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Silicon Times Report Issue 1333
Silicon Times Report
"The Original Independent Online Magazine"
(Since 1987)
August 15, 1997 No.1333
Silicon Times Report International Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
R.F. Mariano, Editor
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08/15/97 STR 1333 Celebrating Our Tenth Anniversary 1987-97!
- CPU Industry Report - Porn Law Upheld - Pirates NAILED
- Apple Polishing - Jason's Jazz - UUNet Limits Spam
- Babes in Boyland - No Surf Senate - Intel Countersues
- Resident Evil #1 - People Talking - Classics & Gaming
Apple Users Like Microsoft Deal
Steve Jobs Dumped Apple Stock
Ax Falls on Apple Perks
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The Publisher, Staff & Editors
1987-1997
Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35
Results: 08/02/97: six of six numbers with 2 four # matches and 7 three #
matches
From the Editor's Desk...
This is going to be a short issue due to time constraints. But I
might add.. There hot news in the woodwork. You'll see it all unfold this
coming week. Watch for an STReport exclusive. In the meantime, I like
many others these days is goin' fishing. I'll be gone for a short while.
I'll let you know about the fishing trip too.
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Ralph F. Mariano, Publisher - Publisher, Editor
Dana P. Jacobson, Editor, Current Affairs
Section Editors
PC Section Mac Section Shareware Listings
R.F. Mariano Help Wanted Lloyd E. Pulley
Classics & Gaming Kid's Computing Corner
Dana P. Jacobson Frank Sereno
STReport Staff Editors
Michael R. Burkley Joseph Mirando Victor Mariano
Vincent P. O'Hara Glenwood Drake
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STReport Headline News
LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Apple Users Like Microsoft Deal
An overwhelming majority of corporate Macintosh users are in favor of
Microsoft Corp.'s $150 million investment in Apple Computer Inc., according
to a survey conducted by the trade journal Computerworld.
The publication's survey of 104 corporate Apple users finds that 93 percent
believe that a truce between Microsoft and Apple is a good thing for Apple.
The respondents also agree that the appointment of Oracle Corp. Chairman
Larry Ellison to Apple's board is a good move, but they were less decisive
when asked if they would approve of Steve Jobs as chairman of Apple
Computer. Only 36 percent of the users surveyed felt Jobs should hold the
position, while 31 percent said no and 34 percent were undecided.
Respondents also split on the question of whether Apple's adoption of
Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser is a good thing for Apple, with 47
percent approving, 41 disapproving and 12 percent undecided.
Ax Falls on Apple Perks
The ax has fallen at Apple Computer Inc. on sabbaticals, cash bonuses for
executives and generous severance pay and the man wielding it is co-founder
Steve Jobs, who is calling on the company's "egalitarian, entrepreneurial"
heritage. Announcing the changes in an electronic mail memo to employees
earlier this week, Jobs also calls for more modest travel arrangements and
continued consolidation of employees.
The Associated Press characterizes the memo, which was signed "Steve and
the Executive Team," as "the latest evidence that Jobs is essentially
running the company he co-founded 21 years ago -- despite his refusal of
the chairman and chief executive officer's posts." As reported, Apple's
board of directors has ousted chairman/CEO Gil Amelio and last week
replaced most of its board and announced an alliance with Microsoft Corp.
Said Jobs in his memo, "Today we are taking a few more steps which will
begin to take Apple back to its roots as a more egalitarian,
entrepreneurial company."
He said the company is:
˙ Eliminating cash bonuses for executives, replacing them with stock
options.
˙ Reducing severance pay to one week of salary for every year worked at
Apple from one month of pay for every year worked. Employees still get
a 60-day notice with full pay and benefits.
˙ Now requiring all employees to fly coach on trips shorter than 10
hours and business class for longer trips. Employees can pay for their
own upgrades or use mileage awards.
˙ Eliminating sabbaticals, a perk it adopted early on and a popular
benefit with employees.
Said Jobs, "Apple needs all hands on deck for the foreseeable future as we
turn our company's fortunes around." Apple spokesman Katie Cotton told the
wire service that while some employees might be disappointed by some changes,
"there's a widespread understanding that the company has to take steps
to cut costs and tighten business wherever possible."
Apple Clone Makers Note Silence
Nerves are jangling in the computer cloning business, because Apple
Computer Inc. still has not made it clear whether it will continue
licensing its Macintosh operating system. The New York Times noted this
morning that at last week's MacWorld Expo trade show Apple executives were
nearly silent on the issue, which is considered of strategic importance to
the company. The Times observes the absence of any straight answers on the
issue is fueling speculation that Apple seems to think the clones do Apple
more harm than good. These days, clones account for one out of every five
Macintosh computers sold.
Steve Jobs Dumped Apple Stock
Time magazine is reporting Steve Jobs dumped all but one share of his stock
in Apple Computer in June. That was two months before Apple's surprise
alliance with Microsoft Corp. and the coup that changed the company's board
of directors. In its Aug. 18 issue, Time reports Jobs, now a member of a
reshuffled Apple board, holds only a single share as a symbolic gesture.
Time quotes Jobs as saying, "I pretty much had given up hope that the Apple
board was going to do anything. If that upsets employees, I'm perfectly
happy to go home to Pixar." United Press International notes the 1.5 million
shares of stock Jobs sold in June were worth $22 million at the time.
"If he had hung on to those shares," the wire service adds, "they would be
worth about $38 million as of Friday." Apple stock has been on the rise
after last week's announcement that a new Apple board includes Jobs and
Larry Ellison, founder and chief executive of Oracle. Microsoft also
announced that it would invest $150 million in Apple, or about 7 percent of
the computer maker's worth. The 42-year-old Jobs, who co-founded Apple 21
years ago with Steve Wozniak, returned to the company as an advisor in
December when Apple bought his Next Software Inc. Adds UPI, "When he
turned down the position of chief executive after the departure of Gil
Amelio, Jobs said his 'heart, mind and body' are at Pixar, the
Richmond-based animation company that produced the all computer-animated
film 'Toy Story.'"
Professor: Net Changing Politics
Like earlier technology breakthroughs -- such the telegraph, telephone,
radio and television -- the Internet already has led to the transformation
of political organizations by easing the flow of communication, says a
University of Illinois professor. And, says Michael Ward, grass roots
lobbying from citizens using the Net could change the federal government's
day-to-day regulatory and legislative decision-making process.
Speaking with United Press International in Urbana, Illinois, Ward said
wider access to, and use of, the Internet creates the potential for closer
communication between elected officials and their constituents, without the
intercession of a large interest group. Faced with the views of their
constituents, he said, "Policy makers will be less able to pander to the
traditional interest groups."
He added that if Net use expands throughout the population, Ward says it
might lead to a reduction in returns, and consequently, resources devoted
to professional political lobbying, "however, until Internet usage is
substantially broadened, those groups that are disproportionately
represented in the Internet -- high income, professional, educated, white
and male -- are likely to fare better in the political decision process."
California Bill to Test Teachers
A California bill now moving to the governor for approval would require the
state's teacher to demonstrate their competency in classroom computer use.
United Press International says the bill, sponsored by San Rafael Democrat
Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni, "responds to a survey that found only 15
percent of teachers nationwide have had at least nine hours of training in
computer technology." The measure has support of the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing, state schools chief Delaine Eastin and the American
Electronics Association.
Under the bill, the commission would be authorized to revise its standards
for computer competency for the professional multiple or single subject
teaching credential to select advanced computer-based technology.
"Credentialing commission staff members," says UPI, "found in a recent
study that the current education technology requirement fails to cover
teachers who may be in classrooms for up to five years before acquiring
any computer competency. Mazzino says teachers need the required training
to keep pace with increased public and private investment in education
technology."
Tax Break for Computer Donations
Companies donating computers to schools within two years of purchase will
be allowed to deduct the full price of the systems, thanks to a new tax law
change. The 21st Century Classrooms Act, signed into law Tuesday by
President Clinton, is expected to stimulate a flood of donated computers.
"Smart companies will rush to accelerate their purchasing cycle to turn
over their computers every two years," says Diana Detwiler, executive
director of the Detwiler Foundation Computers for Schools Program, the
largest supplier of donated computers to California schools. "The tax
deduction they get for donating to schools is so large that it pays a good
portion of the cost of buying their new computers." Further details are
available on the Web page operated by Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham,
R-California, the legislation's author. Visit
http://www.house.gov/cunningham and look under "What's New."
Judge Upholds Child Porn Law
A federal judge in San Francisco has upheld an expanded federal child
pornography law that bans computer-generated sexual images of children and
porn that features adults who are depicted as minors.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti rejected by sex film distributors and the
American Civil Liberties Union in saying the new law protects children from
sexual exploitation without violating freedom of speech, reports Associated
Press writer Bob Egelko.
In this first court ruling on the law's validity, the judge wrote, "Even if
no children are involved in the production of sexually explicit materials,
the devastating ... effect that such materials have on society and the
well-being of children merits the regulation of such images." Dismissing
ACLU concerns that the law could criminalize a film of "Romeo and Juliet"
or a doctor's sex education manual, Conti said the law covers only pictures
that are marketed as child pornography.
Following the ruling, ACLU lawyer Ann Brick, who filed a supporting brief,
said the law was broader than Conti made it out to be, adding Congress did
not merely ban computer-generated images of children in sexual activities,
but also declared that it was "illegal to use young-looking adults if we
don't like the way you marketed it." Brick said the rationale used by
Congress and Conti -- that the images would help molesters recruit young
victims -- would apply equally to "literature that describes sex in a way
that makes it seem beautiful."
AP notes the law was passed last September to enlarge the federal
definition of child pornography, which previously covered only erotic
pictures of actual minors. Although such material may not be legally
obscene, its prohibition has been upheld by the Supreme Court to prevent
sexual exploitation of minors. "The new law," says Egelko, "applies to
computer-generated images as well as films and photographs. It bans any
visual depiction that 'is, or appears to be, of a minor engaged in sexually
explicit conduct.'"
