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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 03 Issue 35
Volume 3, Issue 35 Atari Online News, Etc. August 31, 2001
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2001
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Dan Iacovelli
Rob Mahlert
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Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0335 08/31/01
~ New STiK & Qdialer Out ~ People Are Talking! ~ IE Unplugged?!
~ Michael Dertouzos Dies ~ JagFests Revisited! ~ Mountain Now Free!
~ Atari Times Update! ~ Aniplayer Updated! ~ IE 6 Released!
~ Free MagiC Updates!! ~ New Worms Warning! ~ New StarOffice!
-* Russian Programmer Indicted! *-
-* New Judge Expedites Microsoft Case *-
-* New Method of Stealth Computing Discovered *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It's been one wild week! A lot of last-minute errands and projects, all
completed. It's the last unofficial week of summer - already! I say it
every year - where did the time go? Time flies by much too quickly as far
as I'm concerned! Well, I'm going to make the most of it anyway, and enjoy
my last few days of summer and vacation.
Have I told you recently that PCs stink?? There are four in our household:
my wife and I each own a laptop and a desktop. My desktop is just a few
months old and I have been running into trouble with it. All kinds of error
messages, unplanned re-boots, Windows not loading, and more. I finally
brought it in to the shop to have it checked out. Naturally, Windows was
corrupt somehow. Got it fixed, but now I have to re-install everything that
I had, and move everything to its proper place. It's going to take awhile.
I hate these things! My Atari computers never had these kinds of problems.
Program dies, delete and install it again - minutes. Software operating
systems are for the birds! And we're stuck with them whether we like them
or not.
Lots of news this week. I'd editorialize, but it's the end of summer and
it's time to relax. Please be careful over the long Labor Day weekend.
Party all you want, but please do not drink and drive - be responsible!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
STiK 2.03 and Qdialer 0.51 Released
New versions of STiK2 and Qdialer are now available from
http://www.netset.com/~baldrick/stikdl.html
STiK 2.03 changes
ACTIVE_PPP variable.
If ACTIVE_PPP is set to 1 in the default config or in a dial script, STiK2
will initiate the PPP negotiation phase immediately upon is connection by
the dialer.
Qdialer 0.51 changes
ACTIVE_PPP support for STiK2.
Patches to remote control routines (Thanks Rafal)
NEGOTIATION_WAIT variable. This value determines how long Qdialer will wait
for STiK2 to finish it's PPP negotiations before aborting the process. It
is measured in seconds and the default value is 14.
NOTE: Qdialer 0.51 may not function properly with older versions of STiK2.
Crashes may occur.
For more details see the documentation in the archives.
http://www.netset.com/~baldrick/stik2.html
Mountain Video Editing Software FREE!
Remi Vanel (vanel@club-internet.fr) announced on comp.sys.atari.st ...
Mountain, my video editing software for 68030 computers is now free !
Go and get it at http://tntmag.free.fr.
It's a french version, if you want an english free version please ask me,
it's not so difficult to do. If some one is interested by the sources :
contact me !
enjoy.
Remi.
Update:For the moment, just download the english demo version at
http://tntmag.atari.org/mounta32.htm and start building your projects.
I hope I could make an english full version for next week.
Magic 6.20 For All Systems Released
ASH has released a free update to all versions of the Magic operating
system (MagiC Atari, MagiC Milan, MagiC Mac and MagiC PC).
The update is in zip file format and contains long file names, so you need
to unarchive it onto a partition with long file name support.
The update has added MiNT compatibility as well as a large number of Bug
fixes.
URL: http://www.application-systems.de/
Aniplayer 2001 v2.17 Released
Changes from online documentation,
V2.17 August 2001:
Fix minimum X,Y of popup-menus.
It's only possible to use MPEG frequency for LAME_ENC.SLB
(8000,11025,12000,16000,22050,24000,32000,44100,48000 Hz), so now there is
a test for remove the message 'buffer too small'. The player choose the
frequency near +/- 5% than the audio source, out of this window there is a
new error message.
Fix the frequency selection inside the MP3 export box.
Fix the calcul of size for the screen buffer on the FALCON and the 'without
GEM' mode, risk of crash for videos > 320 x 240.
Fix system locked during the last block played in D2D with the XBIOS sound
functions (possible with MagiCMac and MacSound).
Fix the window redraw in 32K/65K colors when the window is in background
(problem under MagiCMac, hades, etc... not on FALCON).
Fix test for the free ST-RAM under MagiCMac (ST-RAM is not required for
sound). An error message "Not enough memory for sound" was possible.
Fix the saturation of sound possible with MPEG Audio layer 1,2,3 files
without DSP.
Fix crash possible of the VDI, when ignore is selected inside the error
message "Unknown compression type", zone of display null in this case.
Fix display of JPEG monochromes pictures for screen in 16M colors.
The size of ID3 tag for MPEG Audio files is not limited to 16 KB. Unknown
compression type
The directory of Aniplayer is not send to the system if the SLB is not
found in the same directory, because the variable SLBPATH not worked under
MiNT.
The slider of the main window is displayed during the repetition of the
rew and ff buttons.
The zoom 2X without GEM isn't limited to 320 x 240 pixels.
Add automatic delay for pictures (up to 50 frames) for play correctly some
movies AVI or QuickTime who the sound was late in comparison with pictures.
This delay works only when 'Skip images' is checked.
Add shared library JPEG from libjpeg 6 of the Independent JPEG Group
(www.ijg.org) for the JPEG export in the save image box and the display of
progressive JPEG. You must install the shared library JPG.SLB on your
system: MiNT 1.15.3 or MagiC 6 or MetaDOS 2.74 (or more).
Atari Times Update
This week at http://www.ataritimes.com:
* NEW! Brian Rittmeyer's Killer App
* NEW! Kasumi Ninja Review
* NEW! Dear Fruitman...
* NEW! Site Spotlight!
* Revisit the Malibu Bikini Volleyball Review
* Don't forget to check out Cousin Vinnie's Tower Toppler Contest!
* Help needed with the Atari Lynx book!
http://www.ataritimes.com/lynx/features/fea_lynxbook.html
See you there!
STiK2 v2.02 Released
New version of STiK2 is up on the STiK2 site.
New Support for Dynamic DNS addressing. This should hopefully make a few
people happy.
How to use new DNS feature.
1. Must be using PPP to connect
2. Change your NAMESERVER variable line to read as follows
NAMESERVER = 0.0.0.0
!!!!! THE LAST NAMESERVER ENTRY MUST BE 0.0.0.0 IF YOU WISH TO HAVE THE ISP
GIVE YOU A DNS ADDRESS !!!!!
Sorry about the yelling. ;)
Let me know if any problems are encountered with this.
Dan Ackerman
aka baldrick
Stik 2 Download page:http://www.netset.com/~baldrick/stikdl.html
CD Writer Suite v3.2 Is Now Available
Anodyne Software is pleased to announce that CD Writer Suite v3.2 is now
available. New features in this update are:
. creation of audio CDs from MP3 files
. backup of large partitions on multiple CDs
. CDextra support
. 6x writing speed on Centurbo
. many other enhancements and bug fixes.
