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Silicon Times Report Issue 1238
Silicon Times Report
The Original Independent OnLine Magazine"
(Since 1987)
September 20, 1996 No.1238
Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine
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09/20/96 STR 1238 The Original Independent OnLine Magazine!
- CPU Industry Report - Adobe Pagemaker 6.5 - Adobe Photoshop 4.0
- Micrografx Updates - Corel NEWS Updates - Sony Ships PCs
- WinNT 64bit Planned - SEGA DigiCam - Internet TV
- WEB Surf by Phone - People Talking - Dana's TidBits
Apple Updates Mac System 7
CIA Web Site Vandalized
Microsoft in Washington
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Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35
Results: 9/14/96: 2 of 6 numbers, ten 2 number matches
From the Editor's Desk...
The new software is beginning to show itself and the promise what is to
be is marvelous. Comdex this year is going to be amazing for the un-
initiated. For those in the know, it'll be an exercise in "I told you so".
But so what, it'll all be for the benefit of the users. I might add ..that's
what it is all about.
This missive is short because the issue has some great info this week so
I'll let you get right to it.
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STReport Headline News
LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Telecom Execs Praise Clinton But...
The Clinton Administration has drawn praise from telecommunications
executives for a new electronic commerce initiative aimed at "preempting"
foreign governments attempting to limit Internet transactions. However, some
warn the effort may be coming too late to actually halt such attempts at
limitations. Communications Daily notes Ira Magaziner, senior adviser to the
president for policy development, has offered the first public outline of the
initiative, which he says seeks to establish a framework for governments and
U.S. states to avoid regulations on electronic commerce and Internet.
"We'd be in a market-based mode and would be private-sector driven,"
Magaziner recently told the State Department Advisory Committee on
International Communications and Information Policy, which praised the effort
and urged an accelerated schedule for getting something enacted. CD reports
a 13-agency task force is completing work on a policy paper Magaziner said
could be circulated by the end of year to other agencies and the private
sector. In his 45-minute appearance before the committee, he stressed the
goal is to keep government out of electronic commerce everywhere, saying he
hopes the U.S. can enlist other countries, such as northern European nations,
to provide the "critical mass" that would encourage other nations to follow.
In addition to major developing countries, the task force also will consider
endorsements from emerging nations that could be interested in
"leap-frogging" other nations on technology, Magaziner said. However, the
effort does require some government role, he said, adding, "If they don't
endorse it, they'll be inclined to usurp it." Several experts told CD that
timing is critical, as some nations already have announced plans to impose
controls, limits or rules on Internet commerce. Magaziner and others noted
that removing regulations is more difficult than preventing them.
The policy initiative "focuses on (a) contract model rather than regulatory
model, wih (the government) providing endorsements for "some kind" of Uniform
Commercial Code that would buttress transactions carried out on Internet,"
the newsletter says. In the same way that two parties sign a contract
document in conventional transaction, Magaziner said, a "signature" would be
some kind of electronic signal exchanged between two parties seeking to
complete a deal. He said the framework shouldn't allow government action
other than acceptance of the uniform code.
He said the Net also should be a "duty-free" zone in which tariffs are
eliminated, adding the action is made imperative by proposals of some nations
to set "high duties" on Net commerce. Magaziner said it could take the rest
of the decade to achieve multilateral agreements, but the current effort is
the critical first step in acting on potential threats to Internet commerce.
"We need to act to preempt what may otherwise be action by other governments
that would create barriers to trade," he said, such as "non-tariff" barriers
being considered in Singapore, Australia and Canada.
Microsoft Makes Waves in Washington
Word is Microsoft Corp. is becoming a political player in Washington,
beginning to influence federal policy with its market muscle and money.
"While the effort still pales in comparison to that of Boeing, or the
tobacco, auto and telecommunications industries," notes United Press
International, "Microsoft's voice is still being heard on many issues,
ranging from intellectual property rights to legal immigration." Recently,
Tony Williams, chief of staff for Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington state, told
the Sacramento Bee newspaper, "They went from not even being in the room to
having a seat at the table, and they did it in a very conscious way."
UPI says Microsoft began to earn its political wings a few years ago when the
Justice Department launched its anti-trust investigation into the company's
activities, and Congress became active on such issues as telecommunications
reform and software encryption. Mark Murray, the compny's corporate public
relations manager, commented, "It's fair to say there are a number of issues
currently under consideration at the federal level that affect the software
industry. It's clear software companies have to have a presence in
Washington, D.C."
And the Bee reports that besides campaign contributions, lobbying and
appearances by Microsoft CEO Bill Gates with President Clinton, Microsoft has
learned the more subtle ways of operating in the capital: "The company
donated software to both parties for their conventions and hosted receptions
to showcase MS/NBC, its new joint venture with NBC-TV," says UPI. "Company
officials supported a dinner for first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in Seattle
and the annual Republican House and Senate gala dinner in Washington, D.C."
In addition, Microsoft has:
ú Hired as one of their outside lobbyists, Grover Norquist, a
well-connected conservative with ties to House Speaker Newt Gingrich and
other Republican congressional leaders.
ú Made "soft-money" contributions to both political parties. (Soft money,
which can be given only directly to the parties and is supposed to be for
voter education efforts, has become increasingly popular among major
corporations because there are no limits on the amount that can be donated,
UPI notes.)
The Bee says that through July of this year, Microsoft's political action
committee, its top officials and employees, have contributed $167,700 to
various political campaigns, more than twice the level during a similar
period leading up to the 1994 election and 15 times greater than in 1992, the
last presidential election. About 40 percent, or $66,000, was in the form of
soft money. In 1992, Microsoft made no soft-money contributions and in 1994
it gave only $10,000, the paper reports.
So far, the donations have favored Republicans by more than 2 to 1, "but the
rest of its contributions have not been as clearly partisan," UPI reports,
adding, "Microsoft's PAC hasn't given to either presidential campaign,
although employees have given $10,000 to Clinton's re-election effort, and
$2,500 to GOP challenger Bob Dole." The Bee says Microsoft has spent
$860,000 on lobbying activities during the first six months of 1996, the bulk
on its in-house lobbying team. But the company also paid $180,000 to the
Washington, D.C., office of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, a
Seattle-based lawyer-lobby firm; $80,000 to Swidler & Berlin, another
Washington, D.C., lobbying firm; and $20,000 to Downey Chandler, whose
partners include Rod Chandler, a former Republican congressman from
Washington state.
CIA Web Site Vandalized
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency today pulled the plug on its site on the
Internet's World Wide Web after a vandal cracked the page and posted a
message declaring it the "Central Stupidity Agency." CIA officials told Jim
Wolf of the Reuter News Service the Web page was not linked to mainframe
computers containing spy secrets or other classified national security
information. Said agency spokesma Rick Oborn, "There is no way to access
internal CIA information from this home page," adding the site was tampered
with on Wednesday night and had been shut down by the agency on this morning
while a task force tried to prevent another break-in.
Reuters says the digital vandal turned the CIA home page
(http://www.odci.gov/cia) "into a crude parody" reading, "Welcome to the
Central Stupidity Agency." A picture of an unknown man replaced that of CIA
Director John Deutch and fictional links offered "News from Space" and "Nude
Girls." The text also read "Stop Lying." The spokesman added, "If there is
any major enemy who wanted to do us damage, this is not anything that causes
us great concern," the spokesman said, adding that he had no idea of the
culprit's identity. He termed the attack "malicious" and said he was not
shrugging it off. The site, visited about 120,000 times a week, would be
restored when the agency's technicians were confident they had "cleaned it
up," officials said.
The agency has formed a task force to look into how the page was penetrated
and how to prevent a recurrence. The attack resembled one that forced the
Justice Department to close its Web site for a few days last month after
intruders turned it into the "Department of Injustice," inserting a swastika
and picture of Adolph Hitler. Notes Wolf, "The incident highlighted the
vulnerability of Internet sites and drove home the need for multiple layers
of security to prevent manipulation of data."
Net Rumor Causes Lexis Headaches
Phones were jammed today at the headquarters of the publisher of the
Lexis-Nexis databases as thousands demanded to be removed from a database
that allegedly gave Internet users access to Social Security numbers, credit
histories and other personal data. Reporting from Dayton, Ohio, The
Associated Press notes, "Furious e-mail messages on the Internet this week
claim that anyone can use a Lexis-Nexis computer file to obtain names,
addresses, telephone numbers and other information."
However, Lexis-Nexis spoksman Steve Edwards told the wire service the claims
are false and that the company supplied only information publicly available
from telephone listings and courthouse documents. "The outcry is over a
computer file called P-TRAK operated by Lexis-Nexis to provide information on
individuals for lawyers to use when trying to find witnesses, heirs or people
delinquent on child-support payments," AP reports. "Subscribers can access
the information by dialing into the database with a modem, the same way users
access Lexis-Nexis' library of periodicals and court documents."
Edwards says P-TRAK provides only names, addresses, up to two previous
addresses, month and year of birth, telephone number and in some cases a
person's maiden name, adding, "The information we're providing is all
publicly available information. It's information you can retrieve from a
phone book or a courthouse." Not included in the information, he said, are
any credit histories, bank account information, personal financial data,
medical histories, or mothers' maiden names.
He said that when Lexis-Nexis began offering P-TRAK last June, Social
Security numbers were included in the information. However, he said they were
removed 11 days later and are no longer available. Nonetheless, he added,
Lexis-Nexis will remove anyone's name from the database at that person's
request.
Sony Ships First PCs
The first Sony PCs have arrived at U.S. retailers. The violet and gray "PC
by Sony" models can now be purchased at Good Guys, Nobody Beats the Wiz, Best
Buy, CompUSA, Incredible Universe, J&R Music World, Circuit City, and
Montgomery Ward stores. The $2,499 PCV-70 comes with a 166MHz Pentium
processor; the $2,899 PCV-90 features a 200MHz Pentium processor. A 15- inch
(13.9-inch viewable image size) Multiscan Multimedia monitor is sold
separately for $579.
"The initial reaction we have received so far from consumers, analysts, press
and retailers clearly shows that Sony has raised the bar for computer audio
and video quality -- as well as added a bit of color to the industry," says
James Harris, vice president of sales for San Jose, California-based Sony
Information Technologies of America. "Our research indicates that consumers
today demand a better and more entertaining PC experience. The PCV-70 and
PCV-90 delivers this experience by offering the same quality, ease- of-use
and innovative design that consumers have become accustomed to from Sony
products."
Sony notes that the PCs are designed to fit into a variety of home
environments. A specially constructed PC mini-tower features a door that
slides up and down to reveal the floppy disk and CD-ROM drives inside. When
closed, the front cover of the computer looks smooth and uncluttered. Future
Sony PC peripherals will be stackable, much like stereo components.
Novell Launches Marketing Strategy
Novell Inc. has unveiled an aggressive new marketing strategy, launching a
$20 million worldwide advertising, corporate identity and brand campaign.
The campaign is designed to strengthen Novell's brand awareness with its key
audiences, establish the company as a major intranet market player and
clearly define the company's networking vision.
"This campaign is the first in a series of major marketing initiatives we
plan to deliver ver the next several months," says Steve Markman, executive
vice president for Novell's products group. "We want the world to know that
we are expanding our territory as the networking software leader and a
revitalized Novell is ready to meet our competitors head-on."
For its campaign, Novell has tapped the resources of several leading
advertising and marketing firms, including Hornall Anderson Design Works
Inc., Lexicon and Young & Rubicam. The initiative marks Novell's first
substantial corporate identity and brand marketing effort in a decade.
Apple Updates Mac System 7
Apple Computer Inc. has released System 7.5.5 Update, a set of system
software enhancements that aims to improve the overall reliability and
performance of Apple Macintosh and Mac OS-compatible systems. According to
Apple, System 7.5.5 Update provides reliability improvements by eliminating
some causes of system freezes and improves the reliability of sharing a
printer over the network. Apple notes that the update is the third in a
series of regularly scheduled system software update releases the computer
maker has delivered since March. The software provides one update for all
computer systems currently running System 7.5.3 and integrates all
improvements found in the System 7.5.3 Revision 2 update, released in June.
Performance enhancements include:
ú A revised version of virtual memory that can result in significantly
better performance when performing some tasks, such as launching an
application, especially for PowerPC- based systems using SCSI drives.
ú A revised Code Fragment Manager that enables some large PowerPC-native
applications to launch faster and some applications to be launched in
low-memory situations.
ú The Universal System Folder, a single user-created system folder stored
on an external hard disk or removable media drive and used to boot up a wide
variety of Macintosh and Mac OS-compatible systems, that has been enhanced to
support the latest Apple computers, including the Apple Macintosh 5400 and
6400 series.
Reliability enhancements include:
ú More dependable use of the floppy drive on DOS- compatible systems.
ú Improved floppy formatting and better reliability during system startup
for 180MHz or higher 604 or 604e microprocessor-based systems.
ú A reduction of Type 11 errors on PowerPC-based systems.
ú Better use of sound-intensive applications for Macintosh Quadra and
Centris systems updated with the Apple Power Macintosh Upgrade Card.
ú More dependable operation of the remote control included with the Apple
TV tuner and Macintosh TV.
Network-specific improvements include:
ú More reliable operation of Ethernet controllers in the 5400 and 6400
series systems.
ú Better data integrity when accessing a 5400 series system over the
network.
ú System 7.5.5 Update will install only on computers currently running
System 7.5.3, including System 7.5.3 Revision 2. Once the update is
installed, the system software version will be changed to System 7.5.5 as
indicated in the "About this Macintosh" window. A free copy of System 7.5.5
Update can be downloaded from CompuServe by typing GO APLSUP.
64-Bit Windows NT Planned
Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. say they are working together to develop a
version of the Windows NT operating system for Intel's upcoming IA-64 64-bit
processor line. The companies note that the combination of Windows NT and
IA-64 processors will provide seamless support for existing Pentium Pro
(IA-32) applications and new applications optimized for IA-64 processors. The
first IA-64 processor, code-named Merced, is set to ship within a couple of
years.
The companies note that the release schedule for the IA-64 version of Windows
NT will be synchronized with shipments of Merced processor-based systems.