He adds distributors of sexually explicit pictures of adults who appear to
be minors can avoid conviction if they can show that they did not advertise
or present the material in a way that would "convey the impression" that it
showed sexual acts by a minor. That defense would not apply to computer
simulations. In their suit, a group of more than 600 adult film producers
and distributors argued the law was so broadly worded that it could cover
any picture in which an adult portrays a minor engaged in sexual activity.
The suit said terms like "appears to be" and "convey the impression" are so
loose that it would be difficult to know what material was illegal.
However, the judge said any ambiguity in those terms "can be resolved by
examining whether the work was marketed and advertised as child
pornography." AP says the ACLU argued the only justification for a child
pornography ban recognized by the Supreme Court is the prevention of harm
to children used in the production of such material. But Conti quoted
congressional language in saying such laws also can seek to stop molesters
from whetting their appetite with pornography and using it to break down
their victims' resistance -- effects that do not depend on the use of
actual children in the production.
Publishers' CD Rights Upheld
A federal judge has ruled publishers may reproduce articles by freelance
writers in electronic databases and CD-ROMs without their permission. In
New York, U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayer ruled it is not the fault of
publishers that technology had provided them an unexpected way to make
money in a manner unforeseen by Congress. Associated Press writer Larry
Neumeister says the ruling came in a lawsuit brought by six freelance
writers against The New York Times Co., Newsday Inc., Time Inc., The
Atlantic Monthly Co., Mead Data Central Corp. and University Microfilms
Inc.
Now grounds for appeal are being studied, by says president Jonathan Tasini
of the National Writer's Union, lead plaintiff, who added, "The fight for a
fair share continues. When multimillion-dollar media companies make a
dollar from the sweat of their contributors' brows, those creators deserve
to share in the profits." Defense attorney Bruce P. Keller contested the
assumption that there is a windfall for publishers because of new
technology, saying, "This case involves the 1990s equivalent of microfilm.
It is very important but it is not an enormous gang-busters market. It's
not been a windfall for publishers and it's not likely to be a windfall."
The defendants argued electronic reproductions of their articles were
improper under the federal Copyright Act, alleging their rights were
violated with 21 articles sold for publication between 1990 and 1993. The
judge ruled the act -- written during the 1960s and early 1970s to protect
freelance writers from having their work sold by publishers for lucrative
movie or television deals -- does give publishers the right "to revise
their collective works." She said that right is "then perceived to have
only limited economic value" but technological changes have since made it
more valuable. But it may not be over yet.
Neumeister observed, "With the increasing popularity of the Internet and
importance of electronic publishing, both sides in the lawsuit predicted
the judge's ruling would not be the final word on the conflict between
freelancers and publishers." Sympathizing with the argument by freelancers
that Congress never intended for publishers to receive a windfall from new
technology, the judge wrote, "This may well be. If today's result was
unintended, it is only because Congress could not have fully anticipated
the ways in which modern technology would create such lucrative markets for
revisions."
Raid Strikes Singapore Pirates
The Business Software Alliance says the pirate CD-ROM industry "could come
to a grinding halt in Southeast Asia" following a major 15-hour raid on
what it says is a major player in the illegal software business. Targeted
by Singapore detectives and industry experts were the CD-ROM manufacturing
operations of stock market listed SM Summit Holdings. Reporter Jacqueline
Wong of the Reuter News Service, reporting from
Singapore, says the Stock Exchange of Singapore suspended trade in SM
Summit shares after they plunged nearly 38 percent to $0.655, down S$0.39.
"They began falling," Wong reports, "when market rumors named it as the
target of a raid, then plunged when the BSA confirmed that. The raid was a
major operation, involving experts from the United States, Australia and
Hong Kong as well as Singapore." Reuters says the Singapore High Court
then gave approval for the raid by the detectives accompanied by experts
from the BSA and the three American companies. BSA says that while piracy
rates have fallen in Asia as a whole - often from very high bases -- they
have risen six percentage points in Singapore, from 53 percent in 1995 to
59 percent in 1996.
Digital Wants to Sell Net Unit
Digital Equipment Corp.'s computer-network equipment business is up for
sale. Citing people familiar with the situation, reporter Jon G. Auerbach
of The Wall Street Journal says Digital is seeking to sell the unit in the
face of stiffer competition. The Journal says the computer maker sees the
unit as a growing cash drain that would take a huge investment to revive.
So far talks about the unit's sale have been held with Bain Capital Inc.
and Lucent Technologies, the paper says, quoting industry insiders as
saying Sun Microsystems also would be a logical buyer for the business.
Digital's Network Product unit, which employs about 1,200 people,
reportedly had about $100 million in operating profit in the company's
fiscal year ended in June 1996, but slipped into the red in the fiscal year
just ended, Auerbach reports. the unit makes switches and other equipment
used to build corporate computer networks.
FrontPage 98 Beta Released
Microsoft Corp. is offering a pre-release version of FrontPage 98, the
latest version of its Web site creation and management tool. Microsoft
says the updated software offers intelligent design assistance, expanded
site management functions and compatibility with the latest Web
technologies. "Our goal with FrontPage has always been to bring the power
of Web publishing to the broadest possible set of users," says Chris
Peters, vice president of Microsoft's Web authoring unit.
"With FrontPage 98 we will meet the needs of both beginners and advanced
users by delivering a comprehensive Web creation and management tool that
is easy to use, yet powerful and flexible enough to support the latest Web
technologies." A free copy of the FrontPage 98 beta is now available at
http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/. The software can also be ordered on
CD-ROM for a nominal shipping and handling charge. The software expires and
becomes unusable on Dec. 31.
Europe OKs Compaq-Tandem Deal
In Brussels, Belgium, antitrust authorities with the European Union today
gave their blessing to Compaq Computer Corp.'s takeover of Tandem Computers
Inc., saying the fusion of the U.S. companies won't hurt competition in
Europe. In a statement, the European Commission said, "The overlaps
between the two companies' activities ... were not such as to give rise to
competition concerns." The Associated Press notes the commission has
powers to review large mergers or acquisitions that will affect EU markets,
including those involving only non-European companies. "It can ask for
changes to deals it judges harmful to fair competition within the 15
nations in the European Union and impose heavy fines on companies that
don't comply," AP adds. Compaq, the world's biggest PC maker, announced in
June it would purchase Tandem in a $3 billion stock deal that boosts
Compaq's bid to expand beyond PCs into more powerful business machines.
Broderbund Updates Print Shop Line
Broderbund Software Inc. is adding five new products to The Print Shop
series, including The Print Shop Premier Edition 5.0, a completely
revamped version of its classic product. Broderbund's new Windows 95
software slate also features The Print Shop Publishing Suite, a products
that combines The Print Shop Premier Edition 5.0 and The Print Shop
PressWriter; and The Print Shop Signature Greetings, a tool that allows
consumers to create high quality greeting cards at home and deliver them
online. Other new titles include The Print Shop LiveMail, an Internet
communications program that enlivens E-mail messages with animation, sound
and graphics; and The Print Shop Standard Edition, an introductory consumer
graphics product.
"This is truly the next generation of The Print Shop series. The Print Shop
Premier Edition 5.0 has been completely redesigned to be the easiest and
best desktop publishing tool for home and small business users," says Harry
Wilker, senior vice president of the Novato, California, software
publisher. The Print Shop Premier Edition 5.0 ($49.95), The Print Shop
Publishing Suite ($69.95), The Print Shop Signature Greetings ($29.95) and
The Print Shop Standard Edition ($29.95) are shipping to stores now. The
Print Shop LiveMail is set to become available in October for $29.95.
Iomega Readies Color Zip Disks
Taking the lead of floppy disk makers, Iomega Corp. has unveiled color
versions of its 100MB Zip disks. The Roy, Utah, company's $149.95 "Gig-O-Color"
10-pack includes disk pairs in green, red, gold, blue and gray.
"Gig-O-Color Zip disks are for the computer user who likes to stay
organized -- but also likes a little flair," says Jackie Finch,
Iomega's product line manager for Zip media and accessories.
"They provide creative, high capacity storage." The Gig-O-Color Zip
pack is expected to ship this fall. Visit Iomega's Web site at
http://www.iomega.com.
Online Ads to Top $7.7B in 2002
A new research report is predicting that advertising spending on the
Internet and online services will reach $7.7 billion in 2002, up from $301
million last year. Compiled by the New York communications research group
by Jupiter Communications, the forecast, says the Reuter News Service, "is
generally in line with other predictions, which show a rapid increase in ad
spending as more people go online and advertising models become more
refined."
Jupiter predicts revenue from direct marketing on the Internet and over
online services will grow from $13 million in 1996 to $1.3 billion in 2002.
Reuters notes a recent report from Cowles/Simba Information, a unit of
Cowles Business Media, projected that online advertising spending would
reach $538.2 million this year and $2.57 billion by 2000.
The Internet Advertising Bureau has reported that first-quarter 1997 online
advertising revenues were $129.5 million, an 18 percent jump over fourth
quarter 1996 levels. Nonetheless, Reuters says one panelist at the
conference -- Norman Lehoullier, co-director of Grey Interactive -- thought
the projections were "very optimistic," observing that many companies are
still trying to figure out the best way to market on the online medium.
McVeigh formally sentenced to death for bombing
Convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was formally sentenced to
death Thursday for the 1995 explosion that killed 168 people and brought
political terror to America's heartland. Before being sentenced, McVeigh
broke his courtroom silence to read a cryptic one-sentence quote from the
late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: "Our government is the
potent and omnipresent teacher for good or for ill, it teaches the whole
people by its example." Then he added, "That's all I have to say."