Registered users of CD Writer Suite can upgrade at no cost from Anodyne
Software web site at http://www.cyberus.ca/~anodyne
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I don't know about you, but I can't
figure out where the summer went. Sure, there were some hot days (quite
hot, in fact), but it seems like summer just started. Now we're looking
"down the barrel" of Labor Day... the end of summer.
Perhaps it's because I'm getting... umm, more mature... but the seasons
seem to be passing more and more quickly. I can remember my grandmother
saying that everything happens in the blink of an eye, but as you get
older, you blink more often. She was full of confusing sayings like
that. Some of them were really quite humorous (Save your money... some
day it may be worth something), some were oxymorons (That's the price
you pay for living in a free country), and some were just too silly to
remember. But she had a way of putting things in perspective. She never
finished high school, and freely admitted to not knowing how most of the
modern world worked, but she was at peace with the way things were. She
knew that the simple things in life were usually the most worthwhile.
Her one real vise was playing bingo. Perhaps it's because it was a
simple game of chance that required no special knowledge or skill, or
maybe it was just a good way to get out of the house for a while and
spend some time doing something she enjoyed doing just because she
enjoyed doing it.
I think we could all learn a lesson from that kind of thinking.
Sometimes you just NEED to do something just for the sake of doing it.
The heck with "result-oriented" thinking, bottom lines, and deadlines.
For some, work in the yard is the ticket... laying sod, planting flowers
and shrubs, and things like that. That's too much like physical labor
for me. My current project is making a telescope. It's not hard physical
work, and it's not terribly hard on the brain, but it gives me
satisfaction.... a release from the day-to-day stuff that becomes the
background noise of our lives.
Labor Day is a good chance to kick back and relax, and most of us here
in the states will do just that. So, by all means, enjoy the long
weekend, but please do it responsibly. There are few enough of us
computer renegades around as it is without losing anyone to senseless
accidents because someone got behind the wheel after one beer too many.
Remember... the life you save may be MINE!
Well, let's get to the news, hints, tips, and info to be found on the
UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================
Last week we talked a bit about DTP on a Falcon. This week, Clayton
Murray posts:
"Pagestream does have a postscript driver with it. I
just got a Ricoh AP2100 laser printer, and thought I wouldn't be
able to use it with my Atari, but I saw a PS driver in
Pagestream. I tried it out, and I'm able to print Pagestream
documents fine. The Ricoh has PCL-5e, PCL6, and Postscript
compatibility. Maybe some other printers don't have the PS
compatibility. Oh, the Ricoh AP2100 is only MONO. I know people
have been talking about COLOR printing.
Hope that helps, or at least provides fuel for more discussion."
James Alexander tells Clayton:
"I've done a similar thing by printing postscript to disk and printing it
on the lasers at college. That's one really good feature I like with the
pagestream drivers. the ability to produce files to different devices,
not to the printer port only."
Artur Stachon posts his thoughts about how Atari could live on:
"I would be happy if we could use ppc g4 or Athlon/Duron cpu for a new
Atari. At home I use Amd Duron 600mhz overclocked to 1030mhz. It cost me
all $500 (20gb 7200hd, 256pc 133 ram, geforce2 video card, etc...) 2
months ago.
Recently Abit kt133 motherboard with duron 600 sold on ebay for $79.
That's exactly what I'm using at home. Right now on Ebay Intel PIII 1ghz
sells for $200 US alone.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1268020728
This Abit/duron combo (overclocked to 1030mhz) for $79 that sold a few
days ago is faster than that 1ghz intel cpu alone which costs at this
time $200 US.
My point is, we could have a really cheap and powerful Atari computer
right at this moment. So far we have a REALLY GOOD operating system
MagiC. All we now need is a good motherboard design with a good
controller/drivers and fast cpu (forget coldfire or 060). I am sick of
my win98 booting 1:15 min. I had 2 Falcons, 2ste's, 1stfm, 1 atari 65xe.
And I was always fascinated by Atari OS. MagiC is the best OS. Very neat
looking and fast. Well, I don't want to buy Falcon anymore, I need
something faster than 16 mhz :) Any new Atari above 600Mhz and I'll be
the first one to buy it."
Jeff Armstrong posts a question about NVDI and AtariWorks:
"Hey everyone! I recently purchased NVDI for my TT. I am using an
Atari SLM804 printer on my system. Anyway, my word processor is
AtariWorks and I'm trying to print using NVDI. The laser printer is
set up as my default. When I print, the TT completely halts. So I
went ahead and changed the atari laser printer to unit 21 in
ASSIGN.SYS to try and fix the problem. This didn't work either. Does
anyone have any ideas about this?
If there isn't a fix, which I'm guessing there isn't, are there any
other english modern word processors for the Atari? I can't use
Papyrus under my setup for some reason, it just halts the system. And
I don't like the idea of their online manual system."
John Nicholas Oakes tells Jeff:
"I also use NVDI5 and Atariworks and Papyrus4 with a HPDJ600. Check that
your configuration in the cpx has a cache settings over 250k or 512k.
For Papyrus check your allocated memory and printing cache are enough,
adjust accordingly and save all setting always."
Jim DeClercq adds:
"There just has to be a fix. I have a TT, an SLM804, NVDI, and use
WordPlus as my typing program, and have no mysterious problems.
Maybe that is because I had NVDI before I got an SLM804. If all else
fails, reload NVDI."
Jeff now posts:
"I think when I posted my problem, I didn't give enough detail about
what happens. I do appreciate all the suggestions so far and I have
tried most of them to no avail.
When I'm using AtariWorks, I go to the file menu and select "Print..."
This causes some hard disk noise and the busy light on the SLM804
controller blinks twice. Then a bus error occurs, crashing
AtariWorks. So I'm not sure that the size of the caches would be the
problem since I can't even get to the print dialog.
I do believe that the Diablo emulator might be loaded, but I'm not
sure. THis might cause problems. I want to point out, though, that
other programs using NVDI, such as Kandinsky and GEMGraph, can print
under my setup.
I'm really at a loss here. I do appreciate all the help so far!"
Ken Springer tells Jeff:
"Watch the monitor during boot up. It will tell you if the emulator does
not load and if the SLM is not found. I don't know about AtariWorks,
but you do not need the emulator for Papyrus and NVDI. NVDI has it's
own SLM driver."
Well folks, that's it for this week. I know it's short, but with the
long weekend, I figure that you'd rather be out at a barbecue than
reading this. Have a good time, and be responsible enough for the other
guy too. See ya next week. Until then, keep your ears open so that
you'll hear with they're saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Tony Hawk! Soul Reaver 2!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Sega Games For Handhelds!
JagFests Revisited!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. Ships `NFL QB Club
2002' This Week for PlayStation 2
Lining up at retail in time for the first snap of the NFL's 2001 season,
Acclaim Entertainment, announced that this week it will ship NFL QB Club
2002 for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. The latest
offering from the Company's successful gridiron franchise, NFL QB Club 2002
is the only football video game to include the exclusive ``Quarterback
Challenge" mode, which allows players to compete in the real events that
the NFL's top quarterbacks do each year in Hawaii. NFL QB Club 2002 is
being supported by an integrated national marketing campaign and expected
to be available at retail outlets nationwide on Friday, September 7, 2001.
