home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
Text File | 1996-10-04 | 163.0 KB | 3,226 lines |
-
- Silicon Times Report
- The Original Independent OnLine Magazine"
- (Since 1987)
-
- October 04, 1996 No.1240
-
- Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine
- Post Office Box 6672
- Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
-
- STR Electronic Publishing Inc.
- A subsidiary of
- STR Worldwide CompNews Inc.
-
- R.F. Mariano, Editor
-
- Voice: 1-904-292-9222 10am-5pm EST
- STReport WebSite http://www.streport.com
-
- STR Publishing Support BBS
-
- THE BOUNTY INTERNATIONAL BBS
- Featuring: * 5.0GB * of File Libraries
- Mustang Software's
- WILDCAT! Client/Server BBS
- Version 5 95/NT
-
- Featuring a Full Service Web Site
- http://www.streport.com
- Voted TOP TEN Ultimate WebSite
- Join STReport's Subscriber List receive STR through Internet
-
- MULTI-NODE Operation 24hrs-7 days
- Analog & ISDN BRI Access 904-268-4116
- 2400-128000 bps V. 120-32-34 v.42 bis
- ISDN V.34 USRobotics Courier Internal I-MODEM
- FAX: 904-268-2237 24hrs
-
- BCS - Toad Hall BBS 1-617-567-8642
-
- 10/04/96 STR 1240 The Original Independent OnLine Magazine!
-
- - CPU Industry Report - Corel Updates - Killer Cancelbot
- - Creative FAXBAK - Advert Rules? - Photo-OPS?
- - China Loosens Grip - Mitnick Indicted - SPA Audits Subs
- - USR Surprise? - People Talking - Dana's Tidbits
-
- NEW PROPOSALS FOR MANAGING THE `NET
- MS TO PROMOTE ISDN IN EUROPE
- Iomega Ships 3 Millionth Zip Drive
-
-
- STReport International OnLine Magazine
- Featuring Weekly
- "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
- Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
- Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
-
- STReport's BBS - The Bounty International BBS, invites all BBS systems,
- worldwide, to participate in the provision and distribution of STReport for
- their members. You may call The STReport Home BBS, The Bounty @ 1-
- 904-268-4116. Or obtain the latest issue from our WebSite. Enjoy the wonder
- and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to all
- computer types, worldwide, through the use of the Internet. All computer
- enthusiasts, hobbyist or commercial, on all platforms and BBS systems are
- invited to participate.
-
- ** WEB SITE: http//www.streport.com **
- CIS ~ PRODIGY ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ AOL
-
- IMPORTANT NOTICE
-
- STReport, with its policy of not accepting any input relative to content from
- paid advertisers, has over the years developed the reputation of "saying it
- like it really is". When it comes to our editorials, product evaluations,
- reviews and over-views, we shall always keep our readers interests first and
- foremost. With the user in mind, STReport further pledges to maintain the
- reader confidence that has been developed over the years and to continue
- "living up to such". All we ask is that our readers make certain the
- manufacturers, publishers etc., know exactly where the information about
- their products appeared. In closing, we shall arduously endeavor to meet and
- further develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have
- come to expect in each and every issue.
- The Publisher, Staff &
- Editors
-
-
-
- Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35
- Results: 9/28/96: 2 of 6 numbers, eight 2 number matches
-
-
- From the Editor's Desk...
-
- I ran my mouth elsewhere in the issue, so I'll make this very short.
- New products abound! Keep an eye on us. as we present a litany of the new
- software and hardware over the next few weeks. From high performance
- networks to children's educational software. from virtual reality to the
- Internet its all going to be treat after treat. So, stay tuned its going to
- be a blast.
-
- Ralph....
-
- Of Special Note:
- http//www.streport.com
-
- STReport is now ready to offer much more in the way of serving the Networks,
- Online Services and Internet's vast, fast growing site list and userbase. We
- now have our very own WEB/NewsGroup/FTP Site and although its in its early
- stages of construction, do stop by and have a look see. Since We've received
- numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide variety of Internet
- addressees, we were compelled to put together an Internet
- distribution/mailing list for those who wished to receive STReport on a
- regular basis, the file is ZIPPED, then UUENCODED. Unfortunately, we've also
- received a number of opinions that the UUENCODING was a real pain to deal
- with. So, as of October 01,1995, you'll be able to download STReport
- directly from our very own SERVER & WEB Site. While there, be sure to join
- our STR list.
-
- STReport's managing editors DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
-
- Ralph F. Mariano, Publisher - Editor
- Dana P. Jacobson, Editor, Current Affairs
-
- Section Editors
-
- PC Section Mac Section Beginner's Section
- R.F. Mariano J. Deegan Lloyd E. Pulley
-
- Gaming & Entertainment Kid's Computing Corner
- Dana P. Jacobson Frank Sereno
-
- STReport Staff Editors
- Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin
- John Szczepanik Paul Guillot Joseph Mirando
- Doyle Helms John Duckworth Jeff Coe
- Steve Keipe Victor Mariano Melanie Bell
- Jay Levy Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins
- Carl Prehn Paul Charchian Vincent P. O'Hara
-
- Contributing Correspondents
- Dominick J. Fontana Norman Boucher Daniel Stidham
- David H. Mann Angelo Marasco Donna Lines
- Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith
- Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller
- Craig Harris Allen Chang Tim Holt
- Ron Satchwill Leonard Worzala Tom Sherwin
-
- Please submit ALL letters, rebuttals, articles, reviews, etc...
- via E-Mail to:
- CompuServe 70007,4454
- Prodigy CZGJ44A
- Delphi RMARIANO
- GEnie ST.REPORT
- BIX RMARIANO
- AOL STReport
- Internet rmariano@streport.com
- WebSite http://www.streport.com
-
-
-
- STReport Headline News
-
- LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
-
- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
-
- Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
-
- "Cancelbot" Wipes Out Messages
-
- A rogue program known as a "cancelbot" wiped out more than 25,000 messages
- posted to Internet's Usenet bulletin boards last weekend. Writing in The
- Wall Street Journal this morning, reporter Jared Sandberg notes, "Anyone who
- uses the Internet can retrieve and cancel any message they have sent and the
- messages of others. While this contributes to the 'openness' of the system,
- it can also lead to some unwanted destruction." Among the messages summarily
- zapped in a matter of hours were those posted to electronic discussion groups
- on the topics of women, gays, Jews and Eastern religions as well as
- computer-oriented topics.
-
- One software engineer who woke up Sunday morning to discover thousands of
- electronic messages had disappeared told the paper, "Whoever did this has the
- potential to bring Usenet to its knees and remove all the articles from
- Usenet in a given day. That's Internet terrorism." Sandberg notes it also
- "underscores the persistent vulnerabilities and resulting vandalism" that
- still plague the Internet, adding, "Users have long been able to cancel
- messages, even those of others, on the global net."
-
- The paper says:
- · The Church of Scientology recently used the technology to cancel
- messages that it believed contained copyrighted Scientology material.
- · Author Michael Wolfe, who writes books about the Internet, saw his
- messages canceled by an anonymous user known only as the
- "Cancelmoose," who apparently felt Wolfe's messages were "spam,"
- widespread posting of irrelevant messages.
-
- "It's a stupid Net trick,'" says William Cheswick, a security expert at
- Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Bell Laboratories. "It's virtually trivial to
- generate these cancel messages. Any doofus without much programming
- experience can do this, and we're going to see this kind of thing all the
- time." And the problem will likely get worse, says Richard Adams, founder of
- MFS Communications Co.'s UUNet Technologies Inc.
-
- "There are a certain percentage of idiots in any community," he said. "As the
- comunity grows, the absolute number of idiots gets bigger." This ability to
- cancel messages on the Internet had led to a philosophical face-off among Net
- faithful. Some argue the function allows them to wipe out countless
- commercial sales pitches that are plastered over the network weekly, while
- the downside is "virtually anybody can censor speech," notes Sandberg.
-
- Clinton to Order Encryption?
-
- Word in Washington is that President Clinton is prepared to sign an executive
- order instituting his administration's controversial plan that would allow
- sale of powerful data-scrambling software. As reported earlier, the new plan
- would enable companies to sell their advanced encryption technology abroad,
- but would require the companies to give law enforcement agencies the ability
- to break the codes under a court order.
-
- The Washington Post reports this morning the administration hopes a
- presidential order on the matter will break a deadlock between law
- enforcement and the U.S. computer industry over encryption. Writing for The
- Associated Press, reporter Laura Meckler notes the White House's most recent
- plan could allow U.S. companies to export data-scrambling software using
- codes that are up to 56 bits long. As it stands, codes may only be 40 bits
- long in exported software. Bits are the electronic pulses that make up the
- data being transmitted.
-
- In return, U.S. companies would have to design a "key recovery" system that
- would allow intelligence officials to obtain the code if they obtain a court
- warrant. As noted, Clinton fears encryption will be used by criminals and
- terrorists, so he insists law enforcement needs a way to break in. Civil
- libertarians and cyber rights groups fear the government will misuse the keys
- to spy on citizens.
-
- Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told
- the wire service the latest plan also would transfer authority over
- encryption export from the State Department to the Commerce Department, but
- it would give the FBI power to review export plans. Says Meckle, "This plan
- replaces the 'clipper chip' that the Clinton administration proposed in 1994.
- That would have allowed computer or telephone communications to be scrambled
- while giving the government a set of decoding keys to allow for
- court-approved electronic surveillance. The latest plan is different because
- it would make it more difficult for government to unscramble messages. The
- keys could be held by third parties and their components would be spread
- across several companies."
-
- Meanwhile, The New York Times said in a story today, the administration
- believes it will take some time for the United States to persuade other
- countries to adopt the same systems, allowing governments to work together.
- One unidentified senior administration official told the Times, "It is going
- to take a while to persuade people that their data is safe under this system,
- that it protects privacy, and yet that we can use the system to trace
- terrorists or drug dealers." AP notes IBM and several other large computer
- companies have signed onto the administration's plan, although others are
- likely to object.
-
- Bill Extends Protection to Net
-
- California Gov. Pete Wilson has signed legislation extending standard
- consumer protections to the state's Internet users. Reporting from
- Sacramento, United Press International says the bill is intended to give
- consumers who buy goods or services over the Internet the same protections
- from financial scams, deceptive marketing practices and unfair service
- agreements as exist for phone, mail order, catalog or other sales.
-
- The measure -- sponsored by Attorney General Dan Lungren and carried by
- Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame -- "will require Internet vendors
- to disclose their return policy, legal business name and street address
- before accepting any money," UPI adds. A related Speier bill, also signed,
- requires the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to place information on its
- Internet web site to help vehicle purchasers protect themselves from fraud.
-
- Electronic FOI Bill Now Law
-
- A bill ensuring the public has electronic access to government documents
- available under the Freedom of Information Act has been signed into law by
- President Clinton. As reported earlier, the new law updates the original one,
- which, notes The Associated Press, was passed 30 years ago when the
- government owned only 45 computers and provided information only on paper.
-
- "The legislation was designed to clarify that the FOIA -- used by
- journalists, researchers, businesses, local governments, public interest
- groups -- also applies to federal records maintained electronically," AP
- adds. Approved by Congress without dissent, the new Electronic FOIA requires
- federal agencies when asked to share data in a specific format, such as on
- computer diskette or CD-ROM. "It also broadens citizen access to government
- by placing more information online, in hopes of easing the huge backlog of
- requests for data," the wire service says.
-
- Feds Appeal Net 'Decency' Case
-
- The U.S. Justice Department has appealed to the Supreme Court to attempt to
- save the government's controversial "indecency" ban on the Iternet, citing
- among its arguments the government origin of the global network. At issue
- is a June ruling by a three-judge federal panel in Philadelphia that the
- "indecency" ban, enacted by Congress in February, is unconstitutional.
-
- United Press International reports the Justice Department brief on the case
- says the Internet "originated from experimental efforts" of the Defense
- Department to link some of its computer systems. Adds the brief, "The
- Internet originated from experimental efforts of the Department of Defense to
- link defense-related computer systems so that research and communication
- could continue even if portions of the network were damaged.
-
- "Similar networks were subsequently developed to link universities, research
- facilities, businesses and individuals around the world. All of those
- networks were ultimately linked to one another and became the global network
- known as the Internet." UPI notes that the Justice Department does not
- contend that the Internet's origin makes it more susceptible to government
- regulation. "The Supreme Court has always ruled that government entities have
- less power to regulate speech than private entities," the wire service
- observes.
-
- Congress Toughens Porn Laws
-
- Computer-generated child pornography is targeted in a new law that takes
- effect this week, making it illegal to appear to depict children in sexual
- situations, whether in computer images, films or photographs. However, the
- American Civil Liberties Union calls the measure unconstitutional and a waste
- of prosecutors' resources, since it expanded a law designed to protect any
- actual children used to produce pornography. The ACLU also says the law is so
- broad that adults portraying children in films could risk prosecution.
-
- Reporting from Washington, Jackie Frank of the Reuter News Service notes that
- previously, depictions of minors produced by computers without using children
- had been outside the scope of federal law. "The new law expands the
- definition of child pornography to include any image - photograp, video or
- computer-generated image -- that depicts or appears to depict a minor engaged
- in sexually explicit conduct," Frank reports.
-
- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says
- the law was designed to protect children from sexual exploitation and
- pedophiles. "While federal law has failed to keep pace with technology, the
- purveyors of child pornography have been right on line with it. Passage of
- this bill will help to correct that problem," Hatch said.
-
- On the other side of the debate, ACLU legislative counsel Daniel Katz told
- the wire service the law has major ramifications for artists, the film
- industry and journalism. Katz said it includes a waiver-of-privacy rule to
- permit newsroom searches for information related to investigations of child
- pornography, adding, "It is much broader, and the ramifications are
- extraordinary, both for artists and for people in the cinema."
-
- Of course, computers can be used to alter photographs, films and videos to
- produce sexually explicit materials virtually indistinguishable from
- unretouched photographs. "The new technology has hampered prosecutors in
- their ability to obtain convictions because it can be impossible to identify
- individuals or to prove that the materials were produced using real
- children," Reuters notes. "The new law would allow prosecution of
- pornographers whether or not the identity of the child could be determined,
- so long as the person, even if an adult, appeared to be a minor." (Currently,
- pornography is protected under free speech laws except when a minor child is
- involved.)
-
- Hatch contends computer-generated pornography posed many of the same dangers
- to children as did pornography made from unretouched photographs in that it
- could be used to seduce children into sexual activity or to encourage a
- pedophile to prey on them. Mandatory prison sentences of 15 years are
- established by the new law for production of child pornography, five years
- for possession of the materials and life in prison for repeat offenders
- convicted of sexual abuse of a minor.
-
- China Eases Internet Rules
-
- Limits on the number of Internet accounts in the country have been removed by
- China now that the government there has restricted material on the computer
- network that it considers unacceptable. Reporting from Shanghai, te Reuter
- News Service quotes Zhang Weihua, vice president of the Shanghai Post and
- Telecommunications Administration, as saying, "Some time ago, our security
- arrangements were incomplete and there was a problem with pornographic and
- politically unacceptable material, but our arrangements have now been
- improved and new accounts are now being added without restriction."
-
- Zhang said he was unaware of any restrictions on access to major
- international news sites through China's Internet servers. Several providers,
- including Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, have
- reported China has cut off access to such news sites. Zhang said that for
- "security" reasons there was a need to control information and discussion on
- the Internet and related bulletin-board services, "but surveys done on the
- usage and interests of people in China with Internet access indicate that
- virtually all the material they wanted to look at is domestic."
-
- Guerrillas Blocked From Net
-
- Internet connections for a guerrilla group currently involved in a bloody
- offensive in the mountains and jungles of Colombia suddenly have been cut.
- Reporting from Bogota, Karl Penhaul of the Reuter News Service says the
- Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has periodically
- paralysed half the country with road blocks, found its route to the
- information superhighway barred.
-
- "The Communist insurgents, who rose up in arms in 1964, embraced new
- technology last year in their fight to overthrow the government by launching
- a home page on the Internet," writes Penhaul. "But in unexplained
- circumstances, which a spokeswoman for the Mexico City-based Internet
- provider Teesnet said may or may not be linked to external pressures, the
- plug was pulled on the service on Monday -- a day after being publicized in
- Colombia's leading daily, El Tiempo."
-
- In Mexico City, FARC international spokesman Marco Leon Calarca admitted the
- loss of the Internet page was a serious reversal, but vowed the computer-age
- conflict was far from over. He told the wireservice, "This is an attack on
- freedom of expression because we were not doing anything illegal. I cannot
- say exactly how it happened but the hand of the Colombian government is in
- this. The FARC is used to difficulties and this is just the latest challenge.
- One way or another we will get back on to the Internet."
-
- Reuters notes the guerrillas used their World Wide Web site to publish their
- political magazine Resistencia, whose distribution is banned in Colombia, and
- to offer explanations about their latest armed actions. FARC was labeled
- "narcoguerrillas" since the 1980s when U.S. ambassador Lewis Tambs
- highlighted the group's alleged connections with Colombia's drugs trade, and
- has been dubbed "Cyberspace guerrillas" since their appearance on the
- Internet.
