ST Report: 5-Jun-98 #1422

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 06/08/98-03:23:24 PM Z


From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 5-Jun-98 #1422
Date: Mon Jun  8 15:23:24 1998




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06/05/98 STR 1422

                     "Often Imitated, Never Surpassed!"

- CPU Industry Report             - Linux Advocate          - AOL, 44 States Agree
- Drudge Won't Budge              - World-Wide Wireless     - Net-O-Mania
- CSI Verdict Draws Critics       - NScape's Smart What?    - Sony PS Does Disney
- Sprint's NEW Design             - People Talking          - Classics & Gaming



                   U.S.A. Failing At Millennium Bug Fixes
                   Microsoft Sees No Damage From Lawsuits
                      FTC To Vote On Intel Suit Monday



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    From the Editor's Desk...

    This is perhaps the shortest Editorial I've ever undertaken. Its
    summer here and the Pool, bright and sparkling, beckons..... So
    does the float chair and the Keg of Icehouse that's on Tap. <vbg>

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                                     STReport Headline News
                                LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
                             Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
                                  Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson



              U.S. Gets Failing Grade For Millennium Bug Fixes

        The U.S. government got a failing grade on Tuesday from a
        key member of Congress for its work to avoid potential
        "millennium bug" problems and prepare critical computers for
        the year 2000 and beyond. Overall, the federal government
        earned an 'F'. Underlying this dismal grade is a disturbing
        slowdown in the government's rate of progress," said Rep.
        Stephen Horn, the Republican Congressman from California who
        has been monitoring the problem.

        Horn, Chairman of the House government technology
        subcommittee, cited the slowdown in the government's
        progress, despite U.S. President Bill Clinton's earlier
        appointment of John Koskinen to head a special task force on
        the matter. Horn said it was now time for Clinton to
        designate the Year 2000 problem as a national priority.
        "He's got to make a fireside chat on it," he said. "The
        president must use the bully pulpit and inform the people of
        this nation."

        Thousands of older government computers recognize the year
        in dates using only two digits. When the year 2000 arrives
        they may either shut down or interpret the date as 1900 and
        give faulty results, a problem widely know as the millennium
        bug. Clinton's appointment of Koskinen offered a ray of hope
        earlier, but Horn said Koskinen must get tough on agencies
        that were behind schedules.

        "We've only got six quarters to go," Horn said. "I want him
        to bang heads when someone's lagging." Horn cited failures
        at specific agencies, including the Department of Defense
        and the Department of Transportation. The Defense Department
        - with 600,000 to 900,000 potential problem computer chips
        in computers and weapons systems -- at its current rate of
        progress would not be prepared until two years after the
        date change, Horn said.

        The Federal Aviation Administration, which provides crucial
        services to the flying public, has also failed to make
        adequate progress. "Without dramatic improvements, the
        nation's air traffic could face serious disruptions for an
        extended period after Dec. 31, 1999," Horn said. While the
        Social Security Administration has done outstanding work in
        preparing its computers, Horn said that progress may be "all
        for naught" if the Treasury Department's Financial
        Management Service, the agency which issues social security
        checks, makes no improvements. The Clinton Administration is
        expected soon to release its own report on the government's
        progress. But Horn said anything other than a failing grade
        in that study would be "propaganda."

                Final Internet Domain Name Plan In Two Weeks

        The United States is looking at putting out a final proposal
        on the naming system for the Internet within the next two
        weeks, a senior government official said today. "We are
        going to develop a global consensus as to how to have a
        domain name system," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of
        Commerce for Communications and Information Larry Irving.

        "In the next couple of weeks we hope to get it out," Irving
        told reporters. The plan seeks to resolve the controversy
        over management of some of the Internet's basic functions,
        including the assignment and registration of names for Web
        sites. Irving is part of a U.S. delegation in Singapore for
        the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum
        ministerial meeting for telecommunications and information
        industries from June 3-5.

        He said the meeting would discuss development of the Asia
        Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII), a network to link
        member economies, issues related to privacy on the Internet
        and other communications technologies issues. A Mutual
        Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for a system to certify
        manufacturers' communications equipment that would be
        recognized by importing countries is expected to be
        finalized during the meeting, another U.S. official said.

        Equipment like cellular phones, modems, facsimile machines
        must meet technological standards of countries in which they
        are used. Under the existing system, manufacturers must have
        their products tested and approved by an agency of each
        country. If the MRA is implemented, manufacturers would be
        certified by an agency in their own country, reducing costs
        and increasing efficiency.

        The second official, who declined to be identified, expected
        to have a list of countries which would adopt the system and
        their expected implementation schedules by the end of the
        week. If the proposal was accepted, members who sign up
        could start using the system from July 1999, he said.

        On criticism over the implementation of the Federal
        Communications Commission's (FCC) accounting rate benchmarks
        for international phone traffic, Irving said the FCC was
        willing to work with any government or institution to reform
        accounting rates on a global consensus basis. He said it was
        generally accepted that accounting rates were distorted and
        had to be driven closer to costs, but no nation other than
        the United States had made an effort to reform them, nor had
        the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

        Accounting rates are used to decide how much telephone
        companies pay each other for international calls. Irving
        said the FCC was aware it needed to treat developing
        economies differently from developed countries: "Right now
        benchmark orders still stand. We're still trying, however,
        to work with anybody who will work with us to come up with
        solutions that makes sense in a multilateral framework."

        The ITU said late last year that Asian carriers would lose
        more than $1 billion annually with the imposition of the
        FCC's accounting rate benchmarks. The FCC wanted to reduce
        accounting rates to between $0.16 and $0.23 per minute
        across Asia over a period starting January 1, 1998 until
        January 1, 2002. It estimates that U.S. companies pay $6
        billion for settling account rates. The FCC had said that if
        Asian companies did not work towards bringing down
        accounting rates, U.S. companies would pay only the
        benchmark rate per minute after the deadline expired.

                 AOL - 44 States Reach Accord on Price Hikes

        America Online reached a settlement with 44 state attorneys
        general, promising to provide clear information to
        subscribers when the Internet online service provider raises
        prices or changes services in the future, state officials
        said Thursday. As part of the settlement, the third between
        the states and the country's largest online provider, the
        Dulles, Va.-based company agreed to pay the 44 states a
        combined $2.6 million for legal costs and future consumer
        protection and education efforts, state officials added.

             Internet Porn Conviction in Germany Shocks Experts

        A Bavarian court convicted a former Compuserve manager
        Thursday of spreading pornography over the Internet,
        shocking industry experts and raising concerns about the
        medium's future in Germany. The Munich district court,
        ignoring a change of heart by the state prosecutor,
        convicted the former head of the German division of the
        online service of distributing child pornography and other
        illegal material over the Internet. "Even on the Internet,
        there can be no law-free zones," the court said, handing
        down a two-year suspended sentence to Felix Somm, 34. "The
        accused is not a victim. He abused the medium." The German
        government said it would study the court's decision
        carefully.

                   Welcome to the Lion's Den, Mr. Drudge!

        Matt Drudge, the Internet gossip columnist who first posted
        the Monica Lewinsky sex tale on the Web, ventured into the
        lion's den Tuesday as the featured attraction at a National
        Press Club luncheon. "Applause for Matt Drudge in
        Washington, at the press club - now there's a scandal!"
        Drudge told an audience of about 200 in what is arguably the
        clubhouse of American establishment journalism. In his
        trademark black-banded hat and ill-fitting suit, Drudge said
        he vividly recalled the moment he sent his account of what
        has become the White House sex-and-perjury story into
        cyberspace Jan. 17. "I teared up when I hit the enter button
        that night because I knew my life would never be the same,"
        Drudge said.

                             Drudge Won't Budge

        After one of the most hostile introductions in recent
        history at the National Press Club, on-line rumor-monger
        Matt Drudge declared he represents the future of journalism.
        Washington's media establishment claims Drudge lacks the
        credentials to be a real journalist, but Drudge replied he
        has beat journalists at their own game. After all, Drudge
        claimed Tuesday, he was the first to report Republican
        presidential candidate Bob Dole had picked Jack Kemp as his
        running mate; first to announce to an American audience that
        Princess Diana had died; and the quickest to report advance
        word on upcoming films "that even studio execs, some of
        them, admit they get from me." The Drudgereport.com Web site
        claims more than 1 million hits a day.









