07/06/97 .32mb Free Allows you to view multimedia content created with the ThingMaker. Basically, Things are rich multimedia objects. They have a series of attributes that you can change via simple menus and mouse clicks. ThingMaker gives you the power to "Make Things Do Things" in an easy-to-use drag-and-drop authoring environment. No programming knowledge is required on your part. Things can be created with images, animations or sounds. ThingMaker promises the functionality of Macromedia Director as well as the ability to assign copyright information and restrict images from being downloaded -- all for a little more than 10% of Directors' cost. Home Page Site - http://www.thingworld.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price ViruSafe FireWall Version 2.50 7/07/97 216kb Shareware Uses a full 32-bit, NCSA certified anti-virus engine to scan EXE, COM, DOC, XLS and ZIP files, even in MIME and UUencoded E-Mail attachments. ViruSafe FireWall provides real-time scanning of FTP, SMTP and HTTP file transfers. It provides full protection from all viruses, including macro viruses, even in Office 97 files. In addition, ViruSafe FireWall uses an advanced engine to protect the network from known and unknown hostile Java applets and ActiveX controls. Advanced configuration options allow you to control what actions are taken when an infected file is encountered. Home Page Site - http://www.eliashim.com/firewall.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price TrueStream 32-bit 1.1 plug-in 07/06/97 N/A Free If watching videos over the 'net reminds you of sitting on the airport taxiway, then you're ready for TrueStream Video, Motorola's new streaming video software. With TrueStream you can start viewing videos in moments, not minutes. Home Page Site - http://www.mot.com/MIMS/ISG/Products/video/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Cryptext Version 2.32 7/05/97 83kb Freeware Little encryption and deencryption program. Works together with Windows Explorer. Very small, but really good. Home Page Site - http://www.pcug.org.au/~njpayne/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price IBM Internet Connection Phone 32-bit 2.01 beta 1 07/04/97 2.60mg Freeware Here's a new version of Internet Connection Phone with better voice quality and support for Interest Groups (Topics). This version is compatible with the previous version and lets you talk with users who use either this version, or the older version. Internet Connection Phone lets you talk, send data and work collaboratively all on a single telephone line. IBM's easy to use Internet Connection Phone is the first Internet phone to support the use of speaker phones with full duplex capability and echo suppression, thus providing you with high voice quality. This version supports 2 codecs, GSM-VQ which is a high quality GSM that lets you work on 486/66MHz machines and G723-6.3kbps which gives you a better voice quality on 586/100MHz machines. In fact, the quality is comparable to the best cellular systems available today. Home Page Site - http://www.ics.raleigh.ibm.com/ics/icphone.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price Multiple Choice Test Generator Version 1.0 7/07/97 1,731kb Shareware $5.00 A tool which allows teachers and others to write and print multiple choice tests. It has the capability to allow teachers to administer multiple choice tests both in printed form or on the computer directly. Tests administered on the computer are graded automatically. Both a raw score and a percentage score are calculated. For each question entered in the test creation mode, up to four possible answer choices are available. There is no limit to the number of questions allowed for each test. Home Page Site - http://www.eagle.ca/~hsteve/powers.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Extreme Assault 7/07/97 13.00mb Commercial Demo If you are looking for a good adrenaline rush, then you're sure to enjoy this intense action game from Blue Byte. Aliens have secretly set up operations on Earth and it's up to you to put a stop to their sinister plans. Blow `em away with your Sioux AH-23, a high tech attack helicopter, and the T1, the next generation battle tank. Almost 20 different types of tenacious and cunning opponents will be gunning for you from the air and the ground. Increase your killing power and strengthen your defenses with bonuses found in secret passages and hidden rooms. Experience awesome real time 3-D graphics as you journey through mountain ravines, subterranean caves, Inca ruins and underground alien complexes. This breathtaking, lifelike world will unfold before you smoothly and quickly, thanks to a highly advanced 3-D graphics engine that does not require any accelerator cards (although the game has support for 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics based cards). Home Page Site - http://www.bluebyte.com/us/products/ea/ea.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price Debt Analyzer Version 2.5 7/06/97 1,500kb Shareware $10.00 Designed to help people get out of debt through the most efficient means possible. It calculates three different payoff scenarios: highest rate, smallest balance, and smallest (balance to monthly ratio). The user can apply all three and see which one provides the best way of getting out of debt while paying the least amount of interest in the shortest possible time. You must enter the name, balance, interest rate, and minimum monthly payment for all your outstanding debts. You also have the ability to put in a delayed start time for those debts you are not currently making payments on such as those "no payments till 98" deals on new cars. You also enter any extra money you have to apply towards paying off your debts. It then calculates how you should apply your payments so you can get out of debt through the quickest means possible. Home Page Site - http://www.magicnet.net/~seren/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Mini Notetab 32-bit 2.63 7/07/97 .44mb Freeware Mini Notepad is not just another Windows Notepad replacement! It is a feature-rich program with a selection of original productivity tools that you will find in no other editor. Mini Notepad has been designed to use a minimum amount of Windows system resources so you can safely keep the editor open all the time. The program is capable of opening a very large number of files (the actual limit is determined by the amount of free system resources). Each document is displayed on a tabbed page making it easy to switch between them. A separate window, called the Document Selector, makes it easy to find a specific document when a large number of them are open. Home Page Site - http://www.unige.ch/sciences/terre/geologie/fookes/mininote.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price Norton Anti-Virus Montly Update Version July 7/01/97 1,200kb Freeware July 1997 Definition Update for Norton Antivirus Home Page Site - http://www.symantec.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price WarSport 32-bit beta 7/07/97 N/A Free This new online game is something of a cross between Command and Conquer and a futuristic sports game. The game is set within an arena and is played in two ten minute halves. The field is divided into eight pie shaped slices, one for each player. Up to eight players may participate but only two are required to play. At their disposal, players will have several types of units ranging from invisible spies to fast riders to powerful boomers. Each player also has a comcen (communications center) within their slice of the field that it must protect. Destruction of the comcen means elimination for a player. Home Page Site - http://www.warsport.