-
- On this Calarca commented, "Cyberspace guerrillas may seem a fun name but I
- think it is pejorative and belittles what we're doing. We are looking to
- topple the government and set up a new Colombia."
-
- Mitnick Indicted in Thefts
-
- Convicted computer vandal Kevin Mitnick has been indicted on charges he
- carried out a spree of software thefts that cost corporations millions of
- dollars during nearly three years as a fugitive. In Los Angeles, The
- Associated Press reports a federal grand jury has indicted 33-year-old
- Mitnick on charges he stole computer programs from companies, damaged
- University of Southern California computers and used stolen passwords during
- his time on the run.
-
- Following an investigation by a task force of high-tech experts from the FBI,
- NASA and federal prosecutor's offices nationwide, the 25-count complaint
- also alleges that Mitnick used cloned cellular phone codes. As reported,
- Mitnick pleaded guilty last April to a single count of cellular phone fraud
- for using 15 stolen phone numbers to dial into computer databases. He also
- admitted violating probation for a previous computer fraud conviction. In
- return for that plea, prosecutors agreed to drop 22 other fraud charges but
- warned that new charges could follow.
-
- Mitnick, already awaiting sentencing on the earlier charges, could face up to
- 200 years of jail time if convicted, authorities said. In 1988, Mitnick
- served a year in prison for illegally tapping computers at Digital Equipment
- Corp. At age 17, he served six months at a youth center for stealing computer
- manuals from a Pacific Bell switching center.
-
- In 1992, he disappeared while on probation. Computer security expert Tsutomu
- Shimomura tracked Mitnick to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was arrested
- in February 1995 after telephone technicians tracked his cellular phone
- signal to an apartment complex there.
-
- Mitnick Pleads Not Guilty
-
- Famed renegade computerist Kevin Mitnick has pleaded not guilty to charges he
- masterminded a multimillion-dollar online crime spree during his 2 1/2 years
- as a national fugitive. In Los Angeles, the 33-year-old Mitnick told the
- judge not to bother reading the indictment, which includes 25 new counts of
- computer and wire fraud, possessing unlawful ccess devices, damaging
- computers and intercepting electronic messages. "Not guilty," he said.
- Mitnick is being held without bail on a fraud conviction.
-
- As reported earlier, the indictment was handed up Friday by a federal grand
- jury and follows an investigation by a national task force of FBI, NASA and
- federal prosecutors with high-tech expertise. Mitnick is accused of using
- stolen computer passwords, damaging University of Southern California
- computers and stealing software valued at millions of dollars from technology
- companies, including Novell, Motorola, Nokia, Fujitsu and NEC.
-
- According to The Associated Press, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Schindler
- said Mitnick, if convicted, will be sentenced to "multiple years," but
- declined to be more specific, saying that computer crime was a new area of
- the law. As noted, Mitnick went on the lam in 1992 while on probation and
- was tracked by computer and telephone security experts who caught him in
- Raleigh, N.C. The story of his arrest in February 1995 made national
- headlines.
-
- Last April, he pleaded guilty to a North Carolina fraud charge of using 15
- stolen phone numbers to dial into computer databases. Prosecutors dropped 22
- other fraud charges then but warned that new charges could follow. AP notes
- Mitnick also admitted violating probation for a 1988 conviction in Los
- Angeles, where he served a year in jail for breaking into computers at
- Digital Equipment Corp. At 16, he served six months in a youth center for
- stealing computer manuals from a Pacific Bell switching center. The wire
- service reports Mitnick also has a new lawyer. He is Donald C. Randolph, who
- represented Charles Keating Jr.'s top aide, Judy J. Wischer, in the Lincoln
- Savings swindle.
-
- IBM Offers New, Trimmer PC Line
-
- IBM is introducing a new line of slick black machines that will be marketed
- to those wanting to clear clutter from their desks. The new Aptiva S Series
- separates the diskette and CD-ROM drives from the box that contains the main
- circuitry, allowing people to place the compute box away from the work area
- without sacrificing convenience, says business writer David E. Kalish of The
- Associated Press.
-
- "The foray into design by IBM signals that a recent industry trend toward
- fashionable machines has entered the mainstream," Kalish adds. "It and other
- PC makers are facing up to the reality that their machines are fundamentally
- similar, built from the same processing chips and operating software." IBM's
- Aptiva S series encases the drives and power controls in a discrete slim
- "media console" that forms a base for the monitor, close at hand even when
- the hardware box is stored off the desk.
-
- "Previously, people could stow the bulky box away from the desk but would
- then need to stretch to insert and eject diskettes and CDs," AP observes.
- "The new system also features a distinctive monitor stand supported by
- elegant wide arches to provide space for the keyboard when not in use." Its
- lowest-cost model will use Intel Corp.'s Pentium 166 MHz microprocessor, with
- prices starting at $2,499, excluding a monitor. The highest-cost machine, at
- $3,099, will be run by a 200 MHz Pentium. All will have at least 16MB of main
- memory, hard drives ranging from 2.5 to 3.2 gigabytes and 28,800 bps modems.
- Monitors cost an extra $499 to $799, depending on display size.
-
- Dell Ships Low-End Dimension P200v
-
- Dell Computer Corp. says it has begun volume shipments of the Dell Dimension
- P200v, a high-powered PC designed for cost-conscious small- and medium-sized
- business and home office customers in the United States. The P200v
- represents the first time Dell has offered the fastest-available Pentium
- processor in an entry-level system priced less than $2,000. Dell introduced
- and began shipping the P200v in limited quantities last month. The Dell
- Dimension P200v mini-tower system includes 16MB of RAM, a 2.1GB hard drive, a
- Dell 15TX Trinitron monitor and an 8-speed CD-ROM drive. Factory-installed
- options include a 16-bit sound card and speakers for $99 and a 28.8K bps
- fax/modem for $129.
-
- OS/2 FaxWorks Pro Enhanced
-
- Global Village Communications Inc. has introduced an enhanced version of its
- FaxWorks Pro for OS/2 communications software. FaxWorks Pro for OS/2 3.0,
- which is compatible with IBM's new OS/2 Warp 4, includes voice mail, message
- forwarding, fax-on-demand, paging and remote message retrieval features. The
- software also offers Internet Relay, which allows OS/2 users to forward faxes
- and voice mail messages to Internet mailboxes. For mobile users, received
- faxes and voice messages can be placed in an Internet mailbox, so that these
- messages can be retrieved along with their e-mail. FaxWorks Pro for OS/2 3.0
- ispriced at $129. Prices for the local area network edition start at $499.
-
- Modem Allows Voice, Data at Once
-
- The online community is abuzz over a new modem technology called Digital
- Simultaneous Voice and Data -- or DSVD -- that will allow you to talk on the
- telephone and send data on the same call. Reporting in Popular Mechanics,
- writer T.J. Byers says DSVD models "are great for head-to-head game
- competition, but they also have more serious applications," adding, "Business
- during phone conferences, and video telephones become practical and
- inexpensive."
-
- With DSVD, the phone and modem share the same line. The key to its success is
- "selective processing of the voice signal," the magazine said. During DSVD
- calls, voice, normally analogue, is digitally modulated and compressed like
- computer data. "The modem takes snippets of your telephone conversation and
- stuffs them into a small frame, making them easier and faster to transport,"
- Byers writes. When the frame is opened at the other end, the contents return
- to their original form."
-
- The digitized voice and data signals are mixed together in a process called
- multiplexing, with the voice frames interwoven with data frames in a defined
- pattern. In DSVD, the pattern typically is two data frames for every voice
- frame. This robs the data channel of some of its speed. "Unfortunately,
- there is a catch to DSVD technology," the magazine adds. "Minor difficulties
- between each vendor's DSVD protocol limit the interoperability of all but the
- newest products. Lack of standardization does not mean you must wait to buy a
- DSVD model. The International Telecommunications Union has a DSVD standard in
- the works."
-
- DVD-ROM Software Sales to Soar
-
- Digital video disc-read only memory (DVD-ROM) software products could
- generate revenues of $100 million annually by 1999, and will begin to take
- revenues away from CD-ROM beginning in 1997, according to a new research
- report from SIMBA Information Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut. The report
- estimates that DVD-ROM software sales will rach $35 million in 1997, $75
- million in 1998 and $100 million by 1999.
-
- SIMBA estimates that U.S. consumers, businesses and educational customers
- spent $1.47 billion on multimedia CD-ROMs in 1995. CD-ROM sales will
- increase 74 percent to $2.56 billion in 1996, led by "edutainment" and game
- titles, says SIMBA. Although multimedia CD-ROM revenues will continue to grow
- over the next several years, emerging platforms such as DVD-ROM and online
- multimedia delivery will encroach upon its territory beginning in 1997, notes
- the researcher.
-
- Iomega Ships 3 Millionth Zip Drive
-
- Iomega Corp. reports that it has shipped more than 3 million Zip drives
- worldwide since the line's introduction in March 1995. The 100MB Zip drives
- and disks provide up to 70 times the capacity of traditional floppy disks.
- The Roy, Utah, company also says it has shipped its 5 millionth personal
- storage solution, comprised of Zip and Ditto disk drives and Jaz tape drives.
-
- Iomega recently announced that internal Zip drives for OEMs (original
- equipment manufacturers) will boot computers containing updated BIOS (Basic
- Input Output System) by early 1997. Zip drives can be found as standard or
- optional features in computers made by IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Packard Bell,
- NEC Technologies, Micron, Power Computing, Unisys, and Canon. Iomega's Web
- site is located at http.//www.iomega.com.
-
- Robotics at Work on Faster Modem?
-
- Rumors are circulating again that modem market leader U.S. Robotics Corp. is
- preparing to unveil a faster-speed modem, talk that caused the company's
- stock to jump 6 7/8 points yesterday. In Chicago, the Reuter News Service
- quotes Southcoast Capital analyst Jim McIlree as saying, "The whispers are
- they're going to announce the high-speed modem soon." However, U.S. Robotics
- spokeswoman Karen Novak said, "We have not announced anything and we have
- nothing to announce." She repeated, though, the company's stance that the
- 33.6 kilobit per second modem currently in the market is not the fastest
- possible, saying, "We believe 33.6 is not the end of the line."
-
- McIlree and options traders said they are awaiting more details from U.S.
- Robotics, which holds a dominant market share in modems. Reuters notes,
- "Other companies, for example, have set dates. Motorola Inc. has said it will
- unveil a modem with 56 kbps capabilities in 1997, and Rockwell International
- Corp. has said it expects to demonstrate 56 kbps technology at a trade show
- in November." Referring to U.S. Robotics, McIlree observed, "This would be a
- very significant new cycle for them. It would have a large impact on their
- desktop modem busines and it would have a significant effect on their network
- systems business."
-
- DVD Market Set to Take Off
-
- Dataquest Inc. expects the digital video disc (DVD) optical drive market to
- grow from $35 million this year to $4.1 billion in 2000. Analysts at the San
- Jose, California, market research firm expect DVD to boost both the consumer
- electronics and personal computer markets to new heights. But Dataquest also
- forecasts that DVD revenue won't exceed CD-ROM revenue until the year 2000.
- "With high storage capacities, faster data transfer rates and interactive
- capabilities, DVD has moved the capabilities of optical storage forward by
- magnitudes," says Mary Bourdon, a Dataquest senior analyst. "It should be
- noted that the enthusiasm and competitive drive of DVD manufacturers could
- lead to supply exceeding demand for DVD in the near term and cause some
- temporary jolts and lurches in the market."
-
- DVD can be thought of as the next generation of super CD drives designed
- specifically for diverse applications ranging across computer, games, video
- and audio markets, says Bourdon. "It offers consumers the prospect of a
- single-media format for high-quality film and audio reproduction, as well as
- high capacities and improved performance in multimedia
- applications."
-
- Compaq Sales Pass Packard Bell
-
- For the first time, Compaq Computer Corp. became the No. 1 U.S. retailer of
- PCs in July, outpacing Packard Bell Corp. That is the finding of Computer
- Intelligence's "StoreBoard Channel" survey of retailers, which tracks sales
- data from PC superstores, consumer electronic stores, and office superstores
- throughout the United States, outlets that account for about 85 percent of
- retail PC sales.
-
- Eric Auchard of the Reuter News Service notes the survey does not cover mass
- merchants like Wal-Mart, whose sales represent about 15 percent of the U.S.
- retail market for PCs. (Traditionally, this market has been dominated by
- Packard Bell, whose primary focus is U.S. retail sales, as opposed to
- corporate or direct, mail-order distributon methods.) But, adds Reuters,
- Compaq's market share steadily increased throughout the second quarter of
- 1996, and in July finally surged ahead of the long-time leader.
-
- CI analyst Matt Sargent told the wire service, "Clearly, we're now seeing the
- effects of the PC market shifting to a second-time buyer situation. It's
- hurting vendors that cater to low-end, first-time purchasers, while helping
- those that target second-time buyers, who typically emphasize quality over
- price and favor premium brands." The study found market shares for the top
- four vendors in the overall retail sales have shifted significantly since the
- first quarter of this year:
-
- Compaq held 22.7 percent of overall retail business in July, up from 18.0
- percent in February.
- Packard Bell slid to 17.5 percent in July from 30.1 percent in February, when
- it was far and away the dominant retail PC supplier. IBM rose to 11.7
- percent in July from 6.7 percent in February. Hewlett-Packard Co. accounted
- for 10.6 percent of the product sold in those stores surveyed versus 7.4
- percent in February.
-
- Reuters says the most dramatic market share gains for Compaq occurred in the
- consumer electronic stores market segment, causing Packard Bell to lose
- market share in a distribution channel it had pioneered. "Compaq nearly
- doubled its share of the consumer electronics market to 21.2 percent, up from
- 11.0 percent in February," said the wire service. "Packard Bell's share was
- cut in half to 19.3 percent in July from 41.8 percent five months before."
-
- Another Rescue on the Internet
-
- It has happened again -- a disabled and ill Net surfer over the weekend
- managed to summon help from a fellow computerist hundreds of miles away. In
- Boston, Charles Drafts -- a double amputee who types using a stick in his
- mouth -- was online Saturday with 159 other people in an Internet chess site
- when he suddenly sent out a message for help: "i'm disabled and
- havingshortness of breath, call ambulace." He also managed to type in his
- address.
-
- Associated Press writer Dave Howland reports that while several users tried
- to find out what symptoms Drafts was suffering, Andy McFarland of Owensboro,
- Kentucky, was calling Boston's emergency medical services on his second phone
- line. "When he finally got through, he told dispatchers where he was calling
- from and explained the situation," Howland relates. 'I think I lost them for
- just a second,' McFarland said. 'It's not something they get every day.'"
-
- AP says firefighters rushed to Draft's home, but no one answered the dor.
- They called McFarland back to verify the address. McFarland told the wire
- service, "The last thing I heard them say was, `We're going in,' and they
- hung up." About 20 minutes later, a Boston dispatcher called to tell
- McFarland that they had found Drafts inside and that he had needed help.
-
- This morning, Drafts was listed in stable condition at Beth Israel Hospital,
- though hospital officials declined to give details of the nature of his
- illness. This is reminiscent of last February's incident when a minister
- from Scotland messaged people taking part in a weekly online chat in
- CompuServe's Genealogy Forum that he thought he was having a stroke. In that
- case, forum administrator Dick Eastman tracked down The Rev. Kenneth J.
- Walker in Arbroath, Scotland, and notified local emergency authorities, who
- arrived in time to ensure his survival.
-
- Judge Extends Appeal Time in RSI
-
- The amount of time plaintiffs can sue computer manufacturers for repetitive
- stress injuries they allege are caused by typing on keyboards has been
- extended by a New York federal judge. The three-year statute of limitation
- for filing a claim begins running when the plaintiff suffers pain and
- symptoms of an injury, rules U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein of Brooklyn.
-
- According to the Reuter News Service, Weinstein said a New York state court
- was wrong when it ruled last month that the statute begins to run when the
- plaintiff first began to use the keyboard, even if the pain does not occur
- for many years. The judge said that the Appellate Division, First Division's
- application of the statute was not an accurate statement of New York State
- law. He made his ruling in a case brought against Apple Computer Inc. by a
- woman who began using computer keyboards in 1988. She did not begin to feel
- pain until 1993 and filed suit 13 months later.
-
- Net Commerce Group Gets Funding
-
- A new organization that plans to address the legal issues and policy
- questions arising from increased business activity on the Internet says it
- has received over $100,000 initial funding from a number of companies
- involved in Internet development. The Internet Law & Policy Forum plans to
- produce the building blocks for a more predictable global Internet
- environment, including model business agreements, uniform contracting tools
- for electronic commerce, model codes of conduct, analytical reports and
- recommendations for best business practices. The group's corporate sponsors
- include AT&T, Bell Canada, BBN, British Telecom, Cisco Systems, Deutsche
- Telekom, General Electric Information Services, General Magic, Hong Kong
- Telecom, IBM, Mastercard International, MCI Communications, Microsoft,
- Netscape Communications, Oracle and Visa International.