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EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed

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Contents



  Civil Libertarians React To CompuServe        Online Chat Invades The Corporate Office
  Verdict

  AT&T Adds New Fee To Pay For "Universal       TCI Plans High-Speed Net For Small Cable
  Service"                                      Systems

  AOL Settles With 44 States                    Game Makers Deny Link Between Video Games
                                                And Violence

  NEC Will Remove Explorer Icon On Corporate    Vandal Intrudes On ACLU Site On America
  Laptops                                       Online

  "Letter 349-Where Are You?"                   Sprint's New Phone Network Design

  World-Wide Wireless                           Netscape's "Smart Browsing"

  C-SPAN Founder Says HDTV Could Make C-SPAN    Netomania
  "Go Dark"

  Industry Leaders To Meet With FBI To Argue    Xerox Has New Custom Publishing Service
  About Encryption

  Oh-We're Better Than That                     Report Criticizes Internet Industry For Not
                                                Protecting Kids

  Lucent & Motorola Take Aim At DSP Market      FTC Staff Narrows Intel Antitrust Suit

  On-Demand Printing Of Out-Of-Print Books      Xerox Establishes Facilities In Ireland

  Tellabs & Ciena Join Forces                   Hyundai Goes It Alone In Cutting Chip
                                                Production

  Drudge Survives Press Club Gauntlet



                       CIVIL LIBERTARIANS REACT TO COMPUSERVE VERDICT

Civil liberties advocates and Internet groups say Thursday's conviction of a former
CompuServe manager in ermany for allowing the distribution of cyberporn could set a bad
precedent, and stifle online freedom of speech. CompuServe manager Felix Somm was sentenced
to a two-year suspended sentence for complicity in 13 cases of pornography distribution.
"Even if there's an appeal, there's a significant precedent being set here," says Jerry
Berman, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology. "It is a great
setback for a decentralized, open communications medium." Berman says that the real answer
to curbing online porn is "empowering users" by making more filtering software available.
(Reuters 29 May 98)

                          ONLINE CHAT INVADES THE CORPORATE OFFICE

Chat rooms and similar technology called instant messaging are finding their way into the
workplace, offering an alternative to phone calls and face-to-face meetings. Gregory
Jackson, associate provost for information technology at the University of Chicago, uses
instant messaging to keep up with his staff, and thinks the technology will find a niche in
the business world, too: "It will take time for corporate America to fully embrace it, but
this is not one of those things that's going to go away." IBM and America Online both are
investing in the technology -- IBM with its recent purchase of Ubique Ltd., which it plans
to incorporate into its Lotus Notes software, and AOL with its proposed acquisition of
Mirabilis Ltd., maker of ICQ, one of the Web's most popular chat programs. "This is not a
move by Lotus into the consumer chat space," says a Lotus spokesman. "We're in this because
this is very powerful for the business enterprise." (Wall Street Journal 29 May 98)

                      AT&T ADDS NEW FEE TO PAY FOR "UNIVERSAL SERVICE"

AT&T will begin charging its 80 million residential customers an additional 5% of their
total monthly long-distance phone bills as a "Universal Connectivity Charge." The charge
will cover AT&T's share of government-mandated subsidies for affordable phone service for
low-income people, people living in rural and other high-delivery-cost areas, and Internet
access for schools, libraries and rural health care providers. FCC chairman William Kennard
says that AT&T's new fee is unjustified. (AP 28 May 98)

                      TCI PLANS HIGH-SPEED NET FOR SMALL CABLE SYSTEMS

Tele-Communications Inc. is planning to use satellite technology to connect smaller cable
systems to cable Internet backbones such as @Home Network. "We're working pretty hard at a
strategy for connectivity for high-speed data so that even our smallest systems can be
virtually present at a major data hub with access to a high-speed service," says TCI
Chairman John Malone. "Probably a year or two from now, the cost will be low enough that
even very small systems will be able to afford a digital headend." Malone says that
eventually, @Home and Time Warner's RoadRunner service will share a common backbone
network, even if the two cable Internet access services don't merge. (Broadcasting & Cable
25 May 98)

                                 AOL SETTLES WITH 44 STATES

More than a year after America Online was threatened with lawsuits because of frequently
busy phone lines resulting from dramatically higher levels of usage after the adopting a
flat-rate pricing plan, the company has agreed to pay $2.6 million to 44 states to settle
complaints alleging that AOL had misled consumers about fees and phone rates. America
Online says the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. (New York Times 29 May 98)

                   GAME MAKERS DENY LINK BETWEEN VIDEO GAMES AND VIOLENCE

Under criticism for helping to create a climate of violence that may have contributed to
tragedies such as the recent school shooting in Springfield, Oregon, leaders of the video
game industry are denying a link between video games and violence. Nintendo chairman Howard
Lincoln acknowledges that "everybody ` has to be concerned with what's happening with these
school shootings" but adds that "I don't think there's any connection with video games and
violence." (USA Today 29 May 98)

                     NEC WILL REMOVE EXPLORER ICON ON CORPORATE LAPTOPS

Saying that their corporate customers "don't want a lot of other software on the hard
drive," computer manufacturer NEC will leave the icon for Microsoft's Internet Explorer
software off of desktop of a new line of NEC laptops, but will provide each user with a CD
ROM with both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape's rival Navigator software.
Microsoft executive Mark Murray points out that almost all of the program files for
Internet Explorer will still be on the hard drive, and says: "It's not clear how hiding the
access to product features benefits consumers." (Washington Post 29 May 98)

                       VANDAL INTRUDES ON ACLU SITE ON AMERICA ONLINE

The American Civil Liberties Union site on America Online was violated by a person with a
stolen password. The vandal had called AOL's customer service department for help changing
an account's password, and the customer service representative failed to verify the
caller's identity. AOL has fired the customer service representative and alerted its
employees to watch for copycat break-in attempts by other vandals. (Atlanta
Journal-Constitution 31 May 98)

                                "LETTER 349, WHERE ARE YOU?"

The U.S. Postal Service is conducting national tests of a system that tracks mail by means
of tiny radio transmitters placed inside ordinary-size letters. The radios periodically
turn themselves on and listen for a signal from a sensor; if they hear a sensor they tell
it information about their origin, current location, and ultimate destination. The project
manager says that, through its ability to pinpoint delivery bottlenecks, the system "shows
us very interesting processing things that had been invisible before. What we have here is
a system that conveys ownership of problems." (New York Times 31 May 98)

                              SPRINT'S NEW PHONE NETWORK DESIGN

Sprint is redesigning its phone network to increase the company's call-handling capacity
17-fold, cut costs of long-distance calls by 70%, allow Internet surfing at speeds up to
100 times as fast as conventional data modems, and radically change the way service is
billed. Instead of conventional telephone circuit switching, which dedicates an entire
circuit for the two parties at either end of a phone call, Sprint's system will use packet
switching, in which all kinds of transmissions (data as well as voice) will be split up
into small chunks of digital bits and sent via a number of parallel routes and recombined
only when they reach their final destination. The Sprint system, which it calls ION
(Integrated On-demand Network), and will be marketed through Radio Shack's 7,000 retail
stores; the service will be available to large corporations later this year and to other
businesses and residential consumers by the end of 1999. Customers of the service will be
billed not on the number of minutes spent on the phone but on the number of digital bits
transmitted in a given month, as tracked by a $200 meter that a customer will need to
purchase. Customers will be able to operate multiple phones, faxes, and computer
connections simultaneously, in the same way electricity customers can run numerous electric
devices all at the same times. (Wall Street Journal 2 Jun 98)

                                     WORLD-WIDE WIRELESS

A new wireless phone that can operate without modification on different continents has been
developed by Audiovox and the Bosch Telecom unit of Germany's Robert Bosch G.m.b.H. The
phone, which will cost about $300, lets users make and receive calls in foreign countries
as if they were at home; it is based on the digital technology known as global system for
mobile communications (GSM), a technology that is the dominant digital wireless technology
overseas, especially in Europe. (New York Times 2 Jun 98)

                                 NETSCAPE'S "SMART BROWSING"

Netscape will soon be offering a new version of its Navigator software that will allow what
it calls "smart browsing." It does this by embedding capabilities such as keyword searching
directly into the browser and adding a "smart updating" button in the browser to shorten
the process of downloading software upgrades. Like Yahoo!, AOL, and Microsoft, Netscape
wants to be a "portal" site for users surfing the World Wide Web; for that reason, it will
integrate into the software a way to give computer users quick access to features of
Netscape's Netcenter site so that the service will work more like an integrated computer
desktop. Netcenter 2.0 will also feature free e-mail and personalized news, stocks and
weather. Responding to suggestions that this kind of integration of different software
products is exactly what the Justice Department (and Netscape) itself accuses Microsoft of
doing, a Netscape executive argues that there's a difference between Netscape and
Microsoft: "We are not a monopoly. We are simply making two of our products work together."
(Wall Street Journal 1 Jun 98)

                    C-SPAN FOUNDER SAYS HDTV COULD MAKE C-SPAN "GO DARK"

Brian Lamb, founder and chief executive of C-SPAN, the television cable service that
provides commercial-free public affairs programming, says that if the FCC decides later
this summer to require cable operators to retransmit all of the digital channels and
high-definition TV (HDTV) programming broadcast by local stations, C-SPAN and C-SPAN2 will
go dark in millions more American households. In opposition to Lamb, the National
Association of Broadcasters says it's crucial for broadcasters to make a return on their
government-mandated investment in facilities upgrades necessary for transmission of new
digital programming. C-SPAN programming won't provide broadcasters with a source of
revenue; home shopping and other commercial offerings will. (USA Today 2 Jun 98)

