ST Report: 13_jun-97 #1324
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 06/19/97-10:36:33 PM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 13_jun-97 #1324
Date: Thu Jun 19 22:36:33 1997
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June 13, 1997 No.1324
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Look at today's date! Friday the thirteenth! Netscape getting stung
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LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Firms to Restrict Private Data
As Washington gears up to begin Federal Trade Commission hearings on
cyberspace privacy, eight major database companies are set to announced
they will limit the information they assemble on private individuals and
make available to clients. The Washington Post reports today the
agreement, to be announced at the start of today's FTC hearings, addresses
concern by privacy advocates that companies offering computerized
information are compromising the privacy rights of individuals. The Post
says the firms have agreed not to augment their records with information
from private marketing databases, including buying preferences, household
income and other data that critics say allows creation of dossier on
ordinary private citizens.
The eight will continue to provide through computer connections such
information as people's telephone numbers, current and previous addresses
and ages, the Post says. Some companies also provide Social Security
numbers and information from public documents such as vehicle registration
and property deeds. The Associated Press identified the companies signing
the agreement as Lexis Nexis, Experian, Choice-Point, Database Technologies
Inc., Metromail Corp., Information America, First Data InfoSource, and IRSC
Inc.
FTC Begins Privacy Hearings
Federal Trade Commission officials were told today hundreds of sites exist
on the Internet that compile information on public record for widespread
use, allowing users to search for individuals for a more complete portrait
of a person. Adds reporter Margaret Coker of United Press International,
"The information could include names, addresses, phone numbers, age, Social
Security numbers, bankruptcies, marriages and property records. Some of the
databases are used by professional groups for 'permissible business uses,'
like banks trying to verify identification for a mortgage approval, or
attorneys or prosecutors tracking down 'dead-beat dads.'"
Still, says privacy advocates, a whole industry of mailing list wholesalers
has started selling information gleaned from such sources as warranty cards
or magazine subscription lists. As noted, the FTC throughout this week is
looking into the practice of selling such information to commercial groups
or posting it on the Internet without consumer knowledge or approval.
"Currently," says UPI, "almost no regulation exists to curb such database
dispersal. One FTC commissioner says one problem is where to draw the line
with information that is in the public domain, but is being used for
unintended purposes."
Critics Question Online Privacy
Consumer advocates and regulators asked Congress yesterday to examine
whether electronic-data companies are doing enough to protect the ordinary
Americans whose detailed personal information they gather. Appearing in
the opening round of Federal Trade Commission hearings on Internet privacy,
the advocates wondered whether database companies like Lexis-Nexis and
others push the limits of privacy by selling telephone numbers and
addresses without people's knowledge or consent.
"Some also provide Social Security numbers and information from public
documents such as vehicle registration and property deeds," notes business
writer David E. Kalish, who is covering the hearings for The Associated
Press. "Much of the worries," adds Kalish, "focus on 'cookies' -- nuggets
of information that a Web site can plant in a computer user's hard drive.
They are used to track which Web sites are visited, what pages are looked
at, even people's hobbies -- and then linked to names and addresses. Site
owners can sell the information to advertisers and other interested
parties, without the consent or knowledge of users."
Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told
the FTC, "We are selling information today that 10 years ago would not be
bought or sold. The law has not kept up with these developments." As
predicted here earlier, attempting to alleviate concerns -- and head
off strict government rules -- Lexis-Nexis and seven other search services
unveiled voluntary guidelines to limit the personal information they
assemble.
The new agreement calls for a halt to use of information gathered from
private marketing databases, such as buying preferences, household income
and other data. Kalish says the companies say they would restrict their
sale of nonpublic information, such as an individual's credit records, to
professionals such as banks and private investigators. However, several
FTC officials questioned why the companies wouldn't commit to providing a
copy of their reports to any consumer who asks to check out potential
inaccuracies.
FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky expressed concern that consumers couldn't
correct inaccurate information about them in the reports generated by the
electronic data services, adding, "Even something as innocuous as your last
known address could be misprinted as a prison. What does a person do about
that?" In other developments, McGraw Hill Cos., a major publisher of
online information, announced a new privacy policy for its 60 Web sites and
other businesses aimed at giving people more control over the personal
information collected about them.
Microsoft Backs Netscape Plan
Netscape Communications Corp. says Microsoft Corp. now is cooperating in
building the Open Profiling Standard for the privacy on Internet that it
and others proposed two weeks ago. Coming during this week's Federal Trade
Commission held hearings on Internet privacy, the announcement "will bring
added momentum to the proposal, which aims to provide a framework for
built-in privacy safeguards and greater individual control over exchange of
personal information over the Internet," says the Reuter News Service.
The wire service says Netscape and Microsoft will join privately-held
Firefly Network Inc. and VeriSign to work together on the new protocol
during the remainder of a standards review process of the World Wide Web
Consortium, which is the Web's main standards body. Jim Miller, leader of
the technology and society domain of the World Wide Web consortium, said in
a statement, "We're delighted that Microsoft, Netscape and Firefly have
chosen to work together with our staff and other member organizations."
Reuters comments, "In the two weeks since its unveiling, support for the
standards effort has grown to include more than 100 companies, according to
a statement released by a Firefly representative." What they propose is a
standard that would give each individual control over his or her own
personal profile and the ability to manage which personal information gets
disclosed or withheld from a particular Web site. The profile data can then
be used to provide targeted information, products and services directly to
individual users, while allowing them also to be notified every time their
profile information is being requested. (Personal profiles contain
information ranging from names, addresses, ZIP codes and phone numbers to
marital status, interests, hobbies and passwords.)
Privacy Bills Win Praise
Bills introduced in the House and Senate to limit the spread of personal
information such as Social Security numbers on the Internet are being
praised by consumer groups. United Press International quotes Jean Ann Fox
of the Consumer Federation of America as calling for federal regulation
concerning the gathering and selling of personal data by organizations on
the Internet. She says the congressional measures are a step in the right
direction.
UPI says the Personal Information Privacy Act -- introduced last week by
Reps. Jerry Kleczka, D-Wisconsin, and Bob Franks, R-New Jersey, and
mirroring a Senate measure -- would prohibit:
z Credit bureaus from giving out Social Security numbers, unlisted phone
numbers, dates of birth, past addresses and mothers' maiden names.
z State departments of motor vehicles from disseminating Social Security
numbers for bulk distribution use in surveys, marketing or solicitation.
z The commercial use of a person's Social Security number without
consent.
"With the crime of identity fraud on the rise and the personal database
industry growing," UPI reports, "the lawmakers say it is easier than ever
to lose control of who has information about you." And Rep. Franks says,
"A Social Security number is the key to unlocking a whole host of personal
information. This legislation would keep the Internet from being used as a
tool for fraud and abuse by ensuring that the most confidential and
sensitive personal information is safeguarded."
As reported, the Federal Trade Commission is holding week-long hearings on
the issue of Internet privacy. As reported also, Microsoft Corp. now is
cooperating in building the Open Profiling Standard for the privacy on
Internet that Netscape Communications Corp. and others proposed two weeks
ago. The new plan would enable Web users to specify what personal
information they give and to which Web sites.
However, business writer David E. Kalish of The Associated Press reports
several privacy advocates complained at yesterday's session of the hearings
that the new format could actually entice people to give more private
details than they ordinarily would by creating a routine for supplying the
information. And some Federal Trade Commission officials noted the plan
doesn't address the potential abuses by Web sites that collect the personal
details. For instance, "what is (Web users') control of your use of the
information?" asked FTC commissioner Christine Varney. The FTC plans to
use findings gathered from the hearings to determine whether it needs to
recommend online privacy laws to Congress.
White House Eyes Net Tax Ban
The Clinton Administration has as yet not made a decision on whether to
endorse legislation pending in the U.S. Congress that would ban taxes on
Internet commerce, a Council of State Governments official reports. The
Reuter News Service quotes Daniel Sprague, the group's executive director,
as making the statement after a White House meeting Friday between Vice
President Al Gore and seven state and local government groups on Internet
policy and other key issues.
As reported, Rep. Christopher Cox, R-California, and Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Oregon, introduced identical bills in March that would impose an
indefinite moratorium on state and local taxation of commerce over the
Internet. The legislation would not affect existing taxes on goods and
services ordered through the Internet, as long as the taxes were the same
as those on mail order goods. Reuters reporter Vicky Stamas notes that at
a congressional hearing last month, Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence
Summers said the administration strongly supports the "goals and underlying
objectives" of the legislation.
"At Friday's hour-long meeting," Reuters says, "Gore was told by the seven
groups that they have 'a real problem' with the administration's position
on the bill, Sprague said. States and localities oppose Internet
legislation on the grounds that it could affect revenues." Sprague says
Gore responded that Sommers was talking only in a "very general sense" and
that the administration has not "weighed in on that issue yet." He quoted
Gore as saying, "Our position has not been communicated in a final
fashion."
Paris Refuses French Translation
A Paris court today refused to require Georgia Tech's French campus to
translate its Internet site into French, a ruling seen as a setback to
French language purists. As reported earlier, a previously little-enforced
law was used to sue the university's campus in eastern France, demanding
that it make its page on the World Wide Web bilingual.
However, Georgia Tech Lorraine, in the eastern city of Metz, has
successfully argued the website must be in English because the school's
curriculum is taught solely in that language by Atlanta-based professors.
Only the site's directions to the campus are in French. Associated Press
writer Nicolas Marmie says the Police Court of Paris rejected the suit
because the watchdog groups -- which are funded partly by the government --
failed to file a complaint with police before pursuing their civil suit
last fall.
"Under a 1994 law that bans advertising in any single language except
French, police must be formally notified and investigate the infraction
before a civil suit is filed," Marmie reports. "The law also says that
manufacturers cannot sell goods without instructions in French and
broadcasters cannot use English words on TV and radio when French
equivalents exist. It does not mention the Internet."
AP notes that worldwide, an estimated 85 percent of Internet sites are in
English, while only 2 percent are in French. French use of the Internet has
lagged behind other countries, a development of sharp concern to some
francophiles. "Since a Justice Ministry directive last February, French
courts have begun to punish more aggressively companies that break the
language law," AP reports. "Georgia Tech had faced possible fines of up to
$4,300 each time the untranslated Internet site was visited."
Georgia School Adds to French Site
Multilingual translations now have been added to the web site for the
French campus of Georgia Institute of Technology, even though a court has
rejected a lawsuit that claimed the site's exclusive use of English had
violated French law. As reported, a Paris court refused to require Georgia
Tech's French campus to translate its Internet site into French, a ruling
seen as a setback to French language purists.