``With its true-to-life, TV-style presentation and authentic NFL action,
NFL QB Club 2002 takes gamers into the huddles and end zones for countless
hours of football fun on the PlayStation®2," said Steve Felsen, Senior
Director of Brand. ``We're thrilled to bring our NFL QB Club franchise to
the next-generation platforms and deliver a product that is sure to score
with football fans."
``NFL QB Club 2002 is as close as you can get to dropping back into the
pocket and leading an offensive drive down field," said Brett Favre,
Acclaim's official NFL QB Club 2002 spokesperson and 3-time NFL MVP. ``I'm
sure players will especially enjoy the `QB Challenge' mode, which is one of
my favorite events to compete in every year."
Developed by Acclaim's Austin Studio, NFL QB Club 2002 delivers the
ultimate football simulation, with state-of-the-art graphics, realistic
gameplay and intuitive controls. NFL QB Club 2002 is the only football game
to feature the exclusive ``QB Challenge" mode, which includes four
head-to-head events: speed and mobility, accuracy, long-distance throw and
read and recognition.
In addition, the game will include an array of exciting features,
including:
-- Exclusive Quarterback Club license, allowing players to access
current and retired members, such as John Elway, Dan Marino,
Steve Young, Jim Kelly and Phil Simms;
-- All 31 NFL clubs, uniforms and stadiums;
-- More than 1,500 NFL players;
-- Innovative precision defensive play calling, allowing players
to create more than 300 different play combinations;
-- Play-by-play from Kevin Harlan and color commentary from Bill
Maas;
-- More than 1,500 all-new, motion-captured animations for
seamless action on the field;
-- Real-life player facial textures for more than 350 starting
NFL players;
-- Realistic player models, featuring blinking eyes, jaw motions
and facial expressions;
-- Five modes of play: Practice, Exhibition, Season, Playoffs and
Quarterback Challenge;
-- TV-style presentation.
NFL QB Club 2002 will be available nationwide on Friday, September 7, 2001,
for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system at a suggested retail
price of $49.99. In addition, Acclaim is promoting the game with a
sweepstakes contest, and will be giving away a grand prize of a trip to the
2002 NFL Quarterback Challenge on the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii.
For more information about NFL QB Club 2002, please visit
www.acclaimsports.com.
Top-Selling Sports Franchise Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Rides Onto Nintendo 64 Platform
Tony Hawk's winning run continues with the release of Activision Inc.'s
highly anticipated Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for Nintendo 64. The game,
which is currently available on North American retail shelves, allows
players to skate as the legendary pro skater, Tony Hawk, performing
hundreds of real-world tricks through authentic locations.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 has been rated ``E" (``Everyone" - content
suitable for persons ages 6 and older - Comic Mischief, Mild Lyrics, Mild
Violence) by the ESRB, and carries a suggested retail price of $49.99.
``Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for the Nintendo 64 takes skateboarding to the
next level for N64 gamers with updated graphics, player modes and unique
customization features," said Dave Stohl, vice president, North American
Studios.
``The game features enhanced skating physics that lets players pull
off new moves and trick combos."
Developed by Edge of Reality, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 features the
franchise's signature control scheme as they link an increased number of
tricks and combinations, including new grabs, grinds, inverts, manuals, lip
and nollie tricks.
In addition to Tony Hawk, players can ride like one of 12 other skaters
including Bob Burnquist, Steve Caballero, Kareem Campbell, Rune Glifberg,
Eric Koston, Bucky Lasek, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, Andrew Reynolds, Geoff
Rowley, Elissa Steamer and Jamie Thomas in the ultimate skating adventure
ever to come to the N64.
Players can show off their skills in international skate parks including
Marseilles, New York, Philadelphia and Skate Street in Ventura. Each park
is packed with ramps, rails, fun boxes and other objects that allow the
player to trick off of just about everything in sight.
Adding to the game's replayability, the 3D skate park editor allows
players to build their own dream parks from scratch, with a variety of
ramps, rails, pipes and fun boxes to choose from. Players can see, in
real-time, exactly how the park will look, and can even test ride the park
in various stages of development.
Gamers can also canvas their own personality onto the virtual landscape
with the new create-a-skater feature. This tool allows them to choose such
characteristics as weight, height, dress, board type, tricks and skating
skills.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 allows players to compete against each other in
the original modes of Trick Attack, Graffiti, and Horse plus the newly
added Tag Mode. In addition, the new multiplayer contest disciplines of
Regular and Best Trick allow 1-8 players to take turns skating heats in the
competition levels of the game.
Eidos' Highly Anticipated Soul Reaver 2 Selected
as PlayStation 2 Exclusive
Eidos Interactive announced that Soul Reaver 2, the follow-up release to
the 1.5 million-unit-selling video game Soul Reaver, will be released
exclusively for the PlayStation 2 in North America. As the third
installment in the Legacy of Kain series, Soul Reaver 2 is slated to hit
store shelves this Fall.
``We are pleased to be able to continue our strong partnership with Eidos
Interactive, built through the success of popular PlayStation franchises
such as Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain," said Andrew House, Senior Vice
President, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. ``As PlayStation 2
penetration continues to reach unprecedented levels in all markets
worldwide, consumers will welcome new installments of these popular
franchises, like the upcoming release of the platform-exclusive Soul Reaver
2. Supported by SCEA's co-marketing program, Soul Reaver 2 promises to
deliver an unrivalled gaming experience, making it a perfect companion for
PlayStation 2."
``Soul Reaver 2's selection as a PlayStation 2 exclusive proves the
strength and consumer popularity of the Legacy of Kain brand," said Rob
Dyer, President of Eidos Interactive. ``Soul Reaver 2 elevates the entire
series through its deep storyline, award-winning voice-acting, and advanced
streaming engine technology that showcases the capabilities of the
PlayStation 2 hardware."
Soul Reaver 2 begins precisely where the critically-acclaimed original
title left off, with Raziel emerging from the Chronoplast time portal, and
returning to different eras of Nosgoth's past in his relentless pursuit of
Kain. Over the course of his journey, he unearths the mysteries of
Nosgoth's ancient races, and exposes the secrets behind the corruption of
the Pillars and the vampire genocide. Confronting the shadows of an
unremembered past, Raziel discovers a web of destiny stretching eons into
Nosgoth's dim, unrecorded history. As his destiny comes full circle, he
finds his personal vendetta transformed into a hero's journey, with the
fate of Nosgoth hanging in the balance.
Gamers will encounter all new enemies while playing Soul Reaver 2,
including vampire hunters, Sarafan warrior-priests, spectral spirits,
undead warriors and extra-dimensional demons. The game boasts immersive,
gothic realms featuring highly detailed architecture, enhanced graphics and
engaging storylines all tailor-made for the PlayStation 2.
