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Bits And Bytes Online Edition Volume 1 Number 01
BBB III TTT SSS BBB Y Y TTT EEE SSS
B B I T S B B Y Y T E S ONLINE EDITION
BBB I T SSS AND BBB YYY T EEE SSS VOL 1, NUMBER 1
B B I T S B B Y T E S 7/13/93
BBB III T SSS BBB Y T EEE SSS
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"The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men,
but that men will begin to think like computers." - Sydney J. Harris
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Computing by Candlelight
Innovation is outstripping assimilation. We are falling further and
further behind in exploiting technology's potential for ease of use
and enhanced interactivity. . . . I look at the intuitive, no-hassle
operating convenience that users expect -- and get -- from all manner
of home entertainment electronics, and I wonder if their makers know
something our vendors don't. . . . Why should we have to play so
patiently with our onerous workstations? As a user, I'm tired
already. Give me a Nintendo "Business Boy," or maybe a Sony "Workman"
with full audio and video I/O capabilities.
(Max D. Hopper, "Computing by candlelight," Computerworld, 4/12/93,
p. 33.)
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What Makes an I.S. Winner?
According to a paper published in the latest edition of the Journal of
Management Information Systems, high achieving I.S. employees exhibit
three main characteristics: They take personal responsibility for
finding solutions to problems; they set achievable goals but also
take calculated risks; and they want concrete feedback on their
performance.
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Technical Matters
Imbued with neon industrial auras, "technical" has become a powerful
word: there is a wonderful scene in Terry Southern's "Magic Christian"
where a man places a Ritz cracker on a crack in the sidewalk around
Times Square. He then smashes the Ritz cracker with a sledgehammer and
proceeds thoughtfully, new cracker in hand, to the next sidewalk
fissure. Soon a crowd envelopes him and a cop pushing through the
crowd, asks: "What are you doing?" The man answers: "Oh, it's
technical." And the cop replies: "Oh, I'm sorry," and walks away.
(Peter Warshall, "Escaping Eco-Echolalia," Whole Earth Review #79,
Summer 1993, p. 109.)
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NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES:
486 Prices Continue to Drop
Intel's new Pentium processor will likely replace the 486 at the
leading edge of the desktop PC market, when it finally reaches mass
production. In the meantime, Lightning Computers new trade-in program
allows users to send in any working 286 or 386 system and receive a
"complete," American-made, Pentium-upgradable i486-66 MHz local-bus
SVGA system with 170MB drive, for only $1,395. The Lightning Omniflex
486/66 includes: 128KB of cache, expandable to 256KB; six ISA
(Industry Standard Architecture), two VESA (Video Electronics
Standards Association) local bus slots, AMI BIOS, P24T Pentium ZIF
socket; 4MB RAM, expandable to 32MB; 170MB IDE hard disk with 13 ms
average access speed; 1.2MB 5.25-inch or 1.44MB 3.5-inch Teac floppy
disk drives; local bus SuperVGA card with 1MB RAM; 14-inch non-
interlaced SuperVGA monitor with .28 dot pitch; standard desktop
chassis with 250 watt UL/CSA power supply; 101 key enhanced AT
keyboard; and one parallel, one game and two serial ports. Many other
options are available, and the standard warranty includes one year
parts and labor with on-site service. Extended term warranties are
available. Lightning has received a number of industry awards for
their computers, including "Editor's Choice" from PC Magazine,
"Byte Best" from Byte magazine and "Best Bet" from PC Computing
magazine.
(Lightning Computers: 415/543-3111)
=========================
...Or How About a Cheap Pentium-based PC?
Advanced Logic Research (ALR) claims it is the first to actually ship,
beginning today (7/8/93), IBM compatible PC's based on the new Pentium
chip. But, not only is the company the first to ship the new PC's,
it is pricing the units beginning at $2,495 to put pressure on its
competitors. The Evolution V is geared toward individual users, and
features a 60 MHz Pentium processor, a five-year warranty, and a heat
sink with a fan mounted on top of the Pentium to handle the heat
generated by the new processor. The Evolution V offers 64-bit design
and 8 MB of memory on the motherboard expandable to 128 MB. The $2,495
price leaves out several key components, such as a hard disk drive and
a monitor, but is still a bargain. For $3,595 ALR offers a full system
with a 170 MB hard disk drive, DOS, Windows, a mouse, VESA local bus,
and a 14-inch 1024 by 768 pixel screen with a .28 dot pitch. An even
more beefed up server version is available. Users can expect to get a
Pentium machine ordered today in two to three weeks. However, the
Pentium processor is allocated by Intel, so quantities are limited.