Howver, notes the Reuter News Service, the tribunal rejected on technical
grounds and did not rule on the precedent-setting question of whether
France has the right to control the Internet using laws for the protection
of French culture. Georgia Tech president Wayne Clough later said in a
statement, "The suit had a number of procedural and legal flaws. We are
pleased that the Police Tribunal of Paris agreed with Georgia Tech
Lorraine's legal position."
Teddy Puttgen, director of Georgia Tech Lorraine, says the site has been
revamped to include German and French translations, saying the decision had
nothing to do with the pending court ruling. As reported, the suit was
filed in October by the Association for the Defense of the French Language
and Future of the French Language claiming the Web site for the
university's Metz campus violated the 1994 Toubon law barring the sale in
France of "goods and services" in a language other than French.
Initially, the university defended the site by saying it was not feasible
to translate pages into French if they were exclusively intended for an
English-speaking audience. Said Puttgen, "We have argued that the Internet
is very different from overall advertisement in that when you actually
visit a site you enter that virtual domicile. And once you have entered
that virtual domicile we are then free to actually communicate in any
particular language and fashion we so desire."
Web Piracy Said Vulnerable
Released on the eve of this week's government hearings on Web privacy, a
new survey suggests computerists are extremely vulnerable to online spying
and other personal intrusions by Internet businesses. Business writer
David E. Kalish of The Associated Press says, "The results could help frame
one of the most fundamental debates in the evolution of the Internet as a
commercial marketplace: whether the industry can police itself or the
government must step in to protect millions of personal-computer users."
As reported earlier, the Federal Trade Commission is to begin tomorrow with
hearings in response to complaints by privacy advocates that personal
information is gathered and used by online operators without user consent
or knowledge. In advance of the hearings, the non-profit Electronic
Privacy Information Center, a consumer group participating in the talks,
released its survey, which found that of the Internet's 100 most popular
Web sites:
z About half collect personal information from users who click on their
sites or through mailing lists and other means.
z Only 17 sites even mention the privacy issue, and most of those fell
far short of what the group considered adequate disclosure -- explaining
why information is collected, how it will be used, and what steps will be
taken to limit improper use.
z Only eight gave users some control over whether the Web site could
z share the personal information with others.
z But some sites, such as CNN's online service, don't collect any
z information about Web users. This type of anonymity was touted by the
group as a main way for the Internet to retain the privacy of surfers.
z 23 of the sites enabled the creation of "cookies," which are nuggets
z of information that can be planted into a user's PC and used without
their knowledge. None of the sites told the user about this intrusion.
"The industry is urging self-policing," says David Sobel, the center's
legal counsel, "but there is no indication that Web sites today are doing
anything toward that." Marc Rotenberg, director of the privacy information
center, added, "There is a lot of anonymity ... which is the defacto way
privacy is protected. Some people who think they are surfing the Net are
actually swimming in a fish bowl. It's a little uncomfortable once you
realize that."
The group's survey was conducted by members last Thursday by examining
sites ranked as the most popular by a Web service, AP notes the industry
is proposing initiatives to convince consumers and regulators that they can
protect personal information on the World Wide Web and that legal fixes
aren't needed. Patricia Faley, a spokeswoman with the Direct Marketing
Association, an industry group involved in the hearings, told the wire
service, "We have mounted an aggressive self-regulatory campaign, we are
educating our industry as to what we think those privacy policy notice
practices should be." The group plans to show examples of "dozens of Web
sites that do have appropriate Web sites policies stated," she added.
Suits Hit Internet Record Release
Seeking to stop what it says is the illegal distribution of copyrighted
music by some independent Internet sites, the Recording Industry
Association of America has filed complaint in three federal district courts
around the country. The problem is finding out whom to sue. The Wall
Street Journal notes this morning, "The defendants are hard to pinpoint
since they haven't been tracked down yet; one in New York is listed as
'a.k.a. FWIBBLY.'"
Bringing the actions are some of the country's biggest record labels,
including Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Records; PolyGram NV's Island
Records; and Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment. Officials told the
paper they seek restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in Dallas,
New York and Los Angeles against what it calls "Internet music archive"
sites. Users of the sites allegedly download and in some cases upload songs
without the permission of the copyright holders.
"The suits are directed at the sites and their operators, who RIAA said are
unknown at the time of the filing," says the Journal. "The suits were filed
in those districts where the computer server is located." While
acknowledging none of the sites are known to be charging users for music,
RIAA Vice President Frank Creighton, associate director of anti-piracy at
the trade group, said, "This is akin to stealing."
Gates Gives Systems to Library
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates has given $1 million worth of computers
and software to the Washington, D.C., library system that has been so
financially strapped that patrons have been asked to donate magazines and
books. Associated Press writer Janelle Carter reports the gift will allow
the library system to set up computer centers at all 26 District of
Columbia branches. In announcing the gift, Gates said, "When I grew up
there wasn't a resource like that," adding that even today only 6 percent
of homes with incomes of less than $25,000 have computers.
"Libraries became the solution," he said. AP says the donation is one of
the largest of a $17 million Libraries Online initiative launched by
Microsoft. The program is now in 45 library systems in the United States
and Canada. "With the help of the American Library Association, Microsoft
identified potential recipients of Gates' donations among disadvantaged
urban and rural library systems," AP reports.
TotalNews Settlement Watched
In a closely watched court action, several major media companies have
settled a federal copyright lawsuit against TotalNews Inc., forbidding the
little Internet company from displaying their Web sites with its own ads.
Under the agreement with The Washington Post Co. and the other plaintiffs,
TotalNews (http://totalnews.com) may provide links to the plaintiffs' Web
sites, but only in such a way that Internet users will be taken directly to
the plaintiffs' sites.
Previously, notes reporter Jonathan Oatis of the Reuter News Service,
TotalNews was set up so that users who clicked on a link to a plaintiff's
Web site would see the site wrapped in a "frame" containing advertising
sold by TotalNews and other TotalNews material. Media heavyweights joining
in the suit with The Post and its online subsidiary, Digital Inc., included
Time Warner Inc. units Time Inc., Cable News Network Inc. and Entertainment
Weekly Inc.; Reuters Holdings Plc unit Reuters New Media Inc.; Dow Jones &
Co. Inc., publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron's, and newspaper
publisher Times Mirror Co.
Defendants were TotalNews Inc., based in Gilbert, Arizona, and the two
companies that own it, Grouper Technologies Inc. and Datapix Inc.,
TotalNews President Roman Godzich and TotalNews employees Norman Bashkingy
and Larry Pagni. Business director Tom Baker of The Wall Street Journal
Interactive Edition said in a statement the settlement "will help the Web
grow by encouraging linking while enforcing the principle that intellectual
property rights will be respected in cyberspace.
To keep investing millions in making Web content available for free or at
low cost, the companies who brought this suit need to know that Web users
will see our content the way we meant for it to be seen. We're pleased to
now have that assurance from TotalNews." On other side of the aisle,
Godzich told the wire service, "The TotalNews people can once again focus
their resources productively online rather than in a courtroom. We've
decided to concentrate our efforts on enhancing TotalNews to better serve
the thousands of users that support us every day."
Intuit Cuts 9 Percent of Workforce
Intuit Inc. -- whose Quicken and TurboTax dominate the markets for
personal-finance and tax-preparation software -- is cutting 270 jobs, or
some 9 percent of its workforce, and will use the savings to increase its
investments in Internet-based services. Writing for The Wall Street
Journal, reporter David Bank comments this morning, "Intuit has been
struggling lately as consumer-software sales have slowed and it has been
forced to match price-cutting by competitors."
In response, the Mountain View, California, publisher "has been moving into
online services such as Internet sites offering information and access to
brokers selling mutual funds and insurance," Bank adds. The paper quotes
Intuit President/CEO Bill Campbell as saying, "If we can lower our
break-even point and continue to improve our profitability, then when these
new businesses kick in, we'll be in very good shape." Saying the new
ventures wouldn't show a profit for at least a year, Campbell added, "We've
had enough courage to restructure our business when necessary."
Intuit will close its 300-person technical support facility in Rio Rancho,
New Mexico. The Journal says some of those employees will be offered
positions at another support center in Tucson, Arizona, where jobs will
increase by 150 to about 750. Also, the publisher will eliminate 70
positions in Europe as it centralizes operations in Munich, Germany, its
European headquarters. Another 50 positions will be eliminated in northern
California. Intuit employs about 3,000 people world-wide.
Intuit Buys 19 Percent of Excite
Software publisher Intuit Inc. has agreed to pay $40 million for a 19
percent share of Excite Inc., the Internet search site operator. Also,
says the Reuter News Service, the two are entering a seven-year agreement
to develop sites on the Internet's World Wide Web where customers can
manage their finances. "Both companies see financial services on the Web
as a potentially big source of additional revenue," says the wire service.
"Under the agreement, Intuit will buy 2.9 million shares of Excite at
$13.50 a share."
Excite CEO George Bell told the wire service, "We see the financial
services and transaction parts of the Web as key areas of growth." As
reported, Intuit, best known for Quicken, the best-selling electronic
personal finance program, is cutting 270 jobs, or some 9 percent of its
workforce, to use the savings to increase its investments in Internet-based
services. America Online Inc. also owns a 19 percent stake in Excite.
Electronic Arts Buys Maxis
For $125 million, entertainment software giant Electronic Arts is to
acquire Maxis Inc., developer of the popular game title Sim City. Look for
the deal to close by late August. Writing for the Newsbytes computer news
service, reporter Patrick McKenna says the companies agreed Maxis
shareholders will receive .3644 shares of Electronic Arts for each share of
Maxis stock. "Approximately 4.1 million shares of Electronic Arts stock,
representing approximately 7 percent of the combined company, will be
exchanged for all outstanding Maxis stock."
McKenna then added. "Regulatory and stockholder approval is required for
completion." The agreement calls for the Sim development team to remain as
Maxis employees as the company becomes a subsidiary to Electronic Arts
and, says Pat Becker of EA, "The Maxis name, location, and staff will
continue as a subsidiary and Electronic Arts will be the publisher," added
Becker. At this time, no reductions in the Maxis staff or executive order
are planned.
Microsoft Seeks 'Push' Standard
Microsoft Corp. says it will make its "push" technology compatible with
software from rival Netscape Communications Corp. in a bid to simplify
Internet standards. Officials with the Redmond, Washington, firm said the
change in its channel definition format will allow publishers to write
content in a single format that will work both with its forthcoming
Internet Explorer version 4.0 and with Netscape's Netcaster client
software, due out in about a month. A Microsoft spokeswoman told the
Reuter News Service, "Now Microsoft and Netscape don't have to compete on
the channel format standard but more importantly can focus on
implementation."