Mayor: Police shakeup after alleged attack
Top police officers were reassigned Thursday in a shakeup at a police
precinct where a Haitian immigrant was allegedly beaten and sodomized with
a toilet plunger. The immigrant, Abner Louima, remained in a hospital in
critical and guarded condition after the alleged attack Saturday at the
precinct in the city's Brooklyn borough. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani warned
police at the 70th Precinct not protect their fellow officers. Louima, 30,
told investigators he was arrested in a late-night brawl outside a
nightclub.
Suspect in Detroit killings falls from window
A suspect in the stabbing deaths of five people either jumped or fell from
a fifth floor window Thursday at Detroit Police headquarters and landed on
the steps at the front of the building, police said. The man was rushed
into surgery at a Detroit hospital in critical condition, a hospital
spokeswoman said. Detroit police spokeswoman Allene Ray would not identify
the man, who was being questioned at the time of the incident. The five
victims were found Wednesday morning in a home on Detroit's west side.
A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N
LEXMARK OPTRA C
COLOR
LASER PRINTER
For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent to
you that demonstrates LEXMARK Optra C SUPERIOR QUALITY 600 dpi Laser Color
Output, please send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business
sized envelope please) to:
STReport's LEXMARK Printout Offer
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
Folks, the LEXMARK Optra C has to be the very best yet in its price range.
It is far superior to anything we've seen or used as of yet. It is said
that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. The out put from the Lexmark
Optra C is worth ten thousand words! Send for the free sample now. (For a
sample that's suitable for framing, see below) Guaranteed. you will be
amazed at the superb quality. (Please.. allow at least a two week turn-
around).
If you would like a sample printout that's suitable for framing. Yes
that's right! Suitable for Framing. Order this package. It'll be on
special stock and be of superb quality. We obtained a mint copy of a 1927
COLOR ENGRAVER'S YEAR BOOK. Our Scanner is doing "double duty"! The
results will absolutely blow you away. If you want this high quality
sample package please include a check or money order in the amount of $6.95
(Costs only) Please, make checks or money orders payable to; Ralph Mariano.
Be sure to include your full return address and telephone number . The
sample will be sent to you protected, not folded in a 9x12 envelope. Don't
hesitate.. you will not be disappointed. This "stuff" is gorgeous!
A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N
Shareware Treasure Chest STR Feature "The Latest & Greatest"
Shareware Treasure Chest
By Lloyd E. Pulley
lepulley@streport.com
See y'all next week..
EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed
Edupage
Contents
Blackout In New England
Motorola Expands Chip Venture In
China
UUNet Moves To Limit Spam
Internet Site Blamed For Hurting
CIA
ACM Opens Its Digital Library
Vonnegut Comments On Internet Hoax
Computer Vandals Charged With
Crimes
No Surfing On The Senate Floor
Apple Polishing
Digital Wants To Sell Its Network
Equipment Group
Opposition To FBI Wire-Tapping Plan
Taking Stock Of Apple
Faculty Interaction: Sometimes
Necessary, Sometimes Not
The Chinese PC Market
Ameritech Tests Make MCI Testy
WWWooing New Customers
Freelancers Lose To Publishers Over
Electronic Reproduction
Oracle's Plans For Integrating Web
With TV
Sony, Philips, And HP Want To Do It
Their Own DVD-RAM Way
Leading Software Companies
An Extension Of Life For "Moore's
Law"?
Intel Countersues Digital
Babes In Boyland
BLACKOUT IN NEW ENGLAND
More than 200 New England businesses experienced a four-hour Internet
blackout Thursday evening after an explosion knocked out electrical power
in the Boston area. One person was killed in the blast, which overloaded
a panel switch at MIT, causing a fire and cutting off Internet access to
BBN Planet customers. Access resumed around 10:00 in the evening. The
speed with which the incident happened made it impossible to reroute
traffic, said a BBN spokesman. (TechWire 8 Aug 97)
MOTOROLA EXPANDS CHIP VENTURE IN CHINA
Motorola is ramping up its chip activities in China to develop products
such as power semiconductor devices and integrated circuits. The company
has already spent $50 million on phases one and two of its semiconductor
venture, and phase three is expected to cost $200 million more. (Investor's
Business Daily 8 Aug 97)
UUNET MOVES TO LIMIT SPAM
After a group of vigilante computer users blocked 80,000 e-mail messages in
a 24-hour period, Internet service provider UUNet is moving to limit the
number of junk e-mail messages it transmits to Usenet groups. (Investor's
Business Daily 8 Aug 97)
INTERNET SITE BLAMED FOR HURTING CIA
A Central Intelligence Agency report says that the Web site called
Gulflink -- created by the Defense Department to give Gulf War veterans
possible explanations for health problems developed after the war - may
have provided the Iraqis with clues to the identity of individuals who
provided intelligence information to the U.S. The report said that
documents posted on the site were not adequately reviewed before being made
generally available on the Internet. < http://www. Gulflink.osd.mil/ >
(New York Times 8 Aug 97)
ACM OPENS ITS DIGITAL LIBRARY
The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) is providing free public
access to its Digital Library during an "open house" lasting through
September 30, 1997. The library contains tables of contents of twenty ACM
journals and more than 400 conference proceedings. Full texts of selected
articles and conference proceedings are also available. (Communications of
the ACM Jul 97) < http://www.acm.org/dl >
VONNEGUT COMMENTS ON INTERNET HOAX
What conclusion is drawn by novelist Kurt Vonnegut about the Internet hoax
falsely attributing to him a speech he hadn't written or delivered? "Some
jerk infected the Internet with an outright lie. It shows how easy it is to
do and how credulous people are." The "MIT commencement address" that
Vonnegut never gave was actually an essay written by Chicago Tribune
columnist Mary Schmich (whom Vonnegut has praised). The essay began:
"Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 1997: Wear sunscreen.'' The origins
and purpose of the hoax have not yet come to light. (AP 7 Aug 97)
COMPUTER VANDALS CHARGED WITH CRIMES
Prosecutors in Fairfax County, Virginia, have filed criminal charges
against two Georgia Mason University students for hacking their way into
university computers and sending derogatory e-mail under the names of
random students and staff members. Altering computer data is a felony and
willfully using a computer network without is a misdemeanor. (Washington
Post 8 Aug 97)
NO SURFING ON THE SENATE FLOOR
Senator Michael B. Enzi (R., Wyoming) wants to use his laptop on the floor
of the U.S. Senate, but many of his colleagues are opposed to the idea.
Senator Diane Feinstein (D., California) says: "I'm not against computers,
but I think they have their place and it's not everywhere. When you're
speaking on the Senate floor, you should be speaking from a lifetime of
experience, not from what you punch up on a computer." Senator Robert G.
Torricelli (D., New Jersey) agrees: "The entry of an electronic notebook
on the floor of the United States Senate will inevitably lead to staff
instructions on voting and the scripting of all remarks." And the idea
makes Senator Robert C. Byrd (D., Virginia) positively cranky: "What will
be the next step if we take this? I would be a bit irritable, I think,
if I looked around and saw someone sitting beside me, typing on this
thing." (New York Times 10 Aug 97)
APPLE POLISHING
Apple is rehiring TBWA Chiat/Day, the ad agency responsible for the famous
"1984" commercial that introduced Apple's Macintosh computers in the mid-
eighties. The ad suggested that using a Mac was a blow for freedom in an
Orwellian "Big Brother" world dominated by IBM. The company (then known as
Chiat/Day of Venice, California) was fired in 1985 after it produced an
unsuccessful Apple commercial depicting non-Mac- using business executives
as "lemmings" lining up to jump off a cliff. (USA Today 8-10 Aug 97)
DIGITAL WANTS TO SELL ITS NETWORK EQUIPMENT GROUP
Digital Equipment Corporation has been talking with possible buyers of its
network equipment unit, which makes switches and other network devices in
competition with companies such as Cisco Systems. Possible purchasers for
the 1200-employee unit include Bain Capital (a Boston buyout firm) and
Lucent Technologies -- the equipment manufacturer created from the AT&T
spinoff. (Wall Street Journal 11 Aug 97)
OPPOSITION TO FBI WIRE-TAPPING PLAN
Privacy advocates, along with telephone companies, are challenging an FBI-
developed plan that would require modification of the nation's phone
system to give law enforcement agencies the ability to retain wiretapping
capabilities in the digital age. Opponents of the FBI-proposed standard
say it would allow the government to exceed its authority by letting
enforcement agencies capture the full content of phone communications when
wire-tapping authority is restricted to interception of merely the
addressing or signaling data. (New York Times 11 Aug 97)
TAKING STOCK OF APPLE
Ten days before the resignation of Apple chief executive Gil Amelio earlier
this month, company co-founder and special advisor Steve Jobs sold 1.5
million shares of Apple stock in a trade that contributed to the stock's
decline to its lowest point of the year. Since Jobs was not an officer or
director of the company and not a majority shareholder, he was not
required to disclose the sale. Jobs recently told Time magazine: ``I
pretty much had given up hope that the Apple board was going to do
anything. I didn't think the stock was going up." about a week after
unloading the shares he called Microsoft CEO Bill Gates to tell him that
Amelio was about to be forced out of the company. Asked about his
maneuvering Jobs says: ``If that upsets employees, I'm perfectly happy to
go home to Pixar,'' the digital animation company where he serves as chief
executive. (San Jose Mercury News 12 Aug 97)
FACULTY INTERACTION: SOMETIMES NECESSARY,
SOMETIMES NOT
Comparing higher education to national health care, Educom vice president
Mike Roberts told the Washington Post: "The doctors wouldn't do anything
about controlling costs by themselves, and things finally got so bad that
they took the control away from them. The faculty need to face up to those
aspects of learning that really require interaction with a faculty member
and those that don't." As examples, Roberts mentioned introductory
freshman and remedial-level courses in composition, math, science and
languages. (Washington Post 10 Aug 97)
THE CHINESE PC MARKET
China has overtaken South Korea as the largest market for personal
computers in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a Dataquest report.