Soul Reaver 2 boasts several new technical advancements that ensure fluid
and realistic gameplay. Clearly apparent is the constant 60
frames-per-second frame-rate delivering a smooth gaming experience. The
Soul Reaver 2 game engine can display 30 times more graphic detail than its
predecessor -- the architecture alone features up to ten times more
polygonal detail when compared to the original Soul Reaver, and the
character models are five to six times more intricate. The addition of
real-time inverse kinematics to the animation engine ensures that Raziel
always interacts realistically with his environment, regardless of the
terrain. Crystal Dynamics utilizes streaming engine technology, which makes
for no load times in Soul Reaver 2. Finally, the game features an all-new
combat system, providing Raziel with new fighting moves and improved enemy
artificial intelligence (AI).
Sega in Pact to Bring Games to Handheld PCs
Game maker Sega Corp. and software developer Synovial Inc. of America on
Thursday announced a deal that will this year bring classic Sega games such
as ``Sonic The Hedgehog" to handheld computers.
Under the deal, Sega of America, the U.S. unit of Japan's Sega, will
license its game content to privately held Synovial.
The first product derived from the alliance is Virtual Game Gear, software
that resurrects Sega's defunct Game Gear handheld game system on devices
powered by Microsoft Corp.'s Pocket PC operating system (OS), such as
Compaq Computer Corp's iPAQ.
Synovial said the Virtual Game Gear software and games will be embedded
into new Pocket PC computers sold later this year, and users will
eventually have the option buy additional games.
Sega, which earlier this year unplugged its gaming hardware business to
focus on making software, said the partnership marks the first time its
game content will appear on a personal digital assistant, or PDA, in the
U.S.
Sega on Thursday said it continues to work on creating games for Palm
Inc.'s Palm OS, the most popular handheld computer operating system and
chief rival to Pocket PC. But few details have emerged regarding the timing
or scope of those Palm-based products.
Some 350 games were developed by both Sega and third party software makers
for Sega Game Gear, which was unveiled in 1991. When introduced, Synovial's
Virtual Game Gear will allow Pocket PCs to simulate the same ``gaming
experience" that consumers enjoyed on Game Gear, the company said.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
JagFest, A Look Back
(A retrospect of the past 4 years events)
By Daniel M. Iacovelli
(This article was originally written for the Jagfest 2001 program which is
available at GoatStore.com, however, due to length extranets it got cut
down to a one-page article leaving out some the good parts. So as a favor
to the Jaguar fest attendees and those who didn't attend I have decided to
reprint the article as written uncut and complete.
Enjoy!! )
If some would have asked me back in 1997 (when the first Jagfest was held
in Rosemont, IL) if this event would be Continued in the coming years, I
would have probably said no. But looking how popular this event has got
with help from hobbyist and developers like Carl Forhan and Scott Walters.
Than you add the popular game that the whole Jaguar community has been
waiting for "BattleSphere" and then you have a whole different story. Atari
Video club was involved in about every fest with the exception of fest
2000 (although we did make the fest issue for that year). The following is
a retrospect article that looks back at the fest since the first one:
Jagfest 1997,the one that started the whole thing ,held in Rosemont,
Illinois on 7/19/1997. This also marked the first ever Jagfest issue
for the Atari Video Club. AVC also had the honor of holding pre-fest
dinner at a local Burger king in Melrose Park,IL the night before.
Jagfest'97 official hosts were: Jeff Grimshaw, Kevin Manne and Wes Powell
(with Chad Ridgeway maintaining the first fest website).
Highlights of this event was seeing Battlesphere being played in a network
play (this was before it was finished), hearing Tom Harker talk about
Battlesphere and AirCars, hearing that a new company called Visual
Dimensions 3D was interested in making games for the Jaguar and Lynx.
Besides the games I mentioned a couple of Telegames games were also being
shown like World Tour racing, even though Carl Forhan wasn't even known
back then as he is now. He had somebody show off his new lynx games Ponx,
SFX and Planar Wars. Some com-lynx gaming was going on with War Birds and
Cal. Games. We even got to see the first Movie by Fard. I didn't stay long
though I had to leave at 4pm. I estimated about 40 people have attended for
this event.
Jagfest 1998, held in Corfu, NY on 8/1/98,hosted by Kevin Manne and Dave
Homenuck. (Chad was again in charge of the fest site). I wasn't able to
attend this event but I appointed Dane Stegman as AVC representative for the
fest. It also marked the first Atari mania competition for the fest (The
second annual Jagfest issue was also available).
Highlights: Battlesphere and Air cars were again back for showing. Other
new games were being shown: Worms, Iron Soldier 2, and Zero 5. This year
also marked the first of Jag fest tourneys (scheduling problems made
tourneys impossible to hold last year with exception of a pong tourney
between Kevin and Wes). The tourneys are as followed: Tempest 2k (which was
used for the Atari Mania competition which was won by Wes Powell),Super
Burnout (won by Wes Powell), Ultra Vortek (another tourney won by Wes), and
Psychedelic Pong Championship (won by Kevin Mosley). Jaguar dealers were
allowed at this event like Dantec and Dark Knight games. (TNT Terry for the
Lynx was also being shown, as well as Gorf 2k on a modified BJL jaguar)
Attendance for this event was estimated at 40 to 50 people.
Jagfest 1999, held in Rochester, MN, on 6/18/99, and hosted by Carl Forhan
(Songbird Productions) and Miach Rowe (AKA ET Hunter on JI). Carl also did
the Web site for this fest and Kevin Manne set up a main page for Jagfest
in general (the old fest site from the first year got changed into this
one). AVC was able to attend this one, but we did have two major problems:
1. Due to printing problems copies of the fest issue weren't available but
were displayed and requests were being taken at the fest for them and 2.
due to scheduling problems with Carl and myself, AVC's annual Atari Mania
competition for the fest had been dropped and later used as a on-line
competition. Highlights: BattleSphere (again), Protector and Sky Hammer
made its official appearance at the fest ,Gorf 2k on a BJL was being run.
The tourney that was held as follows: Tempest 2000, Breakout 2000, Zero
Five (which was won by Clay hands down) and a couple of 2600 and 7800
tourneys. Dealers were also welcome to the fest besides Songbird, Zentanyx
Multimedia, plus some others but weren't able to attend. As for the Atari
Mania competition it was won by Ratko Jovivic. The attendance for this
event was estimated at 40 to 60 people.
Jagfest 2k, held in Austin, Texas on 6/24/2k, hosted by Tim Wilson and OMC
Games. AVC was planning to attend this event but due to printing problems
with the fest issue (which was printed on 8/15/2k) and travel problems we
were unable to attend. Also as far I know that some tourneys were being
played at this fest. As for what was being played, I don't know (There was
no Atari mania competition).
Highlights:(Battlesphere again), Brett Hull hockey proto, Total Carnage
proto, Phase Zero proto, Slam Racer, Sky Hammer, Hyper Force, and
Protector. Attendance for this event was estimated at 15 to 30 people.
Euro-Jagfest 2k, held in Germany on 11/12/2k, hosted by Lars Hannig and
Diederik van Dijk. This was being the first ever fest for overseas Atari
gamers it turned out to be large. (There was no fest issue for the Euro
fest since AVC only handles US fests). Some tourneys were being played as
well.
Highlights of this first Euro-Fest were: Battlesphere (of course),
Protector, Sky Hammer, Soccer kid and even a Nuon system. Attendance for
this event was estimated at 20+ people.
