ST Report 15-Mar-96 #1211
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 03/31/96-06:03:47 PM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report 15-Mar-96 #1211
Date: Sun Mar 31 18:03:47 1996
Silicon Times Report
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March 15, 1996 No. 1211
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- CPU Report - ProComm Plus 3.0 - Travan TBU
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Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35
Results: 3/9/96: 1 of 6 numbers with 0 matches in 0 plays
>From the Editor's Desk...
Here's a thought.. its eighty one degrees outside and the house is wide
open allowing the fresh air to flow through freely. While not meant to "rub
it in".. I do mean to hit a nerve and perhaps give a few folks who have had
enough of the ice and snow an urge to think about relocating. Many of us
have the opportunity and really do not see it. The gentle climates are known
to add years to a person's lifetime.
Last week, we carried a short piece about David Boles' new book,
"Windows 95 Communication and Online Secrets" . I'm STILL reading through
this veritable treasury of information relative to Win95 and its "ins and
outs". With every page I am more impressed with the effort Boles put into
his research. This book is bound to become the "Bible of Win95" for windows
users worldwide. This coming week, I'll have more in-depth information about
this book. In the meantime, go out and get this book. This is one purchase
for your computer library you'll never regret.
I can't stand it! Talk about Spring Fever. I've been baby sitting the
gardens, the lawns and the pool. I redid the pool's entire filter system,
pressure washed the cool decking, cleaned and scoured the outdoor cook/smoke
system, etc. I might add all the while, hungrily looking at the crystal clear
water. Its only sixty degrees at this time. When it hits seventy or higher,
you know where I'll be. Of course, if you happen to be in the neighborhood
give us a holler! Stop by and take a dip.
Tape backups and their myriad of configurations are beginning to
resemble a cross section of nature's own creative variety. Its time the tape
mechanism manufacturers brought the configurations down to earth and reality.
Sure, its cool for each to have their own format etc. but the end user is the
ultimate loser with this nonsense. A little compatibility and many more
users will jump on the tape backup bandwagon. Dat Drives are as fast as the
wind itself but are cost prohibitive. Travan packages are superb and indeed
present a genuine value to the end users. Read about the Travan packages in
this week's issue. If you are considering a tape backup, and are on a
budget, jump on the Travan bandwagon. it'll be a great ride.
Ralph.
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Jay Levy Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins
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STReport Headline News
LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
CompuServe, Netscape Team Up
Netscape Communications Corp. has entered a distribution agreement under
which CompuServe members or users of its separate Internet access provider,
Sprynet, will be able to use the Netscape Navigator at no charge beginning
this spring. The pact also calls for CompuServe and Sprynet to be added to
the menu of Internet service providers that appears on versions of Navigator
sold in stores, says business writer Paul Souhrada of the Associated Press.
"It also gives Netscape access to CompuServe customers in 146 foreign
countries and calls for future joint marketing efforts," Souhrada adds.
Netscape marketing director Mike Homer told the wire service he expects
exposure to CompuServe's 4.5 million subscribers will help his firm sell
other products, such as secured transaction software for online shopping.
CompuServe's Robert Mainor, vice president of product marketing, told AP,
"The thrust behind this is to remain browser neutral. When somebody logs
onto CompuServe, unlike America Online, they won't be forced to choose a
proprietary browser."
CompuServe, Netscape Set Pact
CompuServe Inc. has announced a major software distribution, networking
services and marketing relationship with Netscape Communications Corp.
CompuServe says the relationship will allow it to distribute Netscape
Navigator software for the Internet to members of the CompuServe Information
Service and SPRYNET Internet access service users at no extra charge. The
deal also provides worldwide Internet access for Netscape customers via the
CompuServe network. Additional marketing and strategic opportunities will be
announced separately, says CompuServe.
"With the addition of Netscape's Navigator to our software access set, we
have executed a strategy that we articulated months ago," says Bob Massey,
president and CEO of CompuServe. "Our continuing goal is bring the best
Internet browsers to our growing online community, and let our members select
the browser they prefer. We are very pleased to add Netscape's Navigator to
our browser suite."
Jim Barksdale, president and CEO of Netscape, says the relationship creates a
number of exciting opportunities for both firms. "Netscape can easily reach a
huge new audience, and CompuServe can offer its users our highly popular
client software." Users will be able to download Netscape Navigator from
the CompuServe Information Service and the CompuServe Web home page
(http://www.compuserve.com), as well as through an Internet pointer on the
SPRYNET home page (http://www.sprynet.com). SPRYNET is CompuServe's new
Internet access service that offers unlimited usage for $19.95 per month.
Microsoft, Intel Form Alliance
Chipmaker Intel Corp. and software publisher Microsoft Corp. have teamed up
to develop a standard for video, voice and data communications over the
Internet. In The Wall Street Journal this morning, reporters Don Clark and
Mark Robichaux quote officials with the two firms as saying they will promote
a series of technical standards to make it easier to use the Internet as a
medium for making phone calls and for video conferencing.
"The two industry giants said they would integrate the communications
technologies into future Microsoft operating systems and specifications for
PCs that use Intel chips, starting late this year," the Journal said. The
teaming comes just as Microsoft also announced alliances with several
regional and long-distance phone companies, the intent of which is to
increase the use of superfast communications lines to speed data
transmission.
Also the Redmond, Washington, publisher has struck a deal with DirecTV Inc.,
a unit of General Motors Corp.'s Hughes Electronics Corp. subsidiary, to
work on a system to allow PCs to receive video programming now available to
people with home TV-satellite dishes, and to receive a new category of
multimedia services that the companies expect to emerge. "The moves," say
Clark and Robichaux, "reflect an accelerating race to remake the PC as a
communications device, driven largely by the extraordinary popularity of the
Internet." Until recently, the paper notes, video-conferencing accessories
for PCs required a direct phone connection to be placed between two people
who wanted to communicate.
"But the Internet has several advantages," says the Journal. "There are no
long-distance charges for sending video or audio among the interconnected
computers on the Internet, potentially lowering the cost of communicating
among states or among different countries. In addition, video or audio
signals can be inexpensively 'broadcast' to many people by simply addressing
the signals to multiple individuals, rather than setting up individual
connections for each recipient."
But the developments won't come without challenges. For instance, as reported
last week, a trade association of long distance phone service carriers has
asked the Federal Communications Commission to halt companies from selling
software and hardware products that enable use of the Internet for long
distance voice services, calling it unfair competition.
Execs Promote a Safer Cyberspace
Top executives of leading online services and Internet companies have
unveiled Project OPEN (Online Public Education Network), a program that aims
to promote the safe and responsible use of cyberspace. At a New York news
conference, executives of CompuServe, America Online, AT&T Online Services
and several other firms introduced the first industry- wide national consumer
education program, including a consumer brochure, a toll-free information
number and a national public service announcement campaign.
"Six key companies who are fierce competitors have put aside their
competition to promote understanding and responsible use of online and
Internet services," says Robert L. Smith Jr., executive director of the
Interactive Services Association. "I applaud this effort and know that it
will be central to shaping the future direction of the online and Internet
industry." The program's first consumer brochure, How to Get the Most Out of
Going Online, is now available to the public free of charge.
The brochure provides basic background for people unfamiliar with the world
of online and Internet services, and describes the variety of parental
control tools available to users. Project OPEN has also initiated a toll-free
informational number (800-466-OPEN) to help distribute the brochure and
answer questions related to online safety. In addition to its parental
empowerment campaign, Project OPEN plans to introduce additional program
elements later this year, including an effort directed at intellectual
property rights.
Clinton, Gore Launch California Net
Bill Clinton and Al Gore were among 20,000 volunteers who spent yesterday
connecting classrooms in 3,000 schools across the state of California as
part of NetDay96, the inspiration of Sun Micro Systems President/CEO John
Gage. Reporting from Concord, California, Associated Press writer Lawrence
L. Knutson says Clinton first told students gathered in an outdoor courtyard
at Ygnacio Valley High School that computers and access to the information
superhighway are their keys to a successful future in the 21st century.
"Then he and Gore put their words into action," Knutson said. "The president
stood on a ladder feeding cable into a ceiling crawl space hand over hand.
Then, inside a nearby classroom, the vice president stepped off a ladder onto
a stone-topped sink to pull the three strands of cable into the room. He and
Clinton watched as a volunteer electrician made the final connections. Down
the hall, in the already wired school library, students made the work come to
life -- or at least to cyberspace."
At one point, the Washingtonians watched the computer display the names,
phone numbers and skills of all the volunteers helping to wire the school.
"What's our e-mail address, Al?" Clinton asked. "It's www dot whitehouse --
one word -- don't capitalize it -- dot -- 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
"That's right, that's where I am," Clinton said as the connection to the
White House site on the World Wide Web.
Clinton said his goal is to connect every American school to the Internet by
2000, mostly with private sector help and government encouragement, but
acknowledged his own involvement with high technology came rather late. "I
had to get elected president and have a daughter and a (technically inclined)
vice president before I could master it," he said. reporter Paul Basken of
United Press International says the California facilities connected yesterday
represent about 20 percent of all public schools in the state.
"We are putting the future at the fingertips of your children, and we are
doing it together in the best American tradition," Clinton told some 6,500
parents, children and others. Clinton called it "an old-fashioned barn
raising." Many companies provided free Internet access to the schools and
Pacific Bell is providing more than 1,000 wiring kits and other companies
have sponsored individual schools. In addition, one company is providing all
California schools with software necessary to block material unsuitable for
children.
Also, Greg Simon, chief domestic policy adviser to Vice President Gore said
Clinton also is planning within several weeks to sign an executive order
allowing schools to take possession of computer equipment that federal
agencies declare surplus. Sun chief Gage told Basken California actually
needed to catch up to several other states that already have worked to
connect their schools to the Internet. Said Gage, "California is far behind
in the schools, but far ahead in (the numbers of professionals trained in the
Internet's workings) in the technology sector. Now Texas wants to do this,
as do 20 other states."
Hayes Emerges From Bankruptcy
Famed modem pioneer Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. has emerged from its 16-
month bankruptcy, having won the approval by a federal bankruptcy court for
its reorganization plan. The deal calls for Canada's Northern Telecom and
ACMA Limited to buy a 49 percent interest in the company, while founder
Dennis Hayes and the employees will own the majority of the stock. In
Atlanta, Hayes, who also is chairman/CEO of the firm, told United Press
International, "Our stated intent and primary objective from the very start
of this case was to put forth a reorganization plan that would pay all
creditors in full and that would permit Hayes to emerge from Chapter 11 as a
strong independent company making superior products backed by superior
service."
Hayes entered bankruptcy protection in November 1994. UPI says the
reorganization plan calls for payment of all creditors' claims in full plus
interest. Proceeds from a combined equity investment of $35 million by ACMA
Limited and Northern Telecom, a $70 million debt facility with the CIT
Group/Credit Finance and the sale of surplus land owned by the company will
be used to cover the company's debts. In approving the Hayes plan, the
bankruptcy court rejected a competing plan of reorganization proposed by the
creditors' committee and Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc.
Mac System 7.5 Update Ready
Apple Computer Inc. has announced the availability of System 7.5 Update 2.0,
a Mac OS system software update. The computer maker says the update is
designed to enhance overall system stability while delivering some
performance improvements for Apple Macintosh and Mac OS-compatible
computers. System 7.5 Update 2.0 also updates major system features and
technologies for network communications and multimedia.
"With the delivery of System 7.5 Update 2.0, Apple has improved stability and
performance while maintaining the seamless software integration consistently
recognized as a distinguishing attribute of the Macintosh operating system,"
says Jim Gable, Apple's senior director of system software product marketing.
Apple notes that System 7.5 Update 2.0 includes more PowerPC-native
components, such as the Resource Manager, SCSI Manager and Serial DMA; the
elimination of some causes of Type 11 errors on Power Macintosh systems; the
retention of comments in the "Get Info" window after rebuilding the desktop;
and detailed documentation on the contents of the System Folder, Control
Panels folder and Extensions folder.
On CompuServe, System 7.5 Update 2.0 is available in the Apple Support Forum
(GO APLSUP). It is also available on the following Apple Internet sites:
ftp.support.apple.com, ftp.info.apple.com, http://www.support.apple.com and
http://www.info.apple.com.
Pioneer Develops 10-Speed CD-ROM
Say you're still using that 4x-speed CD-ROM drive? The technology has just
lapped you. In Tokyo, Pioneer Electronic Corp. says it has developed a new
[drive] or CD-ROMs that has a data transfer speed averaging 10 times the
standardrate, faster than any now available. Four times the standard is the
most common drive speed. According to the Reuter News Service, Pioneer will
start marketing the new drive in July and supply it to computer makers under
its own name and also on an original equipment manufacturer basis worldwide.
Look for Pioneer to produce 300,000 units per month.
Online Subscribers at 15 Million
The number of subscribers to online services increased 64.4 percent last year
to nearly 15 million, up from about 9 million in 1994. That is the finding
of the Electronic Information Report's Year-End Online Subscriber Survey,
which reports consumer services jumped 86.8 percent to 11.4 million
subscribers at the end of 1995, driven by the popularity of the World Wide
Web and the increasing number of personal computer users venturing online for
the first time.
In a statement from Wilton, Connecticut, Paulette Donnelly, Electronic
Information Report editor predicted, "The World Wide Web's momentum will
cause subscriber growth rates to spike throughout 1996, especially as online
companies continue to migrate their proprietary online services to the Web."
Electronic Information Report is published by SIMBA Information Inc.'s
online group.
More Households Browsing the Web
A survey conducted last January finds that some 6.4 million U.S. households
have members who claim they have used the World Wide Web at home -- four
times as many as made that claim six months earlier. The data, says market
researcher NPD Group Inc. of Port Washington, New York, indicates that
consumer interest in the World Wide Web, online services and network
communications is exploding.
