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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 01 Issue 23
Volume 1, Issue 23 Atari Online News, Etc. August 6, 1999
Published and Copyright (c) 1999
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- CC: Classic Chips
With Contributions by:
Kevin Savetz
Carl Forhan
Rob Mahlert
Fred Horvat
Ken Siders
Mark Santora
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Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0123 08/06/99
~ Morton Downey Goes Web ~ People Are Talking! ~ ACE Swap Meet!
~ New Palm IIIe To Debut ~ Pets Online Is Booming ~ MSN Free??
~ Mitnick To Clear Name ~ MS Office Vulnerable! ~ New Java Chip?
~ Atari Banner Exchange ~ Anti-Cybersquatting OK ~ New Look PCs
-* Sega Gets ISP For Dreamcast! *-
-* Hackers Vandalize Security Sites! *-
-* Delphi Forums Attain Million Message Month *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, the weather has finally improved, i.e. the heat and humidity has
broken to tolerable levels. This past week was wonderful. I'm hoping that
the weather holds out through next week while I vacation once again this
summer. I was hoping for another two weeks, but circumstances prevented it.
I'll just have to wait a few more weeks and take two together, then. <g>
I don't have a lot to say this week; no apparent reason other than to
conclude that the summer months are usually relatively quiet. So, while I'm
in a mellow mood, I'd better shove off and let you get to the rest of this
week's issue!
Until next time...
Atari Users Banner Exchange
From Rob Mahlert
The Atari Users Network web site is offering the chance to join in their
banner exchange program. This program is free and only open to Atari web
sites. More info at the URL below.
http://atari-users.net/banx/
Astro Solutions Games
From: Kevin Savetz <savetz@northcoast.com>
The "Astro Solutions Games" for ST-High are ready to be downloaded!
Apoint(45 KB):
http://www.muenster.de/~dambergj/Apoint.zip
Simclone(53 KB):
http://www.muenster.de/~sak/SIMCLONE.ZIP
Axarrow(46 KB):
http://www.muenster.de/~sak/AXARROW.ZIP
Galaxy(46 KB):
http://www.muenster.de/~sak/GALAXY.ZIP
Starbreak(32 KB):
http://www.muenster.de/~dambergj/astar.zip
Apack(80 KB):
http://www.muenster.de/~dambergj/Atari.zip
There are also two Level sets for ESPRIT/1989:
http://www.muenster.de/~dambergj/LEV1999.ZIP (10 KB)
http://www.muenster.de/~sak/LEV19992.ZIP (10 KB)
Video 61 Announces 4 New Carts
From: Kevin Savetz <savetz@northcoast.com>
Video 61 has announced four new-to-cartridge format games for the Atari
8-bit:
Arkanoid on a cart - for all XL/XE computers with at least 64k of RAM
The APX classic Getaway! for all XL/XE computers with at last 64k of RAM
Water skiing game for all XL/XE computers with at least 64k of RAM
Dynakill, a Bomberman clone, for all XL/XE computers with at least 64k of
RAM
http://www.atarisales.com
Registration For Shareware Programmers
From: Kevin Savetz <savetz@northcoast.com>
This site (in German) offers registration and service packages for
shareware programmers. Details are on the site, they support Atari and
Amiga software.
http://members.aol.com/sdleidel/
ICE Progress - TCP/IP For 8-bit
From: Ken Siders <atari@columbus.rr.com>
I have updated my ICE (Internet Connectivity for Atari Eight-bits) page
with a new version of my program. The current version will download and
display the source for a web page (currently hardcoded to download my
Atari page).
I would appreciate any feedback from anyone capable of testing the program
to see if it works at all for anyone else. You can download it from my
Project ICE page at http://home.columbus.rr.com/ksiders/ice.htm.
Thanks,
Ken Siders
atari@columbus.rr.com
http://home.columbus.rr.com/ksiders/atari.htm
->A-ONE's User Group News - Shows, Meetings, News!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Atari Swap / Columbus / 1999 / Plans Are Set
From: FMHCOM
Ok, folks, here's the OFFICIAL WORD
The Atari Computer Enthusiasts of Columbus are pleased to announce their
next annual swap to be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. September 18, 1999, at the
Oakland Park Community Center in Columbus, OHIO, USA. Sellers of any type
(commercial vendor or private) may obtain tables at $5 each, and each $5
table fee will also admit one person (sorry, if no extra person in your
party, the table is still $5 ... after all, folks, we're trying to keep
this thing going, ya know). Otherwise, it is a $3 admission per person.
A .bmp map will be available from rwarenz@infinet.com
The location is the same that we've used for the past couple of years.
[and, hint-hint, nudge, wink -- Donald Thomas: do you still have that
FANTASTIC map you posted last year??? Could we prevail upon you again?]
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. All Atarians of all platforms and interest are
invited, and we don't squawk a lot if you bring "other platforms" to swap,
either. We might draw the line if you bring some pigs or stocks to sell,
but we're a reasonably open bunch otherwise.
PLEASE HELP GET THE WORD OUT. Mailing costs are our prime $$
problem/limitation, and we're going to stretch it to the limit this year to
try to get everyone possible to drop in. Contact any vendors you know.
Encourage friends and relatives. And whoever it is, encourage them to
contact us to let us know they are coming! We'd like to be as prepared as
we can be. (Table reservations appreciated).
Best Regards,
Wayne
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
jmirando@portone.com
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, my long awaited vacation is here,
and it seems that it's taken almost half of it to get me into "vacation
mode".
That's what usually ticks me off about vacations. You end up spending a
majority of the time getting yourself ready to enjoy it. By the time you
finally get your mind and body ready for it, it's time to start getting
yourself into "work mode" again and go back to work.
Nonetheless, I'm enjoying the idea of hanging around the house and
tearing apart computers from dawn to dusk (yes, I still wake up at my
normal "get ready to go to work" time... which IS dawn) and making them
work correctly again. I've got one here that suffered a nervous
breakdown. It's taken quite a bit of rehabilitation, but it now at least
knows that it's a computer again.
Most of these machines aren't mine. They belong to friends and relatives
and have suffered all kinds of abuse throughout the year. Most of them
have simple problems... loose cables or chips, bad configuration files,
messed up hard drives, that kind of thing. They get dropped off here
and usually get picked up the following day, ready to be abused by their
owners all over again.
My own machines, of course, are in tip-top shape. The TT and Stacy are
humming right along, and the new PC laptop is configured as well as an
Intel/Microsoft machine can be.
I will be installing Linux on the laptop as soon as I have the time, and
I expect that to make a big difference in its usability. Once I get
Linux running on the PC, I hope to get it running on the TT. Since the
process for PCs is much more automated than it is for the Motorola 680x0
CPUs, I figured that this makes the most sense.
I've found a great source for Linux stuff, by the way. It's a website
called cheapbytes.com, and they offer unbelievable prices on Linux
distributions and related software. As a matter of fact, two copies of
two different Linux distributions for the PC cost me less than UPS
Second Day shipping charges to get them delivered here. The Motorola
version is more expensive, but still only about half the cost of buying
the Windows '98 Upgrade... and that's shipped!
Linux interests me mainly because it's a free Operating System with
support from all over the world. It was also designed to be used on 32
bit systems, which is something that the offerings from Microsoft can't
claim... well, they can make the claim, but... <g>
I'll keep you informed of my progress with Linux, both on the PC and on
the TT. My only unfulfilled wish is that it would work on all Atari
16/32 bit computers. Unfortunately, it needs at least a 68030 CPU and an
FPU, which precludes its use on all STs and MEGAs, and on most Falcons.
On the SETI@home front, Team Atari now has 19 participants and a total
of over nine THOUSAND hours of CPU time. If you're interested in joining
up to search for signals from an extraterrestrial intelligence, check
out the following web site: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu
Well, let's get on with the posts from the UseNet...
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Hugh Lutley asks for help with his new Falcon:
"I've just got my first falcon yesterday and it did come with a manual.
My question is this; where is the desk accessories/control panel? I am lead
to believe by the manual that it is under the 'desk' label on the
taskbar, but it is nowhere."
Ronald Hall tells Hugh:
"Hi Hugh. Those are Desk Accessories that sit under the "desk" listing in
the Menu Bar, and the X-Control panel is one of them. They all have a
*.ACC extension and reside on your C:\ drives root partition. X-Control,
in turn controls CPX's (Control Panel Extensions). Did your Falcon come
with a MultiTos floppy disk, or one called Language? If so, you can find
X-Control on them. If not, you can grab them from just about any good ftp
site that carries Atari software...
PS Hmm...tell us more about your Falcon! Does it have a hard disk drive?
Memory? Etc, etc,...it will help us to help you better..."
Nicholas Bales adds:
"The taskbar is W95 term, I suppose you're talking about the desktop
menu. You are looking in the right place.
The control panel is an .acc program (Desk Accessory), therefore it isn't
in ROM. If you are booting from an empty floppy, you won't have it. To
run ACCs, you have to put them in the root directory of your boot drive
(A or C), and they will load on bootup. You can only have 6 accessories
at one single time.
The latest control panel from Atari is Xcontrol.acc, and you can get it
from the Quick FAQ."
Aurélien MESSE asks for help locating a language disk:
"I am trying to find the ATARI STE Language Disk for a friend. I don't
know if it is useful, but the serial number is CA400607-004RV.B."