The wire service notes the Microsoft format is intended to make it easier
for developers to prepare content that can be sent directly to predefined
"channels" on its Internet browser. "Netscape has eschewed the new format,
saying developers can achieve the same effect using existing Internet
formats and scripting languages," Reuters observes. "While Microsoft has
been gaining shares in the browser market, most Internet users still use
Netscape's Navigator browser, so it was in Microsoft's interest to provide
developers a single standard that works on both browsers."
Cyrix Ships 150MHz MediaGx CPU
Cyrix Corp. says it has begun volume shipments of its 150MHz MediaGX
processor. The chip, which joins previously released 120MHz and 133MHz
versions, incorporates multimedia and system functions directly on the CPU.
The Richardson, Texas, chipmaker intends to target the processor at makers
of sub-$1,000 PCs. Initial customers include Compaq Computer Corp., which
is including the chip in its Presario 2120 computer, and BCM Advanced
Research, which utilizes the device in its FM519 motherboard and ES3300
entertainment station. The 150MHz MediaGX is priced at $99 in quantities
of 1,000. Cyrix's Web site is located at
IBM Drive Sets Storage Record
IBM Corp. has developed a record-breaking 8.4GB hard drive for
high-performance desktop PCs. The computer maker says its new Deskstar 8
unit stores four times as much information as the average desktop hard
drive. Based on IBM's magnetoresistive extended (MRX) head technology, the
3-inch device sets a new desktop drive density world record at 1.74 billion
bits per square inch.
"We're marketing this drive to the high-performance desktop PC drive
market, where business and home users demand the highest capacity disk
drives," says Kevin Reinis, director of desktop and entry server storage
products at IBM's storage systems division. Deskstar 8 is scheduled to
ship in July at a yet-to-be- announced price. More information is
available on the Web at
Symantec Offers Free Trial CD
Symantec Corp. is offering the Small Business/Home Office Trial CD, a free
sampling of the software publisher's products. The Windows product give
users a free 30-day trial of the ACT! contact manager, WinFax PRO faxing
applications, the Internet FastFind search tool and Norton AntiVirus. The
CD is available by calling the Cupertino, California, company at
800-835-6222. Trial versions of ACT!, WinFax PRO, Internet FastFind,
Norton AntiVirus and other Symantec products can also be downloaded from
the Web by visiting
Zoom Expands Operations
Modem maker Zoom Telephonics has opened European sales offices in London
and Munich. The Boston-based firm has also established a distribution
center in the Netherlands. Zoom's international reach now totals 37
nations, including new distribution channels in Argentina and Chile. Zoom
also recently established distribution in Slovenia, Thailand and
Switzerland.
In addition, the company recently signed an agreement with Ingram Micro to
increase its distribution in Asia. "Zoom has made a major commitment to
Western Europe, with localized products, local sales, warehousing,
distribution and technical support," says Ron Murphy, the Zoom's
International sales manager. "Europe is a challenging market that must be
approached country by country with country- specific products in native
languages supported with European warehousing and technical support."
Zoom's Web site is located at
Chip Makers Launch Job Campaign
U.S. chip manufacturers, facing a projected shortage of 40,000 skilled
workers in five years, have endorsed a national campaign to recruit and
train job applicants. The National Workforce Development Campaign is
spearheaded by SEMATECH and SEMI/SEMATECH, both based in Austin, Texas.
SEMATECH, a nonprofit consortium of 10 chip manufacturers, was created by
the Semiconductor Industry Association in 1986. SEMI/SEMATECH represents
chip equipment, materials, software and service suppliers.
Under the program, SEMATECH and more than 30 community colleges are forming
partnerships to develop and promote courses that lead to an associate's
degree in semiconductor manufacturing. In addition to formulating the
curriculum, SEMATECH has launched an advertising campaign, a Web site
http://www.4chipjobs.com and a telephone hotline (888-4CHIPJOBS) to
publicize job opportunities and training options. The hotline also points
potential job applicants to community colleges and technical schools that
offer semiconductor manufacturing technology courses.
"The chip industry has averaged 15 percent annual growth for decades, and
it continues to provide cutting-edge technology for new computer
applications, communications and information systems," says George Scalise,
president of the Semiconductor Industry Association. "For the people who
give us this competitive edge -- our workers -- we offer good salaries,
great benefits and opportunities to advance their careers and improve their
quality of life."
Grade 12 Students Study for Finals Using MC2
MC2 (Squared)'s Zebu - an interactive software tool developed by educators
for education VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 11 /PRNewswire/ --
Reaching the generation of kids who have grown up on Nintendo and
Interactive video games is a challenge being faced by many teachers. MC2
(Squared) is addressing the needs of these teachers with their new
educational groupware called Zebu. Zebu allows students and teachers to
publish and participate in interactive, online, educational activities.
Unlike other network based-learning tools Zebu does not require the teacher
or students to have an understanding of programming languages such as HTML,
databases or file transfers.
"My grade 12 geography class is using the previous version of Zebu as a
tool to prepare for finals. We take advantage of its groupware
characteristics to share ideas, pose questions to each other and comment on
each other's work," said Bill Wilson, Port Moody Senior Secondary Teacher.
"For instance, individual students have built an online project about
ecological crises facing the earth. Once these individual projects are
complete small groups of students will take the information found by the
entire class and use it to write an essay that incorporates all aspects of
the projects. These students are truly learning through collaboration and
are benefiting from the wealth of up-to-the-minute information available
through the World Wide Web," Bill added.
Zebu is the result of extensive research by professors and teachers at
Simon Fraser University, one of North America's leaders in online
educational technology. With it, teachers can easily integrate the World
Wide Web, sound, video, text, and discussion into a single page using the
same curriculum creation methods that they always have. Students then use
Zebu to research and respond to topics raised in the lesson plan,
articulate their understanding, and share this with other learners on the
network. Zebu is server based and will run on either the MAC or IBM
platforms and requires the client to be running Netscape. Zebu for
elementary schools retails for $695 and $995 US for secondary schools.
Netscape Adopts Java Standards
Web browser publisher Netscape Communications Corp. has adopted Sun
Microsystems Inc.'s JavaBeans component model, also agreeing to work on
enhancing an industry component effort known as CORBA. Reporting from San
Jose, Calif., the Reuter News Service quotes Netscape as saying JavaBeans
-- which can be used to snap together pre-built blocks of software code --
will be the platform-independent component model for its Netscape ONE
platform.
Reuters reports Netscape will work with Sun, IBM and database company
Oracle Corp. to find ways to bring JavaBeans closer to the CORBA component
standard. "The companies began their collaboration in March," the wire
service notes, "and last week submitted a joint position paper to the
Object Management Group, a standards body. ... More than 65 companies
announced support for JavaBeans, with more than 50 of these planning to
deliver more than 90 components for inclusion in a directory of the
pre-built software blocks to be hosted on Netscape's Internet site for
developers."
Study: Home PC Growth Slows
A new study finds that more U.S. households than ever have at least one
computer, but the rate at which additional households are buying PCs
appears to be slowing. According to research from Computer Intelligence,
approximately 41 million U.S. households -- 40 percent of all households --
are now computer-equipped. On the other hand, overall penetration rose only
2.2 percentage points in 1996, or about half the rate seen in the previous
two years. The La Jolla, California, firm's poll of 17,500 households also
found that higher-income and better-educated households are more likely to
own a PC. About 60 percent of households with more than $40,000 in income
have at least one PC, compared with 24 percent in households that have
income less than $35,000. Additionally, 52 percent of households with
children have a PC.
A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N
LEXMARK OPTRA C
COLOR
LASER PRINTER
For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent to
you that demonstrates LEXMARK Optra C SUPERIOR QUALITY 600 dpi Laser Color
Output, please send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business
sized envelope please) to:
STReport's LEXMARK Printout Offer
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
Folks, the LEXMARK Optra C has to be the very best yet in its price range.
It is far superior to anything we've seen or used as of yet. It is said
that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. The out put from the Lexmark
Optra C is worth ten thousand words! Send for the free sample now. (For a
sample that's suitable for framing, see below) Guaranteed. you will be
amazed at the superb quality. (Please.. allow at least a two week turn-
around).
If you would like a sample printout that's suitable for framing. Yes
that's right! Suitable for Framing. Order this package. It'll be on
special stock and be of superb quality. We obtained a mint copy of a 1927
COLOR ENGRAVER'S YEAR BOOK. Our Scanner is doing "double duty"! The
results will absolutely blow you away. If you want this high quality
sample package please include a check or money order in the amount of $6.95
(Costs only) Please, make checks or money orders payable to; Ralph Mariano.
Be sure to include your full return address and telephone number . The
sample will be sent to you protected, not folded in a 9x12 envelope. Don't
hesitate.. you will not be disappointed. This "stuff" is gorgeous!
A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N
Shareware Treasure Chest STR Feature "The Latest & Greatest"
Shareware Treasure Chest
By Lloyd E. Pulley
lepulley@streport.com
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
WinZip 32-bit 6.3 beta 3 6/10/97 .62mb Shareware $29
A great utility for zipping and unzipping files. This is an absolute must
if you want to uncompress zipped files you download from the internet or
elsewhere. It has "wizards" which will help novice users with some of the
more complicated tasks. This version lets you open and extract UUencoded,
XXencoded, BinHex, and MIME files. These files can be opened via the
File/Open dialog or via drag and drop. The new Actions->UUencode menu entry
makes it easy to encode files. The new File->Favorite Zip Folders lists all
Zip files in your favorite folders by date for easy access.
Home Page Site - http://www.winzip.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Crescendo 32-bit 3.0 beta 3 Plug-In 6/06/97 1.00mb Free
Quite simply, it is a Plug-in for Netscape Navigator browsers that lets
you listen to background music as you browse a web site. Of course, that
depends on the site actually designing background music into its pages.
Home Page Site - http://www.liveupdate.com/crescendo.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Calendar 1.2 6/05/97 169kb Freeware
A small freeware utility that let's you plan your life the way you want.
Very simple to use. Even children understand it at once!
Home Page Site - http://www2.vo.lu/homepages/aries/down.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Crumbler97 32-bit 2.0 6/06/97 1.30mb Shareware $5
Crumbler97 is a quick, easy, SAFE way to accept cookies..those annoying
little bits of info that nearly all web pages send to your hard
drive...Now, instead of leaving the Security level to WARN everytime, and
having to reject individually the sometimes DOZENS of cookies sent, you can
merely auto accept them.. and they are DELETED from your Hard Drive every
45 seconds via a Tray icon. Or, if you just entered a site that you know
lays the cookies on thick, say, Microsoft, then, no prob..just double click
the tray icon, and they are gone... Easy to use. No Mess, No Bother, No
CRUMBS!"