The study also finds that membership in online services is up 68 percent over
last January, to 7.5 million households. More than half of home PCs now have
modems, enabling network communications, as compared to 44.4 percent a year
ago. Since last October, the World Wide Web has proven to be the most
popular destination of modem-equipped home PC users, finds the survey. Over
6 million households used the Web within 30 days prior to the survey.
Banned Mag Lives Again on Net
The Internet has given new life to a magazine that was banned in Indonesia
two years ago by the country's information minister. In Jakarta,
Information Minister Harmoko told the Reuter News Service the online version
of the magazine he banned in June 1994 was allowed because no laws governed
the Internet. Reuters says the former Tempo magazine staff earlier this
month launched an Internet version of the publication, along with another
magazine Editor and a weekly tabloid DeTik, after its reporting was said to
have threatened national stability.
Harmoko told a parliamentary hearing today, "They may enter the Internet.
Everyone may." He was quoted as adding there is no need for the issue to be
considered further, as the Internet to date is not subject for regulation.
Says Reuters, "An administrative court action by former Tempo staff to have
the ban overturned, twice supported by lower courts, is now before the
Supreme Court after the government appealed against the latest decision in
favor of the magazine's journalists." Tempo Interatif, published in
Indonesian, can be found on the Internet's World Wide Web at
http:/www.idola.net.id/tempo/.
Microsoft Wins $8 Million Judgement
Microsoft Corp. says a federal court has awarded it an $8 million judgment
against Unitron Inc., a Taiwanese computer manufacturer and former Microsoft
licensee. Microsoft had charged the company with manufacturing and
distributing tens of thousands of unauthorized copies of MS-DOS and Windows.
The U.S. District Court in Los Angeles also awarded Microsoft $1.78 million
in additional damages against Unitron CEO Cheng Hsuing Chen and its U.S.
subsidiary, Unitron Computer USA Inc., based in Industry, California.
Microsoft filed its copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit against
Unitron in 1993. In a raid that same year, U.S. Marshals, acting in concert
with Microsoft investigators, seized more than 125,000 copies of the
counterfeit software with a street value of approximately $7 million.
"This ruling closes the book on one of the largest software piracy cases we
have pursued," says Microsoft attorney Jim Lowe. "We will continue to pursue
legal action aggressively against companies that defraud consumers by
counterfeiting our software."
Wildcat 5 UPDATES STR Focus Its at The Duplicator's!!
Press Release
Wildcat! 5 released to manufacturing;
Software to Reach Distributors in 2 - 3 Weeks.
Wildcat! 5 Combines Internet Web Server Technology
with
Interactive Bulletin Board System functionality.
Bakersfield, California - March 12, 1996 Mustang Software (Nasdaq: MSTG)
announced it has released to manufacturing its long-awaited Wildcat! 5
BBS/Web Server for Windows 95/NT. Shipment of Wildcat! 5 to distributors
will commence in approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Wildcat! 5 will be distributed
by Ingram Micro, Merisel and DistribuPro. Resellers will include CompUSA,
Egghead, Computer City, Software Etc., Babbages, Best Buy, Micro Center,
Media Play, Fry's Electronics and Office Max. The Wildcat! product line is a
leader with an active install base of more than 50,000 sites.
"Gauging from the initial positive response from our retailers, the
acceptance of Wildcat! 5 as a technological breakthrough in online
communications is strong," stated Jim Harrer, President /CEO of Mustang
Software. "Wildcat! 5 combines the unique features of a Web server with the
superior interactivity of a computer bulletin board system and online
services such as America Onliner. Wildcat's multimedia 32-bit platform
offers Internet access in addition to interactive communications features
such as e-mail, public and private conferencing, threaded messaging,
individual/group chat, file library access and more."
"The launch of Wildcat! 5 represents the first time that the power to create
ones' very own graphical multimedia online service will be as accessible and
easy as a trip to the local software store. Equally important, Wildcat! 5 is
a strong solution for the corporate market, where we expect to see dramatic
growth as the demand for online communications expands," said Harrer.
Todd Cochrane, of Maryland-based Hafa Adai Exchange, said "The introduction
of a new Web hybrid that carries the Wildcat! 5 name has totally blown away
our customer and user base. It has revitalized our system and allowed us to
compete on the Internet. With Wildcat! 5 there is no need for multi-thousand
dollar software, or for a support staff to keep it running, or the need to
learn the arcane terms of Unix. We have been able to transform overnight a 25-
node system and launch it onto the Internet's World Wide Web. The unique
Wildcat! 5 system offers superior connectivity allowing users to log on with
any communication program or terminal emulator through direct dial, telnet,
or LAN," said Cochrane.
Users can also connect using the new and freely distributable Wildcat!
Navigator. Wildcat! Navigator is a graphical Windows front-end that offers
the ease of use of the most popular Web browsers and a complete suite of
clients that allow easy "point and click" access to the other e-mail and
threaded messaging areas, public and private chat conference areas, file
libraries, instant paging, and more. The system also allows easy linking to
Web sites, and the ability to seamlessly add Web features on demand.
Harrer noted that with HTML graphics, multimedia interactivity, and seamless
Internet compatibility, Wildcat! 5 is the next step in the continuing
evolution of BBSs into interactive Web Servers. "Our 10 years of experience
building online platforms has allowed us to create a very powerful BBS/Web
server hybrid that is designed to build upon new technology as it is
introduced," said Harrer.
Phil Heller, creator of Pennsylvania-based Cosmos service, said, "To compete
with larger systems, you have to supply up-to-the-minute and meaningful
information, whether it is news, weather, or any of the myriad newsgroups on
the Net. With Wildcat! 5's client/server architecture, I can add and
subtract external Web sites as my subscribers dictate. Users now expect
easy-to-use graphical navigation features with top Web locations. With
Wildcat! 5 I have limitless flexibility to deliver the features I need as I
need them." Said Heller.
Wildcat! 5 add-ons include the Internet Connectivity Package, (ICP), which
turns Wildcat! 5 into a Web server, supports inbound and outbound telnet,
FTP and UUCP and allows full integration of the system with the Internet. ICP
will retail for $249. MSRP for the two- line version of Wildcat! 5 will be
$149. Sixteen- and 32-line systems will retail for $349 and 699,
respectively. Also available will be 8 and 32-line upgrade packs.
Available soon will be wcExchange for mail integration from Wildcat!'s
messaging system to Microsoft's Exchange platform allowing LAN users to
seamlessly access their BBS mail right from the Exchange in-box. For the game
lover, Wildcat! will offer wcCasino for interactive multiplayer gaming.
Wildcat!'s wcCode is a Custom Online Development Engine for easy
application development, wcReports enables the exporting of data and usage
statistics, and the Wildcat! Custom Connector allows customization and
personalization of the Navigator with company or organization logos and
graphics.
Wildcat! Navigator can be downloaded from http://www.mustang.com, by
telnetting to bbs.mustang.com, or via modem at 805-873-2400.
Founded in September 1986, Mustang designs, develops, markets and supports
online and communications software including the Wildcat! And QmodemPro
product lines. Mustang Software's address is 6200 Lake Ming Road,
Bakersfield, California 93306. The company can be reached by telephone at
(805) 873-2500; toll free at (800) 999-9619; FAX (805) 873-2599; BBS (805)
873-2400; WEB http://www.mustang.com; or telnet://bbs.mustang.com.
Media Relations:
Jim Hughes Phone: 805 / 873 2500 x 6012
Mustang Software, Inc. Fax: 805 / 873-2427
6200 Lake Ming Road E-mail: jim.hughes@mustang.com
Bakersfield, CA 93306 WWW: http://www.mustang.com
Investor Relations:
Ina McGuinness/Craig Parsons Phone: 310 / 207-9300
Pondel Parsons & Wilkinson Fax: 310 / 207-5444
12100 Wilshire Bl., Ste 400 E-mail: investor@mustang.com
Los Angeles, CA 90025
DATASTORM PROCOMM PLUS 3.0
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
PROCOMM PLUS.
takes a giant "leap" forward to provide users with
everything they need to communicate via their PCs.
Contact: Matthew J. Basta
573.443.3282, ext. 2227
(Columbia, Missouri) - DATASTORM, the publisher and developer of the world's
#1 best-selling PC communications software, announced the release of the new
PROCOMM PLUS version 3.0 for Windows on February 29, 1996. PROCOMM PLUS 3.0
is the first PC c ommunications software to seamlessly integrate Internet,
fax and data communications, setting a new standard for communications
software.
At the center of PROCOMM PLUS 3.0 is the Connection Directory with a new
intuitive touch design to provide users control of all their communications
tasks. No longer will users need to maintain separate dialing directories or
learn different software programs to access the Internet, send or receive a
fax, or transfer a data file. The new streamlined design interface allows
users to move from one communications task to another effortlessly, since all
of their communications tools are displayed in a "tabbed" format for easy
point-and-click access.
"We want to improve the way people everywhere communicate with each other via
their PCs," said Robert Elliott, Director of Marketing Communications. "A
major advantage of PROCOMM PLUS 3.0 is the underlying architecture and
powerful ASPECT script language, which allows DATASTORM to completely
integrate faxing, data and Internet tools into one easy-to-use product."
"PROCOMM PLUS takes communications to a higher level with the launch of its
Internet tools and a new Web browser called, Web Zeppelin," said Elliott.
"For example, only with Web Zeppelin can you save Web site pages in their
rich graphical formats, and because of our integration, fax them or attach
them to an email, and send them to a friend who is not yet connected to the
Internet."
The new Web Zeppelin browser incorporates Spyglass's Mosaic open technology,
but is greatly enhanced with many new user-friendly features. The ease of use
in PROCOMM PLUS is further demonstrated with its new Internet configuration
tools that help users create a new Internet account automatically through our
national Internet service provider. Or if users already have an Internet
account, they can continue using their existing connection. The complete set
of PROCOMM PLUS's Internet tools include the Web Zeppelin browser, Internet
email, News Reader, FTP, Telnet, Gopher, WINSOCK compliant TCP/IP stack, and
a national Internet service provider.
People can send Internet email with text, sound or graphics to anyone in the
world with an email address, including users of America Online, CompuServe,
Prodigy or to any Internet address. The News Reader easily navigates
newsgroups by automating the process of retrieving news articles and files,
including binary files like GIFs, BMPs, WAVs, JPEGs and MPEGs.
"People are discovering that a PC is more than a self-contained set of
productivity tools or just a word processor," said Elliott. "There is a new
generation of fax users who are discovering that their PCs can send and
receive faxes."
People will discover many enhancements to PROCOMM PLUS's faxing capabilities.
An all-new Fax Manager shows the user what faxes have been sent or received,
or the status of any pending faxes, and displays a thumbnail sketch of any
fax page prior to transmitting.
Users will be able to view and manipulate their faxes with the enhanced Fax
Viewer. PROCOMM PLUS 3.0 comes with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and
spell checker. OCR allows users to convert their fax images directly into
character-based data and eliminates the task of re-entering data from a fax.
With PROCOMM PLUS's built-in Fax Annotation tools, users can insert text or
graphics into a fax with ease. Other productivity tools are the Fax Scrubber
and Fax Deskew. If users receive a fax with those annoying speck marks or a
crooked fax from a conventional fax machine, PROCOMM PLUS can "scrub" the fax
clean and "deskew" or straighten the fax.
Another major fax enhancement is multiple fax modem support to broadcast send
faxes using multiple modems which greatly decreases faxing time. PROCOMM
PLUS's unique integration allows the user to merge faxes with all of today's
most popular word processing applications to broadcast or group-send
documents which saves time and money when faxing out meeting changes or the
monthly newsletter.
PROCOMM PLUS now supports RIPscrip 1.54 bringing the power and simplicity of
a graphical user interface to bulletin board systems.
In addition, PROCOMM PLUS continues to automatically detect over 1,200
modems, more than any other communications software, for easy installation.
PROCOMM PLUS also supports Caller ID and Adaptive Answer.
PROCOMM PLUS and PROCOMM PLUS for Windows consistently rank in the top ten
best-selling software products. The company's world headquarters are located
in Columbia, Missouri U.S.A., with a European office outside of London,
England U.K. DATASTORM TECHNOLOGIES, INC. and DATASTORM TECHNOLOGIES, LTD.
are privately held corporations employing over 300 people internationally.
DATASTORM markets their PROCOMM brand of communications software products
worldwide.
To order your copy of PROCOMM PLUS 3.0, please call 1-800-474-1592.
Explore the Internet and World Wide Web
PROCOMM PLUS 3.0 includes a complete World Wide Web browser. The Browser
window connects you to the most advanced hypertext information systems on the
planet with the classic intuitive interface and reliability of PROCOMM PLUS.
You can access the World Wide Web, Telnet, FTP, Gopher and Usenet News
systems, all from the same program! You can even automate your Internet
explorations with the ASPECT script language.
To further enhance your Internet connectivity, PROCOMM PLUS includes a dial-
up TCP/IP package which interfaces seamlessly with the Internet capabilities
of PROCOMM PLUS 3.0. If you don't already have a dial-up account, PROCOMM
PLUS will establish a new account for you. Complete Internet connectivity is
only moments away!
Send and receive fax documents
With PROCOMM PLUS's integrated fax technology, you can send or receive
virtually any Windows document, like a Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or
CorelDRAW file as fax, without leaving PROCOMM PLUS. You can also annotate
faxes you receive, or convert them to document files with built-in optical
character recognition (OCR) technology!
We've also provided Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, and AmiPro script files that
make faxing from these applications even easier!
Use your computer as a terminal
PROCOMM PLUS emulates 36 video-display terminals, allowing you to link your
computer with mini and mainframe systems, bulletin boards (BBS), and
information networks like CompuServe. For version 3.0, we've added two
emulations: WYSE 60 and RIPscrip 1.54.