Ian Braby tells Aurélien:
"The STe language disk contains only the following:
BASIC interpreter
CONTROL.ACC
EMULATOR.ACC
EXAMPLE.PRG
and is, therefore, not really worth having! However, I'll ZIP it up, if
you're interested, and send it to you!"
Hugh Lutley posts this about MagiC on his Falcon:
"I'm just setting up my new Falcon but I have encountered a major
problem. I prefer to use MagiC 5.11 as an operating system but after I
partition my Quantum xp 4.2 gig drive to about 7 'divided' partitions
with HD Driver 6, MagiC will hang up trying to access any other partition
than C.
I have re-installed and no matter how minimal the installation (nothing
but HD drive then MagiC) I'm still getting the same problem.
Anybody got a clue on this one?"
Kevin Dermott tells Hugh:
"I seem to remember something similar until I upgraded my HD Driver,have
you tried the demo of a later version,tried a previous or even AHDI at
least this would isolate the problem."
Hugh asks:
"Where would I find a demo version?"
Kevin replies:
"http://acp5.chemie.uni-kl.de/seimet/index_english.html
this may not give you the full answer as it will not partition your
drive,I think there were some bugs in HD Driver 6 which I assume you did
your partitioning with,but it is worth a try."
Bengy Collins, curator of MagiC Online, adds:
"You can get the latest demo in the Demo section of the download bay in
MagiC Online (http://bengy.atari.org). You can also get it from the
author's page and the new ASH pages."
Hugh adds:
"I like the look of MagiC so this is annoying. What's wrong with me! I've
been using PC's since the advent of the Pentium 90. I've got a 233mmx, a
400 celeron and the P90 running Linux. But I've just gone and bought a
Falcon........
I've got the strangest urge to go and buy a Imac now and get MagiCMac up
and running...
I've sorted out the problem. Using HD Driver 6 I changed the
Compatibility to 'TOS, Minimal Sector Size' as opposed to the default
option of 'TOS, Standard.
Thanks anyway, at least I know where to find your page now."
** Author's note: For anyone running any flavor of MagiC, Bengy's
Page is THE place to check for cool new things to run and all the
latest information about what's going on with MagiC.
"SHAcoustic" posts:
"Help! I recently went to turn my hard drive system for my 1040STe on
and, although I heard all the usual sounds from the power supply and the
clickety-clack of the hard drive spinning, I could not get the hard
drive icon to come up on the screen no matter what I did (including
running the ICD software to try to force it to appear). The hard drive is
a Miniscribe 8053 with an ICD SCSI Controller card and host adapter card.
How can I possibly troubleshoot which component is not working, or find a
place that can do it for me?"
Jim DeClercq tells Steve about one of those "alternative" repair methods:
"Well, if it is the hard drive, try turning it upside down, however that
is done on your system. If it works that way, back it up promptly. If it
did not work that way, the problem is electronic. It has worked for me."
Dr. Clu posts:
"Well, I was hanging about in my OTHER orphaned platform newsgroup, the
Newton MessagePad, and found an interesting article about a new java
port that was done to the Palm Pilot in C.
Being that's the case, I thought I'd share this with the rest of the ST
world and those trying to port over java to the ST.
@>-->----------------------
Subject: KVM: Possibly Java for the Newton
Date: 17 Jun 1999 20:04:33 GMT
From: Sean Luke <seanl@scruffy.cs.umd.edu>
Organization:U of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
Newsgroups: comp.sys.newton.misc, comp.sys.newton.programmer
See http://java.sun.com/products/kvm/wp/
Further, at the Java One conference today, Sun committed to porting the
KVM and its Java2 Micro Edition code to the Palm Pilot. This is a very
controversial move on Sun's part, as it seems to be leaving some of the
Sun licensees in the dust.
According to the white paper, the KVM is written entirely in clean C with
relatively few system calls (and *possibly* no threading requirements),
which would likely make porting to the Newton feasible. It needs "128K
of available memory", though later the page says it's designed to work in
"tens of K of heap". The engine and Micro Edition library has no AWT, in
fact, no graphics calls of any kind. It's very stripped down, relying on
the native GUI of the device (quite a departure from Sun's run-everywhere
philosophy previously). This is accomplished through native function
calls, which should make setting up an API to call NewtonScript calls
pretty simple.
The big question is if/when Sun is going to release the code. If they
never release it as open source, this may be just a pleasant exercise."
Ben Hills tells the good doctor:
"There is an Atari port of an early version of Kaffe, the GNU Java
Virtual Machine. It doesn't support any graphics, but it's a start."
Interesting news about Java, huh? I don't know if we'll ever get to see
it, but it's good to know that someone somewhere thinks it's worth
working on.
Well folks, that's it for this week. I know it's short but, hey, I'm on
vacation! <smile>
Now, where the heck did I put that suntan oil??
Till next time, keep your shoulder to the wheel, your nose to the
grindstone, your ear to the wind, and always be ready to listen to what
they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Color GameBoy - NASCAR!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" CG Expo Video! CG Expo News!
Sega Gets ISP! Dreamcast News!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Sega's U.S. Dreamcast Pre-Orders Surpass Expectations
Sega of America said pre-orders for its new Dreamcast videogame console
have surpassed its expectations, with 200,000 pre-orders from retailers six
weeks before the product's U.S. launch.
Sega, the U.S. unit of Japan's Sega Enterprises Ltd., predicted in April it
would have 200,000 pre-sell orders for Dreamcast, its Internet-ready video
game system that it plans to launch on September 9.
``We believe that by September 8, we will have 250,000 to 300,000
pre-orders," said Bernard Stolar, president and chief operating officer of
Sega of America, in a phone interview. "What we have done with our
retailers and our Internet exposure has really helped us."
Sega is banking on Dreamcast's faster, more realistic graphics to regain
its lost share of the video game market, which is now dominated by Sony
Corp.'s Playstation. Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Nintendo 64 is
number two.
Sega has mounted a $100 million marketing blitz, which kicked off with an
ad campaign on MTV. More surprises are to come, Stolar said, but declined
to be more specific. Sega, which launched Dreamcast in Japan last year,
will sell it in the U.S. for $199.
Sega also has a pact with video rental chain Hollywood Entertainment Corp.,
which started renting the Dreamcast console on July
15 ahead of the product launch.
``The rental program has been really successful," Stolar said, adding that
they were seeing about 15,000 rentals a week. "This has never been done
before in the video game industry."
Sega Seen Tapping AT&T WorldNet As ISP For Dreamcast
Sega of America is expected to announce Wednesday it has chosen AT&T
WorldNet as the Internet service provider for its Sega Dreamcast Network, a
source close to the company said Tuesday.
The announcement by Sega President and Chief Executive Officer Bernard
Stolar at a teleconference will be the first time Sega has talked on the
record about its Internet strategy for the Dreamcast console, set to go on
sale on Sept. 9. Industry analysts were given a private briefing Tuesday.
Monday, the San Francisco-based company, the U.S. unit of Japan's Sega
Enterprises Ltd., said it had pre-sold more than 200,000 Sega Dreamcast
units. Its goal is to sell 1.5 million by March 2000.
The first leg of a $100 million advertising campaign broke in July, and
next Monday Sega will announce the launch of its Mobile Assault tour, in
which two 18-wheel tractor-trailer rigs will haul Dreamcast consoles across
the country for a championship competition powered by online game site
IGN.com.
For the non-gaming community, Dreamcast's internal 56 kilobit modem should
be the big news. Sega claims that the 128-bit console with a 200 megahertz
CPU will be four times faster than Intel's Pentium II chip for processing
three-dimensional graphics, and that the same processing power will be
available for viewing Web content on the Internet.
Planetweb, Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., is developing a special browser
for Dreamcast based on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows CE.
At a suggested retail price of $199, many industry observers say the
Dreamcast could be the killer Internet appliance for a mainstream audience.
In Japan, where the Dreamcast has been available for several months, the
Internet service is free and an external hard drive will be available.
Despite intense interest in so-called ``information appliances" --
low-cost, easy-to-use tools for accessing e-mail and Web content -- Sega
has been reticent to discuss its Internet strategy. Its reticence has been
attributed to the company not wanting to alienate what it sees as its core
audience, the hard-core gamer.
Sega will begin marketing to the mainstream as the holiday season
approaches, according to Peter Moore, Sega senior vice president of
marketing.
``Success will be obtained by getting to the mass consumer sooner rather
than later," he said.
However, Moore took a cautious stance toward Sega's core market of gaming
enthusiasts. ``If we did our marketing around Kmart, sure, we could sell
millions of them but the longevity would be limited," he said. ``Our
belief is that the hard-core gamer is still the key to the platform."
Hasbro Interactive Gives the Green Flag to Its
First Title for Nintendo Game Boy Color
Hasbro Interactive has started their Nintendo Game Boy Color engines with
the first stock car racing game available for Nintendo's new handheld
system. The new title, NASCAR Challenge, is Hasbro Interactive's first
release to take advantage of its partnership with NASCAR.
``Teaming quality gameplay with the hot NASCAR license is a winning
combination for Nintendo's fast-growing Game Boy Color gaming platform,"
said Tom Dusenberry, President of Hasbro Interactive. ``Hasbro Interactive
will continue to bring the finest in interactive entertainment to Nintendo
Game Boy Color as the platform grows and reaches an ever wider audience."