Legend, mainland China's largest producer of personal computers, sold
100,000 PCs in the second quarter of this year, and the president of Intel
in China recently predicted that within a few years China will be the that
company's third largest market after the U.S. and Japan. (Financial Times
12 Aug 97
AMERITECH TESTS MAKE MCI TESTY
Long-distance phone company MCI Communications wants the Federal
Communications Commission to stop local phone service provider Ameritech
from testing its own long-distance capabilities in the same area in which
it offers local phone service. In the test, Chicago-based regional Bell
operating system Ameritech is giving free long-distance service to its own
employees. Ameritech argues that, since it is not charging for the service
and not offering it to the public, the tests do not require FCC approval.
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution 12 Aug 97)
WWWOOING NEW CUSTOMERS
A number of Web sites are busy planning advertising campaigns this Fall to
make themselves known as media brands (such as CBS, NBC, MTV, etc.) that
will stick in the public mind. Using radio, print and outdoor
advertising, the campaigns will mainly target novice computer users. (USA
Today 11 Aug 97) Note: Edupage, a strictly low-budget enterprise, will
content itself with a tasteful amount of soothing, mindless repetition to
make its brand name memorable. Edupage. Are you ready for the quiz?
FREELANCERS LOSE TO PUBLISHERS OVER
ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION
A federal judge in Manhattan has ruled against freelance journalists who
argued that publishers should not be allowed to reproduce their work on CD
ROMs or in electronic databases without their permission and without
paying them beyond what they were paid for the original material. At issue
was whether or not electronic reproduction of that sort is essentially
equivalent to archival versions of print media on microfilm, which are a
publisher's right under the Copyright Act of 1976. The decision will be
appealed. (New York Times 14 Aug 97)
ORACLE'S PLANS FOR INTEGRATING WEB WITH TV
Oracle is planning to use a broadcasting technology called "the vertical
blanking interval" - a space between TV signals that can be adapted for
sending data - to automatically integrate data from the World Wide Web into
TV programs in progress. One example of use for the system is that a
person viewing, say, a football game could interact with other viewers
through a Web-based chat session appearing in one window on the screen.
(Wall Street Journal 13 Aug 97)
SONY, PHILIPS, AND HP WANT TO DO IT THEIR OWN DVD-RAM WAY
Sony, Philips, and Hewlett-Packard have decided not to support the
industry's proposed technical standard for reusable DVD-RAM disks that
allow users to copy digital computer disks or record TV programming
digitally. A Sony spokesman claims that the companies have superior
technology that can store 3 billion bytes of information on a disk
compared with the 2.6-billion byte standard proposed by the rest of the
industry. Industry analyst Richard Doherty says that "the DVD-RAM market
at present is computers, but everyone knows the big reward coming in 18
months to two years is the consumer video disk recorder." (New York Times
14 Aug 97)
LEADING SOFTWARE COMPANIES
The ten leading companies in software revenue last year were (in descending
order): IBM, Microsoft, Hitachi, Computer Associates, Oracle, Fujitsu,
SAP, Bull HN Information Systems, Digital Equipment Corporation, and
Novell. And of the top thirty companies, 37% are in California, 13% in
Massachusetts, 10% in Pennsylvania, 7% in New York, and 33% in other
states, provinces, and countries. (Investor's Business Daily 13 Aug 97)
AN EXTENSION OF LIFE FOR "MOORE'S LAW"?
Texas-based Sematech consortium has developed a technique for replacing a
chip's microscopic aluminum wiring with copper, which is a superior
conductor of electricity and therefore able to allow data to travel much
faster through the chip circuitry. The advance may extend the life of
"Moore's Law" (declared by Intel Corp. co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965),
which asserts that chip performance will double every 18 months. (San
Jose Mercury News 13 Aug 97)
INTEL COUNTERSUES DIGITAL
Intel has responded the patent-infringement charge made against it in May
by Digital Equipment Corporation by filing a countersuit alleging that
Digital's Alpha processors infringe on Intel patents dating back to 1984.
Industry and legal analysts are speculating that the countersuit may set
the stage for bringing the two parties to an out-of-court settlement. One
lawyer not involved in the case says: "It's going to be nuclear winter
before these passels of lawyers get done with each other. Now that they
can see the magnitude of what they are going to do to each other, it is a
good time for the businessmen to step in before things get out of control
and see if they can reach a settlement." (New York Times 13 Aug 97)
BABES IN BOYLAND
Is there sexism is Silicon Valley? Senior researcher Anita Borg in Palo
Alto says: "You run into subtle sexism every day. It's like water
torture. It wears you down." And Kim Polese, who left a big company to
found the Web startup Marimba Inc. and join "Babes in Boyland" (an
organization of female tech execs), says: "If you really want to shoot to
the top, you probably have to start your own business." (BusinessWeek 18-
25 97)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu).
Voice: 404-371-1853, Fax: 404-371-8057.
Technical support is provided by the Office of Information Technology,
University of North Carolina.
EDUPAGE is what you've just finished reading. To subscribe to Edupage:
send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message
type: subscribe edupage Marvin Minsky (assuming that your name is Marvin
Minsky; if it's not, substitute your own name). ... To cancel, send a
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we'll be so happy! Choice of bell is yours: a small dome with a button,
like the one on the counter at the dry cleaners with the sign "Ring bell
for service"; or a small hand bell; or a cathedral bell; or a door bell;
or a chime; or a glockenspiel. Your choice. But ring it!
EDUCOM UPDATE is our twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational
news and events. To subscribe to the Update: send a message to:
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update John McCarthy (assuming that your name is John McCarthy; if it's
not, substitute your own name).
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE The CAUSE organization's annual
conference on information technology in higher education is scheduled for
the end of this month in New Orleans. The conference will bring together
administrators, academicians and other managers of information resources.
For full conference information check out <http://cause-www.colorado.edu >
or send e-mail to conf@cause.colorado.edu.
ARCHIVES & TRANSLATIONS. For archive copies of Edupage or Update, ftp or
gopher to educom.edu or see URL: < http://www.educom.edu/>. For the
French edition of Edupage, send mail to edupage-fr@ijs.com with the subject
"subscribe"; or see < http://www.ijs.com >. For the Hebrew edition,
send mail to listserv@kinetica.co.il containing : SUBSCRIBE Leketnet-Word6
<name> or see < http://www.kinetica.co.il/ newsletters/leketnet/ >. For
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Telematica; connection and/or free subscription via BT-Tymnet and Sprint
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message SUB EDUPAGE-P Seu Primeiro Nome Seu Sobrenome. For the Spanish
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Primer Nombre, Su Apellido.
Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
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IF-22:
The Realistic Simulation
of the F-22 Raptor
Windows CD-ROM
Street Price: $49.95
for all ages
(violence to realistic objects)
Interactive Magic
P.O Box 13491
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
www.imagicgames.com
Program Requirements
OS:
Windows 95
CPU:
Pentium 90
HD space: 45
MB free hard disk space
Memory: 16MB
RAM
Graphics:
SVGA
CD-ROM: 4X
Speed
Audio:
Supports most popular sound cards
Other:
Keyboard or mouse
Direct3D supported but not required
Review by Jason Sereno (jsereno@uti.com)
Interactive Magic's new combat simulation, iF-22 Raptor, puts the player in
a realistic, point and click cockpit. You fly the F-22 Raptor. It is an
actual fighter pilot used by the USAF. The game is the first flight
simulation to take advantage of Direct3D in two unique environments, Bosnia
and the Ukraine. It also uses satellite imagery to create the realistic
terrain. The dynamic campaign system and mission generator create
unpredictable land and air enemies. The game has truly an unlimited amount
of game playing capabilities. Although some gamers might not appreciate
the complicated controls, iF-22 is a breakthrough in flight sims.
iF-22 is the first flight simulation to have a fully point and click
cockpit. Almost every control from radar, locking systems, and the
ejection seat is manageable with a few clicks of the mouse. Not all of the
jet's controls are mouse activated. However, most of the controls needed
during combat are mouse-manipulated. With a click of a button you can lock
onto targets, launch missles, drop bombs, or communicate with your allies.
Each of the five displays on your MFD (Multifunctional Device) are
switchable with the mouse. You use a mouse for commands on your HUD (Heads
Up Display) as well. As I said before, F-22 Raptor is the first flight sim
to use this largely mouse-oriented cockpit. It creates a simple atmosphere
for large portions of the game.
iF-22 is also the first flight simulation to use Direct3D. You will see
the breathtaking terrain that accurately depicts that of which is in Bosnia
and the Ukraine. The land, you may discover, is photorealistic and
rendered from satellite photos and elevation data of these two distinctive
areas. You cannot get anymore real than that! To view the land, iF-22
Raptor contains a large assortment of camera angles. You can track your
bombs with a camera or even take a look at your enemies as they are
disintegrated by your missile. Also within the game is a detailed map of
Bosnia in case you want to plot your waypoints to chart your course. Even
without a map for the Ukraine, you can be rest assured that the game is
accurate in depicting your battlefield.
Each of the two "theaters" as they call them in the game, have two
individual sets of missions. Each set differs in the main goal and the
number of aircraft and ground vehicles. The player themselves can change
options to make gameplay more difficult or create new missions. If you
wish for the aircraft to be invulnerable to crashes, these and many other
options can be toggled in the game's setup menu. This will allow the
player to fly in an almost unlimited amount of combat simulations and
levels of difficulty.