-
- The Electronic Commerce World Institute in Montreal (www.ecworld.org), an
- independent international organization that addresses strategic business
- issues relating to electronic commerce, will provide administrative support
- to the project during an expected six-month organizational phase. "Our
- commitment to support the Internet Law & Policy Forum represents the desires
- of our membership across five continents to promote the establishment of a
- predictable, legally secure environment in which global electronic commerce
- can reach its full potential," says Andre Vallerand, president of the
- Electronic Commerce World Institute.
-
-
-
- CREATIVE LABS AUTOMATED FAXBACK SYSTEM
- 405-372-5227
-
-
- Last Updated: 9-24-96
-
- If a customer would like to receive a faxback document:
-
- 1. Dial 405-372-5227.
- 2. Press 1 to order a document.
- 3. Press 2 to order a document catalog.
- 4. Follow the remaining voice instructions.
-
- AVAILABLE CATALOGS
- Doc# Description
- 1 Product Information Catalog
- 2 Technical Services Catalog
-
- *********************************
- * Product Information Catalog *
- *********************************
-
- SOUND BLASTER CARDS
- Doc# Description
- 1000 Sound Blaster Audio Card Reference Chart
- 1010 Sound Blaster 32 PnP
- 1020 Sound Blaster AWE32 PnP
- 1030 Sound Blaster 16 Value PnP
-
- MULTIMEDIA/CD-ROM KITS
- Doc# Description
- 2000 Multimedia Kit Reference Chart
- 2010 Blaster CD 4x
- 2020 Sound Blaster Discovery CD 4x PnP
- 2030 Sound Blaster Performance 8x
- 2040 Sound Blaster Value CD 4x PnP
- 2050 Blaster CD 6x
- 2060 Sound Blaster Performance 6x
- 2070 Blaster CD 8x
- 2080 Sound Blaster Discovery CD 8x
- 2090 Aventura CD 4x (Español)
- 2100 Aventura CD 4x (portugues)
- 2110 Sound Blaster Multimedia Home 8x
- 2120 Sound Blaster Value CD 8x
- 2130 Blaster CD-R 4120
-
-
- GRAPHICS/VIDEO
- Doc# Description
- 3000 Video Card and Accessories Reference Chart
- 3010 Video Blaster RT300
- 3020 Video Blaster SE100
- 3030 Graphics Blaster MA201/MA202
- 3040 Graphics Blaster MA302
- 3050 3D Blaster
- 3060 Creative TVCoder External
- 3070 Video Blaster MP400
-
- COMMUNICATIONS
- Doc# Description
- 4000 Modem and Communication Reference Chart
- 4010 PhoneBlaster
- 4020 ModemBlaster 14.4 PCMCIA
- 4030 PhoneBlaster 28.8 PnP
- 4040 ModemBlaster 28.8 External
- 4050 ModemBlaster 28.8 PnP
- 4060 ModemBlaster 28.8 PCMCIA
- 4070 Internet Blaster 33.6 PnP
-
- COMPANION PRODUCTS
- Doc# Description
- 5010 Wave Blaster II Gamepak
- 5020 Sound Blaster Speakers
-
- SOFTWARE
- Doc# Description
- 6010 Creative VoiceAssist
- 6020 E-MU SoundFonts
- 6030 Vienna SF Studio
-
- DESKTOP VIDEO CONFERENCING
- Doc# Description
-
- 7000 Desktop VideoConferencing Product Reference Chart
- 7010 ShareVision PC300
- 7020 ShareVision PC3000
- 7030 ShareVision MAC300 & MAC3000
-
- PRODUCT PRESS RELEASES
- Doc# Description
- 8010 Creative Unveils 3D Blaster For Pentium PCs
- 8020 Creative Offers Complete Range of High-Speed Communications Products
- 8030 Modem Blaster 28.8 PCMCIA Expands Creative's Communications Product
- Line
- 8040 Creative Announces Phone Blaster 28.8 Upgrade
- 8050 Creative Introduces New Graphics Blaster Multimedia Accelerator Cards
- 8060 Creative Reduces ShareVision Desktop Video Conferencing Prices To
- Under $1000
- 8070 Creative Announces ShareVision Products Will Support New Data Sharing
- And Video Conferencing Standards
- 8080 Creative Announces a Complete Entertainment Platform for Windows 95
- 8090 Interoperability Testing Begins for New Videophone Standard
- Transmitting over Phone Lines
- 8100 Creative Introduces New Line of 8x Multimedia Upgrade Kits
- 8110 Creative First to Deliver Direct3D Support
- 8120 Creative Introduces SoundFont 2.0 Sound Sample Format
- 8130 Creative Labs Takes Next Step in 3D Graphics Strategy
- 8140 Creative Announces PhoneBlaster 28.8 PnP
- 8150 Creative Unleashes the Power of the PC at E3
- 8160 New Entries in the Growing List if 3D Blaster Titles
- 8170 Creative Ships New Multimedia Kits for Latin America
- 8180 Creative Indroduces Complete Line of Sound Blaster Speakers
- 8190 Creative Ships Internet Blaster 33.6 PnP: The First Complete High-
- Speed 33.6 Internet Solution
- 8200 Creative Teams with Industry Leaders to Offer High Speed 33.6
- Internet Bundle
- 8210 Creative Technology Extends Industry Leadership In Desktop
- Videoconferencing
- 8220 Creative Labs Showcases Complete Line of Multimedia Products for
- Brazil
- 8230 Creative Labs Ships Brazilian Edition of 8x Multimedia Upgrade Kit
- 8240 Creative Ships Complete CD Recording Upgrade Kit Designed For
- The General Consumer
- 8250 Creative's Sound Blaster Gets "Interneted"
- 8260 Creative's Partnerships Change the Face of the Internet
- 8270 Creative and Seer Deliver Low-Cost Wave-Table Audio to Sound Blaster
- 16
-
- DEVELOPER INFORMATION
- Doc# Description
- 9010 Sound Blaster Developer Kit 2.0
- 9030 Blaster Certification Program Intro. Kit
- 9040 Registered Developer Application
-
-
- FINANCIAL INFORMATION
- Doc# Description
- 10010 First Quarter Fiscal 1996 Results
- 10020 Form 6-K for First Quarter Ending 9/30/95, Part 1
- 10022 Form 6-K for First Quarter Ending 9/30/95, Part 2
- 10030 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 1
- 10031 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 2
- 10032 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 3
- 10033 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 4
- 10034 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 5
- 10035 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 6
- 10036 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 7
- 10037 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 8
- 10038 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 9
- 10039 Form 20-F for 1995, Part 10
- 10050 Second Quarter Fiscal 1996 Results
- 10060 Third Quarter Fiscal 1996 Results
- 10070 Fourth Quarter Fiscal 1996 Results
-
- USEFUL INFORMATION
- Doc# Description
- 11010 The Creative Network of Addresses and Phone Numbers
- 11020 Creative Labs Warranty Agreement
- 11030 Creative Labs Product Reference Chart
-
- CREATIVE IN THE NEWS
- Doc# Description
- 12010 "Game for Anything," Introduction to the 3D Blaster (FamilyPC,
- November, 1995)
- 12020 "Blast Into 3-D," Introduction to the 3D Blaster (ComputerLife,
- November, 1995)
- 12030 "New! Sound Solution for Plug and Play" Review of Sound Blaster AWE32
- PnP (PC Computing, November, 1995)
- 12040 "With New Boards, PCs Threaten to Blast Out of the Box" Introduction
- to 3D Blaster (Wall Street Journal August 16, 1995)
- 12050 "Fast Companies," Report on the Fastest-Growing Companies in the U.S.
- (U.S. News & World Report, July 3, 1995)
-
- CORPORATE PRESS RELEASES
- Doc# Description
- 15010 Creative And DataBeam Announce Intended Partnership for Application
- Sharing and T.120-Based Technology
- 15020 Creative Technology Announces Results for Fiscal 1995
- 15030 Creative Garners Top Awards For 1995
- 15040 Creative Announces Resignation of Chief Financial Officer
- 15050 Creative Announces Its Support for Microsoft NetMeeting
- 15060 Creative Announces Resignation of President
- 15070 Creative Announces Cessation of CD-ROM Drive Manufacturing
- 15080 Creative Technology Names Chief Scientist
- 15090 Creative Details Newest Multimedia Strategy for the Internet
-
- CHANNEL MARKETING
- Doc# Description
- 20010 Creative Labs Distributor List
- 20020 MBA Introduction and Registration Form
- 20030 VAR Introduction and Registration Form
- 20040 Reseller Product Literature Order Form
- 20050 Channel Discount Purchase Program
- 20060 VARPak Product List
- 20070 Canadian MBA Registration Form
-
- CREATIVE SOUNDS NEWSLETTER
- Doc# Description
- 21010 Creative Sounds Newsletter for April
- 21020 Creative Sounds Newsletter for May
- 21030 Creative Sound Newsletter for August
-
- CREATIVE SOUNDS CANADA
- Doc# Description
- 22010 Creative Sounds Newsletter for Canada, May 1996
- 22020 Creative Sounds Newsletter for Canada, July 1996
-
-
- *****************************
- * Technical Support Catalog *
- *****************************
-
- SOUND CARD DIAGRAMS AND JUMPER SETTINGS
- Doc# Description
- 51320 CT1320 Sound Blaster 1.0/1.5
- 51330 CT1330 Sound Blaster Pro I
- 51350 CT1350 Sound Blaster 2.0
- 51600 CT1600 Sound Blaster Pro II
- 51730 CT1730 Sound Blaster 16
- 51740 CT1740 Sound Blaster 16
- 51750 CT1750/1759 Sound Blaster 16 MCD
- 51770 CT1770/1779 Sound Blaster 16 SCSI-2
- 52230 CT2230/2239 Sound Blaster 16 MCD
- 52231 CT2230C/2239C Sound Blaster 16 Creative
- 52232 CT2230S/2239S Sound Blaster 16 Sony
- 52290 CT2290/2299 Sound Blaster 16 IDE
- 52291 CT2291 Sound Blaster 16 Value IDE
- 52740 CT2740/2749 Sound Blaster 16
- 52750 CT2750/2759 Sound Blaster EZ CD16
- 52760 CT2760 Sound Blaster AWE32, Rev. 1
- 52763 CT2760 Sound Blaster AWE32, Rev. 3
- 52770 CT2770 Sound Blaster 16 Value Edition
- 52830 CT2830 Sound Blaster 16 IDE
- 52910 CT2910 Sound Blaster 16 Value IDE
- 52950 CT2950 Sound Blaster 16 Value IDE
- 53600 CT3600 Sound Blaster 32 Plug and Play
- 53780 CT3780 Sound Blaster AWE32 Value Edition
- 53900 CT3900 Sound Blaster AWE32 IDE
- 53910 CT3910 Sound Blaster AWE32 Value IDE
- 53930 CT3930 Sound Blaster 32
- 53980 CT3980 Sound Blaster AWE32 Plug and Play
-
- CD-ROM DRIVE DIAGRAMS
- Doc# Description
- 50033 Sony CDU33A
- 50075 Sonu CDU75E
- 50200 Creative CD200F (Funai E2550UA)
- 50220 Creative CD220F (Funai E2800UA)
- 50271 NEC CDR271 / CDR272 / CDR273
- 50400 Mitsumi CD4000M (FX400 / FX400D)
- 50420 Creative CD420E
- 50422 Creative CD420F (Funai E2750UA)
- 50510 NEC CDR-510M
- 50511 NEC CDR-511
- 50521 Creative/Panasonic CR 521/CR 523
- 50530 Toshiba XM-5302B
- 50540 GoldStar GCD 540B
- 50563 Creative/Panasonic CR563
- 50574 Panasonic CR574
- 50581 Panasonic/MKE CR 581J
- 50620 Creative CD620E
- 52750 Sound Blaster EZ CD16
- 50730 Hitachi CDR-7730 CD-ROM Drive
- 50265 Funai E2650 CD-ROM Drive
- 50820 Creative CD820E CD-ROM Drive
-
-
- INTERFACE CARD DIAGRAMS
- Doc# Description
- 51331 CT1331 External CD-ROM Pass-Through Card
- 51810 CT1810 Creative CD-ROM Interface Card
- 51830 CT1830 Creative/Sony CD-ROM Interface Card
- 51860 CT1860 IDE CD-ROM Interface Card
- 51870 CT1870 PnP IDE/Creative CD-ROM Interface Card
-
- TELEPHONY CARD DIAGRAMS
- Doc# Description
- 55010 CT5010 Modem Blaster 19.2Voice
- 55020 CT5020 Modem Blaster 28.8
- 55030 CT5030 Modem Blaster 14.4
-
- VIDEO CARD DIAGRAMS
- Doc# Description
- 56010 CT6010 Creative TV Coder
- 56040 CT6040 Video Blaster SE
- 56042 CT6042 Video Blaster SE100
- 56050 CT6050 Video Blaster FS200
- 56060 CT6060/CT6061 Video Blaster RT300
- 56080 CT6080 Video Blaster MP400
-
- SOUND CARD ISSUES
- General/SB2.0 in DOS
- Doc# Date Description
- 60001 8/22/96 SB 2.0 and No Throughput, No Mixer, Only DMA 1
- 60002 8/22/96 Buzzing from Sound Blaster Until Initialization
- 60003 8/22/96 MCV Bus Timeout Error
- 60004 8/22/96 Multi Config and Memory Management for SB2.0
-
- General/SB2.0 in Windows 3.x
- Doc# Date Description
- 60005 8/22/96 VSBPD.386 Not Loaded Error
- 60006 8/22/96 SB 2.0 and No Sound in Windows Until Mosaic is Entered
- 60007 8/22/96 No MIDI in Windows, All Other Sounds Work
- 60008 8/22/96 Difficulties with Monologue for Windows
-
- SB Pro in DOS
- Doc# Date Description
- 60101 8/22/96 Multi Config and Memory Management for SBPro
-
- SB16 in DOS
- Doc# Date Description
- 60201 8/22/96 16-bit DMA Problems
- 60202 8/22/96 Multi Config and Memory Management for SB16/AWE32
- 60206 8/23/96 SCSI-2 Installation Will Not Accept Disk 2
-
- SB16 in Windows 3.x
- Doc# Date Description
- 60203 8/22/96 Creative Mixer Does Not Save Setting Upon Exit of Windows
- 60204 8/22/96 Errors When Running Texto'LE
-
- SB16 in Windows 95
- Doc# Date Description
- 60205 8/23/96 Installing a Non Plug-and-Play Sound Card in Windows 95
-
- SB32/AWE32 in DOS
- Doc# Date Description
- 60301 8/22/96 MPU-401 Initialization Failed with AWEUTIL.EXE
- 60302 8/22/96 No Music on an AWE32 in Games
-
- SOFTWARE ISSUES
- Issues in DOS
- Doc# Date Description
- 60502 8/23/96 Synthesizer Not Installed and SBAITSO
- 60504 8/23/96 Errors on Speed Installation
- 60505 8/23/96 Blaster and Sound Environment Settings
- 60507 8/23/96 MS Flight Simulator 5.0 and Choppy Sound
-
- Issues in Windows 3.x
- Doc# Date Description
- 60501 8/23/96 Photostyler SE 1.1a PhotoCDs causing GPFs
- 60503 8/23/96 Problems Running Screen Singer Under Windows
- 60506 8/23/96 Digital Morph Gives Errors When Trying to Load a Morph
- Picture
- 60508 8/23/96 Monologue Dictionary Changes Have No Effect
- 60509 8/23/96 Groliers 6.X AVI Problems
- 60510 8/23/96 Groliers with Blank, White, or Black Screens
-
- CD-ROM ISSUES
- Issues in DOS
- Doc# Date Description
- 61001 8/21/96 Omni CD Setting Errors
- 61002 8/21/96 Panasonic CR-562 on a Creative/Panasonic Interface
- 61004 8/22/96 Playing Audio CDs in DOS on a SB16
- 61005 8/22/96 Incorrect DOS Version when MSCDEX Attempts to Load
- 61006 8/22/96 MSCDEX Does Not Attempt to Load
- 61007 8/22/96 Not Enough Drive Letters Available
- 61008 8/22/96 List of Drives Supported by Various Versions of SBIDE.SYS
-
- Issues in Windows 3.x
- Doc# Date Description
- 61011 8/22/96 1995 Groliers and System Resource Problems
- 61015 8/27/96 Installing the [MCI] CD-Audio Driver
-
- Issues in Windows 95
- Doc# Date Description
- 61012 8/27/96 CD-ROM Not Working in Windows 95
- 61013 8/27/96 CD-ROM not accessible from MS-DOS Mode (NON-PnP)
- 61014 8/27/96 CD-ROM drive not recognized in MS-DOS under Windows 95 (PnP)
-
- Hardware-Related Issues
- Doc# Date Description
- 61003 8/21/96 No Sound from CD Audio
- 61009 8/22/96 Daisy-Chaining on a Creative/Panasonic Interface
- 61010 8/22/96 One-Channel CD Audio
-
-
- TELEPHONY PRODUCT ISSUES
- Doc# Date Description
- 63001 8/27/96 Compatible Modems and Initialization Strings
-
-
- The Windows 95 Upgrade Packs for SB16, SB32 and AWE32 sound cards are now
- available for immediate shipment through Customer Service in North, Central,
- and South America, and the Asia Pacific area (the European area will have
- the upgrade available soon). You can contact our Customer Service Department
- at 1- 800-998-1000 in North America. (elsewhere see CONTACT.TXT, Lib 1 on
- Compuserve).