NASCAR Challenge will give players the feel of racing bumper-to-bumper with
other drivers in the fastest growing spectator sport in America. The game
places the player into a series of pre-defined scenarios, including a
specific goal that must be accomplished: ...You are 190 laps into the race.
Just 10 laps left to go. You are pulling out of the pits with a full tank
of gas, 4 fresh tires, and 9 other cars in front of you. Your goal: finish
in the top 3. Go!... Upon successful completion of a challenge, more
features are unlocked and the player is presented with other challenges.
Some of the features of NASCAR Challenge are:
* Six different tracks
* Challenges are structured such that they increase in difficulty, but
more important they teach the player the skills necessary to conquer
the next challenge
* Open/traditional racing on tracks once they are unlocked by completing
challenges (user will be able to determine/set race length)
* AI opponents will dynamically catch-up/slow-down to always keep the
user in the middle of the racing action and give them a chance to win
* User selectable in-car or third-person views
* Simple to drive physics model
* Game Boy Color Rumble Pack® support
* Head-to-head racing with 2 GBC units connected together
NASCAR Challenge for Nintendo Game Boy Color will be available in the
fourth quarter of 1999 at an approximate retail price of $29.95. Majesco
Sales, Inc. will have exclusive distribution rights for the title.
H2O Entertainment Corp's The New Tetris for the
Nintendo 64 launches in North America
H2O Entertainment Corp. is very pleased to announce that The New Tetris
video game for the Nintendo 64 is now available in North America. The video
game is published and distributed by Nintendo of America Inc through its
distribution network of over 15,000 retailers including Toys R Us, and
Wal-Mart.
``H2O is very proud to have developed The New Tetris for the Nintendo 64
and carry the legacy of one of the greatest games of all time to the next
millennium," states Michael Tam, President of H2O.
3dfx Unveils New 3-D Graphics Technology
PC graphics chip and board maker 3dfx Interactive Inc. announced on
Monday details of a new graphics technology that will smooth out the flaws
in today's 3-D images.
"We want to close the gap between digital Hollywood effects and the PC,"
said Scott Sellers, co-founder and chief technology officer of the San
Jose, Calif. company.
Known as the T-buffer, the new hardware technology allows effects such as
anti-aliasing (for smoothing the jagged look of 3-D images), motion
blurring (emulating the effect of movement too fast for the "camera") and
depth of field blur (foreground appears in focus while background does
not).
"We are all about doing the Myst-like special effects in real time," said
Sellers. The technology will find its way into a product coming out this
fall, said the technology exec.
Perhaps the most useful part of the technology is its ability to fix
"aliasing" -- a side effect of fixed-resolution monitors that causes steps
to appear along straight lines.
Anti-aliasing has always been a Holy Grail within the graphics industry. In
fact, many graphics board makers attempt to smooth out images in software
-- slowing a game's action to a crawl.
"The anti-aliasing feature is certainly the most interesting, and
immediately the most useful," said Peter Glaskowsky, graphics guru at chip
technology watcher MicroDesign Resources Inc. "It does something that we
need in 3-D graphics -- that is, smoother anti-aliased lines."
The T-buffer technology combines multiple images -- currently four -- that
are kept in memory to generate a smoother final image that appears on the
computer screen. The best part: It works automatically with no fixes or
patching on the part of the software developer.
Two other applications of the technology -- motion blurring and focal-point
blurring -- are less of a slam-dunk for the game industry, said Glaskowsky.
Motion blurring approximates what happens when a camera tries to capture a
fast movement, while focal point blurring lets game producers or the player
focus on a particular object or distance.
Unfortunately, the effects that can be generated by the 3dfx card are only
rough approximations, and don't always look good, said Glaskowsky. "They
don't really mimic the behavior of those effects," he said. "The motion
blur creates to me what -- in some of their demos -- was visually
objectionable because the object seems to be skittering or skipping across
the screen."
By announcing the technology, the company hopes to get consumers and
developers interested in the potential of the new effects.
"(Graphics are) getting more and more complicated every year," said
Sellers. "This announcement is a way to educate the consumers." He added
that company officials explained the technology in meetings with game
developers at the Game Developers Conference in March.
Despite the questions regarding the usefulness of the other applications of
T-buffering, its ability to remove jagged lines from an image will be what
sells cards with the new technology.
And MDR's Glaskowksy believes creative software developers will find
innovative uses for the T-buffering hardware. "I think there is also a
really good chance that application developers will figure out other ways
to use the T-buffer that 3dfx hasn't even thought about yet and produce
other kinds of special effects that will be very useful," he said. "And
that, I think, is perhaps its biggest potential."
Cyberbabe Lara Croft Joins Software Police
Cyberspace pin-up Lara Croft threw her virtual weight behind a new
anti-piracy advertising campaign Thursday to highlight widespread criminal
involvement in Britain's computer software market.
The European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) said that
80 percent of raids carried out by its U.K. crime unit on computer game
pirates uncovered evidence of other criminal activity, including drugs,
prostitution, pornography and terrorism.
Croft, the gun-toting sex symbol who stars in Tomb Raider, Britain's most
successful computer games series developed by software group Eidos Plc,
will appear in a poster and press campaign with the slogan ``Don't Play
Games With Criminals... It Will All End In Tears."
Roger Bennett, director general of ELSPA, said the campaign aimed to raise
awareness that cheap copies of favorite games were not being distributed by
``Robin Hood" characters.
``It is clear to us that criminals are moving into computer games piracy as
an easy means of funding other illegal activities and laundering cash," he
said.
ELSPA estimated that the British computer games industry loses three
billion pounds annually through piracy and the black market for pirate
games cost 525 million pounds in lost taxes in 1998.
Between 60 and 70 percent of consumer software bought in Europe originates
in Britain, ELSPA said.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Atari Video Club Announcments
From: DANAVC
Orders are now being taken for the Jagfest issue of the Atari Zone fanzine
(Color or Black/White)
The Color issue is $8.00
The Black/White issue is $2.00.
Details on how to order is at the club's website.
AVC online = http://avconline.atari.org
CGE Press Release from Songbird
CRYSTAL MINES AUTHOR TO APPEAR AT CGE, SONGBIRD GIVEWAYS
August 2, 1999
For immediate release:
ROCHESTER, MN -- Songbird Productions is working overtime to get
everything prepared for Classic Gaming Expo (CGE), which will be held in
Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 14-15. CGE is the premiere event in 1999 for
fans of classic gaming systems such as Atari, Intellivion, Vectrex, and
more.
Carl Forhan, owner of Songbird Productions, is pleased to announce that
Ken Beckett will be attending CGE, and will be present at the Songbird
booth at various times throughout the show. Ken Beckett is the author of
Crystal Mines (NES) and Crystal Mines II (Atari Lynx), and is assisting in
the development of the upcoming Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure
expansion, slated for unveiling at CGE.
Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure takes advantage of a hidden feature in
the existing Lynx Crystal Mines II cartridge -- the cartridge supports
downloads of new levels into Lynx RAM via the comlynx port. The product
will include Windows software on a CD-R and a special Lynx-to-PC serial
cable which also doubles as a developer cable for those who may own a BLL
or SIMIS cartridge for the Lynx.
Be sure to stop by the Songbird booth to meet Carl and Ken, and while
you're there, enter your name in the drawing for a number of prizes,
including a variety of 2600/7800/Lynx games and hardware.
To keep up to date with the latest news at Songbird Productions, be sure
to visit the company web site at http://songbird.atari.org, or send an
email to songbird@atari.org.
Copyright 1999 Songbird Productions. All rights reserved. This article
may be reprinted in its entirety.
PRESS RELEASE
1999 Classic Gaming Expo Documentary
THE OFFICIAL CLASSIC GAMING EXPO VIDEOTAPE DOCUMENTARY BEGINS TAKING ORDERS!
August 4, 1999
LOS ANGELES - Terminator Line Entertainment is deep into preproduction
on the official documentary for the upcoming Classic Gaming Expo (CGE),
which is set to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 14-15. The CGE
show is a celebration of the early years of classic gaming including
systems from such developers as Atari, Apple, Intellivion, Vectrex,
and more.
The video, which is set to run at approximately two hours, will cover
all aspects of the show including highlights from all the Keynote
Speakers - which include Steve Cartwright and David Crane (of
Activision), Christian Svensson (of MCV), Donald A. Thomas, Jr. (formerly
of Atari Corp now with VM Labs), Don Daglow and William C. Fisher (Blue
Sky Rangers), Michael Cartabiano and Patrick King (of Vectrex), and many
many more! Also covered in the video will be all the booths, show-goers,
the Museum of Classic Gaming systems, contests, and direct feeds
of all the new games being premiered at the show.
The video is set to be shot on Mini Digital Video and edited on-line
for maximum image quality. It will then be professionally duplicated
and mailed out. Current projections suggest that the video will ship
the first half of September.
Ordering information is available through the CGE Video website,
http://home.earthlink.net/~santora/cgevideo.html, or at the show
through the Atari Gaming Headquarters Booth.
