ST Report: 8-Aug-97 #1332
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 08/14/97-12:37:56 PM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 8-Aug-97 #1332
Date: Thu Aug 14 12:37:56 1997
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>From the Editor's Desk...
The editorial is short this week because I ran my mouth elsewhere in
this issue. What I had to say is not really about computers. Unless of
course, one considers the point that today's children are tomorrow's
computer operators.
Its nice to see Apple has a chance now. Bill Gates has undoubtedly
seen an opportunity for Microsoft and Apple thus the alliance and financial
investment in on the part of Microsoft. It'll be interesting to watch this
particular arrangement fledge out in all its glory. Especially with
Ellison in the wings. Gil might have had half a chance in pulling Apple's
fat outta the fire if Ellison was pushing the torpedo button on most
everything Amelio tried doing. Ah yes. these are interesting times indeed.
Well, my oldest son Ralph is getting married toward the end of
September. I tried to warn him. In the end, I offered him my best wishes
and condolences <g>. She's a real sweet lady whom I'm will make my son
very happy and proud.
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LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Ellison Eyes New Apple Board
Oracle Corp. chairman Larry Ellison says he is prepared to join Apple
Computer Inc.'s board of directors and present a new management team next
week led by Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder. As reported, word on Wall
Street is that Jobs has rejected offers to return to the helm of Apple, but
that he is taking charge without the title.
Now, speaking with the French financial newspaper La Tribune in an
interview in California, Ellison said, "Rumors of my interest are well
founded. On Monday we'll introduce Apple's new management team, and I'm
part of it."
The newspaper said the announcement would be made at the Macworld trade
show in Boston. As reported earlier, The San Francisco Chronicle has
reported Macworld would be the site at which Jobs would take the post of
chairman/CEO. The Reuter News Service says Ellison declined to disclose
the sum he was investing in Apple but said it was a personal investment
and not on Oracle's part. Ellison says Jobs will take the top job despite
recent reports to the contrary, adding, "Apple needs to and will exist
because you need other players on the market. You can't let Microsoft
establish a monopoly."
He said he thinks Apple needs to focus on entry-level products, that "the
market can't be made up solely of expensive and complicated computers.
Today you need equipment that's easy to maintain and not too onerous for
equipping schools and households." Meanwhile, The New York Times reports
this morning Jobs is trying to recruit several people, Ellison included, to
join Apple's board. The paper says Jobs has told friends he did not want
the CEO position.
Cloners Report Apple Resistance
Apple Computer Inc. reportedly seems increasingly reluctant to share with
clone makers its future advances on the Macintosh, though the computer
maker is not its most recent technology. In The Wall Street Journal this
morning, reporter Jim Carlton says an accord was reached late last week
that allows one of the cloners -- Umax
Computer Corp. -- to use the latest version of the Macintosh operating
system, the Mac OS 8. Carlton quotes "a person close to Apple" as saying
the pact is to include the other major cloners, Power Computing Corp. and
Motorola Inc.'s Motorola Computer Group. All the cloners had believed their
existing licenses covered that software upgrade.
"However," adds Carlton, "Apple hasn't committed to licensing its
next-generation operating system, code-named Rhapsody, or software needed
for the cloners to begin manufacturing Mac-compatibles using a new hardware
design called the Common Reference Hardware Platform, or CHRP." The
Journal comments these unsettled issues cloud the future of Apple's
fledgling effort to expand its market for Macintosh computers by licensing
to other manufacturers. "The concern," adds Carlton, "is based, in large
part, on new uncertainties caused by the return of Steve Jobs to a position
of power at the Cupertino, California, company he co-founded in 1976.
Although Apple's chief financial officer, Fred Anderson, has been leading
the negotiations with cloners since a dispute broke out early this year, a
former Apple executive says Mr. Jobs, officially an Apple adviser, has
endorsed an increasingly hard-line stance by Mr. Anderson."
Tesler Leaves Apple for Startup
In order to head a new startup marketing children's software, Lawrence
Tesler has stepped down as Apple Computer Inc.'s chief scientist and vice
president of advanced technology. Employees at the new company, called
Cocoa Software and based in Palo Alto, California, told the Reuter News
Service that Tesler has accepted the role of president of the company. They
declined to provide further details about its financial backers or product
strategy.
Reuters reporter Sam Perry quoted David Smith, one of the seven employees
of the fledgling company, as saying, "We do children's software and we're
brand new." Apple has not commented on Tesler's departure, which became
public on the eve of today's closely watched keynote address by Apple
co-founder Steve Jobs at Macworld Expo in Boston, where the company is
unveiling a new product and business strategy. One of Tesler's associates
at Apple told Reuters the departure was amicable, adding, "He's off to a
new adventure. He was so happy about it. He knew this was the right thing
for him to do. It is Apple's great loss."
Tesler came to Apple from Xerox Corp.'s famed Xerox Palo Alto Research
Center and was the computer maker's chief scientist since 1993, where he
served the role of technical advisor to the company and managed technical
alliances. He joined Apple in 1980 to work as a section manager of
applications software for the Lisa personal computer.
Apple Names New Directors
On the same day it unveiled an alliance with arch-rival Microsoft Corp.,
Apple Computer Inc. has announced a revamped board of directors. Joining
Apple's board are co-founder and strategic adviser Steve Jobs; Oracle Corp.
Chairman Larry Ellison; former IBM Corp. chief financial officer Jerome
York and Intuit Inc. CEO Bill Campbell. Three current board members --
early Apple investor and former chairman A.C. Mike Markkula, Katherine
Hudson and Bernard Goldstein -- have resigned.
The announcement of the new directors -- all big names in the computer
industry -- along with Microsoft's support, is boosting industry analysts'
confidence in Apple. "That should ensure Apple being around for a while,"
Arnie Owen, managing director at investment bank Cruttenden Roth told the
Reuter News Service. Microsoft "is the biggest guy you could get to support
you. That doesn't say that Apple is a great company, but there are parts of
it that are worthwhile." "We are getting tremendous industry expertise,"
Jobs noted in his keynote speech at Macworld.
Microsoft Invests in Apple
In a stunning move, Microsoft Corp. has announced that it will invest $150
million in non-voting stock in struggling Apple Computer Inc. Microsoft
says it will also develop new versions of its Microsoft Office
business software suite, Internet Explorer browser and other tools for the
Macintosh platform. Apple will package Internet Explorer with its Mac OS,
making it the default browser in future operating system software releases.
The companies have also agreed to a broad patent cross-licensing agreement
that will enable them to work more closely on leading-edge technologies for
the Mac platform. Apple and Microsoft plan to collaborate on technology to
ensure compatibility between their respective Virtual Machines for Java and
other programming languages.
"In 1984, Steve Jobs and I stood together when Microsoft announced
Microsoft Excel, an application that is widely credited with helping to
define the potential of the Mac as a great applications platform," says
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. "Today's announcements underscore our
continued belief in the Mac as a platform for applications and leading-edge
Internet technologies. Microsoft has millions of customers who rely on
Macintosh technology and they can be assured that Microsoft products for
the Mac will continue to be available." "We are thrilled at the prospect
of working more closely with Microsoft on applications and Internet
software," notes Apple co-founder and advisor Jobs. "We are confident that
this is the beginning of a much closer relationship between the two
companies, which will greatly benefit our common customers."
Will Microsoft Help Apple?
How happy should you be if you're ailing Apple Computer Inc. and Microsoft,
your traditional arch-rival, has come to your aid to the tune of $150
million? Analysts are saying Apple's prospects are brighter today, but
yesterday's surprise announcement at the Macworld trade show in Boston also
signals Apple's fall as a leader in the computer industry. There is no
question it is a moment of computer industry history. Even President Bill
Clinton weighed in late yesterday, by telling reporters he will watch
developments closely for any antitrust violations.
Reporter Kourosh Karimkhany of the Reuter News Service this morning quotes
analysts as saying that despite the great drama of yesterday's development,
Apple's long-term prospects are not significantly brighter,
with or without Microsoft. "The company has yet to figure out how to keep
its computer sales from plunging," Karimkhany writes, "and Apple will
still have a tough time finding a veteran chief executive that can head a
turnaround."
Said one unidentified Silicon Valley investor, Microsoft's investing in
Apple "is a bit like NASA trying to rescue Mir." As reported, Microsoft
has agreed to buy a special class of Apple stock in exchange for $150
million in cash and has pledged to continue writing its Office business
software for the Macintosh. Reuters notes a huge psychological boost to
Apple from Microsoft's backing, which could keep other software companies
and Mac customers from defecting. "That should ensure Apple being around
for a while," said Arnie Owen, managing director at investment bank
Cruttenden Roth. Microsoft "is the biggest guy you could get to support
you."
However, Karimkhany adds, "the alliance with Microsoft crushes some of the
fundamental spirit that has kept Apple going through tough times, which
could turn off some Mac customers." In fact, when Gates appeared on a
giant video screen at Macworld yesterday to announce the investment,
thousands booed and hissed, Reuters noted. Said analyst Lou Mazzucchelli
of Gerard Klauer Mattison, "It was anathema. It was like putting Darth
Vader up at a Star Wars convention."
Karimkhany comments, "Apple is betting the farm on a next-generation
software operating system code-named Rhapsody, slated to be released in a
year. The goal is to make Rhapsody so much more powerful and easy to use
than the Windows operating system that Apple computers would fly off the
shelf again. So far, however, no major software company has committed to
making products for Rhapsody."
Apple Rehires Ad Agency
The advertising agency responsible for Apple Computer Inc's famous "1984"
commercial that introduced its Macintosh personal computer reportedly is
being rehired by the computer maker. Business writer Skip Wollenberg of
The Associated Press quotes an executive familiar with the matter, speaking
on condition of anonymity, as saying Apple is hiring TBWA Chiat/Day for its
domestic advertising account. However, the source also cautioned an
unexpected development could still derail the selection.
TBWA Chiat/Day and Arnold Communications of Boston, reportedly the final
contenders for the assignment, declined comment on the matter. Arnold
Communications said it was told a decision would be announced tomorrow but
not who had won. AP says the Apple account, estimated to involve $80
million to $90 million in domestic ad spending, came open in late June when
Apple decided to review its account. The incumbent agency BBDO West
resigned rather than compete. Chiat/Day had created the "1984" commercial
for Apple that aired on the Super Bowl telecast that year and introduced
the Mac.
"The Orwellian-style ad," noted Wollenberg, "showed a woman shattering a
mammoth TV screen which carried the gray image of a Big Brother-like
speaker who had a spellbound audience. The act symbolized the freedom that
the Macintosh personal computer would give users who otherwise had to work
on computer systems made by Apple's bigger rivals like IBM." The
commercial is considered an ad industry classic, even though it only was
broadcast once, and it helped Apple get a reputation for making computers
people liked to use. AP says Lee Clow, Chiat/Day's top creative officer at
TBWA Chiat/Day North America, is said to have remained close with Steve
Jobs, Apple's co-founder who had left the company by the time Chiat/Day was
dismissed in 1986 but has recently gotten heavily involved in efforts to
revive Apple's fortunes.