                                          NETOMANIA

Reporting a study of 14 so-called Internet "addicts," psychiatrist Nathan Shapira of the
University of Cincinnati says that, on average, the subjects of the study each had had five
psychiatric disorders. Shapira thinks that excessive online use should be considered not as
a separate addiction but as a disorder of impulse control, in the same category as
kleptomania or compulsive shopping. He suggests the problem be called Internetomania or
Netomania. (USA Today 1 Jun 98)

                 INDUSTRY LEADERS TO MEET WITH FBI TO ARGUE ABOUT ENCRYPTION

Computer industry leaders including Bill Gates (Microsoft), Jim Barksdale (Netscape), Steve
Case (AOL), and Scott McNealy (Sun) will be meeting on June 9 with FBI Director Louis Freeh
to try to convince him that the FBI data encryption proposals are unwise. The Bureau has
been adamant about the importance of allowing law enforcement officials armed with a court
order to unscramble encrypted messages, and the industry and privacy advocates have been
just as adamant in maintaining that weakened encryption will harm the industry's global
competitiveness and diminish the privacy rights of citizens. (AP 2 Jun 98)

                           XEROX HAS NEW CUSTOM PUBLISHING SERVICE

For niche publishers and publishers that want to keep books in print longer than usually
practicable, Xerox has created a Book In Time service that will allow publishers to use
Xerox high-end digital printers to produce soft-cover books in small print runs. The
printers can be located either at a publisher's site or at a Xerox print facility. (Wall
Street Journal 1 Jun 98)

                     OH, WE'RE BETTER THAN THAT. (NEW KUDOS FOR EDUPAGE)

Edupage has received the highest rating and an Open Road Award from a new e-zine review by
software designer and Internet consultant Todd Kuipers, who says: "John Gehl and Suzanne
Douglas have been producing this award winning newsletter for almost 7 years now. Very
professionally done, it is an excellent consolidation of recent technology focused
business, political and educational news. I generally read it as soon as it shows up in my
inbox. Professional, clear, concise and well-edited. Can these guys do anything wrong? Not
much from what I can see. If you want the standard in business technology summaries via
e-mail, this is the one to get." For the review in its entirety, see
http://www.sideroad.com/openroad/column1.html

                     FREPORT CRITICIZES INDUSTRY FOR NOT PROTECTING KIDS

A new report to Congress prepared by the Federal Trade Commission says that the Internet
industry is not doing enough to protect children from child pornography and other abuses on
the Internet: "Children are told by parents not to talk to strangers whom they meet on the
street, but they are given a contrary message by Web sites that encourage them to interact
with strangers in their homes via the Web." On the more general subject of the invasion of
privacy, the report found that 85% of 1400 sites studied in March collected personal
information but only 14% provide any notice about what they do with the data, and only 2 %
have a comprehensive privacy policy. However, industry associations are sending a letter to
President Clinton asking for a chance to allow self-regulation to work. (New York Times 4
Jun 98)

                         LUCENT AND MOTOROLA TAKE AIM AT DSP MARKET

Telecommunications giants Lucent and Motorola have formed an alliance to compete against
Texas Instruments in the market for digital semiconductor processors (DSP), wh chips used
in such products as cellular and wireless phones, handheld computers, digital cameras, and
high-definition television. A Motorola executive says the alliance "will enable the
creation of advanced digital products that we have not imagined yet." (Austin
American-Statesman 3 Jun 98)

                           FTC STAFF NARROWS INTEL ANTITRUST SUIT

Senior staff of the Federal Trade Commission is urging that the Commission restrict itself
to making a narrow case in the administrative antitrust suit it is bringing against Intel.
Intel is charged with withholding technical information from several customers with whom it
was having unrelated legal disputes. (Wall Street Journal 3 Jun 98)

                          ON-DEMAND PRINTING OF OUT-OF-PRINT BOOKS

Lightning Print, a division of the Ingram book wholesaling company in La Vergne, Tenn.,
says that "books really never have to go out of print again." Using IBM printing equipment
and software, Lighning Print will, for $100-150, set the book up in a digital library,
allowing booksellers to order one or more copies at costs expected to be in the range of
$15-20 for a 300-page softcover book. (New York Times 4 Jun 98)

                                      XEROX IN IRELAND

Xerox will invest $270 million on new facilities in Dublin, where it will locate some
customer support services for Europe, and Dundalk, near the Northern Island border, where
it is planning to build several facilities on 100 acres of land. The investment will
generate 2200 jobs in Ireland. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 3 Jun 98)

                                   TELLABS AND CIENA MERGE

Providing new evidence that the consolidation in the telecommunications industry is not
restricted to service or content providers, two equipment companies are merging: Tellabs,
which makes systems that allow circuits to communicate with one another without being
soldered together; and Ciena, which makes systems that allow long-distance carriers to
increase their network capacity without placing new cables in the ground. The new company
will retain the Tellabs name. (New York Times 3 Jun 98)

                      HYUNDAI GOES IT ALONE IN CUTTING CHIP PRODUCTION

The Japanese companies NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi and Fujitsu have all decided not to follow the
lead of Korea's Hyundai Corporation in its plan to cut back on 64-megabit DRAM production.
Hyundai decided to reduce production because a global glut has caused prices to drop
precipitously. DRAM ( dynamic random access memory) chips are crucial components in
advanced personal computers. (Reuters/San Jose Mercury News 4 Jun 98)

                             DRUDGE SURVIVES PRESS CLUB GAUNTLET

Howard Kurtz, Washington Post news media analyst, says that Internet columnist Matt Drudge
"seemed to win over" much of the initially hostile National Press Club audience he
addressed this week. At one point, Drudge, who is often described as a "cybergossip," was
asked to justify his publishing of "unfounded allegations"; he responded by teasing the
mainstream media with, in Kurtz's words, "a tale involving the Weekly Standard, which
recently settled a libel suit; CNN and NBC, which were sued by Richard Jewell, the
vindicated Olympic bombing suspect; and the Wall Street Journal, which lost a libel suit in
Texas. 'It's creative enough for an in-depth piece in the New Republic, but I fear people
would think it's made up,' he said, referring to the fabrications by fired associate editor
Stephen Glass. The room erupted in applause, the first of several occasions on which drew
either laughter of scattered clapping." (Washington Post 6 Jun 98)







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                                   The Linux Advocate

                                       Column #13

                                     June 4th, 1998

                                     by Scott Dowdle

                                   dowdle@icstech.com




LOGIN:

Look mom... two columns in two weeks.  Yeah! :)  Wow, a lot has
been going on this past week... so much I thought I better get busy
writing another column or I was going to get way behind.  As I
write this, I'm looking over the latest edition of the Linux Weekly
News (http://lwn.net) and Slashdot (http://slashdot.org) and there
is just so much going on, I'm not sure where to start.

I wanted to comment about actually getting some feedback email from
a fellow named Bob Carpenter who was looking for some Personal
Information Management software for Linux.  I think I steered him
in the right direction.

News:

Item #1: 4th Annual Linux Expo - Although I failed to mention it
last column, the 4th annual Linux Expo was held May 28-30, 1998 at
the Bryan University Center, Duke University, Durham, NC.  Everyone
who is anyone attended the event and Linus Torvalds himself was the
keynote speaker.  His speech started off... Hello, I'm Linus
Torvalds and I am your god.  Linus is a riot when he gives a public
presentation.  I hope a video tape is made publicly available from
the show so that those who didn't make it (namely ME) can get a
more realistic idea of what was missed.  The show was divided up
into three main points of interest: 1) Technical Presentations, 2)
Business Presentations, and 3) Linux vendor exhibits.... with
plenty of leisurely activities in the after-hours and even an
editor paintball war (vi vs. emacs).  I wish I could have gone...
but since I didn't, I'll have to rely on online info.

Authoritative information about the show (all pre-show info so far)
may be found at the following URL:

http://www.linuxexpo.org

The Slashdot guys went to the show and Rob Malda (aka CmdrTaco)
posted a report of his experience on Slashdot at the following URL:

http://slashdot.org/features/9805311650242.shtml

The Linux Weekly News folks also attended the show and posted
timely reports in their daily updates section until a new edition
of LWN was published on June 4th where they made a special
sub-section on their page to cover the LinuxExpo.  It can be found
at the following URL:

http://lwn.net/980604/exposum.html

Hmmm, I don't know if I'll ever stop promoting Slashdot and Linux
Weekly News here in Linux Advocate so just get used to it. :)

I thought about just dumping the relevant contents the column but
decided that the complete information direct from the sources via
an Internet hyperlink would be better.   Why waste column space
duplicating information?