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Rule Organiser Version 2.14 7/06/97 1,248kb Freeware A simple to use Rules Organiser that allows you to simply change from one set of rules to another in Westwood Studio's Command & Conquer Red Alert and Red Alert Counterstrike.. This gives you things like TeslaTanks, FireBreathingDogs, Crazy Crates etc... Home Page Site - http://pages.infinit.net/mclarry/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price SecurityPlus 32-bit 4.02 7/07/97 2.00mb Shareware $29.95 File viewer with on-the-fly encryption/decryption. Supports 24 different file formats including Animated GIF files. Zoom, Full view, Auto-Hide, JPG options, File Info including CRC, Full privacy of images and any other files, runs in the tray, +more. One other unique option, Secure Access, will encrypt entire programs. By using this option you may prevent total access to items such as e-mail, company accounting records, programming source files and image files. File Formats Supported: *.iff, *.lbm, *.gif, *.png, *.gem, *.img, *.cut, *.tif, *.jpg, *.mac, *.msp, *.art, *.pic, *.hrz, *.ras, *.tga, *.bmp, *.dib, *.emf, *.rle, *.wmf, *.wpg and *.pcx. Animated GIF files. Home Page Site - http://www.softbytelabs.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Multi Program Launcher Version 1.01s 7/06/97 151kb Shareware $10.00 A small (36Kb), fully configurable, easy to use, but very powerful Win95/NT notify bar program launcher. It is accessed via the world icon in the notify bar region, one click and you have full access to the power of MPL, literally at your finger tips. It was designed to run multiple programs from one menu entry, as well as to keep all your most used short cuts, in one place for easy access. You can run files via file association, or just by including the full path and executable filename, you also have various switches to display the windows in various styles (i.e. hidden, minimized, maxmized, etc..), as well as access to a switch which allows you to run specific programs in a default directory for even more flexibility. Depending on your screen resolution, you can have up to forty six viewable menu entries on screen, and to get around this paltry restriction, I have also incorporated an option to create up to a maximum of 65535 submenus, for those other important menu entries. Home Page Site - http://homepages.enterprise.net/cwood/mprog.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price HotDog 32-Bit 4.0 beta preview 1.01 7/07/97 4.40mb Shareware $99.95 A really good editor. It has a ton of features like floating toolbars, long file names, Style Sheets, Dynamic Dialogue Builder, Dynamic Button Builder , Massive Plug-In Support, On-the-fly Image Conversion, Create Gif89a Animations, and much more. New features include: ú New super fast drag and drop interface ú Wizards for advanced HTML functions ú Intelligent documents (with error hints) ú The Power of all new Supertoolz plugins Home Page Site - http://www.sausage.com/hotdog32.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price CircSolver Circuit Analysis Version 1.1 7/07/97 2,043kb Demo $65.00 CircSolver can analyze any arbitrary analog circuit by deriving Transfer Functions, generating Bode Plots, and plotting the time-domain response of circuits to user-designed Input Signals. CircSolver can even plot the response of circuits with multiple sources and with different Input Signals applied to each source. The application contains an integrated circuit editor with a graphical user interface, multiple document interface, dockable toolbars, right-click menu, context sensitive help, and advanced editing features like unlimited undo/redo and smart mouse cursors. Home Page Site - http://www.micronation.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price MidiMaster 32-bit 7.1 7/07/97 1.00mb Shareware $20 MidiMaster is a multimedia player for Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 that supports MID, RMI, AVI, QuickTime and WAV formats. It is not only a media player but also a media file organizer. It is specially designed for those who like a desktop media player which brings convenience whenever they play and manage their beloved media files. MidiMaster runs on both Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 as it provides specific Windows 95 GUI features. Also, users can either minimize MidiMaster to taskbar or shrink it to the TaskTray of Windows 95. MidiMaster also provides library functions for managing or categorizing media files. It has many extensive functions which make media files playing extremely simple and controllable. There are many more functions available to make your life of playing media files easier. Home Page Site - http://www.cs.ust.hk/~paul/mm/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price SMPTE Time Calculator Version 2.1 7/06/97 713kb Freeware Time Calculator 2.0D is a time calculator. SCalc 2.0 supports both standard time (hh:mm:ss), and frame based time (hh:mm:ss.ff) in both 24 frames per second and 30 frames per second. Home Page Site - http://lighthouse.tierranet.com/scalc/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Cookie Pal 32-bit 1.1a 7/07/97 .18mb Shareware $15 Cookie Pal is a complete internet cookie management system for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. It lets you automatically accept and reject internet cookies from all or user specified web sites, without having to click on the web browser's annoying "Cookie Alert" messages all the time. Cookie Pal works with Internet Explorer 3.0 or later and Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later as well as Compuserve WinCIM 3.01 to give you complete and transparent control over the cookies which are accepted by and stored on your system. You can also view and delete existing cookies on your system. Home Page Site - http://www.kburra.com/cpal.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price CacheCompactor Version 4.0 7/07/97 306kb Shareware $10.00 Automatically removes temporary and cached files from your computer. It can also be configured to remove any user defined folder as well as individual files. CacheCompactor can recover a large amount of space consumed by your web browsers cache, and can also protect the privacy of your data by removing temporary copies of files that may be created while you are editing documents( for example, in a word processor). Home Page Site - http://www.triceris.com/CacheCompactor/default.asp Name/Version Release Date Size Price BlackBox Version 1.2 7/04/97 111kb Shareware $15.00 An easy to install enhancement to the Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 (x86 only) shell, and it provides users the ability to encrypt and decrypt files with exactly two mouse clicks. You have files that should be seen only by you? Have you transfer files over unsecured networks? Worried about someone is reading your files? Your Boss is reading your mail? Then BlackBox is for you! BlackBox will be installed as a system shell extension, this meaning that you will find it by double clicking on any file or folder you want to protect. By protecting a file, this file cannot be read anymore until it will be decrypted. It uses DES (Data Encryption Standard), the well known encoding standard. BlackBox implements besides the standard 56-bit key version of DES also a version of 56-bit key DES without the initial and final permutations, optimized for speed. Home Page Site - http://www.interscope.ro/BlackBox/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Clean System Directory Version 1.2 7/07/97 75kb Freeware This program scans your system looking for all references to DLL files in your Windows system directory. Those DLL files in the system directory that have no programs calling on them can be moved out of the system directory, saving disk space and improving system performance. For experienced users. Home Page Site - http://www.ozemail.com.au/~kevsol/sware.