Which now brings us to this years Fest being subtitled Beyond Tempest (btw:
fest'99 was subtitled as Celebrate Atari) hosted by Goat Store (Dan Loosen
and Gary Heil) and co-hosted by Dan Iacovelli (Atari Video Club
chairperson), Randy Femrite (Webmaster of The Atari Jaguar Directory) and
Fard Muhammad (AKA The Ultimate Atarian). We hope you enjoyed this year's
fest (details in last week's issue of A-ONE).
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Intel Hits 2 Gigahertz Milestone, Slashes Prices
Intel Monday passed the two gigahertz speed milestone with a new Pentium
processor and slashed prices in cuts quickly matched by rival Advanced
Micro Devices Inc.
The new processor pushes Intel, which was beaten to the one-gigahertz
milestone last March by AMD, further ahead in the battle for faster
computer chips, dangling new bait to get consumers to snap up new computers
despite economic lethargy.
The chip rivals, caught in a price war, dropped prices over the weekend as
deep as 54 percent for Intel's 1.8 gigahertz processor and 49 percent for
AMD's 1.4 gigahertz chip.
While AMD's fastest chip falls short of 2 gigahertz -- or 2 billion cycles
per second -- the company has said its chips are more efficient than
Intel's and can be faster even at lower clock speeds. Clock speed is only
one factor in chip power.
Intel said it was tops.
``Is a P4 the fastest thing on the planet? Yes, unquestionably across the
board. And it will get faster and faster and faster," said Louis Burns,
general manager of Intel's desktop platforms group, speaking at the launch.
He also said Intel would start supporting lower priced memory with a new
``chip set" for the Pentium 4 in a couple of weeks.
``We didn't just cut prices. We accelerated the roadmap dramatically. Our
factories are cranking," Burns said.
The Intel announcement, made in advance of its semiannual technical
conference, comes amid slumping business for makers of personal computers,
which have cut prices and offered extra features in order to induce sales.
``They want to make the Pentium 4 a much better value compared to AMD,"
ahead of the busy fourth quarter, holiday shopping season, said Morgan
Stanley analyst Mark Edelstone.
Intel's factories could meet weak demand -- the question is whether the
faster chip will catalyze buyers, he said.
``The economy is soft, unemployment is increasing and there certainly is a
risk that consumer demand in any big ticket item ends up disappointing,"
Edelstone said.
Consumers have slowed computer purchases, in part because of a lack of
applications for ever more powerful versions, although Intel's Burns said
the October that introduction of Microsoft Corp.'s new operating systems,
Windows XP, would give buyers two good reasons to act.
Computer makers rushed to incorporate the two gigahertz chip in their
product lines. Following Intel's announcement, No. 1 PC maker Dell Computer
Corp. and rivals said they would use the chip in arrays of PCs.
Ather Haidri, head of the Hewlett-Packard Co. business-oriented Vectra line
of PCs, said many businesses would wait for a new configuration of the
Pentium 4, which would use SDRAM memory, a cheaper alternative to
high-performance RDRAM.
Intel will ship the new chip set in a couple of weeks rather than late this
year as it once expected.
``Because of the costs associated with SDRAM, that mainstream volume will
switch to P4 technology with that introduction this fall," Haidri said.
Price cuts will bring a new Pentium 4 system to less than $1,000 by the end
of the year, he forecast, matching estimates by Intel.
The Pentium 4 chip will be sold for $562 each in 1,000 unit quantities,
Intel said. A chip that runs at 1.9 gigahertz, also introduced Monday, will
be sold for $375.
In March 2000, AMD and Intel reached a milestone in the development of
computer technology by building microchips that run at a billion cycles per
second, or one gigahertz.
Intel's Burns said the Pentium architecture could be stretched up to speeds
of 10 gigahertz in the next 5 to 10 years. The company also expects to
start mass-producing wider and thinner sheets of silicon next year that
will allow it to increase production.
Morgan Stanley's Edelstone said that AMD would probably hit a 3 gigahertz
ceiling with its current architecture next year. That would open the door
for Intel to tout its clock speeds.
``Clearly, Intel is going to play the Megahertz game," he said.
Pentium 4 To Reach Notebooks Next Year
Intel will bring the Pentium 4 to the notebook market in the first half of
next year and then follow a year later with Banias, a new portable chip the
company says will greatly increase battery life.
More speed and less power are the themes dominating Intel's chip strategy
in portables. The Pentium 4 will run at more than 1.5GHz when it emerges
next year and hit 2GHz by the end of 2002, Frank Spindler, vice president
of Intel's mobile products division, said during a keynote address
Wednesday at the Intel Developer Forum.
Then, in the first half of 2003, the company will debut Banias, which will
contain a number of new power-management features that will allow for
all-day battery life.
One feature, for instance, will shut off subsections of the chip when not
in use. Right now, electricity runs to most subsections of PC processors
even if the particular subsection is not in use. With Banias, only those
parts needed at a given time will get juiced.
Banias chips will also come with a function called Micro-ops fusion. Under
this technology, different processor operations are fused early in the
computing process, which cuts down the number of instructions-- and hence
work--a chip has to execute. Banias engineers are also redesigning
individual transistors to reduce power consumption.
Both chips will find their way to the mainstream of the notebook market,
he added.
"You will see Pentium 4 in 5- to 6-pound notebooks when it comes out next
year," said Spindler. "The mobile Pentium 4 will include all of the
features of the desktop Pentium 4."
Banias, too, will likely be a mainstream technology. Earlier, analysts
predicted the chip might be confined to the mini-notebook segment. Often,
energy-efficient chips get relegated to specialty submarkets because they
run at lower speeds than standard notebook chips.
Spindler, however, stated that Banias will "play a broad and signficant
role in the mobile market." The techniques developed with Banias will also
likely migrate to other chips, other Intel executives have said.
Besides processors, notebook designers and component makers will continue
to try to conserve power by tweaking other parts. Next year, for instance,
Intel will come out with the 830 chipset. The 830 integrates a graphics
chip into the chipset, which connects the processor to other components.
The chipset currently consumes about 13 percent of the power needed to run
a notebook, while the graphics chip eats up 14 percent. Integration will
substantially decrease power consumption, Spindler said.
Display makers and hard drive manufacturers are also working on power
conservation. Overall, 30 percent of active power consumption can probably
be reduced, said Spindler.
Microsoft Releases Explorer 6.0
The latest version of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser, made
available for free download Monday, is drawing protests because it doesn't
support two rival products commonly used on Web sites.
Internet Explorer 6.0 will not automatically support the embattled Java
programming language or Netscape-style ``plug-ins," though users and
developers will have tools to make the browser compatible with those
products.
Microsoft decided to dropped support for the plug-ins - additional software
that lets users play music, watch videos or perform other tasks - in favor
of Microsoft technology called ActiveX. Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan
said the move was for increased security.
The change means that certain programs, most notably QuickTime, will not
work unless the Web site developer changes the code to meet Microsoft's
requirements.
Rob Enderle, who follows Microsoft for Giga Information Systems, said the
company probably decided to make the change because it was becoming more
costly to support Netscape-style plug-ins.
Although some users and developers complained that they weren't given
enough lead time to update their systems, Enderle said he doubted the move
would have a major effect on users.