The complete list of supported terminal emulations:
z
z ADDS 60
z ADDS 90
z ADM 31
z ADM 3a
z ADM 5
z ANSI BBS X3.64
z AT&T 4410
z AT&T 605
z Data General D100
z Data General D200
z Data General D210
z Esprit 3
z Heath 19
z IBM 3101
z IBM 3161
z IBM 3270
z IBM PC
z TVI 910
z TVI 912
z TVI 920
z TVI 922
z TVI 925
z TVI 950
z TVI 955
z TTY
z VideoTex
z DEC VT-52
z DEC VT-100
z DEC VT-102
z DEC VT-220
z DEC VT-320
z WYSE 50
z WYSE 60
z WYSE 75
z WYSE 100
z RIPscrip 1.54
Transfer files
You can use any of 11 popular file transfer protocols to send and receive
programs and data between your computer and another system. PROCOMM PLUS
makes it easy to transfer files in the background while you use other Windows
applications. PROCOMM PLUS can even display CompuServe GIF pictures while you
download them.
The complete list of supported file transfer protocols:
z
z ZModem
z Kermit
z XModem
z 1K XModem
z 1K XModem-g
z CIS B+
z YModem
z YModem-g
z ASCII
z Raw ASCII
z IND$FILE
Run ASPECT scripts
PROCOMM PLUS's ASPECT programming language is both powerful and easy to use!
You can write scripts to automate your on-line sessions or file transfers, or
to perform almost any other task in PROCOMM PLUS. You can even create
applications of your own since ASPECT includes commands that can create and
manipulate Windows interface elements such as dialogs and menus.
Integrate all of your communications
PROCOMM PLUS would be the finest program in the world with the above features
alone. To make it even better, we've included the Connection Directory, where
you can store information about all the connections you may choose to use.
>From the Connection Directory, you'll have two-click access from anywhere in
the program to all your data, fax, voice, WWW, telnet, ftp, email, and news
connections!
Exchange data with other Windows programs
PROCOMM PLUS supports the standard Windows "cut and paste" methods, as well
as a full implementation of the Microsoft Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)
standard for client and server exchanges. You can cut a message or news item
from your terminal screen and paste it into your word processor, or you can
"link" PROCOMM PLUS to a spreadsheet to download stock quotes directly into a
spreadsheet file.
Interact with MCI Mail
MCIMgr can simplify your access to MCI Mail. You can prepare your messages
off-line, then have MCIMgr send them automatically. MCIMgr can also retrieve
your messages and let you read and respond to them off-line
Access the CompuServe Information System
PROCOMM PLUS's CompuServe Manager (CISMgr) script is an off-line utility that
allows you to send and retrieve CompuServe E-Mail automatically. It also
handles messages from most CompuServe forums, and generates catalog listings
of forum libraries from which you can "tag" files for automatic downloading
at a later time!
Run your own single-line bulletin board system
PROCOMM PLUS's Host script allows remote callers to connect to your computer
and transfer files or exchange electronic mail, all with password security.
It also includes a fax-back feature, which allows remote callers to select
documents to be faxed to them.
In version 3.0, the Host script has been enhanced to take advantage of the
RIPscrip emulation. It also allows you to specify the graphical elements
displayed to a logged-on caller.
Communicate over your local area network
Designed to work with several sets of network hardware and software, PROCOMM
PLUS 3.0 allows you to access network resources on your LAN.
Supported network transports include:
NCSI/NASI Supports the Network Communications Services Interface (NCSI) from
Network Products Corporation and the NetWare Asynchronous Services Interface
(NASI) from Novell. Both NCSI and NASI allow you to access a shared pool of
modems and communications devices as if they were attached to your local PC.
External hardware and sofware (such as Novell's NetWare Connect) are
required. NetBIOS Supports networks with NetBIOS capability or NetBIOS
emulators. With a PROCOMM PLUS NetBIOS connection, you can access another PC
acting as a NetBIOS server anywhere on your LAN as if it were attached to
your local PC. Int14h Supports Int14h resident redirection programs. EBIOS
Support Enhanced BIOS resident redirection programs. Telnet Supports any
Microsoft Windows Sockets 1.1 API (WINSOCK.DLL) using the Terminal Emulation
Link Network specification for TCP/IP networks, including the Internet.
To order your copy of PROCOMM PLUS 3.0, please call 1-800-474-1592.
Copyright c1996 DATASTORM
All rights reserved.
3M NewsLines STR Focus
Tape Technology that truly Delivers 200-Plus Percent More Capacity!
THE TRAVAN TECHNOLOGY FAMILY OF PRODLICTS
Since 3M announced its TR-1 minicartridge - the first in a series of new high-
capacity tape products that will incorporate the company's patented Travan
technology, Travan usage has soared. The TR-1 minicartridge provides users
with 400 MB of native storage capacity, more than doubling the capacity of
the industry's top selling QIC-80 minicartridge. The suggested list price of
3M's TR-1 minicartridge is $47.50.
Introduction of the minicartridge and recent announcements by leading quarter-
inch cartridge companies -- 3M, Hewlett-Packard's Colorado Memory Systems
Division, Conner Peripherals, lomega, Sony, Rexon, AIWA and Exabyte -
indicate wide-spread support for manufacturing tape products based on the
Travan technology platform.
3M Introduces TR-1 Minicartridge 2-2-2
The platform features a unique drive/minicartridge interface that is included
in a patent application filed by 3M.
The TR-1 contains 750 feet of .315 inch high-coercivety 550 oersted (0e)
gamma ferric oxide media and has a data density of 14,700 flux transitions
per inch (ftpi). The minicartridge subsystem utilizes a floppy interface and
has a transfer rate of 500 Kb/s. 3M's new product requires no changes in
media formulation, and will use existing drive electronics and available head
technology.
Changes Relationship With Hard Disk
"Travan technology eliminates the imbalance that has developed between tape
and hard disk capacities," said Michael Stevens, director of business
development, 3M Data Storage Tape Technology Division. "3M believes that the
capacity multiplier provided by the TR-1 minicartridge will be particularly
beneficial to the millions of home and small office PC users who want to
download large data files and storage-intensive images from commercial
onlines services without sacrificing all of their free hard disk space in the
process. "With Travan technology, users have access to a cost-effective
storage management solution with the same capacity as their hard disk.
Future generation Travan minicartridges are expected to support applications
well into the client/server network markets."
3M Introduces TR-1 Minicartridge
In addition to keeping pace with hard disk capacities, Travan technology will
enable the industry to better support emerging software applications like
Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) on the desktop and Windows95 software,
Stevens added. "It's not everyday that an industry takes a significant leap
forward, while maintaining backward compatibility," said Bill Frank,
President of Augurs Vision, a market research firm in Los Altos, Calif.
'Travan technology should be welcome news to millions of PC users."
According to Dataquest, a market research firm based in San Jose, Calif.,
home PC sales accounted for 31.7 percent of the 5.6 million PCs shipped in
the U.S. during 1994 - up 28.6 percent on 1993. A recent study by Odyssey
Home-Front, Inc., showed that PC penetration of U.S. homes had increased from
27 percent in July 1994, to 31 percent in January 1995. The growth in on-
line usage over the past year has been equally brisk. According to PC
Magazine, the number of subscribers using America Online the country's
largest commercial on-line service - increased by 500,000 to 1.25 million in
the past year alone.
Future Development Efforts
3M, Hewlett-Packard's Colorado Memory Systems Division, Conner Peripherals,
lomega, Rexon and Sony plan to continue working on future development of the
Travan drive and recording formats to assure further expansion of the market
for tape-based applications.
3M Introduces TR-1 Minicartridge
The companies developing drives based on 3M's Travan platform are working
with the Quarter-inch Cartridge (QIC) organization to develop a migration
path that incorporates the Travan cartridge and drive formats.
In addition to the modified QIC-80 format represented by 3M's TR-1 cartridge,
the migration path will include a modified 301 0 drive/cartridge with a
native capacity expected to be 800 MB (now 340 MB). The capacity of the
modified 3020 drive/cartridge is expected to be 1.6 GB (now 670 MB). There
also are plans to introduce another minicartridge in 1995 with a capacity of
4 GB. Most drives will offer 2:1 data compression that doubles the native
capacities listed above.
Each point on the Travan migration path is expected to represent at least a
two-fold increase with all previous capacity points. Backward compatibility
with the installed base of 200 million QIC-compatible minicartridges -- a
critical need for users wanting to capitalize on their investments in QIC
technology -will also be assured at each convergence point, added 3M's
Stevens.
The Travan platform optimizes available space in a 3.5-inch drive form factor
housing. Mechanical changes will enable the drive to accept current
QICminicartridges, QIC-Wide and Travan cartridges.
Data cartridge technology, invented and patented by 3M, is the world's most
popular desktop tape backup technology and boasts an installed base of more
than 1 1 million drives, with three million drives shipped in 1994 alone,
demonstrating the rapid market growth of QIC technology.
3M Introduces TR-1 Minicartridge
3M SHIPPING TR-2 AND TR-3 MINICARTRIDGES
TAKING TRAVAN TECHNOLOGY INTO GIGABYTE TERRITORY
3M has begun shipping its new TR-2 and TR-3 minicartridges -- the second and
third members of a family of new high capacity tape products that
incorporates the company's Travan technology. The TR-2 minicartridge
provides users with 800 MB of uncompressed storage capacity (1.6 GB
compressed). The TR-3 minicartridge, the third step on the Travan migration
path, provides 1.6 GB of capacity (3.2 GB compressed). The suggested list
prices for TR-2 and TR-3 minicartridges are $42.15 and $43.75 respectively.
The products are now available through 3M's worldwide network of distributors
and resellers.
3M's TR-3 minicartridge can be used with Iomega's Ditto 3200 tape drive and
Conner Peripheral's TapeStor 3200 tape drive. Tape drives compatible with
the TR-2 minicartridge are expected to be available by year end 1995.
According to a recent report by Dataquest, a market research firm in San
Jose, Calif., "tape drives based on Travan technology will have a significant
impact on the tape market for PCs and workstations and that drives based on
this technology will dominate this market segment during the second half of
1995 and over the next several years."
Effective Solution to Storage Limitations
"The information explosion - epitomized by the growth in online services and
multimedia - has created an insatiable demand for greater storage capacity
and performance," said Doug Olson, business operations manager, 3M Data
Storage Tape Technology Division. "With the introduction of the TR-2 and TR-
3 products, users now have access to the next generation storage platform, to
more than keep pace with soaring hard disk capacities," Olson said.
In addition to keeping up with hard disk capacities, Travan technology will
better support emerging software applications like Hierarchical Storage
Management (HSM) on the desktop and Windows 95 applications, he added.
The increasing need for storage capacity was highlighted by a recent 3M
survey of online usage in small, medium and large enterprises. The survey
found that business users online are now downloading multimedia and database
files at a brisk pace, and that most expect to greatly increase their
reliance on the Internet as an information resource in the months ahead.
The telephone survey of 300 business computer online users found that nearly
70 percent of business users online now download files of up to five
megabytes on a daily or a weekly basis. In addition, 65 percent expect the
size of the files they download to increase in the coming months. The survey
also found that one of every five business users online has at one time
exhausted available hard disk space while attempting to download a file -
even with hard disk capacities that now average 760 megabytes.
"For business users seeking to become more productive through the Internet,
the good news is that online content is both superb and abundant,' Olson
said. "The proliferation of multimedia files, databases, application
programs, and even e-mail is, in a real sense, redefining computing. But in
doing so, the online world is putting tremendous strain on the ability of
existing systems to store and manage all of this information."
Optimal Storage Capacity
The Travan platform features a unique drive/minicartridge interface that is
included in a patent application filed by 3M. The Travan platform optimizes
available space in a 3.5-inch form factor housing. Minor mechanical changes
built into Travan drives allow them to accept current QIC and Travan
minicartridges - a critical need for users, given the installed base of more
than 200 million QIC-compatible minicartridges worldwide. The TR-2 and TR-3
minicartridges contain 750 feet of .315 inch high-coercivity 900 oersted (0e)
gamma ferric oxide media. The TR-2 -has a data density of 22,125 flux
transitions per inch (ftpi), while TR-3 stands at 44,250 ftpi. The TR-2 and
TR-3 minicartridge subsystems use a floppy interface with respective transfer
rates of 1 megabits/second for the TR-2 and 2 megabits/second for the TR-3.
Like the TR-1 minicartridge, 3M's new TR-2 and TR-3 products require no
changes in media formulation, and will use existing drive electronics and
head technology. The TR-1 minicartridge was commercialized in May and
provides users with 400 MB of uncompressed storage capacity, more than double
the capacity of the industry's leading QIC-80 minicartridge.
"Travan technology should be welcome news to millions of PC users," said Bill
Frank, president of Augur Visions, a market research firm in Los Altos,
Calif. "The Travan minicartridge provides the next leap forward for 3.5-inch
QIC drives, doubling capacities while preserving backward compatibility,"
said Raymond Freeman Jr., president of Freeman Associates, Inc., a market
research firm in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Future Development Efforts
Storage industry leaders like 3M, Hewlett Packard's Colorado Memory Systems
Division, Conner Peripherals, Exabyte, lomega, Tandberg Data, AIWA, Pertec
Memories, TEAC, Rexon and Sony will continue to support future development of
Travan drive and recording formats to assure further expansion of the market
for tapebased applications.
Most Travan drives offer 2:1 data compression, which doubles native capacity.
Each point along the Travan migration path represents about a two-fold
increase above all previous Travan capacity points. The Travan platform is
fully backward compatible with the installed base of QIC minicartridges. 3M
plans to introduce a Travan TR-4 minicartridge with a capacity of 4 GB
(uncompressed) beginning at the end of 1995.
Data cartridge technology, invented and patented by 3M, is the world's most
popular desktop tape backup technology and boasts an installed base of more
than 14 million drives, with three million drives shipped in 1995 alone,
demonstrating the rapid market growth of minicartridge technology. 3M is the
world's largest manufacturer and marketer of branded minicartridges. For
more information on minicartridge technology, contact 3M at (800) 888-1889,
ext. 33.