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Maplay 32-bit 1.90 7/08/97 .88mb Freeware Maplay is a program that decodes MPEG Audio Layer 1 and 2 files, which are factor of 6-12 times smaller than uncompressed audio (like Windows PCM WAVE, Sun AU, or Mac AIFF files). Despite the huge compression, there is no audible signal loss! You can retain CD-quality sound at compression ratios around 1:6 (128 kbit/s). This new version adds layer 3 support. Home Page Site - http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ctsay/mp2win32.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Disk Format Quick Version 1.01 7/03/97 242kb 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 that easy as it looks like. Home Page Site - http://strebersdorf.ac.at/CMSystems.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Cookie Web Kit 32-bit 1.01 7/08/97 .01mb Free The Cookie Web kit automates the deletion of your cookie files everytime you boot up your computer or click on a certain icon. It works by the use of a simple bat file, and can also be configured to delete cache and history files. This software is compatible with all versions of Netscape, and Internet Explorer (Windows95). Includes comprehensive setup file. Home Page Site -http://www.cookiecentral.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Pegasus Mail Version 2.54 7/03/97 1,700kb Freeware A really good E-mail program that's free. It has a lot of nice features like a spelling checker, mailing list support, and much more. Home Page Site - http://www.pegasus.usa.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price PhoneBook95 32-bit 2.3 7/08/97 1.40mb Sharware $20 Windows95 Phone/Address Book Manager, the only phone book you'll ever need ! Features: ú powerful 32-bit application ú intuitively easy to use ú organizes all your phone #'s, addresses, e-mail addresses, web addresses and more with ease ú search for any keyword in your database ú phone dialing capability ú one button emailing ú one button web site access ú separate personal / business directories ú printing capability Home Page Site - http://members.aol.com/lwsoftware/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price RaMaster Version 1.0 7/08/97 1,800kb Shareware $20.00 A RealAudio file queuer and librarian. It has two major functions: (1) Help users organize their RealAudio files in libraries. Users can also establish libraries which contain folders of songs in addition to individual song items. (2) Provide an intuitive user interface to make a list of favorite songs. The queue could be a persistent or a temporary one. Home Page Site - http://www.cs.ust.hk/~paul/rm/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Polyview 32-bit 2.90 beta 9 7/08/97 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 RealAudio Tuner Version 2.0 Beta 7/08/97 543kb $15.00 The RealAudio Tuner will allow you listen to radio stations from around the world. Any radio station that broadcasts with RealAudio compression over the Internet can be easily accessed with this tool. The RATuner will help you to keep track of the rapidly growing list of radio stations on the Internet. The easy to use interface helps you to find stations easily and quickly. Designed to look and act like the radio in your car, RATuner makes use of up to 10 preset stations for setting your favorites. Although RATuner is distributed with over 130 live stations ready to play, you can add your own as you find more, giving it the flexibility to stay up to date. There are also options to delete and edit the station list as your needs change. Home Page Site - http://www.dragontek.com/RATuner/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Warlords 3 for Win95 7/08/97 12.40mb Commercial Demo Warlords III: Reign of Heroes continues the popular Warlords series in one of the most complex and challenging strategy gaming environments ever created. Starting with a single hero and a modest selection of armies, build up your forces and capture enemy cities to push back the evil hordes of Lord Bane and Lord Sartek. Or stage an epic campaign and vanquish your enemies to take over every city on the map. Warlords III offers a wealth of game play options, intricate strategic detail and many scenarios to choose from in a variety of settings. Home Page Site - http://www.warlords3.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price SmartTracker Stamps 97 Version 3.2 7/08/97 1,710kb Shareware $25.00 Organize and Catalog your stamp collection. Enter a multitude of information about your Stamp Collection including user defined fields. Easily mark stamps as "wanted". Narrow data down to a search. Sort data on any field 4 levels deep. Search and Replace, Import, Export, User Definable Reports, Select Colors, Select Fonts, Maintain Multiple Databases and more! Home Page Site - http://www.smartcode.com/isshtml/smtstamp.htm Name/Version Release Date Size Price PerspectaView 32-bit 1.2. beta 3.0005 plug-in 7/09/97 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. Home Page Site - http://www.perspecta.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Book Catalog Version 2.8 07/08/97 4,114kb Shareware $20.00 Features an elegant, user-friendly interface for storing book and author information. Subjects are displayed as a hierarchial tree and includes drag and drop support for maintaining data. Other features include realtime parsing of dewey decimal classes into categories and field customization. Many fields of information stored using Microsoft's powerful Access engine make Book Catalog useful for home, book collecting, and even small libraries. Home Page Site - http://www.vecdev.com/dem/BookCatalog/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price PassWords Plus 32-bit 2.2 7/09/97 1.10mb Shareware $5 Passwords Plus allows an unlimited number of users to each keep an individual password-protected list of their passwords. Names and passwords may be pasted into other applications using the standard Windows clipboard. Passwords lists may be browsed and printed. Home Page Site - http://www.dlcwest.com/~sorev/passplus.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price WinImage 32-bit beta 3.05.3044 7/09/97 .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 BusinessCards Version 4.18 7/07/97 350kb Shareware $29.95 BusinessCards is EXTREMELY INTUITIVE and EASY TO USE universal database/organizer software. It is a perfect Cardfile replacement: COMPACT, FAST and FLEXIBLE. Sports elegant folio-like user interface with alphabetical tabs and flipping pages. Fully Internet enabled, packed with lots of advanced features. Home Page Site - http://www.midstream.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price LifeSaver 32-bit 3.30 7/09/97 1.50mb Shareware $30 LifeSaver is a configuration file backup and restore utility which can be used to recover from problems due to corrupt configuration files or changes to configuration files which can not be undone. Home Page Site - http://members.aol.com/aeroblade/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Wallpaper Wizard Version 1.0.2 7/09/97 3,500kb Freeware The purpose of this program is to allow you to have a different wallpaper image each time you boot up your computer. This program is very simple to use. Home Page Site - http://members.aol.com/brandoprod/index.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Beasts & Bumpkins for Win95 7/10/97 16.00mb Commercial Demo Stripped of your lands and exiled by the King, you must rebuild your empire from scratch with just a handful of smelly peasants at your command. It'll take careful management of your limited resources to increase the population of your servants. And you're going to need every penny - and peasant - you can muster if you're to defeat the monstrous minions of the Dark Lord Sabellian that terrorise the countryside. Expand your population, increase your lands, wipe out all the opposition and look forward to being crowned King Mildew I". (It's a real time strategy/wargame). Home Page Site - http://www.ea.com/eastudios/beasts/home.