"Our Windows NT operating system and software development environment,
optimized for IA-64, will enable the industry to easily take advantage of
Intel's 64-bit family of processors," says Paul Maritz, group vice president
of Microsoft's platforms group. "This announcement affirms our commitment to
providing customers with high-performance software solutions for IA-64."
"Our announcement today represents an important milestone in the progress of
Intel's IA-64 processor program," adds Albert Yu, general manager of Intel's
microprocessor products group. "The Windows NT operating system, optimized
for the IA-64 architecture, will further extend the capabilities and
performance already seen today with Windows NT and the Pentium Pro
processor."
Windows NT Server 4.0 Sales Soar
New research from International Data Corp. finds that sales of the Microsoft
Windows NT Server 4.0 network operating system have reached more than 150,000
units in the first 30 dayssince its release, reaffirming its position as the
world's best-selling server operating system. "Windows NT Server posted
another strong quarter," says Philip Johnson, server operating environments
program director at IDC. "In the second quarter of 1996, sales of Windows NT
Server grew at nearly double the rate of other server operating system
environments, while sales of NetWare were flat compared with the same period
in 1995."
Jim Allchin, senior vice president of Microsoft's desktop and business
systems division, says the rapid customer acceptance of Windows NT Server 4.0
is a direct result of customer-driven enhancements. "During the design
process for Windows NT Server 4.0, we spent a lot of time listening to
customers in order to deliver the integrated Internet and intranet platform
they need," he says. "The incredible rate at which Windows NT Server is being
deployed is testament to having delivered a high-quality, rock-solid platform
for intranets and the Internet that provides measurable benefits."
Boca Plans High Speed Modems
Boca Research Inc. says it plans to lead the pack of modem manufacturers
building new ultra high speed analog modems. The company, based in Boca
Raton, Florida, plans to base its units on a new Rockwell Semiconductor
Systems chipset that allows connections at rates up to 56K bps across
standard phone lines. "This is record-breaking news for our industry -- in
the world of modems, it's like breaking the sound barrier, passing the speed
of light, or beating the four-minute mile," says Tony Zalenski, Boca's
president and CEO. "With Rockwell developing the technology and overcoming
the limitations of the analog connection, the future of the modem, as we know
it today, is secure. Rockwell's got the technology, and we plan to ship it."
Boca hasn't announced any specific models, prices or release dates.
Rockwell Has Fast Modem Technology
Rockwell Semiconductor Systems has announced a new modem technology that
allows Internet and online service connections at rates up to 5,000 bits per
second across standard phone lines. Rockwell says its technology is
supported by leading communication equipment providers, and that the
technology specifications will be submitted to appropriate standardization
bodies in an effort to make the technology a worldwide standard.
Unlike traditional modems, which assume an analog connection between users,
the new technology takes advantage of the high-speed, digital connection to
the telephone network that Internet service providers and corporations
already have. For example, when a home subscriber places a local telephone
call to an Internet service provider, in many cases the only analog portion
of the total connection is the short distance from the user's home to the
local telephone company central office.
"This new technology gives Web surfers the capability to connect to the
Internet at almost double the average connection speed of today's fastest
analog modems," says Armando Geday, vice president and general manager of
Rockwell Semiconductor Systems' multimedia communications division.
Sega Unveils Digital Camera
Low-priced digital cameras will be sold in Japan by video game publisher Sega
Enterprises Ltd. in its bid to tap a booming market and lure more people to
video game centers. In Tokyo, the Reuter News Service says the $270 camera,
called the Digio, will be the least expensive digital camera sold in Japan
when it goes on sale at the end of November. Reuters notes Casio Computer
Co. Ltd. introduced the first personal-use digital camera in Japan, priced at
$452, in March last year. Eastman Kodak Co. sells its camera for $361.
Sega officials told the wire service the company hopes to use the cameras to
draw people into using its game machines and to computer game centers. A
Sega spokeswoman added, "We are examining the possibility of providing such
services to our digital camera holders as setting up machines at game centers
that print out images captured on the camera." Reuters notes quick photo
machines "have become a hit in Japanese game centers and are especially
popular among teen-age girls."
IBM Eyes 3,000-5,000 Buyouts
Word is IBM is set to offer buyouts or job transfers to 3,000 and 5,000
employees in order to reduce the number of workers who don't contribute
directly to sales. The New York Times reports this morning the new
job-reduction plan will offer employees cash to leave the company or the
chance to transfer to another part of IBM were jobs are available.
Following up on the report, The Associated Press notes IBM has undergone
major downsizing in recent years, cutting its staff from more than 400,000 in
1986 to about 230,000 as it tries to revive itself from a slowdown in
computer industry. Citing sources familiar with the company's plans, the
Times says lawyers, marketing personnel, public relations employees and
members of the corporate staff are among those being reviewed under the
voluntary plan, which could be presented to workers as early as this week.
End of an Era: Boston Computer Society Closes
PC Week Online (September 13, 1996) - When personal computers first emerged
in force in the early 1980s, users seeking advice or the company of kindred
spirits had few options. The vast networks of online newsgroups did not yet
exist, and only a handful of publications covered the phenomenon. But the
Boston Computer Society had already established a national reputation as a
gathering place for IT visionaries. Now, after a whirlwind 20 years of
dispensing support, hosting product debuts, and educating computing experts
and casual users alike about technology, the 18,000-member organization is
shutting down.
While declining membership and a dire financial picture were the immediate
catalysts for the move, BCS Executive Director Frank Smith said today that
the ever-more-collaborative nature of computing (a paradigm shift fueled
mainly by the rise of the Internet) led BCS officials to conclude the group
had outlived its mission. "Times have changed," said Smith, who was named
interim director in July, prior to the board of directors' decision this
week to disband the BCS. "If the organization was going to survive, we were
going to have to find a different direction."
As BCS members began to form subgroups according to their particular
interests, including groups for Linux and Unix users and one for virtual
reality software users and developers, the main organization's role in
dispensing support and fomenting discussion dimnished, Smith said. The
situation is vastly different from the early 1990s, when BCS worldwide
membership reached a peak of 32,000 and the group produced and sponsored a
variety of its own publications, classes and discussion groups.
David Drucker, a member of the BCS board of directors and project manager for
new product development at Ziff-Davis Publishing's ZD Net, in Cambridge,
Mass., recalled the organization's heyday as a time when industry luminaries
such as Microsoft Corp. CEO Bill Gates and Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve
Jobs were likely to stroll into monthly meetings.
"It started out as the East Coast equivalent of the groups of garage hackers
you have in California now," Drucker said. "The membership grew because there
was a desperate need for information sharing. "Everything you see in the
industry today, from newsgroups to the whole idea of shareware and freeware,
to the social element of computing, had its start at the BCS," he said. "What
happened was that its mission was accomplished."
The increasing costs of maintaining office space and providing member
services outpaced membership, which declined steadily over the past several
years, Drucker said. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 1995, the
organization lost $125,000 and had a net balance of zero, according to Smith.
"Nobody wanted a gruesome death where the society would slide into
insolvency. So the board decided to pull the plug," Drucker said. But BCS
members hoping to continue collaborating with other users still have some
avenues open. Many of the organization's 100 subgroups today announced plans
to continue operations. Links to information on various subgroups can be
found on the BCS World Wide Web site at http://www.bcs.org/.
NEC Gets First Web Community
CompuServe Inc.'s Internet division says it has delivered its first
"Private-Label Community" (PLC) to NEC Computer Systems. The Internet
destination -- WebWay (www.gowebway.com) -- is available immediately on the
company's line of Ready multimedia PCs and PowerPlayer gamer systems. WebWay
will also be available with all future retail PC systems from NEC.
CompuServe's PLC program offers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) the
SPRYNET community (www.sprynet.com) as the foundation to build a customized
online presence.
A WebWay icon will be present on the desktop to give NEC customers direct
Internet access via CompuServe's worldwide network. With the click of a mouse
or the push of a button on the remote control, customers go directly to the
NEC- branded WebWay home page. The first month of Internet access is free for
NEC customers. Pricing options are available for subsequent months at $4.95
for three hours; $9.95 for seven hours; or $19.95 per month for unlimited
access.
"CompuServe's PLC program allowed us to create WebWay and provide our
customers with an enjoyable Internet experience that offers immediate
solutions to their questions," says Murali Dharan, vice president of desktop
systems for NEC. "Every software and hardware manufacturer knows the
importance of having a strong Internet presence," says Craig McCallum, vice
president and general manager of CompuServe's Internet division. "CompuServe
can create customized online communities for OEMs for a fraction of what it
would cost the to design, create and maintain one themselves. Through our PLC
program, manufacturers can easily capture their customers' loyalty --
online."
Net Threatens Daily Newspapers
A panel of publishing experts agreed yesterday that the print product most
threatened by the Internet is the daily newspaper. Meeting at the annual
Seybold San Francisco Conference and Exposition for publishing professionals,
the panel included Mark Anderson, president of Technology Alliance Partners;
Roger Black, creative director of @@Home; Halsey Minor, founder and CEO of
c/net; and Richard Patterson, founder and chairman of Cascade Systems
International.
"People value information, accuracy and timeliness -- attributes that in past
eras we would have turned to our daily newspapers for," said Anderson.
"Today, one of the real benefits of the Internet is its high information
content and the fact that it can be updated frequently and accessed anytime
from almost anywhere," observed Minor.
Black noted that classified advertising is making breakthroughs on the
Internet. "We have a situation in which 40 percent of the average newspaper's
revenue base is under fire," he stated. According to Patterson, among the
print products safe from the Internet's onslaught are long forms such as
novels and magazines that tell great stories, and where a connection between
the author and the reader as well as total reading experience is as important
as the content. "Good writing, novels and story telling will always survive
in print," added Black.
Online Service Revenues Climb
Led by a surge of business/professional services, online service revenues
will reach $30.9 billion by 2000, according to SIMBA Information Inc., a
market research company based in Stamford, Connecticut. According to SIMBA,
online services experienced record- setting revenue growth in 1995 as a
result of the expansion of business/professional services, the exploding
consumer market and new entrants in both segments.
Online services revenue totaled $17.7 billion in 1995and is expected to grow
16.2 percent to $20.5 billion in 1996, according to SIMBA estimates.
Business/professional online services generated 93.2 percent of total
industry revenue in 1995. SIMBA divides the business/professional market into
seven market segments: brokerage; credit; financial news/research; legal, tax
and public records; marketing; professional research and vertical market
services. Business/professional services will continue to generate the
majority of online sales throughout the rest of the century, accounting for
more than 88 percent of total industry sales in 2000, according to SIMBA
estimates.
Subscriptions to online services reached 16.3 million in 1995, up 63.9
percent over 1994. The total number of online subscribers is forecast to
reach 36.4 million by 2000. End user/consumer services such as America Online
will continue to dominate the industry. Business/professional services will
continue, however, to generate the majority of revenue. "The entire online
industry has been affected by several trends, including the Internet, which
has had a profound impact on the business and made the role and value of
online service providers questionable," says SIMBA analyst Paulette Donnelly.
"Other significant themes emanating throughout the past year include online
advertising and the surging interest in developing information services for
corporate intranets."
Adobe Systems Introduces Adobe Photoshop 4.0
New Version of Industry-Leading Image-Editing Tool Dramatically Increases
User Productivity and Creative Control; Unprecedented Integration Among
Adobe Graphics Applications; Enhances Image Production for the World Wide Web
SAN JOSE, Calif. (September 9, 1996)(Nasdaq: ADBE)-Adobe Systems Incorporated
today announced Adobe Photoshop 4.0 for Windows and Macintosh, a new version
of the world-standard photo-design and production tool. Available in 18
languages, Adobe Photoshop is the product of choice for graphic designers,
photographers, Webmasters and multimedia authors for the creation of high-
quality print, multimedia and Web graphics. This new version provides
features that dramatically increase user productivity and creative control,
allow users to work more efficiently with all Adobe's market-leading graphics
products, and streamline the process of preparing images for the World Wide
Web.
"With more than two million users worldwide, Photoshop is the de facto
standard for graphic design, digital photography and prepress production,"
said Bryan Lamkin, director for Adobe graphics products. "In addition,
Photoshop has emerged as the leading tool for Web page production. With
Version 4.0, we focused on delivering a robust product that gives our users
increased functionality in areas that matter to them the most: productivity,
creative control, ease-of-use, and image preparation for the World Wide Web."
Photoshop 4.0 Enhances User Productivity
The Actions feature in Photoshop Version 4.0 dramatically increases user
productivity with the ability to automate editing functions, streamlining
tasks such as image retouching and downsampling, file conversion, filter
operations, and even batch processing of multiple images. A groundbreaking
new feature for image editing, Actions allow users to process one image, or
multiple images quickly and easily by recording functions as an "action
list." Additionally, multiple images can be acquired from a digital camera
and processed in batches, so users can be more efficient. To provide
consistency within a production environment, Actions can be saved and shared
with others. Users will also benefit from pre-saved Actions in Version 4.0
for tasks such as downsampling images to 72 dpi for Web posting, saving GIF
and JPEG files with optimal Web settings, and adding drop shadows to text.
"Adobe Photoshop 4.0 is a big jump forward, providing users with enormous
creativity and productivity gains," said Jeff Schewe, professional
photographer and photo-imaging artist in Chicago, Illinois. "The ability to
automate routine tasks using Actions provides a huge time-saving benefit."
The Guides and Grids feature in Version 4.0 makes it easy to build Web
pages, or composites, providing greater accuracy in placing and aligning
images. Users will be more productive with precise zooming and panning
capabilities using the new Navigator palette. Also, when working with large
images, Photoshop users will immediately notice significant improvements in
responsiveness with Version 4.0 when scrolling, zooming, moving selections,
and compositing layers, allowing them to work more effciently.
Adobe Photoshop continues to lead the imaging market with support for the
latest hardware and operating ystem advances, offering users increased
functionality and performance. Photoshop users will benefit from dramatic
speed improvements when using machines with multiple processors on either the
Macintosh and Windows NT platforms, due to Version 4.0's extensive symmetric
multiprocessing capabilities. Photoshop 4.0 for Window users will also
realize performance gains up to 6x throughout the application when running on
the new Intel MMX chipset, which is expected to be available in Q1 1997. In
addition, Adobe Photoshop 4.0, which runs 32-bit native in Microsoft Windows
95 and Windows NT platforms, fully leverages the desktop improvements of
these operating systems, including the soon-to-be-released version 4.0 of
Windows NT.