Microsoft, Apple Alliance Analyzed
Why has Microsoft Corp. decided to throw its financial, strategic and
technological support behind struggling Apple Computer Inc.? Members in
the Mac Community Forum (CIS) are pondering this question. David McElroy
kicked off the discussion yesterday by asking, "What is it that (Microsoft)
wanted so badly from Apple that made it willing to pay for $150 million in
stock that it can't vote, an undisclosed sum of money for patents and
agreeing to support the Mac for at least five years?"
Ray Offiah replied that Microsoft made its commitment out of a tendency to
raid firms for their technology. "Over the past few months they've been
warning about a drop in revenues because their business relies on
generating new ideas, which they're not very good at. As they release new,
fatter, slower versions of Office, people find fewer reasons to upgrade.
They need a fresh look at things. New, exciting ideas; that's where Apple
comes in."
Bill Harkins agreed that Microsoft is looking for key Apple technology. "I
think they still need parts of Quicktime. Rumor is Rhapsody is going fairly
well so they might want some pieces of that. There is some really nice
stuff from Next. They could afford to do great things with OpenDoc and Open
Transport." Peter L. Winkler observed that he heard that Microsoft makes
nearly $1 billion per year from Mac software. "If so, MS is just preserving
a good market for their software." Jesus Diaz Zinetika noted, "I hope we
are just being pessimistic. I hope Jobs and Ellison have some extraordinary
good reasons for this move. Something like a secret plan that Gates is not
aware of."
UUNet E-Mail Flowing Again
Messages are flowing freely again on UUNet now that a group of angry
computer users has ended its protest over junk e-mail. The group, led by a
Virginia college student, started seven days ago blocking Net messages
posted through UUNet Technologies Inc., saying the service ignored pleas to
filter out unsolicited advertising and pornography that clogs their
accounts. Associated Press writer Dominic Perella, reporting from
Richmond, Virginia, says the protest ended yesterday when UUNet announced
it had taken steps to filter out the junk mail and the volume of the
material dropped right away.
Dennis McClain-Furmanski, a graduate student at Radford University, told
AP, "It was time to take some drastic steps to curtail an immense problem,"
adding junk mail online "literally threatens to ruin the 'Net." UUNet CEO
John Sidgmore accused the blockers of cyberterrorism and said the tactics
were reported to authorities, saying his firm is considering legal action.
"We're not done with this, as far as I'm concerned. I assume that some
people will take it (as a victory). I think it remains to be seen what
their result will be."
AP says, "The protesters used special software to attach cancel messages to
postings they wanted to block, causing the messages to be erased before
they were delivered. They only blocked messages that were to be posted on
Usenet," a segment of the Internet that accommodates newsgroup bulletin
boards. The wire service quotes McClain-Furmanski as saying that in the
first 24 hours of the protest, the group blocked more than 80,000 postings
by UUNet customers. He alleged UUNet had been the No. 1 conduit for junk
e-mail. UUNet objected to being singled out. Sidgmore says most junk
e-mail -- called "spam" by some -- comes from users on smaller, local
providers to whom UUNet sells Internet space, and UUNet lacks authority to
cut service to those customers.
IBM, Turner Learning Unveil Deal
IBM Corp. and Turner Learning, a division of Turner Broadcasting, say they
will collaborate on the development of multimedia educational software for
delivery to schools via CD ROM and the Internet.
According to the companies, the project will combine educational software
from IBM with original video programming and archival news footage from
CNN, including CNN Newsroom, a commercial-free news and feature broadcast
for schools. The software will be designed for use by upper elementary and
middle school students and will focus on exploring and understanding
multi-cultural diversity, history and current events.
"Through this collaboration, we will blend IBM's technology, the rich
visual and creative resources of Turner, and our joint knowledge of K-12
education to develop educational content that is engaging and informative
for students and teachers," says William E. Rodrigues, general manager of
IBM's education division. "IBM and Turner will deliver software that
enriches the educational process for students by allowing them to
experience the events and activities they are studying," adds John
Richards, senior vice president and general manager of Turner Learning.
"For example, a student learning about Nelson Mandela will have access to
information on his life and the history of South Africa, and also will be
able to see and hear video clips of key events, such as his release from
prison. This will allow teachers to expand the horizons of their students
beyond the classroom walls and take them places they've never been."
Microsoft WebTV Purchase OK'd
Microsoft Corp.'s $425 million acquisition of WebTV Networks has been
approved by the U.S. Justice Department, which says there is competition in
the business of connecting home televisions to the Internet.
A thorough investigation of the deal announced April 6 has been closed with
a decision not to challenge it in court, officials with the department's
antitrust division said. Associated Press writer Michael J. Sniffen quotes
a statement from the department as saying, "The investigation confirmed
that a number of other companies, several of whom are significant
participants in the computer or consumer electronics industries, have or
will soon enter the market with competitive products and alternative
technologies."
Microsoft senior vice president Craig Mundie said, "We hope to dramatically
accelerate the merger of the Internet and television." Competitor
NetChannel said the decision moves Microsoft "one step closer to fulfilling
its strategy of dominating all aspects of the entertainment, electronic
commerce and communications industries." Added NetChannel CEO Philip J.
Monego, "Microsoft is becoming a standards, not a software company,
positioned to collect a toll at virtually every link in the communications
delivery system."
Alliance Formed to Create Net
Creation of a digital network spanning the continent is the goal of the GSM
Alliance, a new venture by seven regional U.S. and Canadian wireless
telephone companies. The Associated Press reports the alliance hopes that
by working together and offering better service that they can compete
against such big rivals as AT&T and Sprint PCS. Members include Aerial
Communications Inc.; BellSouth Mobility, part of BellSouth Corp.; Microcell
Telecommunications Inc.; Omnipoint Communications Services Inc.; Pacific
Bell Mobile Services, part of SBC Communications; Powertel Inc. and Western
Wireless Inc.
AP adds, "The group takes its name from the wireless technology they use --
global system for mobile communications, or GSM. Although GSM is the
standard elsewhere in the world, dominant U.S. companies use different
kinds of technology." Chip giant Intel Corp. has endorsed GSM technology
for providing wireless service for portable personal computers. Aerial
Communications CEO Don Warkentin, the alliance's chairman, says members of
the GSM alliance will continue to use their individual brand names.
IBM Offers 'Concierge' Software
Free software that acts as an intelligent "concierge" to monitor and
remember users' movements on the World Wide Web is being offered by IBM
over the Internet. Called WBI (pronounced Webby), the software can
remember usage patterns on the Internet, what sites are visited, alert
users to site changes and helps make people more productive. The Reuter
News Service says the software is an intermediary between the Web browser
software and a Web server and "also alerts users how fast a Web site is,
whether it is up and running, and the speed of its links."
IBM Vice President John Patrick told the wire service, "It's the beginning
of a lot of very interesting possibilities to take some of the drudgery out
of Web surfing. Webby can be a concierge for your use on the Internet. The
idea is to make it more productive for people." The company says said
70,000 users have downloaded WBI free from the IBM research Web site, IBM's
online laboratory, alphaWorks http://www.alphaworks.com , since it was
first released as an experimental technology on the site about six months
ago.
WBI, which stands for "Web browser intelligence," also can be downloaded at
http://www.networking.ibm.com/iag/iaghome.html Says Patrick, "We now feel
we can make it more widely available and make it available to companies
that want to build a business around it." Reuters says another potential
use of WBI is that users can customize it to their own interests and have
particular Web sites captured and stored locally overnight. WBI can also be
customized to monitor shopping patterns, checking out Web sites for updates
and alerting a customer to new products.
IBM, Motorola Launch New Chip
New PowerPC computer chips that are faster and more efficient are being
rolled out today by IBM and Motorola Inc., a development that could double
performance of some Macintosh computers. The Associated Press says the
PowerPC 604e, a new version of an existing chip, now runs at speeds of up
to 350MHz. The 740 and 750 chips, a completely new design, run at speeds of
up to 266MHz but generates less heat than other microprocessors, an
advantage that makes it useful for laptop computers, which are less
tolerant of heat.
Will Swearingen, Motorola's product marketing manager for the PowerPC chip,
told the wire service, "We're giving them a huge jump in performance
without any increase in price of the processor." AP says computers running
on the new chips will be introduced within the next few months, commenting,
"The new chips are the latest attempt by IBM and Motorola to kick-start
their microprocessor initiative."
Says the wire service, "The PowerPC microprocessors, developed jointly by
IBM, Motorola and Apple, were once pushed as an alternative to the dominant
Intel Corp. chips ... but only Apple currently sells PowerPC computers in
any substantial numbers, and IBM has stopped making its PowerPC-Windows NT
machines because of their small sales volume."
Motorola Offers TV Chip
A new "Scorpion" graphics and digital video encoder chip that allows a
television to be used to access interactive information is being introduced
by Motorola Inc.'s semiconductor products sector. Reporting from Phoenix,
Ariz., the Reuter News Service says the MC92100 chip "provides flexible,
television-based graphics overlay and mixing capabilities that allow
customers to incorporate interactive features, including Internet browsing,
in both new and existing products."
Motorola officials told the wire service consumer electronic applications
that could benefit from the chip include "intelligent TVs," set-top boxes,
and digital versatile disk players, adding Scorpion will allow products to
display multiple windows containing interactive graphics, permitting users
to watch television and browse the Internet and other information sources
at the same time. Motorola said Scorpion was designed specifically for use
with televisions. Ed Evans, manager of Graphic Systems Engineering for
Motorola's Audio/Video products operation, told Reuters, "With
Scorpion-enabled products, users will be able to manipulate Web pages,
program guides and other interactive content on a television, while
continuing to view the video stream."
Toshiba, SanDisk Set Flash Deal
Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk Corp. have signed a cross-licensing agreement for
flash memory-related patents.
The pact calls for the companies to license each other's patents covering
the design and manufacture of flash memory. The deal's financial terms
weren't revealed. Flash memory, which retains data after power has been
turned off, is widely used in digital cameras, smart phones and other
portable devices. "This agreement between the two leaders of flash memory
technologies will provide a great impetus to growth of the flash data
storage market," says Koichi Suzuki, director of Toshiba's semiconductor
group. "Both companies have pioneered the emerging markets for flash data
storage," adds Eli Harari, SanDisk's president and CEO. "This agreement
will accelerate the market's development."
Apple Cuts PowerBook Prices
Prices on the PowerBook 3400 series have been cut by $500 by Apple Computer
Inc. The computer maker is quoted by the Dow Jones news service as saying
customers who purchase a PowerBook 3400 between now and Sept. 26 can
receive a 32MB TechWorks RAM card, an Apple Lithium-ion battery, and a
coupon for 50 percent off a VST Technologies dual battery charger at no
additional cost. Also, Apple has announced a mail-in cash rebate of $200
for consumers who purchase any Power Macintosh 4400 computer with an Apple
Multiple Scan 15AV monitor from Aug. 2 to Sept. 26. Beginning Aug. 2,
rebate coupons will be available through Apple's FAXback service and
website, the wire service says.
HP Cuts OmniBook Prices
Hewlett-Packard Co. has cut list prices on its line of HP OmniBook notebook
personal computers by as much as 17 percent. Reporting from HP's Palo
Alto, Calif., headquarters, the Dow Jones news service quotes company
officials as saying the price reductions apply to the HP OmniBook 5700,
2000 and 800 notebooks.