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Companion Reader Version 2.0 7/07/97 740kb Shareware $19.95 Designed to give you the ability to predict the outcome of a wide selection of daily personal and business events involving you and any other individual, or just any two individuals via Numerological and Astrological calculations as well as The Book of Dead and The Cabala. Numerology has been used for centuries to compare individuals' profiles. Now, the power of that knowledge is finally at your fingertips. Discover the future or check your past - the choice is yours! Home Page Site - http://www2.pitnet.net/numer/companion.html Name/Version Release Date Size Price Internet Neighborhood 32-bit 1.1.26 7/10/97 1.00mb Shareware Internet Neighborhood is a Windows 95 Shell Extension which is used for browsing remote FTP sites as if they were directories/folders on your local computer! With KnoWare's Internet Neighborhood, there's no longer any need for those 'Explorer Like' applications and utilities; It's all integrated into your existing namespace. Why launch a separate application to browse a remote FTPsite, download the file, close the application, then run Explorer? Simply launch Explorer directly, browse your way through the Internet neighborhood, then drag-drop the files/application directly into your file system. Home Page Site - http://www.knowareinc.com/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price Wheel 'O' Yum Version 1.0 7/07/97 33kb Freeware This is a little silly utility that you will strangely find yourself using often. It solves an age-old problem. Where are you gonna go eat? It allows you to add and remove restaurant names and select which ones you do not want the Wheel 'O' Yum to choose from. Requires the VB 5.0 Runtimes. Home Page Site - http://www.fhsu.edu/students/dave/yum/ Name/Version Release Date Size Price HR Manager Version 1.4 7/07/97 8,570kb Shareware $75.00 A Human Resources database management program that tracks all pertinent HR data including training classes attended, wage and personal information, time off earned and used, and performance reviews due. A variety of reports are available to the operator. The AutoCalc feature calculates time off earned in five categories according to the user-defined parameters, vacation, sick days, personal days, and two user-defined categories. Registered users receive free upgrades for life (only cost is cost of media) and free e-mail support. Home Page Site - http://www.silverbeaver.com/ EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed Edupage Contents BT/MCI Merger Gets Justice Department Okay FCC Puts Bell Atlantic-Nynex Merger On Hold Tech CEOs Form PAC Cutting Prices On International Faxes Governments, Online Services Tangle Over Net Rules Alumni Groups And Prodigy Link Up For Net Access Net Advertising And The Effect On Kids Gates Pitches New Type Of Set-Top Box Scientists Propose New Encryption Scheme Study Predicts Fragmented Long- Distance Market Jobs Switch At Apple: Gil And Ellen Out, Steve InMicrosoft Network Does Another About-Face EU Ministers Issue Declaration On Internet SPA Cracks Down On Student Software Piracy Debit Cards A Hit Motorola Pulls The Plug On DRAM Chips Compaq Slices Prices ... ...And HP And IBM Follow Suit BellSouth Joins Wireless Partnership In Brazil BT/MCI MERGER GETS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OKAY The U.S. Justice Department has approved the acquisition of MCI by British Telecommunications PLC, subject to various safeguards. The merger would be the largest acquisition of an American company by a foreign corporation, and the deal still requires approval by the Federal Communications Commission and several state agencies. The two companies say that job losses will be minimal and that most cost savings will come from sharing underwater phone cables and other resources. (New York Times 8 Jul 97) FCC PUTS BELL ATLANTIC-NYNEX MERGER ON HOLD Lawyers at the Federal Communications Commission, acting with the approval of FCC Chief Reed Hundt, are putting the Bell Atlantic-Nynex merger on hold, pending further discussions with telco lawyers on opening their local telephone markets to competition. Industry officials had expected a speedy okay after getting approval from the Justice Department's antitrust lawyers. Hundt privately has expressed concerns that once the merger occurs, East Coast consumers will have very little choice among local service providers. Under negotiation is a proposed requirement that the new combined entity would be forced to open its "operational support systems" to would-be rivals, such as MCI and AT&T. The FCC is also considering a variety of reporting requirements on how quickly Bell Atlantic and Nynex are accommodating new competitors. (Wall Street Journal 8 Jul 97) TECH CEOs FORM PAC Leaders of the country's most powerful high-tech companies have formed their own political action committee, dubbed Technology Network, or TechNet. Leading the new PAC are co-chairmen John Doerr, a technology venture capitalist, and Jim Barksdale, Netscape Communications' CEO. "This is going to be a public policy and political advocacy organization that will focus on making sure the technology industry in Silicon Valley and nationally has a long-term voice at state and federal levels," says a TechNet spokesman. The group will initially focus on two issues -- establishing testing standards and fostering education technology, and urging uniform criteria relating to litigation among high-tech companies. The primary goal of the new organization, however, is to encourage better relations between politicians and technology companies. (TechWire 7 Jul 97) CUTTING PRICES ON INTERNATIONAL FAXES WorldCom International is initiating a new service providing cut-rate transmission of faxes over the Internet. The service, which will be operated by UUNet Technologies, a WorldCom subsidiary, and called UUNet Fax, will allow users to send documents not just from their personal computers, but also from standard fax machines. (Financial Times 8 Jul 97) GOVERNMENTS, ONLINE SERVICES TANGLE OVER NET RULES Government officials from Europe, the U.S., Canada, Japan and Russia have been meeting together with online service providers in Bonn, Germany to discuss ways of regulating the Internet without stifling its growth. "We need a minimum of clear rules as quickly as possible so that the users and suppliers of material on the Internet can finally enjoy greater legal certainty," said the German Economics Minister, reflecting the strong regulatory mood in the German government, which last week passed a comprehensive Internet law. Meanwhile, an America Online VP told the meeting, "We can and must break the regulatory cycle that has trapped each new electronic medium this century." AOL has advocated a self-policing policy for online providers. Both sides agreed that it is important to encourage an online environment that's hospitable to electronic commerce and other business functions. (USA Today 7 Jul 97) ALUMNI GROUPS AND PRODIGY LINK UP FOR NET ACCESS Three alumni associations representing alumni of Duke University, Fordham University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have cut a deal with Prodigy Internet to provide graduates with Internet access at a reduced rate of $17.95 a month -- $2 less than regular Prodigy customers. When they log on, the alumni will see an opening screen featuring their alma mater's logo and a link to the institution's Web site. Prodigy will pay the associations a small royalty for each member who signs up for the service. (Chronicle of Higher Education 11 Jul 97) NET ADVERTISING AND THE EFFECT ON KIDS The Center for Media Education and the Consumer Federation have asked the Federal Trade Commission to require that online companies have