Mark Santora, head of Terminator Line Entertainment, has been an
active member of the gaming and video community for the last
twenty years. His previous video work includes the highly praised
World of Atari 1998 Documentary, the Next Gen Debuts videos from E3,
AEO at E3, and several independent projects.
Copyright 1999 Terminator Line Entertainment. All rights reserved.
This article may be reprinted in its entirety.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Delphi Forums Sets New Record with Million Message Month
Delphi Dominates Community Creation Market with One Million Messages
Posted in July and 10 Million Total Messages
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 1999--Communities Built for Fox,
About.com, Xoom.com, MechWarrior3, ClassMates.com and Dictionary.com Drive
Unprecedented Growth
Delphi Forums, the Web's leading community creation services company, today
announced that more than one million messages were posted during the month
of July, and more than ten million messages have been posted since
launching last year. Because message boards are a core component of online
communities, message volume is the key indicator that Delphi tracks for
community vitality.
Also during the month of July, average pageviews per session increased from
18 to 20. These milestones demonstrate Delphi's unmatched ability to build
truly interactive communities for its partners, which include Fox News, Fox
Sports, About.com, Xoom.com, Microprose MechWarrior3®, ClassMates.com and
Dictionary.com and more than 80,000 active forum leaders.
``Today's announcement is further proof that no one understands how to help
companies build online communities better than Delphi," said Dan Bruns,
president and CEO of Delphi Forums. ``This tremendous growth in message
volume, pageviews per visit, time spent online, and registered participants
make Delphi's platform the biggest and most active community creation
service in the world."
Delphi delivers rich web-based communities by combining a powerful forum
development environment and technology with complete integration, technical
and promotional support. Delphi is a site-multiplier(TM) for partners who
want to build quality interactive communities using market-proven
technology and expertise. Because all activity takes place in moderated
forums, participants don't have to contend with ``spam" postings common on
other message services such as Usenet. And unlike chat sites, most activity
in Delphi's forums takes place in personalized message boards so anyone can
participate or view discussions at any time. Delphi's services are
available through free options for individuals, and special programs for
Brand Affiliates and Enterprise Partners.
Delphi Forums is the Web's leading community creation service and the
interactive ingredient in many popular destination sites. Delphi provides
its partners, from large Internet sites to individual forum leaders, a
unique environment in which to create, manage, and grow their online
groups. Delphi's feature-rich, web-based discussion platform, sophisticated
forum management tools and comprehensive support appeal to Web companies
wishing to build communities quickly, inexpensively, and with no internal
development. With more than 80,000 active forums and two million registered
participants, Delphi's Forums constitute the largest collection of
self-managed communities on the Web. Among Delphi's partners include:
Xoom.com, Fox News and Fox Sports, About.com, InfoSpace.com, Advance
Internet, PlanetAll (a subsidiary of Amazon.com), and Classmates.com.
Microsoft May Offer Free Web Access
Microsoft Corp., intensifying its battle with America Online Inc., is
considering offering cheap or free Internet access to boost its flagging
MSN online service, industry analysts said Thursday.
Rob Bennett, marketing director for Microsoft's consumer and commerce
group, said no announcement is imminent but confirmed the company is
``looking at a lot of different pricing models" to jump-start MSN.
Word of Microsoft 's plans came just two weeks after the company launched
an assault on AOL's hugely successful instant-messaging service that
executives on both sides call a "sideshow" to the main battle between the
computer industry titans.
``It's pretty much the cyberspace version of the Cold War," said Jae Kim,
an analyst at Paul Kagan Associates in Carmel, Calif. ``Each company is
going out and trying to extend its sphere of influence."
Microsoft has shifted course often since it took direct aim at America
Online four years ago with its launch of MSN, then known as the Microsoft
Network.
While the service quickly established itself as one of the top Internet
access providers, Microsoft had to scrap its original proprietary model and
has been struggling to catch up with the rise of the Internet ever since.
AOL went on to become the undisputed market leader with nearly 20 million
subscribers, including its secondary CompuServe unit, compared with an
estimated 1.7 million for MSN, which no longer discloses its subscriber
base.
``Microsoft is not used to being left in the dust," said Gary Arlen,
president of Arlen Communications, a Bethesda, Md., research group. ``There
are some very big egos at stake, but more importantly Microsoft wants to
drive traffic to its transactional business, which is where its heart
really is."
Microsoft executives told industry analysts last month the Redmond,
Wash.-based software giant intends to stay in the access business for just
that reason.
``We're totally committed to getting as many people online as possible, and
access is a key way to do that," Bennett told Reuters. ``There are more
ways you can differentiate yourselves than just pricing, although certainly
that is one way that is resonating with people."
Stock in AOL and other Internet access providers fell Thursday after a
report on Microsoft's plans in the Wall Street Journal.
AOL hit a session low of $77 before coming back to close at $83.50 on the
New York Stock Exchange, down $3.94. Prodigy Communications Corp.
(Nasdaq:PRGY - news) fell $1.25 to $17 and EarthLink Network Inc. fell
$3.31 to $37.06, while Microsoft gained 81 cents to close at $85.75, all on
Nasdaq.
``It's going to threaten profit margins, especially at America Online, and
that has investors worried," said Peter Coolidge, senior equity trader at
Brean Murray & Co. ``It's hard to compete against free."
AOL generated $3.3 billion in revenues from monthly subscriber fees in its
latest fiscal year, or nearly 70 percent of its total $4.8 billion.
But AOL already competes against free Internet access providers like
NetZero Inc., which began operating its advertising-supported service in
October and already has 1.2 million subscribers, according to Interactive
Services Report.
Microsoft and AOL also have been heavily promoting cheap or free computers
that require a three-year commitment to their Internet access services.
For their part executives of Dulles, Va.-based America Online said they
were not concerned about a price war with Microsoft, noting that few
customers flinched when they raised the price for AOL's unlimited monthly
access last year to $21.95 a month from $19.95.
``People aren't making that decision based on price," said Barry Schuler,
president of AOL Interactive Services. ``Clearly Microsoft has tried and
tried but has been unable to deliver a product that strikes a chord with
people, so what they're saying is they're going to take the low road with
pricing."
Anti-Cybersquatting Bill Clears
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation Thursday aimed at
limiting so-called cybersquatting by people who register Internet domain
names with the purpose of selling them later.
Domain names are the addresses computer users enter to access a particular
Web site. They are sandwiched between ``www." and ``.com," ``.net" or
``.org."
Some people have found a lucrative practice in registering Web addresses
using the trademarks of famous companies in hopes of later forcing the
companies to pay sizable amounts of money to buy the rights to the Internet
locations.
The legislation to limit the practice was sponsored by a bipartisan group
including Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
Approved by voice vote and sent to the full Senate, the bill would allow
trademark owners to recover statutory damages in cases where it is proven
that a trademarked name was registered in bad faith by a person who
intended to unfairly profit from its sale.
The measure also would allow trademark owners to seek the forfeiture,
cancelation or transfer of an infringing domain name after satisfying the
court that it has tried but was unable to locate the person who registered
it.
Hatch said many cybersquatters register domain names under aliases or
otherwise provide false information, which makes it difficult for
corporations and others to locate them.
The bill also would encourage registrars of domain names to work with
companies to prevent cybersquatting. But it contains no criminal penalties.
Hatch said the practice harms the public by eroding consumer confidence and
hurting businesses by tarnishing the ``goodwill value" associated with
their names.
Last week, the committee heard numerous tales consumer confusion stemming
from the false registration of domain names.
In one case, it learned of a cybersquatter who registered the names
``attphonecard.com" and ``attcallingcard.com," allegedly to sell calling
cards, and solicited personal information, including credit card numbers,
Hatch said.
Other examples involved the Dell computer company and automaker Porsche.
The bill is S. 1255.
Flawed Software Vulnerable Via Web
Flaws in the Microsoft Office software suite could be used by pranksters or
cybercrooks through e-mail or rogue Web sites to retrieve, alter or erase
data in computers used by millions of people.
Some newer Compaq and Hewlett-Packard computers that can be upgraded
automatically over the Internet also contain flaws that could be similarly
exploited, but only over the Web, security experts have found.
Attempts to take advantage of either set of vulnerabilities would not be
detected or prevented by antivirus software but there is no evidence that
such mischief has occurred, said Russ Cooper of Lindsay, Ontario, in a
telephone interview Saturday.
Cooper, who runs a Windows NT security mailing list called NTbugtraq, said
Microsoft developers expect to have an Office fix ready as early as
Tuesday.
Andrew Dixon, group product manager for Office, did not return a call for
comment and other knowledgeable Microsoft officials also were unavailable,
company spokesman Dan Leach said.
Jeffrey Schiller, computer security chief at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, said the problems illustrate the pitfalls of upgrading programs
over the Web or through e-mail despite the convenience.
``It's not clear to me that it's a wise idea to write all these scripting
files ... that let you completely control the computer," Schiller said.
Now that the flaws are known, recreational hackers and criminals may well
be scrambling to take advantage of them before the fixes are in place, he
warned.
The vulnerabilities were first reported Saturday in The New York Times.
Viruses typically have spread through macros, small programs combining a
series of commands. A computer user opening e-mail or importing material
from a Web site with macros typically is alerted and may disable the macros
or reject documents and files that contain them.
The new vulnerability is from a different source.