Photos from Linux Expo may be found at the following URLs:

http://annabelle.ucg.ie/expo/
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~bdwilso2/photos/expo/
http://www.gnome.org/photos/
http://www.labs.redhat.com/expo.shtml
http://www.clark.net/pub/mike911/expopics.html

As is evident from the Slashdot and LWN coverage of the event and
the photos also made available (you DID check out those URLs,
right?) ONE fact is very obvious to me... that the Linux community
is very laid back, respectful of its members, and open... basically
a VERY FRIENDLY place to be.  As most STR readers will remember,
the personal computer industry was started by hackers in their
basements and garages.  For many years now the market has been
dominated by suits and millionaires (and a few billionaires) with
innovation and sincerity long fallen to the wayside... it is very
refreshing to be a member of the Linux community!  The Open Source
movement has been compared to the "hippies" of the 60's and the
Love and Flower Power sentiment from that era... applied to the
computer industry.  What a unique comparison... cool, right on...
groovy... err, I mean... nevermind. :)



Item #2: Unix98 Standard and Linux? - To be honest, I haven't done
enough reading about this topic but I thought it noteworthy and
didn't want to ignore it.   It was the lead story on LWN so check
it out over there.

http://lwn.net

Item #3: Linux 2.0.34 released - With Linus concentrating on the
2.1.x kernel hoping to get 2.2.0 out sometime in July or August,
2.0.34 has been a long time coming.   Alan Cox has been the primary
maintainer of updates to 2.0.3x and after several patches to 2.0.33
(sixteen I think), 2.0.34 has finally been released... not that
it's that big of a deal... I'm still running 2.0.32 on my machine
because I've been too lazy to upgrade. :)  Anyway, 2.0.34 can be
found at the usual place:

ftp://ftp.kernel.org


Item #4: Linux Standard Base - While at the LinuxExpo this past
weekend there was a meeting of Linux International where Bruce
Perens (formerly of Debian Linux fame) proposed a Linux Standard
Base or LSB for short.  The goal if a LSB agreement is to insure
that there is an underlying compatibility between all of the
various Linux distributions that would enable a commercial software
vendor to insure that their software will run on all distributions
without having to go through any additional, distribution specific
challenges.  Traditionally, many commercial software packages have
been co-ordinated and/or marketed by different distribution
makers.  For example, Caldera was responsible for Wabi, StarOffice
(in Northern America), and WordPerfect Internet Office Suite... and
Red Hat was responsible for ApplixWare, TriTeal CDE, etc.  The
various distributions were close enough that most applications
would run without much work from the end user who might have to
update a system library or handle the software installation in a
slightly different way than its primary target distribution.  The
LSB, once completely designed and implemented, should totally take
care of this minor problem.  The LWN has a sub-page dedicated to
this topic which can be found at the following URL:

http://lwn.net/980604/lsb.html

Item #5: TechWeb spotlights Open Source movement - This can be
found at the following URL:

http://www.cmpnet.com/special/0598spotlight.html

There are links to several related stories but I've included two of
them below.

Linus Torvalds - profile of and interview (text and RealAudio)

http://www.techweb.com/internet/profile/ltorvalds/profile

Tim O'Reilly - profile and an interview (text and RealAudio)

http://www.techweb.com/internet/profile/toreilly/profile


Item #6: Linux Draws Corporate Backers - Yet another article on
TechWeb. Check it out at the following URL:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980601S0002?st.ne.fd.mnaw


Item #7: Microsoft's Supersite - The real goal? It appears that
Microsoft has e-commerce as their ultimate goal in the browser
war.  Check out the following URL for more info:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/05/26/BU76071.DTL



Item #8: Boston Globe columnist decides to try Linux for a month -
Hiawatha Bray from the Boston Globe staff has pledged to use Linux
for a month and to report on his experience.  This is very similar
to C|Net Radio's Project Heresy mentioned last column.  You can
find his pledge at the following URL:

http://www.boston.com:80/dailyglobe/globehtml/148/Viva_la_revolution.htm

Mr. Bray says he will document his experience on his personal
homepage but as of yet, no Linux info has been posted.  His
homepage may be found at the following URL:

http://www.monitortan.com

I'll keep an eye on it and post any updates as they become
available.


Item #9: SoftWindows 95 for Unix - Insignia has produced a product
called SoftWindows 95 for various flavors of Unix.  Some readers
may already be familiar with or using previous SoftWindows products
for the Macintosh.  SofWindows 95 offers the ability to run
Microsoft Windows 95 software on top of Unix... like any other
program.   SoftWindows is similar to SunSoft's WABI except it is
up-to-date and can run the latest Windows 95/98 software including
even the multimedia heavy ones.  So far, they haven't  announced a
Linux version but one would only make sense considering that a
recent survey pegged Linux as holding 14% (and growing rapidly) of
the overall Unix marketshare.  In fact, partially validated rumors
(is that a new phrase) have been noted by both Insignia and Red Hat
Software.  I'd expect an announcement in the near future.

Information about SoftWindows 95 can be found at the following URL:

http://www.insignia.com/SoftWindows/UNIX/Products/

Personally, I'm not sure if I'd like to see Windows software
running on Linux as it might duplicate what I call the OS/2
affect... where the development of native OS software takes a back
seat to running Windows applications... and need I mention the
freely available Wine?



Spotlight: Hardware designed around Linux

As observed at the Linux Expo, several vendors are making products
specifically designed around Linux.  I'm not talking about vendors
who have taken off-the-shelf parts and produced Linux Intel, Sparc,
and/or Alpha machines with Linux pre-installed... those have been
around for some time now.  I'm talking about custom engineered
projects that utilize Linux in a new way... with the vendor doing
custom Linux development/porting to meet the needs of the new
platform they are creating.  I have three devices in mind: 1) Corel
Computer's Netwinder, 2) Digital Equipment Corp's Itsy, and 3)
Cobalt Microserver Inc.'s Cube.  What follows is a brief
description of each product and URLs with authoritative
information.


Corel Computer Netwinder - Corel is in the final stages of
producing a network computer line consisting of three models ($300,
$700, and $1,200) that are constructed around Linux.  They are
based on the StrongArm processor from DEC which is an extremely
low-power consumption RISC chip.  On the low end, the Netwinder is
a fabulous Xterminal with extras.

                       [Corel Netwinder pix from LinuxExpo booth]

Check out the following URLs for more info on the Netwinder.

http://www.corelcomputer.com/products/linux_products.htm

http://www.netwinder.orghttp://www.netwinder.org/

Netwinder technical specifications can be found at the following
URL:

http://www.netwinder.org/specs.html



DEC Itsy - Digital Equipment Corp has produced a VERY POWERFUL
plamtop hybrid with no specific target market as of yet.  The Itsy
is a modern machine also designed around the StrongArm processor
and Linux.

                                         [Image]

The Itsy is in proto-type stages now and you can find more
information at the following URL:

http://www.research.digital.com/wrl/itsy/

An online slideshow presentation may be found at the following URL:

http://www.research.digital.com/wrl/itsy/talk/sld001.htm




Cobalt Qube Microserver - The Qube is a 7.75" x 7.75" x 7.75" box
that is truly a plug-and-play Internet/Intranet server with decent
performance at a very low price (about $1,200).  It wasn't designed
to accommodate a monitor, nor a keyboard or mouse.  It's simple...
you plug in the power cord into an outlet, you plug in a network
cable from your network, you push some hardware buttons on the back
of the machine to set it's IP address and then you TURN IT ON.
After a minute or two for it to boot, you access it from any WWW
browser on your network and go through a series of setup screens as
WWW forms.  Oddly enough, the Qube is a Linux box based on the SGI
MIPS processor that has been specially pre-configured with WWW
based administration.  The Qube offers the full suite of Internet
based server applications: WWW, FTP, email, shell account, etc.
The people at Cobalt have put a lot of work into customizing and
pre-configuring Linux so that the Qube is truly a turnkey device.
The Qube does for TCP/IP server devices what WebTV does for TCP/IP
clients... it is a true server appliance except that since the Qube
uses Linux, it doesn't sacrifice anything in the way of software
features.

                                         [Image]

Information about the Qube can be found at the following URL:

http://www.cobaltmicro.com/

Technical Specs can be found at the following URL:

http://www.cobaltmicro.com/products/technical.html

A review of Qube Microserver:

http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/opinion/0223/23mach.html

An article about Cobalt Qube environment going open source can be
found at the following URL:

http://slashdot.org/articles/9806021139226.shtml


LOGOUT:

Hmmm, I hope I did a decent job of keeping STR's readers up to date
with the Linux happenings this past week.  I would like to solicit
help from STR's reader base to aid me in Linux coverage.  It would
be nice to have a column of software updates which would list what
new software came out this week (http://freshmeat.net is a great
resource), or a software catalog review column which highlights a
few software packages each week, or a column that goes into Linux
games... or a column that covers how businesses around the world
are putting Linux to use... etc, etc, etc.  I just can't do it
all.  Oh, I'm not complaining: I just see the potentials and how
the computing community could be better served by offering more
concrete examples of Linux IN ACTION.   I'm only touching the tip
of the iceberg in a rather boring way with my news coverage.  Only
after more readers have gotten into the Linux community will they
be more interested in this Linux Advocate column... and I
understand that.

Please send comments to dowdle@icstech.com

See you next time - Scott Dowdle








                            Taking Another Look!



               White House Internet adviser sees deregulation

        A senior adviser to President Clinton said the growth of the
        Internet will lead to the deregulation of the
        telecommunications and broadcast industries as the
        businesses converge. Internet guru Ira Magaziner said that
        the reasons for regulating the telecommunications and
        broadcast industries will disappear as the technologies
        merge with the advent of the Internet. "The private sector
        needs to lead in this new environment, not the government,"
        Magaziner told about 400 students and faculty members at a
        Harvard University conference on the Internet and society.
        Telephone companies and cable operators are currently
        battling using competitng technologies to bring high-speed
        Internet connections to homes and businesses. Eventually,
        the same technologies will allow phone companies to offer TV
        programs and cable companies to offer phone service.