Microsoft to Make Search Engine
Look out, Yahoo, InfoSeek, Excite, Lycos. Here comes Microsoft Corp. The
Redmond, Washington, software giant indicates it will develop its own
Internet search engine/directory this fall. According to the Reuter News
Service, a beta version should be ready by October, with a launch date of
January. The search engine is said to be code-named Yukon and is most
likely to be released directly on the World Wide Web and not restricted to
Microsoft's MSN.
Microsoft, Netscape OK VRML2
Virtual Reality Modeling Language -- VRML2 -- has won approval by both
Microsoft Corp. and Netscape Communications Corp. as the single standard
for viewing three-dimensional images on the Internet. Writing in The Wall
Street Journal this morning, reporter Dean Takahashi predicts both
companies soon will announce plans to include compatible versions of the
technology in their latest software for browsing the World Wide Web. The
accord "is expected to make it much easier for consumers to see the next
generation of images on the Web," adds Takahashi, "enabling possibilities
such as moving down the halls of a simulated art gallery, or a fancy banner
advertisement that allows users to zoom in on a realistic image of a car
they may want to buy."
The paper notes samples of the effects already can be viewed on a Silicon
Graphics Inc. site (www.sgi.com), including a 3-D Martian landscape created
using pictures taken by the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft. Silicon Graphics,
incidentally, invented the graphics modeling language, which defines the
formats for 3-D computer files and won out over a competing standard backed
by Microsoft. It is now in a second version dubbed VRML2 and is the focus
of a 60-company consortium that guides its evolution.
MCI, Progressive Networks Team
MCI Communications Corp. and Net audio/video specialist Progressive
Networks Inc. are teaming up to sell an Internet broadcasting service to
broadcasters, cable channels and sports networks, which in turn would offer
it to home computer users. The vision? That people will use home computers
to watch favorite TV shows or listen to baseball games. Associated Press
writer Jeannine Aversa says plans do not call for either MCI or Progressive
Networks to sell the service directly to computer users.
Of course, as Aversa notes, the technology isn't new. Right now, computer
users on the World Wide Web can hear live or taped audio or watch live or
taped video. But it's not widely used, notes analyst Gary Arlen, president
of Arlen Communications Inc., a telecommunications consulting firm in
Bethesda, Maryland, and "MCI is in a good position to accelerate that, and
it starts to make the Internet more multimedia." Today, Net broadcasting
-- or "cybercasting," as some are calling it - is kludgy, because they
require a lot of network capacity. "They are bandwidth hogs," says Arlen,
"but MCI's high-speed, broader bandwidth network solves that."
AP reports, "By joining forces, MCI and Progressive contend they can offer
Internet broadcasting service more efficiently and potentially more cheaply
than they could separately or than their rivals can. MCI and Progressive
are targeting media companies that would use the service to enhance their
Web sites, and Fortune 1,000 companies that would use the service for
internal employee training or to post new product announcements on the Web,
said Deborah Pierson of MCI." The wire service quotes Mike Metzger,
general manager of Broadcast Services for Progressive Networks, as saying
MCI and Progressive are selling the service for $8,500 a month and up, and
that companies can also run ads with the service.
White Pages Listings Prices Fall
Legal, legislative and Internet pressures are prompting most major
telephone companies to lower the prices they charge independent telephone
directory publishers for white pages listings, finds new research from
Cowles/Simba Information in Stamford, Connecticut. "The passage of the
Telecommunications Act in 1996 capped years of court battles between
telephone companies and independents, which have resulted in lower prices
and increased access to directory listings," says Natalie Schwartz, senior
managing editor of Cowles/Simba Information's yellow pages division.
The Telecommunications Act requires telephone companies to provide access
to subscriber list information under reasonable rates, terms and
conditions. The increasing availability of listings information via the
Internet and other electronic formats -- as well as through list providers
-- is also lowering the value of listings, finds Cowles/Simba Information's
research. But the only way to obtain the most up-to-date information is
through phone companies, which update their databases daily. Cowles/Simba
Information's Web site is located at http://www.simbanet.com.
Publishers Sue Over Net Issue
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is being accused of violating
constitutional rights of free speech on the Internet, according to a
federal lawsuit brought by a group of 10 publishers and subscribers of
commodity books and newsletters. The Reuter News Service says the suit
contends the CFTC hindered free speech rights by requiring financial
publishers and possibly Internet users to register with the agency.
"Unless the CFTC is stopped," says attorney Scott Bullock with the
Institute for Justice, "those who distribute pornographic pictures over the
Internet enjoy more protection than those who want to meet in an online
chat room to talk about coffee futures and pork bellies."
For more than two decades, the CFTC has regulated U.S. commodity traders
and brokers, and in 1995 it began requiring publishers of commodity
newsletters, books and publications to register with the agency. The
publishers are considered by the agency to be "commodity trading advisors,"
who sell analyses or reports about commodity futures and options. Reuters
says that last summer the CFTC announced it would expand the rules to
include Internet user groups, hyperlinks or web pages that mention
commodity trading.
"The agency abruptly suspended the plan pending further review after
opponents said the rule would infringe on the constitutional right of free
speech," the wire service adds. "Registration with the agency includes
providing a set of fingerprints, and complying with CFTC auditors' requests
for subscriber names, addresses and other publication records."
Editor Stephen Briese of the Bullish Review newsletter told Reuters he
joined the lawsuit out of fear that he could face penalties of five years
in jail and a $500,000 fine if he were found to be violating the CFTC
regulation. The Bullish Review, published twice a month, analyzes CFTC
statistical data on large trader commitments and has several hundred
subscribers. Bullock says larger publications like The Wall Street Journal
are exempt from the CFTC rule because commodities reporting is not the
major thrust of their newsgathering activity.
Court Rejects Inslaw Claims
A decade-long dispute nears an end with the Court of Federal Claims'
rejection yesterday of charges from computer software-maker Inslaw that the
U.S. Justice Department stole its software and distributed it worldwide.
Ending a three-week trial, the court found Inslaw failed to show ownership
rights to the software in question or that the Department of Justice acted
improperly in any way, the Reuter News Service reports. The wire service
quotes a 186-page opinion issued by Judge Christine Miller as saying there
was "no merit to the claims" by Inslaw. The dispute started in 1982 when
Inslaw was awarded a $10 million contract for its PROMIS software, used to
track criminal cases. The company's owners alleged that Justice later used
an enhanced version of the program without paying royalties. By 1987, the
dispute had forced the company into bankruptcy and a federal bankruptcy
judge found that the department had used "fraud, trickery and deceit" to
steal the program and ruled the government owed Inslaw $7.8 million.
However, that ruling and judgment was later overturned on appeal.
The case was sent to the claims court this year as Congress wanted an
advisory opinion as part of its consideration of whether to pass a private
bill to compensate Inslaw, the department said. Reuters says the claims
court's opinion found the 1982 contract required Inslaw to install in U.S.
attorney's offices a non-proprietary, public-domain version of PROMIS.
"But," says the wire service, "without notice to the government, Inslaw
installed a different, allegedly proprietary, version of the software and
then asserted that the government could not use the software in other
offices. The court found that only 12 of the more than 100 alleged
enhancements actually existed and that Inslaw could not demonstrate that
the company, rather than the government, owned them." Inslaw will have an
opportunity to appeal the matter to a three-judge panel of the same court
before the court's decision is sent to Congress.
Copyright Treaties Spark Debate
Two controversial international treaties intended to protect copyrighted
material on the Internet have re-ignited debate in Congress, a continuation
from last year. As reported earlier, the World Intellectual Property
Organization last December adopted the treaties after debate among
companies, like movie studios and record publishers, that produce
copyrighted works and consumers and users of such works including
scientists, libraries and Internet companies. This week, Utah Republican
Oren Hatch and three other senators introduced implementing legislation in
the Senate, while Rep. Howard Coble (R-North Carolina) and three other
representatives filed an identical bill in the House. Reporter Aaron
Pressman of the Reuter News Service quotes Hatch as saying, "The WIPO
standards will raise the minimum standards for copyright protection
worldwide, providing the U.S. with the tools it needs to combat
international piracy."
Reuters says for the measures to become binding U.S. law, the Senate must
ratify the treaties on a two-thirds vote and both the House and Senate must
approve the implementing legislation. The treaties -- one covering
literary and artistic works, the other for recorded music -- are supposed
to extend the rights of copyright holders
into cyberspace while preserving free "fair use" of the material, " but
many groups are still unhappy with the balance struck in the treaties
between the competing interests," Pressman notes. For instance, copyright
expert Jonathan Band said the implementing legislation was "very poorly
drafted," adding, "It will have the practical effect of sharply curtailing
many of the (current) limitations and exceptions to the Copyright Act."
Hatch says the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, would hold
hearings on the treaties shortly.
Bill Tackles Computer Thefts
California Gov. Pete Wilson has signed a intended to reduce the flow of
stolen computer parts. From Sacramento, United Press International
reports the bill, backed by the high-tech industry, requires commercial
dealers and resellers of computer components to make "reasonable inquiries"
to ensure they're not buying stolen goods. Assemblyman Jim Cunneen, the
San Jose Democrat who sponsored the bill, told UPI illegal buying and
reselling of stolen computers are spurring thefts costing California's
Silicon Valley an estimated $1 million per
week. He added some dealers don't ask questions about computer parts since
they fear they could be incriminated by buying goods they know are stolen.
Under the new law, he said, dealers no longer will be able to feign
ignorance about the sources of their illegal goods, noting the measure
makes it a felony to fail to make reasonable inquiries when property is
valued at more than $400.
Defense Chief Fights Encryption
A National Security Agency official has told Congress proposed legislation
to relax export restrictions on U.S. technology that scrambles computer
messages could undermine efforts to catch terrorists, spies and drug
traffickers. Speaking before the House National Security Committee,
William Crowell, deputy director of the Defense Department agency, called
for the rejection of the bill. Associated Press writer Cassandra Burrell
says Crowell contends the measure would leave law enforcement without a
way to eavesdrop on international criminals using virtually unbreakable
codes. Burrell notes the House Judiciary and International Relations
committees already have approved the bill, which boasts 253 co-sponsors,
which is more than enough to pass the 435-member House.
Supporters say it is nonsense to continue restrictions on U.S. companies
selling encryption technology while foreign companies can freely market
their products, but Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pennyslvania, said he doesn't think
all of the bill's supporters fully understand it. Said Weldon, "I do not
think this bill moves us in the right direction. I'm not totally happy
with the way we're regulating this industry. But I cannot imagine what the
consequences would be if we totally remove the restrictions on encryption
technology." Weldon's stand sets him up in opposition to the Business
Software Alliance, which has lobbied strongly for the bill because it would
allow U.S. encryption producers to compete with foreign businesses.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the measure would
protect America's dominance of the computer industry and would deter crime
by making business transactions, computer records and other communications
more secure, adding, "One thing we can do to promote national security is
to promote the availability of strong encryption to law-abiding people and
organizations." Goodlatte also said that law enforcement agencies' access
to encrypted messages would be no worse than it is today if the bill were
passed. "Encryption," said the congressman, "is going to become available
to criminals whether or not this legislation passes into law."