THE TAPE SOFTWARE REVOLUTION:
MOVING BEYOND BACKUP AND RESTORE APPLICATIONS
Encouraged by strong industry endorsement, 3M expects tape software currently
in development to expand the functionality of minicartridge technology well
beyond backup/restore applications. According to Micheal Stevens, business
development director, 3M Data Storage Tape Technology Division, 3M's
strategic relationships with Chili Pepper Software (Atlanta, Georgia) and
PGSoft Inc. (Pacific Grove, Calif.) will help redefine the way that tape is
used.
Due for release later this year, the two software products will be compatible
with tape drives and media based on both the Quarter-inch Cartridge (QIC)
standard and the new Travan standard.
Developed by 3M and licensed to eight of the world's leading manufacturers of
tape drives and media, Travan technology offers users a 200+ percent capacity
increase over the existing QIC standard, while maintaining backward
compatibility with the installed base of 12 million QIC drives and over 200
million QIC minicartridges. "The software initiatives will provide users
with easy access to a wide range of new applications, including hierarchial
storage management (HSM), nearline storage, large file transport and direct
recording and playback of computer data, audio, video and multimedia files,"
Stevens said. "These applications will make tape an even more expansive,
useful and dynamic storage medium,"
New Applications for Tape
According to Richard Onyon, president, Chili Pepper Software, the alliance
with 3M will result in development of HSM software that will enable desktop
tape drives to provide near-line storage as well as backup. HSM software
automatically tracks file activity on the hard drive, and, based on user
defined thresholds, compresses and/or archives inactive files to intermediate
storage, and automatically retrieves them when needed.
Chili Pepper Software currently markets Infinite Disk - a file management
package based on HSM that is available for DOS and Windows. It relies on
diskettes as the intermediate storage medium. Using Infinite Disk, files
that are not accessed within 30 days may be compressed to half their normal
size. Files not accessed within 90 days can be automatically archived off
the hard drive to a standard diskette.
Although archived, the file still appears on the hard drive as a 0 byte file
to act as a placeholder for the user. The new software being developed by 3M
and Chili Pepper will enable the file to be archived to high-capacity Travan
minicartridges, added Onyon.
If a file that has been compressed or archived is needed, retrieval is fast,
easy and completely automatic. When a file that has been compressed is
accessed, it is automatically de-compressed. When a file that has been
archived is accessed, the user is prompted to insert the specific volume that
is needed, and the restoration is completed instantly.
"Infinite Disk technology supersedes all of the old disk compression
approaches," said Michael Peterson, an analyst at Strategic Research
Corporation, Santa Barbara, Calif. 'Today's PC users will appreciate a
storage solution that combines such complementary products to manage their
growing data storage needs."
An Expansive File Transport Medium
3M's is working PGSoft, a spin-off of Digital Research, to develop a range of
software products that will help turn tape into a general purpose storage
medium. The new software will allow tape to serve as an expansive file
transport medium, in place of standard diskettes, and support the direct
recording and playback of computer data, audio, video, and other multimedia
files without the file having to consume additional hard disk space,
according to Tom Rolander, president and chief executive officer, PGSoft.
With tape as a file transport medium, users will be able to quickly identify
and transfer up to multi-gigabyte size files between systems using high-
capacity, relatively inexpensive minicartridges as though the cartridges were
diskettes.
According to Rolander, the first product developed by the two companies will
enable tape to become an extension to DOS and Windows devices, thereby
sharing read/write privileges similar to hard disks. From a user's
perspective, tape will become the 'T" drive, making it easily accessible with
standard Windows applications including Windows File Manager. The products
being developed by 3M and PGSoft will work with tape drives from multiple
vendors, finally making tape an easy-to-use, interchangeable solution for the
desktop, 3M's Stevens added.
A prototype of the software was demonstrated during a QIC standards meeting
at Rancho Bernardo, Calif., on March 13. 3M and PG@ plan to introduce the new
product by the end of 1995. Stevens added that the new software also will
eliminate the leaming curve associated with using tape for backup/restore
applications. This will save users both productivity time and dollars -- a
key ingredient in attracting the millions of new PC users to tape technology.
Both companies expect the alliance to fuel significant growth in the "aftach
rate' of tape drives to PCs. The installed base of minicartridge tape drives
currently exceeds 12 million units, according to several market research
organizations. "This inventive software approach evolves tape from a passive
to an active role in desktop storage,' said Ray Freeman, president, Freeman
Associates, Inc., a Santa Barbara-based market research firm. "it plugs the
gap between the too-low capacity of diskettes and the higher-cost,
non4ransportable nature of hard disks."
"Minicartridge tape has never really been used for file transfer," Stevens
said. "With the demand for cost-effective storage solutions increasing by
the hour, tape is the only viable technology platform to meet this need. "As
digital multimedia and on-line access continue their exponential growth,
storage options must keep pace," Rolander said. uwith this development, the
readily accessible tape drive now becomes an excellent mechanism to store and
play multimedia files."
Chip Off The CD-ROM Block
The 3M/PGSaft solution will take advantage of both the popular ISO 9660 file
format now used for CD-ROM drives and the corresponding operating system
extension, MSCDEX. Microsoft currently bundles the MSCDEX extension with DOS
and Windows software. In doing so, the 3M/PGSoft technology will eliminate
the need for new device drivers as tape drives are introduced. By
standardizing on ISO 9660 as a tape file format, 3M/PGSoft products will be
compatible with all leading operating systems, including DOS, Windows 3.lx,
Windows95 and Windows NT. This compatibility will eliminate the need for
application developers to build tape device drivers with each application.
According to Stevens, elimination of this technical obstacle will provide
OEMs with added incentive to incorporate tape drives into their systems, 3M's
Stevens said. Users now rely on various alternatives to store and manage
capacity intensive files such as video, audio and still color images, said
PGSoft's Rolander, noting that tape is the most cost-effective way to store
these files.
Travan is a trademark of 3M.
Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
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
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least a one week turn-around)
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
EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed
Edupage
Contents
Net Day
Netscape & Compuserve make Deal,
Microsoft Miffed
HP, Microsoft Team Up To Market PCs
Voice Mail Privacy Case Settles Out
Of Court
MCI, News Corp. Place Satellite
Orders
NTT Breakup Opens The Gates For
Foreign Investors?
Potential Roadblocks To Internet
Success
Bugs Bounty
Local Multipoint Communications
Systems
Piracy Protection
Playboy Sights And Sounds To
Continue On Cable TV
AOL, AT&T, And Netscape Strike Deals
E-Postings Tracer Gets Mixed Reviews
Microsoft, DirecTV To Offer
Interactive Services
Open University Trains 25% Of MBA
Students In U.K.
New System For Linking PCs To Phones
New Display Technology From Xerox
The Sounds Of The Web
Microsoft Boost For ISDN
PCS Has Hearing Aid Wearers Abuzz
People Want To Be Friends With Their
Computers
Holiday Inn Plans Internet PC Test
Former IBM Exec Nets Six Years
Hayes Emerges From Bankruptcy
Protection
Opening The Net To "Cybernautes"
Phone Hijacking
Computer Games For Girls
Another Online Service!
AOL Turns To Microsoft For Browser
Software
Information Infrastructure Report
Home-Grown Software Still Tops
Internet Live On TV
Europe Forecast As No. 1 Growth
Market
Pippin Atmark
Wildfire's Electronic Assistant
Learns New Tricks
Digital Slashes Laptop Prices
Compaq's Risky Business
ACM Programming Contest
Safe Surfing
NET DAY
President Clinton and Vice President Gore participated in ceremonies to
celebrate Net Day, an effort to wire 20% of California's public schools to
the Internet by the end of this school year. About 200 private companies,
coordinated by Sun Microsystems, participated in the event, and more than
3,000 Net Day kits were mailed to California schools, each worth about $500
and each including 2,000 feet of cable. (New York Times 10 Mar 96 p13)
NETSCAPE NAILS DOWN CompuServe DEAL, MICROSOFT MIFFED
Netscape Communications has cut a deal with CompuServe to license its
Navigator browsing software, allowing CompuServe's 4 million subscribers to
use Navigator to surf the Web. Key to the CompuServe deal is access to
Netscape's Mac version of Navigator. The nonexclusive pact undermines
Microsoft's much narrower arrangement with the online provider for its
Internet Explorer browser. CompuServe says it plans to offer subscribers a
choice: "Our strategy is to be browser-neutral so that people can use
whatever browser they want," says a CompuServe official. (Wall Street
Journal 8 Mar 96 B3)
HP, MICROSOFT TEAM UP TO MARKET PCs
Hewlett Packard and Microsoft have formed an alliance to market a new line of
PCs to small businesses. The PCs, to be labeled the Hewlett-Packard and
Microsoft Small Business Center, will come equipped with 10 Microsoft
programs, including Windows 95 and Microsoft Office. The Vectra Series 500
machines will be supported by an HP customer service center that can connect
to customers' PCs directly via modem to remedy problems. (Wall Street
Journal 8 Mar 96 B3)
VOICE MAIL PRIVACY CASE SETTLES OUT OF COURT
The McDonald's employee who was fired when he protested that his privacy had
been violated by his supervisor, who played steamy voice-mail messages left
by his lover back to his wife, has settled out of court for an undisclosed
sum. The case leaves unresolved whether conversations recorded in an
electronic voice mail box are granted the same confidentiality protections
as live phone calls or postal mail. The plaintiff claimed that voice-mail
messages are protected by the 1968 federal wiretap law and the 1986
Electronic Communications Privacy Act. (Tampa Tribune 9 Mar 96 B&F1)
MCI, NEWS CORP. PLACE SATELLITE ORDERS
MCI and News Corp. have placed their orders with Loral Corp. for two high-
powered DBS satellites, with plans to deliver DBS service to homes and
businesses by the end of 1997. Customers of the MCI-News Corp. service will
use small, 18-inch satellite dishes to receive a range of consumer and
business services for computers as well as for TV. (Investor's Business
Daily 8 Mar 96 A19)
NTT BREAKUP COULD OPEN THE GATES FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS
Part of the plan for breaking up the telecommunications monopoly Nippon
Telegraph & Telephone calls for abolishing regulations on foreign
investment, ownership and acquisition of Japanese communications carriers.
Until recently, foreign ownership of NTT shares was prohibited. Past
attempts to infiltrate the Japanese communications industry by international
media moguls such as Rupert Murdoch and the late Robert Maxwell have been
rebuffed. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 5 Mar 96 A1)
POTENTIAL ROADBLOCKS TO INTERNET SUCCESS
The editor of Telecommunications Policy Review points out three potential
impediments to the complete success of online commerce: "First, Internet
services today are economical only because phone companies aren't enforcing
tariff restrictions on the use of private line facilities to handle public
message traffic. How long do you think that'll continue, if voice services
continue to proliferate, however? Second, pervasive copyright infringement
is allowed. How long will it be, do you think, before that's addressed by
the courts? And, third, the FCC allows an `ESP (enhanced service provider)
exemption' from its standard access charges regime. But is that going to
continue as well?" (Telecommunications Policy Review 3 Mar 96 p4)
BUGS BOUNTY
In the last Edupage we said that two researchers credited with discovering a
couple of flaws in Netscape Navigator (and scheduled to receive $1,000 each
from Netscape for their trouble) are employed by the Open Software
Foundation. One of the two researchers mentioned in the San Jose Mercury
News story says he has not yet received his money and that he is the only
one of the two individuals under the employ of OSF. (Edupage 7 Mar 96)
LOCAL MULTIPOINT COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
The URL < http://info.ic.gc.ca/ic-data/telecom/dgse/english/bprs.html > has
Industry Canada's policy on new broadband wireless communications for LMCS,
Local Multipoint Communications Systems.
PIRACY PROTECTION
The European Commission is considering measures to prevent the distribution
of illegal decoders intended for use in pirating pay TV and other services
for which there is a charge. Some Europeans countries have already developed
regulations to prevent such activities, but since the laws offer different
levels of protection they serve as obstacles to cross-border services.
(Financial Times 7 Mar 96 p3)
PLAYBOY SIGHTS AND SOUNDS TO CONTINUE ON CABLE TV
U.S. District Judge Joseph Farnman granted a temporary suspension to a
section in the new telecom law that requires blocking the audio and video of
sexually explicit material distributed over cable channels "primarily
dedicated" to sexually explicit programs. Playboy Enterprises argued that
the law is unconstitutional because it is directed only to certain channels
rather than applicable to all channels equally. (Atlanta Journal-
Constitution 8 Mar 96 A3)
AOL, AT&T, AND NETSCAPE STRIKE DEALS
America Online will make its content offerings available to customers of
AT&T's new WorldNet Internet access service at a discount, and will provide
its own customers with the Netscape Navigator software for browsing the
Internet. AT&T says that 165,000 of its customers have requested WorldNet
access kits. (New York Times 12 Mar 96 C1)
E-POSTINGS TRACER GETS MIXED REVIEWS
Prodigy recently become the first of the Big Three commercial online
providers to incorporate a new tracer device, capable of tracing all
information posted on the company's bulletin boards. Subscribers are now
able to peruse more than 17 million notes posted during the last year and a
half, by subject area or key words, as well as by sender and receiver. Up
until now, posts were kept 90 days and then purged. Privacy advocates say
such archives and search capabilities allow anyone -- prospective employers,
merchants or nosy neighbors -- to use the Net to develop profiles of
individuals based on forums they participated in and what they've
contributed over a long period of time. (St. Petersburg Times 11 Mar 96 p9)
MICROSOFT, DIRECTV TO OFFER INTERACTIVE SERVICES
Microsoft and the satellite TV broadcast company DirecTV are forming an
alliance to offer digital information and entertainment services that can be
displayed on a TV set or a computer screen. Microsoft will produce system
software and tools for content developers and will provide a number of
applications to get the new service started by early 1997. (New York Times
12 Mar 96 C2)
OPEN UNIVERSITY TRAINS 25% OF ALL MBA STUDENTS IN U.K.