Home Page Site - http://www.scscorp.com/personal/scottmac/crumbler.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
EasyCD 3.0 6/05/97 572kb Shareware $10.00
An award winning audio CD player that is fully integrated with the CDDB
Internet servers and local database of well over 13,000 CD's. EasyCD2 is
small, efficient, and full featured. It even includes an integrated volume
control.
Home Page Site - http://www.ghlsoftware.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain for Win95 6/07/97 11.00mb Commercial
Demo
You're the vampire Kain, doomed to feast upon the blood of mortals.
Prepare to embrace your dark side! Slaughter 170 different enemies with
multiple weapon and armor power-ups in real time combat. Unleash an arsenal
of deadly magic: 21 eldrich objects and spells. Morph into different forms:
bat, wolf, or mist.
Home Page Site - http://www.crystald.com/kain/main.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
ZipAdvisor 1.11 6/05/97 164kb Shareware $12.00
Will scan directories and report on the total size of zipped and unzipped
files. Great for finding bloated directories! Will scan all subdirectories,
sort by any column, and report on how long ago files were accessed as well.
Quick & easy.
Home Page Site - http://www.scvs.com/utils/zipadvis.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
EditPad 32-bit 3.1.1 6/11/97 .24mb Freeware
EditPad is a replacement for the standard Windows NotePad. EditPad
requires Windows 95 or later to run. No additional DLLs or whatever are
required. It has a few very interesting features:
z EditPad can open as much files at a time as you want.
z You change between the open files by clicking on their tabs. No hassle
with heaps of overlapping windows.
z If you run EditPad again when their is already an instance running,
the file(s) you wish to edit will be opened by the existing EditPad window.
This means there will be at most one EditPad window open, which will save
you from a lot of task switching. Of course, if you do need more instances,
simply pick View|New editor from the menu.
z Block functions: save parts of your text to disk and insert a file in
the current text
z Reopen menu that lists the last 16 files opened and more.
Home Page Site - http://www.tornado.be/~johnfg/jgsoft.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Bookmark Importer for 32-bit Command Line 1.0 6/06/97 71kb Demo $30.00
A utility allowing a user to exchange bookmarks between their favorite
browsers. This new version of Bookmark Importer is ideally suited to users
who do not need the extra graphical user interface and are looking for a
compact utility. Automatic conversion of bookmarks can be done using a
windows or DOS based scheduler. Supported Browsers include Internet
Explorer 2.0-4.0, Internet Explorer (16-Bit), Netscape Navigator 1.0-3.0,
Mosaic 2.x or greater. In addition links from HTML files can be added to
your bookmarks.
Home Page Site - http://www.webobj.com/bookmark/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
NetStock 16-bit 1.24 6/06/97 .07mb Freeware
NetStock is a simple little stock and mutual fund internet quote
retrieval program with export functionality for Quicken users.
Home Page Site - http://www.jaxnet.com/~henrik/pages/splitcycle.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Pardon Demo 1.0 6/07/97 334kb Shareware
Simple, yet challenging boardgame in the classic mold of backgammon,
checkers and GO. You can pit yourself against another human or against the
game's excellent A.I.
Home Page Site - http://www.weir.net/~dgreen/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Complete Cleanup 1.01 6/06/97 285kb Shareware $29.95
Internet privacy software. As you browse the web, websites store
internet cookies and web history files on YOUR computer, which can allow
these websites to track where you have been browsing on the web. This can
lead to many privacy issues including mailing lists. This program will work
for both Netscape and Internet Explorer users (AOL browser included), and
will display the total bytes wasted for each different file type, including
history files, cache files, and cookie information. It then allows you to
cleanup any of the files you choose. (cleanup portion is only allowed with
purchased version).
Home Page Site - http://members.aol.com/softdd/complete/index.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Internet Email Forward 1.00.02 6/08/97 820kb Shareware $24.95
The newest premiere tool in bringing your Email to a whole new age. Real
Time! Want to receive your Email on your pager or digital phone? Want to
have your Email forwarded to a different Email account? Then Internet Email
Forward is the solution for you! Internet Email Forward has the ability to
run unattended checking your email account either via dial-up or direct
connect to the internet on a timed interval, and forward your email to the
location of your choice. Internet Email Forward is a 32 bit multi threaded
application for Windows 95TM and Windows NT 3.51, 4.0 TM or greater.
Internet Email Forward also has an option to let you filter only those
important emails you want you want to be forwarded.
Home Page Site - http://www.ij.net/developnet/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Xpress for ShockWave 32-bit 1.0 plug-in 6/06/97 1.40mb Freeware
Requires
ShockWave already installed
Xpress for Shockwave is a free cross-platform plug-in that allows you to
hear the spoken text of "Xpressed" sites. It adds text-to-speech
capabilities to all browsers that have Macromedia Shockwave installed.
Xpressed sites provide interactive speech within the same quick download as
your HTML text, so you have real-time feedback even when bandwidth is very
limited.
Home Page Site - http://www.xpressed.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Yeah Write 1.1 6/06/97 997kb Shareware $15.00
Yeah Write for Windows is a new word processor from 5 ex-WordPerfect
employees. The program is small (download size is less than 1 MB including
a speller) and very fast. By using tabs to represent different types of
documents and a fill-in-the-blanks approach, Yeah Write is very easy to
use.
Home Page Site - http://www.wordplace.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
AOL Instant Messenger 32-bit 1.0 beta 4 6/07/97 2.20mb Free
AOL Instant Messenger is for anyone who wants to communicate "instantly"
with friends, family and business colleagues, on the Internet and AOL,
anywhere in the world. AOL Instant Messenger combines AOL's popular Buddy
List and Instant Message features. The Instant Message feature lets users
send and respond to messages immediately while the Buddy List feature lets
users know instantly when friends are online. Previously only available to
its 8 million members, AOL is now delivering these features to Internet
users worldwide.
Home Page Site - http://www.aol.com/buddylist/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Movie Organizer 2.0 6/05/97 2,280kb Shareware $33.00
A powerful and flexible program that will help you organize your movie
collection (video tapes, CDs, cassettes). Using a notebook-like interface
(complete with alphabetical tabs), the program stores all the information
you might need to track: movie title, star, director, producer, category,
value, status, condition,...., a detailed description, plus any additional
comments, optionally you can include a graphical image. Features: Unlimited
Number of Records; Graphical Data Field for scanned-in images; Flexible
Sorting; Powerful Reports; Printing Labels; Print Preview; Flexible
Filters; Custom Fields; Customizable Display, and more.
Home Page Site - http://www.primasoft.com/mvo.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
RAS+ 95 beta 4 (Build 139) 6/07/97 1.00mb Shareware $29.95
RAS+ 95 will dial multiple lines for you.. Track time for you.. show real
time billing, will adjust for your monthly free connect time too! It Gives
you information about your connection such as IP address.
Home Page Site - http://www.lambsoftware.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
PowWow 32-bit 3.2 alpha 2 6/07/97 3.00mb Free
PowWow is an unique Internet program for Windows that allows up to nine
(9) people to chat, transfer files, and cruise the World-Wide Web together
as a group. PowWow also has Conferencing (Chat Rooms), Text-to-Speech
features and Email Answering Machine capabilities. NEW! PowWow now has
Online Games, Bulletin Board Messaging for conferences and lots more!
Home Page Site - http://www.tribal.com/powwow/download/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Contact-Lens! 2.14.1 6/05/97 3,570kb Shareware $49.95
Built in financial, chronological, & scientific calculators, year at a
glance display (any year), unlimited user-defined scheduled pop-up alarms,
pop-up calendars, phone dialer, query by example, quick searching by typing
a few keys, numerous configuration settings, resizable grids with
rearrangeable columns, Import/Export capabilities, full-blown report writer
(with wizards for new users), on-line help.
Home Page Site - http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kruse_control/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
CRT 32-bit 2.0 6/07/97 .97mb Shareware $30
CRT is a 32-bit terminal emulator designed for Internet and intranet use
with support for both the telnet and rlogin protocols. CRT is ideal for
connecting to remote systems running UNIX and VMS as well as the many BBS's
and databases that are now available via the Internet. CRT delivers quality
VT100, VT102, VT220 and ANSI terminal emulations. All of CRT's emulations
support ANSI color. CRT is packed with features. Some of the more popular
features include named sessions, auto login, printing, zmodem file
transfer, emacs mode, and SOCKS firewall support.
Home Page Site - http://www.vandyke.com/products/index.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
BS/1 Small Business 1.0 6/06/97 3.0mb Freeware
A fully integrated, network-ready, accounting system. Accounts Payable,
Accounts Receivable and General Ledger. Simple enough for a home business,
yet powerful enough for a medium-sized corporation. Prints invoices,
cheques and user-defined financial statements. And yes... it's Year 2000
compliant.
Home Page Site - http://www.dbsonline.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Pagoo 32-bit preview release 2 6/08/97 .33mb Free
Pagoo is a new revolutionary way to communicate between you and your
friends. Pagoo is a FREE unique service that delivers phone calls to user's
desktop while they are on-line. Is it always impossible for your friends to
contact you because your phone line is always busy? You are browsing the
web too much! Now, they can call the pagoo center (1-805-685-9056) using
any phone and leave a message that you will receive directly on your
desktop a few seconds later. They can leave you a voice mail or a numeric
message just like a pager.
Home Page Site - http://www.pagoo.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
StripWav 2.0 6/06/97 1,179kb Shareware $25.00
Strips extra information out of WAVE files. Useful for converting WAVE
files created by newer programs to a "canonical" WAVE format readable by
older or simpler programs. Works easily with lots of files and quickly with
large ones. A must for producing audio CDs with many popular CD writers.
Home Page Site - http://www.lightlink.com/tjweber/StripWav/StripWav.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
ZapTV 32-bit 1.1 plug-in 6/08/97 1.20mb Free
Based on proprietary 3D plug-in technology, ZapTV combines the
compelling content of traditional media with the immersive experience of
the net. Here's what puts the Zap in ZapTV:
* Fully interactive
* Switch between multiple camera angles
* Dollying Cameras
* Clicking inside the scenes provides additional fun and connects to URL
links Once the ZapTV
plug-in is downloaded to your PC, you can enjoy endless programming
with no additional
download and no delay.