             High-tech industry to meet with FBI over encryption

        FBI director Louis Freeh and other top U.S. law enforcers
        will meet high-technology industry executives, including
        Microsoft's Bill Gates, next week to discuss regulation of
        computer data-scrambling products, FBI and industry
        officials said. The June 9 meeting in Washington comes amid
        negotiations between the industry and the Clinton
        administration over encryption policy and as Congress
        considers several bills to relax strict U.S. export rules on
        the technology. In addition to Gates, Netscape's CEO Jim
        Barksdale and Novell's Chairman Eric Schmidt are among those
        expected to attend the meeting organized by Democratic Sen.
        Dianne Feinstein of California, the officials said.

             World Wide Web inventor, others get 'genius grants'

        The founder of the World Wide Web was among 29 people
        awarded a total of $8.5 million in no-strings-attached
        "genius grants" Monday. Tim Berners-Lee, 43, of Cambridge,
        Mass., won $270,000 from the John D. and Catherine T.
        MacArthur Foundation, which hailed him for pioneering "a
        revolutionary communications system requiring minimal
        technical understanding." Berners-Lee is director of the
        World Wide Web Consortium, a nonprofit, member-sponsored
        organization, and a principal research scientist at the
        Laboratory for Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute
        of Technology. In addition to proposing the initial idea for
        the Web, he designed the uniform resource locator (URL)
        protocol that assigns addresses to individual sites.

                  Iran to put Khomeini's works on Internet

        Iran plans to put the complete works of its late spiritual
        leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on the Internet, an
        Iranian official said Monday. Hamid Ansari, head of an
        institute publishing Khomeini's writings, said the late
        leader's 210 works in Persian and 107 of his texts
        translated into 16 languages would be made available on the
        web, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported. Besides purely
        religious works, Khomeini has theoretical writings on
        Shi'ite Islam's views on politics, which formed the basis of
        the clergy-dominated government set up after Iran's 1979
        Islamic revolution. Several poems by the late revolutionary
        leader have also been published since his death.

                  Motorola, Lucent in chip design alliance

        Motorola Inc. and Lucent Technolgies Inc. said they would
        collaborate to design next-generation digital signal
        processor technology, to create chips used in many wireless
        and communications devices. Under the deal, Motorola and
        Lucent will work together to develop designs for new digital
        signal processor technologies and cross-license their
        existing digital signal processor designs. The alliance will
        accelerate development of advanced processors for the
        communications, transportation and consumer electronics
        industries, Motorola and Lucent said. The companies will
        create a joint design center, with about 100 designers, in
        the Atlanta area called Star*Core.

             Taiwan PC firms ignore antitrust suit, go for Win98

        Taiwan computer firms plan to embrace Microsoft Corp's
        Windows 98 operating system, shrugging off a U.S. antitrust
        suit brought against the U.S. giant, suppliers said on
        Wednesday. Taiwan's top PC makers - including global brand
        Acer Inc. - have no hesitation about going with Windows 98,
        despite a multibillion-dollar row over its built-in Internet
        browser. "The Win95 operating system software is the most
        popular in Taiwan, and definitely we will install the new
        (Win98) system shortly after it hits the market," Acer
        product specialist Henry Yu said.

                 UAE says solves its millennium bug problem

        The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it had succeeded in
        solving the millennium bug problem at all state offices
        which it had feared would disrupt older computer programs by
        the end of the century. "The (UAE) cabinet had been informed
        of the success which was achieved on May 18," Minister of
        Finance and Industry Mohammad Khalfan bin Kharbash said in
        remarks carried by local newspapers Wednesday. Kharbash said
        the solution would solve the millennium bug for all UAE
        ministries and federal establishments. He gave no further
        details. (Reuters)

            U.S. industry lagging on Internet privacy protection

        Hundreds of companies are collecting personal information
        about consumers on Internet sites and, without telling them,
        selling the data, according to a government survey to be
        released Thursday that is likely to lead to new privacy
        protections. But the report's dire assessment also prompted
        a dozen high-tech trade groups Wednesday to issue a
        wide-ranging voluntary privacy policy, the latest attempt by
        industry to head off new government regulations. The survey,
        conducted by the Federal Trade Commission, delivers a bleak
        assessment of the Clinton administration's policy of
        allowing Internet companies to police privacy themselves,
        people familiar with the report said.

                             Drudge won't budge

        After one of the most hostile introductions in recent
        history at the National Press Club, on-line rumor-monger
        Matt Drudge declared he represents the future of journalism.
        Washington's media establishment claims Drudge lacks the
        credentials to be a real journalist, but Drudge replied he
        has beat journalists at their own game. After all, Drudge
        claimed Tuesday, he was the first to report Republican
        presidential candidate Bob Dole had picked Jack Kemp as his
        running mate; first to announce to an American audience that
        Princess Diana had died; and the quickest to report advance
        word on upcoming films "that even studio execs, some of
        them, admit they get from me." The Drudgereport.com Web site
        claims more than 1 million hits a day.

                   Microsoft sees no damage from lawsuits

        The Justice Department suit against Microsoft Corp. will
        have no "material adverse impact" on the company's financial
        position, Microsoft said in a document filed with the
        federal government Wednesday. In an amended quarterly report
        filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission - known as
        a 10-q - the company laid out the latest on the Justice
        Department's broad antitrust suit against it, including the
        dates briefs are due and the Sept. 8 date for the trial. It
        also reviewed parallel actions by 20 state attorneys
        general. "Management currently believes that resolving these
        matters will not have a material adverse impact on the
        company's financial position or its results of operations,"
        Microsoft said. (Reuters)

                    Clinton to attack Internet access gap

        President Clinton will announce new initiatives Friday to
        close the "digital divide" by bringing Internet access to
        children in poor inner city and rural areas, White House
        officials said Thursday. Clinton, at a commencement speech
        at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will also tout
        the Internet as an engine of U.S. economic growth, they
        said, but gave no details of the proposals. The president is
        also expected to come to the defense of a multibillion
        dollar federal subsidy program to connect schools and
        libraries to the Internet, that has come under attack from
        some members of Congress.

                      FTC to vote on Intel suit Monday

        The Federal Trade Commission set a meeting Thursday for June
        8 to vote on antitrust action against Intel Corp., the
        dominant producer of personal computer microprocessors. The
        FTC's official "sunshine phone" recorded message announced
        the meeting had been set to consider "enforcement action." A
        source said the five commissioners would vote early next
        week on the Intel matter. The FTC will vote on whether to
        bring a suit alleging Intel illegally misused monopoly power
        to force others to give up their trade secrets and cooperate
        with Intel. The case is being considered as the Justice
        Department and 20 states are pursing major antitrust actions
        against Microsoft Corp. which together with Intel dominates
        the computer industry.

             Lawmakers ask FCC to halt Internet subsidy program

        Four powerful U.S. lawmakers warned the Federal
        Communications Commission Thursday to halt a
        multibillion-dollar subsidy program that helps schools and
        libraries connect to the Internet. In an unusual display of
        bipartisanship, the Republican chairmen and top Democrats on
        both the Senate and House Commerce committees sent a letter
        to FCC chairman William Kennard asking him to suspend the
        program, which is funded mostly by long-distance phone
        companies. In the past week, AT&T Corp. and MCI
        Communications Corp. have said they would add surcharges of
        at least 5% to long-distance calls to pay for their share of
        the program and longstanding subsidies that support basic
        phone service in low-income and rural areas.

             U.S. fears Year 2000 bug could spook Russian forces

        The U.S. is drawing up plans to keep Russia and others from
        being spooked into millennium bug-related "nightmare"
        military scenarios, a top Pentagon official said Thursday.
        In a stark warning about the Year 2000 computer glitch
        threat, Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre cited a need to
        calm Russian nuclear forces in particular if the "bug"
        caused their computers to crash, as many systems may fail
        worldwide. He told the Senate Armed Services Committee
        cash-strapped Russian forces were relying more and more on
        nuclear weapons "as a safeguard for their national
        security... And their early warning system is fragile."









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           * Please use a single font in an article. TTF Times New
             Roman 12pt. is preferred. (VERY Strong Hint)

        If there are any questions please use either E-Mail or call.
        On another note... the ASCII version of STReport has reached
        the "end of the line" As the major Online Services moved
        away from ASCII.... So has STReport. All in the name of
        progress and improved readability. The amount of reader mail
        expressing a preference for HTML as opposed to our Adobe PDF
        enhanced issue is running approximately 11 to 1 over the PDF
        edition.  Cited are size, graphic quality and speed of
        download.   I'm elated that requests for our issues in HTML
        far outnumber PDF. So PDF too, like ascii, is gone. HTML is
        now a reality.  On our web download page is a selection for
        HTML (Read or Download). As you can see, STReport will not
        be caught in the old, worn out "downward compatibility
        dodge" we must move forward.