The Open University in the United Kingdom, which specializes in "distance
education," is educating one fourth of all MBA students in the U.K. (1200 in
the current academic year), and is one of just a few business schools to have
been given an "excellent" rating by the Higher Education Funding Council.
Distance learning is the only method of instruction offered by Open
University, and one administrator says: "For us it's the only thing we do;
we have to get it right." (Financial Times 11 Mar 96 p9)
NEW SYSTEM FOR LINKING PCs TO PHONES
Dialogic Corp. and Israeli firm VocalTec Inc. have developed a technology
that allows voice conversations via the Internet between PCs and ordinary
telephones. The Internet Phone Telephony Gateway allows computers to place
phone calls anywhere in the world via the public switched phone network.
The price of the system, which will be available in the second quarter of
this year, has not yet been set. (Investor's Business Daily 11 Mar 96 A7)
NEW DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY FROM XEROX
Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center has unveiled a new display technology that
manages to cram 7 million pixels onto a 13-inch screen using active matrix
technology. That's more than three times the number of pixels in today's
state-of-the- art displays, and offers 15 to 30 times the resolution
available on current laptops. The screens are expensive -- $15,000 apiece,
say analysts -- and Xerox has decided to pursue niche marketing, such as
commercial aviation and medicine, in an effort to establish a customer base
and get the price down. (Wall Street Journal 11 Mar 96 B6)
THE SOUNDS OF THE WEB
Mountain View, Calif.-based NetPhonic Communications Inc.'s Web-On-Call Voice
Browser offers text-to-voice capability that lets Web surfers listen to Web
pages over an ordinary telephone. The $1,000 program installs on a
company's Web server and "reads" standard .html formatted pages over the
phone to customers who don't have access to PCs. (Investor's Business Daily
11 Mar 96 A6)
MICROSOFT BOOST FOR ISDN
Microsoft is planning to promote acceptance and use of the high-speed digital
phone service called Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), by
coordinating with most of North America's telephone companies, a number of
communications manufacturers, and several Internet access providers so that
customers can more easily use ISDN on PCs running the Windows 95 operating
system. (New York Times 12 Mar 96 C2)
PCS HAS HEARING AID WEARERS ABUZZ
Some new digital wireless phones used for personal communications services
(PCS) have been found to cause interference with certain types of hearing
aids. The Sprint Spectrum phone apparently causes a loud buzzing in the
hearing aids not only of users, but of those standing nearby. The phone
uses a technology called Global System of Mobile communication, which has for
several years been assailed by hearing-aid wearers in Europe, where it was
developed. The FCC is urging hearing-aid manufacturers, wireless-phone
companies and hearing-impaired groups to work together to solve the problem.
The issue is at the center of a dispute in San Diego between Pacific Telesis
Group, which wants to erect 12 communications towers around the city for GSM-
style phone service, and residents who want more attention paid to
ameliorating potential interference problems. (Wall Street Journal 12 Mar 96
B1)
PEOPLE REALLY DO WANT TO BE FRIENDS
WITH THEIR COMPUTERS
Two Stanford University professors have delved into the pile of research
literature on how people interact with computers, and have concluded that
people interact with computers much as they do with other humans. Subjects
who were asked to perform a task on a computer and then were asked to rate
that computer's performance, gave better evaluations if they were using
"their" computer to do it. They insisted they were not trying to be polite
to the computer, but the researchers concluded that in fact that's just what
they were doing, similar to the way people tend to evaluate a co-worker's
performance higher if that person is present. (Chronicle of Higher Education
15 Mar 96 A12)
HOLIDAY INN PLANS INTERNET PC TEST
Two Atlanta-area Holiday Inn Select hotels will participate in a 100-day
pilot program during the Olympics this summer. Fifty rooms in each hotel
will be equipped with TVs linked to Pippin Internet PCs from Bandai Digital
Entertainment Corp., which has licensed the Pippin hardware design and
operating software from Apple. The company also plans to test Oracle's
highly touted Internet PC, but it probably won't be ready for this summer's
trial. The in-room devices will be linked via 28.8-kbps modem to a "proxy
server" in the hotel, which will be linked via ISDN to a local Internet
access firm. (Investor's Business Daily 12 Mar 96 A8)
FORMER IBM EXEC NETS SIX YEARS
A former IBM executive has been sentenced to a six-year prison term for his
role in stealing $20 million worth of IBM computer memory cards. His
accomplice pled guilty in 1994 and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Two other co- conspirators have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
(Investor's Business Daily 11 Mar 96 A7)
HAYES EMERGES FROM BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION
Atlanta-based modem-manufacturer Hayes Microcomputer Products has emerged
from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after agreeing to sell 49% of its
shares to Northern Telecom and Acma Ltd. for $35 million and arranging loans
of more than $65 million, which will be used to pay off its creditors.
Challenges to the court's decision are still possible. (Atlanta
Journal-Constitution 12 Mar 96 D10)
OPENING THE NET TO "CYBERNAUTES"
In the unending war to prevent English domination of the French-language,
French-speaking Internet promoters, from France's Minister of Culture to
cyberspace crusaders in Quebec, are working on the first online French-
searching software and a French vocabulary, or Net slang, for the Internet.
The goal: to allow francophone "cybernautes" to use the Internet without
submitting to English. (Montreal Gazette 11 Mar 96 A1)
PHONE HIJACKING
The Stentor alliance of phone companies warns travelers that foreign hotels
may be using illegal phone services to over- charge for long-distance calls.
It says some hotels are using phone companies that "hijack" calls made from
their facilities and reroute the calls to unlawful operations. The result:
a five-minute call from Britain to Canada, which could cost as little as
$10, ends up costing $48. Callers should be concerned if the operator asks
for a credit card number before connecting the call. (Toronto Financial Post
12 Mar 96 p2)
COMPUTER GAMES FOR GIRLS
There are relatively few computer games marketed to girls, although more than
6 million U.S. households that include females between ages 8 and 18 have
multimedia computers. A survey by Sex Roles Journal says that 85% of young
women think computer games would be fun to play if there were more titles
designed with them in mind. One developer of games for girls says, "Most
games are violent, and while girls like the action at first, after awhile
they get bored." (U.S. News & World Report 18 Mar 96 p69)
ANOTHER ONLINE SERVICE!
CompuServe will develop a proprietary online service called Wow!, targeted at
families and novice computer users, and priced at a flat rate of $17.95 a
month; the service will include a Web browser that would allow parents to
control which Internet sites their children could visit. CompuServe
president Robert J. Massey believes that "the consumer market for online
services is about to explode," and industry analyst Nick Donatiello says that
"entertainment is the 600-pound gorilla in the home, and information just a
little chihuahua." (New York Times 14 Mar 96 C2)
AOL TURNS TO MICROSOFT FOR BROWSER SOFTWARE
America Online has contradicted earlier reports that it would offer its
customers the Netscape Navigator software for browsing the World Wide Web,
and will instead offer them Microsoft's Explorer program to accomplish that
purpose. In exchange, Microsoft will include access to AOL as a standard
option in future versions of the Windows 95 operating system. By summer,
Microsoft Internet software will be extended into areas such as 3D graphics
and multimedia, and by the end of year Explorer will be extended by add-on
software (code-named Nashville) intended to allow a person to use a single
program to handle all files, whether they are on the PC or somewhere on the
Internet. (New York Times 13 Mar 96 C1, C3)
INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT
A new report released by the National Research Council concludes that
government will continue to be a major player in information infrastructure
development, but notes that its role is still evolving. "The Unpredictable
Certainty: Information Infrastructure Through 2000" notes: "Across the rang
of issues relating to information infrastructure there is evidence of
imperfect performance both in markets and by government. Therefore, the
serious debate and commentary center on what imperfect government actions to
remedy imperfect markets are justified." Suggestions include: deregulating
telecommunications services and avoiding regulating new technologies;
contributing as an "enlightened customer and participant" to NII
construction efforts, in particular supporting both basic and applied
university research; and sponsoring consensus-seeking activities and finding
ways to incorporate objectives in the NII structure. <http://www.nas.edu >.
(BNA Daily Report for Executives 12 Mar 96 A26)
HOME-GROWN SOFTWARE STILL TOPS
Despite dire predictions that most software programming jobs are moving
overseas, U.S. programmers are still cranking out software at a phenomenal
rate, with twice as many programmers employed in the U.S. as in Japan, No. 2
on the list. The key to U.S. programmers' success in keeping jobs home lies
in exploiting leading-edge technologies. "The Internet and new programming
techniques are giving us a new lease on life," says the author of "The Rise
and Resurrection of the American Programmer." "Americans are showing an
unbelievable burst of creativity," says a Czech computer expert. "By relying
on sophisticated tools, Americans have shifted the competitive arena from
sweat labor to imaginative design." (Wall Street Journal 13 Mar 96 A3)
INTERNET LIVE ON TV
The Broadcast Production Group is planning a weekly half-hour TV show called
"Internet Live," which will also be available on PCs using CU-SeeMe
technology for real-time interaction with viewers. The magazine-style
program will feature short items on Internet developments (INews), Internet
misuse (ILash), and a humorous Q&A session (Just the FAQs). "It's the next
paradigm shift," says the show's executive producer. (Broadcasting & Cable
11 Mar 96 p76)
EUROPE FORECAST AS NO. 1 GROWTH MARKET
A March 5 report released by the European Information Technology Observatory
predicts that Western Europe's information and communications technology
market is poised for dramatic growth -- 8.5% this year and 9% in 1997 --
outpacing the U.S. and Japanese markets. Meanwhile, the International
Communications Round Table, representing Microsoft, IBM, Lotus Development
Corp. and others, has lodged a complaint with the European Commission
regarding the haphazard fashion in which technical standards and regulations
are emerging in different European countries. "The Internet is the same in
Germany as it is in France as it is in Spain. Right now there are
jurisdictional battles going on between states and federal governments in
all of these countries," says the legal representative for Microsoft Europe.
(BNA Daily Report for Executives 8 Mar 96 A13)
PIPPIN ATMARK
The Pippin Atmark, developed by Apple and Bandai as a combined computer and
game machine, is going on sale in Japan for 64,800 yen, or about $620, and
will be available in the U.S. by this Fall. Pippin is the name for a kind of
apple, and Atmark refers to the @-sign used in e-mail addresses. It could be
considered one of the first entries in the category of low-priced "network
computers" intended for browsing the Net. Pippin Atmark has a Power PC 603,
6 megabytes of memory, a 14.4 kbps modem, and a CD ROM drive. A keyboard,
PC monitor, and floppy disk drive are available at additional cost. (New
York Times 14 Mar 96 C4)
WILDFIRE'S ELECTRONIC ASSISTANT LEARNS NEW TRICKS
Wildfire Communications Inc. is adding some new features to its electronic
assistant software. Beginning in April, subscribers will be able to use
Wildfire to set up conference calls and interact with corporate voice mail
systems. Because the system's designed with the executive-on-the-go in
mind, the conference call feature is especially useful, says a senior VP for
an investment banking firm: "We're a bunch of mobile knowledge workers, and
we're not sure where we're going to be one day to the next. We constantly
need to put together conference calls, and we never know when it's going to
happen." The system can add up to five callers simply by speaking the
person's name into the phone receiver. The Wildfire server then dials out
and adds the conferees. (Information Week 4 Mar 96 p78)
DIGITAL SLASHES LAPTOP PRICES
Digital Equipment has cut prices on its new HiNote laptops by about 20% in an
effort to compete effectively with rivals such as Toshiba. "We have
targeted the best competitive machines on the market and ours outfeature and
outperform them at competitive prices," says PC unit chief Bruce Claflin,
who was hired away from IBM last year. The top-of-the- line HiNote weighs
less than four pounds and is powered by a Pentium microprocessor. (Wall
Street Journal 14 Mar 96 B6)
COMPAQ'S RISKY BUSINESS
Chopping its PC prices by as much as 21% a couple of weeks ago was hailed as
a bold move by industry observers, but Compaq's strategy may be even riskier
than it seems. Corporate customers are beginning to replace their business
PCs with powerful -- and cheaper -- home PCs, squeezing the margin earned
from as much as 38% down to 15%. At the same time, Compaq's dominance in
the server market is under attack from HP, IBM and others, who want a piece
of the hugely profitable action. "I'm going after that market with a
vengeance," says one IBM exec. (Business Week 18 Mar 96 p40)
ACM PROGRAMMING CONTEST
The winners of the international collegiate programming contest staged by the
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) were students from University of
California-Berkeley (1st place), Harvard (2nd place), and University of
Waterloo (3rd place). The ACM contest was sponsored by Microsoft, which is
also sponsoring a lab grant program that will award $20 million in software
licenses for Microsoft development tools to colleges and universities; for
more info: < http: // msdeved.isu.edu/ms >.
SAFE SURFING
A coalition of tech companies, an online services members group and the
National Consumers League has unveiled a new consumer education program,
aimed at giving the public the information they need to ensure responsible
use of the Net. Project OPEN (Online Public Education Network) provides
information on parental empowerment, intellectual property rights, consumer
protection for buying and selling goods online, and user privacy. Call 800-
466-OPEN or check it out at < http://www.isa.net/project-open >. (Investor's
Business Daily 13 Mar 96 A8)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu).
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Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
Apple/Mac Section
John Deegan, Editor
CDT News STR Spotlight
The Center for Democracy and Technology Vol 2, Number 10
A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online
CDT POLICY POST Volume 2, Number 10 March 14, 1996
CONTENTS:
1 Deadline to join CIEC challenge to CDA extended!
2 Subscription Information
3 About CDT, contacting us
This document may be redistributed freely provided it remains in its entirety
** Excerpts may be re-posted by permission (editor@cdt.org) **
DEADLINE TO JOIN CIEC CHALLENGE TO CDA EXTENDED!
As of 5:00 pm Thurs. March 14, nearly 25,300 individuals have joined the
Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC) legal challenge to the
Communications Decency Act. This historic legal challenge will determine
both the fate of the Internet and the future of freedom of expression in the
Information Age. To allow more Internet users to participate in this
landmark case, the deadline for individuals to join the Citizens Internet
Empowerment Coalition (CIEC) legal challenge to the Communications Decency
Act has been extended.