Administration officials have asked Congress to reject the bill and instead
set up a system that would give developers of encryption technology
incentives to make "keys" -- devices that can unscramble their codes --
available to law enforcement during criminal investigations. The BSA,
though, calls that idea a step backward.
Rights Group Wants Encryption
Congress has been told human rights activists need to use strong computer
encryption programs in their work outside of the country. Swift and
inexpensive communications over the Internet "promise to destroy the
ability of abusive regimes to silence their people, hide their atrocities
and blockade the truth," Dinah PoKempner, deputy general counsel for the
group Human Rights Watch, told a briefing for congressional staff during a
visit to Capitol Hill yesterday. "Encryption offers the most fundamental
protection to those who seek to bring abuses to light in these
circumstances," she said.
Debate over exports of encryption technology has largely pitted the
interests of commercial companies and civil libertarians against those of
law enforcement and intelligence agencies, the Reuter News Service, "but
human rights advocates (say) they also had a critical interest at stake."
Patrick Ball, who trains human rights activists to use the technology, told
the staff members that those who report human rights abuses can become
victims of abuse if discovered, so the availability of encryption to hide
electronic mail messages or faxes can be a matter of "life or death."
Ball, senior program associate with the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, warned the work of human rights groups could be
compromised by the use of so-called "key recovery features" supported by
the Clinton Administration to give governments access to coded messages.
"How can we ensure," said Ball, "that intelligence and law enforcement
groups in repressive countries will not directly or indirectly obtain human
rights groups keys from the U.S. government. Human rights monitoring is
always defined by repressive regimes as a threat to national security."
Microsoft Sues Over Net Postings
Two federal lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles by Microsoft Corp. that
allege illegal posting of Softimage and Microsoft software on Internet
download sites. Reporting from Microsoft's Redmond, Washington,
headquarters, the Dow Jones news service says one suit accuses Caleb Shay
of Burbank, California, of copyright infringement and federal trademark
infringement for allegedly posting an illegal copy of Softimage 3D version
3.7 for downloading at an Internet site. In the second case, the wire
service says, Microsoft alleges an unidentified person made available for
downloading illegal copies of Softimage and Microsoft products.
Montreal-based Softimage Inc., a Microsoft unit, develops software for
media applications such as video, film, interactive games and CD-ROM
applications.
Sculley Joins Israeli Firm's Board
John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Computer Inc., has joined the board of
directors of Zapa Digital Arts, an Israeli company specializing in Internet
tools and servers. According to a statement issued by the Tel Aviv-based
firm, Sculley will take an active role in refining Zapa's business strategy
as well as help foster relationships between Zapa and leading U.S.
technology companies. Sculley is currently chairman of Silicon Valley
start-up Live Picture Corp., "In the world of high-tech Internet solutions
Zapa is unique in that it combines superbly engineered technology with
top-rate visual artistry," says Sculley who has invested an undisclosed
amount in Zapa. "Israel is steadily developing into the next Silicon
Valley, and Zapa is clearly emerging as the leader in Internet visual
communications. I'm very excited about Zapa's prospects in the U.S.
Internet market."
Bone Marrow Match South Online
A dramatic life-and-death struggle to find a compatible bone marrow donor
for a leukemia patient has been brought to the Internet. If a donor isn't
found, Dr. Alan Kuo -- a 33-year-old medical scientist in San Francisco,
who is researching opportunistic infections of the sort that affect victims
of AIDS and various cancers -- may have less than three months to live.
Reporter Craig Menefee of the Newsbytes computer news service brought the
story to light, notes that last week, subscribers to The Top 5 List, a
popular Internet humor list, received a startling edition of the site's
daily newsletter.
Menefee says that instead of the typical tongue-in-cheek list of "top
things to go wrong this week on the MIR space station" or "most ineffective
lines to use on a first date," they read an appeal from editor Chris White,
the list's owner. Writes White, "I apologize in advance for using this
venue for something other than Top 5 or comedy, but I assure you this is of
sufficient urgency to warrant it." After describing Kuo's situation, White
promised his readers "this is no e-mail hoax," adding, "I hope that this is
one instance where the awesome power of the Internet can truly make a
difference."
Kuo, a post-Doctoral fellow who conducts his research at the University of
California Medical Center in San Francisco, suffers from chronic
myelogenious leukemia, which can be cured by eliminating the victim's own
marrow and transplanting compatible marrow from a donor. He said he had
appealed for help to the online world only after a two-year search through
normal channels failed to turn up a donor. "As a person of Asian descent,"
Menefee notes, "Kuo is in a racial minority in the US, so the large donor
data banks in the US had a relatively limited pool of potential donors from
which to draw."
A friend, Raymond Lin, helped Kuo set up a World Wide Web site
(http//www.slip.net/~rwwood) and sent word of the quest for marrow out to
the press. He says the challenge now is to attract the attention of Asians
anywhere in the world. Kuo's only hope is that a compatible person of Asian
genetic background will volunteer as a marrow donor in time to save Kuo's
life. UCSF Professor Nina Agabian, who directs the lab where Kuo works,
told Newsbytes, "Alan's work is helping us develop treatments which will
ameliorate this disease (opportunistic infections) in the AIDS and cancer
patients who suffer from it," adding that the university is doing
everything it can to find a donor. Those of Asian descent who live in the
US can also call the Asian American Donor Program for information at
1-800-59-DONOR.
The Search for Dot Com Launched
The Internet is sending out the word: the search for the real Dot Com has
begun. The folks behind the Excite search engine have launched a contest
running today through Aug. 20 to find this woman and give her the
recognition she deserves. In a statement from Redwood City, Calif., the
company says, "With the incredible growth of the Internet, all America is
talking about '.com.' But, just who is the Dot Com on the lips of everyone
from David Letterman to Al Gore?" Joe Kraus, Excite co-founder and senior
vice president, commented, "We know that Dot Com is more than an Internet
suffix. Given how often her name is discussed in the media today, we feel
that her voice should be heard, and she should have the chance to comment
on the Web and where she sees it going. She is out there and if anyone can
find her we can."
Kraus invites anyone knows a Dot, Dotty or Dorothy Com to log on to the
Excite site (http://www.excite.com) and visit the "Search for Dot Com"
section. Once Excite has verified the identity of each Dot Com entered in
the contest, the company will post the finalists at http://www.excite.com.
Visitors to the site will be asked to vote on their favorite Dot Com based
on information found in each finalist's profile. The finalist receiving
the most unduplicated votes will be crowned "Ms. Dot Com" and receive a
$500 cash prize and Excite wearables.
Fastest Computers Link Five Schools
The world's fastest computers -- those used by the government for
top-secret nuclear weapons work -- will be accessible to five universities
for the first time under a 10-year $250 million Energy Department research
program. Associated Press writer H. Josef Hebert quotes Energy Secretary
Federico Pena as saying the research programs, although unclassified, will
support broader efforts by the government to simulate nuclear explosions
and ensure reliability of the U.S. weapons stockpile without actual bombs
being detonated. AP says the government's computer at the Sandia National
Laboratories is the fastest in the world -- 20 times faster than any
computer now used by universities. The department has two other computers
-- now running below maximum speed -- that soon will be even faster.
The universities as part of the research program will be able to use as
much as 10 percent of the capacity of the three computers. The five
universities, selected among 49 applicants, are:
z California Institute of Technology, which will examine the effect of
shock waves from high explosives on various materials.
z University of Chicago, which will simulate cosmic thermal nuclear
explosions in an attempt to learn more about why stars explode.
z Stanford University, which will use computer simulations to study the
design of gas turbine engines.
z University of Illinois, which will examine the physics of advanced
rocket propulsion.
z University of Utah, which will use computer simulations to examine
accidental fires and explosions involving highly flammable materials.
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
August '97 definition update for Norton AntiVirus 8/01/97 1.5mb Free
This file is a complete replacement for any previous definitions set for
all of the Norton AntiVirus products. The product list includes Norton
AntiVirus 3.0 (DOS/Win 3.1), Norton AntiVirus for Windows 95, Norton
AntiVirus Scanner for Windows NT, and Norton AntiVirus for NetWare 1.0 and
2.0.
Home Page Site - http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Panzer General 2 for Win95 8/01/97 41.0 mb Commercial Demo
More than a sequel. An entire generation beyond anything yet seen in
strategy games. And seeing is believing. Witness the LIVING BATTLEFIELD, a
new standard for strategy game artwork. Featuring the heightened realism of
hand-rendered maps - thirty painstakingly crafted battlefields that are
faithful to the real ones of WWII - the LIVING BATTLEFIELD also showcases
detailed rendered combat units. Of course, this beauty is beyond skin deep.
The phenomenol game play of the second generation PANZER GENERAL game
engine is truly awesome. Battles rage through WWII's Eastern and Western
Fronts, North Africa, even the continental USA.
Home Page Site - http://www.panzergeneral.com/main.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Microsoft Netshow Player 32-bit 2.0 Release Candidate
8/01/97 1.60mb Freeware
NetShow is the easiest, most cost-effective way to stream audio,
illustrated audio, and video across intranets and the Internet. Normally, a
user has to wait for an entire file to be transferred before using
networked multimedia content. Streaming lets users see or hear the
information as it arrives, without having to wait. Unlike other streaming
products, NetShow lets content providers generate compelling productions in
which audio, graphics, video, URLs and script commands can be synchronized
based on a timeline.
Home Page Site - http://www.microsoft.com/netshow/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Football Prophecy Version 2.0 7/29/97 7,677kb Shareware $30.00
An NFL Football Game Statistical Analysis tool and is Unique in that you
do not have to pay for Weekly Statistics. All you have to do is input the
stats from you local Newspaper and FP does all the work for you. It
displays statistics that are not commonly given to the public unless you
suscribe to a 1-900 service or weekly Newsletter. Football Prophecy Does
have prediction ability but the real assets of this program is the Head to
Head match analysis that it incorporates before each game!
Home Page Site - http://www.flare.net/users/rolap/index.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Thumbnail Image Previewer Version 1.0 7/31/97 1,200kb Shareware
$10.00
Thumbnail is a file previewer that supports JPEG, BMP, WMF, TXT and HTML
file formats. Thumbnail adds a menu item to the context (right-click) menu
and allows quick and easy viewing of supported file types.
Home Page Site - http://www.mindspring.com/~evasager/Interlocking/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Fast Dir Deluxe Version 1.00.002.5 7/30/97 32kb Shareware $5.00
This program is to create a fast snap shot view of your files/directory
folders. Where you can view them at anytime, print, copy and past the
information anywhere for all your files, directories and folders.This
program will also create multi-span directories view files which can be
printed out later or saved to disk. Folders, drives, recycling bin are
required for this program to work from. Right click on any folder will call
up the Fast Dir menu pop up. Feature 5 different click on command choices.
The default mode will create two different multi-span views which will
appear after the program is completed. Create a subdir file will produce a
duplicate folder name for the saved viewed Fast Dir file and place it into
the main root directory. Create a root dir file would produce a root file
for that main root of a drive. The other two features are for the printer.
All of these command choices are explained in the full manual.