        Many grateful thanks in advance for your enthusiastic
        co-operation and input.

        Ralph F. Mariano, Editor
        rmariano@streport.com
        STReport International Online Magazine





        [Image]









        Classics & Gaming Section
        Editor Dana P. Jacobson
        dpj@streport.com



        From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"

        It's always "one of those weeks!" after going back to work
        from a vacation. Walk into the office to stacks of STUFF on
        your desk and all kinds of notes requesting immediate
        response. It's never much fun. It's Friday and I'm finally
        getting caught up enough to have a normal hectic day.

        But, the weekend is almost here and plenty to look forward
        to again. Our pool is just about opened. Discovered that the
        pump was cracked and there was nothing to be done to save
        it. So, once that's replaced, we can run the filter on the
        pool and clean up the water. Should be interesting. I'm
        looking forward to using the pool for relief from some
        typical New England scorchers.

        The "veggie" garden is coming along fine - the plants have
        grown quite a bit since planting. Even some of the flowers
        that we planted in early spring but we thought died have
        come back! Things are looking up in the external household!
        Still a few more tasks to undertake and then it's time to
        re-visit the inside! Ahhhh, I'm enjoying this homeowner's
        life!

        Until next time...





                               Gaming Section

           * 'Best of 1997!'
           * Psygnosis Signs!
           * Sony Does Disney!
           * Extreme Racing!
           * Violent Games Influence Violence?
           * And much more!





        Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming
        News!



               The 7th Annual GamePro Readers' Choice Awards

        ATLANTA, May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Interactive gaming
        enthusiasts throughout the country have been eagerly waiting
        to see if their favorite games for 1997 are sure winners.
        After votes were in and tabulated, GamePro, the world's
        largest multiplatform gaming magazine, announced the winners
        of The 7th Annual GamePro Readers' Choice Awards. The awards
        ceremony was held last evening in IDG Games Media Group's
        booth at E3 where representatives of the winning games were
        presented with an award by John Rousseau, President and CEO
        of IDG Games Media Group, and Wes Nihei, Vice President and
        Editor-in-Chief of GamePro magazine.

        GamePro readers were asked to pick their favorite games in
        various categories in the February issue of GamePro magazine
        and on GamePro's Web site (http://www.gamepro.com) during
        the month of February. The editors of GamePro magazine voted
        on two additional categories -- Best Game of the Year and
        Most Innovative Game of the Year.

        The winners are:

        Best Action/Adventure Game
        Tomb Raider II by Eidos Interactive for the PlayStation

        Best Fighting Game
        WCW vs. NWO: World Tour by THQ, Inc. for the Nintendo 64

        Best Driving/Racing Game
        Diddy Kong Racing by Nintendo of America, Inc. for the
        Nintendo 64

        Best Vehicle Shooter
        StarFox 64 by Nintendo of America, Inc. for the Nintendo 64

        Best Corridor Shooter
        GoldenEye 007 by Nintendo of America, Inc. for the Nintendo
        64

        Best Role-Playing Game
        Final Fantasy VII by Sony Computer Entertainment America for
        the PlayStation

        Best Sports Game
        NFL GameDay '98 by Sony Computer Entertainment America for
        the PlayStation

        Best Puzzle/Strategy Game
        Bomberman 64 by Nintendo of America, Inc. for the Nintendo
        64

        Best Arcade Game
        Mortal Kombat 4 by Midway Games, Inc.

        Best Console Game Of The Year
        Final Fantasy VII by Sony Computer Entertainment America for
        the PlayStation

        Best Game Of The Year
        GoldenEye 007 by Nintendo of America, Inc. for the Nintendo
        64

        Most Innovative Game Of The Year
        PaRappa the Rapper by Sony Computer Entertainment America
        for the PlayStation

        The GamePro Readers' Choice Awards is in its seventh year,
        solidifying GamePro magazine's loyal readership and gamers'
        trust in a name that stands for quality information about
        interactive gaming.

        "Seven years ago, we decided to give GamePro readers a
        voice-a chance to speak to the industry about the games they
        love most," says Wes Nihei, Editor-in-Chief of GamePro
        magazine. "The GamePro Readers' Choice Awards is the only
        industry event representing the true judges of what makes a
        great game-the interactive gaming enthusiast."

            Psygnosis Ltd. Licenses Three Microsoft Games for PSX

        FOSTER CITY, CALIF. (May 29) BUSINESS WIRE - May 29, 1998 -
        Psygnosis Limited, the largest entertainment software
        developer in Europe, has signed an agreement to license and
        publish three of Microsoft's PC games for the PlayStation(R)
        game console. The titles, Age of Empires (tm), Urban
        Assault(tm) and Motocross Madness(tm) will be co-branded
        with the Microsoft and Psygnosis logos.

        "We're excited to deliver some of our great games to
        PlayStation gamers," commented Ed Fries, general manager of
        Microsoft's Games Group. "With 15 years of experience as a
        multi-platform game developer and publisher, Psygnosis is
        uniquely suited to extend our top brands into the console
        market."

        Psygnosis has a thorough understanding of PC sensibilities,
        having developed titles for the PC market since 1983 while
        also commanding the experience necessary to translate a PC
        design into a console game. Psygnosis has published hit
        titles for the PlayStation game console since the system's
        debut in 1995.

        "Our relationship with Microsoft provides us with an
        opportunity to market Microsoft's product to an audience of
        gamers eager to play today's best games," commented Ian
        Hetherington, president and founder of Psygnosis, Ltd.
        Engineering Microsoft's PC games for PlayStation game
        console versions will take place in Psygnosis' studios
        around the world, under the direction of Graham Stafford,
        Psygnosis Director of Product Planning. "Psygnosis will then
        use its global publishing strength to coordinate a series of
        worldwide organized launches by all eight publishing
        divisions," added Nick Garnell, Psygnosis Director of
        Worldwide Publishing.

        Age of Empires, the best-selling PC strategy game since its
        release in Sept. 1997 (PC data), is an epic, real-time
        strategy game that spans 10,000 years. It was developed by
        Ensemble Studios. Urban Assault, currently in development by
        Terra Tools, is an innovative action title that combines
        strategic elements as game players struggle to bring Earth
        back from the brink of destruction. The PC version of the
        game is slated for release in summer 1998. The PC version of
        Motocross Madness, slated for release in fall 1998, is a
        stunt riding and racing title being developed by Rainbow
        Studios.

                    Sony To Publish PSX Titles For Disney

        Jun 1, 1998 (MULTIMEDIA WIRE, Vol. 5, No. 104) -- ATLANTA -
        Sony Computer Entertainment will publish three Disney titles
        on PlayStation in the US and more than four titles in Europe
        and elsewhere, the companies said Friday. Sony has a minimum
        six-month, or one Christmasseason, exclusive license to the
        properties. Under the agreement, Sony will publish A Bug's
        Life simultaneously with the release of the movie, which
        will debut in Q4 in the US and early next year in Europe and
        other 'PAL territories.' A Bug's Life comes from Pixar, the
        maker of "Toy Story." Sony will also publish Tarzan and
        another unnamed Disney title.

        Disney Interactive VP of sales and marketing Tim Zuckert
        wouldn't be specific on marketing budgets or sales forecasts
        for the titles, saying merely, "Sony will provide a level of
        support consistent with their expecations for best-selling
        titles." Sony will also publish and distribute PSX sports
        titles from Disney's newly launched ESPN Digital in Europe
        and other PAL territories, while Disney will handle
        distribution in North America.

          Midway Shifts Into High Gear With Development of Extreme
                                   Racing

        The high-speed action of Midway Home Entertainment's San
        Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing is peeling out of San
        Francisco and screeching onto new tracks across the country.
        Midway, one of the industry's most prestigious entertainment
        software publishers, today announced it is developing Rush
        2: Extreme Racing USA, the sequel to the
        critically-acclaimed, chart-topping San Francisco Rush:
        Extreme Racing. Rush 2 is expected to be available for the
        Nintendo(R) 64 and PC platform this winter.

        "The same team that threw drivers into the helter skelter of
        San Francisco's roadways is creating yet another
        exhilarating racing experience with Rush 2," said Paula
        Cook, director of marketing at Midway Home Entertainment.
        "Rush 2 will be a must-buy for owners of San Francisco Rush:
        Extreme Racing as well as new buyers because of theextensive
        enhancements with new tracks, cities and gameplay options."
        Gamers will face twelve new tracks in Rush 2 and maneuver
        through the congested streets of upper and lower Manhattan,
        the rain-slicked roads of Seattle, and the neon-lit
        boulevards of Las Vegas. Players can also cruise Los
        Angeles, Hawaii, Alcatraz, two speedway loop tracks and two
        stunt tracks.

        Eight new cars will join the eleven existing vehicles, each
        with tighter car handling, more severe collision damage,
        more sensitive braking capabilities and all-new secrets to
        unlock. The sequel also boasts booming original music and
        multiple camera views. The highly successful San Francisco
        Rush: Extreme Racing was released last year for both
        Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation(R) game console. The
        critical raves were widespread, with GamePro describing it
        as "a non-stop, thrill-a-minute roller-coaster ride..." and
        Ultra Game Players exclaiming that it "looks to be the game
        that puts the fun back in Nintendo 64 gaming." San Francisco
        Rush was nominated for several industry awards and was named
        both the "Best Nintendo 64 Game" and the "Best Racing Game"
        in 1997 by Ultra Game Players.