-
- Please note that the upgrade pack is ONLY available for legacy (non-PnP)
- retail versions of the card. Retail versions of the PnP cards ship with
- both DOS / Win 3.1 and Windows95 software. OEM customers should contact
- their vendor to see if an upgrade is available for their card.
-
- SB16 Windows 95 Upgrade Disk Pack (Part Number: 2000001230)
- SB16 Windows 95 Upgrade CD-ROM Pack (Part Number: 2000001240)
-
- * New 32-bit Creative Multimedia Deck applications
- Mixer, CD player, Wave player, MIDI player, Soundo'le and Wave
- Studio.
-
- * 16-bit versions of Text Assist and Voice Assist that will run
- properly with Windows 95.
-
- * Sound drivers.
-
- * CD-ROM drivers
-
- SB32 and AWE32 Windows 95 Upgrade Disk Pack (Part Number: 2000001260)
- SB32 and AWE32 Windows 95 Upgrade CD-ROM Pack (Part Number:
- 2000001250)
-
- * New 32-bit Creative Multimedia Deck applications Mixer, CD player,
- Wave player, MIDI player, Soundo'le and Wave Studio, AWE Control Panel.
-
- * 16-bit versions of Text Assist and Voice Assist that will run
- properly with Windows 95.
-
- * 16-bit version of Vienna that will run properly with Windows 95.
-
- * Sound drivers.
-
- * CD-ROM drivers
-
- Each Windows 95 Upgrade Pack costs $12.95 plus shipping and sales tax
- (if applicable).
-
- Windows 95 Upgrade Packs are not available for any of Creative's 8-bit
- sound cards. All of the drivers required for 8-bit sound cards are included
- with the Windows 95 operating system.
-
- Customers who require one or more of the following drivers and/or
- application patches can download them free of change from our BBS, FTP site
- or CompuServe.
-
- * The latest SB16, SB32 or AWE32 Windows 95 sound card drivers.
-
- * The latest MKE and IDE Windows 95 IDE CD-ROM drivers.
-
- Creative's new 32-bit applications WILL NOT be available for download or
- free of charge. Those customers who would like to upgrade to Creative's new
- 32-bit applications must purchase the upgrade through
- Customer Service. All of our legacy 16-bit applications (with the
- appropriate patches) work properly in Windows 95. When contacting Customer
- Service, please give both the part number AND the title of the upgrade that
- you would like to purchase.
-
- Creative Technology Ltd. is the world's leading provider of advanced
- multimedia solutions for personal computers, including sound, graphics,
- communications and video conferencing products. The company's Sound Blaster
- technology has been accepted as the worldwide standard sound platform for
- PCs, and the company's global distribution network is the most extensive in
- the multimedia industry. Creative is focused on enhancing the overall user
- experience by providing powerful, enabling, high-value technology for the
- mass market. Sound Blaster and Blaster are registered trademarks and 3D
- Blaster is a trademark of Creative Technology Ltd. E-mu is a registered
- trademark of E-mu Systems, Inc. All other products mentioned herein are
- trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby recognized as such.
- This announcement relates to products whose launch are in the United States
- of America. The product names, contents, prices and availability may differ
- elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements. Sound
- Blaster and Blaster are registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. All
- other products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners
- and are hereby recognized as such.
-
-
-
- EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed
-
-
- Edupage
- Contents
-
-
- New FCC Phone Regulations Put On Hold
- Cancelbot Attacks Usenet
- PC, Heal Thyself
- Apple And Netscape Work On Audio/Video Conferencing
- Microsoft To Promote ISDN Service In Europe
- Content Really Is King
- Gov't Documents To Be Made Available Electronically
- Victoria Pulls Plug On Web Site
- Microsoft Expects Slower Revenue Growth In FY97
- Computer Delivers Fatal Drug Dose
- The Ever-Morphing PC
- Clinton Okays Encryption Plan With Key Recovery System
- CyberCoin Targets Small Change On The Net
- Bellcore Warns Smart Cards Are Vulnerable
- New Proposals For Managing The Internet
- VeriFone's Digital Cash Machine
- Utilities To Offer Full Telecom Service
- Netizens Ask, "Where's The Beef?"
- SPA Audits Subscribers To Internet Service Provider
- AOL Tries To Get New Subscribers And Keep The Old Ones
- Netscape Fights Back
- Educom's Conference To Be Web Cast
- AT&T Offers Digital Version Of Its Cellular Service
- Microsoft Gives Away ActiveX Technology
- Netscape Launches InBox Direct
- California Shuns Virtual University
- Apple Shows Recovery Signs
- PC Anti-Freeze
- Silicon Beach?
- Intuit Sells Insurance Via Internet
- Satellite Digital TV In Japan
- Teleglobe Clinches American License
- Power Traveler's Notes
- Oracle Chief Thinks Netscape's On Way Out
-
- NEW FCC PHONE REGULATIONS PUT ON HOLD
- A federal court in St. Louis has ordered a temporary stay on new regulations
- developed by the Federal Communications Commission to control the way in
- which the local phone companies open up their networks to new competitors
- such as long-distance carriers and cable television operators. GTE and other
- local phone service companies are arguing that the elaborate FCC rules are
- an unreasonable government encroachment on the free marketplace. (New York
- Times 28 Sep 96 p23)
-
- CANCELBOT ATTACKS USENET
- Last weekend, a computer cracker aimed a "cancelbot" computer program at
- Usenet -- an Internet bulletin board system -- and wiped out more than
- 25,000 messages. "Whoever did this has the potential to bring Usenet to its
- knees and remove all the articles from Usenet in a given day," says one
- software engineer. "That's Internet terrorism." "It's a stupid 'net
- trick,'" says a Lucent Technologies security expert. "It's virtually
- trivial to generate these cancel messages. Any doofus without much
- programming experience can do this, and we're going to see this kind of
- thing all the time." The cracker's account on Oklahoma-based Cottage
- Software Inc. was canceled immediately and the FBI has been notified. (Wall
- Street Journal 27 Sep 96 A13A)
-
- PC, HEAL THYSELF
- CyberMedia Inc., which makes a software diagnostics tool called First Aid, is
- working with Phoenix Technologies, which makes BIOS 4.0 (Basic Input/Output
- System) system-level diagnostic software, to create a package that enable
- PCs to figure out what's wrong with them, and fix themselves. "Together, we
- have access to all the layers of the software stack and the hardware in the
- system, so virtually any problem could be solved," says Phoenix's marketing
- VP. The collaborative package, called ActiveHelp, will be able to prevent a
- system crash from happening, and can change registry entries and replace
- damaged or missing drivers if needed. Phoenix plans to make ActiveHelp
- available to PC and motherboard manufacturers that license its BIOS chips,
- and the package should be available on PCs in the first half of 1997.
- (Information Week 23 Sep 96 p15)
-
- APPLE AND NETSCAPE WORK ON AUDIO/VIDEO CONFERENCING
- Apple and Netscape will work together to develop audio and video conferencing
- over the Internet, with Apple's QuickTime conferencing bundled into the
- Macintosh version of Netscape's Navigator 3.0 software for browsing the
- World Wide Web. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 29 Sep 96 H2)
-
- MICROSOFT TO PROMOTE ISDN SERVICE IN EUROPE
- Microsoft, in an effort to build up its European following, is teaming with
- France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom to promote ISDN (integrated services
- digital network) phone lines in Europe. ISDN is widely viewed as the key to
- broadening the Internet's appeal to European consumers. Under the agreement,
- Microsoft will incorporate an easy way for Windows 95 and Internet Explorer
- users to sign up for ISDN service with just a few mouse clicks. At the same
- time the three companies will launch an ad campaign for ISDN service. The
- phone companies will pay Microsoft for every new ISDN customer generated.
- (Wall Street Journal 27 Sep 96 B8)
-
- CONTENT REALLY IS KING
- The massive amount of information that's now being generated may appear to
- make the individual content provider less important, says a Walt Disney
- Imagineering VP, but it actually means that branded content becomes much
- more important. In the Information Age, "more information is worth less.
- There's too much; you can't swallow it all. Content providers that will be
- successful will be the ones that make the content mean something."
- (Broadcasting & Cable 23 Sep 96 p54)
-
- GOV'T DOCUMENTS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY
- Congress has passed legislation directing federal agencies to make their
- records available in electronic format and to make better use of the
- Internet to distribute some government information. The legislation was tied
- to efforts to improve government response to Freedom of Information Act
- requests. "These changes will make access to government information
- easier," says the bill's sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). "The
- American people have a right to know how their government works, or doesn't
- work." (Chronicle of Higher Education 27 Sep 96 A30)
-
- VICTORIA PULLS PLUG ON WEB SITE
- Victoria, the first city in Canada to put its tax-assessment rolls on the
- Internet, has pulled the plug after British Columbia's Information
- Commissioner announced an investigation into the practice, believing it
- violates privacy laws. (Toronto Globe & Mail 27 Sep 96 A3)
-
- MICROSOFT EXPECTS SLOWER REVENUE GROWTH IN FY97
- Microsoft says its operating margins might be reduced in fiscal year 1997
- because of slower revenue growth and higher operating expenses, including
- expenses related to R&D. The company plans to "continue significant
- investments in software research and development and related product
- opportunities from which significant revenues aren't anticipated for a
- number of years." (New York Times 28 Sep 96 p22)
-
- COMPUTER DELIVERS FATAL DRUG DOSE
- Terminally ill Bob Dent touched the keyboard of his laptop computer to give
- the go-ahead to receive a lethal drug dose, making him the first person to
- kill himself under the world's only voluntary euthanasia law. The
- computerized "death machine," which sent a mix of barbiturates and muscle
- relaxants into Mr. Dent's bloodstream, is equipped with software that asks
- the potential suicide a series of questions. (Toronto Star 27 Sep 96 A3)
-
- THE EVER-MORPHING PC
- "The PC will fade into the background as we deliver technologies that allow
- people to focus on their jobs, as opposed to focusing on the computer's user
- interface," says Stephen Boies, head of IBM's interactive systems division
- at the Thomas Watson Research Center. For instance, IBM is developing a
- specialized device that car dealers can plug into their telephone line to
- get credit approval for their customers in under two minutes. And physicians
- and nurses at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in California use touch-
- screen flat-panel displays embedded in the hospital's walls to track
- patients' progress. Apple Fellow Donald Norman predicts that we're seeing
- the dawn of computing's next generation: "We're at the end of the second
- generation of the personal computer," which was marked by the graphical user
- interface, promising ease of use. "But what happened," says Norman, "is
- computers have become even more complex, expensive, and unmanageable." In
- the third generation, "the focus will be on people and the tasks they want to
- accomplish, not technicalities." (Information Week 23 Sep 96 p48)
-
- CLINTON OKAYS ENCRYPTION PLAN
- WITH KEY RECOVERY SYSTEM
- Attempting to compromise with critics of its "key escrow" approach to data
- encryption, the Clinton Administration now plans to begin allowing U.S.
- computer companies to export software using powerful encryption codes (or
- "keys") up to 56 bits long. However, the government will require those
- companies to develop, within two years, a "key recovery" system allowing
- U.S. law enforcement or anti-terrorist groups armed with a search warrant to
- get the key from the several third-party companies, each of which would hold
- one part of the key. IBM and some other large companies are supporting the
- plan, but other companies are expected to oppose it. The system will be
- successful only if the Administration can convince other countries to adopt
- the same kind of system. (New York Times 1 Oct 96 C1)
-
- CYBERCOIN TARGETS SMALL CHANGE ON THE NET
- CyberCash has teamed up with six major banks, including Nations Bank, First
- Union, First USA and PNC Bank, to offer an electronic payment system to
- Internet users who want to make purchases ranging from 25 cents to $10. The
- system, called CyberCoin, will charge a just a few cents per transaction,
- making it economically more feasible than traditional credit card systems,
- which charge 75 cents for a 25-cent transaction. The availability of
- "micropayments" is a critical component in allowing publishers to charge for
- online information, say industry observers. "What this is really about is
- not selling old things more efficiently, but setting the stage to sell an
- entirely new set of products," says Paul Saffo of the Institute for the
- Future. "It allows you to buy things by the sip rather than the gulp."
- (Wall Street Journal 30 Sep 96 B8)
-
- BELLCORE WARNS SMART CARDS ARE VULNERABLE
- Researchers at Bellcore have discovered that applying heat or radiation to a
- smart card's embedded chip can make it vulnerable to reverse engineering,
- allowing the data on the chips to be stolen. Michael Smith, director of the
- Smart Card Forum, discounts the researchers' findings, however. He points
- out that smart card transactions require security passes by several systems,
- not just those on the card itself, and that exposing the card to heat or
- radioactivity would not result in repeatable faults, which would be needed
- for reverse engineering. "If what Bellcore says is right, that would mean
- you could bake 10 personal computers, turn them on, run a spreadsheet, and
- each one would show two plus two equaling five," says Smith. (Investor's
- Business Daily 1 Oct 96 A8)
-
- NEW PROPOSALS FOR MANAGING THE INTERNET
- Representatives from the Internet Society, the International
- Telecommunication Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization are
- meeting with others in Washington to make recommendations on the future of
- the registration process for assigning Internet domain names. One proposal,
- advanced by Anthony Rutkowski of General Magic, Inc., suggests that
- InterNIC, which currently assigns names, and the Internet Assigned Numbers
- Authority, should be merged into a new, nonprofit, international InterNIC
- committee, which would include a legal subcommittee to handle "trademark
- disputes involving domain name registrations and warehousing of names."
- Another proposal, put forth by Robert Shaw of the International
- Telecommunication Union, recommends turning the process over to a new entity
- that would embody a more formal legal and public policy framework: "The
- Internet can no longer ignore the real world because it is rapidly becoming
- the real world. Therefore, the challenge is to find the path towards an
- international balanced dialogue and legal framework while fostering the
- positive (and often chaotic) forces that have made the Net the wonderful
- success story it is," says Shaw. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 27 Sep 96
- A25)
-
- VERIFONE'S DIGITAL CASH MACHINE
- VeriFone Inc. has developed a small electronic device that can turn a
- telephone into a dispenser of digital cash. Users can slip a smart card --
- a plastic card with a computer chip inside -- into the little box, which is
- smaller than a paperback book and hooked up to the telephone. The box dials
- the user's bank, verifies the amount in the bank, and downloads digital cash
- onto the smart card. VeriFone, which has an installed base of five million
- credit-card verification terminals in businesses around the world, will try
- to persuade its merchants to upgrade those devices to accept the digital
- cash. (Wall Street Journal 30 Sep 96 B8)
-
- UTILITIES TO OFFER FULL TELECOM SERVICE
- Electrical utility Boston Edison Co. and cable and telecom-operator C-Tec
- Corp. are building a $300-million data network to offer customers a
- smorgasbord of cable television, Internet access, and local and long-distance
- phone services. The network will capitalize on Boston Edison's already-
- installed base of 200 miles of fiber- optic lines, which is currently used
- for communications between its power plant and transmission stations.
- Customers eventually will be able to use the network to order electricity,
- home security, and monitoring for heating and cooling systems. (Investor's
- Business Daily 1 Oct 96 A9)
-
- NETIZENS ASK, "WHERE'S THE BEEF?"
- Yankelovich's second annual Cybercitizen survey has bad news for Internet
- entrepreneurs: "There are widespread complaints about reliability, value
- and usefulness," says a Yankelovich managing partner. "People are looking
- for a reason to stay." The survey reports a drop in average online time from
- 16 to 12 hours a month. Survey respondents reported that the online
- services they value the most provide frequent updates, quick downloads, and
- fast searches. The least useful sites included pictures, sound and bulletin
- boards. (Tampa Tribune 30 Sep 96 B&F5)
-
- SPA AUDITS SUBSCRIBERS TO INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER
- After discovering that an unidentified customer of Intergate, a small
- Internet service provider in Marietta, Georgia, had created a Web page
- pointing hackers and crackers to sites containing serial numbers, codes, and
- programs designed to defeat copyright protections, the Software Publishers
- Association, a Washington, D.C. based trade organization, convinced
- Intergate to submit to an ongoing audit which would allow the activities of
- the company's 170 subscribers to be monitored for copyright infringements.