Last week, Juan Carlos Cuartango, a programmer who previously found
security gaps in Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator,
discovered that Internet Explorer and Windows are configured to ``trust"
Word, Excel, Powerpoint and other Office program documents. They may be
used as Trojan Horses to implant malicious code into a computer, triggering
low-level operating system commands that could change or destroy files or
even an entire hard drive without resorting to macros.
``This is a bug that needs to be fixed, a bug of huge proportions," Cooper
said. ``The ramifications are quite large."
Office 2000 and some of the final versions of Office 97 are free from the
flaw, but it is present in millions of installed versions of Office 97 and
probably also in many older versions, possibly dating as far back as 1992,
Cooper said.
Dixon told the Times that Microsoft may offer a mechanism to alert computer
users of embedded system commands and data base queries before they are
executed.
``We take security issues very seriously," he said. ``Right now, we are
working on testing a solution and steps for customers to take."
One Compaq flaw was detected in November by Frank Farance of Farance Inc.,
an information technology consultant, and rediscovered July 23 by Richard
Smith, president of Pharlap Software in Cambridge, Mass.
It involves a Java applet, or small program, that allows the quick upgrade
of Compaq Presario computer programs over the Internet.
But the applet also can be directed by a Web page to reveal e-mail lists,
release financial records or provide addresses, phone listings and credit
card numbers.
Smith said he found a similar problem with some Hewlett-Packard computers.
Hewlet-Packard officials would not discuss the matter.
A Compaq spokesman said other computer makers have similar problems and
suggested there was little chance that a hacker could make malicious use of
the applet.
For now, Compaq plans to instruct users on how to disable the utility for
now, then will offer an improved applet that is being designed to prevent
breaches.
Symantec Denies Vandals Infected System
Internet vandals broke into the servers of network security and utilities
firm Symantec Corp. Monday morning -- defacing the company's Web site.
While the vandals claimed to have infected Symantec's network with a worm,
quaintly dubbed Bloworm, two months ago, the company denied Monday that any
worm existed on its systems.
"There is no virus infection, no worm infection, and no danger to
customers," said Richard Saunders, a spokesman for the Cupertino, Calif.,
company.
"They didn't get in beyond posting a mildly offensive, but otherwise
impotent, message on our home page."
The five cyber vandals, who identified themselves only by their handles,
claimed otherwise. "0ur w0rm iz spreading around (Symantec's) netw0rk and
infecting (it's) f1lez, since about 2 months ago. phear," stated the group
in a document of typically spelling-impaired hacker-speak. The document was
left behind by the group after they broke into the servers of Symantec at
about 5 a.m. PT Monday.
Worms are virus-like programs that infect systems through networks
automatically without the need for an unknowing user to open a file or run
an application.
Symantec has always been a popular target for Internet vandals looking for
a hard nut to crack. The only difference -- this time someone actually got
in.
"What this incident does show is that you cannot be complacent towards this
kind of threat," said Saunders. The Symantec spokesmen could not detail how
the cyber vandals entered the company's network.
Symantec engineers took down the page within an hour of its posting, but
not before the media in Europe got wind of the defacement. The BBC posted a
story early Monday morning.
Hacker Vandalizes Security Site
A hacker used an unusually clever exploit Thursday to vandalize a prominent
Internet site devoted to computer security, the online equivalent of a
thief burglarizing police headquarters.
The embarrassing electronic assault against the AntiOnline site occurred
days after other hackers altered the Web site for Symantec Corp., whose
software is used by millions of consumers to protect against viruses and
electronic snoops.
In the latest incident, a hacker using an Internet account in Russia
successfully tricked the site's computer to load hidden software code from
elsewhere onto one of its own Web pages, called ``Eye on the Underground."
Although the hacker never directly infiltrated AntiOnline's own computers,
the hidden code redirected visitors to a Web page with the image of an
unblinking eye, along with the message ``expensive security systems do not
protect from stupidity."
``I wouldn't call it sophisticated, but I'd call it clever," acknowledged
John ``JP" Vranesevich, who runs AntiOnline in Beaver, Penn., a popular
site specializing in news about hackers and security.
The affected AntiOnline page was designed to automatically collect and
display messages posted to an online discussion group at another Internet
site popular among hackers.
But someone using the Internet account traced to Russia slipped hidden
computer code into the text of one of those messages, which was then
automatically loaded onto AntiOnline's site and sabotaged it.
``We were doing filtering," Vranesevich said. ``We realized this wasn't
coming from a Catholic academy Web site. There was an error in of our
filters."
Vranesevich repaired his site just over an hour later, but this week's
attacks raised questions about Internet security: If organizations like
AntiOnline and Symantec, which clearly are aware of potential security
problems, can't protect their sites, how can the rest of the Internet?
``There is no absolute security," said James Adams, chief executive
officer of Infrastructure Defense Inc., which works to protect companies
against hackers. ``All you can do is try to keep ahead of the game. For
anybody to claim they're totally secure, it's not true."
Adams said Web sites specializing in computer security need to take greater
precautions because successful attacks against these computers can carry
greater glory among the underground hacking community.
``There are brownie points to be gained," Adams said.
``Do we need better education? Yes," agreed Russ Cooper of NTBugtraq, a
popular Internet discussion group about computer security. ``Do we need
better tools? Yes. Does that mean I'm never going to suffer an attack? No.
``There isn't a piece of software you double-click to set up and it's
secure," Cooper said. ``You have to have staff and policy, and you have to
have monitoring."
Vranesevich, who was demonized by some hackers when he announced over the
summer that AntiOnline will help authorities trace and prosecute computer
attacks, noted that other Web site operators aren't as vulnerable to the
same technique that affected his site.
``We sort of caused it ourselves," he said. ``We visit the hacker sites
dynamically, and that is the type of scenario your average system
administrator probably wouldn't encounter. We're doing things far more
obscure."
Mitnick: 'I Was Never A Malicious Person'
Kevin Mitnick and his attorneys are asking a federal judge to unseal a
court filing that they claim proves the government was guilty of misconduct
while building its case against the hacker. The goal, says Mitnick in a
rare interview with ZDNN, is to clear his name.
"At the beginning of this case the federal government manipulated the facts
to allege losses that were grossly inflated," Mitnick said in a telephone
interview Thursday night from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention
Center. "Hopefully, if the court considers this motion and rules upon its
merits, it will clear me publicly of the allegations that I caused these
significant losses."
The motion, filed by defense attorney Don Randolph on July 22, is the
latest conflict in a case that's remained unusually acrimonious,
considering that both sides reached a plea settlement in March. Under the
terms of the agreement, Mitnick pleaded guilty to seven felonies and
admitted to penetrating computers at Motorola, Fujitsu and Sun Microsystems,
and downloading proprietary source code. On Aug. 9, he's expected to be
sentenced to 46 months in prison, on top of the 22 months he received for
cell phone cloning and an earlier supervised release violation.
The only sentencing issue left unresolved is the amount of money Mitnick
will owe his victims.
Prosecutors are seeking $1.5 million in restitution -- a modest figure
compared to the $80 million the government sought in an appeals court last
year, when it successfully fought to hold the hacker without bail. That
figure, though no longer promulgated by prosecutors, vexes Mitnick, who
sees a "snowball effect" of bad press that began with a 1994 front-page
article in the New York Times.
"Because of this assault that was made upon me by John Markoff of the New
York Times, then the federal government grossly exaggerating the losses in
the case and the damages I caused, I have a desire to clear my name,"
Mitnick said. "The truth of the matter is that I was never a malicious
person. I admit I was mischievous, but not malicious in any sense."
Markoff reported on Mitnick for the New York Times, and went on to
co-author Tsutomu Shimomura's book, "Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of
America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw -- By The Man Who Did It," slated as
an upcoming movie from Miramax. Markoff's portrayal of Mitnick, and the
profit it ultimately earned him, has been the subject of some criticism
from Mitnick's supporters, and raised eyebrows with a handful of
journalists.
Markoff's most enduring Mitnick anecdote is the story that the hacker
cracked NORAD in the early 1980s, a claim that was recycled as recently as
last May by another New York Times reporter. "I never even attempted to
access their computer, let alone break into it," Mitnick said. "Nor did I
do a host of allegations that he says I'm guilty of."
For his part, Markoff says of the NORAD story: "I had a source who was a
friend of Kevin's who told me that. I was not the first person to report
it, nor the only person to report it."
The July 22 motion filed by Mitnick's attorney accuses the government of
coaching victim companies on how to artificially inflate their losses. The
filing is based on documents Randolph subpoenaed from Sun, which show that
shortly after Mitnick's February 1995 arrest, the FBI specifically
instructed Sun to calculate its losses as "the value of the source code"
Mitnick downloaded, and to keep the figure "realistic."
Following the FBI's advice, Sun estimated $80 million in losses based on
the amount they paid to license the Unix operating system. Six other
companies responded, using software development costs as the primary
calculus of loss. The total bill came to $299,927,389.61, significantly
more than the $1.5 million the government says Mitnick inflicted in repair
and monitoring costs, and theft of services and the $5 million to $10
million both sides stipulated to for purposes of sentencing.
"At the beginning of this litigation, the government misrepresented to the
federal judiciary, the public and the media the losses that occurred in my
case," Mitnick said.