          Tear Up the Tracks and Dust the Competition With Off Road
                                Challenge(TM)

        Get ready for an outrageous 4x4 off-road experience with
        Midway Home Entertainment's Off Road Challenge(TM) for the
        Nintendo(R) 64. Off Road Challenge, endorsed by racer Ivan
        Stewart, offers an interactive 3D racing experience with
        Rumble Pak(TM) compatibility, six tracks, four trucks and a
        chance to race in realistic environments and through varied
        weather conditions. Based on the original coin operated
        game, Midway's Off Road Challenge for the Nintendo 64 boasts
        three original tracks and is expected to be available
        nationwide in June.

        "Off Road Challenge is a racing favorite in the arcades, and
        we're adding even more spark to the home version with new
        tracks and Rumble Pak compatibility," said Paula Cook,
        director of marketing at Midway Home Entertainment. "Having
        Ivan Stewart endorse the game is a true testament to the
        adrenaline rush experienced while playing the game."

        Players will feel every bump, twist and turn of Off Road
        Challenge's six serpentine circuits. The tracks range from
        beginner to expert and traverse the country's best back road
        racing settings including Baja, El Paso, Mojave and more. As
        players race, they can pick up power-ups to boost speed, as
        well as cash to add features to their truck in the speed
        shop between races. Independent suspension and powerslides
        make interaction between the trucks and environments of
        snow, sand, water, asphalt, rocks and mud amazingly
        realistic.

        Midway's Off Road Challenge utilizes the Nintendo 64's four
        player split screen capability. Players have four trucks to
        select from, as well as four secret trucks which can be
        found along the way. Players can rip up the road in single
        player mode, go head-to-head in two player, or race to place
        in circuit mode.

             Video Game Industry Denies Any Blame for Shootings

        The rash of shootings in U.S. high schools this year cannot
        be blamed on depictions of violence in video games, which
        may even have a "cathartic" effect on teenagers who play
        them, an industry spokesman said Thursday. Douglas
        Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software
        Association, said, "... there is absolutely no basis for
        making the leap that the presence of video games is a factor
        in these premeditated acts, in these murders ... there is
        evidence the games have a cathartic effect. To isolate any
        form of entertainment as the agent is unsubstantiated and
        irresponsible." President Clinton suggested Saturday
        children were being introduced to violence at an early age
        by playing electronic games and watching television and
        movies.

              Girls Find Violent Video Games Boring, Panel Says

        Video game industry leaders said Friday they have long known
        boys enjoy playing violent, gory video games, but now they
        are beginning to understand why girls do not enjoy them.
        "Girls didn't think they were far too violent," said Laura
        Groppe, president of Girl Games Inc. of Austin, Texas.
        "Girls just thought they were boring. Dying and starting
        over again seemed somewhat pointless to them."

        Industry leaders attending the annual Electronic
        Entertainment Expo in Atlanta said they were puzzled that
        girls avoided violent videos in droves and began to research
        the subject. Groppe said researchers at Girl Games learned
        girls want videos that seem relevant to their lives.



        Gaming Online STR InfoFile - Online Users Growl & Purr!

                           AtariNews: On The Prowl

        06/02/98

        LATEST HEADLINES:

        WELCOME TO THE LIST

        Welcome to the new AtariNews: On The Prowl! If you have not
        subscribed to this list, you have been added to this list
        because you have been on the petition to Telegames list. If
        you were previously on the AtariNews list, then I would like
        to welcome you to the new format. This list will offer
        simple news updates about Atari. It also offers a means by
        which all Atari fans can announce significant items of
        interest, such as new products and issues of fanzines or
        newsletters, etc. It is a goal to be as accurate as
        possible, and reach all Atari fans. You can expect to
        receive this newsletter in a timely manner, especially when
        there is very important news. If you receive this update
        more than once, please inform me. To submit news, send it to
        brionhol@aol.com.

        ATARI KEYCHAINS AT A STORE NEAR YOU!

        New LCD keychain game versions of Joust, Kaboom!, and
        Defender have been sighted at stores, courtesy of Tiger
        Electronics. Retail price is $9.95. If you've been looking
        for a fun diversion, one of these classics may be for you!

        JAGUAR OVERLAYS UPDATE

        Tony Price (mfmurdock@earthlink.net ) has confirmed that he
        will be producing an overlay for the newly released Worms
        game for the Jaguar. Also, the Zero 5 overlay has a button
        in the wrong place. Please contact Tony if you picked up one
        of these overlays and would like a

        replacement.

        http://home.earthlink.net/~mfmurdock/jaguar/jaguar.htm

        NEW CLASSICS ON THE LYNX?

        Rumor has it that at least one of the new Lynx games slated
        for 1998 will be an update of a classic. More details soon.

        JOIN THE CORE

        No, this isn't a military ad -- Paul Oswood
        <paulo@plethora.net> has designed a new game for the Atari
        2600 named "The Core." The game will be released in cart
        form this summer, and has an interesting claim to fame: it
        uses the 2600 driving controllers for a Tempest-esque
        experience! The retail price of $25 includes the cart with a
        color label, a color manual, a B&W box, and shipping in
        North America. Check out Paul's own description of the game
        and a screen shot at:

        http://www.plethora.net/~paulo/thecore.html

        THE PETITION TO HASBRO

        The petition to Hasbro needs more names. If you would like
        to try to get Hasbro to support the Jaguar and Lynx, then
        please sign this petition. There are currently 80 names on
        the petition.

        http://www.geocities.com/timessquare/arcade/8063

        FEEL LIKE CHATTING?

        Join your fellow Jaguar and Lynx fans at Jaguar Interactive,
        one of the best Atari-related message boards around! It can
        be found at:

        http://atarihq.com/interactive/

        Special thanks to Atari HQ for hosting the site!

        Send any comments or submissions for "AtariNews: On The
        Prowl" to Brian Gudzevich (Editor) at: Brionhold@aol.com

        Sponsoring web sites:

        -The Atarian Atmosphere:
        http://www.geocities.com/timessquare/arcade/8063

        -The Jaguar's Domain:
        http://www.millcomm.com/~forhan/jaguar.html







        ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!





                            PEOPLE... ARE TALKING

        Compiled by Joe Mirando
        jmirando@streport.com



        Hidi ho friends and neighbors. It's been one heck of a week
        for me. First, I found out that a good friend's husband died
        late last week. She, of course, is a wreck and has turned to
        picking up the pieces and trying to cope with her loss. She
        needs the support of her friends right now, and I'm only too
        happy to help out. After all, that's what friends do for one
        another.

        Second, I ended up getting one of those despicable little
        stomach bugs. The kind that keeps you from feeling well or
        enjoying even a simple meal, but doesn't make you sick
        enough to stay home from work.

        Third, I opened up my big mouth and offered to rebuild a
        '486 computer for a relative who wants to access the
        internet. Come to find out, it's not a '486. It's a '286
        with a whopping 640K of memory (SIPPs that are soldered on
        to the motherboard). There's no way of upgrading this
        machine to be usable in any real way, so I've scrounged
        around and found a '486 that can be upgraded and used to
        surf the web. It ain't easy, but if it was easy it wouldn't
        be worth doing, would it? <smile>

        Needless to say, this is not going to go down in my memoirs
        as a wonderful week for me. It's been one of those weeks
        where you feel just terrible and one half of your mind wants
        nothing more than to just feel bad for yourself, and the
        other half says, "What about your friend who needs you right
        now?" Of course there is no contest as to whether I or my
        friend have had the worse week, but there are times when you
        just want to retreat and take a little personal time. Of
        course, that is normally when you CAN'T take it, but that's
        the way it is, I guess.

        I guess my reason for telling you this is so that you won't
        hold it against me if this week's column is quite a bit
        shorter than usual. As always, email is not only
        appreciated, but replied to. Drop me a line if you've a mind
        to.

        Now let's take a look at what's going on with the UseNet...

        From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup

        Mark Simpson asks about attaching binary files to email in
        NEWSie:

        "I tried to attach a binary file to e-mail i was sending to
        a friend. If I select "none" as the encoding choice, and
        then select edit, it tries to place the binary file in the
        editor as a text file, (which doesn't work). If I try to
        edit my mail first, and then attach an un-encoded binary
        file, I'm cant select a file to attach. If I try to send a
        binary file without any letter along with it (un-encoded),
        it tries to send it, and then during the sending process the
        program crashes (68000 exception). Is there a trick to this
        that I'm missing or what?"