Home Page Site - http://www.zapadigital.com/html/products.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Netscape Netcaster 32-bit 1.0 beta 2 6/09/97 .47mb Free
Netscape Netcaster, the newest component of Netscape Communicator,
enables push delivery of information and offline browsing. Netcaster
seamlessly integrates with Channel Finder, the source for the best channels
on the Internet. Users can subscribe to the information they want and have
it delivered automatically. Offline browsing allows users to take the
valuable resources of the Web offline with them - wherever they go.
Developed entirely using the open Internet standards of HTML, Java, and
JavaScript, Netscape Netcaster is an example of the powerful applications
that can be built on the Netscape ONE platform.
Netscape Communicator 32-bit 4.0 6/09/97 13.00mb Free
The newest version of Netscape navigator. It features: Enhanced visual
appearance and user interface, Taskbar that enables easy access to
Communicator components, HTML Editing, Collabra Conferencing and a lot
more.
Home Page Site - http://www.netscape.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Community Place 32-bit 2.0 Preview Release 1b plug-in
6/09/97 4.30mb Freeware
Community Place is a browser/plug-in for VRML 2.0, the modeling interface
that allows you to move around in a Digital World where sounds and images
deliver a sense of live presence. Forget about the hypertext and Search
Engines used for net surfing. Try walking wherever you please. You can even
fly around if you like. If you see something interesting, just point and
click. Chances are there's an exciting encounter awaiting you in the
Virtual Society. If you hear some interesting sounds, just move in that
direction. You're sure to find something worth exploring.
Home Page Site - http://vs.spiw.com/vs/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
WinAmp 1.0 6/07/97 190kb Freeware
A realtime MPEG audio playback decoder that Tomislav Uzelac originally
started putting together as a side project of the MPEG hardware design
project at FER/Zagreb. It works with both MPEG1 and MPEG2 and MPEG3 audio
streams.
Home Page Site - http://winamp.lh.net/main.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
IPSentry 32-bit 2.3 6/10/97 4.70mb Shareware $129
PSentry is a Windows NT / 95 utility that will continuously monitor all
your internet and intranet TCP/IP services 24 hours a day, ensuring your
email servers, web sites, ftp servers, news servers, and any other TCP/IP
based services are active and responding. In the event of failure, IPSentry
will notify you (according to the defined schedule) via any or all of
several different methods; PAGER, EMAIL via SMTP, AUDIBLE via .WAV or PC
speaker, Launch external command. Utilize alert frequency scheduling,
machine downtime scheduling and many more feature.
Home Page Site - http://www.crackthecode.com/IPSentry/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
WarBirds 1.11r2 6/10/97 12.8mb Freeware
WarBirds is the most sophisticated MEGA-player(150+ people in the same
virtul world) WWII combat flight simulator available in the world. Using
actual declassified WWII flight test data, WarBirds uses true six degree of
freedom force-based flight modeling resulting in an ultra-realistic "feel"
of the aircraft. The ability to fly aerial combat against other players
from all over the world provides for truly interesting and unique
possibilities.
Home Page Site - http://www.icigames.com/warbirds/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
IPage 32-bit preview release 3 6/10/97 2.40mb Free
With ipage a quick glance of your list of "friends and associates" will
let you know who is online at that moment. Contact any number of friends
and associates and bring them all to a private chat room for group
discussions or just to catch-up. Send links to any Real Media file to
friends and associates and ipage will instantly launch the Real Player.
Home Page Site - http://www.ichat.com/pager/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
First Stop 1.0 6/10/97 2.0mb Shareware
Will allow you to by-pass your Browsers Start Page before logging on to
The Internet. This saves the time of going to the start page and taking you
directly to your "First Stop" You can add to the favorites list This is a
handy Internet Utility written in Visual Basic For Windows.
Home Page Site - http://www.bright.net/~stevensp/first.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Lily Pad 1.0 Beta 2 6/08/97 133kb Shareware $1.00
A fully functional replacement for the standard Windows 95 notepad. Its
features include: an Office 97-style toolbar; a recently used file menu;
the ability to change font size, type, and color; the ability to change the
background color; automatic word wrap, unlimited file size, filtering in
the open dialog to allow users easily to look for files that are text
files, HTML files, MS-DOS batch files, LOG files, and more.
Home Page Site - http://user.icx.net/~reuscher/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
MyStars! 2.4.1 6/10/97 732kb Shareware $15.00
A scientifically rigourous yet simple and fun educational program that
helps you visualize the positions of the stars, planets, comets and deep-
sky objects from any place on earth, any date/time. And the animations are
amazing. A great planetarium program for the very beginner star-gazer as
well as for educators. Registration includes two years of free upgrades!
Home Page Site - http://www.relativedata.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Peron 1.0 6/09/97 1,160kb Shareware $15.00
A real mind twister. This game will rock your mouse. Simple and addictive
like Tetris Peron features superb graphics, atmospheric music, and state of
the art sound effects.
Home Page Site - http://www.sri.de/freelance/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Sinhala WORD 97 Word Processor 2.2 6/29/97 272kb Demo
Word Processor With Lots of New Features.. Phonetic, Wijeysekara and
Apple Keyboard Support, Import from Apple Machintosh text, Shreelip Tamil,
Save as RTF, Save to HTML, The No 1 Word Processor for all your needs with
free Sinhala & Tamil Fonts - Very Well Made in Sri Lanka for the Sinhala
users of the world.
[Editor's note: I don't know if any of my readers needs a Sinhala word
processor or not, but I found this site to be one of the most colorful and
interesting - without being too busy - of any that I visited this week.]
Home Page Site - http://www.lankaweb.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Schedule Wizard97 32-bit 1.4 6/11/97 .76mb Shareware $25
Schedule Wizard allows you to schedule programs to run, schedule messages
to pop-up, keep a list of dated reminders or appointments, and keep a to do
list. Scheduling can be done with many variations including advanced
warnings and alarms, and most importantly, it can be done with ease!
Home Page Site - http://www.net1fx.com/ScheduleWizard/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Internet Logon 2.0 6/10/97 1,398kb Shareware $10.00
Application enabling multiple mailboxes for use with Microsoft Internet
Mail & News. Also allows a single icon on the desktop to access Internet
Explorer, Mail & News. Uninstall facility included as is Readme.doc with
all relevant information required.
Home Page Site - http://www.btinternet.com/~a.browne/Home.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
VXtreme Web Theater 32-bit 2.1 plug-in 6/11/97 1.70mb Freeware
Web Theater Client is a plug-in to the Netscape Navigator 2.0+ or
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 Web browser. It enables end users to view
web pages that contain real time streaming video synchronized with text,
graphics, or Java applets. The Client includes VCR-like controls that allow
viewers to fast forward, stop, pause, skip, or jump backwards in the video.
Home Page Site - http://www.vxtreme.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Kids Web 1.0 6/10/97 833kb Freeware
A small web browser which is configured entirely with children in mind.
Kids Web provides basic features such as a start page which is separate
from your main browser, and a nice interface which should keep your kids
playing for hours. Kids Web loads to full screen, so your children can't
accidentally load something they shouldn't from the start menu. A must for
parents and children alike! NOTE: Kids Web is created using the TWebBrowser
component, and therefore you MUST have Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x
installed on your system.
Home Page Site - http://www.cripton.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Star Trek Information Database 0.9 Beta 6/10/97 87kb Freeware
Lists information about Star Trek episodes of all its incarnations.
Home Page Site -
http://bioc02.uthscsa.edu/~panda/kinu/sbase39/sbase39.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
TickerPage 1.8.3 6/09/97 3,145K Shareware $20.00
Get scheduled stock quotes sent to your alphanumeric pager. Requires
either CompuServe or E*Trade account. Indicates high/low alarm limits,
current news, and price of stocks and options. Schedule paging at any time
interval. E*Trade brokerage users can also get EMail/Trade confirmations
sent to the pager.
Home Page Site - http://www.qni.com/~breeze/tickerpage.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
DiscPlay 32-bit 4.0.2 6/12/97 1.00mb Shareware $15
An audio CD player with some nice features such as: DiscPlay can search
your entire CD collection for tracks or albums; by title, artist, category,
owner, or user-defined information, DiscPlay offers five different window
sizes, and allows you to specify exactly what information will be displayed
in the window and on the title bar, and Editing playlists and disc
properties is as easy as dragging a track (or a file) onto a list.
Home Page Site - http://www.obvion.com/discplay/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
UltraEdit 32-bit 4.31a 6/12/97 .89mb Shareware $30
A really good text editor with almost every feature you could want. Some
of it's many features include: Disk based text editing - No limit on file
size, minimum RAM used even for multi-megabyte files, Column mode
editing!!!, Insert columns/ delete/ cut/ add sequential numbers, 100,000
word spell checker, Syntax highlighting - configurable, pre-configured for
C/C++ and VB and some HTML, Hexadecimal Editor - Allows editing of any
binary file, HEX Cut, Copy and Paste support , HEX Insert and Delete of
characters, HEX Find, Replace and Replace All, Multiple files open and
displayed at the same time, and more.
Home Page Site - http://www.idmcomp.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Buzz 3d 32-bit 1.0 beta 6/12/97 1.00mb Freeware
Requires a fast computer with
a 3d accelerator card
Buzz will turn your computer into a 3d world where you can travel in.
Your hard drive becomes a virtual building and your files and folders
become "rooms". To access your files you just walk over to the room your
interested in. Very easy to use so even novice computer users will feel
right at home. The whole thing is very similar in appearance to the current
crop of 3D shooters like Quake except your accessing your files and not
shooting demons ;)
Home Page Site - http://www.vrmarketing.com/vrm_buzz_3d-pc0.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Mini Notetab 32-bit 2.6 6/12/97 .41mb Freeware
Mini Notepad is not just another Windows Notepad replacement! It is a
feature-rich program with a selection of original productivity tools that
you will find in no other editor. Mini Notepad has been designed to use a
minimum amount of Windows system resources so you can safely keep the
editor open all the time. The program is capable of opening a very large
number of files (the actual limit is determined by the amount of free
system resources). Each document is displayed on a tabbed page making it
easy to switch between them. A separate window, called the Document
Selector, makes it easy to find a specific document when a large number of
them are open.
Home Page Site -
http://www.unige.ch/sciences/terre/geologie/fookes/mininote.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Solway's Freeware Internet Search 1.5 6/10/97 73kb Freeware
A small and fast FREEWARE program enabling you to search up to FOUR
search engines simultaneously and display the results on one screen
(provided that your web browser can handle frames). Remembers your last
thirty search strings. Short-cut feature to get to a start html page.