Individuals who join the CIEC before March 31, 1996 will be added to the
Coalition documents to be filed in the Federal Court in Philadelphia. The
coalition will remain open after March 31 until just before the case reaches
the Supreme Court (expected late 1996). The goal is to have as many
individual members of the CIEC as possible by the time the case reaches the
Supreme Court (regardless of who wins the first court challenge, slated to
begin on March 21 and last through April 12, either side can immediately
appeal to the Supreme Court).
For more information, including information on how you can join the fight,
visit the CIEC home page at: http://www.cdt.org/ciec/
The 25,300 individual CIEC members, collected in just over 17 days, is a
truly astounding representation of the breadth the net.community's concern
over the impact of the Communications Decency Act. Under the CDA, every
Internet user who posts messages to Usenet Newsgroups, public listervs, IRC
or online chat sessions, or maintains their own World Wide Web page is
potentially subject to $250,000 fines and 2 years in prison if someone
somewhere considers the material "indecent". CIEC members believe that this
law is clearly unconstitutional and threatens the viability of the
Internet as a medium for free expression, education, and commerce.
COURT TO HEAR THE CASE BEGINNING MARCH 21
The CIEC challenge, which has been consolidated with another challenge
mounted by the ACLU, EFF, EPIC, and other plaintiffs, will be argued before
a 3 judge panel in a Philadelphia Federal Court beginning Thursday March 21.
The schedule for the hearings are as follows:
March 21, 22 & April 1: CIEC and ACLU lawyers and witnesses
April 11, 12: Dept. of Justice lawyers and witnesses
CDT, with the cooperation of the Justice Department, the clerk of the
Philadelphia Federal Court, and Bell Atlantic, has arranged to wire the
Court Room for Internet access. We are installing a T1 line and a small local
area network with at least 3 computers to enable the court to see the
Internet and view demonstrations of parental control technologies. To the
best of our knowledge, this represents the first time a Federal Court has
been wired to the Internet for the purposes of a trial.
CDT is also working out arrangements to provide real-time updates of the
court proceedings. Please stay tuned for more information, and continue to
visit CDT's home page for more information (URL:http://www.cdt.org)
BACKGROUND ON THE CIEC CHALLENGE
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition challenge, which in addition to
the 25,300 individuals includes libraries, online service providers,
newspaper and book publishers, commercial and non-commercial content
providers, and public interest advocates, argues that the Internet is a
unique communications medium. Because of the tremendous user control
inherent in interactive media, and because the Internet provides essentially
unlimited publishing capacity, broad, mass- media content regulations such as
those imposed by the Communications Decency Act are overly restrictive and
therefore unconstitutional.
The CDA is so broad that it encompasses material such as the '7 dirty words',
classic works of fiction such as the Catcher in the Rye or Ulysses, Sex
education and AIDS education materials, artwork, and other constitutionally
protected materials. Although some of this material may not be appropriate
for children, it is protected by the Constitution. Under the CDA, the very
same material which is legal today in newspapers, magazines, and books would
be *illegal* if posted to a public forum on the Internet. As a result, the
CDA threatens to chill the free flow of information and create second-class
status for online speech.
The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that the government may only
regulate constitutionally protected speech if it employs the "least
restrictive means". Because of the availability of strong, effective user
empowerment technologies such as SurfWatch, Cyberpatrol, PICS, etc., the
broad content regulations imposed by the CDA are clearly not the "least
restrictive means" and are therefore unconstitutional.
For more information on the CIEC challenge, including information on how you
can join this historic legal battle:
World Wide Web: http://www.cdt.org/ciec/
email: ciec-info@cdt.org (general information via auto-reply)
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Kids Computing Corner
Frank Sereno, Editor
The Kids' Computing Corner
Edmark Ready to Learn 3-in-1 Activity Pack
Edmark Corporation has announced the imminent release of a new limited
edition software bundle designed especially for children ages four to eight.
The Ready to Learn 3-in-1 Activity Pack includes KidDesk Family Edition,
Thinkin' Things Collection 1 and Trudy's Time and Place House. These award-
winning programs are excellent additions to any home software library.
KidDesk Family Edition is a great children's interface. It allows children
to launch their favorite programs with a single mouse click while protecting
the important data on your hard drive. In addition to the easy-to-use
interface and security features, the program includes a simple e-mail system,
a voice messaging system, personal calendars and many more accessories. The
program can have customizable individual desktops for each member of your
family. KidDesk Family Edition is simple to use, elegant in design,
effective in operation and highly recommended by this writer.
Thinkin' Things Collection 1 is a unique learning experience which encourages
creativity and develops critical thinking skills. Two musical activities,
Oranga Banga's Band and Toony Loon, aid the growth of memory and auditory
recognition through the use of sounds and patterns. Children can also write
their own songs in the Creativity Mode of the exercises. Logical thinking
skills are developed by selecting the animal with the correct attributes from
many choices to fulfill orders in the Fripple Shop. The Feathered Friends
factory encourages pattern recognition as your child must build the next bird
to complete a series. BLOX Flying Spheres and BLOX Flying Shapes allow
children to manipulate the physics in virtual worlds to create fascinating
moving images. This program has been highly rated by the staff of The Kids'
Computing Corner.
The final program is Trudy's Time & Place House. Here children learn about
time and geography in an environment filled with friendly instructors.
Designed for prereaders, all instructions are given verbally and additional
assistance is only a mouse click away. Among the skills learned are mapping,
directions, sociology and geography, and telling time. Trudy's Time & Place
House is yet another highly recommended Edmark program.
For a limited time starting in late April, these three programs will be
bundled together as the Ready to Learn 3-in-1 Pack. Suggested retail price
is $69.95. Individually, these three titles would retail for more than $120
so the bundle offers fantastic savings. Edmark backs its software with a 30-
day moneyback guarantee to add more value to this bundle. If you are
building a software library for younger children, you won't find a better
package than the Ready to Learn 3-in-1 Pack.
Activision Announces National Sweepstakes
To Promote Spycraft: The Great Game
Activision is releasing a new CD-ROM espionage game, Spycraft: The Great
Game. Players immerse themselves in the role of a CIA operative during the
post-Cold War era. Fact and fiction are blended to create a realistic story
in which the player makes moral choices and face demanding consequences. For
added realism, former CIA Director William Colby and former Major General of
the KGB Oleg Kalugin were consultants for the project and even portray
themselves in the game.
A contest to promote the game is being offered through May 13, 1996. Five
grand prize winners and guests will receive a trip to the Breezes Resort in
Nassau, Bahamas, for a four day, five day stay. While there, International
Espionage Tours will train them in the art of espionage and then send them on
a fantasy covert mission. Here's your chance to play your favorite "double-
naught spy."
Secondary prizes include leather attach cases filled with spy goodies and
other promotional materials. To enter the contest, you can register at
Activision's Web site (http://www.activsion.com), mail in "take one" counter
cards which will be available at most retailers selling Spycraft, or by
sending in a 3" by 5" card to Activision. This is one of the largest
promotions to date for a computer game.
Portable Computers Section
Marty Mankins, Editor
Softram95 Lawsuit STR Spotlight
Benefits of the Settlement
Members of the Settlement Class will be eligible to receive from Syncronys
the refunds and Coupons summarized below. To receive any benefits of the
settlement, a Member of the Settlement Class must complete and submit a Proof
of Claim.
Any Settlement Class Member who purchased or received as a gift SoftRAM or
SoftRAM 95 and who submits a Proof of Claim with accompanying Proof of
Purchase shall receive two five dollar coupons, which are usable separately
as five dollar credits or rebates towards purchases of two Syncronys
products, or in combination as a $7.50 credit or rebate from Syncronys on a
single purchase (hereinafter "Coupons") and, so long as the Settlement
Class Member has not previously returned the Class Member's SoftRAM or
SoftRAM 95 product, the Settlement Class Member may select, at the
Settlement Class Member's option, (i) a full refund of the amount paid to
purchase the SoftRAM or SoftRAM 95 product (the original purchase price,
including any tax paid and any payment for shipping and handling or for
subsequent upgrades), or (ii) an upgrade to SoftPAM 96, or (iii) a copy of
SoftRAM 96. If for any reason, a Settlement Class Member who has chosen to
receive SoftRAM 96 or the SoftRAM 96 Upgrade decides that he or she does not
want that product, he or she may, within 60 days of receipt of the product
or upgrade, opt to receive a complete refund of the amount paid to purchase
(including taxes) the original SoftRAM or SoftRAM 95 product, to be paid by
Syncronys within 30 days of receiving the refund request.
Further, if the SoftRAM 96 product and SoftRAM 96 Upgrade are not available
by the time this Settlement becomes final and effective, within 30 days
Syncronys will notify all Settlement Class Members that they may request a
refund of the purchase price paid (including taxes and any shipping
charges) for SoftRAM or SoftRAM 96, to be paid by Syncronys within 30 days
of receiving the refund request. A Settlement Class Member electing to
obtain a refund must represent in writing that said Settlement Class Member
has permanently removed, offloaded and destroyed all copies, originals or any
versions of SoftRAM or SoftRAM 95 (and, if applicable, the copy of SoftRAM 96
or the SoftRAM 96 Upgrade)
In addition, any Settlement Class Member who submits a Proof of Claim
evidencing a purchase of SoftRAM or SoftRAM 95 between January 1, 1996
through March 15, 1996 shall receive two additional, five-dollar Coupons.
Any settlement Class Member who claims to have suffered Consequential Damages
as a result of using SoftRAM or SoftRAM 95, and who completes the portion of
the Proof of Claim form dealing with Consequential Damages, shall receive two
additional, five-dollar Coupons.
Additionally, for the benefit of all Class Members, for a period of at least
10 months after the Settlement becomes final and effective, Syncronys will
maintain its toll-free technical support telephone number (1-800-808-0064),
Internet home page listing, and other methods of providing support to
customers, including Settlement Class Members, in need of assistance. When
the SoftRAM 96 and the SoftRAM 96 Upgrade is available, Syncronys will post
that upgrade on the Syncronys home page on the World Wide Web (address:
http//www.Syncronys.com) for at least ten months. That SoftRAM 96 Upgrade
will be available at no charge, will provide an upgrade which is functionally
equivalent to SoftRAM 96 when used with SoftRAM or SoftRAM 95 product.
Syncronys also will continue the recall of SoftRAM 95 products in the United
States.
Syncronys shall bear all costs associated with the mailing, publishing and
processing of Notices, Proofs of Claim and Coupons. Except as otherwise
indicated, Syncronys will provide all Coupons, refunds and upgrades claimed
by Settlement Class Members within 30 days of the date on which the
Settlement becomes final and effective.
Atari Interactive - software/Jaguar/Computer Section
Dana Jacobson, Editor
>From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
It's been another one of those long weeks which started out with a record
breaking snowstorm over last weekend. Y'know, this is really starting to bug
me! <g> I like the winter, but...
As a longtime beta tester of Flash II, it's good to see the latest version of
the software recently being released. On the heels of this fine program
comes "Edit Boards", an easy to use add on program that makes editing your
BBS/online services data a breeze. This new program from Missionware
Software should be available shortly look for it!
Our U.K. connection, Paul Womar, has completed his article on STiK/CAB and we
have it for you this week. We hope that the article will help answer some of
the typical questions you might have. We hope to have a subsequent article
at a later date.
The Sacramento show is next weekend, so if you're in the neighborhood, be
sure to drop by. More info on this upcoming show is listed in this issue.
The "new" BBS is shaping up nicely, so far. We're still waiting for the new
storage hardware. In the meantime, we're still playing around with it,
trying to get to know it better. I'm about to get my feet wet and start
learning the script language and adding some new routines to the system.
Fingers are crossed!
Until next time...
MissionWare Newslines STR Focus
FLASH II
Now shipping - Edit Boards
FROM:
MISSIONWARE SOFTWARE
354 N. Winston Drive
Palatine, Illinois 60067-4132
United States of America
phone 847-359-9565
Missionware Software is pleased to announce the release of a brand new
program called "Edit Boards". "Edit Boards" is a companion program to Flash
II, our popular telecommunications program.
You've asked us for ways to edit, sort and move your Flash II board slots.
We've kept these functions out of Flash II to keep the program as small as
possible. But now, with "Edit Boards", you can do all of this and more
*outside* of Flash II. And not only that, you can cut and paste board slots
or other data from one file to another!
With Edit Boards you can edit your Flash II configuration files outside of
Flash II itself. (This includes your DEF files, which store your Flash II
default options, and your LST files, which store your board lists.) What's
the big deal about that? Heck, you can edit them inside of Flash II too -
even while you're online. All you can edit inside of Flash II, though, are
the two files loaded into Flash II at the time - usually FLASH23.DEF and
FLASH23.LST. Edit Boards lets you edit up to three each of those files
giving you the capability to cut and paste settings from one file to another,
or, in the case of .LST files (your board's lists) moving data from one board
slot to another. You can also sort manually or automatically your board
slots and cut and paste one slot from one file into another file. With Edit
Boards you have the capability to do things to your files you always wished
you could do in Flash II itself.
And that, in a nutshell, is how Edit Boards works. Edit Boards gives you the
flexibility you want in Flash II without overburdening your main
telecommunications program. Edit Boards is easy to use and multitasks
perfectly on any Atari computer.
In order to keep the cost low, "Edit Boards" is being sold without a printed
manual. It does come with a complete manual in the form of a text file,
though. "Edit Boards" is so simple to use though we doubt you'll need to
refer to the manual much, if at all.
"Edit Boards" runs on 1 Meg or larger ST(e)s, MegaST(e)s, TT030s and Falcons.
It is fully multitasking compatible. If you own Flash II, any version, and
wish to fully exploit its powers, then you really need "Edit Boards". Your
cost is only $10, post-paid anywhere in the world. Remember, there is no
printed manual (to keep costs low). You must be a registered Flash II owner
in order to purchase (and use) this program.