        Charles Silver tells Mark:

        "Well, when you asked this question it caught me by
        surprise. Most who have NEWSie do this all the time, but I
        forgot exactly how I do it. To send a binary with NEWSie and
        you want it encoded by NEWSie you must check either UUE or
        MIME. If you just want to send the file with a message, type
        in the e-mail address, subject and click on either UUE or
        MIME and then click on the "attached file" to bring up the
        file selector. Find your binary and load it. THEN "Edit".
        Type in your message above the binary stuff, save it, and
        send it. This works for me. You can't send a binary file
        without encoding it, thus the crash. Other's may explain
        this better than me. If your text editor can't handle
        binaries, all bets are off..."

        Roger Cain tells Mark:

        "You cannot send binary over a mail channel as it contains
        non-printable characters which upset the server (as you've
        noticed}. The only time 'None' makes sense is if the
        Attached file is text only.

        Do this:

        At the first Post/Follow-up dialogue select MIME or UUE
        depending on the capability of the recipient. You will
        usually find that MIME is the best choice as not all PC
        systems can cope with UUE. Click in 'Attached file@ to
        select the binary you want to send. After filling in any
        other fields you require click 'Edit'. There will be a busy
        period during which the binary will be encoded and stuck in
        the message you want to send. The mail including the encoded
        binary will then be displayed and you can stick any
        accompanying message at the beginning (preferably) or end.

        Proceed as usual for 'Save', 'Quit', 'Queue/Send'."

        Mark tells Roger:

        "I guess I was accidentally doing it right the first time
        (by not selecting "none"), without knowing it. And I guess
        the webmaster at my ISP misunderstood my question. I thought
        I was clear. So if I MIME files when I send them, recipients
        using PCs who don't understand what a MIME'ed file is, will
        be able to use them, as their browser will automatically
        interpret what's happening, and decode the file. Is this
        correct? If not, being completely PC illiterate, what do I
        tell them to do?"

        Roger replies:

        "Errmm .. I'm not totally sure what happens at their end but
        at least PCs understand MIME. They may have to press a
        button to cause the decode to happen. Perhaps someone else
        will say what actually happens on the PC but therecipient
        may need to say 'OK' to an 'Extract' or 'Decode' dialogue."

        Alyre Chiasson asks about running programs meant to run on
        'foreign' monitors:

        "Is there a software fix that can correct for programs that
        roll on a 50 Mhz monitor because they were meant to output
        to a 60 Mhz monitor? The program "GO5060" bomb on me when I
        do a reset. Any other options?"

        Callum Lerwick tells Alyre:

        "I'm guessing your in the US... Hi there! Short answer: Try
        tweaking the vertical sync (hold?) on the monitor... Longer
        answer: What monitor are you using? What model 'strange grey
        box' for that matter... :) Both my SC1224's work fine in
        50hz mode, but who knows, yours may need a tweak... Or are
        you using a TV? (yuck... :) I used to often hook up my STFM
        to various TV's for gaming. (MidiMaze lives!) But of course
        most American TV's don't like 50hz much. A slight nudge to
        the vsync always worked for me. Though on at least one,
        tweaking the knob just right to keep sync with Atari 50hz
        and 60hz, and* regular TV broadcasts was a bit tricky...

        As far as software goes, switching the refresh rate is got
        to be one of the simplest things to write... :) Just for fun
        I once wrote a lower border overscan thingy in pure GFA
        basic... I don't know what go5060 does exactly, but I don't
        know why it would crash your machine. Blame it on something
        else... :) If you want I'll email you the hz toggler I have.
        Its only 145 bytes... (I think I found it on Umich...) Or if
        your running games/demos that load from bootsector, look for
        Dcbootit. (Umich :) It works great for getting that darn
        "Froggies over the Fence" demo to run..."

        "Stephen" asks for help with 'sneakernet' transfers:

        "I'm having difficulty using DD(720k) disks between my Win95
        machine and my Atari. Both machines read the disks but the
        Atari will not access any files written by the Win95
        machine. I use the Win95 machineto download Atari files and
        utilities."

        Dave Gostl tells Stephen:

        "Win95 writes something to the disk to make it take long
        file names. Even if you just read the disk under Win95. Do
        your transfers under DOS and you should be fine. Formatting
        under DOS is a good idea too. Just beware the Atari can't
        tell if the disk was changed or not with DOS formatted
        disks."

        Nicholas Bales adds:

        "You should format the disk on the PC. Do not use any
        folders or long filenames on the disk. Try formatting and
        copying the files in DOS mode rather than Windows."

        Cecil Westerhoff adds his own thoughts:

        "In my experience you have to save the files under DOS. Not
        a DOS-box, but exit Windows (also with 3.x) and save it to
        floppy from there. If you do it otherwise there is something
        done with the FAT. Maybe a smart guy will write something to
        bypass it? It would be nicer to work with the filemanager."

        Dennis Bishop asks:

        "...does CAB support 'cookies'? one outfit that I log onto
        sends data to your cookie so you can input it at other
        places or they get it without you having to type it each
        time. I can get into a section I joined so far as cab
        doesn't seem to pass on the right data." \

        Steve Hammond tells Dennis:

        "No - none of the current verisons of CAB (commerical or
        freeware) support cookies. CAB 2.7 (coming soon to an Atari
        dealer near you) is suppose to and the latest CAB.OVL by Dan
        Ackerman has that support built in."

        James Pirie asks for help with Papyrus, the word/document
        processor: "I am stuck! I'm planning a move to Papyrus as my
        word/document processor from Pagestream, which is good but a
        little slow on the printing and screen updating side. I
        downloaded the Demo copy of Papyrus 5 from Hisoft' web page
        and started playing.

        When I print out the results of my experimentations a very
        strange and frustrating thing is happening. Papyrus seems to
        randomly exchange the letter d for the letter b. There is no
        pattern or obvious reason for this but still it persists. I
        am using a Falcon with Nemesis board, 14Mb RAM, MagiC V4,
        NVDI V4. I have tried it with a bare system (and Nemesis
        disabled) but the problem persists.

        Anyone seen or heard of this one? It's a shame because
        Papyrus looks good!! It works really quickly and prints out
        about twice as fast as Pagestream with the added bonus of
        GDOS support."

        Nicholas Bales tells James:

        "I think that's a demo "feature", just to make it unusable
        enough while you can still test print quality and import
        features."

        Robert Schaffner tells James:

        "That's the feature of the demo release. The full release
        doesn't do that!"

        Paal Monstad asks:

        "Is it possible to connect an ISDN external box to the
        Falcon and TT? I intend to use this setup with ASH emailer,
        Iconnect and Cab 2.6."

        Martin-Eric Racine tells Paal:

        "It should be possible, at least on a TT. However, some
        providers might require an Ethernet card for this, in which
        case you'll need a Riebel Ethernet car for the TT."

        Peter Rottengatter, the author of STinG, tells Paal (and
        Martin-Eric):

        "For ISDN? You're kidding! Maybe you're confusing it with
        cable modems? For those you usually indeed need an ethernet
        adapter. An external ISDN terminal adapter (no it's *not* a
        modem) can be fitted to any Atari machine. I definitely know
        STinG works well with it. That should be true for other
        stacks too."

        ** Hmmm, an Atari running at ISDN speeds... THAT would be
        something to see.

        Meanwhile, Chris Whitelock asks for help with CAB 2.5 and
        PPP Connect (Ash's dialer/PPP implementation):

        "I've purchased and installed CAB 2.5 and PPP-Connect. I'm
        confused - nowhere in the docs does it say that PPP-Connect
        only works with Magic, but I'm sure I've heard that
        somewhere? I use Geneva & Neodesk. I have no problems
        connecting to my ISP using PPP-Connect BUT can't do anything
        after that! CAB does not seem to recognise the connection
        and if I run GET_IP.PRG it never ever returns with an IP
        address and I have to reboot. [Yes, CAB.OVL is in the
        correct modules folder]. Anyone got any idea what the
        problem is? Please? (I have given up trying to get STinG to
        log on, for the time being anyway). By the way, I have a
        standard Falcon 4/84 TOS 4.04, plus external 1.4 gig
        h/drive."

        Niall Morgan tells Chris:

        "PPP connect does need magic i'm afraid. You will need to
        get STing up and running if you want to use CAB with geneva.
        STing is not much harder to set up than ppp connect and
        people here I'm sure will help you if needed."

        Martin Byttebier jumps in and corrects Niall:

        "Not true. PPP-connect *doesn't* need MagiC to work. If
        you've a pre-emptive multitasking system like for instance
        N.AES it should work. Geneva is a co-operative multitasking
        system but if you run MiNT on top of it you'll get a
        pre-emptive OS. Some time ago I was able to use PPP-connect
        with a Geneva/Thing/MiNT setup. Unfortunately for some dark
        reasons I can't use it anymore. Sure I can still make a
        connection but like Chris, CAB seems not to recognise the
        connection. I think you'll be better off with a Sting setup.
        Like Niall says it isn't that difficult to get STing up and
        running."

        Well folks, that's it for this time around. I'm going to go
        swallow some Pepto and hope that I feel better instead of
        worse tomorrow. Be sure to tune in again next week, same
        time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are
        saying when...

                             PEOPLE ARE TALKING





                             EDITORIAL QUICKIES

          Tomorrow is June 06, 1998 - The Anniversary of Overlord.
             Many thanks to all the GIs that made it a success!





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