He also doubted the company was trying to gain an edge over QuickTime, a
music and video player made by Apple that competes with Microsoft's Windows
Media Player.
``If it was just a QuickTime move they would have done it in such a way
that QuickTime stayed broken," Enderle said.
A legal settlement with Java creator Sun Microsystems earlier this year
kept Microsoft from including new versions of the Java support in its
system, and the software giant responded by dropping Java completely.
Now, users will have to download a patch to see Web pages made using Java,
unless they are upgrading from a previous version of Internet Explorer.
Sun, angered over the change, has been trying to rally support among users
to force Microsoft to reinstate some sort of Java support in its system.
The free version of Internet Explorer 6.0 is virtually the same browser
users will find in Windows XP, the forthcoming version of the company's
desktop operating system, Cullinan said.
The company is touting such user-friendly features as the ability to easily
download and print pictures off Web pages and play music and videos. The
browser also will have added security.
The final code for Windows XP, due out in October, was shipped to
manufacturers Friday for mass production. That move prompted the company to
provide Internet Explorer 6.0 for download, the company said in a
statement.
Sun Shows New Version of StarOffice
Sun Microsystems is showing Linux fans the next version of StarOffice, the
most viable competition to Microsoft's Office package, and will release the
beta version in October.
Sun acquired StarOffice from Hamburg, Germany-based Star Division in 1999,
and has made it available as a free download in an effort to undermine
popular programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint that help to
keep the Windows operating system dominant. The company also released the
source code for the software under the General Public License ( GPL), the
same license that allows anyone to see, modify and distribute Linux
software.
But the current version, 5.2, has been roundly criticized as a large and
sluggish product. By default, the program tries to take over many desktop
functions, coming with its own "Start" button and file browser, and all
its programs load at once.
Version 6.0 will break these programs into individual applications that
can run independently, said software demonstrators at the LinuxWorld
Conference and Expo where the software has been demonstrated this week.
Among those anticipating the new version is Matthew Szulik, chief
executive of top Linux seller Red Hat, who stands to gain if Linux becomes
more useful on ordinary computers. "I believe StarOffice 6.0 will be a
compelling release," improving performance and manageability, Szulik said
in an interview.
The desktop feature, as well as an e-mail checking program, both will be
removed from version 6.0.
StarOffice 6.0, as with the current version, will run on Linux, Sun
Solaris and Microsoft Windows machines.
Sun had been working on a Mac OS X version but canceled the plan. In
April, Sun announced it was turning over the project to open-source
programmers at the OpenOffice development site. "Sun firmly believes that
there is enough support within the Mac OS X community to continue
development on the port, and we invite Mac developers throughout the world
to contribute their efforts to finishing the work that must be done to
make this port a strong rival to other office software suites," Sun said
at the time.
A beta version of the software is scheduled to arrive in October, said
Herb Hinsdorf, manager of Sun's Linux Program Office.
The new version will also begin a switch to new, nonproprietary XML-based
file formats that anyone can emulate. Because the inner workings of
Microsoft file formats aren't published, it's difficult for companies to
create "filters" that can read and write Microsoft files. Because of
Microsoft's dominance in the office software market, file compatibility is
key for any competitor.
Though files can be read and written, the "macros"--small programs used to
automate tasks in Microsoft Office--won't necessarily run in StarOffice,
Sun said.
By using a new compression scheme, StarOffice files will be about half the
size as in version 5.2.
Justice to Expedite Microsoft Case
A federal judge called lawyers in the Microsoft antitrust case to a
Sept. 21 hearing to set the stage for a new chapter in the protracted case.
Citing the need to expedite the proceedings, U.S. District Judge Colleen
Kollar-Kotelly also ordered the Justice Department and Microsoft to file a
joint report by Sept. 14 outlining proposals for bringing in new witnesses
and seeking additional documents. The order was filed on Tuesday.
Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee randomly selected by computer last week
to preside over the landmark case, will determine what punishment Microsoft
should face for illegally trying to squelch its competitors.
She also will review whether Microsoft broke the law by bundling its
Internet Explorer software with its Windows operating systems.
Such decisions could prompt a new round of testimony and discovery. Both
sides will report to Kollar-Kotelly what additional information they will
seek from each other and when they hope to get it.
``We look forward to resolving the remaining issues in this case and will
work with the government to respond to the court's order," Microsoft said
in a statement.
Justice Department lawyers also acted to move ahead. On Wednesday, the
department filed a motion asking the judge to expedite a meeting between
the two sides, a moot point since Kollar-Kotelly had already scheduled the
meeting.
A federal appeals court denied Microsoft's bid to delay the case and sent
it back to the district court, where it was assigned to Kollar-Kotelly.
She replaces Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who had ordered Microsoft to be
split into two separate companies but was later removed from the case. An
appeals court upheld his finding of antitrust violations but overturned his
breakup order.
Microsoft also has appealed to the Supreme Court.
U.S. Urges High Court to Reject Microsoft Appeal
The Justice Department on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject
Microsoft Corp.'s request for reconsideration of an appeals court ruling
the company violated U.S. antitrust laws.
The department said Microsoft had provided no good reason why the case
should be reviewed. And it disputed the company's argument the initial
ruling against the company should be disqualified because of misconduct of
a lower-court judge.
Microsoft's argument for Supreme Court review, ``rests squarely on a
mischaracterization of the court of appeals' ruling," the Justice
Department said.
The department also said that, since Microsoft may later appeal other
portions of the case, ``granting (a review) now would likely lead to
multiple, piecemeal requests for review...
``The proceedings on remand should now go forward," the government's
lawyers concluded. ``There is no warrant for further delay."
The government's filing comes a week after the appeals court sent the case
back to district court, where U.S. District Court Judge Colleen
Kollar-Kotelly will hold hearings to determine what sanctions should be
imposed on Microsoft to prevent future abuse of its monopoly in personal
computer operating systems.
At issue in the Supreme Court appeal is Microsoft's contention the original
ruling against the company, handed down last year by District Judge Thomas
Penfield Jackson, was tainted because of Jackson's misconduct.
Jackson gave secret press interviews before handing down the ruling. In
them, he derided Microsoft executives and compared them to common
criminals.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sharply rebuked
Jackson in a June ruling and reversed his order that Microsoft be split in
two.
But the appeals judges unanimously upheld Jackson's ruling that Microsoft
holds a monopoly in the PC operating systems market and used illegal
tactics to defend it.
In its subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court, Microsoft attorneys argued
the appeals judges erred by refusing to throw out all of Jackson's
conclusions.
Responding Friday, the Justice Department argued that, under past legal
precedent the appeals court was under no obligation to throw out Jackson's
findings.
``There is no risk of injustice because there is no reason to suspect that
the findings of fact were tainted. The court's findings were fair and
thorough, virtually unchallenged by petitioner," the government said in
its brief.
The Justice Department also said it would be a mistake for the Supreme
Court to review a portion of the case before the entire case has been
resolved by the lower courts.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to hear the case after the
judges return from summer recess in October.
On Wednesday, District Judge Kotelly ordered both sides to report on the
remaining issues in the legal battle by Sept. 14 and scheduled a meeting on
the case for Sept. 21.