To order, or for more information, contact:
Missionware Software
354 N. Winston Drive
Palatine, IL 60067-4132
United States of America
phone 847-359-9565
SAC Show STR ShowNews
SACramento Atari Expo Update......Sacramento, California.
Here is a current list of vendors, developers, and user groups that will be
attending SAC Expo on Saturday, March 23rd:
z A&D Software
z ST Informer
z STeve's Computer Tech
z Crawly Crypt
z Branch Always
z chro_MAGIC
z Computer Direct
z Oregon Research
z Shockwave Multi-Media
z B & C Computervisions
z Gribnif Software
z Toad Computers
z Homa Systems House
Usergroups: ABACUS, Boise Atari Club, YAC, and of course your host for the
show...STAR.
chro_MAGIC will be releasing four Falcon only games, Pinball Fantasies, Dino
Dudes, LLAMA Zap, and Steel Talons. Also Crawly Crypt and Homa Systems House
will have Atari Specific CD Rom Software available.
As you can see this is going to be a great show. There will also be a raffle
including a Jaguar and Jaguar games and there may even be a few big
surprises. We hope you are making plans to attend. The doors open at 10am and
close at 6pm, admission is $5 and the money from the ticket sales go to the
Towe Ford Museum.
How to get there: If you are coming east from the east of Sacramento take
Interstate 80 west bound to the Interstate 5 interchange, then head south on
5 to the J street exit, and turn right at the first stoplight. Turn right on
O street which dead ends into Front Street. Left on Front and go about a
half a mile and the Towe Ford Museum is on the right.
If you are coming south on 5 you will also take the J street exit and follow
the same directions as above. From West of Sacramento, Daivs, San
Francisco, etc. take Interstate 80 to Business 80 then head north on I 5 to
the J street exit and follow the directions as listed above.
If you have additional questions or need further directions, please leave me
mail. Thanks and I hope to see you at the show.
Mark Warner
STAR Vice President
CAB-GEM STR InfoFile
CAB-GEM Web Browsing On The Atari
Many people use their Atari machines on the 'net to pick up their email, news
and to start fop, IRC & telnet sessions, the sad fact is that very few
things out there are easy to set up and even fewer make full use of the GEM
environment and instead use simple VT52 text or similar. Luckily a while
ago Alexander Clauss released a program called HTML Browser upon the public,
it was a well received offline web page browser but the one thing missing
from it was the ability to actually connect to the web and browse like the
web was designed for. Instead users would have to use something like the
text based Lynx browser to download them first. At the same time, on the
other side of the globe, Steve Adam was busy coding his own TCP/IP stack
(the bit that handles the data between your machine and the 'net), which he
called STiK , by some miracle the two of them found each other and decided
that together they could make this thing work online. Getting the two
programs to communicate properly needed the help of Tim Nauseam who wrote the
Overlay file that passes the data between the programs and then the WWW
package was born. HTML browser was re-named the Cool Atari Browser & bundled
with STiK in the WWW package, the more recent releases (WWW116) have seen
CAB re-named again to the Crystal Atari Browser. But what exactly does it do
and how?
STiK comes as a desktop accessory and as long as you have a provider that can
offer you the older style SLIP protocol and a bit of information about your
provider you should be able to get up and running fairly soon. You need to
manually edit the config files with things like your IP address, email
address, your login sequence & passwords. Once you have your configuration
all present and correct you can call up the ACC and click on connect and off
it goes and dials your provider, after the dial is complete you are
presented back with the desktop. Now all you need to do is run CAB as you
normally would and enter the address of the site you wish to visit and the
info' should start pouring down your line and
there you are, browsing the web like any other person.
Once you have entered the web address it takes a few seconds to connect to
the site and depending on how near the site is you should get the data
coming in at a fair rate. I normally achieve about 1k a second on a USR 14.4
with HSMODEM 6 installed on a 4meg STe. Once your page is up and loaded you
can use either the button bars or menus to jump forward and back pages,
select a page from your hotlist, load up another page, add this page to your
hotlist and various configuration options. You just click on the parts of
the page that are underlined or imply that you should click them and then off
it goes again and gets more data. It is all very easy to use but it's lack
of speed on sites that are anything but very near is not too good but this
could be due to my own provider.
Web browsing on a normal ST isn't too impressive, the information obviously
gets to you OK but the smaller color palette does not help matters as far as
pictures are concerned and you really need a good font engine like NVDI 3 or
Speedo GDOS to get the best text possible. I have not had the chance to use
it on a Falcon but I understand the results to be more impressive. One
other problem is that some pages cause runtime errors for it and it currently
isn't too stable, the HTML standards have been messed about by new Netscape
"standards" and so problems are generally not CAB's own fault but due to
errors with the page that other browsers are more tolerant of. The package
is available from most ftp sites and should be called "WWW116.Zip" or
similar depending on the version currently available.
The program has many configuration options for calling external viewers,
turning off graphics, setting up the cache and a whole host of other
features. This set of programs really is a very impressive effort and once
some of the bugs are removed this will be a fantastic product, it is
currently freeware and is very much worth getting as the whole bundle can
be up and running very quickly and the results are quite good. The ST will
never have a browser that can beat a top program like Netscape but this is
surely a very good attempt and as far as pushing your machine then this one
is certainly getting it's money's worth.
But how do I get started? You'll just need the WWW116.ZIP file (or later)
this contains the TCP/IP stack (the bit that handles the communications) and
the CAB Web Browser itself. It should be available from all major FTP sites
and online providers file areas. Once you have downloaded it you must
extract it using the ST Zip package and copy the "STIK_CFG" folder and the
Stik.Acc to the root directory of your C: drive (or for floppy users A:)
NOTE: In future versions you will also need to copy Stik_tsr.Prg into the
Auto folder too but this currently applies to the beta versions. You will
need a fair amount of information from the people that provide your SLIP
connection if your provider is not one of the ones that does not have a
script in the package. Most of the information like IP addresses and names
of the servers should be fairly easy to find in your existing 'net software
package. All you need to do is edit the Dialing and parameter scripts with
a text editor and you can be away, the amount of editing needed is only a few
minutes work and with the well annotated scripts provided you should have
little trouble.
Now all you need to do is reboot and once you are at the desktop you can
select STiK from the Desk menu on the desktop and it will dial away and
connect to your provider and the dialog should clear and you'll be back at
your normal desktop. What next? Load up CAB. Just load it up as any normal
program and you're ready to connect to any site you choose, enter the Web
address and you're ready to get downloading the web pages to your machine.
It sounds very simple but there are quite a few problems that many users
(alright-ME!) have experienced and here are a few of them:
Q: Why won't CAB resolve any sites? When I try it just does nothing!
A: For some reason STiK doesn't like to be told your IP address even if (like
mine) it is always the same so use the GET_IP$ command in the dial script
and get STiK to get it when you log on.
Q: Every time I try to connect to a page I get a cache read error for a file
"0000001". How do I fix it?
A: For some reason the 1st time you use it, it will look for some files in
the cache when there are none Here are some solutions to try, some may work
on their own but otherwise just do the lot:
1. Check the Cache settings so that the "Keep Free" is smaller that the
amount of free space on the drive, this is the amount of space that CAB will
leave on your drive so if you have only 5 meg left and this is set to 10 meg
then it won't write a thing.
2. Make sure that the cache path exists.
3. Create the file that CAB says it can't find using a text editor or
something, leave it empty and then select "Empty/Free Cache".
4. Delete the contents of the Cache file and tell CAB to clear it as above.
Q: CAB crashes on me what can I do to stop it?
A: CAB really is still a very new and complicated product and it has to
interact with programs written by different authors so this can cause
problems but there are things to try:
1. Switch images off before trying to connect, get to the page that you
want and then turn them back on if you really want them.
2. Clear the Cache.
3. Disable as many Auto folder programs and Desktop Accessories as you can.
4. Use your WWW-Proxy server if your provider has one, this server holds
copies of often accessed sites and can often give you better times and stops
CAB waiting around,
5. Likewise sometimes the Proxy may not be very good and so if it crashes
with it enabled the disable it!
That's about all the questions that I can think of, I'm just a user myself so
if you have any problems about any of the programs then try to contact the
authors instead as they know far more than me. Have fun with it and don't be
afraid to play about with it, it's worth the hassle.
Jaguar Section
Interview With Don Thomas!
Myst and Defender 2000 Easter Eggs!
Prowler ezine! Nintendo 64 Delay!
And more!
>From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
If I can forget about the latest rash of snowstorms in the northeast for a
change! The news hasn't been all bad this past week. Attack of the Mutant
Penguins has reportedly started shipping as of today, finally! My wife will
enjoy this one as she's a "penguin collector" and demanded that get the
game!
The release of Braindead 13 is imminent, according to various sources. Fight
For Life should be arriving next month, followed by Brett Hull hockey,
Breakout 2000, and World Tour Racing in no specific order. There still has
not been an updated release schedule, and no word as to when one might be
available.
Currently ongoing is a two week special Jaguar promotion going at Electronic
Boutique. The Jaguar is specially priced 49.99!! Places like Babbages, etc.
have opted to match EB's price. Word from Atari is that this is an
Electronic Boutique promotional sale in an effort to attract new users; this
is not an effort by Atari to dump their Jaguar inventory.
I've been told by Atari's Don Thomas that we have a "care package" of review
games on the way to us, finally. With all of the recent upheavals at Atari,
the normal routine for getting review copies of games out had been
overshadowed. That has been rectified. So, we should be getting these games
out to our reviewers shortly and get back to you with reviewsin the coming
weeks finally! If the electronic postman is on duty, we should have two
reviews for you in this week's issue: Missile Command 3D and Atari Karts.
It's getting close to our deadline and the mail hasn't arrived yet. We're
hoping...
On the "bad news, but officially 'unofficial' at this moment" front, we've
heard that The Jaguar's Edge magazine is NOT going to happen. The last news
that crossed our monitors was that John Marcotte was seeking some assistance
by a users group and/or help from Europe. Apparently, this didn't come about
and he decided that the project wasn't feasible. I would expect that an
announcement will be made shortly. In the meantime, I would suggest to those
of you who sent in subscription payments get in touch with John for a refund.
On a similar note speculation, rumor, silence, inactivity, perceived apathy,
etc. leads us to believe that 1995 may have been the last appearance of
Atari Explorer Online magazine. As I mentioned, this is all unofficial, but
many factors point to this conclusion, as well as a few "off the record"
comments by a number of reliable sources. It's too bad, but totally not
unexpected under the circumstances. Having many of the same problems as I'm
sure that Travis Guy is experiencing, I can certainly sympathize with his
predicament. If AEO is being discontinued, I know that the magazine will be
missed. Travis put in a lot of work into his magazine and it was always a
highly anticipated file to be downloaded. We'll keep you posted if we learn
anything more definite.
I understand from Don Thomas that a new CatNips will be arriving shortly. If
so, and it arrives in time, we'll have it elsewhere in this issue. Don
didn't give me a hint as to what he'd be writing about this time around,so
we'll all be surprised!
In the meantime, we'll be anticipating the current recent "batch" of games to
arrive, as well as the titles on the way, for review. We're also going to be
anxiously awaiting some nice weather and an end to all of this lousy white
stuff! Enough IS enough!
Until next time...
Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
Nintendo Delays 64-Bit Unit
Another setback has hampered the launch of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s much-
anticipated next-generation 64-bit game console. The company blames a
shortage of central processing units for the decision. Reporting from Tokyo,
the French Agence France-Press International News Service quotes Nintendo
officials as saying it has canceled the April 21 launch and now will release
Nintendo-64 locally June 23.
The unit's 64-bit CPU is made by California-based Silicon Graphics Inc. AFP
says Nintendo, Japan's top maker of home video game machines and software,
was targeting initial year sales of 500,000 of the Nintendo 64 consoles "but
could not be assured of sufficient CPUs to proceed with the launch in the
original time frame."
In 1993, Nintendo said it planned to market Nintendo-64 by the end of 1995.
Its release did not meet the plan due to delays in software development. As
reported, Nintendo said in November it planned to launch the new game in both
the United States and Europe around April. The launch already had been
delayed in May last year by the yen's record shattering advance against the
dollar. However, last month Nintendo said it had to postpone the U.S. launch
by about six months because of a shortage of semiconductors.
AFP comments, "Nintendo's 16-bit Super Family Computer made its debut in
1990, creating a boom in video game machines, but rival 32-bit machines,
such as Sega Saturn by Sega Enterprises Ltd. and PlayStation by Sony Corp.,
have steadily eroded its position."
Jaguar Cheats, & Hints STR InfoFile - Solving Those Riddles!
Myst Easter Egg!
When you're in the planetarium, enter: May 22nd, 1970 6:30AM (include
spaces) into the dimensional imager. Then, go to the front of the library.
The "code" is the programmer's birthdate and time.
Defender 2000 Easter Eggs!
Once you get a high score, type NOLAN. "Plasma Pong" will be a game revealed
to you. If you type OVINE in the high score table and then hold down on the
'A' button while starting a Defender Plus game, the result will be to play
"Flossie's Revenge".
Jaguar Online
Interview II with Don Thomas of Atari Corp, by Mike Harvey
This is the second in a series of interviews with Don Thomas conducted thru
the internet. Don Thomas is the Director of Marketing.
>>Don, there is alot of concern about the future of the Jaguar and Atari
itself after the last two series of layoff's or resignations of major figures
at Atari like Ted Hoff. Can you tell us about how many people have left and
how many remain?
I don't know how many have left Atari. There about 25-30 of us now if you
consider just Atari U.S.'s main office.
>>There's rumors that Atari is vacating the offices in Sunnyvale CA and
moving into smaller offices. Is this true.
We've already moved. This is our first week in the new offices.
(Editor Note. You read about the move in STReport first.)