To Randolph, it all smacks of collusion. "What comes out from the e-mails
that we have, is that the so-called loss figures solicited by the
government were research and development costs at best, fantasy at worst,"
he said. "I would classify it as government manipulation of the evidence."
However, prosecutor David Schindler dismissed Randolph's claims as "silly
and preposterous."
"What would be inappropriate is to tell them what dollar amount to arrive
at. In terms of the methodology, in terms of what is to be included in loss
amounts, that direction is something we often provide because we're aware
of what components are allowable under law, and which components are not,"
he said.
Schindler said development costs are a valid indicator of victim loss, but
acknowledges that putting a dollar figure on software can be difficult.
Mitnick and his attorney both say there's more to the story, but they can't
talk about it. At Mitnick's last court appearance on July 12, the judge
granted a government request that any filings relating to victim loss be
sealed from the public.
"As much as the government would like to, you can't take the recipe for ice
and file it under seal and have it become confidential," said Mitnick, who,
along with his attorney, is challenging the confidentiality of the loss
information, and asking for the motion to be unsealed.
Mitnick claims he smells a cover-up. "The government should not be
permitted to bury the truth of the case from the public and the media by
seeking and obtaining a protective order to essentially force me to enter a
code of silence," he said.
"Our only concern, as it has been from day one, is the protection of the
victims of Mitnick's crimes," prosecutor Schindler said. "Why Mitnick and
his lawyers want to continue to harass, embarrass and abuse them remains a
mystery to us, but it's something that we will continue to oppose
vigorously."
Although the software costs are no longer being used against his client,
Randolph claimed that by "manipulating the loss figures," the government
raises the issue of whether even the more modest $1.5 million calculation
is accurate. In the sealed motion, he's seeking an evidentiary hearing to
explore the matter, and asking that Mitnick be released on a signature bond
pending that hearing.
And if Mitnick winds up owing money anyway? "Were asking for sanctions that
the government pay the restitution," Mitnick said, "and that the judge
recommend that I be immediately designated to a halfway house for the
government's misconduct in this case."
Excerpt of the Sun documents are available on the Free Kevin Web site,
maintained by members of a tireless grass-roots movement that's protested
the hacker's imprisonment for years. "I'd like to sincerely thank all my
friends and supporters for all the support they've given me over this long
period of time," Mitnick said. "I'd like to thank them from my heart."
Microsoft to Hackers: Crack This!
In an attempt to burnish its tarnished reputation for network security,
Microsoft issued an open challenge on Tuesday to the hacking community. But
potential testers barely got a chance to attempt to break Windows 2000's
security system, as the test server Microsoft offered crashed and stayed
down for most of the past 24 hours.
Microsoft placed a web server running the latest beta of Windows 2000 and
Internet Information Server (IIS) outside its firewalls, and invited the
public to go after target files and user accounts it placed there. The
company's reason for doing so? "We hope that this kind of open testing will
allow us to ship our most secure OS yet," said a Microsoft spokesperson.
The hacking community was and is largely unimpressed, however. In its
posted coverage, the Hacker News Network called the challenge "an obvious
ploy to get free publicity...It is hoped that this is not a primary testing
method."
Members of the Linux-enthusiast site Slashdot for the most part concurred,
accusing Microsoft of using anti-Microsoft sentiment for free auditing.
Meanwhile, the Linux community created a counter-challenge of its own.
Tuesday afternoon, LinuxPPC, the developers and distributors of a
PowerPC-native version of Linux, challenged hackers to crack one of its
servers. Unlike Microsoft, which did not offer any kind of incentive or
award to hackers, LinuxPPC is giving the machine to the first person to
break in.
If it was meant as a publicity stunt, the Microsoft security challenge may
have backfired. As soon as the site went online, Microsoft ran into
technical difficulties with the test server. Early visitors reported
problems with the home-page HTML and Javascript, some serious enough to
prevent them accessing the page at all. Posted status logs indicate that
the
server had to be rebooted at least once because the system log was
full, and some services were unavailable at reboot.
Most significantly, the server was offline for most of Tuesday due to what
Microsoft described as "router problems". Though intermittently available
Wednesday morning, the site was down at press time, and appears to have
been pulled from DNS servers entirely; ping tests indicated the MS router
was functional. Some Slashdot contributors reported seeing a notice that
the site had been withdrawn, but no such notice is currently posted on any
publicly accessible MS server.
A Microsoft spokesperson attributed some of the difficulties to
thunderstorms in Seattle on Tuesday, but had no comment on the site's
status at press time.
Microsoft Prepares 'Comet' for Orbit
Microsoft Corp. is gearing up to launch a pre-beta suite of networking and
security products, code-named Comet.
Encompassing a proxy server, firewall, fax server, interactive voice
response (IVR) engine, and other goodies, Comet has not yet been publicly
announced. BetaNews.Com webmaster Nate Mook first reported the development
Wednesday after anonymous tipsters pointed him to the pre-beta Web site.
"They're going to start inviting beta testers very shortly," says Mook. "I
assume people in the Windows 2000 testing program will be the ones
invited."
Comet also includes a preview version of Microsoft's H.323 Proxy and H.323
Gatekeeper. These components are designed to offer beefed up communications
utilizing NetMeeting 3.0 and other H.323-compliant apps.
According to Comet release notes, the products will be released as a unit
for pre-beta testing, but likely will be broken apart for commercial
shipping.
Says the document: "...this combination does not represent the
configuration of the final products. Actual ship vehicles, product plans
and configurations will be announced at a later date."
Also according to the release notes, Comet will initially be released only
on Windows 2000 Server RC1 for the x86 platform. The DEC Alpha platform is
not supported in the developer beta.
PC Makers Line Up Behind Intel's New Pentium III, Celeron
Intel Corp. topped off its two PC processor lines with new high-end chips
-- the 600MHz Pentium III and the 500MHz Celeron. Computer makers,
including IBM, Compaq Computer Corp., Toshiba America Information Systems
Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., quickly followed suit with new PCs,
workstations and servers based on the processors.
Along with its new systems, IBM launched the IBM PC Lifecycle Care program,
a support offering designed to help customers determine when to upgrade
their PCs. Under the program, IBM will work with customers to designate
so-called workhorse models on which they can standardize. Through a
customized e-support Web page, participants will be kept up-to-date on
technology changes as well as receive previews of upcoming IBM products.
The program covers PC 300s, ThinkPads, IntelliStations and Netfinity
servers. Pricing for the program was not available.
IBM's new $1,895 PC 300PL features the 600MHz Pentium III, 128MB of
Synchronous Dynamic RAM and up to a 20.4GB hard drive. Its IntelliStation E
Pro and the dual-processor-capable M Pro, which include the new Pentium
III, 128MB SDRAM, Intel's 440 BX chip set and 2X AGP (Accelerated Graphics
Port), and up to an 18.2GB hard drive, sell for $2,249 and $2,699,
respectively.
Compaq announced the Prosignia Desktop 330, incorporating the new Pentium
III, for small-business users. The system, which starts at $2,129, includes
up to a 37GB hard drive, 384MB of RAM and a 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive. The PC
also comes standard with Compaq's Prosignia Internet keyboard and Microsoft
Office 2000 Small Business.
The Houston-based company also unveiled a DeskPro EN model using the 600MHz
PIII starting at $2,239. New DeskPro EN models and EP systems incorporating
the 500MHz Celeron chip are available starting at $1,129. A Professional
Workstation AP200 and AP400, with single or dual 600MHz Pentium IIIs, start
at $2,671 and $2,699, respectively.
Toshiba rolled out the 600MHz Pentium III-based Equium 7100 series with up
to a 20GB hard drive. Prices for the PC start at $1,599 including
three-year parts and one-year labor limited warranty.
Hewlett-Packard introduced a slew of systems based on the new processors.
Three new NetServer servers -- the LPr, LH 3 and E 60 -- each use up to two
600MHz Pentium IIIs. The LPr starts at $4,230, while the LH 3 starts at
$5,130. Pricing was unavailable for the E 60 models.
HP also launched two new Vectra desktop PCs, a Kayak workstation and two
Pavilion desktop PCs. The Vectra Vli8 comes equipped with the 600MHz
Pentium III, 64MB of SDRAM, a 13.5GB hard drive, 32X CD-ROM, a Matrox G200
graphics card and Windows NT. Pricing was not available.
The Vectra Vei7 includes the 500MHz Celeron chip, 32MB of SDRAM, 4.3GB hard
drive, CD-ROM drive, sound card and Windows 95 for $899.
The dual-processor-capable Kayak XU PC Workstation, with the 600MHz Pentium
III, 128MB of SDRAM, 9.1GB hard drive, Matrox Millenium G400 graphics, 32X
CD-ROM drive and Windows NT, is $3,509.
The 600MHz Pentium III-based Pavilion 8590C and the Pavilion 8560C, with
the 500MHz Celeron, are $2,299 and $1,099, respectively.
The various vendors' PCs are all shipping now.
The 600MHz Pentium III, with 512KB of Level 2 cache, is available in
1,000-unit quantities for $669. The 500MHz Celeron, also in units of 1,000,
is $167.
New-look PCs Coming This Fall
Say good-bye to the ho-hum boxy beige PC this fall.
At least if Intel Corp. and a handful of PC makers have their way.
Later this month, Intel will preview new designs from top-tier PC makers
that will ship starting this fall.