She will also consider whether the company violated the law by tying its
Internet Explorer browser into the Windows operating system.
Russian Programmer Indicted in California
A Russian computer programmer and his employer have been charged with five
counts of copyright violations for writing a program that let readers
disable certain restrictions imposed by electronic-book publishers.
If convicted, Dmitry Sklyarov, 27, could face up to five years in prison
for each count in the federal indictment and fined $250,000. ElcomSoft Co.
Ltd. of Moscow could be fined $500,000 if convicted.
Prosecutors said the indictment, announced Tuesday, was the first under the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which forbids technology that circumvents
copyright protections.
The indictment alleges that the programmer and the company conspired for
``commercial advantage and private financial gain."
The closely watched electronic publishing case has generated international
protests since Sklyarov was arrested in Las Vegas on July 16. He was
preparing to return home to Moscow after speaking at a computer security
convention.
ElcomSoft's program is legal in Russia. Sklyarov's supporters say his work
merely restores the ``fair use" privileges consumers have traditionally
enjoyed under U.S. copyright law.
Defense attorney Joseph Burton had been trying to work out a plea bargain.
``We were hopeful that the government would see the wisdom and justice in
not pursuing a case against Sklyarov," Burton said. ``Even if one were to
ignore the serious legal questions involving the (copyright protections),
this case hardly cries out for criminal prosecution. Sklyarov's and
ElcomSoft's actions are not conduct that Congress intended to
criminalize."
Sklyarov, who is free on $50,000 bail but must remain in Northern
California, was to be arraigned Thursday.
San Jose-based Adobe Systems had complained to the FBI that Sklyarov's
employer was selling a program that let users manipulate Adobe's e-book
software so the books could be read on more than one computer or
transferred to someone else. However, Adobe dropped its support of the case
on July 23.
The indictment said ElcomSoft was culpable because it sold the program for
$99 in the United States through an online payment service based in
Issaquah, Wash., and with a Web site hosted in Chicago.
It was not immediately clear how ElcomSoft would be tried in the case.
Sklyarov is the only member of the company to have been arrested.
The head of ElcomSoft, Vladimir Katalov, was quoted by Russia's Interfax
news agency Wednesday as saying that he expected the indictment ``but still
hoped that Dmitry would be left out of the court case."
``Proving Sklyarov's guilt will not be easy, but to let him go now would
amount to admitting the illegality of his arrest," Katalov said.
Critics of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act say it represses free
speech and legitimate computer research. At least one lawsuit seeks to have
aspects of the law declared unconstitutional.
``If there are legal things to do with the tool, then you don't ban the
tool and you don't ban the person who came up with the tool," said Brad
Templeton, chairman of the Electronic Freedom Foundation, an Internet civil
liberties organization based in San Francisco.
IE Unplugged
Microsoft is treating its removal of plug-in support from Internet
Explorer as a long-overdue bug fix. Larry Seltzer questions Microsoft's
real motives for pulling the plugs.
Some people like to complain about all the new features that come with new
versions of software. Microsoft recently took the unusual step of removing
a feature from Internet Explorer, but don't get the idea that they're
doing us a favor.
For many years, IE has supported Netscape-style plug-ins, which are
client-side programs that can be invoked from a Web page using the EMBED
tag. IE's support for ActiveX controls was always preferred, and ActiveX
development was always more polished. There were a few cases of commercial
applications available only in plug-in form and some other popular
programming techniques that rely on plug-ins. But developers and users
could always rely on IE supporting plug-ins.
Not any more. News stories came out recently about Internet Explorer
6--the version that comes in Windows XP--and how it no longer supports
plug-ins. (In fact, Service Pack 2 for Internet Explorer 5.5 also disables
plug-in support in that browser.) I asked Microsoft why they would do such
a thing. Their response, according to Waggener Edstrom, a PR firm
representing Microsoft, was that they aren't saying why. They did say
this:
* Microsoft made the decision not to support old style Netscape
plug-ins in IE 6.0 and IE 5.5.
* Content creators can continue to create plug-in components that are
built on ActiveX technologies, as has been the case since Internet
Explorer 3.
* Microsoft is continuing to work with key partners to ensure the best
online experience for its customers.
You'd think that supporting plug-ins was a mistake to begin with. But of
course, their unwillingness to explain why they are removing plug-in
support indicates that there's no good reason for it. They just don't want
people writing or relying on plug-ins anymore. Microsoft's knowledge base
article Q303401 gives some further explanation of the issue.
A recent AP story in the Wall Street Journal quoted Microsoft spokesman
Jim Cullinan as saying that removing plug-ins was intended to increase
security, although the article doesn't elaborate on how it would increase
security. The same story quoted Rob Enderle of Giga Information Systems as
speculating that it had become "more costly to support Netscape-style
plug-ins." Once again, there was no elaboration. Neither explanation makes
sense to me, and if there really were a good reason I think Microsoft
would have told me.
Most of the press attention for loss of plug-in support has gone to
Apple's QuickTime and Sun's Java Plug-in, but in fact these are small
potatoes in terms of actual Web usage. By far the most popular use of a
plug-in is for background sound. Have you ever gone to a Web page,
probably of the "my first Web page" variety, and gotten an annoying
jingle, probably a MIDI file, playing in the background? Such pages almost
certainly use a plug-in.
I know how I feel about pages like this, and it's tempting to think that
doing away with such sounds is worth all the trouble caused by eliminating
plug-ins, but I'll leave that judgment to historians. In the meantime, if
you actually want to "fix" this on your own pages, you can use IE's
proprietary BGSOUND tag.
I look at QuickTime and Sun's Java Plug-in and I have to wonder why they
never made an ActiveX control to begin with. They really should have
considered this possibility. But very few sites use these controls,
especially the Java plug-in, so few users will be inconvenienced.
Microsoft's knowledge base article also lists Finale MusicViewer by Coda
Music Technology, and AlternaTIFF by Medical Informatics Engineering.
Within a couple of months all of these vendors will offer ActiveX
versions, Web pages will be updated to use them, and the issue will be
done with, but some people will have another reason to resent Microsoft.
It's worth pointing out that Microsoft is hardly the first company to
remove a widely implemented browser feature. Netscape 6 abandoned
proprietary models for layers and other features that began in Netscape 4.
There are still a lot of Web pages out there that use these features.
Luckily for developers, nobody in the real world actually uses Netscape 6.
Over the long term, Microsoft treats developers really well. I honestly
think this is the single biggest reason for their success. It's rare that
they do something like this that inconveniences absolutely everyone,
including users and developers, as well as some competitors. And it's one
thing for them to make a change like this in a new major version of the
product, but to do so to an existing version and through a service pack is
quite inconsiderate. Service packs are supposed to be for bug fixes. If
plug-ins are a bug that they just fixed, they should at least come out and
say it. But Microsoft's silence on their reasons for killing off plug-ins
says all that needs to be said.
Michael L. Dertouzos, 64, Computer Visionary, Dies
Michael L. Dertouzos, a computer scientist with a knack for explaining the
ways that high technology affects people's lives, died on Monday night in
Boston. He was 64.
The cause of death is unknown, pending an autopsy.