Home Page Site - http://www.ozemail.com.au/~kevsol/sware.html
EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed
Edupage
Contents
Western Senators Oppose Next-Generation Internet Funding
High-Tech Group Resists Java Standard
Supercomputing On A Shoestring
Online Degrees Sometimes Cost More
German Court To Try Woman For Guerrilla Hyperlinks
Women In Technology
Excel Buys Telco And Becomes 6th-Largest Telecom Company
Court Order Sent By Internet In Australia
Carpooling And Cross-Pollination In Silicon Valley
Virtual Too-Much-Reality
Microsoft Joins Rivals To Endorse
Privacy StandardMurdoch Buys Robertson's Cable Network ...
... And Sells His Direct Broadcast Satellite Business
Recording Industry Fights Theft-By-Net
AOL Game Enthusiasts Will Need To Pay To Play
Intuit Buys Stake In Excite
Multimedia Development In Canada
Tech Budgets Up In '97
Cable-Computer Alliance
IBM Shops Till It Drops
IBM Wants To Play Games With You
WESTERN SENATORS OPPOSE
NEXT-GENERATION INTERNET FUNDING
Senators from Montana, Oregon, Washington and Alaska have voiced their
opposition to government plans to distribute $100 million over the next
three years to fund research leading to the construction of computer
networks capable of transmitting data 100-1,000 times faster than today's
Internet. The senators' objections stem from their perception that not
enough of the funds would flow to their states. Sen. Ron Wyden (R-Ore.)
says the Next-Generation Internet program represents "yet another widening
of the gap between the technological haves and have-nots," and warns
there's a very real chance the NGI program will not be funded. (BNA Daily
Report for Executives 4 Jun 97)
HIGH-TECH GROUP RESISTS JAVA STANDARD
A group of U.S. high-tech companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Apple
Computer and IBM, has voted against making Sun Microsystems' Java
programming language an official technical standard. The companies raised
questions about how Sun plans to control the Java trademark and manage the
future evolution of the technology. Sun has applied for official
recognition by the International Standards Organization and the
International Electrotechnical Commission, a process that requires a vote
in 30 member countries. (Wall Street Journal 6 Jun 97)
SUPERCOMPUTING ON A SHOESTRING
One of the fastest computers in the world today wasn't made by Cray or
Intel or any of the other mainstream supercomputer manufacturers -- the
Gravity Pipeline, or GRAPE for short, was constructed by an astrophysicist
and his students at the University of Tokyo who wanted to study the
phenomenon of globular clusters of stars and didn't have the computing
power on hand to do it. GRAPE IV was the first computer to perform a
trillion operations per second and the effort succeeded in proving the
astrophysicist's theory that the cores of the clusters oscillate. GRAPE's
creators predict the next-generation GRAPE machine will hit petaflop speed
within the next five years and hope to build it as an international
project. Because GRAPE was built on a very limited budget with a limited
purpose in mind, its creators say similar machines could be constructed to
handle specific problems, circumventing the need to spend millions of
dollars on an all-purpose supercomputer. (Discover Jun 97)
ONLINE DEGREES SOMETIMES COST MORE
While distance learning is often touted as a more cost-efficient way of
delivering educational opportunities to students unable or unwilling to
attend conventional, on-campus lectures, some schools are charging more for
their online degrees than for those acquired in the bricks-and-mortar
environment of the campus setting. Duke University's Fuqua School of
Business charges $82,500 for its Global Executive online MBA program, which
attracts many students from outside the U.S., while students earning an MBA
in the more conventional way pay only $50,000. At the University of
Maine, cyberlearners are charged an extra $5 per credit hour. (Forbes 16
Jun 97)
GERMAN COURT TO TRY WOMAN FOR GUERRILLA HYPERLINKS
A court in Berlin will hear the case of a woman accused of providing a
hyperlink on her Web site to provide visitors access to the banned left-
wing publication Radikal, a publication which offers instructions on how to
sabotage railway lines. (New York Times 6 Jun 97 & 7 Jun 97)
WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
At a conference on Women in Technology, consultant Bonita Lynn Banducci
characterized the situation of women in high-tech positions by saying:
"Men feel danger from us. They're walking on eggshells around us. They
don't want to draw us aside and read us the riot act for something we've
done wrong and they don't want to appear too close to us for fear of
misinterpretation." And conference participant Dorothy Nuess said: "We
still have to define our value in masculine terms. A lot of men have felt
that by letting women into the club, by letting them into positions of
power, it'll be a loss for them. It's not perceived as a win/win situation
by very many men." (San Jose Mercury News 6 Jun 97)
EXCEL BUYS TELCO AND BECOMES
6TH-LARGEST TELECOM COMPANY
Excel Communications, based in Dallas, is paying $1 billion to buy Telco
Communications, making the combined company the sixth-largest
telecommunications company in the U.S. The new top ten, ranked in terms
of millions of dollars of long-distance revenue, are: (1) AT&T, $39,264;
(2) MCI, $16,372; (3) Sprint, $7,944; (4) Worldcom, $4,485, including
some non-long-distance revenue; (5) Frontier, $1,563; (6) Excel,
$1.520; (7) LCI International, $1,103; (8) Cable & Wireless, $919; (9)
Vartec Telecom, $470; (10) Cherry Communications, $354. (New York Times
7 Jun 97)
COURT ORDER SENT BY INTERNET IN AUSTRALIA
An Australian court granted lawyers for a Queensland company to issue a
court order by e-mail to a U.S.-based company it claims defamed it on the
Internet by anonymous posting and distribution of defamatory material to
various people and to the media. An attorney for the plaintiff said: "We
have had difficulty in physically serving the defendant with the court
order and so the court has permitted us to serve him through the Internet
as a substituted service. It's interesting that the court has recognized
the Internet as a valid form of communications." (Government Technology
Jun 97)
CARPOOLING AND CROSS-POLLINATION IN SILICON VALLEY
Commenting on the ceaseless job-hopping by programmers and software
designers in Silicon Valley, UC- Berkeley professor AnnaLee Saxenian says:
"People joke that you can change jobs without changing car pools. It's
better to think about Silicon Valley as a region, rather than as
independent firms. Some people say they wake up thinking they work for
Silicon Valley. Their loyalty is more to advancing technology or to the
region than it is to any individual firm." And Netscape employee Atri
Chatterjee says: "I think about Silicon Valley as a large company with
lots of different divisions. In the old days, if you worked for IBM, you
could move from one division to another. Here we've got lots of corporate
entities, but from a technology perspective, you can think of it as
different divisions. A lot of cross-pollination goes on." (Washington
Post 8 Jun 97)
VIRTUAL TOO-MUCH-REALITY
A videogame aficionado interviewed for J.C. Herz's book "Joystick Nation"
complains: "Nowadays, there's no imagination required, the realism is so
advanced." (New Yorker 9 Jun 97)
MICROSOFT JOINS RIVALS TO ENDORSE PRIVACY STANDARD
With a Microsoft executive saying "This is unprecedented, but we realized
that we need to work together for the common good," Microsoft has decided
not to propose its own Internet software privacy standards, but instead to
endorse the standard proposed by its rival Netscape and Firefly Network
Inc., and supported by a hundred hardware and software companies both
large and small. The standard will be part of a broader effort led by the
nonprofit organization World Wide Web Consortium, called the platform for
privacy preferences. Using that platform, Web surfers could control what
personal information was obtained about them during their travels on the
Internet. (New York Times 12 Jun 97)
MURDOCH BUYS ROBERTSON'S CABLE NETWORK ...
Rupert Murdoch's communications empire is buying Christian broadcaster Pat
Robertson's Family Channel for $1.9 billion, making Murdoch a direct
competitor with the Disney Channel and Viacom's Nickelodeon network, both
of which emphasize programming for children and families. Robertson
explained that the sale was inevitable in this era of mergers in the
communications industry: "We felt it was time for the Family Channel to
join the consolidation that was going on in the industry." (New York Times
12 Jun 97)
.... AND SELLS HIS DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE BUSINESS
A fulfilling day at the office for Rupert Murdoch includes both buying and
selling -- so to balance his purchase of a cable operation, Murdoch has
sold his interest in AskyB to PrimeStar, a limited partnership of cable
operators that includes Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), U S West, and Cox
Communications, for a nonvoting 30% stake in PrimeStar valued at $1.1
billion. (Financial Times 12 Jun 97)
RECORDING INDUSTRY FIGHTS THEFT-BY-NET
The Recording Industry Association of America says that a group of record
companies has filed lawsuits against "Internet music archive" sites that
allow computer users to illegally download or upload copyrighted music. The
defendants have not yet been identified. An executive of the Association
says that, regardless of whether the archive sites charge or don't charge,
the unauthorized appropriation of copyrighted material "is akin to
stealing." (Wall Street Journal 11 Jun 97)
AOL GAME ENTHUSIASTS WILL NEED TO PAY TO PLAY
Six months after America Online Inc. switched to a $19.95 per month flat-
rate pricing plan, the nation's largest Internet service and online
content provider plans to start billing subscribers extra, hourly charges
for access to the company's online multiplayer games. Industry analysts
say that the company will be looking at this special pricing for "premium"
services to determine whether subscribers are willing to pay extra for
access to other content, such as financial services, news, etc. (San Jose
Mercury News 11 Jun 97)
INTUIT BUYS STAKE IN EXCITE
Intuit, the developer of finance-oriented software for personal computers
(Quicken) and for computer network transactions (Quicken Financial
Network) is paying $40 million for a 19% stake in Excite Inc., an Internet
search company. The two companies will develop an online channel which
will allow computer users to conduct a full range of financial activities
on the Internet, including life insurance and mutual funds. An Excite
executive says: "It will focus on every piece of someone's financial
life." (Wall Street Journal 12 Jun 97)
MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPMENT IN CANADA
Bell Canada announced it will set up a $12-million fund to stimulate growth
in multimedia production. The money will be distributed through an
independent board and will be available to producers and entertainment
production companies in Ontario and Quebec. (Montreal Gazette 11 June 97)
TECH BUDGETS UP IN '97
A recent poll of 500 information systems executives indicates that in the
majority of cases, there's more money for technology expenditures this
year than last. Computer Economics found that only 27% reported budget
cuts, while 16% saw no change. The biggest budget item was hardware, with
spending on networks especially strong. (Investor's Business Daily 11 Jun
97)
CABLE-COMPUTER ALLIANCE
Rogers Communications and Microsoft will jointly develop a low-cost
standardized device that will deliver television programming and Internet
services to the home, with Microsoft contributing the technology and
Rogers contributing its cable subscribers. A standard technology will
allow program developers to concentrate on content rather than delivery.