Home Page Site - http://users.aol.com/tipstir/private/fd-1097.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Don't Get Taken For A Ride Version 4.0 7/27/97 2,104kb Shareware
$16.95
Learn how to successfully buy a new or user car. Save thousands of
dollars. If you or someone you know is about to buy a car, "Don't Get Taken
For A Ride"
Home Page Site - http://www.digitaltek.com/carbuyer/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
iavaZIP Version 1.0 8/01/97 2,900kb Shareware $49.00
Main feature is it's treestructure, which makes zipping and extracting
easy and powerful. It enables you to zip and extract files from anywhere.
That means, that you are no longer limited to zip files from one folder and
it's subfolders only. iavaZIP provides additional features, like an
integrated file viewer, 10 compression levels, support for working from the
command line and a very easy-to-use interface. Versions for other operating
systems are available too.
Home Page Site - http://www.sfs-software.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Shadows of the Empire 8/01/97 6.90mb Commercial Demo
Enter Prince Xizor - sinister servant of the Dark Side. Lord of the Black
Sun crime ring. Mastermind behind a brazen plot to assassinate Luke
Skywalker. But YOU, as maverick mercenary Dash Rendar, have other plans.
Stop Xizor. Protect Luke. Rescue Han Solo from the carbonite-cold clutches
of Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett. All with your blaster, brains and bravery.
Game features: Coded specifically for the explosive graphics processing
power of your 3D accelerator card. A Star Wars universe so detailed you can
see the tow cable around an Imperial AT-AT FIVE gameplay modes - in a
variety of vehicles and spacecraft - from the heavily armored Outrider, to
snowspeeders, hovertrains, jet packs and speeder bikes.
NOTE: Requires a 3dfx, verite or permedia 2 based 3D card.
Home Page Site - http://www.lucasarts.com/static/shadows/shadows.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
WinGo Version 1.5b 7/30/97 191kb Shareware $22.00
Lets you make folder aliases that you can access in your system tray.
Home Page Site - http://www.metaproducts.com/metaproducts.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Membership Librarian 97 Version 1.5 7/30/97 1,440kb Shareware
$69.95
Keeps track of the members in your club or association, by tracking
names, address, phone numbers, email addresses, dues/fees and more. Send
form letters, create mailing labels, make phone calls with built-in dialer
and more. Includes dBase/ASCII import/export and backup/restore module to
safegard your data.
Home Page Site - http://www.turbosystems.com/membersh.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Microsoft DirectX 5.0 7/28/97 5.60mb Free
Here they are, the latest set of DirectX drivers from Microsoft. Some of
the new features in this release: Improved 3d, better MMX support, support
for force feedback controllers and lots of other tweaks and fixes.
Home Page Site - http://www.microsoft.com/directx/default.asp
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Copyto Version 1.23 7/30/97 224kb Shareware $12.00
An Explorer Add-on that adds a menu "Copyto" to copy, move, delete,
update, synchronize files in two folders.You can select the target folder
easily by using the browse button. Briefcase like function that can
synchronize files in two folders with filetype filtering and excluding
specified folders. Display the Operation list before execution. You can
select or deselect files in the list by Right click. You can run Copyto.exe
at the DOS prompt or created shortcut link with command line options.
Display the time stamps and size of files, the nearly space required on
Target, lining up the column, open with the associated application by right
click in the file operation list of the Update function.
Home Page Site - http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~bd7k-isi/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Kali for Win95 beta 1.1t 8/01/97 2.20mb Shareware $20
Kali is the largest Internet gaming system in the world with over 100,000
users and 300 servers in 35 countries. "So what do Kali actually do?
Simple: Kali makes your Internet connection appear to be an IPX connection
to your game. This means that all those IPX games can now be played with a
number of other users over the Internet."
Home Page Site - http://www.kali.net/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Numetrics ID Version 2.0.84 7/30/97 636kb Shareware $29.95
Numetrics ID is a Windows(R) Call ID monitor. It records Call ID
information for inbound and outbound calls. A few of the useful things
Numetrics ID can do include: Screen inbound calls by display a Call ID
popup window. Print call histories by day, month, or year. Monitor multiple
lines and addresses.
Home Page Site - http://numetrics.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Disk Shuffle Pro Version 1.0 8/01/97 870kb Shareware $19.95
This program will allow you to take 1.44 meg or smaller files and copy as
many of them as possible to floppy diskettes. This is idea for email, text
files, music files, graphics files, and small programs. Requires the VB 5.0
Runtimes.
Home Page Site - http://www2.ldd.net/logicwizards/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
WinPack Deluxe 32-bit 2.0 beta 8/06/97 .84mb Shareware $21
WinPack32 Deluxe supports Zip, Gzip, Arj, Lharc, Tar, Unix Compress (LZW
option only), Zoo, UUEncode, XXEncode, Binhex 4.0, Mime/Base64, Freeze,
SIT, ATOB/BTOA, Quake PAK. You can create as well as extract from any
supported format. Features include, ability to view any file type within an
archive, archive conversion, built-in self-extractor, drag-n-drop,
recursive subdirectories, multipart archive support, subarchive support,
disk spanning, self-extracting disk spans, zip decryption and encryption.
Home Page Site - http://www.rdsretrospect.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Leimotif - Navigation Light Sequences Version 2.0
8/01/97 369kb Shareware$20.00
A learning and operational aid for internationally recognised navigation
lights. Useful for yachtsmen and women throughout the world. Includes
buoyage and mark lights, port traffic lights (control lights) and cardinal
lights. Enter light characteristics from chart or pilot chartlet and the
sequence is displayed. Includes full Windows Help support.
Home Page Site - http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dlheb/lugrig/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
EditPad 32-bit 3.2.0 8/02/97 .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:
* EditPad can open as much files at a time as you want.
* You change between the open files by clicking on their tabs. No hassle
with heaps of overlapping
windows.
* 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.
* Block functions: save parts of your text to disk and insert a file in
the current text
* 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
QuickTime 32 Version 2.12 8/01/97 2,566kb Freeware
A computer running Windows 95 or Windows NT Description: This software
allows you view QuickTime movies and QuickTime VR (Virtual Reality)
Panoramas and Objects directly in your web browser window.
Home Page Site - http://www.quicktime.apple.com/sw/qtwin32.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
WinTune 97 for WinNT Version 1.2 8/01/97 1,402kb Freeware
Benchmarking utility specifically designed for Windows NT! Checks your
video system, hard drive, memory, and just about everything else, then
gives a detailed report and suggestions on improving performance.
Home Page Site - http://www.winmag.com/software/wt97.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Medicalc Version 1.0 8/01/97 696kb Shareware $40.00
This Windows-95 program calculates:
centile values for childrens' height, weight, and head circumference
measurements
current gestation and estimated date of delivery for pregnant women
predicted peak flow measurements for children and adults
Home Page Site - http://www.buttar.demon.co.uk/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Pixel 3D Version 1.071 8/02/97 1,300kb Demo $69.00
Pixel 3D for Windows is both the novice and professional's choice for
creating, converting and rendering 3D objects and logos. Pixel 3D is ideal
for creating beautiful 3D images of text, logos and objects for use in web
site construction, or for adding that 3D look to work done in programs such
as Photoshop. This is a full working trial version.
Home Page Site - http://www.forwarddesign.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Interco - International Code of Signals Version 2.0 8/01/97 383kb
Shareware $10.00
A learning and operational aid for the International Code of Signals.
Useful for yachtmen and women throughout the world. Inlcudes one- and two-
flag signals, the International Phonetic Alphabet and the Morse Code in
visual and audio forms.
Home Page Site - http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dlheb/lugrig/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Information Manager Version 4.00 8/01/97 8,982kb Shareware $39.99
An address book, appointment calendar, note pad calendar, Internet
browser and much more. Thirty two bit software designed to carry the
Microsoft tm "Windows 95" label, J.I.M. has been carefully crafted to be
simple and flexible yet integrated and powerful. J.I.M. is fully color,
font configurable and resizes all dialog displays to fit the screen. A
minimum screen resolution of 640 x 480 x 256 colors is supported but best
results are realized at higher screen resolutions. J.I.M. offers unique
user specified data filters. Through the use of these filters custom access
to your data can be achieved. J.I.M. also comes with Microsoft tm Internet
Explorer built right into the program and in many areas J.I.M. is tightly
coupled with the Internet. These are a few of J.I.M.s main features.
Home Page Site - http://www.wjohnson.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
MegaView 32-bit 4.00 plug-in 8/02/97 .19mb Free
The MegaView Plug-in displays XGL movies (Vector Cel Animations) and XGL
drawings (stills). As a bonus, it also displays Windows metafiles and
bitmaps. XGL drawings are an entirely new vector drawing format that are
based on the XGL graphics language, not a rigid file structure. XGL drawing
files are between 10 and 100 times smaller than common vector file formats.
XGL movies are created from several XGL drawings and provide all the normal
cel animation capabilities in a tiny file size. They are between 3 and 10
times smaller than equivalent Macromedia Flash animations.
Home Page Site - http://www.ozemail.com.au/~xcorp/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Collection Access System Version 1.51c 8/02/97 2,164kb Shareware
$25.00
A program that helps you to organize collections of music, comic books,
books/magazines, software and videos and soon others too. It's written in
Visual Basic 5.0 for Windows95/NT compiled in native mode. Support for this
software is by email, phone call, or written mail. Registration is
reasonable. Customized additions will be programmed for the cost of the
registration fee.
Home Page Site - http://www.execupages.com/ndsr/cas.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Postmark 32-bit 1.0 beta 4 8/05/97 3.20mb Shareware $29.95
Anawave Postmark represents a breakthrough for people who desire a fast,
32-bit, "knock-your-socks-off" e-mail client. In addition, Postmark's
colorful user-interface makes sorting, searching, reading and composing e-
mail messages fun! And, that's not all.
This powerful new application features HTML & RTF support (as well as plain
text), drag & drop attachments, built-in address book, spell checking, auto-
forwarding, pager support, advanced inbound and outbound message filters,
multiple POP accounts, as well as MIME & uuencode. And, best of all,
Postmark includes great sound effects, "smileys" and interface "themes", as
well as a fully customizable toolbar.
Home Page Site - http://www.anawave.com/postmark/index.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
F-Prot 16-bit 2.27a 8/05/97 1.0mb Free
F-prot has many ways to protect your information against viruses,
including the new Word-specific macro viruses. You can select the
appropriate methods to use in your organization or use them all for maximum
security: 1)a resident DOS scanner -- VIRSTOP 2)a resident Windows scanner
-- F-PROT Gatekeeper VxD 3)a non-resident DOS scanner with excellent
disinfection features 4)a rule based scanner to detect previously unknown
viruses 5)a checksumming program which, in addition to detecting, is also
able to disinfect previously unknown viruses 6)a wide array of automation
and scheduling utilities to completely automate both the installation and
scanning phases.