- Intergate president Jeffrey McGough said, "I'm an easy target. The legal
- issues take more time and money than I could ever spend," but argued: "It's
- ridiculous that the SPA would apply the copyright law this way. The
- knowledge is not illegal, the use of it is." One national Internet service
- provider, Atlanta-based Mindspring, said through a spokesperson that,
- although it cooperates with appropriate legal authorities, the company "could
- not agree to an audit that made us responsible for monitoring what our users
- put on their personal Web pages." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 1 Oct 96 D3)
-
- AOL TRIES TO GET NEW SUBSCRIBERS
- AND KEEP THE OLD ONES
- At the same time it is launching a $300 million advertising campaign to
- attract enough new subscribers to boost its membership from 6 million to 10
- million by next summer, America Online has admitted in a filing to the
- Security & Exchange Commission that, because of increased competition, it has
- had trouble retaining subscribers in the last year. The company believes
- that a new pricing plan offering 20 free hours for $19.95 will be the
- solution to the subscriber retention problem. (Washington Post 30 Sep 96)
-
- NETSCAPE FIGHTS BACK
- Netscape's newest version of its Navigator browser, scheduled for test
- release sometime this month, will enable collaboration among groups without
- the need for "groupware" software such as Lotus Notes. It will also make it
- possible for users to create multimedia e-mail messages and their own Web
- pages. The strategy is to continue persuading people to install Netscape's
- browser and to buy Netscape server software. "That's where the money is,"
- says CEO Jim Barksdale. Still, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is doubtful that
- this David will be able to win the battle against Microsoft's Goliath:
- "Netscape has no chance. They will be wiped out." (Business Week 7 Oct 96
- p34)
-
- EDUCOM'S CONFERENCE TO BE WEB CAST
- If you're unable to be with us in Philadelphia next week for the EDUCOM'96
- conference, watch selected conference sessions via the EDUCOM'96 Web Cast,
- produced by Apple Computer. Access is through the Educom Web site or the
- Apple Web Cast site < http://live.apple.com/ >.
-
- AT&T OFFERS DIGITAL VERSION OF ITS CELLULAR SERVICE
- AT&T's new Digital PCS, a new digital version of its existing cellular phone
- service, will offer caller ID, voice mail and electronic mail, though it
- will not be providing genuine PCS (personal communications service) -- the
- new generation of digital technology that allows transmission at a higher
- frequency and with lower power than a conventional cellular network.
- Responding to competitors who complain that AT&T is not offering true PCS
- service and is merely trying to preempt competition, AT&T chief executive
- Robert Allen says that "consumers really don't care about frequencies; they
- care about services." A number of the competitor companies are planning to
- offer true PCS service months before AT&T is ready to offer it at the end of
- 1997. (New York Times 3 Oct 96 C1)
-
- MICROSOFT GIVES AWAY ACTIVEX TECHNOLOGY
- Microsoft has agreed to transfer control over its ActiveX file-linking
- software to the Open Group, a Cambridge, Mass. industry group, which now
- will be able to set the software's future design standards. The move
- signals Microsoft's realization that giving control over the software to an
- outside entity might encourage software vendors to use the ActiveX approach
- to creating software building blocks that can be arranged into customized
- programs and linked to Microsoft's desktop operating software. "Microsoft
- wouldn't be doing this if it didn't think it was in its best interests,"
- says the president of a software consulting firm. Meanwhile, Netscape,
- Oracle and other software companies are backing a rival technology called
- Corba, which has also been shaped by industry groups. (Wall Street Journal
- 2 Oct 96 B1)
-
- NETSCAPE LAUNCHES INBOX DIRECT
- Netscape's InBox Direct software enables users to receive Web pages via the e-
- mail client contained in its Netscape Navigator 3.0 browser. The new
- technology means companies can send Web-page-type information to prospective
- customers rather than waiting for them to come to their Web site. Yahoo! And
- Clarinet Communications both have announced they will use the new technology
- to deliver information to their customers. Industry observers have pointed
- out that the proliferation of this technology could signal a new paradigm
- in Web marketing, but also warn that it could backfire, by bolstering the
- telcos' case for higher rates and increased regulation of Internet
- connections. (Interactive Age Digital 2 Oct 96)
-
- CALIFORNIA SHUNS VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY
- California will not participate in the Western Governors' "virtual
- university" project. Instead, Gov. Pete Wilson says the state may start its
- own program to create and market college courses through the Internet. He's
- enlisted the help of the state's three public-college systems, along with the
- presidents of Stanford University and the University of Southern California,
- and executives from the computer, finance and telecommunications industries
- in the planning process. Unlike the Western Governors' project, the
- California venture will not seek separate accreditation. "The control of
- the academic offerings and the control of the curriculum would remain with
- the campus," says a CSU VP. "We do feel that faculty should be in charge."
- (Chronicle of Higher Education Academe Today 3 Oct 96)
-
- APPLE SHOWS RECOVERY SIGNS
- After three consecutive quarters of losses resulting from forecasting
- mistakes, manufacturing problems and various kinds of internal turmoil,
- Apple Computer is now confident that its reorganization efforts will return
- the company to profitability "no later than March." (New York Times 2 Oct 96
- C10)
-
- PC ANTI-FREEZE
- There's nothing worse than seeing your computer screen frozen, unresponsive
- to either keyboard or mouse, with the latest version of your work still
- unsaved. Symantec's new Norton CrashGuard with Anti-Freeze can take the
- sting out of a Windows 95 software crash, offering a soothing message that
- tells you it's working on the problem. If all goes well, users can then
- save, quit and reboot their PCs. Symantec's Norton CrashGuard is available
- without charge at < http://www.symantec.com/crashguard >. (Investor's
- Business Daily 3 Oct 96 A8)
-
- SILICON BEACH?
- The state of Florida is going after the chip industry, hoping to lure
- microchip manufacturing plants to its sandy shores via tax credits and a $15-
- million cash incentive fund. The details must still be approved by the state
- legislature, but government officials are optimistic the strategy will meet
- with approval. "Florida has been considered a second-tier state by the
- industry," says a VP at Enterprise Florida, a quasi-governmental agency that
- promotes business interests in the state. And while Florida faces stiff
- competition from other states after the same prize, the cash incentive
- program is considered unique. It ties in with research grants at state
- universities, which will match the grants with their own funds to provide
- engineering, research and other support for the companies. (Wall Street
- Journal 2 Oct 96 F1)
-
- INTUIT SELLS INSURANCE VIA INTERNET
- Intuit Inc. is now offering a service that allows consumers to gather
- information on life insurance costs and purchase their policies through the
- Internet. Quicken InsureMarket will expand later this year to include car
- insurance rates and policies. (Investor's Business Daily 3 Oct 96 A5)
-
- SATELLITE DIGITAL TV IN JAPAN
- PefectTV in Japan has begun the country's first digital satellite service,
- offering 57 TV channels and 4 radio broadcasts. With digital technology,
- high-quality images can be transmitted simultaneously over dozens of
- channels. (New York Times 2 Oct 96 C2)
-
- TELEGLOBE CLINCHES AMERICAN LICENSE
- Teleglobe has won a license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission
- to operate as a global telecommunications carrier in the United States,
- putting Teleglobe on an equal footing with larger American competitors,
- including AT&T, MCI and Sprint. (Montreal Gazette 2 Oct 96 D1)
-
- POWER TRAVELER'S NOTES
- American Airlines will be adding power ports at first class and business
- class seats on some trans-Atlantic routes. The ports are 12-volt DC outlets
- compatible with the universal cigarette-lighter adapter in automobiles.
- (New York Times 2 Oct 96 C9)
-
- ORACLE CHIEF THINKS NETSCAPE'S ON WAY OUT
- Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison said an industry conference in Paris
- that its sometime-ally Netscape has "no chance of surviving." Predicting
- that Netscape's Navigator Web browser was doomed, Ellison said that "there
- will be no such thing as a browser in a couple of years," because browsers
- will have been replaced by central servers that will supersede current
- searching and messaging software. Netscape executives have suggested that
- Ellison is hoping to talk down the price of Netscape in preparation for a
- takeover attempt. (Financial Times 3 Oct 96)
-
-
- Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas
- (douglas@educom.edu).
- Voice: 404-371-1853, Fax: 404-371-8057.
- Technical support is provided by the Office of Information Technology,
- University of North Carolina.
-
-
- EDUPAGE is what you've just finished reading. To subscribe to Edupage: send
- a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type:
- subscribe edupage Marvin Minsky (assuming that your name is Marvin Minsky;
- if it's not, substitute your own name). ... To cancel, send a message to:
- listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type: unsubscribe
- edupage... Subscription problems: educom@educom.unc.edu.
-
- EDUCOM REVIEW is our bimonthly print magazine on learning, communications,
- and information technology. Subscriptions are $18 a year in the U.S.; send
- mail to offer@educom.edu. When you do, we'll ring a little bell, because
- we'll be so happy! Choice of bell is yours: a small dome with a button,
- like the one on the counter at the dry cleaners with the sign "Ring bell for
- service"; or a small hand bell; or a cathedral bell; or a door bell; or a
- chime; or a glockenspiel. Your choice. But ring it!
-
- EDUCOM UPDATE is our twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational news
- and events. To subscribe to the Update: send a message to:
- listproc@educom.unc.edu and in the body of the message type: subscribe
- update John McCarthy (assuming that your name is John McCarthy; if it's
- not, substitute your own name).
-
- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
- The CAUSE organization's annual conference on information technology in
- higher education is scheduled for the end of this month in New Orleans. The
- conference will bring together administrators, academicians and other
- managers of information resources. For full conference information check out
- <http://cause-www.colorado.edu > or send e-mail to conf@cause.colorado.edu.
-
- ARCHIVES & TRANSLATIONS. For archive copies of Edupage or Update, ftp or
- gopher to educom.edu or see URL: < http://www.educom.edu/>. For the French
- edition of Edupage, send mail to edupage-fr@ijs.com with the subject
- "subscribe"; or see < http://www.ijs.com >. For the Hebrew edition, send
- mail to listserv@kinetica.co.il containing : SUBSCRIBE Leketnet-Word6 <name>
- or see < http://www.kinetica.co.il/ newsletters/leketnet/ >. For the
- Hungarian edition, send mail to: send mail to subs.edupage@hungary.com. An
- Italian edition is available on Agora' Telematica; connection and/or free
- subscription via BT-Tymnet and Sprint (login: <agora) or via telnet
- <agora.stm.it; mail: <b.parrella@agora.stm.it for info. For the Portuguese
- edition, contact edunews@nc-rj.rnp.br with the message SUB EDUPAGE-P Seu
- Primeiro Nome Seu Sobrenome. For the Spanish edition, send mail edunews@nc-
- rj.rnp.br with the message SUB EDUPAGE-E Su Primer Nombre, Su Apellido.
-
- Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
-
-
-
-
- Memory Lane
-
- Last Week's picture was of Charles Cherry, formally of Atari Corp. under
- Antonio Salerno. Charles was the front man.. for a short while, he handled
- all the problems Salerno and Leonard created.
-
- He was correctly identified by Matthew Shore of California.
-
-
- · Each week, we'll present a different new photo for our readers to
- identify.
- · Tell us who or what is in the photo.. then send us your answer to;
- photo@streport.com
- · The first correct entry will be published in the following week's issue
- along with the new photo to be identified.
-
-
-
-
- Special Notice!! STR Infofile File format Requirements for
- Articles
-
-
- File Format for STReport
-
- All articles submitted to STReport for publication must be sent in the
- following format. Please use the format requested. Any files received that
- do not conform will not be used. The article must be in an importable word
- processor format for Word 7.0.. The margins are .05" left and 1.0" Monospaced
- fonts are not to be used. Please use proportional fonting only and at eleven
- points.
-
- · No Indenting on any paragraphs!!
- · No Indenting of any lines or "special gimmickery"
- · No underlining!
- · Columns shall be achieved through the use of tabs only. Or, column
- format in Word 6-7 Do NOT use the space bar.
- · No ASCII "ART"!!
- · There is no limits as to size, articles may be split into two if lengthy
- · Actual Artwork should be in GIF, PCX, JPG, TIF, BMP, WMF file formats
- · Artwork (pictures, graphs, charts, etc.)should be sent along with the
- article separately
- · Please use a single font only in an article. TTF CG Times 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 is fast approaching the "end of
- the line" As the major Online Services move away from ASCII.. So shall
- STReport. All in the name of progress and improved readability. The amount
- of reader mail expressing a preference for our Adobe PDF enhanced issue is
- running approximately 15 to 1 over the ASCII edition. Besides, STReport will
- not be caught in the old, worn out "downward compatibility dodge" we must
- move forward. However, if the ASCII readership remains as high, rest
- assured. ASCII will stay. Right now, since STReport is offered on a number
- of closed major corporate networks as "required" Monday Morning reading.. Our
- ascii readers have nothing to worry themselves about.
-
- Many grateful thanks in advance for your enthusiastic co-operation and input.
-
- Ralph F. Mariano, Editor
- STReport International Online Magazine
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Apple/Mac Section
- John Deegan, Editor
-
-
-
-
- Ads STR Feature
-
- How to make adverts work for your client.
-
- Ctsy Adobe forum
-
- For ad creatives & marketing people about to spend their own money on print
- advertising. A short article about the rules that have governed page layout
- through the centuries, yet get routinely broken in the ad world & how to use
- the rules to make ads pull. The following few paragraphs will upset most
- "Art Directors" and some copywriters. They are about rules.
-
- Not rules set out by any one person, but by several centuries of page layout
- men, old grey-beard typographers who did it this way 4-500 years ago... those
- same rules still apply. For about 2% of layout staffers this item will be
- of no use. These guys are in mail-order, or are the 'old sweats' of the
- industry. Creatives don't like constraints. Especially if they're contrary
- to their own practice & put limits on their self expression. Much "General
- Advertising" seems to be about art. I talk to many advertising creatives and
- they consider me picky.
-
- They want to 'create'. OK, usually because it's not their ad money being
- spent. They want to create art. They're what we might "Ads for arts sake'
- fraternity, its these 'creatives' that will stop reading right here. It's
- these 'creatives' that most need to read this. If asked, they'd say their job
- is to make things look good. Wrong, advertising is firstly about
- communication, that's their real job, few art 'creatives' see themselves
- only as performing this role. Yet that is what they're paid for. OK, if it
- happens to appeal to the eye, well that's fine. . . but remember your client
- would rather see an eyesore & the sales go skyward.
-
- If you consider yourself a creative, then consider this:
-
- If it were your advertising money, would you design adverts that break so
- many of the'rules' ? I think not, I think we'd see very different ads. Ads
- that all follow the same proven layout rules. OK, they would all look the
- same & perhaps it would be a poorer less diverse world for the reader if all
- layout staffers knew their jobs. And fortunately (or unfortunately)
- depending on your viewpoint ie whether it's your money, most ad layout
- staffers don't. The rules are broken most of the time by those that should
- know better. For 98% of you it's not a question of a radical or even informed
- breaking of the rules, you simply don't know them.
-
- And... you're getting away with it because you customers don't know them
- either. They leave it to you. . . the expert. And if you don;'t know them,
- you don't know your job. Well. . . you were warned, you wouldn't like this.
-
- It's "Ads for arts sake"
-
- This school of advertising may work if the spend is high enough. I still
- question it. If all advertising communicated quickly to the prospect what
- there is in the product or service for the reader(ie the person No.1 in
- their affections), we'd have more effective ads. If all ads, even the big
- spends followed the standard layout tricks, and showed the benefits of
- purchase right from the starting gate, the message would get through quicker.
-
- So, why aren't ads written to work straight out of the starting gate? Usually
- because the graphics staffers don't really know what is proven to work. Ask
- these, er. . .professionals why they have put a layout element there and not
- here and they'll will answer, "Because it looks best that way."
-
- If it were not for the third-rate 'Art creatives' many clients would start to
- reap the rewards quicker. Instead of the old 'chestnut" get-out line, we've
- "built the brand" sales & profits would actually go up. Now. . . that would
- be "creative". Dare I say art. It's high readability we want. High
- readability is an art-form.
-
- How mail-order cuts through the arty theories.
-
- We'll get to the rules in a minute, but before we do, think of the world of
- MO. In MO 'creatives" that don't know the rules get found out pretty quick.
- I firmly believe 95% of advertising creatives are kept from the dole queue
- because their clients do not require a direct response (a coupon/tel
- no/response code) device in their work. Arty theories are fine in art &
- literature, but shot down by the pull in mail-order & direct response.
-
- Mail-order, is advertising in pure form. Undiluted. It's brutal. The rules
- were set by the mail-order grey- beards of the 1920's & it's layout by the
- scribes of the 15th century before them, tested by the likes of Ogilvy &
- Caples. They haven't changed, because people haven't changed. They still
- respond to the same basic emotions, so they have to appeal to those same
- basic emotions. Don't let the Mac fool you into thinking things have changed
- that much. The emotions are the same & the eye hasn't changed with what it
- finds easy to read. Just because you can do some trick on a Mac, it
- doesn'tmean you have to. You have to get that headline read. Its 85% of an
- ad.
-
- "Advice" to copywriters:
-
- When you are assigned to write an ad, write a lot of headlines first. Spend
- hours writing headlines or days if necessary. If you happen to think of a
- headline while walking down the street or while riding the bus, take out
- pencil and paper and write it down."
-
- John Caples
-
- "On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the
- body copy. It follows that, unless your headline sells your product, you
- have wasted 90 percent of your money."
-
- David Ogilvy
-
- Dare I venture to use those nasty words "sales & profits" again? Sorry, ads
- have to pay. The rules weren't set out on my whim. I would not be as
- presumptuous, but on the millions of dollars spent, before I was a father in
- my twinkle, in the hey day of mail-order. The Sears catalogues and their
- ilk, & the stuff done in the 40's & 50's. They have not changed and in
- truth were borrowed from the newspapers of the time. The press still use
- them now. The big MO houses still use them.