ALR maintains there has been strong interest in the units, and expects
demand for the PCs to be high.
(Advanced Logic Research: 800/257-1230 )
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Take Note: The Bottom Line is Service
With profit margins under the gun, computer makers are realizing just
how valuable their service and support functions can be to the bottom
line. The latest true believer is Sun Microsystems, which Tuesday
launched a subsidiary to handle all its customer service and support.
Called SunService and located in Milpitas, the 1,800-person company
will report directly to Sun chief executive Scott McNealy. The
underlying reason is that support and service are too profitable to
leave split up within the company's other divisions, splintering
strategy and creating a nightmare of prices and service levels that
invites competition from outside maintenance firms. "Third-party
maintainers are a threat," said Cindy Williams, manager of strategic
marketing for SunService. An entire company geared to support is in a
better position to take that business back and keep new business from
wandering off.
(Rory J. O'Connor, San Jose Mercury News staff writer)
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Bumper Cars
An empty Saab Automobila factory in Sweden got a little too mobile
recently when a misprogrammed assembly line jump-started itself and
assembled 24 cars, rolling them off one after the other into a wall.
A worker finally discovered the auto-automated line, but not before
it had created an impressive chrome and steel pileup. Saab officials
say the damage was minimal. "Assembly lines run slowly, and we have
big bumpers," a Saab spokesman said.
(Newsweek, June 7, 1993. p. 4)
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Microsoft News: Is the Gang at Redmond a Threat to Innovation?
Add one more name to the list of those concerned about the high-tech
800-pound gorilla that is Microsoft: Rep. Edward Markey, the
Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the House subcommittee on
telecommunications and finance. Tuesday, Markey dispatched a letter to
the head of the Federal Communications Commission, expressing concern
over a spate of recent announcements about the merging of cable TV and
computers into an interactive television system. Capitol Hill sources
said the letter is prompted mainly by concern over a reported alliance
between Microsoft and the country's two largest cable TV companies,
Tele-Communications Inc. and Time Warner. While none of the companies
has admitted to the plan, just the specter of the so-called Cablesoft
alliance "raises the most questions about the concentration of power"
in the interactive TV business, said one insider. Markey's letter left
little doubt as to his concern over Cablesoft. "This new force in the
marketplace could have the clout necessary to create a single, closed
standard for television software and could, in turn, close the market
to competitive entrants or force some providers to pay huge fees just
to enter the market.''
(Rory J. O'Connor, San Jose Mercury News Staff Writer)
======================================================================
21st Century Capitalism
Politicians and pundits talk loosely of "restoring" or "restarting"
American business, as if it were a stalled, broken-down jalopy in need
of a thorough tune-up. Others offer plans for regaining America's
competitive edge and revitalizing the American economy. Many of these
ideas are sound. Some are silly. But all suffer from vestigial
thinking about exactly what it is that must be restored, restarted,
regained, or revitalized. They assume as their subject an American
economy centered upon core American corporations and comprising major
American industries -- in other words, the American economy at
mid-century, which easily dominated what limited world commerce there
was. But as we have seen, this image bears only the faintest
resemblance to the global economy at the end of the century, in which
money and information move almost effortlessly [ha! - JM.] through
global webs of enterprise. There is coming to be no such thing as an
American corporation or an American industry. The American economy is
but a region of the global economy -- albeit still a relatively
wealthy region. In this light, then, it becomes apparent that all of
the entities one might wish to revitalize are quickly ceasing to
exist.