The new-look PCs have been developed under an initiative called Easy PC,
which includes Intel, Microsoft and PC makers Gateway, Hewlett-Packard and
IBM.
The goal: Make PCs easier to use through software advances and simplified
hardware design.
The initiative, launched in September 1998, has already resulted in several
changes on the PC landscape. New hardware design guidelines are eliminating
many older technologies. And Microsoft pledges to make computers easier to
use with the next-generations of its operating systems. Finally, the
initiative will produce new methods of testing ease of use for PCs.
The net result of the effort will be the launch this fall of smaller, sleek
PCs, built around guidelines for easier-to-use hardware released by Intel
earlier this year. The machines are easy to setup, configure and get online
with this fall, according to proponents.
A typical Easy PC will offer a 500MHz to 600MHz Celeron or Pentium III
processor with Intel's 810 chip set. The low-cost chip set offers a
built-in graphics engine. A version of the 810 chipset, the 810E, is due
later in the year for use with Pentium III.
The Easy PC will also shed parallel ports, serial ports and ISA support. No
more floppy drive, either. It will come in a variety of designs, including
an all-in-one package similar to Apple Computer Inc.'s iMac, said Steve
Whalley, Intel's PC initiatives manager, in Chandler, Ariz.
Several of the PC makers involved in the Easy PC initiative will offer an
early look at their products at Intel's Developers Forum in Palm Springs at
the end this month.
Easy PC will target mostly first-time buyers, especially those who have
been scared away on the perception that computers are too difficult to
operate.
"Until the PC becomes an unobtrusive part of the furniture in the room, its
use is not going to take off," Whalley said. "It's hard to be intimidated
by a fish or a rabbit or a different shape.
The new computers will likely be more expensive than a similarly configured
"beige box" PC. Over time, however, ease-of-use features will be
incorporated into all PCs, reducing prices.
"There are people who are never going to buy a PC. However, there's an
audience out there that would benefit from easier to use PCs. But someone
has to produce one," said Schelley Olhava, a research analyst for
International Data Corp. in Mountain View, Calif.
Olhava credited Apple Computer Inc.'s iMac as the standard for ease of use
in a personal computer.
"There is a segment that's attracted to the iMac, because it's easy to
use," she said. "You're paying a premium to buy an iMac [about $1,199] but
the ease of use is attractive."
One of the first PCs to go the Easy PC route is sold by Mattel Inc. The
company yesterday announced two new PCs for children, the Barbie PC and Hot
Wheels PC.
Mattel's products may sound like kids stuff, but they feature Intel's small
Flex ATX motherboard -- developed for use in Easy PCs -- and Universal
Serial Bus technology for connecting peripherals packed into small,
brightly colored chassis. They also lack "legacy hardware," such as ISA
slots, serial ports and parallel ports, and are instead bundled with a USB
keyboard and Mouse.
"I wouldn't call these the ultimate easy-to-use PCs," said Whalley, but he
indicated that they're a step in the direction in which Easy PC is headed.
"This time next year, back to school and holiday 2000, we'll see more
significant improvements in ease of use," he said.
Intel is expected to continue to push the development of Easy PCs by
announcing the availability of the Easier to Use Hardware Implementation
Guide 2000 version 1.0 at its Developers Forum at the end of the month. The
guide, for PC makers, details the removing of legacy hardware and
implementing Instantly Available PC Technology, which will allow PCs to go
into a sleep mode, instead of being shut down completely.
A new set of PC design guidelines, called PC 2001, will also include
guidelines for building easy-to-use PCs, Whalley said. PC 2001, expected to
be finalized in the first half of next year, will help original equipment
manufacturers specify form factors, thermal designs and other issues, such
as the number of USB ports to build into each PC. It, too, will be
announced at the Developers Forum.
Many improvements will come through operating system software. Microsoft
Corp. is in early beta testing stages of the next version of its Consumer
Windows operating system. Code-named Millennium, the OS is expected to add
a host of new ease-of-use features.
Intel is also developing methods to measure ease of use in PCs. The tests
would help OEMs improve their designs by measuring things such as the
amount of time it takes to set up a PC, how long it takes to register with
an online service and the ease of attaching peripheral devices. Also
measured would be common operations such as creating or moving files from
folder to folder.
Those tests include the Intel Initial Experience Predictor Tool, for
measuring the ease with which a PC can be set up, which will be discussed
at the developers forum.
More information about the Easy PC Initiative is available at Intel's
Developer Web site.
Sun Microsystems Designs Java Chip
Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of its free Java programming
language, Sun Microsystems is creating a computer chip designed to run
software written with that code.
The microprocessor - named MAJC and pronounced ``magic" - is intended to
run both computers and consumer electronic devices, the company said
Monday.
The move would bring Sun into competition with Intel and its
market-dominating computer chips, especially the Pentium line. In recent
years, numerous attempts to compete with Intel on price and design have
failed.
Sun, however, is familiar with such challenges, having chipped away at
Microsoft's dominance in software by creating Java and giving programmers
open access to the code, which can be used to write applications for a
variety of systems.
The new chips would improve a machine's ability to run Java-based programs
for applications such as voice recognition, networking, three-dimensional
graphics and other complex computing, said Marc Tremblay, chief architect
on the project.
But the chips will also work with several other programming languages, he
said.
Sun plans to present an overview of the MAJC architecture at a technical
conference in mid-August and unveil the chip in October.
``This addresses where the industry is headed," said Jay Stevens, a senior
vice president of Buckingham Research Group. ``The movement of data, video
and voice, very quickly, efficiently and cheaply, is the leading edge."
Sun would not disclose what company will be fabricating the new chips, nor
what companies they are working with to build computers and devices with
the chips.
Palm IIIe 'Special Edition' To Debut
3Com Corp.'s Palm Computing Inc. division announced a Special Edition
version of the Palm IIIe handheld organizer on Tuesday.
What makes the Special Edition special? Cosmetics. The device is identical
to a Palm IIIe except that its housing and flip lid are clear rather than
the traditional gray.
The $229 Palm IIIe Special Edition will not be available through Palm's
Hardware Discount Program, unlike the regular Palm IIIe, which is expected
to be soon, according to sources close to the Santa Clara, Calif., company.
The Palm IIIe organizer, introduced last month, is the screen-enhanced
version of the Palm III. It includes 2MB of memory that stores 6,000
addresses, five years of appointments, 1,500 "to do" items, 1,500 memos and
200 e-mail messages.
Palm Computing is at www.palm.com.
Morton Downey Jr., '80s TV Host, Turns To Web
Morton Downey Jr., the chain-smoking television talk show host whose loud
and confrontational style made him a hit in the 1980s, is hoping to
recapture his popularity on the Internet.
Downey, who launched a Web site earlier this month offering business and
political commentary, joins a growing number of television personalities
such as newsmen Hugh Downs and Lou Dobbs, who left TV for the Internet.
By applying the same brashness that made him famous until his show was
canceled in 1990, Downey intends to make his Web site
(http://www.mortondowneyjr.net) a home base for fans.
Downey, 66, said in a recent interview that the Internet gives him a new
way tap his reputation, and perhaps make a little money along the way.
``Most of the old Downey shows are evergreens," he said. ``A lot of the
content comes from the old shows."
Beyond selling decade-old programs and T-shirts, the Web site offers
visitors Downey's opinions on everything from Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic to the importance of saving money.
Downey has a TV series, called ``Discovering Wall Street," currently being
carried by about 100 stations throughout the country that will also be part
of the site.
Already, his armchair analysis on companies such as Pfizer Inc. and Procter
& Gamble Co. has appeared online, employing few words and many quips to
describe their businesses.
Downey has praised the merits of real estate investment trusts, or REITS,
saying: ``These babies are low volatility investments in tangible assets."
Downey said the new site is not aimed at promoting specific businesses or
stocks, but he hopes to generate revenues through advertising and
merchandising. He did not elaborate.
Speaking by telephone from his home in Los Angeles, Downey said he has been
keeping busy since his notorious TV show went off the air in 1990.
Downey, who has a doctorate in political science, has been working as a
corporate lobbyist and appearing as a political commentator on TV.
Downey, whose on-camera smoking was a regular part of his in-your-face
style, said he quit the habit after undergoing lung cancer surgery in 1996.
Downey has since become a public advocate in anti-smoking campaigns.
A spokesman for the Web site said an anti-smoking message will be included
in the its contents.
Downey admitted his new Web site is a transformation of sorts, but insisted
he's still the same person. ``My persona has changed, but the personality
is always the same," he said.
Study Finds Home PC Users Keen On Home Networking
More than 17 million U.S. households are interested in networking their
personal computers, printers and other devices so allow household members
can share information and Internet access, a study released Monday by
researchers Yankee Group said.
About 37 percent of households with personal computers (PC), and 50 percent
of households with more than one PC, liked the idea of linking information
products -- though the concept is new and not many products are widely
available to do so.
``While the market is still rather new and not well understood by
consumers, these findings suggest there is pent-up demand for consumers to
share applications such as high-speed Internet access, video and audio
content, or a common home printer," said Boyd Peterson, vice president at
technology market consulting firm Yankee Group.
Of 2,000 PC households in the United States that responded to the Yankee
Group survey, 68 percent have more than one family member who uses the
Internet, and report instances where more than one family member wants to
get online at the same time.