-
- To ignore any of these rules is to drop readership. To drop even one rule is
- to drop readership and waste advertising money on an arty whim. We leave art
- for the Galleries. "So what" I hear you say, "only a 1-2%" drop in
- readership" Sorry, but that's 3-6% over three ads. And the corresponding loss
- in coupon returns. Over a big ad spend that's one big chunk of cash, thrown
- away by a 'creative'. Profit or loss. Jobs or the dole queue. Not to stick to
- them is to waste ad money. People break them routinely and still expect their
- employer's pay cheque. Wasting the company's money deserves a UB40. The
- rules can be broken, if the spend is big enough (it's here that incompetence
- is not noticed, because if the spend is that high, it'll work in the end
- anyway, but take longer), but MO/DR ads have to "hit the deck running" So,
- these rules are set in stone.
-
- THE RULES
-
-
- Headline under picture layout
-
- The ultimate layout. Headline under picture. Body under headline , coupon at
- the right hand bottom corner.There has to be a very good reason not to stick
- to this, and space aside, I haven't thought of it. The eyes tracks the
- picture first. It drops to the headline, and if interested goes to the
- dropcap on the body. The body leads you to the coupon. Its logical. You were
- taught to read downward. Readership goes up another 1 or 2%. Any other
- layout,that art directors "create" has the eye popping up & down, or side to
- side or worse around the page, loosing readers as it goes. The usual sin is
- to put the head reverse out above the picture. (if you've ever broken this
- rule you're in the 98% Sorry) Advertising must shout for attention.
- Communicate easily & quickly. People know they're being sold to, prospects
- will not automatically read copy, as they do editorial. We cannot take
- readership for granted. Fight for it.
-
- Quote marks
-
- All heads have quote marks, we're talking to our prospects. Not writing to
- them. The time-served MO lads can prove the pull with this one. ie "How to
- win Friends & influence people" (the killer headline of this century from a
- 40's and 50's MO ad. . . by Caples)
-
- Reverse out
-
- No reverse out. Reverse out makes the box stand out, not the copy. People
- don't read boxes. Whatever you do in reverse out, will shout louder if it
- weren't. From childhood, the eye reads black on white, it's how you were
- taught. We want readership. Try reading a whole book reverse out. You can't.
- Yet its advertisers that commit this sin. Why do news papers editors know
- this and ad agencies don't. You don't see editorial put front page buy-line
- heads reverse out. Cos, they know, it doesn't sell papers.
-
- So head & body is black on white, or better still black on yellow.(the most
- visible & memorable of all, after all, why is a wasp this combination?
- Survival. The ad must survive too. Do not bury the copywriters sweat in arty
- typography. All rules have an exception. To conform to advertising standards,
- editorial sometimes requires the words "advertisement feature" We like this
- white on black. Set upper-case. This is the exception. Good editors know
- what you're doing, but they let it pass!
-
- Another exception is theatre programs white on black in poor light, but until
- the London Times is set white on black this is set in stone.
-
- Upper-case/lower-case
-
- As a child, you were taught to read lower-case, the eye can be shown the top
- half of lower-case letters and still read. The only place in advertising for
- upper case is the prospects name & address. The PRINT BLOCK CAPS request in
- the coupon. Old road signs were set upper-case, For safety, a road sign must
- be read quickly in poor light. It had to change, we see them set lowercase
- now. The eye sees the shape of the word. In the UK today, they're reverse
- out for two reasons, but in advertising we rarely have to worry about
- reflective coating problems & route identification priorities! Break this
- one and you lose 1-2% readership.
-
- Typography
-
- Serif faces for body. Sans if you really insist for subs & logos only. I
- assume I don't have to explain why.
-
- The Mac: Don't jerk around the work of Garamond, Bembo, Bodoni, Goudy,
- Didot, Palatino etc. These grey-beards knew more about typography than
- most will ever know. Faces like these are classics for a reason. They
- work. The proof of this is that, two, three &c four centuries later, we know
- their names. Don't you dare argue with 'em.
-
- So, don't horizontal scale a font. It'll trip up the eye & 1-2% of
- readability is lost. Editorial can do this, but rarely do: readers don't
- know what's happening. They blame the trip on themselves & they continue
- reading. There is no such luxury in the world of ads. So, if you couldn't do
- it in leading 100 years ago, don't do it on the Mac now. You've messed with
- the fundamental design of the font. You stop it working. There is a
- relationship between stress ascenders, x-height etc that you can't play with.
- If you have to scale, never more than 96%. So. . .
-
- Use a narrower measure instead, Goudy, Times or Modern.
-
- The Mac is responsible for the death of readable typography. The time served
- craftsmen typographers have gone & Mac operators think it's a mouse click.
- Wrong. Good typography props up bad copy. It makes good copy a delight to
- read. Readership goes up another 1 or 2%. Use Monotype/Linotype fonts if
- possible. The other "foundries" usually have a bad cut & trip the eye.
- Advertising sometimes needs more radical typography to establish identity.
- But use it with caution. Remember, it's communication we're talking about
- here. So, keep tricks to the logo and 1-7 word subheads. Not body or the all
- important headline.
-
- Ads must look easy to read or they'll drop readership.
-
- If you want to see top-line, easy to read typography, pick up any tabloid.
- You'll see, accurate easy to read typography. It has to be that way, their
- readership is not too bright. It's broken up into neat packets. Not a mass of
- text. Even if the media is the FT & the Wall St. Journal, you'll still see
- it. It sells newspapers. Don't dare argue with that either. The advertising
- world could well imitate these time-honoured techniques. We want readership,
- make it easy for the prospect.
-
- Borrow another trick from the newspapers: Keep line lengths down to the 7-8
- word optimum.
-
- Two reasons:
-
- 1. The eye has to track less on the return, thus making for ease of
- readership
- 2. It's a newspaper trick for getting long copy in restricted space.
-
- In MO space is money. Landscape layouts give room for more copy, because they
- allow 2-3 columns of text. Portrait gives 1-2. So, if it doesn't fit, try
- landscape. Increase leading before increasing the point size. Type is made
- more readable with more lead So, increasing the lead first.
-
- Drop Caps
-
- From before Gutenberg, before the printing press, medieval monks used this
- trick. 7-800 years will not be argued with. Newspaper editors have used this
- trick. Consider for one moment why. Get the eye into the body. To not use a
- drop cap would be a sin. Readership goes up another 1 or 2%.
-
- Soft leading
-
- Use more leading for the first two to three lines of the first paragraph.
- This takes the eye to where you want it to go. That's the art directors job.
- To flag up the copywriters "sweat" and get it read. It has the affect of
- making the copy look easy to read, no one wants to wade through something
- when they know its a sales pitch. Good art direction is good communication,
- not pretty pictures. It is not to make things look nice. The ideal direct
- response ad looks a 'dogs dinner', and pulls the eye into the copy as a
- result. This is why all the long running (ie successful) MO ads look awful.
- Good copy is slavery. Lead the readers eye to it & get your copywriters
- work read.
-
- Indent first line of all paragraphs
-
- ..... It's an editorial trick. Keep the eye moving. Stuff the current
- fashion, it's laziness, not fashion. The readers eye is lazy. When it gets
- to the end of the previous paragraph, be sure it hasn't too far to go. Indent
- first line of all paragraphs. Readership goes up another 1 or 2%. There is no
- more effective way to keep the eye moving & keep communicating the author's
- message.
-
- All pictures captioned
-
- It's an editorial trick ignored by most Art Directors. If the reader does
- nothing else, they will look at the picture(s) and read the caption. Very
- important. Captions insight the readers interest to read more. All pictures
- must be captioned or watch the coupons stop. That's the art directors job. I
- don't want to repeat this, but leadership goes up another 1 or 2%. Yet, why
- oh why, do I see this sin repeated time & time again by third rate art
- directors. Idiots.
-
- Long benefit laden copy
-
- The idea that people don't read long copy has always amazed me. No one reads
- rubbish for long, but, people will read any amount if they want the
- information. The adage, the more you tell, the more you sell, holds fast
- now, as it always did.
-
- Use the active voice.
-
- Compare:
-
- - The letter was sent by the secretary. Passive voice
- - The secretary sent the letter. Active voice
-
- They both communicate the same information. The active voice, however, is
- more concise; it specifies who is performing the action and what is the
- object. The passive voice is wordier and frequently less clear.
-
- All space must be accountable.
-
- Space costs money. It must earn its keep. If an Art Director can't justify
- how & why every sq. inch increases sales, it probably doesn't. They like
- white space, OK, but around the headline please. An ad is 80% head. Give it
- room. Plenty of space to fill in the coupon.
-
- Big coupons: big response. Make the dotted line go right round the ad if
- necessary. Coupon at the bottom edge. Easy to cut out. Make sure you can
- write a long address in the space. A large coupon is a larger call to
- action, as is a scissors graphic.The words "cut here" do this too. Tell the
- prospect what you want them to do. Don't be shy. Right hand pages pull more
- than lefts, always have done. Design the coupon to be cut out from the bottom
- right. Not from the gutter.
-
- Space
-
- Full pages are inefficient. Double spreads worse.The MO houses never use them
- unless they have no other way to show a product. Full pages are bought by
- 'brand managers' of the big corporates, its not their money after all, and
- there's no coupon, so they won't get caught. Full pages cost nearly double,
- but don't double response. Usually only 10-15% up on a 1/2 page. It is
- better to buy 2x1/2 page slots and increase coverage. Returns prove it's
- better still to buy 4x1/4's (if copy can be made to fit) 1/2 pages do not
- produce twice the coupons as 1/4's. Smaller ads don't pull as well, but
- don't have to, the space is cheaper. 1/4 is the mail order optimum, that is
- why you see it the most in MO. General advertisers buy full pages because ad
- reps sell them full pages and for reasons of prestige or whatever. Usually
- because they have not seen MO coupon return figures and it's not accountable
- anyway. MO advertisers only buy the space that pays. Something to do with
- different horses.
-
- The "Originality cult"
-
- Copy everybody. Yes, that's right. Learn the above rules and copy them. Why,
- because they work. Copy other peoples work if it works. I hear you hold up
- your hands in horror. I've heard your thoughts before. Creatives want to be
- original. There is an "originality cult' amongst all too many of creatives.
- Rosser Reeves says "Originality is the most dangerous word in advertising."
- Hear, hear. Pre-occupied with originality 'creatives' pursue something as
- illusory as swamp fire. Benton & Bowles would say "If it doesn't sell it
- isn't creative" Mozart said: "I have have never made the slightest attempt
- to compose anything original" You might of gathered by now that in MO we
- don't like the word creative. To paraphrase Rosser Reeves again:
-
- "Do you want masterpieces, or do you want the sales curve to go up?"
-
- So, use what works and tread very carefully if its not proven. But then for
- 98% of you its not your ad money! Which explains why ads are like they are!
-
- There's more, but I can tell you're bored/upset now.
-
- But if you're not, there's further reading: Ogilvy on Advertising : David
- Ogilvy: Pan Books
-
-
-
- Kids Computing Corner
- Frank Sereno, Editor
-
-
- The Kids' Computing Corner
- Computer news and software reviews
- from a parent's point of view
-
-
- Infopedia 2.0
- Windows 3.1 And 95 CD-ROM
- MSRP $39.95
- For Ages 8 to Adult
-
- SoftKey International Inc.
- One Athenaeum Street
- Cambridge, MA 02142
-
-
- Program Requirements
- OS: Windows 3.1
- CPU: 486SX/25
- HD Space: 1 MB
- Memory: 8 MB
- Graphics: 640 x 480, 256 colors
- CD-ROM: Double-speed
- Audio: 8-bit sound card
- Other: mouse, printer optional
-
- reviewed by David H. Mann
-
-
- Infopedia 2.0 is a wonderful reference tool created by SoftKey International
- Inc. It contains the following works: The 29 volume Funk and Wagnall
- Encyclopedia, the Hammond World Atlas, the Merriam Webster Dictionary,
- Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, Merriam Webster's Dictionary
- of Quotations, Merriam Webster's New Biographical Dictionary, The World
- Almanac, and Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus. All these are integrated into a
- true multimedia platform. It works with Windows 95's autoplay function, or
- with Windows 3.1 with some limitations (the Tour Guide won't work from within
- the program, "big deal").
-
- One might say why would someone need that much information? One might say
- that if he worked in a library or if he didn't have to commute to several to
- get information for a term paper or a report for school or business. With
- this tool you can get a report, any quotations, a description of an area and
- its population along with its rainfall and native animals or insects. The
- Infopedia is also very complete and accurate in its descriptions. It is not
- watered down like some CD-ROM Encyclopedias that look good and are very
- flashy, but lack real content.
-
- You can copy text or pictures into the Windows clipboard and paste them into
- your favorite word processor or you can print the text or pictures directly
- from the Infopedia. You can use the Browser to point and click on a subject.
- You can also type the subject you want into the Follow Me field and view a
- list of all the books that have entries on the topic. The Follow Me section
- is also character sensitive. As you type more characters, the search will be
- more precise. The Index View allows you to search subjects by index. The
- Media View allows you to view all media including sounds, videos, and
- animations. The Search View allows you to do a concise search. It lists all
- the books containing a single subject. You can do an expanded search by
- using multiple related subjects and get a listing of all books containing the
- combined subjects. The Book View gives you a picture of each book in the
- Infopedia along with its table of contents to give you the feel of using a
- real book. The Subject View allows you to search items by subject. The
- Project View is the greatest feature of the Infopedia. You can gather a
- number of subjects related to a project and the program will generate a
- printed report including a timeline, bibliography, and listing of all text
- related to the subjects you selected. All you add is the title, name, time,
- and date. The Word Processor Link (if you have Microsoft WordT) will scan
- WindowsT and ask if you want it installed. It allows you to use the Infopedia
- as a tool of Microsoft Word, for definitions, phrases, or spelling. Intelli
- Link lets you use any other Intelli Link product made by SoftKey as a
- reference tool with Infopedia. There is also a context sensitive help
- feature included in the package.
-
-
- The Infopedia is the best reference package for the PC that I've seen to
- date. With its extensive subject matter and ease of use, you won't find one
- package that contains the information or the features in this one. It is the
- ultimate encyclopedia and reference library.
-
-
- Spycraft The Great Game
- DOS/Windows 95 CD-ROM
- MSRP $49.95
- For ages 13 and up
-
- Activision
- P.O. Box 67713
- Los Angeles, CA 90067
- 310-479-5644
-
- Program Requirements
- OS: DOS 6.0 or Windows 95
- CPU: 486DX2/66
- HD Space: 30 MB
- Memory: 8 MB
- Graphics: 640 x 480, 16-bit high color
- CD-ROM: Double-speed
- Audio: 16-bit sound card
- Other: mouse
- Optional: 14.4k modem, Win95 Web Browser
-
- reviewed by David Mann
-
- Spycraft is a collaboration between Activision, William Colby (the late, ex-
- director of the CIA), and Oleg Kalugin (former KGB Major General). This is
- about as real as gaming gets. With its collection of wonderful high tech
- toys, challenging scenarios, moral and ethical dilemmas, spies and
- counterspies played by real actors (that you recognize from theatrical
- movies) in real video, you become virtually CIA.
-
- You are Thorn, a good but not great CIA operative, who is suddenly thrust
- into the head position of operation Eagle Shield because of the death of the
- former team leader. Someone has assassinated a Russian Presidential
- candidate and intelligence says our President is next. As head of Operation
- Eagle Shield, it's your job to find out who did it, what they used, why they
- did it, who is behind it, and then stop them. Your ethical and moral dilemma
- is how to accomplish this. Do you coerce and trick the bad guys, or do you
- use brute force to beat and torture them until you get the information you
- need? Remember, our President's life is on the line!
-
- As you progress in the game, you pick up tools (wonderful toys) to help you
- get through each part of your mission. The Kennedy Assassination Tool
- (K.A.T.) uses three-dimensional models and real photos to measure trajectory
- and impact points to line up a path to the shooter. The Mix and Match uses
- digital drawings to get a composite of the shooters face and match it to one
- in the data base. Now you have him! Next you have to find out the weapon he
- used, who helped him, and most importantly where he is. You will pick up
- other tools to help in this matter including a weapons analysis tool, voice
- analysis, and a cryptography to decode secret messages. You also pick up
- dossiers on your opponents to learn their habits and level of expertise.
- There is also a PDA called Intelink that keeps Thorn in touch with the team,
- his superiors, and all facets of law enforcement via e-mail, video link, and
- video messages. And if you are very, very good at what you do, you then meet
- with William Colby to learn that one of your own team is a traitor.
-
- Spycraft follows a linear format, meaning each solution leads to a
- progression into the game. Some puzzles are easy while others are very
- difficult. The game will kick you out if you mess up, so save your game
- often. There is also a link to the Internet so that multiple players can
- compete. Some video in the game is pretty gory, but there is a parental lock
- out in the installation.
-
- Spycraft is a great game because the video interspersed with thought-
- provoking scenarios and great toys gives you the feeling that you are in the
- spy game for real. It's what multimedia was meant to be.
-
-
-
-
-
- For Immediate Release
-
-
-
- Corel Corporation Reports 1996 Third Quarter Results
-
-
- OTTAWA, ONTARIO--September 25, 1996- Corel Corporation today announced
- results for its third quarter of fiscal 1996. Total revenue for the quarter
- ended August 31, 1996 was $84.9 million, an increase of 37% from the $61.9
- million posted for the third quarter of fiscal 1995. This translates into an
- after-tax net loss of $3.2 million or a loss per share of $.05.