Powerful Creative Control
Adobe Photoshop 4.0 provides unparalleled creative control with features such
as Adjustment Layers, the Free Transform tool and Custom Gradients. With
Adjustment Layers, Photoshop users now have the ability to perform image
color adjustments without affecting the original image data. This allows for
unlimited experimentation with adjustments such as hue and saturation,
brightness and contrast and overall color balance, and provides the option
to "undo," or refine the adjustments at a later time.
"Adjustment Layers are outstanding and will totally change the way color
correction and adjustments are done," continued Schewe. "With enhancements
such as Actions, Guides and Grids and Adjustment Layers, Photoshop continues
to be the most comprehensive, full-featured image editing program available."
The Custom Gradients palette lets users achieve new levels of creativity with
the ability to customize multi- color gradients, with varying opacity, that
can be saved and shared. The Free Transform tool preserves image fidelity
with the ability to perform multiple transformations, such as skew, rotate,
and scale, in a single step. In addition, Photoshop 4.0 doubles the number
of artistic filters offered in the program by adding forty-eight new creative
effects.
Adobe Photoshop 4.0 offers breakthrough technology for the protection of
intellectual property with the addition of digital watermark capabilities.
An industry first in an image-editing application, this feature allows users
to embed an imperceptible digital watermark containing artist and copyright
information in an image. When a watermarked file is opened, Adobe Photoshop
4.0 will automatically indicate that copyright information is present.
Adding a watermark to images can also be automated with the Actions feature,
allowing
users to add a digital watermark to multiple images in a batch process.
Strong Integration Across Adobe Graphics Applications
User interface enhancements and improved interoperability available in
Photoshop 4.0 will enable users to work seamlessly between Adobe graphics
applications. Version 4.0 features an updated look-and-feel that will also
be found in future versions of other Adobe graphics applications, such as
Adobe Illustrator and Adobe PageMaker. Common terminology, shortcut keys,
menu structure, and Tab palette design that will be shared among Adobe
products will give users a familiar interface and enable them to quickly
become more productive with Photoshop and other Adobe software.
"Adobe's continual improvements to the interoperability between Photoshop and
its other products such as Adobe Illustrator allows us to work much more
effectively," said Josh Feldman, creative director for Prophet
Communications, a Web design and content creation firm based in San
Francisco, California.
Enhanced Image Production and Integration for the World Wide Web
Already an indispensable tool for print graphics, Photoshop bridges the gap
between traditional print and Web publishing, providing the most robust
features for the creation of high-quality graphics for both environments.
The Actions feature in Photoshop 4.0 not only streamlines graphic artists'
design process, but allows users involved in Web image processing to easily
perform batch file conversions and downsampling, saving valuable time.
"Adobe Photoshop is the ideal tool for our graphics production and Web
preparation needs. Features in Adobe Photoshop 4.0 such as Actions make the
program even more indispensable to us," continued Feldman. "The Actions
palette streamlines the process of working with different file formats while
preparing graphics for the Web-a process that is very time-consuming. The
ability within Photoshop to automate tasks through Actions such as converting
files to different formats will save a tremendous amount of time and effort."
New file format support in Version 4.0 provides users with a broad range of
useful Web file formats, including Portable Network Graphics (PNG),
progressive JPEG and the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Additionally,
users will save time and money by having direct access to Photoshop product
and technical information, updates and plug-ins, on the Adobe home page via
a Web link within Photoshop 4.0. Adobe is the first company to provide
dynamic access to product information from within a software application, and
will extend this functionality to other Adobe products as new versions are
released.
New Features
Improved Productivity
Actions-The Actions palette enables users to record a sequence of editing
steps as an Action that can then be applied to another selection in the same
image, to another image file, or even to hundreds of files in a batch
operation. Users can play an action with selected steps disabled or display
selected dialog boxes during playback in order to interactively adjust the
filter settings. The order in which tasks are executed can easily be edited
by simple dragging-and-dropping functions. Multiple actions can be displayed
simultaneously in the Actions palette, and sets of actions can be saved and
loaded separately. A special feature of Actions is the ability to batch-
acquire images from a digital camera, allowing for an entire set of images to
be acquired, retouched, and saved to files automatically.
Version 4.0 of Photoshop provides basic support for OLE automation on the
Windows platform and for AppleScript on the MacOS. Through these two
scripting mechanisms, an external program can launch Adobe Photoshop, open
image files, and run any named actions lists on those files.
The Navigator-The Navigator palette provides an easy way to move quickly to
any location in a magnified image, by clicking the desired view area within
a resizable thumbnail of the image. Users can adjust zoom levels on-the-fly
with a convenient slider control, or specify zoom levels with greater
accuracy in a numeric entry field. Users can enter preset zoom levels (1:1,
2:1, 4:1, and so on), or any continuous zoom level between 0.13% and 1600%.
Guides and Grids-Guides and Grids provide a means for accurate alignment of
objects within an image file. Guides and Grids help users to align objects
such as buttons on a Web page, and layer elements in image ompositing.
Guides can be pulled from the rulers to provide precise horizontal or
vertical lines to which tool operations can be snapped. Similarly, the Grids
feature creates a regular pattern of snap points across an entire image.
Both Guides and Grids are fully user-definable. Guide settings are also
recordable actions, making it easy for one person to define a specific guide
setup to be shared with other users or applied to more than one document.
Powerful Creative Control
Adjustment Layers-Adjustment Layers in Version 4.0 allow for color correction
via a mask through which an image adjustment is applied. An adjustment layer
does not make permanent changes to the underlying image pixels, and
therefore can be modified any number of times without any degradation in
image quality. The standard image adjustments can be applied with an
adjustment layer: Levels, Curves, Color Balance, Brightness/Contrast,
Hue/Saturation, Selective Color, Invert, Threshold, and Posterize.
Any number of adjustment layers can be stacked in the Layers palette, each
adjustment layer modifying the layers that lie below. Adjustment Layers can
be hidden or discarded at any time, or moved up and down in the Layers
palette to affect different image layers. They can also be applied with the
same opacity and blending mode controls offered for image layers. Color and
tonal adjustments can be interactively "painted" on to the image simply by
using any Photoshop painting tools on the adjustment layer.
Free Transform--The Free Transform command allows users to scale, rotate,
skew, add perspective to, or therwise distort a selected image area in a
single step, making complex manipulations of images easier. This also
results in greater image fidelity, because the image does not need to be
recalculated multiple times.
Custom, Multicolor Gradients-The enhanced Gradient tool in Adobe Photoshop
4.0 now supports linear and radial gradients with multiple colors and
varying levels of transparency. Actual colors can be defined for the
gradient designs, or the current foreground and background colors can be
inserted automatically whenever a custom gradient is applied. Users can save
their own custom gradient styles and share them with other users on either
Macintosh or Windows platforms.
48 New Effects Filters-Photoshop 4.0 now includes more than 90 filters,
including 48 new filters that offer a wide range of artistic effects, such
as colored pencil, crosshatch, film grain, and much more. Formerly offered
as a stand-alone product, Adobe Gallery Effects, these plug-in filters
feature the updated, more compact Photoshop 4.0 interface, with dynamic
previews. Each filter is 32-bit native, enabling greater processing speed.
Digital Watermarking
The digital watermarking feature in Adobe Photoshop 4.0 introduces an
effective method for creative professionals to protect the copyright of
their images. Using PictureMarc software developed by Digimarc Corporation,
Adobe Photoshop embeds an imperceptible, digital watermark in any image.
While not apparent to the human eye, this watermark is still readable even
after an image has been edited, or printed and re- scanned. When a
watermarked file is opened, Adobe Photoshop will automatically indicate that
copyright information is present. A link in Adobe Photoshop accesses the
Digimarc Web site, from which users can obtain copyright and artist
information for registered images.
New Web File Support
Adobe Photoshop 3.0 provided support for transparent, interlaced GIF files
with the GIF 89a plug-in. Version 4.0 expands the application's support for
new Web file formats, including Portable Network Graphics (PNG), a lossless,
portable, well-compressed RGB file format that can include mask-channel
information; and, progressive JPEG, a compact file format supported by
Netscape Navigator for displaying images with increasing detail as they are
downloaded, reducing user wait time for viewing image-rich Web pages.
Photoshop 4.0 also adds greater user control over JPEG compression settings,
and enhanced support for transparent, interlaced GIF files. Additionally,
Version 4.0 now supports Portable Document Format (PDF), the Adobe Acrobat
format common on the Web, and can write PDF files directly from the program.
Strong Integration Among Adobe Graphics Applications
Adobe Photoshop 4.0 features an updated look-and-feel that will also be found
in future versions of other Adobe graphics applications. The new refined
interface found in Version 4.0 not only provides a cleaner work environment,
but will also makes it easier for users to work with multiple Adobe
applications. Common terminology, shortcut keys, menu structure, and Tab
palette design that will be shared among Adobe products will give users a
familiar interface and enable them to quickly be more productive with
Photoshop, as well as with other Adobe software.
Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop Version 4.0 will support Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT,
Macintosh and Power Macintosh, and will be available in 18 languages
worldwide. The new version is expected to ship in Q4 1996 for the suggested
retail price of $895 and will be available from Adobe Authorized Resellers or
directly from Adobe. The program will ship on CD-ROM (floppy disks available
upon request for a nominal charge), and will include an interactive tutorial
CD-ROM, stock photography, sample plug-ins, a digital gallery and Adobe
tryout software. Registered owners of any previous full version may purchase
the Version 4.0 upgrade for $149. Upgrades from Photoshop LE to the full
Version 4.0 are $249. Users purchasing Version 3.0 on, or after, September 9,
1996, will receive a free upgrade to Version 4.0. For more information,
customers may call 800-833-6687.
System Requirements
Macintosh-68030, 68040, or PowerPC based Macintosh running Apple System
Software version 7.1 or later (7.1.2 or later on 603- and 604-based
Macintoshes); 16 MB application RAM (32 MB recommended); 256- color or
greater display adapter; 20 MB available hard-disk space for installation; 20
MB available hard-disk space for operation; and, a CD-ROM drive. Windows-386
or faster processor running Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or Windows NT; DOS 5.0
or greater required for Windows 3.1; 16 MB of RAM (32 MB recommended); 20 MB
available hard-disk space for installation; 20 MB available hard-disk space
for operation; 256-color or greater display adapter; and, a CD-ROM drive.
Adobe Systems Announces Adobe PageMaker 6.5
First Professional Page Layout Application to Offer Document-Wide Layers and
Automatic Layout Adjustment for Creating Print and Web Documents.
Mountain View, Calif. (September 9, 1996) (Nasdaq:ADBE)-Adobe Systems
Incorporated today announced Adobe PageMaker version 6.5 for the Macintosh,
Power MacintoshAE, Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 Workstsation platforms.
Designed for graphics and publishing professionals, version 6.5 adds
groundbreaking new features such as document-wide layers, automatic layout
adjustment and hyperlinking for creating rich documents for both print and
the Internet. Adobe PageMaker 6.5 is expected to ship in the fourth quarter
of 1996. The suggested retail price for Adobe PageMaker 6.5 software is $895
(U.S.); upgrades from any previous version of PageMaker are $99.
"In 1985 PageMaker launched a revolution called desktop publishing. With the
innovative features in version 6.5, PageMaker continues its excellence in
print publishing while emerging as a leader in the new revolution of Web-
based authoring," said Mike Peronto, vice president, Adobe graphics
publishing products.
Professional Page Design
PageMaker 6.5 adds breakthrough page layout features that expand creative
options, save design time and offer new capabilities. By incorporating
document-wide layers, PageMaker 6.5 is the first publishing application to
enable users to place objects on different layers within a publication.
Layers are useful for creating multiple versions, annotations and
multilingual documents for print and on-line. To save time when users change
columns, margins, page sizes or master pages, automatic layout adjustment
reflows text into columns, resizes graphics and repositions objects on the
page, eliminating the need to perform these steps manually. With this
release, PageMaker becomes the only application to offer both a freeform
layout metaphor as well as text and graphics frames, which are useful for
designing documents with a fixed structure, such as magazines, catalogs and
newspapers.
"Document-wide layers will be extremely useful for us when we produce
multiple versions of a publication," said beta-tester Tom Tedesco, studio
manager at Upper Saddle River, N.J.-based Prentice-Hall. "We often need to
work simultaneously on regional versions of a textbook and this effectively
cuts our time and effort in half."
Adobe Integration Features
Helping users increase their productivity with Adobe software, PageMaker 6.5
looks and works more like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, with new
standard Adobe menus, new keyboard shortcuts and a revamped interface
featuring interactive tabbed palettes which provide easy access to tools and
organize on- screen work space. Improved compatibility lets users place
native Illustrator files directly into PageMaker publications and see full
previews on-screen and drag and drop PageMaker elements between PageMaker
and other Adobe software.
On-line Publishing
PageMaker 6.5 empowers users to create creating compelling on-line
publications as well as sophisticated print documents. HTML authoring is
streamlined as PageMaker preserves hyperlinks and automatically converts
graphics to JPEG and GIF file formats. Users also can drag and drop PageMaker
elements into Adobe PageMill and Adobe SiteMill for further HTML authoring.
To ensure cross-platform color consistency when publishing Web pages, the on-
line publishing color library includes 216 browser colors. New on-line
importing options include drag and drop of hyperlinks from browsers into
PageMaker and import of HTML content with hyperlinks preserved. For easy
navigation both within PageMaker publications and to locations on the World
Wide Web, the hyperlinking palette adds authoring and management of
hyperlinks. And for delivering graphically rich formatted pages, Adobe
PageMaker 6.5 supports Adobe Acrobat 3.0 software, which is optimized for
viewing, searching, and linking PDF files on the World Wide Web.
Color Publishing
PageMaker offers designers the most complete set of tools for creating high-
impact color publications. PageMaker 6.5 elevates the state-of-the-art in
color printing by refining color technologies and enhancing usability. For
even greater flexibility when producing high-fidelity color publications
using the six-color PANTONE* Hexachrome process, users can now edit hi-fi
color values from within PageMaker. New multichannel desktop olor separation
support, using a plug-in from VISU Technologies (sold separately), improves
workflow by enabling users to edit Hexachrome color images in Photoshop and
place them in PageMaker. In addition, the Kodak Digital Science Color
Management System that is included with PageMaker now supports the Inter
Color Consortium standard which lets different color management systems use
the same device profiles.