Mr. Dertouzos, a faculty member of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology since 1964, became the director of the institute's Laboratory
for Computer Sciences in 1974. Under his leadership, the laboratory
developed many of the technologies that underlie today's computers,
including one of the best-known methods for scrambling data, the RSA
encryption system, and innovations that helped bring the World Wide Web
into popular use.
Charles M. Vest, the president of M.I.T., described Mr. Dertouzos as
"larger than life," saying: "He was at once a leader, builder, visionary
and caring human being. Few individuals have so personally and profoundly
shaped their institutions and professional fields."
Mr. Dertouzos was instrumental in creating a home within his labs for the
World Wide Web Consortium, a forum of companies and organizations that
promotes the development of the
Web. He recruited Tim Berners-Lee, the
inventor of the Web, to the labs.
Though he worked in some of the highest realms of computer science, Mr.
Dertouzos always insisted that technology be designed to serve people and
not the other way around. In 1999, for example, the labs announced the
"Oxygen Project," a $50 million effort undertaken with the M.I.T.
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to make computers easier to use, the
institute said, and "as natural a part of our environment as the air we
breathe."
Mr. Berners-Lee, in a tribute posted on the Web (www.w3.org/People/
Berners-Lee/2001/MLD.html), wrote, "Michael had been promoting the vision
of the information marketplace long before the Web came along."
In the tribute, Mr. Berners-Lee recalled Mr. Dertouzos's ability to cut
through confusion to get things done. It was early in the life of his
fledgling organization, and he recalled that the small group was "frankly
quite adrift." At that moment, he recalled, Mr. Dertouzos "took us in
hand" and held "one dramatic eight-hour meeting in which the mission,
goals and structure of the team was in place, and everything looked at
once logical and possible."
In an interview yesterday, Mr. Berners-Lee recalled his friend as being
"very effective but unbelievably human and warm at the end of the day, and
much more interested in the human than in the project."
Michael Leonidas Dertouzos (pronounced der-TOO-zohs) was born in Athens on
Nov. 5, 1936. His father was an admiral in the Greek navy, and his mother
was a concert pianist. Although he recalled dreaming of going to M.I.T. as
a young man, he won a Fulbright Scholarship to attend the University of
Arkansas, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees. He worked
briefly at Baldwin Piano and then entered the M.I.T. doctorate program,
earning the degree in 1964; he never left.
During the Carter administration, Mr. Dertouzos was chairman of a White
House advisory group that helped to redesign computer networks there, and
represented the United States in a delegation to the 1995 G-7 Conference
on the Information Society. He was co-chairman of the World Economic Forum
on the Network Society in Davos, Switzerland, in 1998. In his free time,
he was an avid sailor and woodworker.
Mr. Dertouzos, a resident of Weston, Mass., married Hadwig Gofferje in
1961. They divorced in 1993. In 1998 he married Catherine Liddell, who
survives him. He is also survived by two children, Alexandra Dertouzos
Rowe and Leonidas M. Dertouzos of Boston, and a granddaughter.
A scientist in his own right, Mr. Dertouzos held patents on such
inventions as a thermal printer, a graphical display system and a graphic
tablet. He also tried to communicate his vision of science and technology
to a broader audience in eight books, including his last, "The Unfinished
Revolution: Human-Centered Computers and What They Can Do For Us"
(Harper-Collins), which was published this year.
He foresaw technological change in his books and speeches. In 1976, he
predicted that there would be a personal computer in one of every three
homes by the mid-1990's, and described the vast online information
marketplace that the Internet would become in antediluvian 1980.
"He is one of the truly articulate spokesmen for the field," said David D.
Clark, a senior research scientist at the laboratory. "It's a big loss for
us, because there are very few people who had their arms so much around
what our field is, and what it should aspire to be."
In "The Unfinished Revolution," Mr. Dertouzos sought an elusive harmony
between technology and humanity. He wrote that intractable problems like
the ethics of genetic engineering, school violence everything from
choosing a school to running a nation would require the kind of thinking
that transcended "pure technology" and "pure faith." He wrote, "We need to
bring these back together if we want to find our way through the maze of
an increasingly complex world."
Bridging that gap is difficult, he wrote, but essential.
"We will be better off and we will be finishing the ultimate Unfinished
Revolution," he wrote, "if we reach for these goals using all our human
dimensions in concert, standing once again in awe before the sunset, the
wheel, and what may lie behind them."
New Method of Stealth Computing Found
Uncovering a relatively benign vulnerability in the Internet, researchers
have tricked Web servers around world into solving math problems without
permission in a practice known as ``parasitic computing."
Unlike hackers who exploit flaws to gain direct access to machines, the
University of Notre Dame computer scientists created a virtual computer by
using the fundamental components of the Internet's infrastructure,
according to a report in Thursday's journal Nature.
Each problem was broken down into smaller pieces that were evaluated by
servers in North America, Europe and Asia. The results from each were used
to reach a solution.
The process works a lot like distributed computing, which draws huge
amounts of processing power from multiple Internet-connected computers for
such tasks as searching for alien life and cracking encryption keys.
In parasitic computing, however, the work is performed without the server
owner's knowledge or permission.
The parasitic computing probably did not break any laws.
Still, the approach raises ethical questions, said Vincent Freeh, a Notre
Dame computer science professor and co-author of the report. ``When you're
on the road, do you use a McDonald's restroom without buying a hamburger?"
he said. ``That's the ethics of what we're dealing with."
The research was primarily an academic exercise and not a particularly good
way to solve problems. For one, sending out data over the Internet requires
more work than the simple problems solved in the experiment.
``In no case did we say it could be efficiently exploited," Freeh said.
Scott Blake, director of security strategy at BindView Corp., a network
security firm, agreed it is unlikely the technique will exploited because
the system is simply too inefficient.
``We don't think anyone should think their computer is going to be used for
nefarious purposes," Blake said. ``This is entirely theoretical. I'm not
convinced there is going to be a practical application of it."
New Worm Warnings
Antivirus vendor Central Command Inc. is warning PC users about a new worm
masquerading as an E-mail message from Microsoft Corp.'s tech support. The
worm, Win32.Invalid.A@mm, targets executable (.exe) files, encrypting
infected files with a random encryption key, making it nearly impossible
for victims to access the targeted files.
The worm enters a user's system through the bogus E-mail message with the
subject line "Invalid SSL Certificate." The message falsely warns readers
that an invalid SSL certificate used by many Web sites may cause a buffer
over-run in Microsoft Internet Explorer and enable an attacker to access
the user's system. The E-mail also contains the attachment, sslpatch.exe.
Users who click on the attachment will execute the virus, which then seeks
a live connection to the Internet. If no connection is found, the virus
activates its payload, which searches for all executable files in the
directory where the virus resides, as well as the parent directory. It
will then encrypt all of the executable files it finds, rendering them
useless.
If the virus does find an Internet connection, it will conduct a search
for all * .ht * files in the "My Documents" directory. The virus copies an
E-mail address from any file that contains a "mailto:" string and then
mails a copy of itself using its own E-mail software.
Central Command lists the worm as a medium risk. So far, only one copy of
the worm has been reported.
=~=~=~=
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