written permission from parents before collecting any personally identifying information from children. The groups also want the government to prohibit unsolicited commercial e-mail sent to children, as well as giveaways or contests and the use of fictional figures to solicit identity information from children. (USA Today 8 Jul 97) GATES PITCHES NEW TYPE OF SET-TOP BOX Microsoft CEO Bill Gates has been meeting with top cable executives to promote a new digital set-top box design that would connect TVs and cable systems to provide a variety of two-way interactive programming. The box would be based on Windows CE software, and Microsoft is suggesting that rather than collecting software royalties, it would settle for a share of subscription fees for new services. The company also hopes to sell software to cable companies' central offices to administer the new services. Other companies hoping for a slice of the cable set-top box pie are Wink Communications and Navio, the Netscape Communications spinoff recently acquired by Oracle Corp. (Wall Street Journal 8 Jul 97) SCIENTISTS PROPOSE NEW ENCRYPTION SCHEME Two scientists at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif. Have developed a new approach to public key cryptography based on mathematical constructs called lattices. The system would be based on a particular set of hidden hyperplanes that constitute the private key and a method of generating points near one of those hyperplanes for the public key. The security of the system rests on the computational difficulty of finding the "unique" shortest line segment (or vector) that connects any two points in a given lattice -- a task that's fairly easy in two or three dimensions, but much more difficult in a 100-dimensional lattice. The researchers are working to turn their theory into a marketable product, and see applications in creating digital signatures and other security and authentication schemes. (Science News 5 Jul 97) STUDY PREDICTS FRAGMENTED LONG-DISTANCE MARKET A market report by Northern Business Information predicts that by the year 2001 AT&T's share of the long- distance telephone market will fall to 38% (compared to 55% last year), and that the Bell regional operating systems that now dominate local service will capture 13% of the long-distance market. The author of the report says: "For the first time, we will soon have a long-distance market without a dominant player." (Atlanta Journal- Constitution 8 Jul 97) JOBS SWITCH AT APPLE: GIL AND ELLEN OUT, STEVE IN Apple Computer has announced the resignations of Chief Executive Gilbert F. Amelio and Chief Technology Officer Ellen Hancock, and indicated that Apple co-founder and "strategic advisor" Steve Jobs "will an assume an expanded role as a key adviser to Apple's board and executive management team." Jobs will continue as chief executive of Pixar, the computer animation company, and Apple will conduct an external search for a new leader who can help the embattled company find a way to make a comeback. In the meantime, the company will be managed by its chief financial officer, Fred Anderson, who said: "The board of Apple is not happy with the company's financial performance. We've made progress in the last year and a half. But we're not yet on a growth path and not on a path to sustainable profitability." (New York Times 10 Jul 97) MICROSOFT NETWORK DOES ANOTHER ABOUT-FACE Following much fanfare last fall over the unveiling of its television-style programming format, Microsoft Network is once again revamping its strategy, moving back toward informational and service-oriented programming and beefing up the content on its free companion MSN.com Web site. "The movement to the free side is inevitable," says MSN's VP. "It doesn't mean there won't be things behind the subscription wall, but the competitive price of entry in the free space is going to go up." The company hopes to make MSN.com a "portal," to other Microsoft and World Wide Web sites, similar to the strategy adopted by Yahoo!, Excite and America Online. A recent subscriber survey showed that MSN users spend about 70% of their time on the Web, and only about 5% of their time in Microsoft's exclusive Onstage area. (Wall Street Journal 10 Jul 97) EU MINISTERS ISSUE DECLARATION ON INTERNET European Union officials have issued a broad declaration touching on 69 points related to future regulation of the Internet in Europe. The declaration is the result of intense discussions among delegates from 29 European countries over two days. On the issue of content liability, delegates agreed that what is illegal off-line is also illegal online. Internet service providers generally aren't responsible for what their subscribers do, and shouldn't be subject to "unreasonable, disproportionate or discriminatory rules." In addition, the declaration states that Europeans support the ideal of nondiscriminatory taxes on Internet use, but stops short of declaring it a free- trade zone. Value- added taxes and other sales taxes that apply to goods purchased in stores should apply to products and services ordered and delivered over the Internet. With regard to encryption, the U.S. and Europe still have differences over the export of strong encryption technology, but U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley says the U.S. agrees with about 98% of the Bonn declaration. (Computerworld 9 Jul 97) SPA CRACKS DOWN ON STUDENT SOFTWARE PIRACY The Software Publishers Association has come up with a new way to punish college students who violate computer software copyrights by distributing them free over the Web. It's negotiated a settlement with a University of Puget Sound student who was caught operating such a site whereby the student will write a 20- page paper on the evils of computer piracy and copyright infringement, and perform 50 hours of community service, wiring schools for Internet access. If he reneges on the agreement, he must pay $10,000, and the association may sue him for copyright infringement. SPA says it reserves the right to fine the institution and the student up to $100,000 for each instance if school officials know about it and do nothing to stop it, and even an "unwillful infringer" can be fined up to $20,000. An assistant to the president at Puget Sound says the SPA's approach puts too much pressure on higher education institutions to police their networks: "We don't have a duty to monitor what our students are doing with the Internet any more than the phone company has a duty to monitor what's going on on the phone lines." Educom President Bob Heterick says the dilemma stems from the difficulty of balancing sometimes-conflicting interests of publishers, authors and educators: "It's an extraordinarily difficult problem that's a manifestation of a whole series of access-versus- privacy issues." (Chronicle of Higher Education 11 Jul 97) DEBIT CARDS A HIT This year, Canadians will offer a debit card for payments on purchases almost as often as they offer a credit card. A survey conducted for the Interac Association found 50% of respondents prefer to pay by cash, while 22% prefer to pay by debit card (up from only 9% two years ago), and 17% would rather pay by credit card. Last year, there were 676-million debit card purchases, and Interac anticipates there will be 1-billion debit card purchases this year. (Ottawa Citizen 9 July 97) MOTOROLA PULLS THE PLUG ON DRAM CHIPS With computer memory chip prices spiraling downward, Motorola is phasing out production of its low-margin DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) chips by year's end. The company will still crank out some DRAM chips in the billion-dollar plant now being built in Richmond, Va. -- a joint venture with Siemens -- but once the plant's operating at full capacity, Motorola will switch over to other types of more profitable chips, such as flash chips. (Business Week 14 Jul 