Compatibility with Products from Other Vendors
By definition a page layout product must work well with many third party
products. In addition to new import filters, version 6.5 adds new
compatibility with Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and improved usability under
Windows 95 and NT through right-mouse button support for context-sensitive
menus. The QuickTime import filter lets users place selected frames from
QuickTime movies in PageMaker documents and include the movies in documents
exported to PDF or HTML. PageMaker 6.5 also includes the save for service
provider plug-in, a utility that consolidates everything needed to output a
publication for easy hand-off to a service provider and includes the ability
to preflight files.
Added Value
PageMaker 6.5 ships with a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Distiller software and
Acrobat Reader, Adobe Photoshop Limited Edition software (Windows only),
Adobe Table 3.0 software, and for the full retail version only, the Adobe
Type On Call CD-ROM with 220 free fonts, unlocked upon registration
Each full retail product includes 90 days of complimentary technical support;
upgrades receive 30 days of complimentary support in the United States and
Canada.
System Requirements
Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 Workstation Minimum System Requirements:
Intel486 processor, Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
operating system, VGA display card,
CD-ROM drive 3.5" disk set available for
purchase), Total RAM installed=DD: 8 MB for Windows 95, 16 MB for Windows NT
4.0 Workstation (Plus default virtual-memory settings), 26 MB of free hard-
disk space for minimum installation.
Macintosh and Power Macintosh Minimum System Requirements:
68030 or greater processor, Apple System Software version 7.1 or later, 9"
(PowerBook) or 13" or larger monitor (640 by 480 pixels), CD-ROM drive (3.5"
disk set available for purchase), RAM**: 6 MB of RAM available to PageMaker
(Macintosh)*, 9 MB of RAM available to PageMaker (Power Macintosh)*,
Additional RAM required to run Apple System Software, 26 MB of free hard-
disk space for minimum installation.
* Based on PageMaker minimum installation
** PageMaker supports virtual memory
Availability and Pricing
In the United States and Canada, Adobe PageMaker 6.5 is expected to be
available in the fourth quarter of 1996. The suggested retail price is $895
(U.S.). Registered users of any version of PageMaker can upgrade to version
6.5 for $99 (U.S.). Customers in the United States or Canada who purchase
PageMaker after September 9, 1996 are eligible to receive a free upgrade to
version 6.5.. For more information, customers can call Adobe at 1-800-42-
ADOBE (23623). Localized language versions and support and upgrade policies
for other countries will be announced later.
About Adobe
Based in Mountain View, Calif., Adobe Systems Incorporated develops and
supports products to help people express and use information in more
imaginative and meaningful ways, across all print and electronic media.
Founded in 1982, Adobe helped launch the desktop publishing revolution.
Today, the company offers a market-leading line of application software and
type products for creating and distributing visually rich communication
materials; licenses its industry-standard technologies to major hardware
manufacturers, software developers and service providers; and offers
integrated software solutions to businesses of all sizes. For more
information, see Adobe's home page at www.adobe.com on the World Wide Web.
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Illustrator, Distiller, PageMaker, PageMill,
Photoshop, SiteMill and Type On Call are trademarks of Adobe Systems
Incorporated. Apple, Macintosh, Power Macintosh and QuickTime are registered
trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Microsoft and Windows are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PANTONE is a registered trademark or
Pantone, Inc. PictureMarc is a trademark of Digimarc Corporation. Intel is a
registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Netscape and Netscape Navigator
are trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation. PowerPC is a trademark
of International Business Machines Corporation. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed
Edupage
Contents
Satellite Broadcasters Must Provide Education Too
Corporate Spending Up, PC Sales Down
System Cracker Got Recipe From Hacker Magazine
"Netscape Everywhere" Challenges MS Hegemony
Web Surfing By Phone
@Home Begins Gradual Rollout
HP To Make Ink-Jet Printers For Apple
Corel Undercuts Microsoft On Suites
The Bottom Line On Electronic Libraries
Apple, Sun Want To Get Compatible
Windows In The Palm Of Your Hand
3DO Gets Out Of The Hardware Business
NCs In Search Of A Niche
Intuit Sells Its Bill-Processing Unit
Compuserve Cuts Prices For German Customers
Motorola To Sell Mac Clones
Ottawa To Get NorTel Security Software
Internet TV
DVD Players Under The Christmas Tree?
Vandals At The Gates Of The Internet
Lucent's Net Software Makes Internet Calls Easy
Vanity E-Mail Bugs College Administrators
WIPO Extends Berne Convention To Online Works
Money Darts Through Cyberspace ... Where Is It?
Diskless PCs From Former Digital Boss
Programmable Computer Chips
Sega Plans Internet Hook-Up
Daimler-Benz Gets Into The Online Business
Florida Gulf University Will Rely On Technology
SATELLITE BROADCASTERS MUST PROVIDE EDUCATION, TOO
A federal appeals court in Washington has ruled that any company providing
direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services must "reserve a portion of its
channel capacity, equal to not less than 4 percent nor more than 7 percent,
exclusively for noncommercial programming of an educational or information
nature," in compliance with regulations drafted by the FCC to enforce laws
enacted in 1984 and 1992. The unanimous decision rejected arguments by Time
Warner and other broadcasters that the law interfered with their First
Amendment rights. "It is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the
right of the broadcasters, which is paramount," said the court, quoting a
1969 Supreme Court ruling. (Chronicle of Higher Education 13 Sep 96 A29)
CORPORATE SPENDING UP, PC SALES DOWN
Corporations are spending more than 5% more this year on information
technology, but that money isn't going into more desktop hardware and
software. In fact, sales of PCs to businesses have declined every month for
the past 10 months or so, says Computer Intelligence. Instead, corporations
are turning away from the "knee- jerk upgrade" mentality and directing their
dollars toward building intranets and training employees. Businesses also
are reassessing their investments in client-server systems, which were
supposed to streamline processes and empower employees, while eliminating
the costly maintenance associated with mainframe systems. Instead, the
Gartner Group estimates it costs up to $12,000 a year over five years to
maintain a PC on a corporate client-server network. Only 21% of that goes
for hardware and software -- the rest is attributable to labor costs,
including administration, training and support. (Fortune 9 Sep 96 p104)
SYSTEM CRACKER GOT RECIPE FROM HACKER MAGAZINE
The person who disabled New York's Panix Internet service probably followed
the line-by-line instructions for doing so that appeared in the latest issue
of 2600 magazine, the Hacker's Quarterly. "We need to educate the community
that it's very, very simple to cause massive mayhem," says 2600's editor, who
defended his editorial judgment. "A lot of companies subscribe to us so
they can learn before they're victimized." Panix's co-owner says he
supports 2600's right to publish such information: "As a matter of principle
I don't think they should have been stopped," but adds that unlike most
other recipes for breaching security published in the magazine, this one has
no known technical defense. (Wall Street Journal 13 Sep 96 B5)
"NETSCAPE EVERYWHERE" CHALLENGES MICROSOFT HEGEMONY
With Netscape's recent formation of its Navio Communications joint venture
company to develop Navigator- based interfaces for consumer electronics
appliances, the company demonstrated its intent to challenge Microsoft in
the battle for "mindshare" on consumer devices. "Going after these consumer
devices is way past due for Netscape," says a Giga Information Group VP. "As
soon as Microsoft showed it could make its browser part of the PC operating
system, Netscape needed to jump on the consumer device. But it remains to
be seen how big the market really is. NCs, set-top boxes and kiosks make
sense for a browser, but I'm less convinced about Web telephones." Not
surprisingly, Microsoft has already announced its own effort to develop a
line of non-PC software products by year's end. "Our strategy continues to
be to create synergy between the PC and future non-PC appliances," says a
Microsoft senior VP. (Information Week 2 Sep 96 p35)
WEB SURFING BY PHONE
NetPhonic Communications' Web-On-Call Voice Browser allows users to phone
into Web pages rather than use a PC. The system uses voice-recognition
technology to dial into a Web site named by the user, and then reads back
the text of the Web page. The product is marketed toward people on the go
who don't have time to sit at their PCs and surf the Web, but could also be
useful for the visually impaired. One drawback -- the NetPhonic software
requires a high-end Sun Microsystems workstation to function. (Investor's
Business Daily 12 Sep 96 A8)
@HOME BEGINS GRADUAL ROLLOUT
Several months later than originally planned, the high-speed @Home cable
Internet access service is beginning to offer commercial service in Fremont,
Calif. for $34.95 per month. The package includes unlimited Internet
access, use of a cable modem, e-mail and chat functions, and a customized Web
browser. TCI, the cable provider in the Fremont area, will charge an
installation fee of $150, which covers a dataport, Ethernet card and @Home
software. TCI will gradually expand the service to cable subscribers in
Arlington, Ill. and Hartford, Conn. later this year. Meanwhile, Comcast
plans to offer @Home in Baltimore and Philadelphia in the next few weeks,
and Cox Cable will introduce the service in San Diego and Orange County,
Calif. next year. (Broadcasting & Cable 9 Sep 96 p55)
HP TO MAKE INK-JET PRINTERS FOR APPLE
Apple and Hewlett-Packard are negotiating a deal that would have HP
manufacturing ink-jet printers that would be manufactured to Apple
specifications and sold under the Apple label. If the agreement is reached,
Hewlett-Packard would displace Canon as manufacturer for Apple's ink-jet
printers. (New York Times 13 Sep 96 C2)
COREL UNDERCUTS MICROSOFT ON SUITES
Corel is planning to give away a suite of programs that run on Microsoft's
Windows NT systems, charging a flat fee of $895 for each server connected to
a company's desktop systems, but nothing for each PC connected to that
system. Conventional pricing schemes used by both Corel and Microsoft charge
as much as $200 per user hooked up to the system. "This is going to send a
shock wave through the industry," says Corel's CEO. "It's a gigantic
savings." (Wall Street Journal 13 Sep 96 B7B)
THE BOTTOM LINE ON ELECTRONIC LIBRARIES
A former Public Library Association official estimates the cost of wiring the
nation's libraries at somewhere between $2- and $3-billion -- "a sum nearly
equivalent to that spent by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie during the
great spurt of library building," notes journalist Nicholas von Hoffman. But,
"being able to afford the hardware is one thing," says a senior VP of New
York Public Library's Research Libraries. "Being able to replace it year
after year and being able to afford the staff to help people use it is
another. We could put workstations everywhere, but we don't have enough
staff. The equipment is on a three-year, six-thousand- dollar replacement
cycle. If people are using things like the World Wide Web, we need one staff
member out on the floor for every 20 workstations in use... Right now we
have 250 workstations for the public, so one staff member for every 20
workstations becomes a major investment." (Architectural Digest Oct 96 p130)
APPLE, SUN WANT TO GET COMPATIBLE
Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems have plans to make their computers and
Internet software work together more smoothly -- Apple will adapt Sun's Java
programming technology to work with Apple's QuickTime Internet video
technology, and the companies plan to provide a single support service for
Apple desktop users who are linked to Sun servers. (Wall Street Journal 17
Sep 96 B5)
WINDOWS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
Microsoft's new Windows CE software looks and works like Windows 95, but is
designed to run on limited- memory, hand-held computers. More than 40
hardware and software companies, including Hitachi, Hewlett- Packard, SkyTel,
Casio Computer and Symantec have endorsed the new system, and Casio and HP
have said they will use Windows CE in new hand-held devices. The machines
will be able to share information with Windows-based PCs and link to the
Internet using Microsoft's Internet Explorer software. (Investor's Business
Daily 17 Sep 96 A3)
3DO GETS OUT OF THE HARDWARE BUSINESS
Video game maker 3DO has surprised investors with its announcement that it
will sell all or part of its hardware business by the end of the year, and
concentrate instead on making game software for PCs and the Internet. The
company has invested millions of dollars developing its Interactive
Multiplayer, but was never able to compete effectively against Japanese
rivals Sega Enterprises and Nintendo. 3DO will unveil the first of its PC
games today, which can be played over the Internet and will come bundled with
Netscape Navigator. (Wall Street Journal 17 Sep 96 B5)
NCs IN SEARCH OF A NICHE
"There is certainly a role for thin clients in the business community," says
a Gartner Group analyst of the ighly touted network computer, "but it won't
replace the PC. Most people will stick with fully configured devices, but
employees who can't justify full-function PCs still deserve access to
browsing and e-mail." Oracle CEO Larry Ellison concurs -- he sees the NC
niche as an inexpensive way to connect everyone -- "from the CEO to the
security guards" -- at a cost far below the estimated $12,000 annual expense
of keeping a PC user functioning. "People are exhausted from PCs," says the
president of Performance Computing Inc. "The NC story sells itself up and
down the line. There's a very low cost of ownership." (Information Week 9
Sep 96 p20)
INTUIT SELLS ITS BILL-PROCESSING UNIT
In order to focus on its core software business and expand its Internet
activities, Intuit is selling its electronic bill-payment processing system
to the Checkfree Corporation for $227 million in stock. (New York Times 17
Sep 96 C1)
COMPUSERVE CUTS PRICES FOR GERMAN CUSTOMERS
CompuServe has reached an agreement with Germany's Deutsche Telekom to allow
CompuServe subscribers to dial into the online service for the price of a
local call. Currently, some users pay a long distance charge. The deal is
part of CompuServe's strategy to bolster sagging sales by boosting its
European subscriber base. The service now has about 270,000 German users.
(Investor's Business Daily 16 Sep 96 A19)
MOTOROLA TO SELL MAC CLONES
Motorola is introducing a line of personal computers running Apple's
Macintosh operating system, with plans to sell the machines throughout the
world, including in China. The company is also introducing a new line of
PowerPC-equipped computers running Microsoft's Windows NT operating system.
The two product families are expected to merge into one a year from now.