Home Page Site - http://www.europe.datafellows.com/f-prot/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
DGPlayer95 Version 2.81 8/01/97 2,370kb Shareware $15.00
A full featured Windows95 CD player which uses Digital LED and Dot Matrix
Display Basic CD controls, 5 Play Modes,Accelerator Key,Programmable up to
25 songs, 4 Time Display Modes,Customizable Display Color, Autorun
(g),Direct Play from Windows Explorer,Minimize to Task Bar or System Tray,
CD Recognition, CD Title and 70 Track Names entry for each particular CD,
Time saving CD data Import from / Export to Microsoft CDPlayer, Handy Pop
up menu when minimized as tray icon, 10 controllable volume levels, Always
on Top, CHANGABLE BACKGROUND, Start Minimized/ In Tray, Easy to Use
Interface. Now gives more of a 3D look. Supports BMP/GIF theme.
Customizable FF/RR/speed. Requires the VB 5.0 Runtimes.
Home Page Site -
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/8688/index.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
WinZip 32-bit 6.3 beta 5 8/06/97 .70mb 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/
Norton AntiVirus Version 4.0 B eta 8/05/97 5,710kb Demo
This version of our antivirus product will incorporate Symantec's
revolutionary Bloodhound technology which moves well beyond traditional
methods of virus detection and can detect a large percentage of new and
unknown viruses that have not yet been analyzed by antivirus researchers.
Home Page Site - http://www.symantec.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
McAfee Scan for Windows 95 Version 3.1.0 8/05/97 3,900kb Shareware
$65.00
The most popular shareware virus scanner! Comes complete with ViruShield.
Home Page Site - http://www.mcafee.com/
EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed
Edupage
Contents
Ellison Says Jobs Will Take The Job
The People And Markets In Apple's
Eye
Sun To Buy Diba
Macs Outperform PCs In Digital
Media Production
Exponential To Auction Chip Patents
First HTML Digital Library In The
Computer Field
Justice Department Approves
Microsoft Purchase Of WebTV
The Domain Name Called Prince
"Watch-Class" Personal Digital
Assistant
Wind-Up Computer
Bill Would Make Software Copying A
Felony
New Intel Ad Policy Could Boost Web
Advertising 40%
Progressive Networks And MCI To
Offer Multicast Video
Apple Cloners Get Mac Os 8,
Rhapsody Future Still Gray
Internet 2's Killer Apps
BellSouth Prepares Invasion Of
Other Markets
Java Still Brewing
Spam Wars
Looking Back On Amelio's Apple Days
Wired Cools Off, Discovers
Continent "West Of California"
Microsoft Comes To Aid Of Apple
Some Reactions To Apple
Announcements
New Tech PAC Pushes Securities Law
Change
NSF Requires Grantees To Be 2000-
Compliant
Intel, SAP Unit Plan Internet
Commerce Venture
Material Shipments In A Material
World
Pepco To Offer Telephone, Internet,
Cable TV Services
The Net Is Alive With The Sound Of
Music
DVD Notebooks Due Out Soon
ELLISON SAYS JOBS WILL TAKE THE JOB
According to an interview in Friday's La Tribune, a French financial
newspaper, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison says he will be taking a seat on
Apple's board of directors, and that despite reports to the contrary, Steve
Jobs will become chairman. In addition, Ellison says he plans to invest
an undisclosed amount of his personal wealth in Apple, as a hedge against a
Microsoft monopoly. (InfoWorld Electric 1 Aug 97)
THE PEOPLE AND MARKETS IN APPLE'S EYE
Meanwhile, while he is working hard at recruiting a new CEO and new board
members for Apple, Steve Jobs is refocusing the company on the education
and publishing markets and mandating a crash program to develop a stripped-
down "network computer" based on Macintosh technology and aimed at the home
and education markets. His first choice for new CEO is Kodak chief
executive George M.C. Fisher, but Fisher has been saying that he has no
desire to leave Kodak. As new board members, Jobs wants Larry Ellison of
Oracle, John Warnock of Adobe, and investment banker Daniel Case of
Hambrecht & Quist. (New York Times 1 Aug 97)
SUN TO BUY DIBA
Sun Microsystems will buy Internet appliance software designer Diba for an
undisclosed sum. Diba has made a name for itself designing technology to
run so-called "information appliances" aimed a broad consumer base, such as
TV set-top boxes, screen telephones and circuitry to transform televisions
into Internet devices. (Wall Street Journal 1 Aug 97)
MACS OUTPERFORM PCs IN DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION
An independently funded research study by Gistics, Inc. (Larkspur, Calif.)
found that users of Macintosh computers produced on an average $26,441
more annual revenue and $14,488 more net profit per person than Windows
users of comparable skill, doing similar work. The results are based on a
survey of 30,226 media professionals and 10,000 media companies. "We were
surprised," says Gistics' editor-in-chief. "But the bottom line is, if you
want to make a profit as a media production studio, large or small, buy a
Mac, because the return on investment is clear." < research@gistics.com >
(Information Week, 28 Jul 97)
EXPONENTIAL TO AUCTION CHIP PATENTS
Defunct microprocessor manufacturer Exponential Technology is preparing to
auction off its portfolio of 45 granted and pending patents, and industry
experts anticipate a scramble for the rights to inventions that could
provide a shortcut to creating chips to rival Intel's next-generation
Merced microprocessor. "It's a very good portfolio," says a patent expert.
"It will make it easier for people to compete with Intel or license patents
from them." He notes that Exponential filed for a Merced-like patent on
Aug. 31, 1994, about six months before Intel filed for a similar patent.
"This filing predates Intel's filing and it is possible it could knock out
their Merced patent," says a consulting patent agent for Exponential. "It
has strategic value." Meanwhile, Intel is also in discussions with
Exponential, and is considering bidding on the portfolio in order to keep
it out of rivals' hands. (Wall Street Journal 1 Aug 97)
FIRST HTML DIGITAL LIBRARY IN THE COMPUTER FIELD
Seventeen of the IEEE Computer Society's 19 magazines are now being made
available online http://www.computer.org As each periodical issue is
completed, the tables of contents, article abstracts, and PDF versions of
the individual articles are posted on the Web -- ahead of the mailing of
the paper edition. Later, the issue's complete contents will be posted in
HTML form: full text searchable, with math rendered as GIF images, all
graphical images as separately manipulable objects, etc. At the end of
this year access will be limited to Society members, but currently access
is free to everyone. (Computer Magazine Aug 97)
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPROVES MICROSOFT
PURCHASE OF WEBTV
The Justice Department has approved Microsoft's $425-million acquisition of
WebTV Networks, saying that the Department's investigation of the deal
"confirmed that a number of other companies, several of whom are
significant participants in the computer or consumer electronics
industries, have or will soon enter the market with competitive products
and alternative technologies'' and concluding that the acquisition would
not be in violation of anti-trust laws. Microsoft executive Craig Mundie
says: "We hope to dramatically accelerate the merger of the Internet and
television." (AP 1Aug 97)
THE DOMAIN NAME CALLED PRINCE
Prince Sports Group, a U.S.-based manufacturer of sports equipment that
owns both U.S. and British registered trademarks to the name "Prince," is
demanding the right to the prince.com domain name, even though the British-
based Prince Plc, a computer services firm, has been using it since 1995
when it registered the name with Network Solutions Inc. An English judge
has refused Prince Sports Group's request that Prince Plc hand over the
name, so the case likely will be settled in the U.S. court where Prince
Sports Group also has filed suit. The case is significant because Prince
Plc claims that companies that have done business for several years under
a recognized brand name should be recognized by Network Solutions as
having a legitimate claim to the name, even if they don't hold a trademark.
"This decision shows the care which must be taken in dealing with problems
arising on the Internet," says a British trademark lawyer. "What may be
perfectly acceptable practice in one jurisdiction may be unlawful in
another." (TechWire 31 Jul 97)
"WATCH-CLASS" PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT
Starfish Software and Citizen Watch have teamed up to produce the Rolodex
Electronic Express (REX) -- a 1.4-ounce "watch-class wearable device" that
can store thousands of names, appointments and memos using a Type II PC
Card. The REX comes with its own LCD screen and runs six "micro-
applications": calendar, address list, to-do list, memo, world clock,
and preferences tool kit functions. "With technology like this, I expect
that you will see that same device with a pager built into it in the near
future," says the editor of Seybold's Outlook on Communications. "It's
going to be a hot product, and at $99, it's a no-brainer." (InfoWorld
Electric 31 Jul 97)
WIND-UP COMPUTER
A demonstration at an educational conference in Botswana showed that a low-
powered Apple E-Mate 300 computer could be connected to a radio powered by
a wind-up generator. Trevor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork radio, said
he was contacted by exhibitors from Apple Computer to see if his radio,
which has a jack in the back to plug in a flashlight, could be used to
power a laptop computer. The E-Mate 300 laptop will run for 24 hours on a
single charge. (Sapa-DPA 1 Aug 97)
BILL WOULD MAKE SOFTWARE COPYING A FELONY
A bill sponsored by Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-Va.) and supported by the
Software Publishers Association would make it a felony to copy more than
$5,000 worth of software. The "No Electronic Theft Act" stipulates that
any person who reproduces 10 or more copies of copyright software totaling
more than $5,000 could land a three-year jail sentence. A second offense
could net six years in a federal prison. The bill is designed to close
the current loophole that exempts software copying from criminal
prosecution unless it is willful and for profit. The U.S. Senate is
considering a similar bill. (PC World Online 4 Aug 97)
NEW INTEL AD POLICY COULD BOOST
WEB ADVERTISING 40%
A change in Intel's cooperative advertising policy could boost next year's
Internet ad expenditures by up to 40%, or $166 million, over and above the
roughly $400 million that Forrester Research estimates will be spent on
Internet ads this year. Up until now, Intel has reimbursed hardware
companies that incorporate the Intel logo or "Intel Inside" slogan in their
ads 50% for a television ad and 66% for a print ad. Starting next year,
Intel will allow companies to use 10% of the funds in the advertising
account to pay for half the cost of a Web ad. "Intel decided that we
wanted to be on the Web and that we needed our customers' help," says the
manager of the Intel Inside program. "Do we know exactly what we're going
to get out of this Web program? No." (Wall Street Journal 5 Aug 97)
PROGRESSIVE NETWORKS AND MCI TO OFFER MULTICAST VIDEO
Seattle-based Progressive Networks is forming a partnership with MCI to
develop a video multicast capability for distributing digital video
programs to as many as 50,000 PC users simultaneously. The project is
described as the first phase of a technology that will eventually be able
to offer digital television at a quality as good as provided by
conventional TV broadcasts. (New York Times 5 Aug 97)
APPLE CLONERS GET MAC OS 8, RHAPSODY FUTURE STILL GRAY
It appears that Apple Macintosh cloners will be allowed to use the new Mac
OS 8 software in their machines under the terms of their current licenses,
but new agreements will likely be necessary before the clone makers can get
their hands n Apple's next-generation Rhapsody operating system. In
addition, Apple hasn't yet committed to licensing the software needed to
begin making Mac-compatibles using a new hardware design called the Common
Reference Hardware Platform, or CRHP. "We are very concerned for the
viability of our ongoing business," says a VP at Umax, one of the
companies producing Mac clones, which was granted access to Mac OS 8 late
last week. (Wall Street Journal 4 Aug 97)
INTERNET 2'S KILLER APPS
Some of the applications being proposed by Internet 2 participants include
"virtual laboratories," where researchers in geographically remote
locations can don goggles and data gloves to work together with colleagues
using centralized lab equipment, and "tele-immersion," where researchers
and students at different universities put on headsets to enter a shared
workspace for product or architectural design. Advanced digital libraries
could track patrons' interests via "user profiles" kept on centralized
computers that then automatically e-mailed digital versions of new books or
articles that matched a profile. Music scholars could "jam" with
musicians around the country. But one of the most difficult applications,
says the director of the project's applications group, will be the
development of a traffic-regulating system to provide "quality of service"
-- a mechanism that will allow a time-sensitive transmission, such as video
from an electron microscope, to be given priority over e-mail. (Chronicle
of Higher Education 8 Aug 97)
BELLSOUTH PREPARES INVASION OF OTHER MARKETS
BellSouth, the Atlanta-based Bell regional operating company, is creating a
new subsidiary that will act as a "Competitive Local Exchange Carrier
(CLEC)" allowing it to resell BellSouth services in new markets and to
change the prices as the market dictates -- unlike the parent company,
which is heavily regulated because it enjoys a virtual monopoly on local
phone service within its Southeastern markets. (Atlanta Journal-
Constitution 5 Aug 97)
JAVA STILL BREWING
After all the hype last year about Sun Microsystems' Java programming
language, it has yet to really hit the mainstream of computer programming
languages. A Forrester Research survey in May found that only 16% of
companies that said they would use Java had actually installed any Java
applications. And a Zona Research study last month indicated that 50% of
respondents were worried about the software's ability to run on all
platforms. Forty-three percent of the 279 companies involved questioned
whether Java was fast enough for their needs. In response to such doubts,
combined with the fear of the proliferation of too many Java versions, Sun
and its corporate partners have formed an alliance called "100% Pure
Java." "There is no question there is support in the industry for Java,"
says a Zona analyst. "The real question is whether Java is ready for
prime time... This is a very immature technology, only about two years old.