-
- "It was unfortunate to face a shipping delay in the third quarter, but we're
- optimistic and enthusiastic heading into the fourth quarter," said Dr.
- Michael Cowpland, president and chief executive officer of Corel Corporation.
- "CorelDRAWT 7 will be a significant and powerful upgrade for our graphics
- users. Already, beta testers are commending the speed, productivity,
- precision and power that CorelDRAW 7 brings to their desktops."
-
- "Corel VENTURAT 7 is also positioned to be a strong desktop publishing
- upgrade with our in-house Barista technology bringing HTML and Java PoweredT
- applet conversion, and the product's ability to publish documents to paper,
- to the World Wide Web and as portable electronic Envoyr files," said
- Cowpland. The company also plans to release five or more multimedia and
- medical series titles and it will continue developing its recently announced
- PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) as well as its Corel Office for JAVA which
- will be available for preview shortly--directly from Corel's web page.
-
-
-
- Corel Acquires Numera Source Code for Corelr Visual CADDT
-
- OTTAWA, Canada - September 26, 1996 - Corel Corporation announced today
- that it has acquired the source code and distribution rights for Corelr
- Visual CADDT from Numera Software. Corel will assume immediate
- responsibility for the future development of the product. Numera customers
- can find additional information on CorelCADT products by visiting
- http://www.corel.com or by calling 613-728-0826 x1342. Independent Software
- Vendors (ISV) who have relied on Numera are encouraged to join Corel's CAD
- ISV Program by calling Corel at (613) 728-0826 x1090 or email
- CADISV@corel.com for more information on continued support and programs.
- Corel customers will experience no change to service or support.
-
- "With the Corel Visual CADD source code, we will be able to build on the
- excellent standard set by Numera for the CAD industry. Corel Visual CADD and
- CorelCAD together enable us to provide the industry with complete drawing and
- drafting solutions," said Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and chief executive
- officer of Corel Corporation. "We particularly look forward to forging new
- and lasting relationships with Numera's valued ISVs."
-
- Corelr Visual CADDT
-
- . Corel Visual CADD, professional design and drafting software for new and
- experienced CAD (Computer Aided Design) users, is a native Windowsr 95 and
- Windowsr NT application. Its fully customizable and open architecture make
- it easy for architects, mechanical engineers, civil engineers, and other
- professionals to create custom applications using any standard Windows
- programming language.
-
- CorelCADT
-
- CorelCAD is a 32-bit design tool that allows easy, accurate modeling of real
- world objects in 3D and gives PC users the flexibility to conceptualize,
- construct and revise product models and prototypes. With its native 32-bit
- architecture, CorelCAD is designed to take advantage of the speed and memory
- management enhancements of the Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems.
- Superb management features, print capabilities, along with dimensioning and
- 2D drafting features round out the program.
-
- Corel Corporation
-
- Incorporated in 1985, Corel Corporation is recognized internationally as an
- award-winning developer and marketer of productivity applications, graphics
- and multimedia software. Corel's product line includes CorelDRAWT, the
- Corelr WordPerfectr Suite, Corelr Office Professional, CorelVIDEOT and over
- 30 multimedia software titles. Corel's products run on most operating
- systems, including: Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, MS-DOS, OpenVMS and OS/2 and
- are consistently rated among the strongest in the industry. The company ships
- its products in over 17 languages through a network of more than 160
- distributors in 70 countries worldwide. Corel is traded on the Toronto Stock
- Exchange (symbol: COS) and the NASDAQ--National Market System (symbol:
- COSFF). For more information visit Corel's home page on the Internet at
- http://www.corel.com.
-
- Corel and WordPerfect are registered trademarks and CorelDRAW, CorelMEGA
- GALLERY and CorelVIDEO are trademarks of Corel Corporation or Corel
- Corporation Limited. All products mentioned are trademarks or registered
- trademarks of their respective companies.
-
-
-
-
- Dole blind to truth??
-
-
- About the upcoming election..
-
- An opinion
- by Ralph F. Mariano
-
-
- The country is about to elect a President. We are being bombarded with
- a bunch of goofy ads by candidate and Ex-Senator Dole & friends.. "Photo-Ops"
- they're calling them.. It would appear Dole or, his advisors and planners
- have a very serious memory problem when it comes to Photo Ops or as it should
- be called. GRANDSTANDING.
-
- Let's go back a few years and take a good look at the REPUBLICAN TACTIC
- of Photo-Ops..
-
- Reagan Campaign.
- Carter, a Democrat, is up re-election.. There are US Hostages in Iran
- dfor some time now. what do you know. The Ayatollah would rather take his
- chances with a green President than continue his confrontation with Jimmy
- Carter. Carter fought for a hard bargain. and won. So what happens?? The
- military blows a shot at freeing the hostages and Carter takes the heat.
- Meanwhile.. Songs are sung in the background, murmurs and rumors are made
- about a pending hostage release right around election time... Reagan is
- elected and within a few days the hostages are released. Quite a plan Stan??
- Whom do we find taking ALL the credit for the release?? Why the Republicans
- and Ronnie "Jellybeans" Reagan.
-
- Reagan Administration.
- The Monroe Doctrine.. How many of you have heard of it and understand
- it?? Anti-aggression treaty among the American Countries.. essentially the
- Western Hemisphere. Really?? Is that for everyone except the Republicans??
- Don't you DARE mention the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Why not start asking
- question about the real owners of many of the old, familiar companies we all
- recognize and have been doing business with for generations.
-
- Bush Campaign..
- For George Bush.. This sez it all... "READ MY LIPS. NO NEW TAXES!"
-
- Bush Administration
- First thing done is pardons and sealed issues in most all questionable
- areas. Young Bush is exonerated in the Savings and Loan Banking scandals.
- How many know Bush was.. at one time, the HEAD SPOOK at the CIA? Like during
- the times the CIA is accused of bartering drugs for guns and other
- political favor in South America? What about all the talk of the CIA Texas
- Tower transportation routes used in bringing in contraband into the Gulf
- States? Talk about closets filled with skeletons.. Lets start with Bobby
- Seale, Vern Jones and a slew of other CI's the administration cold
- shouldered and allowed to become sitting ducks? Was it because they knew
- TOO much? You know like Noriega?? He worked as a CI for years for a
- number of government agencies.
-
- Is it any wonder most nations in the world do not trust the USA.
- Someone ought to tell the Republican Flesh Eaters. that actions speak far
- louder than mere words.
-
- REPUBLICAN PHOTO-OPS
-
- · Ever hear of Noriega and Panama? What would happen if a Nation's
- military stormed Washington DC and forcibly removed the President to stand
- trial in their country??
-
- · Ever hear of Iran Contra? What about pouring billions into the pockets
- of insurgents in South American countries to facilitate the overthrow of the
- existing governments then in power? Why was it only Ollie North and Admiral
- Poindexter who did this? They took the blame. Reagan and Bush knew every
- detail because they were part of the White House Conferences and briefings.
-
- · Ever hear of Granada? A full force Naval Assault upon the shores of
- Granada because they're getting an International sized Airport FREE from
- Cuba's Castro?? We invade to stop the Airport's construction and free
- hostage students?? Really?? Medical Students held hostage?? GRENADA?? Hard
- to believe.
-
- · Desert Storm!! Was it really necessary?? Was Sadam Hussein possibly
- encouraged by certain US actions and re-actions into grabbing Kuwait? Many
- think so and the speeches of the US Ambassador to Iraq stated so when she
- addressed the UN and then resigned. Bush attacked for too early. the WAR was
- over way before his re-election campaign began. Had he run for re-election
- immediately after the "victory" he'd be president now. Now, we hear of the
- Desert Storm Syndrome. Syndrome my foot! The US GIs were subjected to
- experimental drugs and inoculations. They were made into experimental lab
- units all over again the same way they were in the fifties during the A-Bomb
- experiments. The fact that experimental drugs were being administered to the
- Troops by the then REPUBLICAN Administration was NOT going to be listed on
- their Service Records. That is until a certain very honest Southern
- Congressman was made aware of this fact. Letters were exchanged between the
- Congressman and the Veteran's Administration. The outcome was a letter from
- a big Whig in the VA stating that the inoculation etc.. would now be
- appearing on the service people's records. Can you imagine where all those
- VETS would stand now, if they had no record of such inoculations on their
- service records? Anybody care to see copies of the letters?? The originals
- are available too.
-
- · Ever hear of Haiti?? I lived and worked there for six months. We
- invade Haiti after we bully and threaten the existing governments (2) to get
- out or else.. Then we place our choice in power (Aristede) and proceed to
- empower a slew of our appointees from the US to setup and regulate the Police
- etc. We're still there and its costing the US taxpayers millions. But wait
- its not the first time!! We did the same thing back in the early nineteen
- hundreds. In fact, Haiti's paper currency is the only foreign country's
- money that's backed by the US Treasury. Get a piece of paper Haitian money.
- read it very closely.
-
- Now then.. Ex-Senator Dole, Candidate etc., shall we continue to talk about
- Photo-Ops???
-
- Friends.. Dole's campaign ads have been nothing but flatulent chatter
- with mostly no basis in fact. Is this the type of double talk artist we
- really want in the White House?? I think not. Besides, We need a highly
- educated President and Vice President. we have that now and its working. The
- Internet is growing wonderfully. The economy is strong and the National Debt
- is Down by almost fifty percent. In all the Republican Years since Jimmy
- Carter.. Can the Republicans say the same?? The Internet was there.. But
- the Republicans were, no doubt, fearful of the rapid connectivity and
- communicative abilities the US Citizens would enjoy. The National Debt was
- there. and the Economy was too. they were virtually morose in their behavior.
- Becoming worse with every passing month.
-
- Typically, every ad is slam against Clinton personally. how very
- intelligent! Perhaps Dole & Co. have nothing factual relative to the issues
- facing the US citizens to debate in the ads?? What is it the Dole & Co. crew
- have to fear so much that they insisted on freezing out Ross Perot?? I
- always thought this was a free country. Dole & Co. have proven to me it is
- not. If the right political judicial strings are pulled. anybody can be
- silenced. I am ashamed for and of Dole for the way he and his intellectual
- buddies running the debates froze out Perot. Its wrong and in the years to
- come its occurrence will stink worse with every passing day. The act itself
- could very well be Dole's complete undoing. That is, if Kemp or Gingrich
- don't sink him first.
-
- Clinton and Gore. Good for FOUR MORE!
-
-
-
- Gaming & Entertainment Section
- with Atari User Support
-
- Editor Dana P. Jacobson
-
-
- From the Entertainment Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
-
- Lots of news for you this week and little time to tell you about it. Time,
- and still being a tad under the weather has limited my "thought processes"
- for another week. It's really disappointing, but those are the breaks.
- Let's get to the news and hopefully the only bugs I'll have next week will
- reside in my computer.
-
- Until next time...
-
-
- WWW Wares STR Infofile
-
-
- New STiK upgrades
-
- Just a quick note to say that there is a load of stik updates now available
- on my www page. The original WWW package is no more. Everything is released
- separately and there is a new install program to install everything into one
- neat directory structure for you. The updates include the following:
-
- Cab 1.41
- STiK 1.11
- Cab.ovl 1.20
- Finger 1.21
- AtarIRC 0.61
- cache ed 0.5
- and www install 1.00
-
- Have fun. New programs will be appearing from now on when they are ready for
- release. No waiting back for other programs to release new www packages
- although a cut down www pack including stik/cab/cab.ovl will be appearing
- from time to time for the people only interested in the web.
-
- Nick.
-
- Nicholas Flintham
- Nick@Flinny.demon.co.uk
- N.P.Flintham@unn.ac.uk
- nflintham@cix.compulink.co.uk
- Http://www.flinny.demon.co.uk
-
-
- Visual GFA STR Infofile
-
- Face Value NOW shipping in North America!
-
- PRESS RELEASE
-
- FACE VALUE - "Visual GFA basic" for TOS computers Visual GFA programming is
- now a reality. As the first GEM program generator for GFA Basic, Face Value
- will create fully featured, solid, multitasking friendly programs almost at
- a click of the mouse. It will revolutionize GFA programming. Now you can
- devote your programming time to the task you set out to solve, and not spend
- weeks - or even months - on creating a modern GEM interface yourself. Face
- Value will do that for you.
-
- How do you work with Face Value?
-
- The program design is done in a resource-editor. Here you decide how the
- program will be presented to the user. Face Value will then load the
- RSC-file and write a complete, ready-to-run, solid GE-program LST file. All
- you have to do is merge your own routines, and "connect" them to the Face
- Value-written code. This is easy to do thanks to Face Values well commented
- source code. The development time for your programs will be radically
- reduced, and as a lot of effort has gone into ease of use, even relatively
- inexperienced GFA programmers can now create first class, professional GEM
- programs.
-
- Some features of the program:
- * Windows with toolbars or toolstrips (as seen in modern document
- processors or paint programs)
- * Menu bars in windows (Toolbox windows that will work in the
- background)
- * Modal and non-modal dialog windows
- * Animated icons (even with samples)
- * Animated mouse pointers
- * Realtime scrolling popup listboxes (radio-, check- or menu listboxes)
- * Radio- and menu image popups
- * Multiline radiobuttons (round) and checkboxes
- * Windowed progress indicator or animated busy-dialog
- * Number scrollers for numerical values
- * Switchable Menu bars with automatic shortcuts
- * User windows with graphics or text (or both)
- * Custom desktop that can be installed/deinstalled "on the fly"
- * Alerts in windows - with standard, custom or animated icons
- * Iconification on all systems
- * Can run as accessory, just rename to *.ACC
- * Intelligent ST-Guide support (context sensitive calls to ST-Guide,
- automatic generation of ST-Guide sources for documentation of the
- menu bars and dialogs)
-
- You can also pick & choose from Face Value's expandable library:
- * Fontselector support (xFSL)
- * Full Selectric support
- * Drag & drop support
- * GEM clipboard support
- * GDOS (all types) support
- * Command line support
- * Off screen bitmap support (with eDVI/NVDI 2.5+)
- * Load & save IMG
- * and more...
-
- What are people Saying?
-
- "ST Format seal of approval - 90%" (august 96): "If you want to give your GFA
- Basic programs real 1990s interfaces, then Face Value is a must." - 90%
-
- ST Computer: 5 of 5 mice! (january 96):"Face Value - das ist eine
-
- Revolution furGFA-Basic-Benutzer....Und die ist jede Mark wert." - 5 out of 5
- mice. (high points for those of us lacking German language skills: 5 of 5
- rating, A Revolution)
-
- What do I get?
-
- The program and detailed reference are in English, and are supplied with a
- printed English introduction,. The reference and documentation is in
- ST-Guide format. Example programs are included. The on-line help System
- ST-Guide is included on a second disk. You must supply GFA interpreter 3.5 or
- 3.6 and a resource construction set (ie. RCS2, ORCS or INTERFACE) these
- programs are NOT included with Face Value.
-
- How do I get my copy?
-
- The North American Version of Face Value is distributed by Systems For
- Tomorrow, with Technical support provided by our new software division:
-
- Kordes Development. The North American version of Face Value is available
- NOW for only $69.99. Dealer Inquiries invited.
-
- To Order, call (800)875-4943 (US/Canada Orders Only) or (816)833-4738.
- Or send E-Mail to sft@sound.net.
- In Europe contact: Columbus Soft at 0049-6151-94383-0
-
-
- Atari Computing Updates STR Infofile
-
- Atari Computing magazine - North American subscriptions
-
- The first issue of Atari Computing should have "gone to bed" by now; I regret
- that I couldn't make an announcement earlier, due to the net.gremlins eating
- the email, but...
-
- I can now tell you that the magazine will run US$8 retail per issue,
- including postage. Subscribers may have the cover disk emailed to them, or
- for 50 cents extra per copy, a disk may be included in the surface mail, as
- you prefer. If I can, I hope to drop the extra charge per disk eventually -
- it will depend on the volume more than anything else (and finding a whole
- bunch of blank disks really cheaply!).
-
- I am accepting subscriptions now for 3 or 6 months (US$24 or US$48); for the
- moment, I can only accept checks or money orders, but a credit scanner is
- hoped for soon.
-
- Distributor inquiries are welcome.
- My "ther" address:
- Rich Tietjens
- 8495A SW Hemlock
- Tigard, OR 97223
-
-
- ATARI COMPUTING - the new 60 PAGE printed magazine for all Atari users
- NEWS - GOSSIP - FEATURES - REVIEWS - HUMOUR - HOW TO DO IT - Q&A
- email for subscription details and further information
- Europe: acg@coconut.demon.co.uk /|\ North America: atari@teleport.com
-
-
-
-
- Out Takes STR Feature
-
- Atari Built IBM's Preferred Computer...
-
- By Jim DeClercq
-
- As is not unusual when a big company undertakes to build a new product, IBM
- moved the technical management and engineering staff for its proposed
- personal computer about two hundred miles away from the home office, to
- prevent interference in the creative design process. Sometimes this works.