(New York Times 17 Sep 96 C4)
OTTAWA TO GET NORTEL SECURITY SOFTWARE
The Canadian government will spend $7.3-million to buy data security software
from Northern Telecom so departments can trade information and conduct
business securely over the Internet. Ottawa will incorporate NorTel's
Entrust encryption technology into its systems, allowing secure financial
transactions and exchanges of sensitive information on the Net. (Toronto
Globe & Mail 16 Sep 96 B5)
INTERNET TV
Atlanta company ViewCall will include its Internet access service on one
million TV sets made by Mitsubishi. Pricing for the service will be
comparable to that of AOL, CompuServe, and AT&T. (Atlanta Journal-
Constitution 17 Sep 96 D8) And Microsoft will use technology from Toronto-
based Digital Renaissance to broadcast original, interactive television
programming over the Net. (Toronto Globe & Mail 16 Sep 96 B1) Finally, and
NTN Communications Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif. will develop and distribute
programming for an interactive TV network Bell is proposing. (Toronto Star
17 Sep 96 B2)
DVD PLAYERS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE?
The four electronics companies engaged in designing and marketing the new
digital video disk players have decided they'd rather work together than
miss out on Christmas sales. Electronics makers Philips Electronics, Sony
Corp., Toshiba Corp., and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. have agreed to
joint-licensing terms that allow Philips to license the patents for all
four companies with royalties to be split according to an agreed-upon
formula. Philips and Sony, which developed the original CD design, had come
up with one concept for the DVD, and Toshiba and Matsushita had developed
another. The move to cooperate will mean that DVD players and movies will
be on the shelves in time for holiday shopping. (Wall Street Journal 16 Sep
96 B7)
VANDALS AT THE GATES OF THE INTERNET
At least a dozen World Wide Web sites in this country have recently been
attacked by vandals who bombard the site each second with more than a
hundred requests for service coming from randomly generated false addresses
that tie up the machine. Although the attacks are primarily the work of
individuals who are merely passing around a cookbook recipe for mischief,
there is no simple defense against them. Computer security expert Eugene
Spafford of Purdue University says: "I wish there was cheery news here.
It's clear that antisocial individuals with a grudge and a PC can do
tremendous damage." (New York Times 19 Sep 96 C1)
LUCENT'S NET SOFTWARE MAKES INTERNET PHONE CALLS EASY
New software developed by Lucent Technologies is designed to give Internet
callers quicker access to one another and allows them to converse via their
computers as if they were on a regular speaker-phone. Previous software has
been half-duplex -- one party must stop speaking before the other can
"capture" the line. Lucent plans to market the software to AT&T, the Bell
companies and Internet service providers for distribution to their
customers. By the end of the year, Lucent plans to enhance the software so
that users can video conference over the Internet. (Wall Street Journal 18
Sep 96 B8)
VANITY E-MAIL BUGS COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS
A new e-mail service offered by New Century Technologies gives customers an e-
mail address sporting a prestigious university domain name for $25 a year.
The customer, who must have a valid e-mail address somewhere else, then
receives mail addressed to user@DukeU.com, or whatever school is chosen. The
vanity address closely resembles the real thing, except it ends in .com
instead of .edu. The universities aren't happy about the impersonation:
"You can't assume people understand that the address isn't affiliated with
the university somehow," says Florida State's director of Web development. A
member of Georgia Tech's licensing committee is even more adamant: "They
can't do that. People can't sell anything over the Internet and use our
name without paying us royalties. We will fight this." (Chronicle of Higher
Education Academe Today 19 Sep 96)
WIPO PROPOSAL EXTENDS BERNE CONVENTION
TO ONLINE WORKS
The World Intellectual Property Organization has proposed extending the right
of communication defined in the Berne Convention to all categories of works,
including communications over the Internet and other electronic networks.
The proposed treaties address literary and artistic works, databases and
phonograms, and clarify that the right of reproduction includes direct or
indirect reproduction, including copies made on a hard drive or in the
working memory of a computer In terms of database protection, the draft
treaty says that the "maker of a database eligible for protection under this
Treaty shall have the right to authorize or prohibit the extraction or
utilization of its contents," and includes a clause that allows contracting
parties to limit subsequent use of the database after a copy has been sold or
otherwise transferred, creating a restriction similar
to the first-sale doctrine in conventional copyright law. The accompanying
Chairman's Notes fail to address one of the major points of disagreements --
the extent to which Internet service providers are liable for acts of
copyright infringement committed by their subscribers. (BNA Daily Report for
Executives 16 Sep 96 A3)
WHEN MONEY DARTS THROUGH CYBERSPACE ... WHERE IS IT?
Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin asks: "If someone in Washington buys
something over the Internet from someone in London, where on the wire under
the Atlantic did the transaction take place?" To answer this and other
questions involving electronic money laundering, cybercounterfeiting and bank
runs on the Internet, the Secretary is announcing two new initiatives to
examine consumer protection issues raised by new technologies capable of
transferring monetary value. (New York Times 19 Sep 96 C18)
DISKLESS PCs FROM FORMER DIGITAL BOSS
Former Digital Equipment president Ken Olsen has a new cause -- as chairman
of Advanced Modular Solutions, he's pushing a new diskless PC as the perfect
solution for companies that want to limit viral exposure by controlling what
software is installed on their employees' machines. The tissue-box-size CPUs
are used at NASA's space-shuttle operations, ensuring that all 400
workstations have uniform configurations and the network remains free from
viruses introduced through workers' home-grown software and pet programs.
(Wall Street Journal 18 Sep 96 B8)
PROGRAMMABLE COMPUTER CHIPS
Next month, Metalithic Systems Inc. will release a $1500 sound board called
Digital Wings that uses field- programmable gate array computer chips that
can be personalized, allowing the user to create and edit up to 128
soundtracks. When used in combination with Windows 95, Digital Wings will
give users access to audio synthesis and editing tools comparable to those
of a professional sound studio. (Business Week 23 Sep 96 p86)
SEGA PLANS INTERNET HOOK-UP
Sega of America has a new $200 Net Link device -- basically a modem for their
Sega Saturn game machine -- that allows users to access the Internet and
send and receive e-mail using a television screen and the game player.
Typing's a little cumbersome, though, unless you also purchase a special
keyboard -- otherwise, users must press arrow keys to point to letters on an
onscreen keyboard. The company hopes by Christmas to offer users
multiplayer games that can be played against opponents anywhere in the world
over the Internet. (Wall Street Journal 18 Sep 96 B9)
DAIMLER-BENZ GETS INTO THE ONLINE BUSINESS
Daimler-Benz's Interservices AG division, known as Debis, is buying a 50%
stake in publishing giant Bertelsmann AG's Media-Ways subsidiary, which
provides dial-up access to America Online in Germany. Bertelsmann and
America Online jointly operate AOL in Europe. (Wall Street Journal 19 Sep 96
B7)
FLORIDA GULF UNIVERSITY WILL RELY ON TECHNOLOGY
Florida Gulf Coast University, now being built in Ft. Myers on the edge of
the Florida Everglades, has been designed to accommodate learning by
computers and multimedia and to allow an important role for "distance
learning." The university will offer 17 undergraduate and 9 graduate
programs, and employ 300 faculty, dministrators and staff. Enrollment is
expected to be 2,500 when the school opens and to climb to 10,000 by the
year 2003. Faculty, who'll be given 2- 3 yr contracts rather than tenure
appointments, will be encouraged to do multidisciplinary work.
<http://www.fgcu.edu/ > (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 19 Sep 96 D1)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu).
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Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
STReport talks with David W. Boles
Search for books by David W. Boles
You may email the author at david@boles.com.
The author's home page is at: http://boles.com.
STR: How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become an author, or do you
have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?
D.B.: I started out as an actor in Lincoln, Nebraska and decided to start
life as a professional writer at 15 when I was hired to do a script for the
Nebraska ETV Network. I graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln
with a B.A. in English and I got my M.F.A. from Columbia University in New
York City. I don't like most computer books because they're dry and they read
like math problems. I fight to bring spirit, humor and insight to my readers
and many publishers don't know hot to handle that sort of creativity in a
computer book.
STR: What authors do you like to read? What book or books have had a strong
influence on you or your writing?
D.B.: My base influences include Aristotle, Buchner, Plato and Jamison. They
are the Masters. I am the student. There's nothing new being written, so the
challenge is to look back, read and understand what has come before you and
give the ideas a new challenge and shape with your understanding of how these
historic influences affect you as a writer. An old agent of mine said writers
are "The Soul of Humanity" and in many ways that's true... because without
writers, the spirit of understanding of where we are, where we came from (and
why) and where we need to go will not be clear.
STR: Could you describe the mundane details of writing: How many hours a day
do you devote to writing? Do you write a draft on paper or at a keyboard
(typewriter or computer)? Do you have a favorite location or time of day (or
night) for writing? What do you do to avoid -- or seek! -- distractions?
D.B.: Here's the secret to good writing: "Ass on chair." There's nothing
romantic about writing. It's a job. You sit down and you do it every day even
if you don't feel like it. Those who find romantic notions in putting words
together don't do it for a living -- it's a hobby for them. Working writers
don't get Writer's Block because they can't afford to -- they gotta eat and
pay the rent! The internet itself is the biggest boon to writing and
education because you must read and write well to be understood. Email is
also a Godsend in many ways, because it forces you to write every day, to be
clear, and to form your thoghts quickly and on-the-fly. I rue the day that
the gigabit-byted Internet pipes are in place and we all go back to just
"entertaining the eye while the body follows" on the internet as we do now
watching television.
STR: Do you meet your readers at book signings, conventions or similar
events? Do you interact with your readers electronically through e-mail or
other on-line forums?
D.B.: My readers visit me at http://boles.com and they send me email. I also
am the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of INTERNET INSIDER magazine, POET
POURRI and BOLES: THE MAG! I also founded THE UNITED STAGE OF AMERICA so
Playwrights can direct their own plays. You can drink this all in on my
website if you want more detail.
STR: When and how did you get started on the 'Net? Do you read any
newsgroups, such as rec.arts.books and rec.arts.sf.written, mailing lists or
other on-line forums? Do you use the 'Net for research -- or is it just
another time sink? Are you able to communicate with other writers or people
you work with over the 'Net?
D.B.: The Net is the ultimate resource tool because it is bottomless and
quite inspirational. Everything you need to know as a human being is
presently available online... if you know where to find it.
STR: Feel free to use this space to write about whatever you wish: your
family, your home town, hobbies, favorite places, where you've lived, where
you went to school, what jobs you have had, your last (or planned) vacation,
your favorite color/food/pet/song or movie, what books you'd take to a desert
island, what you intend to do before you die, or what you think of just about
anything.
D.B.: If there's one thing I'd like to leave with you -- it is the idea to be
gracious in every situation. It's a difficult task. It challenges me every
day. Being gracious in hateful moments is the paramount issue facing
Humankind today and I confess it is my biggest continued challenge. With
grace comes understanding and humanity and that goal of eternal graciousness
can only better us all.
Memory Lane
Last Week's picture was of Darlah J. Potechin, long time sysop of the GEnie
Atari RT . Darlah recently became a Head Sysop on CompuServe in the Time
Life Forum
She was correctly identified by Ron Luks of Florida and Derek Mihocka of
Canada.
ú Each week, we'll present a different new photo for our readers to
identify.
ú Tell us who or what is in the photo.. then send us your answer to;
photo@streport.com
ú The first correct entry will be published in the following week's issue
along with the new photo to be identified.
POLITICS AS USUAL
or.
WHERE'S THE BEEF?
an opinion
by R.F. Mariano
Has anybody been really paying attention to Dole & Kemp?? Dole called
the LA Dodgers the BROOKLYN Dodgers the other day when he was yapping about
their no-hitter the night before. Yep! It's said to be a sign of OLD AGE!
Or, perhaps it is really an omen of what's to come. Wanna bet Dole will try
to run this country much as Eisenhower did. Only, this is 1996 and we are
nowhere like the country we were forty years ago. Another anomaly. Anyone
notice how Dole got intense religion while speaking before the Religious??
Quoting from the scriptures a mile a minute. Funny. he then went right out
and yapped about abortion and taking away the meager benefits available at
this time for the impoverished and needy youngsters.
What's wrong with this picture?? NOTHING! Dole hasn't changed his
spots one lick! He's for BIG BUSINESS no matter how you slice or dice it.
Trouble is.. Dole fails to mention the little guy (aka the working man) has
more DISPOSABLE INCOME now than he has had in the previous Republican
administrations since the days of Jimmy Carter. Ronnie Baby and old, "Read
my lips" Bush have a great deal to be ashamed of. but Dole is very quiet
about the cover-ups of Iran-Contra as is the "Oh so Righteous" D'Amato
investigations committee. D'Amato; Now there is a political Jewel. he has
about as much right to be a politician as an Orangutan has. Come to think of
it. maybe the `Tan has more rights to do so.
Folks, if you think I'm being harsh on the Republican ticket. I'm not.
I'm only calling it as I see it. The last decade has been the most
disgusting politics-wise this nation has ever seen. Backstabbing at its very
worst and repeated scandalous investigations. But has anyone noticed??
Under Billy Boy.. "I didn't inhale" Clinton.. the deficit has been
halved and yes Minerva, the economy is doing just fine. The little guy HAS
got more disposable income to spread around. As a result, everyone gets to
wet their beaks. Also.. South Florida's major smuggling problems and
incidents like MAC10 shoot outs in the streets have dropped considerably.
This is no accident .. this is directly attributable to Bill Clinton's
effective war on drugs and his drug Czar's excellent interdiction efforts.
Anyone notice the greatly hoopla'ed noise of Dole, Gingrich & Co..
promise, last Spring, to America to repeal a portion of the gas tax to bring
down the price of gas?? They swore it would be done by Memorial Day 1996.
Was it?? NOPE! It still hasn't been done. Dole and entourage have to be
the very best at "blowing smoke" at the masses and delivering nothing. What
happened to the "Contract with America" it died in agony just like all the
other Republican promises to the little guy.
Now, if they, The Republicans, promise something to big business. HAH!
That's a horse of a different color. Anyone remember the sign on the side of
the car when Dole was prancing around the Nascar opening race?? WINSTON!!