97) COMPAQ SLICES PRICES ... In a move aimed at undermining the competitive advantage of direct mail computer sellers Dell Computer and Gateway 2000, Compaq Computer is lowering prices 10% to 15% on its corporate PC line. The company says the price reductions are not meant to fuel a temporary price war, but are intended to be permanent. Like Dell and Gateway, Compaq is launching a build-to-order business, and recently demonstrated to dealers that it could fill orders in five days. (Wall Street Journal 9 Jul 97) ...AND HP AND IBM FOLLOW SUIT Hewlett-Packard and IBM are also making aggressive cuts in the prices of their personal computers, in order to match the lower prices offered by Dell. The HP announcement indicates price cuts by as much to 24% on commercial desktop computers. (New York Times 10 Jul 97) BELLSOUTH JOINS WIRELESS PARTNERSHIP IN BRAZIL BellSouth's $2.5 billion bid has won a wireless license for Sao Paulo, Brazil, giving the company an investment in 10 Latin American nations. Three Brazilian companies joined with BellSouth in making the bid. Sao Paulo currently has 12 phone lines for each 100 people, compared with 70 lines for each 100 people in BellSouth's base territory in the Southeastern U.S. Brazil's economy is growing at 5% a year and the number of cellular phone customers has been growing 70% a year. (Atlanta Journal- Constitution 10 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: Until next time... MiST AtariFest IX! I got a flyer with more updated information but I cannot find it... so here's the information straight off my website: "Mid-Indiana ST AtariFest IX is all signed to get its 9th annual event under way by 10 a.m. Saturday, July 26, at the Post Road Community Center on the east side of Indianapolis. The location is not hard to find, but it's not really close to any interstate highway. Best way is to take the Post Road exit off either I-70 or I-74. From I-70, you drive south a couple miles on Post Road. From I-74, you drive north even farther on Post Road. Tell your friends: No. 9 is on for sure! The biggest and best MIST yet! The location is well marked at 1313 South Post Road in a park-like setting, standing well back off the road at least 100 yards. We'll have at least 30 3x8-foot tables available. There are no extra charges for electricity - vendors, be sure to bring extension cords and outlet strips. The space is about the same as available in the main ballroom in the past, but the ceiling is much higher and the whole atmosphere is more open. More updates will follow as soon as we get them. See you there! " Digital Antic Project From Kevin Savetz The Digital Antic Project is a small crusade to put all of the old issues of Antic (and eventually its sister magazine, STart) on the Internet. I have received permission from the publisher of Antic to make the material available on the Internet for free. The site currently features the complete text of nine issues, as well as cover art and memorable ads from the magazine. More material will be added as time permits -- faster if YOU volunteer to help by scanning, HTMLizing, or proofreading. The site is at http://www.northcoast.com/savetz/antic/dap.html Your comments, suggestions and help are welcome! Cheers, Kevin Savetz Earnings Update - JTS Expects Lower 2Q Earnings SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1997 JUL 8 (Newsbytes) -- By Newsbytes Staff. JTS Corp. [ASE:JTS] announced that revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 1998 ending August 2, 1997 is expected to be lower than the prior quarter's level, which were at $73.4 million. The company also saw a net loss of $11.8 million or a $0.11 per share loss based on 105.8 million shares, for the first quarter of fiscal 1998. The company plans to announce its second quarter financial results during the later part of August 1997. Company officials blamed an "industry-wide weakness in the disk drive market" for its impending results. JTS Corp. designs, manufactures, and supplies enhanced-capacity hard disk drives for the notebook and desktop personal computer market. Publisher Note.. (Who Cares??It's just another dose of the "Tramiel Treatment") Gaming Section More Jaguar Joystick News! "Tanarus" and more.... From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is! The summer months are taking their toll on gaming news. Most people are spending time out of their homes and letting their game machines collect that proverbial dust. Quantity of news is bleak, but we do have some information for you this week, including a couple of Jaguar-related items. Atari may be gone, but the stubborn among us remain. Let's see what's happening this week! Until next time... Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News! Sony Interactive Studios America's First On-line Game SAN DIEGO (July 7) BUSINESS WIRE - July 7, 1997 - "Tanarus" Is Rated the No. 1 Game on the Internet Top 40 Download Chart as Listed on the Internet Entertainment Charts, www.worldcharts.com "Tanarus," Sony Interactive Studios America's (SISA) first on-line multiplayer game, stormed onto the Internet and is now ranked the No. 1 game on the top 40 Internet download list for the second straight week. Out for only a brief 10 weeks, "Tanarus" has exploded to the top due to its unique and highly addictive style of game play, strategy and tactics. The Internet Entertainment Chart's Web page draws players from around the world to vote for their favorite game each week, and as the page states, "The list contains the most popular PC games in the world at this time." SISA develops software for the PlayStation game console, personal computer and on-line markets. With headquarters in Foster City, Calif., and development offices in Foster City and San Diego, SISA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Visit the company on the Web at http://www.tanarus.com. Jaguar Online STR InfoFile - Online Users Growl & Purr! Sb: More Joystick Info! Fm: Larry Tipton To: All Dark Knight Games, a company based out of Nashua, NH has announced the possibility of doing a limited release of High-Quality Arcade JoySticks for the Atari Jaguar. Dark Knight Games is already working on "Defcon 1" a 3D Tomb-Raider style game to be released for the PC, and the Atari Jaguar. The conditions of this release are very rigid, so please read this carefully. In order for this release to happen I have to gather 140 names on a petition whom will buy the JoyStick. If you are interested please send me e-mail including your Name, E-mail address, and whether you would like a Regular or Pro model. The prices should be $50.00 for the regular model, and $69.00 for the Pro model. Plus whatever shipping charges are incurred. We will not be requesting any form of payment until we reach the 140 mark. Two weeks after we reach 140, we will send e-mails out to all the people that requested a joystick through this petition. Please note: Payment will be needed either by Personal Check or by Money Order. No credit card orders will be taken. This will be a limited release. We will only be making the amount of JoySticks necessary to fill the orders on the petition. In order for us to go ahead with the plan we must have a minimum of 140 signees. If there are more than 140 that's OK. Anyone who signs the petition is guaranteed one. There is a possibility of another production run only if there is enough demand for the product after the initial run. The joysticks have the same buttons as the corresponding controllers. The regular has Three buttons with joystick, and the Pro has six buttons with the JoyStick. Both models should have the 1-9 keypad. These joysticks are ideal in games like BattleSphere, and Blue Lightning. The main reason were in a rush is so these are available before BattleSphere comes out. Joysticks are great in games such as Doom, AVP, HoverStrike, and AirCars. Fighting games will never be the same once you experience them with the Jag Joystick. ----Not to mention the improvements it will bring to games such as Tempest 2000, Defender 2000, Breakout 2000, and Missile Command 3D. Iron Solder, and the ever impressive Iron Soldier 2 by Telegames are incredible. It's like you're in the game. For more information please contact ShelShock@juno.com. ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! PEOPLE... ARE TALKING On CompuServe Compiled by Joe Mirando jmirando@streport.com Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, I realize that I filled up last week's column with a bit more of my own material than I had intended to, but thanks to those of you who emailed me to let me know what you thought. They say that for every person who writes, there are five or ten who don't. Gee, there are a lot more people reading this column than I had thought. While most email pertained to either supporting or dissenting views, one person asked why I hadn't even mentioned the Mars Pathfinder Mission. The answer is quite simple. When I first started writing reviews (which seems like such a long time ago), I had written a small review about a piece of software that I had expected would be the next big thing in the Atari world. After putting a beta version through its paces, I spoke with the author to see if any of the options that were non-functional in the beta version would be non-functional in the finished version. I was assured that the final version would be complete and that everything would work as advertised. I wrote the review as if the options really did work and, while I did not dwell on them or go into any specifics about _how_ they worked, several people let me know after release of the product that these things did not work. Due to programming problems, the options were never implemented and the menu entries had been removed from the final product. I never received any hate mail or nasty messages about it, but I always felt like I had cheated the readers. Okay, so what does this have to do with the Mars Pathfinder? Simple. If I had included info about all of the things I had expected Pathfinder and Sojourner to see (which, by the way, is pretty much what they _are_ seeing now), and it had gone the way of Mars Explorer which had blown itself to bits as it attempted to enter Mars orbit, I would again feel that I had cheated the reader. The fact is that Pathfinder and Sojourner are alive and well on the surface of Mars, and are expected to continue performing admirably for the remainder of their planned mission. I'm also glad that I waited to mention the mission because CompuServe has made the following announcement this week: "Mars Pathfinder Lands on CSi Internet users around the world will be gathered around their terminals on the Fourth of July when the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft lands on the red planet. And in conjunction with NASA's mission to learn more about the surface and atmosphere of Mars, CSi will be the only online service with a mirror site on the Internet at GO http://mars.compuserve.com to help absorb some of the high online traffic anticipated at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Web site. CSi's site features constant updates on mission activities and information about mission objectives. Pathfinder photographs of the Martian surface will also be added regularly as they become available." If you have the ability and the chance to do so, check this site out. I can remember back when the best you could possibly do was to order slides of the pictures that the Viking landers had taken on Mars about twenty years ago. Now you can get the latest pics almost instantly. Ain't progress wonderful? Well, let's take a look at what's going on in the forums. From the Atari Computing Forums First up, Michael Pappas asks: "Are there any web browsers out for the TT?" Albert Dayes tells Michael: "There is CAB and another one that was recently uploaded to the library. I assume they work on a TT." Michael asks Albert the all-important question: "Is it fully Web compatible?" Carl Barron jumps in and tells Michael that it... "Depends on what 'fully web compatible means'?" Michael explains his concerns to Carl: "I mean if the program would work with most web sites without problems or severe crashes." Carl replies: "Well cab is supposed to work with html. I don't know of any java support for atari. I think there is none. If the site expects you to have java it won't work. If it sends a 8 meg jpg it won't work. If its a nice and friendly place, properly designed it will work, if its an 'everyone has a vax' site then it could be a problem with data choking the atari client. I must confess that I do everything these days on my macs." Rich Link adds: "As far as I know, there are no "fully web compatible" browsers, if you define that as supporting all the current html extensions, plus the appropriate browser plug-ins that are used by the common PC browsers (IE 3.0 and Netscape 3.0). You won't have Real Audio or Beatnik sound, Quicktime movies may not be active, etc. The basic HTML browser functions should work." They do, in fact, work quite well. I use the CAB version 2 demo fairly often and am fairly impressed at the quality of the product and that you can get a one megabyte, 8 MHz machine to do what it does. Sure, it takes a while to build the images and the colors are quite limited with a 1040, but it _does_ work. Michael asks Rich: "Would you know if there's a commercial web browser for the TT? I'm surprised that there isn't one. The TT is a 68030 computer and I can't see why a web browser isn't available for it since a web browser would run on a 386 or a Mac with a 68030 processor. Maybe there's a Magic version of it?" Good ol' DPJ, our own Dana Jacobson, tells Michael: "There are at least two commercial web browsers currently being developed. Last I heard, the one from Oregon Research was planned to arrive in late summer, early fall." Joe Villarreal adds: "Version 2.0 of CAB (Crystal Atari Browser) is commercial and works very well on a TT. I just got mine 06/23/97. It'll work with any Atari St, STe, TT, or Falcon. You still need to know how to connect using Stik 1.12 since the Cab 2 manually does not describe it. I suggest that you start using Cab 1.5 along with Stik 1.12 and the Cab overlay version 1.25 first. Cab 1.5 also works well although Cab 2 is a little faster; it's actually faster than the 68030 version of Cab 1.5 on my TT. I've been connecting thru a local BBS that supports Slip/PPP connections for more than a month now. It cost $16 a month for unlimited access at speeds up to 33k, I believe, although I only have a 28,800 modem. Cab 1.5 is shareware. It's in the database, along with Stik 1.12 and the Cab overlay 1.25 which are also shareware. Place the overlay in the same directory that Cab 1.5 is in. You'll need to configure the two Stik dial scripts to login; probably the hardest part. Make sure that the internet provider supports Slip and not Cslip. Stik does not support Cslip or PPP at the moment. STING is supposed to support Slip and Cslip but not PPP at the moment. I haven't tried using Sting although I might one of these days. Cab works well with graphic cards. I'm using a Nova Vme Plus and use Cab in a 640x480 32k color window most of the time. I also use it in a 800x600 32k color window." Kevin Hawthorne tellss Joe that he... "Just had to jump in and say "thanks" for the first understandable explanation of what versions of what to use with which versions of what else... I got CAB up and runningmonths ago, had a hard disk disaster, and couldn't replicate what I had done with CAB to save my life. WHERE DID YOU GET the commercial version of CAB?" Joe tells Kevin: "I bought Cab 2.0 from System Solutions in England. I've learned that's it now available in the U.S. at Chro_Magic Software and also Systems