>>Is this just a cost saving measure since with less people, Atari doesn't'
need all the office space? Sort of. Our lease was up and we've been
considering more efficient offices for several years. This year the landlord
and Atari couldn't agree on a price.
>>With Ted Hoff's resignation, I've heard that Jack T. is back in charge of
Atari's operations and has lowered prices on some games again?
Ted changed a few things that may have affected prices before he left. I
don't know of any other price changes since
that time.
>>Did Babbages just hold off on placing orders for these games??
I cannot pass that on out of respect of our relationship with our customers.
I can tell you in overall terms that Atari fulfills all with all our
customers as promptly as possible.
>>Can you comment on upcoming games? It's been rumored that the Yak, Jeff
Minter will not be back developing for the Jaguar. Can you tell us anything
on this?
I'm not sure what more can be said. Jeff finished Defender 2000 and decided
to go elsewhere to work.
>>I know in messages back and forth on Catscan BBS (which Don is the Sysop
of) that Wal*Mart has been playing alot of orders to restock Jaguar sales in
there stores. Do they really seem to be happy with the amount of sales on
the Jaguar?
A retailer is always happy with sell-through and profit margin. :)
>>Is it the prior Jaguar owners purchasing games...
Yes.
>>Or are the Jaguar units themselves flying off shelves and into new homes.
Yes. <g>
>>Can you comment on whom is the largest retail sales leader for the Jaguar.
I can tell you the Jaguar sells well through Electronics Boutique, Software
Etc., Babbages, Wal*Mart, select Montgomery Ward locations and the
culmination of a lot of ma and pa shops nationwide.
>>When will Atari be releasing info on Christmas season sales figures and if
the $99 price drop really spurred on sales of the jaguar.
I do not know.
>>What about games still in the pipeline of development. I've heard that
after those in the pipeline, we might not see any more. I've tried
contacting a number of developers and none have heard anything from Atari on
future development for the Jaguar. One told me they would be forced to
develop the game for PC release under Atari Interactive and then if game
sales were good, it would be ported over to the Jaguar. If this is true,
won't that hurt Jaguar sales.
Ever since Ted came to Atari, we've taken a hard look at our development
strategies and there have been changes. It's no secret that Atari had a lot
of plans and had some problems making them all happen on time. Those
problems may have been due, in part, to how Atari managed the projects, but
that would be only one of the places to point fingers. Having said all
that, we have made changes to correct internal faults to manage projects. It
may be possible that some developers do not like those changes, but Atari
will not discuss our relationships with developers publicly.
>>We've spoken in private message on Catscan about the possibility of AVP2...
All that should be said and all that we should have discussed is that Atari's
interest to develop games around the Alien and Predator characters is a
licensed right. If and when such rights are considered a profitable interest
by all parties, then I imagine we will announce any agreements that are
subsequently made. I know of no currently announced plans to develop sequels
to AvP.
>>If Atari is having financial troubles with low sales of the Jaguar overall
when compared to the massive initial sales of the Sony PCX,
When a company loses money, it is a financial "trouble" they need to deal
with. Competition is just one of the factors.
>>John Mathieson, the developer of the Jaguars RISC chipset has moved on to
other jobs. Have you heard from him and how's he's doing?
No. I wish him well, but I haven't heard from him.
>>How about Bob Brodie, the former Director of User Groups for Atari. Has
anyone heard from him lately?
He shows up from time to time on the Internet. Great Guy. I understand he is
doing very well.
>>What do you personally feel about the future of the Jaguar & Atari.
The Jaguar is a tremendous value. I hope more and more people show an
interest to support a company that's doing everything possible to offer top
technology at affordable prices. The secret lies with how well the consumer
wants an affordable high-tech alternative.
>>.3 years later, where does Atari sit?
Who knows what will happen in 3 years? <g> If you ask Sega, Nintendo, Sony,
Atari. they'll all have biased visions of where the industry will be in 3
years, but the truth is, the consumer decides that more than the corporations
do.
--Don Thomas
Atari Interactive
Plug in the JAGWIRE(tm) on-line network. [http://www.atari.com]
For Immediate Release:
"PROWLER"
ISSUE ONE
(THE STORY SO FAR...)
Prowler International Magazine For Atari Console Enthusiasts
Featuring Monthly..
The latest news, game reviews, previews cheats, letters, buy/sell, hardware
mods
Prowler is distributed in HTML World Wide Web format so get those browsers
ready!
Issue One: PROWL_1.ZIP: Available Now At:
ftp: ftp.funet.fi (In Magazine Directory)
BBS: All BBS's On FAN Network including...
The Dog House +44-1763-230043
The Tavern +44-181-445-6514
Standard ProBBS +44-1394-271-550
And Selected PD Outlets.
Thanks...
Alastair Shortland.
email: ashort@mettav.demon.co.uk
Fido: 2:254/108.22
NeST: 90:102/150
The Tavern BBS Gateway 300-32600 V42Bis 44-(0)181-445-6514 24 Hrs
CATnips... Jaguar tidbits from Don Thomas (96.03.14)
I think the best experience I had during the move of our corporate offices
over the past couple weeks is the physical activity. After a few years of
driving 3 to 4 hours a day, sitting in a chair to answer phones, implement
programs and shuffle papers, the weight seems to amass in ones mid-section
pretty quick. Now that I've been off tobacco a couple years hasn't helped
with weight loss either. <g> So moving a few boxes, climbing a few stairs and
pushing a few desks has been therapeutic. I won't go so far as to say I've
lost any weight, but my back isn't as sore as it was and I can keep my feet
up off the ground long enough to put on my socks again (although I still
can't do both at the same time. <g>).
The bottom line is that we are now moved. Everyone feels like we've been
through a little change, but there are new offices, new carpeting, fresh
paint and a new beginning.
The new offices are physically only a few miles from the older ones. A couple
of us may feel homesick from time to time and have to drive by the older
establishment, so it's good that it is not all that far away. Personally, I
had the good fortune of locating an aerial photo of 1196 Borregas and I now
have it hanging in my new office.
Of course we're still here and moving forward so all the rumor mongers, while
wrong with their wildest exaggerations so far, will continue to have plenty
of time to start new ones. <g> In the meantime, Atari will begin shipping
Attack of the Mutant Penguins on Friday (3/15/96), ReadySoft is a week away
from shipping Braindead 13, and Fight for Life is a couple/few weeks away in
April. Those who have had their Jaguar for a while may remember how slow the
early months
in a year can be to get software out and here we are with several already
including Defender 2000.
ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
On CompuServe
compiled by
Joe Mirando
73637,2262
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I just finished watching a re-run of
"FRIENDS" and got to thinking about _my_ version of friends. I should first
explain that, in the real world, I got only a few very close friends. In the
online world however, I've got hundreds of good friends that I interact with
on a regular basis.
Heck, one of the people I have the most respect for (CompuServe Sysop Bob
Retelle) had at one time written several adventure programs that were ported
over to that breakthrough machine, the Timex/Sinclair ZX81. Being the proud
owner of one of these machines, I purchased a few of them and loved the heck
out of 'em. Fast forward several years and two computer brands. One day on
CompuServe I happened to notice a post from a Sysop with the same name as
this software author that I had idolized for his ability to drive me hand-
wringing, head-banging, tree-biting mad with the twists and turns in his
adventure games' plots. We corresponded a few times about those old programs
and he got quite a kick out of my consternation over one situation.... As I
phrased it, "I'd get all but one of the things I needed, leave them in the
spaceship and go to get the last item, and the little [insert a euphemism for
a male person of dubious parentage here] would come in and take all the
other stuff".
At any rate, it's things like that that make all of these FRIENDS so dear to
me. Coffeeshop?? We don't need no stinkin' coffeeshop! We've got
CompuServe! So let's take a look...
>From the Atari Computing Forums
Gregg Anderson talks about MagicMac, the Atari ST emulator for the Macintosh:
"MagicMac sounds pretty impressive, Gemulator for the MAC. Does it run on
the native MAC 68030/40 series or the newer PowerPC line?
I ask this as I'm having to face the fact that my TT won't last forever,
though I'm going to try and streach it out as long as I can (currently
looking for a 16 Meg TT RAM upgrade).
How does MagicMac on the PwrPC compare to a standard TT system? I know you
have to go with a fairly powerful Pentium to match a standard TT with the
Gemulator."
Bill Anderson tells Gregg:
"The original MagicMac was for MC 680n0, but the newest version is supposed
to run on the PPC as well. I'm using it on a Power Book with a 68040. I
started out with the original version and up-graded the the newest version
for PPC and it works just as well. It is A WHOLE LOT FASTER than a TT030!
There is the small nuisance of re-mapping the keyboard from whatever foreign
character set it came with, but once that's done, you never have to worry
about it again."
Gordon Meyer asks:
"Hmmm, unless I've missed something, anything running under MaciCmac is just
an Atari program that's being emulated. Right? So how in the world can your
program have a GUI that is better than the MacOS when it's based on GEM?
GEM is okay, but it's certainly no match for Mac..."
Mark Kelling tells Gordon:
"You are correct in the statement that MagicMac is a ST emulator. But it is
also a total rewrite of the TOS GEM VDI etc. and it incorporates several
very Mac like features not found on a standard TOS ST. Such as true multi
tasking with drag and drop and an overall look and feel and functionality
that is more Mac like than Windows95. (Just had to throw
that last in there.;-)
I guess a better description of MagicMac is a Mac program that just happens
to let you run ST programs which follow very strict programming conventions.
Now how Richard's program will improve on that is not known. One thing with
the _real_ TOS is the fact that you can redirect and rewrite any piece of it
you care to. Take Warp 9 as an example, it replaces a whole chunk of native
TOS with its own routines and runs great! If you try that in the MagicMac
environment all you get is a dialog saying "Something SERIOUS has happend in
MagicMAC. Quit Program!"
Kevin Hawthorne tells us that he...
"Just installed TAF's Unix Emulator on my 4 meg 1040. Got the emulator
itself (the X-Windows) up and running beautifully. My Internet account is
PPP utilizing PAP (packet authorization protocol). I haven't the foggiest
clue which file to edit (chatfile? secrets? eh? say what?) or what to edit
to allow completion of a the login process. I've changed everything I can
find to my userID, my password, changed the domain
suffixprefixserverprotocols stuff until my eyes are blurry. I've read almost
every word of documentation that's available on UNIX & the Internet. Even
gone to bookstores and bought six or seven books at a time on the subject.
But no PRACTICAL info on how to structure this beast so it will communicate
with my server initially. Seems as though all the docs & books on UNIX are
written by Computer Science majors for the benefit of other Computer Science
majors! Anybody out there know???"
Patrick Wong asks Kevin:
"Mind if I ask about your UNIX emulator? Does it allow for networking? How
fast does it run on a 1040? I hope you don't mind my asking :-)."
No answer from Kevin yet, but when he replies I let you know what he says.
Meanwhile "Wayne" asks:
"Does anybody know how well the ST emulator that runs on a PC works? I have
been thinking about getting one, but I would like an experienced person's
impressions of speed and compatability with games, etc."
Mark Kelling tells Wayne:
"I had the good luck to see Gemulator demonstrated at the Houston TX Atari
show a few weeks ago by the creator. It ran everything thrown at it
flawlessly and very quickly! Sad to say there weren't many games tried.
Although the MagicMac program is speedier overall, the Gemulator is the most
compatible since it uses actual Atari ROM TOS chips (your choice of version
all the way from 1.0 to 2.06!). Gemulator also lets you have several
_diffenent_ TOS sets on board and you can switch between them so you can
pick the OS which works best with your programs. Since you can use programs
like Warp 9 screen accelerator (which hacks deep into the system to do its
tricks) there is no reason why games shouldn't run well too. Just make sure
the games don't require stuff like copy protected disks. Those give problems
to _any_ emulator and even some real STs!"
Julian Church tells us:
"I bought a 1040 STE from a friend, and it doesn't appear to be working. On
power up, the power light comes on, the screen goes white (like a normal
boot) but the screen just stays 100% white, and the disc drive doesn't spin
or light up.
I tried reseating the simms and the TOS roms, but still nothing happened.
Does anyone have any ideas - the simms look a bit battered to me, so I
suspect them, but my friend tells me that he's never opened the case (it
still had a "Warranty void if broken" sticker over one of the screw holes).
I'm starting to wonder if someone originally ripped him off.
Oh yeah, he says it used to work for him but hasn't tried it for a while.
Does anyone have any ideas? Not a complete dud I hope?"
Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Online Magazine asks Julian:
"Have you tried reseating the DMA, MMU and GLUE chips?"
Julian tells Albert:
"I didn't get all the shielding off (it was getting late) but I *think*
they're all surface mounted. I'll have a closer look tonight. I'll try
exchanging simms with another machine too(one that works). The simms in the
new one looked really tatty which puzzles me, as the case had apparently
never been opened - there were 3 of one brand and one of another which I
thought was bad simms practice - I believed they were supposed to be in
matching pairs. It's really frustrating! I thought I'd got a bargain. Oh
well... ...I did find a couple of socket mounted chips - the board layout
looked different somehow so I had to dig really deep under the shielding.
Anyway wiggling the two big square socket mounted ones got the thing going.
Thanks for the advice.
I was anticipating a VERY fine soldering job, which I didn't fancy at all.
I'm not bad at soldering but some of the surface mounted chips in STE's are
very finely spaced."
Bill Anderson tells Julian:
"If you have a volt meter, CAREFULLY check for 12 volts (blue wire) and 5
volts (red wire) comming out of the power supply. Be careful not to short
circuit anything, and more importantly, don't shock yourself. The heat sink
will bite you, if you're not careful!"
I can vouch for that! I walked around with an "electron afro" for about a
week after I crossed two leads on a power supply. It's not something I
recommend.
Well, 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
EDITORIAL QUICKIES
"There is no conversation more boring than one where..
everybody agrees!!"
..Michel De Montaigne
STReport International OnLine Magazine
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STR OnLine! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" March 15, 1996
Since 1987 Copyrightc1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 1211
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