I'm certain everyone realizes it had nothing to do with Mr. Churchill and
everything to do with BIG TOBACCO. Dole sez. "I don't know if tobacco is
habit forming." (its not the tobacco, its the Nicotine that's habit forming)
What has to happen here to make him aware?? This guy wants to be President
and he doesn't have a clue as to what's killing thousands of Americans every
year?? Can't he hear the anguished cries all across America about Lung
Cancer and its major cause??
How about the arms business?? Remember the Brady Bill and how it was so
diluted that you could brew tea in its pages?? Sure, most tried to blame or,
should I say, shift the attention away from the real causes to the NRA.
Truth is, the NRA had very little negative influence on the Brady Bill.
Especially when compared to a number of special interest groups representing
the major arms manufacturers, munitions and ammunition manufacturers and arms
import groups. Follow the money dearies. follow the money. Campaign
contribution records will tell you so much more than any politician's voting
record ..any day. Check the way the Republicans went with the Brady Bill..
Then let us all listen to Dole and his Anti-Crime Rhetoric. Pass the barf
bag please.
Take a moment and listen to the Dole advertisements.. Has he ever
address today's issues?? You know, the economy, where the country is headed,
the space exploration programs, the National Deficit and other matters like
Health Care and its infiltration by Organized Crime? No, of course not! We
don't see these politicians offering to do the right thing and address the
very things that are undermining your and this country's future. They'd
rather hammer away at some advisor who's fooling around with a floozy and
showing off by allowing her to hear what she thinks is the President's voice
on a phone. So what was this guy doing that many others wouldn't do if the
opportunity presented itself?
Floozies have been around since almost the beginning of time so have
their patrons. Big deal! Better they (Dole's Spooks) should be exposing the
"Power Brokers" trying to buy their way into the political future of the
nation. Better they should open the doors of all the secrets termed as such
due to National Security. Like the Land Deals in the Midwest. the unrest in
the Middle East. No, they'd rather distract the voting American public with
all this trash campaigning and leave the real issues alone and in the
background. After all, its only going to be the little guy and his children
who'll have to pay for it all sooner or later. Because of these matters. my
vote will go for Clinton. At least we know what we have and He seems to be
doing a good job for the little guy and the preservation the family.
That's my opinion. I could be wrong, I don't think so. What's yours?
Let's hear from you!
For Immediate Release
Corel Corporation Announces Shipping Delays
OTTAWA, CANADA - September 16, 1996. Michael Cowpland, president and chief
executive officer of Corel Corporation today announced that as a result of a
combination of factors the Company has experienced delays in shipping of
Corel Office Professional 7 ordered in the third quarter of fiscal 1996.
The amount of product ordered but not shipped and therefore not included in
the revenue for the quarter is approximately $15 million. Dr. Cowpland
noted, "We focus on shipping the highest quality product with the greatest
functionality possible. As a result, delays can be encountered in engineering
as every effort is made to include the latest functionality and to eliminate
all significant bugs prior to releasing a product to manufacturing. As well,
the normal pattern of sales orders in the industry results in a substantial
weighting of orders to the end of a quarter. Being a multi-product company,
it is frequently difficult to project accurately which particular products
will be ordered in any particular quarter where there are no new releases.
All of these factors have an impact on the production scheduling. These
difficulties are attributable to our continuing integration of the new
products acquired by the Company and all our systems and programs are under
ongoing review to address and correct any deficiencies in these areas."
During the third quarter of fiscal 1996 the Company completed the sale of its
CD Creator product line to Adaptec Inc. for proceeds of $11 million. The
results for the third quarter of fiscal 1996 are expected to reflect a
shortfall in revenues of approximately $15 million as well as the gain on the
sale of CD Creator, which will be treated as a reduction in expenses in the
quarter. The revenue shortfall, coupled with various price protection
programs during the third quarter will likely result in a loss per share of
approximately $0.05 - $0.07, including the gain on the sale of CD Creator of
approximately $0.10.
The Company is enthusiastic about the current pace of Corel WordPerfect
sales. Recent PC Data figures indicate that unit sales of Corel WordPerfect
Suite represented approximately 50% of the retail office suite market for the
months of June and July. In addition, the Company plans to release CorelDRAW
7 in the fourth quarter. Reports from Beta sites lead the Company to believe
that CorelDRAW 7 will be a robust and significant upgrade to the Company's
flagship graphics software suite.
The above is a forward looking statement as that term is defined by US
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. As such the projections
stated above may be affected by the following factors which are more fully
discussed in the company's annual 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission:
Competitive factors including performance, product features, ease of use,
reliability, hardware compatibility, brand name recognition, product
reputation, pricing, levels of advertising, quality of customer support, and
product upgrades, Competitors with larger technical staffs, more established
and larger sales and marketing organisations, and significantly greater
financial resources than Corel, Limited effective copyright protection,
Dependence on key personnel, and the timing, accrual, allocation and final
tabulation of expenses applicable to the quarter.
Corel Ships CorelMEGA GALLERYT
Ottawa, Canada - September 16, 1996 - Corel Corporation has begun shipping
CorelMEGA GALLERY T, a value-packed collection of over 50,000 vector clipart
images, 60,000 Internet-ready professional photos, 1,000 TrueTyper and Type 1
fonts, 200 sounds and 100 videos - all for a suggested list price of $99 US.
"This super collection of top-quality clipart and fonts, combined with its
ease-of-use and drag-and-drop capabilities, make it the ideal companion for
all of our users' word processing, presentation and desktop publishing
needs," said Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and chief executive officer of
Corel Corporation. "The package offers excellent quality at an incredibly
low price."
Corel MEGA GALLERY includes capabilities for powerful multimedia file
management, file viewing and editing, batch file conversion, batch printing,
slide shows, font management and screen capture. A wizard-style search
interface ensures the simple location of images across libraries or discs,
and a full-color manual displays all clipart images and fonts found in the
collection. The Corelr Photo CD Browser is also included.
Every clipart image, sound and video clip may be dragged and dropped into any
OLE 2 compatible word processing, presentation, page layout or graphics
application. Clipart images, sound and video clips may also be copied and
pasted across the clipboard into any Windows application.
System Requirements
System requirements include an IBM-compatible 486, a VGA resolution monitor
or higher, a minimum of 8 MB RAM, a CD-ROM drive and Windowsr 3.1x or
Windowsr 95.
Corel Explodes Onto the Science Scene with Corelr ChemLab
New interactive laboratory set to entice budding chemists
Ottawa, Canada - September 17, 1996 - Corel Corporation has begun shipping
Corelr ChemLab, a new interactive laboratory on CD-ROM geared towards high-
school students or anyone else wishing to uncover the mysteries of this
scientific discipline. Developed in-house, this fun and inexpensive way to
learn about chemistry is much more than just a reference tool. Budding
chemists can discover the secrets of evaporation, acids, bases, buffers,
kinetics and radioactivity in a safe lab environment by using a host of
realistic scientific instruments and equipment. How safe it can be compared
to a real lab is obvious when the aftermath of an explosion can be cleaned up
with a simple mouse click. Users can also perform fully-documented
experiments, or conduct their own, with over 30 chemicals and 25 dynamic
objects. Corel ChemLab carries a suggested list price of $79 US.
"Teachers and students alike will really enjoy this realistic, 3D lab
complete with a fully-functioning Gas Lab, periodic table and 3D molecule
viewer - all with the added bonus of amazing visual and sound effects," said
Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and chief executive officer of Corel
Corporation. "With Corel ChemLab, learning chemistry is fun, educational and
safe at the same time."
Corel ChemLab offers over 25 fully-documented experiments that enable users
to learn about such standards as dilution, titration, pH indicators and heat
transfer. It also includes a variety of chemicals, refillable beakers, a pH
meter, a Geiger counter, and a graph component to allow for the observing,
recording and printing of titration results. Users can take advantage of a
fully indexed, on-line textbook that is linked directly to the experiments,
as well as over 10 minutes of video clips depicting real-world lab
experiments and chemical reactions. This intuitive program also provides for
easy on-screen navigation between experiments and the ability to conduct and
record original experiments.
In the GasLab, users will learn about the properties of ideal gases and ideal
gas mixtures through five documented experiments, with many more original
experiments possible. They can work with the gases by varying pressure,
volume, amount of gas, temperature and the composition of the gas mixture, as
well as work a pump to evacuate the main gas cylinder.
Users can discover the 3D structure of molecules with the 3D molecule viewer.
A collection of over 100 molecules, which are fully rotatable in three
dimensions, allows users to examine bond lengths, bond type and bond angles.
The name, formula and other information are provided with each molecule, and
new molecules can be easily added to the file. Users can set a slideshow up
to automatically cycle through the molecule list, view them at full screen,
or play a game to learn the names of all the 3D structures shown.
The periodic table is color coded by classifications, such as alkali,
alkaline earths, transitions metals, metalloids, nonmetals, halogens noble
gases, lanthanides and actinide, and offers `hints' to help users name each
group of elements. Detailed information on isotopic abundance is provided
for all naturally occurring elements. Users can refer to the table to find
historical and chemical information about each element and can find the
molecular weight of a molecule or ion quickly and easily using the Molecular
Weight Calculator. This calculator includes a database of over 750 common
compounds and molecules with their isomers and molecular weight. This
section also allows users to play a game to learn the name, atomic symbol and
position of each element on the periodic table.
For added interest, users can choose between four different lab environments,
including a contemporary classroom setting, a dark and gloomy dungeon, a
futuristic space station or a tropical paradise. Windowsr 95 users also have
the option to set the appropriate atmosphere by selecting original music to
play as a background to each one of these scenes.
System Requirements
Minimum system requirements include Windowsr 3.1x, a 486 33, 8 MB of RAM (12
MB recommended), SVGA video card and monitor at 640x480 (800x600
recommended), 256 color graphics display (16-bit recommended), 8-bit audio
capabilities, and a double-speed CD-ROM drive.
Corel Corporation
Incorporated in 1985, Corel Corporation is recognized internationally as an
award-winning developer and marketer of productivity applications, graphics
and multimedia software. Corel's product line includes CorelDRAWT, the
Corelr WordPerfectr Suite, Corelr Office Professional, CorelVIDEOT and over
30 multimedia software titles. Corel's products run on most operating
systems, including: Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, MS-DOS, OpenVMS and OS/2 and
are consistently rated among the strongest in the industry. The company ships
its products in over 17 languages through a network of more than 160
distributors in 70 countries worldwide. Corel is traded on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (symbol: COS) and the NASDAQ--National Market System (symbol:
COSFF). For more information visit Corel's home page on the Internet at
http://www.corel.com.
Corel and WordPerfect are registered trademarks and CorelDRAW, CorelMEGA
GALLERY and CorelVIDEO are trademarks of Corel Corporation or Corel
Corporation Limited. All products mentioned are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.
Gaming & Entertainment Section
with Atari User Support
Editor Dana P. Jacobson
From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
Well, as of today, I can notch another year onto my belt and say that I'm
still not as old as Ralph Mariano; but, I am catching up to him...slowly.
Another birthday/year passes into oblivion! Oh well... It's been a hectic
week all around and I seem to have missed another self-imposed deadline for a
few of the articles I've been trying to get finished. I hate to make excuses
for this kind of stuff, but even the best of intentions seem to find a way of
getting put off time and time again. If I could only find a way to lock
myself in a room somewhere and stop the clock for a few hours...
The Atari computing news is light this week, but the message I've included
below is worthy of note. It seems that one of the things lacking for the
Atari line of computers is a good Web browser/navigator. Many of us have
tried a few that are, but found them to be extremely complicated and haven't
had any success getting them up and running - for whatever reason. It sounds
like there's going to be a new program to test our skills, called Webspace.
We hope to learn more about this product in the near future; and be able to
pass that info along to you. For the time being, maybe there's some hope for
us yet!
Until next time...
From CompuServe's Atari Computing Forums:
Sb: #New WWW browser info
Fm: Michel Vanhamme 100422,651
To: ALL
Hi,
I caught this on Oxo Concept's web site yesterday. Since it may interest
WWW-deprived fellow Atarians, I thought I'd pass it along. The web site also
shows a screenshot of the thing.
Michel
Webspace is a HTML browser, so it permits the consultation of the WWW
internet servers. It is compatible with the quasi-totality of the HTML 3.2
specifications, and also with the Netscape (registered trade mark)
extensions. Its 100% GEM interface is very intuitive. The usage of indexed
dialog forms is an innovation (see the screenshot). Webspace integrates a
file manager dedicated to the managing of the consulted pages, the bookmark
and the HTML cache.
Webspace manages a HTML pages and pictures disk cache. Thus the access to the
pages may be 10 times faster. Furthermore, the cache storage respects the
original name and structuration of the files, It is possible to consult HTML
pages after disconnection. The cache automatically manages the equivalence
between the UNIX long names and the 8.3 Atari format.
Webspace permits two types of software extensions: the services and the
modules. The services are non-HTML extensions: newsgroups, e-mail, ftp... Les
modules are programs witch manages HTML code. It already exists a disk
directory module (the C source code of this module is furnished as example)
and hypertext database modules. The modules developer documentation is
furnished. This modular system permits to test cgi-bin programs prior to
compile them on a big HTML server.
Webspace is compatible with all machines, it works in 2, 16, 256 and TRUE
COLOR, from 320 per 200 points. The JPEG unpacking takes usage of the DSP
present. It works with at least 1 Mb of RAM. The recommended configuration is
4 Mb and a hard disk (a free space of 10 Mb to 100 Mb permits a good usage of
the cache).
Entertainment Section
JTS Layoff? Nintendo 64!
Bushnell & Aristo!
Sega Surfer! 3DO Layoff!
And More!
From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
It appears that all is not rosy in the Atari/JTS deal these days. I've
learned from reliable sources that JTS layed off 10% of its work force late
last week. What's ironic about this news, and interesting to those who have
been following this merger, is that the layoff had been a result of the
merger with Atari. While I'm still in the process of getting more specifics,
it seems odd that a $25 million influx into JTS would cause a layoff, much
less one of this magnitude. As I said, there hasn't been a lot of specific
information made available yet, but we do hope to learn more shortly. But,
it does appear that Atari is still managing to find a way to create
controversy and heartaches, even from the proverbial "grave".