As I mentioned before, the point and click cockpit creates a simple
atmosphere for most of the game. The mouse interface is most helpful
during the actual combat you will face. However, iF-22 does become
complicated just as most flight-combat sims. This game comes with a 162
page manual! It covers everything from taking off, combat, locking on to
targets, and about everything else within the game. Needless to say, not
everything within the manual is needed to just fly around and shoot
enemies. Most of the information in the booklet covers tactics and
maneuvering. Inside there is a lot of info needed to know if you do want
to fly your iF-22 through the whole missions. If you do not care to fly
the plane to the waypoints or learn to takeoff and land, your aircraft does
contain an autopilot feature. This will do most of navigating for you but
of course takes the realism out of the game.
iF-22 Raptor, is a monumental breakthrough in flight sims. It is a
terrific game for your average flight sim gamer. The stereotypical,
complicated controls may confuse some inexperienced pilots but they will
get the hang of it after a while. Something that will not confuse anyone
is the easy point and click interface that is used during the battle
sequences during the game. Direct3D and the photo-realistic terrain are
something that makes this game unique as well. When using the mission
generator, you will realize that your missions are seemingly endless in
their options. You can be as creative as you want while making your own
missions too. iF-22 will prove to be a trendsetter to other flight sims in
the future. I would recommend this game to any combating gamer that is
looking for an easier approach to a flight simulation. Pick up a copy of
Interactive Magic's iF-22 Raptor today!
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issue is running approximately 15 to 1 over the ASCII edition. I might add
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Besides, STReport will not be caught in the old, worn out "downward
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STReport International Online Magazine
Classics & Gaming Section
Editor Dana P. Jacobson
dpj@streport.com
From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
When will the madness end?!? Moving is one big pain and I haven't even
moved into the new house yet! Packing, and more packing, and then some
more... I have to keep telling myself that it will all be well worth it in
the end and that this is just the beginning of some terrific times for my
wife and I. And it will be. Keep on packing Dana....!
It looks like CAB 2.5 will be released here in North America a lot sooner
than anticipated - hopefully by the end of this month, or sooner. This
should be a big plus for those who wish to be able to use commercial
Internet providers for access but couldn't because of PPP limitations by
the providers. And those who utilize SLiP accounts can still do so with
CAB 2.0 (or earlier) and STiK. Things are looking up for Atari users and
the Web; and, Oregon Research's program as well as ASH's are still in the
wings.
We've got a lot of STuff for you this week, so let's move forward. It will
also provide me with a graceful exit and opportunity to get back to my
packing!
Until next time...
From Delphi's Jim Collins (chro_MAGIC):
Hi All,
I have an update on the English version of CAB 2.5 - the HOPED for release
date is "the end of August" - this is for both the full CAB 2.5 release and
for the CAB 2.0 -> 2.5 upgrade kits. Please bear in mind that this "hoped
for" date is when it will hit the street in the UK, it will take another
week or so to get to the United States.
Of course chro_MAGIC will have both the full version and the upgrade kits
available just as soon as they arrive from the UK.
Oh yeah, CAB 2.5 will cost more than 2.0 - and 2.0 will continue to be
available for those who want to use STiK and/or don't need PPP.
Newsbytes NewsReel -- 12 Years Ago This Week
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1997 AUG 13 (Newsbytes) -- By Nick Gorski.
Twelve years ago these Newsbytes stories were filed: DG Goes "Compatible;"
Cut Some Slack Jack; Japanese Mac From Canon; and Apple To Break South
African Sanctions. These stories were taken from the extensive archives at
the Newsbytes Website at http://www.newsbytes.com.
DG Goes "Compatible"
Data General, DEC's arch-competitor, joined the PC "compatible" sweepstakes
last week with the announcement of the Dasher/One Model 1. The unit has an
8088 microprocessor and runs MS-DOS, but DG isn't counting on selling them
as stand-alone units. In an increasingly common tack among computer makers
aiming at the business market, they will be selling the Dasher/One as a
"workstation" hooked up to their Comprehensive Electronic Office System.
The unit comes with a 12-inch monochrome monitor and a single 3.5-inch disk
drive and sells for $2,100. Meanwhile, in a move some observers feel
presages a major move by DG into low-end personal computers, a former Epson
executive has joined DG. Cliff Bream, formerly vice president of marketing
for Epson, has moved from Torrance, California, to DG's headquarters in
Westboro, Massachusetts, where he will be vice-president of DG's Desktop
Division. Rumors are that Bream will attempt to increase sales of the
Data/General One laptop, whose sales have been reportedly below DG
expectations.
Cut Some Slack, Jack
A funny thing happens when you access ASCII positions 28-31 on the newAtari ST "Jackintosh" computer. You get a face. The face, buried in the
ASCII character set, only occurs when you request print of numbers 28
through 31 side-by-side. The crewcut man's smiling face, pipe extended to
the left, was originally thought to be Jack Tramiel. Another said it was
Hugh Hefner. But no, that face appears to be none other than J.R. "Bob"
Dobbs, High Epopt of the Church of the SubGenius. In case you still don't
recognize that name, go into any bookstore and ask for "The Book of the
SubGenius." "Bob" is the brainchild of a group of art students who wanted
to invent a bogus religion based on flying saucers, lunatic conspiracy
theories, and the occult. Among "His" (Bob's) slogans are "You'll PAY To
Know What You REALLY Think," "Give Me Slack Or Kill Me" and, "F--- 'em If
They Can't Take A Joke." An Atari source says "some crazy programmer" is
responsible. He doesn't think Jack knows there's a Bobhead in the machine.
Japanese Mac From Canon / Newsbytes Japan
The Japanese version of Macintosh called "DynaMac" has been developed by
Canon, the Apple dealer in Japan (8/5). DynaMac is a version of a 512KB-Mac
with a Kanji ROM and a Japanese interpreter-tool "Eg-Bridge" that provides
Japanese language for the use of MacPaint and Multiplan. It will be
available on Aug. 20 at US$3,592. For the users of original Macintosh,
Canon is planning to provide an upgrade service with some charge starting
the end of September. Finally, the Mac language barrier has been removed.
However, its costly price is very likely to create a new problem.
Presently, a powerful 16-bit business computer in Japan costs US$1,100,
which is merely one-third of DynaMac. Meanwhile, ErgoSoft Inc., the company
founded by Canon and Apple Japan, has developed Japanese wordprocessing
software called "Advanced EgWord." This is a tremendous development because
a whole sentence of simple Japanese fonts (Kana) can be automatically
transformed into a Kanji sentence with this software. "Advanced EgWord"
will be released in September, says an ErgoSoft spokesperson.
Apple To Break South African Sanctions / Britbytes
Apple's South African supplier, Base 2, claims that it will be bypassing
sanctions against supply of computers to South Africa, by buying via the
Far East or even direct from the US. The statement follows the announcement
by Apple's international president in Paris earlier this month that
retailing of their product in S.A. will cease. Base 2 counters Apple's
reasoning behind the ban (which they say penalizes them for the sins of
others) by saying that they train appreciable quantities of black workers -
the current lack of which Apple says is behind the company decision to
cease trading with South Africa. Base 2 says that discussions are under way
with Far East companies based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, whose
economies are "hungry for dollars."
THE BIG SPIN
by Donald A. Thomas, Jr. [datj@compuserve.com]
(c)1997 - permission granted to distribute/reprint for non-profit
There are different types of spins. There is the spin around the block.
There is the spin programmers use to rotate sprites in a video game. There
are spins on the way stories are told. There are dance spins and toys that
spin. There is also the BIG SPIN as it applies to the evolution of the
computer industry.
On Wednesday, August 6, Mr. Bill Gates and Mr. Steve Jobs cooperatively
announced that Microsoft was contributing to Apple's bottom line with a
monetary figure of $150 million. Assuredly, there are undisclosed
stipulations Microsoft is placing on that contemporary bail out, but Jobs
says Microsoft wants to "own the industry". In theory, Microsoft now has
influential control over Apple-based proprietary PCs as well as traditional
IBM-compatible PCs. Microsoft will tell you that consumers deserve a choice
and that they are protecting their investments in Apple-based applications
by helping to revitalize the platform.
It is as if the investment community does not care about the whys. They
simply see "Microsoft" and "Apple" in the same press release and stock
values bend up on the speculation. But, what are they speculating on? All
they really know is that Apple's dike is being plugged by Microsoft. They
know that Microsoft will benefit in some way by having some non-active
share in the company.
If we spin the world back to 1994, Wednesday, September 28 to be exact,
there was an announced $90 million bailout Sega promised to Atari. Terms
included Sega's acquisition of Atari shares, tentative agreements to
exchange software titles and a forgiving of a pending lawsuit Atari had
registered against Sega. Hmmm, what parallels exist there? Are there any?
For $150 million, has anyone bothered to find out?
Some answers are revealed with an understanding of motivations. There are
two types of motivations in making business decisions; both start with "P".
They are "Performance" and "Pride". Companies get in serious trouble when
these motivations are not spinning together in a synchronized balance.
These two categories can be demonstrated by looking at advertising
decisions. There are "institutional" ads. Those are advertisements that
promote brand awareness, but lack any sense of urgency. For instance, there
are no prices, no sales and no limitations on the act to purchase. An ad
that simply states "Drink Coca-Cola" is an institutional ad. Institutional
ads fall under the category of "Pride". If you run nothing but
institutional ads and never give consumers motivation to buy now, the
competition storms in with a strong price/value message and steals the
consumer.
A "Performance" orientated ad is one that creates some urgency. The ad is
strictly placed to generate a measurable profit after backing out the cost
of manufacturing, distribution and advertising. The ad features a sale
price or a value message or places some type of "get it now or lose" theme
such as limited edition collectable items.
Running too many performance-orientated ads teaches the consumer to only
buy the product when there is a deal. Companies need the "Performance"
advertising to get people to often think about purchasing their product. A
basic example is the decision to buy Coke or Pepsi in the grocery store.
Many consumers will buy either one first based on price- secondly what they
prefer. Personal preferences are statistically based on name recognition.
Therefore, the institutional ads help to make decisions when the prices are
virtually the same.