For Tommorrow. Price is $34.99." Alvin Baligad asks: "...Which is a better multitasking system, Magic or Geneva? I have Geneva on my Falcon030, but I can't run too many programs with my 4MB of memory. I like the process of a faster TOS system, but scared it might mess up some programs I use." Albert Dayes tells Alvin: "You might try adding more RAM to your system. That should improve your performance overall." Bob Matiska adds: "Like Albet says in his reply, a Falcon really shows its strength when you bump the memory up to 14 megs. More than 4 is extremely useful when multitasking. Systems For Tomorrow is selling the Ram Gizmo 14 meg upgrade with memory installed for just $159.99 plus shipping and I heartily recommend it. Mine works perfectly and was very easy to install. Their email address: sales@SystemsForTomorrow.com. Info at 816-833-4738, orders at 800-875-4943, Tues- Fri noon to 6 P.M. Central time, Sat10 A.M to 6 P.M." Alvin replies: "I'll look into getting the RAm Gizmo But do I need a new case to install it in? I heard that somewhere." Bob tells Alvin: "Nope, the Ram Gizmo fits perfectly in your standard Falcon case. Everything goes back where it was; there's no cutting or shimming of anything. There is an aftermarket case available for the Falcon's innards, maybe several, in fact. They give you plenty of space to add things that won't fit in the standard case. You won't need them for this upgrade though." Michael Pappas jumps in and asks Bob for more info: "I notice your message on memory upgrades and I was wondering if this place you mentioned, "Systems for Tomorrow" would carry memory chips for the TT and if so, how much would it cost? I'd like to get my system to 8 or 16 megs." Bob tells Michael: "The TT uses a separate card for the TT ram, from what I understand. ( That's one Atari computer I don't have any experience with. ) If you have only ST Ram in your TT and no TT ram card, Systems For Tomorrow has them for $99.99 with no ram installed. They take 8 chip 30 pin simms to give you 4 or 16 megs of TT ram, according to my catalog. SFT doesn't list ram in its catalog, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. I notice they list the Falcon Ram Gizmo for $59.99 less ram and $159.99 with 16 megs, so if the same type of simms are used in both, the price for 16 megs would seem to be approximately $100. I know the Ram Gizmo takes 4, 4-meg simms but am not sure if the TT ram card takes one simm or four. Maybe somebody here with experience on the TT can answer this." Alvin Baligad asks: "Does anyone know how the Outside virtual memory software works for the 68030 computers (ie Falcon & TT & compatibles)? It sounds great, but after seeing some big messes made with PCs and Macs & their virtual memory managers, I'm a little concerned." Albert Dayes tells Alvin: "I have not seen many messages about Outside at all unfortunately. RE: Virtual Memory on other platforms. On the PC it depends what operating system you are running. UNIX is very stable operating system on Intel Platform. I have more experience with SCO UNIX and it was stable back when the company I worked for ran it on a 386 complete with medical office software, SQL databases and of course the C/C++ compiler that I was working with." Fred Horvat adds: "Hope this helps you out. I have the latest version of Outside for my TT030. Version number I think it is Ver 3.80? But on my TT030 once configured properly it worked well but slow. With Outside what you do is set up a permanent swap file of any size that you'd like up to 256 Meg on a partition that you will not use for any other data. I guess the reason for that is to protect the integrity of the FAT for that partition and swap file. One major note, the hard drive must be formatted with Atari's HDX or compatible software. ICD format will not work. You can run ICD driver software but not to format it. There is an excellent Hard Drive format and driver software that comes with Outside that is worth looking at. I am currently using the software without any problems. For me I used my last partition H: and set the swap file size for 8 Meg. When you boot the computer you now have 8 Meg of TT RAM available on top of whatever ST RAM in my case 2 Meg ST. The program used 300k of memory to control that 8 Meg. Now to use that virtual memory you must flag your software to use TT RAM. An included utility or any other TT RAM flagging software will work. After you flag your software and run it the program thinks it is running in TT RAM. For example with only 2 Meg of ST RAM I was always running out of memory with Speed of Light or Image Copy. With Outside I could view any JPG or TGA file. It takes a long time to load programs or files but once loaded they run fine. How long is long? I don't have any benchmarks to tell you but as a guess I'd say depending on the size of the program or file 10-30 times longer than loading into ST RAM. Sounds crappy, not really. If a program takes 1 second to load then is 10 seconds or around there really that bad? Biggest benefit is that you get to run software you could not run before. Plus Outside sells for around $70 US. Currently I am not using Outside because the TT030 now has 4 Meg of TT RAM installed. For the most part from what I remember most software that is TT030 compatibly and TT RAM compatibly would run under Outside. There were some programs that would bomb but I don't remember which. It's supposed to work on a Falcon and have talked to people who have used it successfully on that machine. I think it's also supposed to work with any hopped up ST with a 68030 board also. Why does it run so slow in comparison to other operating systems and platforms like IBM/Win95? My best guess is that the operating system has it built in to handle it. Atari and TOS never had it intended so they have the software running on top of TOS and not part of it. Outside does a very good job for what it is intended to do. I don't remember trying it out with MagiC 4.0 or 5.0 so I can't help you there. OS/2 and Windows 95 have dynamic swap files or virtual memory files. They may start out 0 but load your Web browser or Word Processor and then they get created and grow say 16 Meg. When the program is exited the swap file will shrink or possibly disappear again only to get created when needed." Gary Partington asks: "Can anyone explain what MagiC is and what it does?" Carl Barron tells Gary: "MagiC is a tos replacement compatible with tos, and offering many enhancements. There is also a tos clone for macs and one for wintels with a similiar name. MagiC, MagiCMac,MagiCPC or similar titles." Gary asks Carl: " Where can I get it and what does it cost and how easy is it to fit?" Carl tells Gary: "North America? toad computer direct Europe Systems Solutions [?]" Fred Horvat tells Gary: "MagiC is a complete replacement of TOS on the Atari computer. Besides being much faster on any Atari like 20% it also is truely multitasking. Most productivity software, newer software written after say 92 or 93 runs fine. Most games will not. But for games you can diable MagiC and play away. MagiC has it's own desktop that is different from GEM. You may not care for it. It's not horrible, but different. EASE, Thing, or NEOdesk will work with MagiC. I use and prefer EASE." Well folks, that's about it for this time around. Tune in again next week, same time, same channel, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING EDITORIAL QUICKIES When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her. - Sacha Guitry STReport International Magazine [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport HTTP://WWW.STREPORT.COM OVER 200,000 Readers WORLDWIDE 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. STReport "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" July 11, 1997 Since 1987 Copyrightc1997 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 1328