As mentioned briefly last week, as Jaguar news continues to slowly creep to a
halt, we're trying to find ways to make sure that you don't feel abandoned
with no gaming news. Many of you have kept your Jaguars, but have also moved
on to other consoles to fill the gap. We want you to be able to continue to
have a source for your new and growing gaming needs. So, we're in the
process of adding to this section. While the Jaguar is still this editor's
game console of choice, as may likely be yours, we need to move forward. In
the coming weeks, we'll be providing more widespread gaming news and
information, as well as specific coverage of the Sony Playstation, the
Nintendo 64, and the Sega Saturn. And naturally, we'll be following all of
the Jaguar activity as it happens.
We're in the process of making contacts, getting lined up for hardware and
software for reviews, and much more. We're trying to get geared up to
provide you the news and information that we all had started out to do, and
had hoped would grow, when we began covering the Jaguar. We see a lot more
potential with these other machines; and we feel we'll succeed in much the
same way that we hoped "might have been" with the Jaguar. We hope that
you'll enjoy it as much as we anticipate the fun we'll have covering these
machines.
So, for the present, we'll be bringing you more industry news and information
in the next few weeks, as witnessed further on in this issue, while
preparations for the additional coverage get completed. So stay tuned, and
be prepared for a lot of fun!
Until next time...
Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
3DO To Cut 150 Jobs
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 16 (UPI S) -- 3DO Co. has announced (Monday it
plans to reduce its software business and enter into a joint venture or sell
3DO Systems, its hardware business, in order to focus on its Internet
business. 3DO expects the resulting software company will have approximately
300 employees compared with the current total of 450.
CONTACT: The 3DO Company
Diane Hunt,415/261-3214
Tuesday Uhland, 415/261-3142
3DO To Become Internet, Game Software Company
REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. (Sept. 16) BUSINESS WIRE -Sept. 16, 1996--The 3DO
Company today announced that it will restructure the organization to focus on
Internet and game entertainment software, including Meridian(TM)59, the
company's first Internet-specific product, which will be introduced tomorrow.
As part of the reorganization 3DO intends to streamline its software business
and enter into a joint venture or sell 3DO Systems, its hardware business.
"The Internet, and Internet entertainment in particular, is a huge
opportunity," said Trip Hawkins, chairman and CEO, The 3DO Company. "We are
moving toward focusing entirely on the challenge of building a strong
entertainment software studio, with the Internet as a catalyst for growth.
Meridian 59 is only the beginning of our Internet plans."
In the reorganization, 3DO president Hugh Martin will assume full operating
control of the company. Hawkins, who will remain chairman and chief
executive officer, will shift his focus to the role of creative director.
Software product development will be reorganized into five production units
reporting to senior vice president Bob Lindsey, who will report to Martin.
The largest of the production units will be the Internet group. Studio 3DO
will be reorganized into two units. The other two units are Cyclone Studios
and New World Computing, both acquired in the last year.
As part of the reorganization, the company has taken steps to reduce its cash
consumption rate by eliminating entertainment projects with outside
developers and reassigning internal staff to its most promising software
titles. "The game business climate right now dictates that we make hits and
conserve cash," said Martin. "Now we can concentrate on our most compelling
entertainment software projects, while spending less capital, making better
products, and getting into position for Internet-driven growth."
Internet growth will begin tomorrow with the official introduction of
Meridian 59, the first 3-D multi-user dimension (MUD) game on the Internet.
With very little marketing expenditures, 3DO surpassed 25,000 player accounts
in an early free trial of the game. "Hardware and software are very
different businesses, and 3DO needs to simplify and focus its efforts," said
Hawkins. "Our potential hardware technology customers would like broader
access to 3DO's proprietary technologies and a closer partnership, and that
argues for a potential joint venture." 3DO is currently exploring partnering
opportunities with several candidate companies and expects to complete ajoint
venture or sale of the hardware business by year end. 3DO successfully
licensed its 64-bit M2 technology to Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
for $100 million recently. The company remains committed to supporting
Matushita's efforts to launch consumer products based on its technology and
does not expect the decision to pursue a joint venture or sell the hardware
business will impact its M2 project with Matsushita, which is largely
completed.
"3DO Systems has the management team, the technologies, and the engineering
talent," said Martin. "We feel that as a partner we can play a key role in
numerous product areas including next-generation video compression,
multimedia, video game systems, DVD players, and Internet boxes. Our goal is
to eliminate the overhead expense and cash burn while retaining profit upside
and strategic relationships."
Upon completion of the joint venture or sale of the hardware business, 3DO
expects the resulting software company will have approximately 300 employees,
versus the previous total of 450. The timing and amounts of the fiscal
effects of the reorganization and the potential joint venture or sale of 3DO
Systems cannot be determined at this time. "We're excited about these
changes because we can focus on our strengths and growth opportunities, while
conserving cash," said Martin. "Although it's been a tough market climate, we
found ways to achieve operating profits in the last two quarters. Moving
forward, we feel our management is strong, our balance sheet is strong, and
we have a solid core of Internet and game software talent and technology to
build upon."
This release contains forward looking statements, including statements
relating to future growth offered by the Internet and Internet entertainment,
marketability of software titles under development and of Meridian59, and the
company's ability to complete a transaction for the joint venture or sale of
the hardware business within calendar 1996. The forward looking statements
are subject to risks and uncertainties. The recent growth in the Internet may
not be sustained for a variety of reasons, including limited
telecommunications capacity. The software industry has not yet generated
significant revenues from Internet entertainment, and particularly
multi-player games on the Internet. Early acceptance of beta test Internet
software entertainment products may not be indicative of future market demand
for fully developed products provided to users for a fee.
Transactions such as the joint venture or sale of advanced hardware
technology are subject to a range of contingencies, including a limited
number of potential partners or acquirers, the price and structure of a
transaction, competitive conditions in the industry, and the company's
ability to retain its technical personnel pending completion of the
transaction. The particular transaction or the absence of a transaction
could cause the company to recognize significant write-offs or incur other
costs which could produce operating losses. Further information on potential
factors which could affect these forward looking statements and the company's
financial results are included in the company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commision, including the company's Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended March 31, 1996, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and
reports on Form 8-K.
The 3DO Company (NASDAQ: THDO), headquartered in Redwood City, Calif.,
designs, licenses and distributes advanced interactive technology and
software titles for the mass market. With offices in North America and
Europe, the company licenses technologies and creates entertainment software
for 32-bit and 64-bit video game platforms, the personal computer market, and
the Internet.
Video Game Maker Reorganizes
The 3DO Co. says it will restructure to focus on Internet and game
entertainment software. As part of the reorganization, the Redwood City,
California, company intends to streamline its software business and enter
into a joint venture or sell 3DO Systems, its hardware business. "The
Internet, and Internet entertainment in particular, is a huge opportunity,"
says Trip Hawkins, chairman and CEO of 3DO. "We are moving toward focusing
entirely on the challenge of building a strong entertainment software studio,
with the Internet as a catalyst for growth.
Tomorrow, 3DO plans to release Meridian59, its first Internet-specific
multiuser game software. In the reorganization, 3DO president Hugh Martin
will assume full operating control of the company. Hawkins, who will remain
chairman and CEO, will shift his focus to the role of creative director.
Software product development will be reorganized into five production units
reporting to senior vice president Bob Lindsey, who will report to Martin.
The largest of the production units will be the Internet group. Studio 3DO
will
be reorganized into two units. The other two units are Cyclone studios
and New World Computing, both acquired in the last year.
As part of the reorganization, the company has taken steps to reduce its cash
consumption rate by eliminating entertainment projects with outside
developers and reassigning internal staff to its most promising software
titles. "The game business climate right ow dictates that we make hits and
conserve cash," says Martin. "Now we can concentrate on our most compelling
entertainment software projects, while spending less capital, making better
products and getting into position for Internet-driven growth."
Online Games Market to Soar
The online and Internet games market will grow rapidly over the next few
years, becoming a revenue source to be reckoned with in the overall
online/Internet industry, says market researcher Jupiter Communications. The
New York-based firm notes that the online and Internet games market currently
represents only 2.5 percent of overall online/Internet industry revenues for
1996, but is expected to increase to over 11 percent of total industry
revenues by the year 2000.
Revenues in the online and Internet games market will be derived from a
variety of sources, says Jupiter, including pay-per-hour charges, advertising
on games-related Web sites, subscriptions and pay-per-play
revenues. Jupiter notes that the online and Internet games market differs
from the market for standalone, or boxed, games market in a very important
way: users do not need to purchase a game outright to play it. Instead,
consumers are overwhelmingly willing to pay as they go to play a game online,
says Jupiter, similar to the way the market for coin-operated games has
developed.
Overall, Jupiter estimates that revenues from pay-per-play charges and
advertising, which each accounted for 1 percent or less of the market
revenues in 1995, will account for 37 percent and 25 percent, respectively,
of total online and Internet games market revenues by the year 2000.
CONTACT: Aristo International
Rita Zimmerer, 212/586-2400
or
Torme & Kenney
Steven Freemire/Stephen Kenneally,
415/956-1791
Aristo Debuts its "Global Party;" Introduces ...
DALLAS (Sept. 18) BUSINESS WIRE -Sept. 18, 1996--Patrons of bars, restaurants
and hotels throughout the country and eventually the world soon will be
linked together through a new line of pay-per-play Internet
entertainment products being introduced by Aristo International on September
26 (NASDAQ Smallcap: ATSP) at the Amusement & Music Operators Association
(AMOA) International Expo '96.
With a star-studded team of industry leaders including Nolan Bushnell, whose
creation of "Pong" and founding of Atari is credited with launching the video
game revolution in the 1970s, Aristo International is debuting three products
that will "create a new form of global entertainment, revolutionizing social
play," according to Mouli Cohen, Aristo president and chief executive
officer. They are TouchNET, PlayNET Music and TeamNET.
Aristo expects its units to be in operation in bars, restaurants and hotels
in many locations throughout the United States during fourth quarter 1996.
"By simply popping in a couple of quarters, a dollar bill or even swiping a
credit card, you can truly bring the world to your barstool," says Bushnell.
"You can play games, pick up e-mail and get the latest news and sports
scores. You can 'chat' with others across the bar or in other bars thousands
of miles away. You can join in local and national networked sports
tournaments. And you can select from over 10,000 songs and buy merchandise."
The three products Aristo is introducing at AMOA are:
ú TouchNET - Totally operated by on-screen touch, TouchNET pts a global
party at your fingertips. It is a new compact, pay-per-play system that sits
on a counter top and can accommodate 8-12 different games at any one time.
Participants can also access the Internet to look up the latest news, sports
and personal ads; "chat" by sending recorded voice as well as text messages;
buy merchandise; and send e-mail. Aristo will regularly update game play by
downloading the most popular new games.
ú PlayNET Music - This 21st century juke box can satisfy anyone's musical
tastes. It provides access to thousands of titles via an Internet connection
to Aristo's central server database. Reproduction will be of the highest
quality. In addition, PlayNET Music allows customers to purchase merchandise
from their favorite band and get information on upcoming concerts.
ú TeamNET - Challenge the world in Aristo's global tournaments! This is
the first pay-per-play Interactive system that allows two teams of up to four
players each to compete against each other in sports and other games. Both
teams may be present in the same location, or in separate locations competing
through an Internet connection. The TeamNET system as been specifically
designed to support tournament play.
According to Cohen, "We have a unique business model with profitable
economics. Unlike most Internet businesses that depend on advertising
dollars to make a profit, we depend on the entertainment value of the
products. Hospitality locations will make money by getting a portion of the
revenues from our products, and increased traffic will generate increased
sales." Aristo International designs and develops global, networked
entertainment. The company is headquartered in New York City, and has
development studios in Foster City, CA and Sterling, VA.
CONTACT: Access Communications
Dave Karraker/Jennifer Walker
415/904-7070, Ext. 265, 283
dkarrakeraccesspr.com
jwalkeraccesspr.com
or
Virgin Interactive Entertainment
Michelle Nino/Kris Kraves
714/833-8710
michelle--ninovie.com
kris--kravesvi.com
Virgin Interactive Entertainment spreads holiday ...
IRVINE, CALIF. (Sept. 18) BUSINESS WIRE -Sept. 18, 1996--Fruit cake?
Polyester ties? Sausages of the World? It really is better to give than
receive, and this holiday Virgin Interactive Entertainment (VIE) is giving
game players what they really want. VIE on Wednesday announced a holiday
line-up of video game and computer game titles that will make mince meat out
of the end-of-year competition.
VIE is covering all the bases this fall, with titles available for the Sony
Playstation, Sega Saturn, PC CD-ROM and Macintosh platforms. Each game will
push the envelope in game design, from the hyper-fast 3D engine in the
explosive helicopter combat game BLACK DAWN to the amazing
live-action/animated lunacy in TOONSTRUCK, featuring Christopher Lloyd of
"Back to the Future" movies.
This holiday season VIE will also offer consumers America's favorite soda pop
mascot Spot, in the anxiously-anticipated SPOT GOES TO HOLLYWOOD. For
adventure and strategy fans, VIE will feature the critically acclaimed
animated adventure CIRCLE OF BLOOD and the outrageous, in-your-face,
real-time strategy game Z. The holidays will also be a perfect time to hit
the ice in VIE's realistic hockey title NHL POWERPLAY '96 or hit the world's
most exquisite casino with GOLDEN NUGGET and play games such as Black Jack
and Poker. These, along with a slew of other titles, are sure to keep a
smile on every gamer's face well into the new year.
"This holiday we really do have something for everyone," said Rand
Bleimeister, VIE's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "We have
titles for every age group on all the major platforms. Supported by an
extensive advertising and marketing campaign, this Fall will definitely be a
very Virgin holiday season." Virgin Interactive Entertainment Inc., based
in Irvine, is a worldwide publisher and developer of interactive
entertainment. Publishers of the best selling THE 11TH HOUR: THE SEQUEL TO
THE 7TH GUEST and COMMAND AND CONQUER, both on PC CD-ROM, and distributors of
MONOPOLY on PC CD-ROM, VIE is an operating unit of Spelling Entertainment.
The company recently released NHL POWERPLAY '96 for PC CD-ROM, the Sony
PlayStation and Sega Saturn, and will soon be launching the action/adventure
TOONSTRUCK, starring Christopher Lloyd. More information about Virgin
Interactive Entertainment and its products can be found at
http://www.vie.com. The Spot character is a registered trademark of Dr.