(Robert B.Reich, "The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for
21st-Century Capitalism" New York: Penguin Books, 1991)
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ACCESS: U.S. Government Online, part 1
************************************************
***E-MAIL TO THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT***
************************************************
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of Presidential Correspondence
++++++++++++++++++
For Immediate Release June 1, 1993
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT
IN ANNOUNCEMENT OF WHITE HOUSE ELECTRONIC MAIL ACCESS
Dear Friends:
Part of our commitment to change is to keep the White House in
step with today's changing technology. As we move ahead into the
twenty-first century, we must have a government that can show the way
and lead by example. Today, we are pleased to announce that for the
first time in history, the White House will be connected to you via
electronic mail. Electronic mail will bring the Presidency and this
Administration closer and make it more accessible to the people.
The White House will be connected to the Internet as well as
several on-line commercial vendors, thus making us more accessible and
more in touch with people across this country. We will not be alone in
this venture. Congress is also getting involved, and an exciting
announcement regarding electronic mail is expected to come from the
House of Representatives tomorrow.
Various government agencies also will be taking part in the near
future. Americans Communicating Electronically is a project developed
by several government agencies to coordinate and improve access to the
nation's educational and information assets and resources. This will
be done through interactive communications such as electronic mail,
and brought to people who do not have ready access to a computer.
However, we must be realistic about the limitations and
expectations of the White House electronic mail system. This
experiment is the first-ever e-mail project done on such a large
scale. As we work to reinvent government and streamline our processes,
the e-mail project can help to put us on the leading edge of progress.
Initially, your e-mail message will be read and receipt immediately
acknowledged. A careful count will be taken on the number received as
well as the subject of each message. However, the White House is not
yet capable of sending back a tailored response via electronic mail.
We are hoping this will happen by the end of the year.
A number of response-based programs which allow technology to help
us read your message more effectively, and, eventually respond to you
electronically in a timely fashion will be tried out as well. These
programs will change periodically as we experiment with the best way
to handle electronic mail from the public. Since this has never been
tried before, it is important to allow for some flexibility in the
system in these first stages. We welcome your suggestions.
This is an historic moment in the White House and we look forward
to your participation and enthusiasm for this milestone event. We
eagerly anticipate the day when electronic mail from the public is an
integral and normal part of the White House communications system.
President Clinton Vice President Gore
PRESIDENT@WHITEHOUSE.GOV VICE.PRESIDENT@WHITEHOUSE.GOV
*************************************************
***E-MAIL TO THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES***
*************************************************
ANNOUNCEMENT OF ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM BY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Chairman Charlie Rose and Ranking Minority Member Bill Thomas of the
Committee on House Administration announced today the pilot program of
the Constituent Electronic Mail System.
This groundbreaking new service will allow citizens to communicate
directly with their Member of Congress by electronic mail. The House
of Representatives has established an electronic gateway to the
Internet, the vast computer network that is used currently by over 12
million people worldwide. Participating Members of the House have been
assigned public mailboxes which may be accessed by their constituents
from their home computers. In addition, many libraries, schools and
other public institutions now provide, or soon will provide, public
access to the Internet.
The Members of the House of Representatives who have agreed to
participate in this pilot program are: Rep. Jay Dickey (AR-07),
Rep. Sam Gejdenson (CT-02), Rep. Newt Gingrich (GA-06), Rep. George
Miller (CA-07), Rep. Charlie Rose (NC-07), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark
(CA-13), and Rep. Melvin Watt (NC-12). These Members will be making
announcements in their congressional districts within the next few
weeks to make their constituents aware of the new service.
For more information, Internet users are encouraged to contact the
House of Representative's new on-line information service. Please send
a request for information to CONGRESS@HR.HOUSE.GOV, and feel free to
send electronic mail comments about our new service to the
Congressional Comment Desk, at: COMMENTS@HR.HOUSE.GOV
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Perhaps this would be the place to send mail
indicating that you would like to see the service expanded to include
your representative.-JM]
========================
Getting Information To and From the White House:
1. On CompuServe: GO WHITEHOUSE
2. On America Online: keyword WHITEHOUSE or THE WHITEHOUSE or CLINTON
3. On The WELL: type whitehouse
4. On MCI: type VIEW WHITE HOUSE
5. On Fidonet: See Echomail WHITEHOUSE
6. On Peacenet or Econet: See pol.govinfo.usa.
========================
Sending E-mail to the White House:
On the Internet, E-Mail may be sent to the following addresses:
Clinton-HQ@Campaign92.Org
75300.3115@compuserve.com
clintonpz@aol.com
Please note that the White House e-mail system is under construction.