Among other things, home networking would allow a household to share
Internet access among several PCs, thereby allowing several family members
to surf the Web simultaneously through a single connection.
``The key challenge for companies offering Home Networking solutions is to
bring the right mix of product functionality to the right group of users,"
says Karuna Uppal, Yankee Group Home Networking senior analyst.
Other desired applications include: printer sharing, sharing of video and
audio content, and multi-user gaming.
File Sharing A New Portal Application?
What if you want to post pictures on the Web of your new baby, but don't
have a home page? Or you have some files that you want to make available to
a select group of people, but don't want to clog up your e-mail server
shipping them around?
JustOn Inc. Wednesday announced plans to help consumers solve those
problems by letting them upload files to its site and share them with a
select group of people.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup isn't the only one getting into the
business. Yahoo! Inc. is beta testing a Briefcase application that would
allow consumers to store digital images and other files online, and share
them with friends.
JustOn is hoping that other portal sites will follow on that trend, and
license its application.
"Most of the portals will also have that functionality. Some will build it
themselves. But everybody else will most likely outsource," said Simon
Khalaf, president of JustOn.
Khalaf said his company plans to add additional features such as virus
checking and encryption.
"It's not just a briefcase where you can put baby pictures. We're making it
a product small businesses can use," he said.
JustOn is focusing mainly on file sharing. But other companies have
expressed interest in the picture side of things. Eastman Kodak Co.'s
PhotoNet service lets consumers receive digital copies of their prints
online, and e-mail them to friends. The company has also signed a deal with
America Online Inc. to present the pictures within AOL's service.
Competition Fierce In Online Pet Industry
White Labradors lounge in the corridors, as executives compare notes on cat
psychiatrists and smile down on expensively framed photos of pets that
decorate their desks.
It looks like the ultimate in touchy-feely work places, where furry
creatures take priority over finances, deadlines and other drudgeries of
the human work world.
But looks can be misleading and in truth it's a dog-eat-dog world even here
-- many would say especially here -- in the online pet store industry.
Not even the most opportunistic entrepreneurs have dared to attempt selling
live pets over the Internet. But in the past several months at least half a
dozen companies have set up shop offering every pet product imaginable,
from organic cat litter, to iguana soap, and top-of-the line brass parrot
cages.
At least four of these online pet stores have received more than $10
million in venture capital, dwarfing the amounts Internet pioneers like
Yahoo had to get by with in their early days, and making the online pet
business one of the most heavily funded and fiercely competitive sectors of
e-commerce.
``It came completely out of nowhere," says Andrea Reisman, co-founder and
chief executive of San Francisco-based Petopia.com, which had been regarded
as an underdog in the race until it secured some $66 million in financing
last month.
``One day we went to investors to talk about pets and in the space of two
weeks, half a dozen serious competitors emerged," recalls Reisman, a proud
dog owner who plans to equip the company's new offices with dog doors in
all the board rooms.
Today Petopia is in competition with Petstore.com, a startup-based in
Emeryville, Calif.; along with Petsmart.com, the Pasadena, Calif. online
store launched last month by the Petsmart Inc. superchain; and Pets.com,
another San Francisco-based startup that has the not so small advantage of
being backed by online powerhouse Amazon.com .
If it is hard to keep track of the names now, it may become even more so.
Other general pet sites like PetPlanet.com Inc also plan to open pet stores
shortly.
There are different versions on how the online pet store business came
seemingly out of nowhere to become one of the most hotly-contested spaces
on the Internet. Some entrepreneurs claim a love of animals and a desire to
work in a good, ethical business. Others describe a more calculated process
in which they eliminated all the categories, like books, that already had
clear leaders, and zeroed in on what was still unclaimed.
Then in late March, Amazon.com, embarking on a strategy to transform itself
from a book, CD and video retailer into a virtual mall, made pets one of
its first breakout categories. Initially, a lot of people were surprised by
its investment in Pets.com, but when they took a closer look they
understood the wisdom of the move.
It turns out that pet products -- everything from food to kitty litter,
flea collars, fish tank decorations and aquarium heaters -- represent a $23
billion-a-year market in the U.S., with many of the items selling at a
higher margin than books or CDs. And with 76 percent of pet owners claiming
they feel guilty when they leave their pets home alone, 38 percent saying
they call on the phone to check in, there is also an emotional aspect to
the market that is harder to quantify.
``Pet products seem like a pretty homespun industry," says Pets.com Chief
Executive Julie Wainwright. ``When people saw the size of this market, they
were blown away."
Around the same time investors started running the numbers on the pet
market, the whole Internet economy was entering a new phase. Strong sales
in the 1998 Christmas season had served as a validation that e-commerce was
not a passing fad, and entrepreneurs began looking anew at categories, like
groceries and furniture, they had initially dismissed because of high
shipping costs.
``They started to understand that it could be feasible to ship heavy items,
if you ship out of multiple locations," explains Petstore.com Chief
Executive Josh Newman, who says his personal tie to the industry is his pet
fish.
Trying to make it economical to ship a 40 pound bag of dog food cross
country is one of the challenges that will weigh more heavily on the online
pet stores than it has on retailers of mostly lightweight books and CDs.
Pets.com, for example, says it is currently losing money on some of its
larger shipments to the east coast from its San Francisco warehouse, and
plans to open at least two more distribution centers in other parts of the
country to be closer to more of its customers. While most of the companies
have secured alliances with offline retailers, Petsmart.com says its
affiliation with the largest offline pet superstore in the country gives it
far superior capability on order fulfillment.
Another somewhat unique challenge in the pet space is striking a balance
between selling aggressively and avoiding the blatantly hard sell. The
thought is that most pet lovers are a bit pet-obsessed and will go to a pet
site not to make a quick purchase, but to take in cute animal photos and
get a dose of pet talk. After they spend some time on the site, they may be
nudged into buying something, and eventually use the site to order regular
refills of food and other staples.
All of these stores, therefore, pad the retail parts of their sties with
extensive content ranging from serious medical advice to random trivia,
like lists of famous cat lovers (and haters) throughout history.
Want advice on a pet custody battle? Pets.com employs a pet attorney.
Petopia features a long article on preventive dentistry for cats, and
Petstore.com has an exclusive relationship with 2,000 veterinarians it
hopes will make it the authoritative source for medical advice.
Of course, some believe that the battle will not be won on content or
creative marketing, but on the amount of money each business gets, and on
the quality of their backers.
Experts say that where an amount less than $10 million was once sufficient
to launch an online business, companies aiming to be serious contenders now
need five times that amount. Nowhere is this more evident than in the pet
space, which is maturing at a pace more akin to dog years than human ones.
``The model here is that you need $10 million to get going and you probably
need another $30 to $50 million in soft dollars, like advertising money,"
says Bob Barret, a founding partner of Battery Ventures, which helped fund
Petstore.com.
The first big challenge to the industry will come later this month, when
Amazon.com will add a link on its site to the Pets.com site.
Pets.com's Wainwright says this so-called ``Amazon halo effect" is hard to
overestimate, and may help to quickly narrow the field of players.
``Everyone's saying this market is big enough for three or four players,"
she says, basking in the confidence that comes from an alliance with the
most feared competitor in e-commerce. ``But it's not. There's only room for
one or two."
Sony Sees Big Market For Robot Dogs
Sony Corp said Wednesday it saw a hungry market for ``entertainment robots"
after its robot pet dog -- which cost a whopping $2,500 dollars each --
sold out rapidly in both Japan and the United States.
Sony's home entertainment robot, AIBO, one of a new breed of electronic
pets, can be taken for walks, chases balls and wags its tail. Its limited
edition of 3,000 units sold out in 20 minutes in Japan, while 2,000 went in
four days in the United States.
``The demand for this kind of robotic pet has been much greater than
expected," Toshi Doi, president of Sony Digital Creatures Laboratory told
Reuters in an interview in Stockholm. "I think this can become a big
business and a big market."
``What we're trying to do is raise a brand new industry and AIBO is the
first step in this."
AIBO, with a mounted camera, has artificial intelligence capabilities that
include a learning function which allow it to respond to external stimuli
and make its own judgements.
Doi, attending the third annual Robot World Cup Soccer tournament in
Stockholm, said he expected every household to have two to three
entertainment robots within 10 years time.
The tournament included competitions for Sony's robot dogs alongside small
robots, medium-size robots and simulated robot soccer. France beat
Australia in the Sony robot soccer finals Wednesday.
Doi said the robot tournament was aimed at attracting more attention to
artificial intelligence and boost research and development in the field.
Sony planned to produce more AIBO robots next year and would steadily move
to boost focus on entertainment robots, such as robotic dogs and other
walking game machines, Doi said. But he expects the price tag to drop as
more are produced.
``In the future the total industry of automated robots will exceed the
total amount of the personal computer industry," he said.
Doi, also chairman and CEO of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, said the
automated robot market would in the future be split into entertainment
robots, like the AIBO dog, and innovative working robots.
``These non-entertainment robots could be cleaning robots, robots to help
aged people and robots that find mines," Doi said.
But he did not expect Sony to start work on these models for another three
years, after it has gathered enough technology to produce robots that were
reliable for serious jobs. ``For now I'm working on building up the
entertainment robot industry."
=~=~=~=
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