It was decades before other programming languages hit their peak in
functionality." (Investor's Business Daily 4 Aug 97)
SPAM WARS
A group of system administrators has decided to fight the "spam" problem
(mass-distributed unsolicited advertisements sent inappropriately) by
blocking all Usenet messages postings sent from UUNet, a major Internet
service provider. Both sides in the controversy are describing the
conflict in terms of warfare. The Electronic Freedom Foundation's legal
counsel, Mike Godwin, deplores the blockade as an example of "vigilante
action," and says: "I'm very much in sympathy because spam really has
become an enormous problem, but not all the messages they're blocking are
spam. This is like dropping a nuclear bomb on a town because you know
there's a terrorist living there." Whereas Dennis McClain-Furman,
spokesman for the group that organized the blocking of all postings to
Usenet from UUNet, says: "We are convinced this action was necessary to
save the Net... In military terms, this is acceptable collateral damage."
(San Jose Mercury News 5 Aug 97)
LOOKING BACK ON AMELIO'S APPLE DAYS
Asked whether he felt "beat up" after his forced resignation as chief
executive of Apple Computer, Gil Amelio says: "I feel the press has been a
little harder on me than is justified. They've taken the real simple
story: 'Gil ran the place for 17 months, and Apple is still not making
money, so I guess they need to try somebody else.' The story is more
complicated and positive than that... I don't think the company would have
survived if I hadn't stepped in. I solved the cash crisis, articulated a
strategy for the operating system and put in place the operating discipline
that resulted in getting great products out on time. The pride in Apple
had started to come back." Does Amelio think Oracle's Larry Ellison --
recruited to Apple's board of directors by Steve Jobs -- is a good choice?
"Larry is very smart but a very strong personality. If you are bringing in
a CEO, and he is trying to do his own thing, and he has Jobs on one hand
and Ellison on the other, I think it is going to be difficult." And what
about rumors that Jobs engineered Amelio's ouster? "You are asking me to
speculate. Steve called me here and made a strong statement that he had
nothing to do with it and that he had the highest regard for me, blah,
blah, blah." (USA Today 4 Aug 97)
WIRED COOLS OFF, DISCOVERS CONTINENT
"WEST OF CALIFORNIA"
Wired magazine is hoping to reinvent itself: "You can only be cool once,"
says Wired executive editor Kevin Kelly, "so I think we're going into a
postcool period and we're going to be as radical as we can without being
cool." The new direction? "I don't think at all that the storm has passed
or the rebels have cleared the street. So we'll still be there trying to
scout ahead and report back from this other continent west of California
that we call the future. All we're saying is this revolution is bigger
than you thought." (New York Times 4 Aug 97)
MICROSOFT COMES TO AID OF APPLE
Stunned Macintosh enthusiasts at the Macworld trade show in Boston heard
their idol, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, announce that Microsoft will
invest $150 million for a nonvoting stake in Apple. Jobs also announced
that Microsoft Explorer will be preinstalled on new Macintosh computers
and that the two companies will work together in a variety of other ways.
A live ideo appearance by Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates was greeted
by boos and jeers from some in the audience, but Jobs told the hecklers
that they should be grateful to Gates for coming to Apple's assistance.
The conference was also used to announce that the new Apple board of
directors would consist of Bill Campbell, chief executive of Intuit;
Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle; Jerome York, vice chair of the
Tracinda investment company; Jobs himself; and board holdovers Edgar
Woolard Jr. and Gareth C.C. Chang. (San Jose Mercury News 6 Aug 97)
SOME REACTIONS TO APPLE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Among the questions still facing Apple is who the new chief executive
officer will be, and how he or she will interact with the board of
directors. Industry analyst Greg Blatnik says that "it's kind of like
Berlin. You have the rubble and the devastation of a ravaged city and you
have the occupation forces coming in and maybe dividing it up. The
question is: Is a wall going to go up?" Microsoft seems to be a clear
winner in the deal, which protects the substantial revenue stream that
comes from Macintosh versions of Microsoft word processing and spreadsheet
software -- and which, by keeping Apple afloat as a viable competitor,
will help protect Microsoft from federal antitrust charges. The losers,
presumably, are Sun, which champions Java-based network computers rather
than fully loaded PCs, along with Netscape, since Netscape's Navigator
software has now lost to Explorer as the preferred Web browser for
Macintosh computers. (New York Times 7 Aug 97)
NEW TECH PAC PUSHES SECURITIES LAW CHANGE
The recently formed Technology Network, a high-tech public policy
association, is supporting federal legislation that would curb the
frivolous shareholder class-action lawsuits now cluttering state courts,
after a 1995 law made it difficult to file such cases in federal court.
President Clinton has indicated his willingness to sign such a law.
"Without uniform standards, companies can't risk giving investors
appropriate forward-looking information," says Technology Network co-
chairman John Doerr. "Today's state-by-state, haphazard approach leaves
companies vulnerable to frivolous lawsuits and investors without
meaningful forecasts. The state-by-state approach is out of date with the
demands of global competition and the goal of encouraging risk-taking
entrepreneurs." (TechWire 6 Aug 97)
NSF REQUIRES GRANTEES TO BE 2000-COMPLIANT
The National Science Foundation issued a warning to grant recipients last
week, putting them on notice that the Foundation expects them to take "all
steps necessary to mitigate potential problems" resulting from the Year
2000 problem. "Many computer systems may experience operational
difficulties because they are unable to handle the change from the year
1999 to the year 2000," said the Foundation's director. "Others may fail
because they do not properly consider 2000 a leap year... The National
Science Foundation should be notified if an awardee concludes that the
Year 2000 will have a significant impact on its ability to carry out an
NSF grant." (Chronicle of Higher Education 8 Aug 97)
INTEL, SAP UNIT PLAN INTERNET COMMERCE VENTURE
Intel Corp. and SAP America, a unit of the German database firm, are
teaming up to offer small- and medium-size businesses hardware and
software aimed at making Internet commerce easier. The new company,
Pandesic LLC, will offer a new product, priced between $20,000 and
$40,000, based on Intel servers and a simplified version of SAP's R/3
business-management software. The new system will handle matters such as
accounting and logistics of sales over the Internet. Pandesic officials
say it will only take about six weeks to deploy the new system. (Wall
Street Journal 6 Aug 97)
MATERIAL SHIPMENTS IN A MATERIAL WORLD
A search of a dozen top Internet shopping sites on Tuesday found only one -
- bookseller amazon.com -- had posted information about the effect the UPS
strike would have on the delivery of its shipments. Internet entrepreneur
Bill Gross of Idealab! Inc. says: "Just like if you thought computers
would make paper obsolete, you'd be wrong to think the Internet will make
final delivery obsolete." Package delivery "is the distribution of the
future." (USA Today 7 Aug 97)
PEPCO TO OFFER TELEPHONE, INTERNET, CABLE TV SERVICES
Washington, D.C. utility Potomac Electric Power Company plans to partner
with telecom start-up RCN Corp. to offer bundled telephone, Internet and
cable TV services via a fiber-optic network the two companies plan to
construct. The joint venture hopes to expand beyond the District and
close-in suburbs to reach more than 40 communities within three years, and
could eventually serve as many as 200 communities. (Communications Week
Interactive 6 Aug 97)
THE NET IS ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Record companies Warner, Sony, and BMG -- which together account for more
than 40% of all U.S. sales of music CDs and cassettes -- are going to sell
almost all of their new and past released direct to the public over the
Internet. Of the three, Sony is taking the most aggressive approach to
online retailing, and has lowered the online prices lower than the full
list price to levels equivalent to the established record chains such as
Tower and Camelot and online music specialists such as CDnow and
Entertainment Boulevard. (Financial Times 7 Aug 97)
DVD NOTEBOOKS DUE OUT SOON
Toshiba is putting the finishing touches on a slim DVD-ROM drive that will
be incorporated into the company's notebook PCs in the next few months.
The DVD-equipped machine will feature an Intel Pentium MMX CPU and an MPEG-
2 decoder necessary for decompressing data from the DVD drive. The new PCs
will be backward-compatible with today's CD-ROM drives. (InfoWorld
Electric 6 Aug 97)
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alt.binaries.sounds.midi
Frequently-Asked Questions
"Official" FAQ Maintainer: Jason Thibeault (roguewar@nbnet.nb.ca)
"Previous" FAQ Maintainers: Vikram Pant (vikram@midifest.com), Viet-Tam
Luu, Dave Williss (dwilliss@microimages.com)
To submit additions or changes, see Appendix B.
Preface
A few points/thoughts I would like to mention:
* The abbreviation "a.b.s.m" has been changed to "a.b.s.midi" to avoid
confusion with the group alt.binaries.sounds.mods (and possibly
others).
* All sections marked with a pound sign (#) are being written, and all
sections marked with an exclamation mark (!) have not been completed.
* Remember, this is the alt.binaries.sounds.midi FAQ; in other words, if
you're reading this then this is your FAQ... CONTRIBUTE! See Appendix
B for further information on how to do this.
* I, Jason, recently took over as maintainer of this FAQ and will be
updating it and changing it slightly. In fact, I plan on giving the
bloody thing a root canal, weeding out all the bad links. But there
may still be some out-of-date links or facts, please let me know right
away if any such occurences spring up.
Index
* Introduction
* Changes
* 1. MIDI
o 1.1 What is MIDI all about?
o 1.2 What are "MIDI's"?