Rather than dwell more deeply in the philosophies of business principles,
let us look specifically at the motivations between Apple and Microsoft
while keeping the philosophies in mind. Apple is in serious trouble. They
have had consistent quarterly losses, write-offs and lay-offs. They are
desperately trying to make "Performance" orientated decisions to compensate
for the years and years of imbalance of a "pride" orientated business
philosophy... decisions that successfully built a huge dedicated base of
users, but failed to lure new generations of new users. Instead, novice
purchasers were swayed by the appeal of universal compatibility offered by
the IBM clone. Microsoft, on the other hand, is so immensely successful
that they very well may face litigation for forming a monopoly. They do not
have a dire need to generate quick profits, but they do have a need to make
sure the population is pleased with them as a company and for the products
they sell. Imagine the problems if/when Apple fails and Microsoft seems to
be standing over them with the dagger in their hands. In the long run, it
is healthier for Microsoft's image to show they made every effort to help
Apple be successful.
Not to belittle the value of $150 million, but Microsoft will not feel the
loss. It can be compared to many of us buying a new microwave oven... we
certainly have to juggle some finances around, but it won't come close to
bankrupt most of us. On the flipside, $150 million is a big bite of what
Apple needs to survive and Microsoft (Gates) knows the public views $150
million to be a great deal more than a couple annual salaries. So why did
Microsoft give Apple the money?
Last evening my wife and I had an occasion to stroll the Hillsdale shopping
mall. I always enjoy ducking into a B. Dalton when I can and I did again.
Predictably, the magazine rack was full of cover stories of the
Apple/Microsoft deal. If it was not a picture of Bill Gates, there was a
headline about him or Apple. I picked up three of them... BusinessWeek,
Newsweek and Time. Each of them is chuck full of stories that provide Gates
and Jobs a forum to express their views. Just for fun, have any of you ever
checked what it would cost to buy the cover of BusinessWeek, Newsweek,
Time, every computer journal, newspaper as well as formidable exposure on
television and radio? Assuredly, $150 million would not make a down payment
except, perhaps, with the agency placing the exposure. The sum of $150
million was a bargain for the measure of "Pride"-orientated exposure the
two companies are now enjoying.
Microsoft certainly did not deliver $150 million to Apple believing that
Jobs already has a plan to turn things around. As of this writing, no one
at Apple really knows who will be in charge. Jobs is making decisions now,
but he makes it clear that he does not want to be the CEO. Jobs wants to
remain faithful to his Pixar endeavors. He knows that the Apple problems
are too big and he does not want to go down with the ship. On the other
hand, Pixar is doing well and is a better career bet. Jobs does more than
hint that facility and headcount downsizing is imminent. This should have
been clear long ago anyway. Every business must bring expenditures to be
below income.
This provides us to another opportunity to spin back the hands of time. Let
us return to Monday, July 2, 1984 and the takeover of Atari by the Jack
Tramiel regime. At that time, Atari was losing hundreds of millions a year
and Warner Communications was literally bleeding money and in desperate
need to stop the crisis. Jack walked in and, almost overnight, offices and
buildings were vacated. People left so fast that over $100,000 in unsigned
travelers checks were left in an unlocked safe in the finance office
according to one takeover executive.
The casualties of personnel and real estate proved to be a key part to
Atari's saving grace. Within a few years, Jack made Atari profitable,
transformed it into a publicly traded company and repaid Warner for all
outstanding debts. In the mid to late eighties, PCs and Apples still cost a
lot of money and Tramiel's Atari found success selling a new generation of
16/32-bit machines for a fraction of IBM-compatible investments...
especially in Europe. But as IBM compatible prices dropped so did Atari's
ability to be competitive and make money. All along the mass market really
wanted 100% compatibility with office computers. When they became almost as
affordable as Atari computers, they won the "Performance" war against any
"Pride" that Atari's proprietary systems built with their users over the
years.
So now, we spin ahead again to present day. We see Apple hanging on to
proprietary technologies just like Atari did. The are defending their niche
markets in graphics and education just like Atari did in the music industry
with integrated MIDI ports and with affordable desktop publishing solutions
using Calamus or Pagestream. We know $90 million did not save Atari when
Sega gave it to them and we know there is historical proof that companies
that attempt to sell proprietary closed environments such as (Atari,
Commodore, Texas Instruments, Coleco Adam, Next, etc.) to the mass markets
ultimately fail. The consumer wants his home applications to work at the
office. The retailer does not want to carry multiple versions of like
software. Software developers do not like having to provide like
development and support functions for multiple platforms. Just spin the
dial in history and these examples appear again and again.
Another recurring spin is that technology companies fail to look at
historic evidence to make decisions for the future. They too often feel
what they have is so cool that everyone will want one, regardless of price
compatibility, trend or overall business sense. It is enough to amaze
anyone that Apple encounters a $150 million windfall without having to
expose a firm and conservative plan to turn things around... not just
philosophical, but itemized actions. Actions that will expand the amount of
Mac software exposure in retail stores. Actions that will inspire die-hard
Apple users to give up the machines and buy new ones. Actions that attract
new customers. Actions that attract new software developers. Actions that
satisfy creditors. Yet again, $150 million cannot do all these things, so
we will have to see how Jobs applies his newfound capital assets.
By looking at the industry spin over the years, Apple's charter should be
quite clear with or without the infusion of $150 million. They need to
build affordable personal computers that are 100% cross compatible with the
rest of the world. They need to cater to their established base with
optional PC-compatible emulation cards that permit the use of Mac software.
They need to divert their technologies to a strong software development
plan based on a MS-Windows framework. Alternatively, they need to put 100%
energies into a relatively small, yet focused high-end solution that will
be out of reach to the mass market (a.k.a. Silicon Graphics).
Steve Job's pride may prevail and insist on downsizing Apple to a model
that he remembers in days when consumers were willing to consider
incompatible platforms. He may downplay the corporate image of boardrooms
and office formalities. Just like Jack Tramiel at Atari, he may not see
that the world has spun around and has different buying trends than they
did ten or more years ago.... that the money and power of IBM couldn't make
OS/2 fly and that we are now a world that ultimately must have a Start icon
in the corner of their computer screen.
It is amusing to watch the industry spin so fast that it never slows down
to take a look at where it has been already.
--END--
Gaming Section
"Resident Evil" #1!
"BassMaster!"
Sony WWF!
"Colony Wars!"
And more!
Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
Capcom's Resident Evil Voted Best PlayStation Game
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. (Aug. 11) BUSINESS WIRE - Aug. 11, 1997 -- Capcom
Entertainment today announced that Resident Evil, the company's
multi-million selling horror masterpiece, was honored with the Consumer's
Choice Best PlayStation Game Overall award from Sony Computer Entertainment
America.
Over a four week period leading up to the 1997 Electronic Entertainment
Expo in Atlanta, consumers were directed to "Vote for the Best PlayStation
Game Ever" on the official PlayStation website (www.playstation.com).
Each game title from launch (Sept. 9, 1995) until April 1997 was listed in
one of eight categories. After selecting their favorite game from each
category, consumers selected their all-time favorite game from their
respective lists of category favorites. The all-time favorite "Consumer's
Choice" was Resident Evil. More than 20,000 consumers voted and the votes
were tabulated using a secure internet application program resident on the
PlayStation website.
"Receiving the Consumer's Choice Award for Best PlayStation Game Overall is
fantastic news for Capcom and it couldn't have happened to a better title,"
says Robert Lindsey, senior VP of sales and marketing for Capcom
Entertainment, Inc. "To date, Resident Evil has sold more than 2.5 million
copies worldwide and continues to be one of the highest selling PlayStation
game of all time. The timing of this award is perfect as we are gearing up
for the September release of Resident Evil Director's Cut, an enhanced
version of the game which comes with an interactive demo of Resident Evil
2, which is destined to become one of the hottest games of 1998."
Resident Evil Director's Cut is a two-disc set containing three uncut and
enhanced versions of the classic game and includes more enemies, new camera
angles and rearranged items and puzzles. In addition, Resident Evil
Director's Cut comes packaged with an interactive demo of Resident Evil 2,
easily the most anticipated games 1998. Resident Evil Director's Cut will
sell at a suggested retail price of $39.99. Resident Evil 2 is slated for a
January 1998 release. Both titles are appropriately rated "M" for mature
audiences.
Sony PlayStation To Sponsor World Wrestling
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, U.S.A., 1997 AUG 8 (Newsbytes) -- By Sami Menefee.
Sony [NYSE:SNE] Computer Entertainment America's PlayStation brand will
jump into the muscular world of physical wrestling again this year by
sponsoring 18 live, televised World Wrestling Federation (WWF) events. The
PlayStation's 32-bit venue for virtual reality starts interfacing with
wrestling's roped-off ring starting August 15 in Springfield,
Massachusetts, USA, and will wind up no doubt bruised but smiling in
Buffalo New York, USA on September 22.
In return for its sponsorship, Sony's PlayStation brand of game machines
will receive US national television exposure and on-air mentions by the
commentators during the events, and will be authorized to put its name and
logo on items shown or distributed at arenas during the events. Sony
PlayStation has long been seen as the opponent, and perhaps even the
underdog opponent, of the 64-bit Nintendo game machine.
In an announcement, Jim Rothschild, vice president of advertising and
sponsorship sales for Titan Sports Inc., promoters of the WWF tour, stated:
"Last year PlayStation's sponsorship of our 'October In Your House'
pay-per-view, and this year's sponsorship of Wrestlemania, proved to be
very successful."
Uncharacteristically of the sport, however, Newsbytes found it surprisingly
difficult to find anyone available and willing to go on record about the
sponsorship or the wrestling matches scheduled during the tour. One
spokesperson told Newsbytes the match between PlayStation and the WWF is a
good one because so many young people watch wrestling on television.
On the record, in a formally worded statement, Jeffrey Fox, a Sony
spokesperson, said his firm and the WWF "have constructed a great
promotion which intensely focuses on the PlayStation brand."
Epic Space Shooter Colony Wars Shaping Up
FOSTER CITY, CALIF. (Aug. 11) BUSINESS WIRE -Aug. 11, 1997--One of the most
enthusiastically received titles from Psygnosis at E3, Colony Wars(TM) is
set to be one of the must-have PlayStation(TM) game console releases of the
Fall, when it ships in early November.