Pepper/Cadbury North America Inc. NHL is a registered trademark and overplay
is a trademark of the National Hockey League. All rights reserved.
Is Mario Playing In The Cabbage Patch?
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1996 SEP 11 (Newsbytes) -- By Richard Bowers.
Nintendo is about to release Nintendo 64 with its super game Super Mario 64,
and all the signs point to the Cabbage Patch phenomenon all over again.
Whether by intention or not, Nintendo is going to ship only a fraction of the
platforms needed to meet the demand for the game this Christmas. Nintendo
announced that sales Nintendo 64 surpassed the one million mark just 10 weeks
after launch in Japan. Of the more than one million systems shipped to more
than 20,000 Japanese retailers, Nintendo says more than 90% have now sold
through to customers. Scheduled for release in the United States on
September 29. Nintendo already anticipates demand will exceed supply.
American retailers have already requested more than one million units by
Christmas. However, initial United States shipments of Nintendo 64 are
expected to be half that amount.
David Cole, president of gaming market research firm DFC Intelligence, told
Newsbytes, "Super Mario 64 is the killer application that will guarantee
strong sales for the Nintendo 64. If the sales in Japan are
any indication, then Nintendo 64 will be out of stock well before Christmas,
creating the mystique of the Cabbage Patch. One major retailer has publicly
said that they would take all 500,000 Nintendo 64 units if they could."
"It's apparent from our conversations with our US retailers that our
projected shipments will be exhausted well before the holidays," said Peter
Main, Nintendo of America's executive vice president, sales, and marketing.
"We're asking our parent company to do everything possible to increase total
shipments to North America. Furthermore, it's obvious that in the so-called
next generation, software quality is as important as ever. We've seen Super
Mario 64 purchased with virtually every Nintendo 64 system sold in Japan,
which means it's reached the one millon sales mark quicker than any game ever
debuting with a new system."
Nintendo 64 will go on sale in North America at a manufacturer's suggested
retail price of $199.95. Super Mario 64, and Pilot Wings 64 also will go on
sale that day. Nintendo says they will have twelve 64-bit titles available by
Christmas. Cole pointed out to Newsbytes that there is some risk to
Nintendo. Its two major competitors, the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation,
will also have strong sales during the Christmas season, and Nintendo takes a
risk that not having enough supply will lose permanent customers to the other
system.
Cole says many other analysts believe that only two hardware systems can
survive. DFC Intelligence offers a different opinion. "The market is likely
to be split almost evenly among the three major systems," said Cole. "It is
the beginning of the end for the monopoly that hardware manufacturers have
had." Nintendo 64, Saturn, and PlayStation each have unique attributes that
will allow them to appeal to different segments of the market. According to
Cole, "Never before have there been three high-end systems with such strong
marketing and software support. The Saturn boasts Internet access and a
strong line of arcade titles. The PlayStation dominates the sports titles.
The Nintendo 64 has Mario and a 64-bit claim. Each of these systems will
carve out a portion of the market."
Sega prices Internet surfer at $200
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Sega of America announced Tuesday it
will start selling an Internet surfing machine on Oct. 31 at a price of $200
as an add-on to the Saturn videogame player. The Sega Saturn Net Link will
be marketed as making Internet access as easy as playing a videogame.
"Sega's research shows that consumers' No. 1 reason for using the Internet is
for entertainment," said Shoichiro Irimajiri, chairman and chief executive
officer of Sega of America. "Sega Saturn Net Link is inter-tainment in a box
-- a combination of Internet applications and entertainment activities
packaged in an engaging, easy-to-use format only Sega could deliver to the
consumer market."
The announcement is the latest shot in the war between Sega, Sony Corp. and
Nintendo of America for dominance in advanced video-game consoles, which use
CD-ROM discs. Sega and Sony are selling their 32-bit players for $200 each
and Nintendo is preparing for the launch of its 64-bit machine. Sega said it
will market the Net Link as the only affordably priced TV Internet product
offering both compact disc functions combined with Internet access, giving
users the ability for online gaming and fast access to particular Web sites.
Sega also said the browser uses new image processing and text display
technologies to give Internet content a crisp, clean look and prevent picture
flicker on the TV screen. The $200 price includes a modem cartridge that
plugs into the Sega Saturn, a phone cord and a CD containing the Web browser.
Sega said it has hired four companies to work on its own site for starting
Internet "surfing" -- Ark Interface Inc., PlanetWeb Inc., Excite and
Concentric Network Corp.
CONTACT: Manning, Selvage & Lee
Christopher Kingry/Ann Backowski, 213/782-6600
ckingrymslpr.com/abackowsmslpr.com
Fox Interactive's Die Hard Trilogy ships over ...
LOS ANGELES (Sept. 17) BUSINESS WIRE -Sept. 17, 1996--Fox Interactive's
three-in-one blowout experience Die Hard Trilogy will it approximately 10,000
retail locations nationwide simultaneously on Sept. 18. More than 125,000
units of the PlayStation version of Die Hard Trilogy are being shipped
initially, which will be compatible with nearly a half dozen different video
game peripherals. Inspired by Twentieth Century Fox's hit "Die Hard"
movies, Die Hard Trilogy is the first "next generation" video game title to
offer three original and different games on one disc. Die Hard Trilogy is
rated M (Ages 17+) and will carry a suggested retail price of $54.98.
"We know the anticipation has been building in the wake of unprecedented
positive reviews. The PSX version is here," said Jon Richmond, president,
Fox Interactive. "When gamers load in Die Hard Trilogy, they're getting
three totally different games -- each one an amazing adventure on its own.
Even better is the fact that there are some incredible peripherals available
to make the Die Hard experience even more captivating."
Peripherals currently ready to "plug and play" for Die Hard Trilogy include
Konami's "Enforcer," Namco's "Negkan," Mad Katz' "Steering Wheel," Nyko's
"Cobra Gun" and the PlayStation mouse. Additional Die Hard Trilogy-compatible
peripherals are currently under development by additional manufacturers.
Richmond added that the Sega Saturn and Windows 95 versions of Die Hard
Trilogy will be available for holiday shoppers, with an equally-impressive
selection of peripherals.
Fox Interactive, an operating unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a News Corp.
company, is committed to developing bold and engaging interactive
entertainment. Drawing from the hottest properties that Fox Filmed
Entertainment, Fox Television and other News Corp. companies have to offer,
Fox Interactive creates truly interactive products that capture the
excitement of proven entertainment. Check out Fox Interactive at
www.foxinteractive.com.
ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
On CompuServe
compiled by
Joe Mirando
CIS ID: 73637,2262
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, it's been another slow week. It seems
that people are still busy. I know the feeling. Everybody has a claim on
your time... except for you. It seems to be part-and-parcel of this new age
we live in. The things we _have_ to do usually outweigh the things we _want_
to do. It used to be that we could manage both most of the time, but no
more. It's becoming harder and harder to make it work. There's always an
emergency at work, or the overtime that will allow you to pay the rent this
month, or the hundred other little things that erode your free time away
before you realize it. The sad part is that it's happening to everyone, so
we don't even realize that it's happening at all.
Someone once told me that it took the average caveman about twenty hours per
week to gather everything he needed to support his family. It now takes
over fifty hours for the average adult to do the same. Isn't progress
wonderful? Well, let's get to the reason for this column in the first place:
all the great news, hints, tips, and info available every week right here on
CompuServe.
From the Atari Computing Forums
Rob Riddell asks for help extracting an LZHed file:
"I keep getting bad CRC's every time I try to unpack a downloade LZH file (
from all sources). ZIP and TOS files and unpack 100%. Have you any idea what
the problem might be. I have tried LZH11318.TTP & UNLZH172.PRG without
success."
Albert Dayes tells Rob:
"You need to download Lharc v3.0x from the library. It will handle the newer
compression used in LZH files."
Mike Huggins asks Michel:
"I have just read your post, are you saying that there is now a web browser
that works on/for the Atari computer? At this moment the only computer in
my house is an Atari 1040stf upgraded to 4meg with a 30 meg hard drive. I
have been dying to "surf the net", but I'm forced to go to my neighbors house
to do so."
Michel tells Rob:
"Well, not *now*, but they say it will be released in September, so it
shouldn't take too long. Oxo Concept is a Swiss/French outfit with a good
reputation in France, I think. This will probably be a commercial product, so
it better be good... By the way, Oxo Concept's web site is at www.oxo.ch, if
anyone's interested."
Yves Debilloez asks the question that was on my mind:
"Does it support Compuserve as an Internet Provider?? (PPP)"
Michel tells Yves:
"I don't know, the text I pasted here is all I know at the moment. You may
ask them if you want: their e-mail address is oxo@oxo.ch"
While we're on the subject of web browsing via CompuServe, Rob Riddell asks:
"Can anyone tell me how to configure Oasis to wrok on compuserve? I tried but
the programme keeps locking up on me when I try logo on. Thanks in advance."
Having had a bit of experience with Oasis (the same experience as Rob,
unfortunately), I tell him:
"As far as I know, most folks who have tried to use Oasis here on CIS have
encountered the same problem... I certainly have. Every time I try. I just
hope that it ends up a useable solution."
Andreas Eschbach asks:
"What does "TOS Error #35" mean? I cannot find any information on that. It
appears (sometimes) after I copy a disk and try to start the 1STWORD
program. And the windows doesn't open. Any help is welcome. This worries me
a lot."
Jack Hughes tells Andreas:
"I am not sure that the "GEM" error codes I have are the same as "TOS" errors
but...... according to my list GEMerror #35 Is "No handles left". Now what
that means I'm not sure. But what always works for me is the "Magic Button",
also known as the "Reset Button". Not that I recall _that_ particular error
and I've had a bunch. Probably what has happened is that any previous prgms
you have run have grabbed space and not given it up on exit."
Albert Dayes jumps in and tells Andreas:
"TOS Error #35 can mean a few differnt things. Usually it means the program
you are trying to run has been corrupted. You might try using a different
copy of 1ST Word and see if that works."
Joe Villarreal tells Andreas:
"According to one file I have, TOS error 35 is "Too many open files". I used
to get that error quite often When I was using a ST520 with TOS 1.0; I
thought that error meant that I did not have enough memory to run a program
that required more than 512k of memory. I also have heard at least one other
definition for that error which I can't remember right now."
Andreas tells Joe:
"I can hardly imagine... I use an ATARI 1024 with one poor disk. I usually
open one file and that's it. Not possible it has something to do with the
quality of the copied file?"
Joe adds:
"Actually that is what I found on a text file that I had on my hard drive.
Don't remember where I downloaded the file from. Here's another definition
I found today on another file I had in HYP format: Tos Error #35, probably
the most common error alert that is not self explanatory, happens when a
program you are trying to run has somehow been corrupted. What it means is
that TOS can not find some magic numbers it expects to fine either at the
beginning or at the end of the program file. This error is usually
attributable to operator error (as in trying to execute an archive or text
file as a program), or to bit rot."
Well folks, I told you that there wasn't much available this week. Let's
hope it gets better as time goes on. Tune in again next week, same time,
same channel, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
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Micrografx and American Greetings Introduce
New Interactive Greeting Card Software
Have Fun Designing Quality, Personalized Greeting Cards and More with
American Greetings CreataCard Plus
Richardson, TX - (September 4, 1996) - Micrografx(, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGXI), a
leading graphics software developer that defined the greeting card software
category, and American Greetings( Corp. (NASDAQ: AGREA), the renowned
greeting card company, today announced the availability of American Greetings
CreataCard( Plus(. Designed primarily for personal use, this exciting social
expression CD-ROM product offers innovative new ways for the entire family to
create and send personalized greeting cards utilizing PC and Internet
technologies.
"CreataCard Plus provides a new world of content-rich, personalized card
creation and sending options to ensure the most personally expressive
greeting is delivered on time, every time," said Doug Richard, Micrografx
vice president of marketing. "The relationship between American Greetings
and Micrografx is a winning combination based on mutual appreciation for the
importance of technology, experience in the market and desire to achieve the
highest standards of quality and value."
Creating and Sending Cards is Fun and Easy
CreataCard Plus is a convenient and enjoyable way to design personally
expressive cards, awards, announcements, invitations, certificates, signs,
stationery and more. Social expressions can be personalized for any occasion
using imagination and the American Greetings fonts, artwork and verse. Or
original cards can be created from scratch using the fun and easy-to-use
tools to add favorite images, family photographs, clip art and text. Cards
can be printed and mailed from home or ordered and sent from American
Greetings for Personal Delivery -- a convenient service for customers who
prefer to have cards printed and mailed for them via U.S. mail. Cards can
also be sent to the recipient via the Internet. CreataCard Plus makes it
easy to remember important dates with the Forget-Me-Not(tm) reminder, which
combines calendar and address book functions to track personal and special
event information for individuals and families.
In addition to 3,000 specially-designed cards contained in the retail
package, new card designs and other thematic and seasonal content will be
regularly available via our Internet card shop located on the Internet at
www.creatacard.com beginning mid-September. Micrografx also offers CD ROM
Variety Packs that make obtaining additional designs convenient and fun.
"CreataCard Plus is fun, fast and convenient," said John Klipfell, American
Greetings senior vice president for Electronic Marketing. "And by offering a
full array of greeting card products through electronic mediums, we are
enabling people of all ages to use their computers for social expression."
Availability and Pricing
CreataCard Plus is available from retailers including Best Buy, Computer
City, CompUSA, Egghead, Office Depot and Office Max, and distributors
including Ingram Micro, Merisel and Tech Data or directly from Micrografx by
calling (800) 368-5409. CreataCard Plus has a suggested retail price of
$29.95.
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EDITORIAL QUICKIES
GOP - PARTY OF IDEAS
White people are superior to people of color.
Rich people are superior to poor people.
Big business is superior to ALL people.
Preachers and chemical companies should write the laws.
More guns on the street make your kids safer.
Tobacco is not harmful, but pot is deadly.
Christianity is the only religion that matters.
Jesus was the greatest American that ever lived.
Freedom for business is good, individual freedom is bad.
The economy would be better if massive tax breaks are given to the rich.
STReport International OnLine Magazine
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STR OnLine! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" September 20, 1996
Since 1987 Copyrightc1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 1238