(Toronto Globe & Mail 12 June 97)
IBM SHOPS TILL IT DROPS
IBM will close its "World Avenue" shopping mall web site next month due to
lack of interest from consumers. Mary Cronin, an author who specializes
in Internet business activity, says: "World Avenue did not deserve to
live. The site offered little that was novel or particularly attractive to
consumers. The concept of the online shopping malls is dead in the
water." The new general trend in Internet retailing is toward standalone
sites targeted at specific market segments. (Financial Times 11 Jun 97)
IBM WANTS TO PLAY GAMES WITH YOU
Out of shopping, into games. IBM is teaming up with techno-thriller author
Tom Clancy to form a company called Red Storm Entertainment Inc. in order
to create and market computer games that can be played on the Internet.
The first game, "Tom Clancy's Politika," will be available this fall. (Wall
Street Journal 12 Jun 97)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu).
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A serious new security flaw affecting Netscape Communications Corp.'s
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>From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
Well, I've been wishing for the warm weather to finally get here -
but, did we have to skip right past Spring?!?! Yikes, a genuine heat wave
(3 days of 90+ temperatures) have hit New England this week. Fortunately,
the humidity wasn't nearly as high!
But, the heat's a good thing as that means summer vacations are right
around the corner. As you'll see below, Michael Burkley is getting ready
to "head out" for his annual summer pilgrimage to New England shortly. I'm
also nearing my first vacation of the year in another week or so. Time for
some golf, a few cold beers, and more house-hunting. Maybe I'll catch up
with Michael sometime, as well. Last time that I saw him was at the last
Connecticut AtariFest in 1993! Wow, was it _that_ long ago??
Well, let's get to the "good stuff" for this week! Atari computing
news this week is limited to Michael's info-packed column this week
(perfect timing again, Michael!).
Until next time...
The Unabashed Atariophile
by Michael R. Burkley
June 10, 1997
I'm going away on vacation soon! The first week really won't be much of a
vacation as I am going to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church,
USA in Syracuse, New York. The General Assembly is the once-a-year
gathering of representatives of the churches of our denomination. I'm not
a delegate this year, but Syracuse is only three hours away (closer than
I've ever been to a General Assembly) and so I'm going to visit and sit in
on the meetings. There will be 2000+ people there talking and planning
about all sorts of things. And since I'm not a delegate I can take a nap
whenever things get a bit too boring!
The next two weeks I'll be going to New Hampshire and Maine. My son and I
are going on a three day ocean kayaking/hiking/mountaineering Outward bound
trip for pastors and their children. We'll spend the time having fun with
each other and talking about the joys and problems growing up being a "PK"
(Preacher's Kid). I'm really looking forward to that, and he is, too. The
rest of the time our family is just going to be lounging around (and in)
Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Ah...the life!
Lucky for you I have about 120 meg of compressed files already described
for you. There is far too much for this issue so I'm going to break the
descriptions up to cover several issues. That means that for awhile you
will be getting an Unabashed Atariophile article every issue of STR!
Astounding! I hope you'll find the descriptions helpful.
Today I would like to tell you about one of the most comprehensive
collections of Atari knowledge on the planet (off planet, too, but...).
I'm talking about Genie, the online service. Genie is full of
conversations about Atari hardware and software. If you have a problem
with something there is probably a forum there that can help. It's easy to
get lost in all the plethora of information, but it really is organized
(once you get to know the system). You might have noticed that I have
rarely mentioned Genie over the past three years or so in my Unabashed
Atariophile columns. That's because of a misunderstanding (I hope) between
me and some people at Genie (then GEnie). I was told that the staff at
GEnie was investigating the legality of my downloading files from GEnie
(because of my connection with Suzy B's Software). Frankly, that scared me
enough that I dropped any mention of software downloaded from GEnie in my
columns. I tried several times to see what the outcome of that
"investigation" was, but never received any replies. So...a choice is
before me. Do I just keep ignoring an excellent service or do I let people
know about all of the files and services available there? Well, now you
know my answer to that. I hope and expect that that issue has died and
been buried. Let's not find out!
Here are some excellent files from Genie that I've accumulated over the
years...
Animation related...
ANIMATE1 is a tutorial by Bob deWitt for the InShape animation program.
It takes you through the basic first steps of using InShape to animate
your objects. This is part one of a multi-part series that focusses on
getting your InShape objects animation ready and also gives you some
information on the Object Selector of InShape. This tutorial comes in
both ASCII and Calamus format.
BEANIM is an .FLC animation of a model of a woman jumping up and down
with a sideways motion. The woman is nude, but the model is not all
that detailed, and there is nothing erotic about it.
BODYGIRL is an .FLC animation of a scantily clad young woman walking
(apparently) in place. While I would have prefered a bit more
clothing the animation is very nice, so I'm including it here.
CAROUSEL is an .FLI animation (16 frames) what shows a carousel
(Merry-Go-Round) moving merrily along. The animation is skillfully
done so that you don't see any jumps and it loops.
DEMO0102 is an archive that contains 2 pictures, 2 text files & 2
object files taken from the author's (Rob Wood) Dream 01a and Dream
02a animations (both sound and pictures created through VideoMaster).
Those animation files are so large (3.5 and 3.3 meg each,
respectively), that he wanted to show something of the animations for
those of you who can't take the time to download the whole animation.
He's included a Spectrum .SPC picture file of the picture sources for
the animation and lots of other stuff (not included in the full
animations and especially for you tech minded people) as well. Docs
included.
DOOMMORF is an .FLI animation that "morphs" or gradually changes from
the appearance of one "DOOM" character into another. It begins with
the former marine and continues through the other characters (about
160 frames worth). Included in this animation are the Cyber Demon and
the Spider Mastermind, but those aren't in the Jaguar version. Also
included in this archive is an MS-DOS programn to display .FLI
animations, but that won't be of any use to you!
DREAM01A is a huge animation created by Rob Wood using VideoMaster.
It is a surealistic animation composed of over 300 frames of video
running from 7 fps down to 3 fps (mostly color, but some tinted
grayscale) and a 1.1 Meg soundtrack. The animation lasts about 67
seconds. This is a very interesting and weird animation with ocean
and human scenes. Any color ST-Falcon with at least 3.6 meg of RAM
free should be able to run this animation (the player and docs are
included). Check out DREAM02A for a companion animation. DEMO0102
is a much smaller archive which will give you a taste as to what to
expect here.
DREAM02A is a huge animation created by Rob Wood using VideoMaster.
It is a surealistic animation composed of over 300 frames of 3D/
Fractal scenes (which took "Forever!" to render) and which were
transfered to VideoMaster and edited to the score written for it (an
800K+ soundtrack). The animation lasts about 45 seconds. This is a
very interesting and weird animation with mountain and human scenes.
Any color ST-Falcon with at least 3.4 meg of RAM free should be able
to run this animation (the player and docs are included). Check out
DREAM01A for a companion animation. DEMO0102 is a much smaller
archive which will give you a taste as to what to expect here.
Font Related files...
AGATECFN is a Calamus font similar to DMC's Americana font. This font
is a normal and Italic reworking by John L. Battey of the AGATE and
AGATE_IT fonts in the FONTWORK category. The individual characters
have been simplified to reduce the number of control points, to more
properly set the M square, and to improve kerning. The character set
is extended to the full chart shown in the Calamus Types Catalog
(Tastatur on page 27) with a few changes & extras.
BASKVILL is the 14 pt. Baskerville screen font for Calligrapher 3
(dated Feb. 20, 1994). This will work just fine in ST high and TT
medium res (probably more). If you have not purchased the
Baskerville font disk, this font is probably useless to you.
If you want to have good screen text display with Calligrapher you
must have a bit-mapped font in the point size you are using. Since
the baskerville font disk doesn't have a 14 point screen font, and
Ken Springer (the designer) want one, he just made one up! Now you
can benefit from his industry!
FRAC_POT is a set of two Calamus (1.09 or SL) fonts by S. Samuels
(Dated March 17, 1994). Have you ever wanted to insert a fraction
into your Calamus document but found that it was not available in the
font you were using. Well, you could either fake it using the "/"
character or just write it out. But that was before Fractions Fonts!
These fonts contain all fractions up to sixteenths, even the real odd
stuff like 11/14, etc. Also, they contain the parts of fractions like
a set of 0-9 numerators and denominators and a fraction line so that
you can create virtually any odd fraction you like. Docs included, but
really, you won't need them. Freeware (thanks!).
GEMFO122 is a German GDOS font editor by Sascha Blank. While this program
(and docs) are all in German it is also GEM-based and easy to use.
It will let you import Signum!2 fonts and TeX-/Metafont-PK-Files as
well as standard GDOS fonts (no mention of SpeedoGDOS fonts).
Shareware (dated June 7, 1993). ST-Falcon compatible with at least
one meg of RAM.
GOBLINS is an Excellent PostScript Type One font for each letter of
the alphabet. I really like this font. It is made up of one or more
Goblins in silhouette creating each uppercase letter by standing or
interacting in certain ways. They are very well done with much
detail. This font was converted from a Calamus font. The original
author has certainly put _many_ hours of work in creating this font.
The Calamus font archive is also called GOBLINS, so you'll just have
to find the right one (whichever that might be).
HEROGLYF is a Type One Postscript font for Pagestream 2.x. It shows a
phonetically correct (as well as scholars can tell) of ancient
Egyptian Hieroglyphics. There are multiple ways to write some sounds,
so there are 'upper' and 'lower' cases characters included in this
font, though these don't exist in heiroglyphs. C & S are the same, as
are L and R. Q & X are double height letters, while several are
doubled, usually for long sounds. T and TH are pretty much the same,
but there are 3 forms; / is used for the 3rd one. Kerning is a pain,
and often words were written vertically. A 36 point screen font is
included for faster display. Freeware, from Atari and Fontdesigner.
INKQUILL is an .IMG drawing of a penstand, inkwell, and quill pen.
Just right for putting at the top of your documents with the caption:
"From the Desk of...."
VICSEC is the "Victoria's Secret" TrueType font for use with NVDI
(tested under v.3.02).
Start up your computer related files...
MOVIE12B is the Movies at Night v.1.2B screensaver by Anthony Watson
of Mountain Software (dated July 22, 1994). Movies at Night (MAT) is
a unique and fun screensaver system that plays animated 'movies' when
you are not using your computer. The system is composed of two parts;
A screensaver utility, and a movie construction set. MAT runs all by
itself, but it also will run as a Warp 9 Extendosave module (with Warp
9 v.3.70 or later). The Construction Set allows users to create their
own screensaver animations from a series of Degas picture files, or to
convert Cyberpaint animations (.SEQ) for use as screensaver
animations. In addition, the Construction Set allows users to view and
modify .MOV (the native format) animation files. Shareware. ST low
or med res. only. Detailed docs and two MOV animations (the CALICO
and FOREMAN animations) included.