The PlayStation-exclusive space shooter features the most dynamically
executed space-combat yet experienced on any console, created by an
in-house Psygnosis development team who continue to tap into new levels of
graphic potential on the PlayStation format.
Based on an early version of the game, industry pundits at 'Next
Generation' magazine have noted, "already it displays a cohesion that
suggests the game as a whole will be worth more than the sum of its parts
(this is the same feeling that infused pre-release copies of Tomb Raider
and Wipeout(TM))."
Psygnosis' Mark Beaumont, executive vice president and general manager,
commented, "One of our key messages at E3 was that Psygnosis simply has
more experience than most publishers when it comes to the PlayStation
format . No game more clearly demonstrates this than Colony Wars. It's the
product of an enlightened development philosophy, where creativity and
originality are given more worth than empty licenses and 'me-too' product
design. The results speak volumes."
Colony Wars puts the player at the center of an epic space battle between
the colonized forces of the League Of Free Nations and the colonists of
Earth (for once, native Earthlings are the enemy in this game).
There are over 70 levels which can be played, though the branching mission
tree will ensure that, at most, 30 or so are seen in even the most
successful campaign, giving the player plenty of replay value and true
variety. The missions themselves build into increasingly elaborate
deep-space dog-fights designed to test players' piloting skills,
trigger-fingers and strategic smarts (training levels are provided to bring
rookies up to speed).
Objectives vary from rescuing prisoners from heavily guarded outposts to
escorting cargo ships through hostile territories and conducting
intelligence-gathering reconnaissance missions. "Space" itself is a
fantastically realized free-flight environment of five solar systems
featuring warp-tunnels guard stations, asteroids, communication stations
and star nebulas.
"Colony Wars is what a space-shooter should be all about," observes
Psygnosis product manager, Mike Lustenberger, "being in the thick of fast,
real-time, 3D action with intelligent, true 3D enemies and amazing
weaponry. Not flying on rails, fighting enemies with repetitive attack
routines or worse, making the FMV sequences the star of the show."
Game features include true 3D virtual cockpits (a different one for each of
the six craft the player will pilot), a unique 3D space-map (a boon to
navigation when there's no up or down) and two highly detailed 'live'
data-bases, one covering both allied and enemy ships, the other, the
planetary systems in which this epic conflict will be played out.
No detail in presentation has been overlooked, from the game's inspiring
orchestral score to the mission briefing and debriefing screens, which have
the distinctive look and feel that characterizes the best of Psygnosis'
PlayStation games. While the intense gameplay and visually stunning
in-game graphics are the most outstanding features of Colony Wars, also of
note is the in-game audio, particularly the extensive use of
content-specific voice-overs from "wing men" and your mission HQ, which
further add to the sense of "being there" at the center of raging
space-battles.
Computer animated link sequences from some of the most talented animators
in the business further the story line of the war between the League of
Free Nations and the Colonial forces of Earth.
THQ Hooks "BASS Masters Classic" Attendees
CALABASAS, CALIF. (Aug. 8) BUSINESS WIRE -Aug. 8, 1997--THQ Inc.
(Nasdaq/NMS:THQI) is demonstrating upcoming PC CD-ROM (Win 95) and Sony
PlayStation versions of the company's successful "BASS Masters Classic"
video game series at the BASS Masters Classic tournament in Birmingham,
Ala., this week.
The more than 160,000 bass fishing fans and Bass Anglers Sportsman Society
(B.A.S.S. Inc.) members attending the three-day event will get a first look
at the bass fishing simulations, titled "BASS Masters Classic: Tournament
Edition." The games will give armchair anglers the kind of realism,
authentic equipment and advice from top bass pros that only the B.A.S.S.
license can provide. THQ plans to release these next generation "BASS
Masters Classic" titles on PC CD-ROM and Sony PlayStation, nationwide,
Spring 1998.
"BASS Masters Classic: Tournament Edition" features tips and techniques
from renowned BASS Master pro and nine-time Angler of the Year, Roland
Martin; actual U.S. lakes loaded with the appropriate species and
populations of birds, reptiles, mammals and fish; official name brand bass
fishing equipment; as well as THQ's signature, 3-D underwater view.
The PC CD-ROM version will offer gamers a single player option, modem play
for two players, and network play for up to eight players over Win 95-IPX
or a TCP/IP connection. Numerous difficulty settings in both versions
include a "Practice" lake, an "Amateur" setting that allows the player to
fish any lake, and a "Professional" mode with "Easy," "Normal" and "Expert"
settings.
"With over 30 million bass fishing fans who have made the sport one of the
nation's favorite pastimes, THQ is pleased to be providing this broad
demographic with more of our successful 'BASS Masters Classic' titles,"
said Brian J. Farrell, president and CEO of THQ.
"We are delighted to be represented on these latest, next generation game
systems with such realistic, entertaining, quality titles," said Diehl
Unger, president of B.A.S.S. Outdoor America. "We have certainly found that
the bass angler and B.A.S.S. member enjoys computer and video game play,
and are delighted at the reaction we see at this year's Classic to our
upcoming game offerings from THQ."
The "BASS Masters Classic: Tournament Edition," developed by Inland
Productions Inc., for PC CD-ROM and PlayStation are the only next
generation bass fishing software titles officially licensed by the Bass
Anglers Sportsman Society and based on the BASSMASTER Tournament Trail.
H2O Announces Nintendo Adds a New Piece to the Puzzle
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Canadian Corp News, AUGUST 13, 1997)--Video game lovers
can take their puzzle solving skills to a new dimension today with the
launch of the newest Nintendo video game - Tetrisphere, for the Nintendo
64 system. Tetrisphere, which retails for $79.95, is a puzzle game based
on the principles of Nintendo's smash hit, Tetris. Developed by
Calgary-based software developer H2O Entertainment Corp. Tetrisphere
combines the enticing solving skills of Tetris with fast-paced action,
captivating 3-D graphics and explosive sound.
"Tetrisphere is one of Nintendo's most challenging and intricate games to
date since it uses three dimensions and spheres consisting of blocks. It's
also really exciting because the game was designed by a Canadian game
developer, H2O Entertainment Corp. This is just one example of the vital
contribution Canadian companies are making in this industry," says Peter
MacDougall, General Manager, Nintendo of Canada Ltd.
"In developing Tetrisphere we have redefined the concept of Tetris. In this
game, the object is to get to the core of a sphere and free a character by
removing pieces. The strategy is to match similarly shaped pieces on the
same layer or through multiple layers to create combinations for
destruction. To make things even more fun we added six modes of play,
including head to head competition. You don't actually have to be a
nuclear physicist to play Tetrisphere, but playing the game is great mental
training." says Michael Tam, President, H2O Entertainment Corp.
Tetrisphere appeals not just to younger video game players but also to
adults looking for challenging video game entertainment. There are six
different modes of play and up to eight players can participate in a
tournament at a time. Players choose from a series of seven robotic
characters with varying speeds and capabilities on the 64 Megabit game.
Midway Home Entertainment and Kemco America Enter Partnership
CORSICANA, TEXAS (Aug. 14) BUSINESS WIRE -Aug. 14, 1997 -- Midway Teams
With Kemco America to Co-Publish TOP GEAR(R) RALLY For The NINTENDO 64
Midway Home Entertainment Inc. announced today that the company has agreed
to partner with Kemco America Inc. to co-publish the highly anticipated
off-road racing home video game, TOP GEAR RALLY, exclusively for the
Nintendo 64. The announcement was made today by Byron Cook, president of
Midway Home Entertainment.
According to the agreement, Midway Home Entertainment will release TOP GEAR
RALLY for the Nintendo 64 in October 1997. Originally released in 1992 for
the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), TOP GEAR was met with great
critical acclaim and retail success and has subsequently spawned two
phenomenally successful SNES sequels, TOP GEAR 2 and TOP GEAR 3000.
Developed by Boss Game Studios, TOP GEAR RALLY for the Nintendo 64 promises
to deliver an unparalleled fast and furious off-road racing experience.
TOP GEAR RALLY incorporates all of the most popular elements that
established the original 16-bit series as a worldwide classic and infuses
the state-of-the-art graphics, hi-tech wizardry, and a multitude of all-new
advanced game play features, made possible only on the Nintendo 64, to
bring home the most sophisticated and mind-blowing game of its genre.
TOP GEAR RALLY features five challenging tracks, complete with short cuts
and hidden tracks, in the player's choice of four gaming modes
(Championship, Arcade, Time Attack, and Practice) for the ultimate on and
off-road racing challenge. Boasting an incredible array of updates and
improvements over its 16-Bit predecessors, including a real-time physics
engine, hyper-realistic graphics and 3-D effects, multiple perspective and
camera viewpoints, and one or two player split-screen modes, TOP GEAR RALLY
offers players endless hours of exciting, edge-of-your-seat game play.
According to Cook, "Midway is thrilled to team-up with Kemco America to
bring an all-new chapter of TOP GEAR RALLY to the Nintendo 64. The dynamic
combination of TOP GEAR's long standing popularity, Kemco's extensive
experience in producing top notch racing games, and Midway's powerful
marketing and distribution capabilities will guarantee a win/win situation
for retailers and consumers alike.
"We are extremely pleased to partner with Midway to release TOP GEAR RALLY
for the Nintendo 64. Midway's position as the leading third party
developer, marketer, and distributor of Nintendo 64 software guarantees the
continued success of the TOP GEAR RALLY franchise," emphasized Kemco
America's president Ken Nagata.
ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
On CompuServe
Compiled by Joe Mirando
jmirando@streport.com
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, I haven't gotten a heck of a lot of
email concerning including posts from the UseNet and from Delphi here in
this column, but every one of the notes I did get said something along the
lines of, "YES! Include those! That'd be great!". If you have an opinion
either way, or even if you have a different idea, drop me a line. The only
stupid idea is the one that remains unspoken.
I won't be including posts from the UseNet this week because I haven't
quite figured out the best way to go about gathering the posts yet.