This is a new project and suffers from all of the problems common to a
startup operation. E-mail messages are currently being printed out and
responses are being sent out via US Mail. Nobody wants this new
venture to work more than the staff that has devoted so many hours to
getting it up and running. But much time and effort will be required
before the system is truly interactive. In the meantime, they will
need a little patience from the electronic community. If you send a
message to the White House, please include a US Post office address
for replies.
*****************************************
***OTHER GOVERNMENTAL RESOURCES ONLINE***
*****************************************
I will briefly mention that the Federal Register, The Library of
Congress, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions are all accessible online.
More detailed information on these and on various information servers
that you can send email to and receive text files on a variety of
topics (economic policy, foreign policy, social policy, and
transcripts of speeches and press conferences) is contained in the
WHITE HOUSE E-MAIL FAQ (frequently asked questions) list, which I can
provide you with. FAQ sheets are common on the internet, as newcomers
to a mailing list all tend to ask the same questions. This is Internet
Lesson #1: Before you start asking questions, obtain and read the FAQ
sheet for the topic you're interested in. Get your FAQs straight, or
you're liable to be 'flamed' before you know what hit you. I learned
this the hard way. More on the internet, mailing lists, FAQs, and
flaming at a later date. Next issue, government run Bulletin Board
Systems (BBSes).
======================================================================
Indian Computer Company Bosses Beat Blues In Beer Bash
Last week, some of the top members of India's recession-hit computer
industry met in a Bangalore pub on an unlikely mission -- to greet
Bacchus and bid farewell to their blues over mugs of beer. Plummeting
profits, flat sales, vicious price wars and deferred big-ticket
purchases joined hands with the bank scam, post-Ayodhya riots and
Bombay blasts to dip the Indian IT industry growth rate in fiscal
(Apr 92 - Mar 93) to 20 percent. This is poor compared to the 40
percent growth until two years ago. The 11 industry heavyweights, who
are members of the MAIT (Manufacturers' Association of Information
he information
technology industry -- Beer Drinkers Association of Information
Technology (BAIT). For most, BAIT might provide the funny side of the
IT industry, but for the founding members it is serious business as
the objective of the association is to "have and share beer-oriented
view of the Indian IT industry and to look for the IT market through
the beer glass!" That nothing but frothy, distorted images would be
visible through the chilled glass does not seem to bother the industry
bosses. Founding members include many luminaries of the Indian
computer industry. The next meeting of the association will be in
August. By this time membership to the group is expected to swell,
especially considering the state of the industry. The criteria for
membership are: any IT professional desirous of becoming a member will
be required to approach any of these executive council members with a
formal application; every new member will be required to buy beer for
all other members in the first meeting that he/she attends; every
member will be required to stay for at least two hours in each
meeting. Anybody who leaves earlier will be required to pay for the
next six rounds of beer. Finally, members will have to accept anything
said by another in these meetings. But that's not all: the association
plans to bring out a bimonthly news bulletin called BAN-IT (BAIT's
Newsletter for IT industry). This bulletin will contain beer-related
jokes for IT professionals, a sure-fire method of bringing some cheer
to an otherwise gloomy industry. Finally, DOS will be discussed at
these meetings. But for BAIT members it means "Drown Our Sorrows."
(NewsBytes 7/9/93)
[EDITOR'S COMMENT: This is one foreign custom that will have no
problem finding acceptance here at home. In fact, don't we have
something along these lines going on at the Irish Pub? I'll meet you
there after work. The drinks are on you. -JM]
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my snailmail address ===============================================
follows: = (Copyleft 1993 Jay Machado) *UNALTERED* =
= electronic distribution and dissemination =
Jay Machado = of this this file for non-profit purposes =
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=============== end of Bits and Bytes Online V1, #1.==================