MOUSEMOV is a movie for the Movies at Night screensaver by Anthony
Watson. This animation shows a cartoon mouse who is frightened by
something it sees and then runs off SO FAST.... See MOVIE12B for the
Movies at Night Screensaver itself.
16IMG39 is a set of 39 sixteen color IMG pictures by Terry May. These
are designed to be used as desktop or background use by programs such
as NeoDesk4, Thing, or DeskPic (Falcon only) that support tiling.
Tiling is a process of taking an image that's smaller than the size of
your screen, and multiplying that image as many times as necessary to
fill out the entire size of your screen. If find it amazing how our
vision takes a small dinky picture that doesn't look like anything,
and yet sees beautiful images when those same images are multiplied
onscreen! All of the images have been remapped to be "Falcon-
friendly," though, of course, they may be used on any ST-Falcon (with
the appropriate display!).
1741_ICN is a VERY large 16 color .NIC icon file for use with NeoDesk 4.
These look like they came from a "Windows" source, since a lot of them
don't apply to the ST (like "AMI Pro"), but most look excellent! I only
wish that I could work with 16 or more colors all the time! When
running this file in the NeoDesk Icon editor you will likely get a
message that says: "There is not enough free memory for this operation"
AND "Error in .NIC file Format! As much of the NIC file as possible has
been read". I suggest that you change your JarXXX to JAR20 or 30 and
increase the size of your FOLDRXXX (or ICD Boot folder fix) dramatically
(say to whatever it now is plus 1731). You should be able to then go
into icon editor and select the .NIC file for the 1741 icons. You will
then find not 1741 but 1731 icons. That's as it should be (the file
name is incorrect).
256IMG31 is a set of thirty-one 256 color IMG pictures by Terry May.
These are designed to be used as desktop or background use by programs
such as NeoDesk4, Thing, or DeskPic (Falcon only) that support
tiling. Tiling is a process of taking an image that's smaller than
the size of your screen, and multiplying that image as many times as
necessary to fill out the entire size of your screen. If find it
amazing how our vision takes a small dinky picture that doesn't look
like anything, and yet sees beautiful images when those same images
are multiplied onscreen! All of the images have been remapped to be
"Falcon-friendly," though, of course, they may be used on any
ST-Falcon (with the appropriate display!).
ACCSWP03 is ACCessory Swopper, v. 0.3 by Walter S. Wilson (dated Jan.
8, 1995). ACCessory Swopper will allow you to to double-click on a
desk accessory to disable or enable it. If you double-click on, say,
MAXIFILE.ACC, it will automatically be renamed as MAXIFILE.ACX. If
you double-click on MAXIFILE.ACX, it will automatically be renamed as
MAXIFILE.ACC. You can also drag your AUTO folder programs to
ACCessory Swopper to have them renamed for the next re-boot. Just put
it in the root directory of your hard drive and set it up as an
installed application for ".AC?". You're set! This will work on any
TOS 2.05 and above machines (TT/Falcon) and I suspect that it will
work with any lower TOS versions as well if you get one of the
utilities that fix the limitations of the installed applications
feature in those TOS'. Freeware. Docs and GFA Basic 3.5e .LST file
included.
ALS_BUTN is Al Fasoldt's personal collection of 16 color 3D button
icons for NeoDesk 4. When you click on one of these icons, the icon
button depresses. In some of them, the icon is animated as well.
(Check out the CD player icon and the file-cabinet icon!) All these
icons are the same size and have a uniform button appearance. The
effect is stunning. Most have a monochrome version, but no 4-color
icons are included.
BATY9QSF is a set of 14 fills for use with Warp 9 and a monochrome
monitor. John Battey, the uploader, says that one of these are
actually useful, while the others just have wierd names! I won't keep
you hanging about the useful pattern. It produces about a 25% raster
saturation while breaking up the horizontal & vertical line that add
to the "banding" effect that some printers create when printing out a
screenshot. Docs included.
BDAWNMOV is a series of thirty five "Before Dawn" screensaver movies.
Before Dawn (BD) is an excellent screensaver utility from Europe
(Gemany). It will work with all Atari ST-Falcon computers, and is
fully compatible with MultiTOS, Geneva, and Magic, allowing you to run
programs in the background while Before Dawn is active. Use these 35
"movies" to spruce up your collection for BD. Some are in standard
mono or color, which others have 256 colors!
BLITONST is Bliton ST v.1.0 by Ben Aein. This is a tiny prg that goes
into the Auto folder to turn the blitter on. Some programs (for
example, past versions of NVDI and Geneva, though I know that Geneva
doesn't do this anymore) turn the Blitter off and there is no reason
to not have the Blitter on (thus speeding up your system). Just run
this from your AUTO folder. Docs included. Use this version of
Bliton if you do not have an 030 with a math coprocessor.
C1RUNNER is the CyReL Runner utility package v.1.03b (dated Jan. 1994)
from Cybercube Research. This utility allows you to use your Falcon,
TT, or ST/e equipped with TOS 2.06 or higher to execute programs and
applications with multiple command lines you define at the touch of a
Function Key. Set up your favorite set-ups once and use them again and
again (up to 100 installed at once!). Docs included. Multi-tasking
compatible. Freeware.
CBHD455 is CBHD v.4.55 by Claus Brod and Steff Engel. This is a
freeware hard drive driver for all Ataris (with hard drives!). This
seems to be a very nice driver, allowing partitions from A-Z even
under TOS, access to the features of BIGDOS (see description under
BIGDOS08), and more. Unfortunately for me, all of the docs are in
German, and I'm terrified of using a utility that I don't really
understand and which I might use to accidently wipe all of my hard
drives! Anyone up to translating this? There are docs that have
been translated via machine, but they are not so good. Included with
this archive is a shareware configuration utility. Sounds good!
C_ICONS is a NeoDesk .NIC file of 35 icons for use with NeoDesk. It
contains icons for STarRaiders, ST Writer, 1st Word, D Copy, ICD
Utilities, and many more.
DB2_CONV is a NeoDesk 4 .NIC file containing a set of 62 icons for use
with NeoDesk 4. These icons were originally uploaded as a series of
DB3 and DB1 files in an archive named DBICONS2. While NeoDesk 4 can
read these files you have to open each file individually to do so.
Lou Trapani (bless his soul!) converted those files into the native
.NIC format so that you can get at them easier. Thanks Lou!
DB7_CONV is a NeoDesk 4 .NIC file containing a set of 62 icons for use
with NeoDesk 4. These icons were originally uploaded as a series of
DB3 and DB1 files in an archive named DBICONS7. While NeoDesk 4 can
read these files you have to open each file individually to do so.
Lou Trapani (bless his soul!) converted those files into the native
.NIC format so that you can get at them easier. Thanks Lou!
DMAVOLXX is an AUTO folder program by Jan-Hinrich Fessel (dated June,
1993) that will allow you to set the volume of your DMA sound output.
It takes up no memory and is easy to install (just name the program
according to the official Atari sound level, using the number that you
can see in the Xcontrol Sound CPX). Using this will save you a CPX
slot. Docs in German and English. For all STE-TT (Falcon?)
computers.
EOS_TEST is the Extend-O-Save Overhead Tester by John Eidsvoog &
Charles F. Johnson (dated March 19, 1994). The purpose of the
Extend-O-Save Overhead Tester is to show how much processor time is
consumed by your Extend-O-Save modules of Warp 9. This may or may
not be important to you. If you've ever tried to do a download or
printing operation and had a busy Extend-O-Save module kick in, you
know that it can grind the operation to a halt, resulting in an
aborted download or a printout that never finishes. By carefully
choosing which modules you use, you can eliminate or minimize this
problem. Check out your favorite EOS modules with this utility and
you will know which ones to use (or not to use) when doing another
processor intensive operation. Docs included. Freeware.
EVERDATE is Everdate v.1.0 by Olivier Booklage. This is a neat
program that will tell you the last time you used your computer.
Place the program in the AUTO folder and the .ACC in the root
directory of your boot drive and you're set. The date and time will
be written to a file on your hard drive each minute. The next time
you boot up you will know the time of your last use to within one
minute. Docs included (English and French).
EXTEND_C is a developer's kit for C programmers who wish to write
write Extend-O-Save screensaver modules for Warp 9, the screen
acceleration and more utility from CodeHead Technologies. This
archive includes sample C source code, an assembly module to link with
your C code, and a simple Extend-O-Save module called Sprinkles that
places random, short horizontal lines on a black screen. All code is
commented to make it easy to write your own modules. Freeware from
CodeHead.
EOS_2 is the complete transcript of the GEnie and the Atari
Roundtables discussion of the Extendo-O-Save screensaver modules for
use with Warp 9. This topic provides a lot of technical discussions,
people sharing their favorite modules, and lots of other interesting
stuff. From Feb 6, 1993 to June 24, 1993. This is one of those
great forums I was mentioning above.
W9STSAVE is the Warp 9 version of Michael Crisafulli's Soft-Sci
Screen Saver. The Soft-Sci Screen Saver loads an image into a
"balloon" and floats it across your screen. It does this in a
similar way as HotSaver and Boink works. This Shareware program
works in color or mono in ST/STE resolutions only. Docs included.
FUJDESTT is Fuji Desk for the TT by Chet Walters of Wiz Works. This
tiny program puts a rotating Fuji (Atari Logo) design on the top left
of your screen. It's a fun little animation (that can be run from
the AUTO folder or Desktop, and disabled at any time). Docs
included. Works with your TT in all res except TT Low. Docs
included. Check out FUJIM141 in the UTILITYS category for a similar
but more detailed program.
TEXTURE is a huge collection of background textures (89 of 'em!) for
use with NeoDesk, Ease, or any other program that allows these to be
displayed. They are in .IMG, .GIF (majority), and .JPG formats.
Here are some excellent files that I have from the old Current Notes
Magazine (when CN was still based here in the USA). They are
tutorials, history, and helps. You can find them on Genie as well.
HARD_DRV is a very useful set of articles from Current Notes
magazine. Released by the editor, these articles on hard drives are
excellent, full of useful data, and interesting. Here is the table
of contents...
Feb '89: Hard disk Drives: Off-the-Shelf or Roll Your Own, A
Provocative Inspection of Choices, with Prices and
Clues on How to Avoid Disaster, by William Price.
Oct '89: Hard Disk Myths and Mysteries, Part 1, by David Troy
Nov '89: Hard Disk Myths and Mysteries, Part 2, by David Troy
Dec '89: Hard Disk Myths and Mysteries, Part 3, by David Troy
Feb '90: Hard Disk Myths and Mysteries, Part 4