Another thing that I've got to keep in mind is that some posts from the
UseNet are already used in STReport's other columns and features. I don't
want to step on any toes. I fully expect to have more posts from Delphi in
the future, but for the moment I'm still working on the best way to
capture those too. I've been reading the posts on Delphi for years, but
that's very different from capturing them for inclusion in the column.
On another note, I got my TT030 this week. The only thing I can say is.
this is one sweet machine. I wish that I had been able to afford one when
it came out years ago, but that was not to be. Having this machine now
makes me wish all the more that Atari had done better than it had in the
face of the competition. Taking into account that the machine design is six
or seven years old, it's still a damn good computer. I look forward to
using it for at least a while before I'm forced to get a PC. Heck, by that
time maybe one of the big boys will see the advantages of an operating
system like TOS and resurrect it. Hey, I can dream, can't I?
Well, let's get to the reason(s) for this column... all the great news,
hints, and tips available every week on CompuServe and Delphi.
From the Atari Computing Forums on CompuServe
Let's join a conversation in progress about whether or not Oxo Concept
(the Wensuite browser folks) are still around and whether or not
Wensuite works, Ben @ TOC Oz. posts:
"As far as I know, OXO are still there, and still working on
Wensuite. I've had WS 1.45 Demo working on a local server, for a
few hours before my modem decided to die. <frown> I've just got
the modem running again, and I'm trying connections out. As you can
see, this one's back to normal. A tip for Wensuite experimenters,
take out the '%w and %r's etc. It puts them in itself now.
OXO said a full release is not untill Feburary ? But it's best to
get onto their web site, and check it out yourself. www.oxo.ch"
Elizbeth Frayne asks for help:
"I am still trying to get my ST hooked up to the web using stick
and cab. My server provides a slip connection. Does anyone know
what the stick acc should look like for a dynamic connection? For
instance the other stuff show IP is black for me. Also how much
memory should be free in the other stuff? I am wondering if
speedodos eats it up even though I have 4 mB."
Joe Villarreal tells Elizabeth:
"You shouldn't have to worry about what the Stik accessory shows.
I've been connecting using Stik from a local BBS and from another
online service.
I have ALLOCMEM = 150000 for both connections although I started
with it being set at 210000. I even tried it at 75000 for a bit.
These are the settings that make a difference in speed in the
Default.CFG file and am currently using:
TTL = 64
PING_TTL = 255
MTU = 1500
MSS = 960
DFB_SIZE = 8192
RCV_WND = 16000
You might try playing around with the default buffer line. A
value of 4096 or 8192 did not seem to make much of a difference on
a 14,400 baud connection while a value of 8192 did make a
difference at 28,800 baud. The RCV_WND line did make a diffence in
speed also. I had problems if I tried to increase it much more
over a value of 16000 though. I'll leave TTL, and PING_TTL alone.
A value of 1500 for MTU is standard for a lot of internet
providers; I read that somewhere. You might be able to tweak MSS
in small increments, a lower value increases speed while a higher
one decreases it. BTW, with some of the values that I tried for
MSS and RCV_WND, I could not get connected or got "bumped" off;
either the values were wrong or I happened to try connecting at a
bad time."
Dana Jacobson asks:
"Has anyone been able to successfully uncompress the recent upload
called DEMOJINN.TOS? I've downloaded it twice and could not
uncompress it either time. STZIP claims it isn't a ZIP file, to
boot!"
Carsten Baron, the good guy who uploaded the file, tells Dana:
"TOS-file aren't ZIP-Files. They are LZH-files. In this forum is
the actual LZH-tool for such files."
This is one of those cases when everyone is right. Both ZIP and LZH
files can be turned into self-extracting archives. Dana tells Carsten
(and the rest of us):
"Double-clicking on the file didn't do anything so I just renamed
the extender to LZH and my everyday LZH utility took care of the
rest."
Oh, by the way folks, Dana is the new "Boss" on Delphi's Atari forum...
It's about damned time! Dana has been a force in that forum, as he has
on CompuServe, for years and he's one of the best there is.
Congratulations, Dana! And I'm not just saying this because he's the
head of the Atari/Gaming section of STReport and, therefore, my boss.
<grin>
Don Thomas posts this bit of info about what is left of Atari:
"John Skruch is the last remaining person at JTS with any
job-directed obligation to follow up with Atari issues. His primary
focus is to deal with the small number of licensing inquiries that
flow in.
I understand JTS encountered some recent layoffs and may encounter
some new ones. They have no secret weapon on schedule and the
defect rate on drives is reportedly high. Their stock has dipped
under a dollar and dances between .5 and .75 on a daily basis.
JTS has never had an interest in video games other than to
liquidate the inventory they inheirited from Atari. I don't say
that in any vindictive way. They were always a disk drive company
and want to remain as one."
From Delphi's Atari Advantage
Well, how good an egomaniac would I be if I didn't start off this part
of the column with a post from myself? <grin> I post:
"Okay folks, I've got another bunch of questions to brighten all
our days <grin>... I've just agreed to purchase a TT for a _very_
good price and then realized that I have no idea of what the TT
resolutions are, or what monitor I need to make use of them. To
the best of my knowledge the machine has no extra video card, just
the stock 15 pin connector. I seem to remember that there was no
single monitor that did all of the TT resolutions and ST
resolutions too. That might not be a major consideration for me,
since I'm not a big game-player and intend to use the TT mostly for
surfing the web and online services.
Can someone in-the-know explain the resolutions/# of colors and
what monitors can handle which? I'd be grateful."
Joe Villarreal tells me:
"I am using an NEC MultiSync 3D monitor on my TT. It'll display
all the resolutions except for TT High. The TT will display a
640x480 window in 16 colors (TT medium) and a 320x480 in 256 colors
(TT low), as well as all the standard ST resolutions, on the NEC.
I am using a Nova VME Plus on the TT and normally use a 640x480 256
color window but switch to 32,000 colors to use CAB; I'd be using
true color (16,000,000 colors) except that I only have one meg of
video ram on the Nova card.
I bought a second NEC to use on my Mega STe. The display is a lot
better than a SC1224 and the NEC will also display ST High. A
switch is needed to toggle between color and monochrome."
I tell Joe:
"I'll have to do some checking around... my local computer store
couldn't even find a listing for the NEC 3D. Looks like I may have
to give Toad a call."
Joe replies:
"The NEC 3D is no longer being made. The newer NEC's don't sync
to the normal resolutions of the ST. I bought both my NEC 3D
monitors used from Atari users.
You can probably locate a 3D used. I saw one for sale a month or
two ago at a local electronics repair shop."
Michael Burkley of Suzy-B SOftware adds:
"The standard TT can do all the ST res and TT Low (256 colors in a
squashed display on anything other than an Atari TT color monitor)
or TT Medium (16 colors). You need a standard VGA or SVGA monitor
to hook up to the TT. No ST compatible monitor from Atari will do.
The TT also has a TT High res which requires the Atari TT mono
monitor. I have that and it is Wonderful. It's a double page
monitor that is just huge. When I need to use an ST res or color
TT res I just run VGA Emulator, a freeware or shareware (depending
on the version) program.
If you can find the TT high I would recommend that, otherwise any
VGA/SVGA monitor will do.
Oh, the TT high will only work with the TT High monitor. That's
because Atari chose a VGA mono (?) standard for the TT that never
made it. I think the standard was by Sony. Figures that Atari
chose the one that didn't catch on!"
I ask Michael:
"Will a VGA/SVGA monitor handle all those resolutions (ST LOW, ST
MED, ST HIGH, TT LOW, and TT MED)? I thought I read that, for the
ST resolutions, a Multi-sync was required. Hmmm. I guess I can
borrow a VGA monitor and check it out before I actually have to
purchase one.
As for the TT Mono monitor, I've seen them at shows and you are
quite correct... it's probably the nicest 2 page paper-white
display available. If I was heavy into DTP, that'd be my choice.
But I'm looking for an all-around choice (read as many colors as
possible without spending a fortune <grin>)."
Well folks, I can now report that, as most folks here on Delphi told me,
the TT works just peachy-keen with an out-of-the-box SVGA monitor. I
got a mid-priced 14 inch model and can report that, aside from the
slight shift to the left side of the screen, the display is very good.
I'm a happy camper.
RMAHLERT posts this for CAB/STiK users:
"The latest version of the cab.ovl has been released. I uploaded it
to the databases this morning. If you don't feel like waiting for
it to show up in the recent arrivals, it's on Flinny's page.
http://www.flinny.demon.co.uk
It's on the "Downloads" page. The version is Cab.ovl 1.2618, yes,
1.2618.
It seems to work a little faster, but I'm also using a 33.6K modem
now.
It has a timer when it's "waiting for data". I kinda like it, I
know how long it's been waiting for the data.
It does not support cookies, I tried to log on to delphi from the
web, NO cookies with our milk...
There is a notice in the docs that the new overlay may not work
with some versions of Cab 1.5. For you 1.5 users.."
Jim Collins of chroMAGIC Software posts this: "Concerning the speed of
CAB 2.0's display... If you run the program in True Color mode,
the display gets A LOT faster. Cab seems to spend a lot of time
scaling down the images for display in 256, 16, or less colors.
When run in True color, the images just pop onto the screen. Of
course I only have a 9600 connection to the Net now (via my local
Delphi connection which is limited to 9600) so I don't know how
well it performs with a HIGH SPEED connection.
By the way, I did find out that upgrades from CAB 2.0 to 2.5 will
be available whenever 2.5 is released. 2.5 will cost more and the
US pricing of 2.5 and the 2.0 -> 2.5 upgrade hasn't been set yet.
Unfortunately, a release date hasn't even been set yet :-(
I will certainly post a message here when CAB 2.5 and the 2.0 to
2.5 upgrade is available! I would really like to try the PPP
version myself as then I could go through a local provider at
33.6K!"
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in again next week, same time,
same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
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