+ 1.2.1 What is GS and how is it different from GM?
o 1.3 What are differences between sound files, .MOD-type files,
and MIDI files?
o 1.4 Why can't I convert a .WAV file to a MIDI file?
o 1.5 What is a .KAR file?
o 1.6 Can I convert a MIDI to a .WAV file?
* 2. alt.binaries.sounds.midi
o 2.1 What is alt.binaries.sounds.midi all about?
o 2.2 How do I decode MIDI files from a.b.s.midi?
+ 2.2.1 Can I get viruses from MIDI files?
o 2.3 How do I send MIDI files to a.b.s.midi?
o 2.4 Some guidelines for posting MIDI files
new o 2.5 How to place a request on a.b.s.midi
new + 2.5.1 How NOT to place a request on a.b.s.midi
* 3. MIDI playback devices
o 3.2 MIDI devices
+ 3.2.1 Gravis UltraSound / Ultrasound Max
+ 3.2.2 Turtle Beach Multisound Classic
+ 3.2.3 Turtle Beach Multisound Monterey
+ 3.2.4 Sound Blaster 2.0
+ 3.2.5 Sound Blaster 16
+ 3.2.6 Sound Blaster AWE32
+ (Add your favorite synth here) - Contribute
* 4. MIDI software
o 4.1 MIDI sequencers
+ 4.1.1 Cakewalk / Cakewalk Pro
+ 4.1.2 Midisoft Recording Session / Studio
+ 4.1.3 WinJammer
+ (Add your favorite sequencer here) - Contribute
o 4.2 MIDISCAN - MIDI OCR Software
o 4.3 MIDI-file players
+ LOOKING FOR REVIEWS! - To submit review follow sample
+ (Add your favorite here) - Contribute
o Links to MIDI player Collections
* 5. MIDI on the Internet
o 5.1 What are some FTP sites where I can get MIDI and MIDI-related
files?
o 5.2 Where and how can I get the official MIDI spec's?
o 5.3 Other MIDI-related addresses (WWW, etc.)
* Appendix
o Appendix A - Off-line sources of information
o Appendix B - Contributing to the a.b.s.midi FAQ
o Appendix C - List of contributors
new o Appendix D - Commercially owned files not to upload
Introduction
This is the FAQ (Frequently-Asked Questions) document for the USENET
newsgroup alt.binaries.sounds.midi (a.b.s.midi). Its objective is to answer
questions that would be asked repeatedly (and answered) by users of
a.b.s.midi (both new and not-so-new), and thereby free up the newsgroup to
new discussion and MIDI files.
This FAQ document should be posted on a bi-weekly basis on
alt.binaries.sounds.midi, but probably won't, however I shall make a
valiant
attempt to do so. In addition to this, the most recent revision may be
found
at any times at these addresses:
* FTP: (N/A)
* Gopher: (N/A)
* WWW:
o United States - http://sunsite.unc.edu/pant/midi/absmfaq/ (HTML
Version)
o England - http://www.iprom.com/midi/absmfaq/ (HTML Version)
o Russia - http://sunsite.cs.msu.su/Music/absmfaq/ (HTML Version)
o Japan - http://SunSITE.sut.ac.jp/multimed/vmidi/absmfaq/ (HTML
Version)
o Australia - http://grissom.powerup.com.au/webmirror/midi/absmfaq/
(HTML Version)
o Poland - http://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/midi/absmfaq/ (HTML Version)
Contributions to this document are welcome (and needed!). No credentials
whatsoever are needed, though it might be nice if you know what you are
talking about :-) . For more information on how to contribute to this FAQ
document, see Appendix B.
Any opinions expressed in this document are solely those of their
respective authors, and do not reflect in any way the views of the FAQ
maintainer (unless if he is the author), or anybody else affiliated in any
way with alt.binaries.sounds.midi.
Changes
* 1 Jul 97 -- Jason Thibeault took over as maintainer.
* 17 Aug 96 -- Vikram Pant took over as maintainer.
* 17 Jun 96 -- Changed extension from .shtml to .html and took out all
Server Side Include things (counter and automatically upaded last mod
date).
* 5 Jun 96 -- Broke down into smaller files.
* 13 May 96 -- Dave Williss took over as maintainer.
* 6 May 96 -- Moved the FAQ to a new home.
1. MIDI
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 What is MIDI all about?
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a standard,
first published in 1983 by the International MIDI Association (IMA), that
allows different musical instruments (commonly keyboards, but also guitars,
violins, etc.) and devices (synthesizer modules, computers, sound cards,
etc.) to be connected together.
The last "I" in MIDI stands for "interface" and neatly describes what MIDI
is exactly. It is a common interface, largely device-independent, that
allows different devices made by different manufacturers to communicate
with each other. Nothing more, nothing less.
MIDI data consists of signals, in the form of a series of codes or "events"
that tell an instrument or synthesizer, "start playing this note at this
volume," "stop playing this note," "play this channel using this instrument
sound," and so on. Of course it is actually more complex than this, but
essentially the important notion to grasp is that MIDI data does not
describe the sound of the instruments used in a song (in most cases,
anyways), but rather how those instruments are used (i.e. played) to form
the entire song.
For musicians, MIDI offers many possibilities, discussion of which would be
better left to someone more qualified. One example of these "possibilities"
is MIDI recording, which allows a single musician to compose songs that
would otherwise require several people to play the instruments. This makes
the art of composing more accessible, so anybody with a decent MIDI
synthesizer or MIDI-equipped computer system has the tools to put out some
fairly impressive work.
For us non-musicians, MIDI is another way to experience and enjoy music.
Whereas the 1000 or so MIDI files in my MIDI file collection take up about
20 megabytes of storage, a single digitally-recorded (CD quality) song
may take well over four times this space. (Vikram Pant's collection is
well
over 1500, my personal one is only 1000. I should start downloading more
midis! ;)
There are two solutions to this storage problem: use a medium that can
store this massive amount of data in a compact, manageable form (i.e.,
DAT's and CD's), or make the songs in such a way that they take up much
less space (i.e., MIDI files).
Of course, CDDA (CD Digital Audio) and MIDI are two quite different media,
and IMHO should not be compared. In other words, those who complain that a
song in MIDI format doesn't sound as good as the CD version should go out
and buy the CD. (Which leads to another important point: MIDI files are
easily, and in most cases freely, distributed, while CD's tend to be
comparatively more pricey, and basically impractical (not to mention
illegal) to duplicate.)
MIDI music should be viewed in its own light, not as cheap approximations
"real" music. Innovations such as computers, the Internet, etc. have made
it possible for "ordinary" people to express their views, their feelings
and ideas on a worldwide scale; MIDI has done the same thing for amateur
musicians. As for MIDI tunes that cover an existing work, it's fine to
sequence a MIDI file to sound as much as possible like the original tune,
but no matter how good the MIDI artist or the synthesizer, nobody can get a
MIDI file to sing, nor should we expect it to do so.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 What are "MIDI's"?
Viet-Tam Luu
"MIDI's" and "a MIDI" are terms that have been coined up most likely by
computer users, referring to what are formally called "MIDI files".
MIDI files are data files that contain a sequence (hence "a sequence," a
term referring loosely to MIDI files, and "to sequence", meaning to create
a MIDI file) of MIDI events. MIDI events are codes that tell a MIDI device
(such as a sound card with MIDI support, a stand-alone synthesizer module,
etc.), for example, to play a certain note, use a certain instrument sound
to play it, play at a certain tempo, etc. All these events, put together,
make up a single song or piece; some MIDI files contain a medley of several
songs, although these are infrequent.
1.2.1 What is GS and how does it differ from GM?
Warren Buss (wbuss@primenet.com)
This is an excerpt from an original article in Electronic Musician 8/91 by
Chris Meyer.
Some companies feel that General MIDI doesn't go far enough, so Roland
created a superset of General MIDI Level 1, which they call GS Standard. It
obeys all the protocols and sound maps of General MIDI and adds many extra
controllers and sounds. Some of the controllers use Unregistered Parameter
Numbers to give macro control over synth parameters such as envelope attack
and decay rates.
The new MIDI bank Select message provides access to extra sounds (including
variations on the stock sounds and a re-creation of the MT-32 factory
patches). The programs in each bank align with the original 128 in General
MIDI's Instrument Patch Map, with eight banks housing related families. The
GS Standard includes a "fall back" system.
This means that a Roland GS Standard sound module will correctly play back
any song designed for General MIDI. In addition, if the song's creator
wants to create some extra nuance, they can include the GS Standard
extensions in their sequence. None of these extensions are so radical as to
make the song unplayable on a normal GM sound module.
This way, compatibility is maintained.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 What are differences between sound files, .MOD-type files, and MIDI
files?
Viet-Tam Luu
Sound files, such as WAV, VOC and AU files, consist of what is called
"waveform data." Sound is propagated in sound waves, which are (in simple
terms) waves of variation in air pressure caused by physical phenomena such
as vibrating vocal cords, the vibrations of the reed as air flows through a
flute, aircraft breaking the sound barrier, or anything else that produces
sound.
Waveform data means a digital representation of those sound waves. CD's and
DAT's (Digital Audio Tapes) store digital waveform data. (Normal audio
cassettes and vinyl records store analog waveform data.) "Digital" means
that the analog sound data are converted into numbers in the recording
process. In playback, the reverse occurs: numbers are translated back into
analog signals used to activate speakers and thus re-create the original
recorded sound. Thus, WAV-type files and the like truly "describe" a sound.
It is important to remember that (the greate majority of) MIDI files do not
actually contain any sound data. MIDI data does not, generally, describe a
sound; it indicates how to play specific sounds (at certain pitches, with
certain volumes, for certain amounts of time, etc.), in such a way that we
can appreciate (or not appreciate :-) which we call "music."
MOD-type files could be described as a hybrid of MIDI files and sound
files. By this we mean that they have characteristics of both MIDI files
and sound files. MOD-type files incorporate sound data, called "samples,"
and control codes that cause these samples to be played back as music.
The actual structure of these control codes is quite different from that of
MIDI events in MIDI files, but in both cases they serve to "describe" the
song. Programs exist that will convert MOD-type files to MIDI files, and
vice-versa, with varying degrees of success.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4 Why can't I convert a .WAV file to a MIDI file?
1.4.1 The short, simple answer
Viet-Tam Luu
No program exists that will analyze a .WAV-type file and "compose" a
corresponding MIDI file, for the simple reason that with current
technology,
IT CAN'T BE DONE.
1.4.2 A few more details...
Most "proposed" schemes involve operations such as Fast Fourier Transforms
(FFT's) and wavelet transforms, etc. These take a .WAV-type file, generally
called "waveform data," and, in the case of the Fourier transform, breaks
it down into its component sinusoidal wave frequencies and amplitudes. The
problem is that none of these algorithms yield the amount of information
nor precision needed for the job.
The problem is that when, say, the sounds of a hundred instruments in an
orchestra become mixed together and are recorded as a single sound (.WAV),
much of the information pertaining to each of those specific instruments is
irreversibly lost. Since you can't get something from nothing, it is
impossible to simply mechanically convert a .WAV back into its component
sounds and then into a MIDI file.
Humans can transcribe .WAV to MIDI because we are intelligent (or at least
we think we are). This means that our