- Rob Lowe and his engineering staff had investigated what was available and
- had decided on the latest Motorola chipset, as easiest to program for,
- (National had the most powerful instruction set) and an operating system
- featuring something called GEM as the top layer -- from Gary Kildall of
- Digital Research.
-
- That is what highly-skilled technical people thought a personal computer
- should be. But two things were to interfere with IBM's building a good
- machine. First, when IBM people of suitable stature to deal with a company
- president went to talk to Gary Kildall, he was not at home. He had decided
- to do something more fun than talking to IBM, and had taken his airplane up
- for a spin. His wife Dorothy, quite correctly, declined to sign IBM's
- one-sided confidentiality agreement; Gary simply never returned IBM's phone
- calls.
-
- Then IBM bought Intel stock, as an investment, and their accountants decreed
- that the new computer should have an Intel chipset; those who knew better did
- not complain; after all, the support chips for the Intel chip _were_ cheaper.
- The marketing people agreed; they could sell _anything_ under the mystique of
- the IBM name. People who could not tell a computer from a kumquat would feel
- computer literate if they were using the same brand computer as the guys in
- the air-conditioned mainframe computer room were using.
-
- This is when Bill Gates came into the picture. He was contacted by Rob Loew;
- Bill had written the BASIC interpreter for the Altair computer, and of course
- he would write one for the IBM computer -- and, yes, he would also create an
- operating system for IBM's new computer. Bill Gates knew that something
- called "Quick-and-DirtyOperating-System" had just been completed by Tim
- Patterson of Seattle Computer Products, as a test program to test their
- memory boards with the new Intel chip.
-
- It was a limited version of CP/M (Control Program/Microprocessor) to fit the
- Intel chip. CP/M was a product of Digital Research, and itself was derived
- from the TOPS-10 operating system for the PDP-10 computer. QDOS needed a
- relocating loader, to make room in low memory for the record keeping needed
- by a chip that could address only 64 K at a time, since QDOS had to swap the
- program section being run into the 64 K of memory it could address. QDOS did
- not have to be able to handle much memory, or to handle many files, for test
- purposes. QDOS _did_ have to run CP/M programs to test their memory boards.
-
- Bill Gates bought rights to QDOS, changed the name from QDOS to MS-DOS and
- sold his MS-DOS to IBM by the copy, thus becoming a rich man. IBM's new
- Personal Computer did well in the market, even though it was a computer
- designed by accountants, because it carried IBM's name, a name that meant
- "computer" to the masses of computer would-be-literates.
-
- And, even though CP/M and MS-DOS could both run CP/M programs, as is usual,
- the mediocre displaced the good from the market, and CP/M faded out of
- existence. The ability to run CP/M programs still remains. Meanwhile, what
- Atari built was what IBM technical people had intended -- a machine using the
- latest chipset from Motorola and an operating system interface called GEM,
- from Digital Research.
-
- It was not easy to make a computing machine for about one quarter of what IBM
- was selling theirs for, but Shiraz Shivji was up to the task. He was a man
- far ahead of his time, having been hired away from Commodore after designing
- the hardware for the Amiga. After he quit Atari in a huff when his staff was
- cut, he appeared on the cover of _Byte_, pictured standing in front of his
- new offices, holding a working prototype of a pen-based computer. His new
- company, too far ahead of its time, folded in six months.
-
- Editor Note.... Shiraz Shivji is now with Tandom Corp., He's still designing
- top notch hardware. Remember Tandon was mainly a drive manufacturing
- company. Take a look at their new product line. Where do you think it came
- from?
-
- Atari is not the only machine using GEM. That operating system interface
- also appeared also with a Timeworks DTP program for QDOS machines, and still
- is what one fairly good DTP program, Ventura Publisher, runs on. Most of
- those using Ventura Publisher do not know it is running on GEM, and think tha
- GEM is just a good part of a pretty good DTP program. Obviously, GEM is not
- for everybody. It definitely was not for IBM accountants, who were inclined
- to select a computer design by the pricetag of some parts.
-
- So those people who use an Atari or Atari clone computer are using a machine
- like the IBM technical people thought would be a proper computer for personal
- use. Those who are not using such a computer are probably using a machine
- designed and created by IBM accountants and marketing people who thought,
- quite correctly, that their computer design could be sold at a profit to the
- general public.
-
-
- Entertainment Section
-
- Nintendo 64 Sells Out!
- Top 10!
- Jag Server Update!
- GTI Wins!
- Sony NCAA!
- And More!
-
-
- From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
-
- With all due respect to my fellow Jaguar owners, and no attempts to sound
- bitter, it feels good to be able to go almost anywhere online and see news
- about game systems. There hasn't been any shortage of news regarding the
- Playstation, Saturn, or the new Nintendo 64. This is what should have been
- for the Jaguar. Alas, it didn't work out that way.
-
- But speaking of the Jaguar, it's been reported that there will be at least
- three games released before Christmas. We do know that Telegames will be
- releasing Towers II; and it's slated to be available late-November, early-
- December. No other titles have been named yet. It's this editor's guess
- that one of the remaining two titles will be Breakout 2000. Other titles
- have been speculated. As soon as we hear something definite, we'll keep you
- posted.
-
- The Nintendo 64 has been flying off dealer shelves and they are difficult to
- find. While this sounds great, remember that there were limited quantities
- doled out to the U.S.. Industry experts have predicted that it's going to be
- a tough time getting one of these machines for Christmas this year - an
- availability decision that may prove to backfire during this holiday season.
- People may opt to buy another system rather than waiting for one after the
- first of the year. You know kids: when they want something, they want it
- now!
-
- Regardless, time will tell as to who the clear winner is going to be this
- holiday season. My guess is that Sony's Playstation and the Nintendo 64
- machines will walk away with most of the marbles - it really is a "no-
- brainer".
-
- Until next time...
-
-
-
- Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
-
-
- Nintendo 64 & Super Mario Available In US
-
- REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1996 SEP 30 (Newsbytes) -- By Richard Bowers.
- Super Mario 64, and its game platform Nintendo 64, is now available across
- the United States. After a huge Japanese roll out, stores in the United
- States will be selling the new game and platform for a suggested retail price
- of $199.
-
- Nintendo says that sales of Nintendo 64 surpassed the one million mark just
- 10 weeks after launch in Japan. Nintendo is planning to deliver no more than
- 600,000 units to the US. According to Nintendo, American retailers have
- already requested more than one million units.
-
- David Cole, president of gaming market research firm DFC Intelligence, told
- Newsbytes, "Don't expect much of a price reduction from the suggested retail
- price. All signs are that Nintendo can sell as many units as they can ship.
- Some retailers put them on the shelves early, and sales have been very
- strong."
-
- "It's apparent from our conversations with our US retailers that our
- projected shipments will be exhausted well before the holidays," said Peter
- Main, Nintendo of America's executive vice president, sales, and marketing.
- "We're asking our parent company to do everything possible to increase total
- shipments to North America."
-
- Nintendo reports that the shipments will be staggered through the Christmas
- season. They would not comment on how many were shipped in this initial
- roll-out. "Super Mario 64 is the killer application that will guarantee
- strong sales for the Nintendo 64," said Cole. "If the sales in Japan are any
- indication, then Nintendo 64 will be out of stock well before Christmas,
- creating the mystique of the Cabbage Patch. One major retailer has publicly
- said that they would take all 500,000 Nintendo 64 units if they could."
-
- Cole did point out that there is some risk to Nintendo. Its two major
- competitors -- the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation -- will also have strong
- sales during the Christmas season, and Nintendo takes a risk that not having
- enough supply will lose permanent customers to the other system.
-
- Strong Nintendo 64 Sales Reported
-
- REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Nintendo of America reported Wednesday it has
- sold 350,000 of its Nintendo 64 advanced video-game players, launched over
- the weekend at a $200 price.
-
- The company, the U.S. arm of Japan-based Nintendo Co. Ltd., predicted U.S.
- retailers can sell more than 1.5 million units by Christmas if enough games
- can be shiped from Japan. Nintendo had said in July that demand was so strong
- in North America that it could not produce enough consoles for the customers
- who indicated they wanted to buy them.
-
- Nintendo is marketing the Nintendo 64 at a time when it has lost market share
- in the video-game market as both Sega and Sony have launched 32-bit players
- with capabilities far above the 16-bit Super Nintendo system. Both Sega and
- Sony are selling their machines -- the Saturn and the PlayStation -- for $200
- each after having started at a $300 price point. Nintendo said Americans
- bought more than half of the Nintendo 64 consoles and software available
- before they hit store shelves on Sunday, the official launch day.
-
- "There were widespread spot shortages within hours of stores opening on
- Sunday morning," said Howard Lincoln, chairman of Nintendo of America.
- "Given the wide acclaim the system already has gotten from gaming experts
- around the world, it was almost impossible to predict how huge the demand
- would be. We obviously have a huge hit on our hands." Lincoln said he was
- optimistic that the parent company will work to send as much product as
- possible so there will be enough supply to last through the holiday season.
-
- ADVISORY/NCAA GameBreaker Videogame Predicts ...
-
- WHAT: NCAA GameBreaker, the first NCAA football game for the Sony
- PlayStation videogame console, has simulated the winner of this Saturday's
- college match-up between No. Nebraska and No. 12 Kansas St. The PlayStation
- game console simulated a full game, complete with touchdown's scored, rushing
- yardage, field goals and fumbles. The result had Nebraska defeating Kansas
- State, 48-21. NCAA GameBreaker features all 111 Division I-A teams and their
- respective stadiums. In fat, all the stadiums -- including UN and KSU
- Stadium -- are re-created before your very eyes.
-
- WHO: With the huge success of its games, NFL GameDay and NHL Face Off, Sony
- Computer Entertainment America has firmly positioned itself as the new leader
- in the sports videogame field. Since its introduction last year, the
- CD-based PlayStation has sold more than 1.5 million units in the U.S.
-
- GAME RECAP: Nebraska Defeats Kansas State, 48-21 The Nebraska Cornhuskers
- overwhelmed the Kansas State Wildcats going away 48-21. Limiting the
- Cornhusker rushing attack to only 65 yards rushing in the first half, Kansas
- State crumbled in the second half, allowing three rushing touchdowns and 230
- total yards rushing for the game. The Wildcats threw two touchdown passes
- and went into the locker room trailing only 21-14. However, the second half
- was a different ballgame. Playing inspired defense, Nebraska shut down the
- Wildcats running game, limiting the Kansas State offense to a measly 85 yards
- total offense in the second half.
-
- GT Interactive Wins Injunction
-
- A San Diego Federal District court judge has granted GT Interactive Software
- Corp.'s request and placed an injunction against Micro Star Inc. The
- injunction requires Micro Star to immediately remove from retail shelves all
- copies of its Nuke It software, which GT Interactive says infringes on the
- title of its Duke Nukem 3D game. The injunction is effective immediately.
- Officials at New York-based GT Interactive say they expect to receive all
- proceeds from the sale of the infringing game.
-
- EA Ships Motorcycle Game
-
- Electronic Arts. says it has started shipping Road Rash for Windows 95, a
- high-speed motorcycle racing game. The San Mateo, California, software
- publisher says the action game features multiplayer options, adjustable
- graphics resolutions, plug-and-play installation and a user-friendly
- interface. The game also includes a free player matching service on EA's Web
- site (http://www.ea.com) for those gamers who want to engage in multiplayer
- competition. Road Rash's multiplayer support includes network and modem
- capabilities allowing up to eight players to compete on a network, or two
- players via modem.
-
- Road Rash for Windows 95 gives players a choice of five levels of difficulty
- in any of five locations. The locations range from city streets to country
- roads and are modeled after real geographical terrain. The game sports
- extensive racing footage and frame rates of up to 25 per second. Road Rash
- also offers stereo sound and music videos, featuring the music of six A&M
- artists: Soundgarden, Paw, Swervedriver, Theray?, Monster Magnet and
- Hammerbox.
-
- VSDA VIDTRAC(TM) CHARTS THREE SONY PLAYSTATION ...
-
- National Video Rental Spending Stabilizes With 2.2 Percent Increase This Week
-
- LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Video Software Dealers Association
- announced its VSDA VidTrac(TM) results for home video rental activity for the
- week ended September 29, 1996. Three of the top five renting video games
- this week are Sony Playstation format. Two new Sony PSX releases, Madden NFL
- '97 and Crash Bandicoot, chart at numbers three and five, respectively, to
- replace longtime VidTrac charting Super NES format Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning
- Run and Mortal Kombat 3. Sony PSX format Tekken 2 remains on the VidTrac
- chart at number four after four weeks in release.
-
- These new video game releases contributed to this week's increase in
- national video rental spending, up 2.2 percent to $113.7 million. Total
- year-to-date spending increased to $5.5 billion. The MGM/UA release, The
- Birdcage, holds onto the top spot after debuting at number one on the VidTrac
- Top 10 last week. It earned over $3 million for the second consecutive week.
- Executive Decision hangs on to the number two spot, while the new release
- Oliver & Company enters the chart at number three. Up Close and Personal
- drops one to number four, and The Quest rounds out the top five. From Dusk
- Till Dawn and Muppet Treasure Island dropped off of this week's chart, while
- another new release, A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, enters the chart at
- number eight.
-
- Video titles scheduled for release during the week of September 29 -
- October 5, 1996 include Warner's sell-through priced summer blockbuster
- Twister, with a domestic box office of $290 million, and Polygram's
- critically acclaimed Fargo, with a domestic box office of $24.1 million.
- Initiated in January, 1996, VSDA VidTrac is the first service to collect
- point-of-sale data from the largest and most representative sample of video
- specialty stores in the history of home entertainment. Over 4,500 retail
- outlets, including nin of the top ten video retail chains, participate in the
- VSDA VidTrac electronic tracking system. VSDA VidTrac provides the industry
- with the most accurate performance figures ever compiled on domestic video
- rentals and will serve as the benchmark for future industry statistics and
- projections. Results are compiled and disseminated on a weekly basis. For
- more information contact VSDA at http://www.vsda.org.
-
- Established in 1981, the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) is a
- not-for-profit international trade association for the $16 billion home video
- entertainment industry. VSDA represents over 3,300 companies throughout the
- United States, Canada, and 22 other countries. Membership comprises video
- retailers, both independent and large chain, video distributors, the home
- video divisions of all major and independent motion picture studios, video
- game and multimedia producers, and other related businesses that constitute
- the home video entertainment industry.
-
-
-
-
-
- Jaguar Online STR InfoFile - Online Users Growl & Purr!
-
- - Jaguar Server Update 960929 -
-
- The Jaguar Server pages has been updated with the Demo version of Gemulator
- 96. With this demo its possible to write Jaguar code on a PC emulating Atari
- with all the good Development tools such as Devpac 3, Riscy, Codeass and
- other utilities. The actual upload to the Jaguar still has to be performed
- by a real Atari. PC -> Atari can be performed by null modem, or by floppy at
- the moment.
-
- Have a look yourself if you have a PC with Win95....
-
- roine@stacken.ct.se
-
- http://www.edu.isy.liu.se/~z94patsa/jsdata/jserver.html
-
- Here's the latest posting at Jag Interactive from Stephen about his DOOM
- update. It also includes an e-mail address if you wish to contact him.
- Take care!
-
- "Well, not that I actually consider myself part of the underground, I guess
- you could call me a spin-off. Roine at the Jag Server has finally put
- together a kit for PC/Windows 95 users. As soon as I can get some kind of
- link going I should be starting on the correction of the DOOM networking code
- and possibly some Wad-file add-ons. The Wad-files should prove tricky as many
- of them were created with some characters that do not exist on the Jag Cart
- (perhaps I should introduce them; it's all a question of feasibility)." "On
- the rotten side, due to the number of Wad-files and my budget, I am going to
- only be able to do a CD ver. Don't go buying another CD yet. I don't even
- know if the CD and cartridge can co-exist. Slow as a Rabid Snail..."
-
- Stephen Finton
- Igor@texoma.com
-
-
-
-
- ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
-
-
-
- PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
-
-
-
- On CompuServe
-
- compiled by
- Joe Mirando
- CIS ID: 73637,2262
-
-
- Hidi ho friends and neighbors. As some of you know, I've been fighting off a
- sinus infection during the past week. My doctor told me that if I wasn't
- feeling better in five days, I should call. Well, I was feeling somewhat
- better, but not as much as I felt I should have after being on antibiotics
- for six days (okay, so I put it off for an extra day) and had developed an
- annoying spasmatic cough that hits without warning and can last for up to ten
- minutes at a time. Needless to say, these bouts leave me sore and tired. So
- I called the doctor's office and was told that the doctor was not in and
- that I'd have to see the doctor that was covering for mine. After a few
- calls and set of directions I was off to see the new doctor.
-
- After a cursory examination the new doctor informed me that the previous six
- days of antibiotics had done nothing to defeat the infection which had now
- moved down to include my throat and larynx and I still had a temperature of
- 101. According to my wife, the only good thing about the past week has been
- that I've had bouts of laryngitis. <grin> Of course I made up for it with
- the coughing episodes.
-
- At any rate, the doctor prescribed a different antibiotic... for ten days
- this time. And after a closer examination of my throat, he also quickly
- wrote a prescription for a cough syrup with codeine. Heck, I didn't even
- know that codeine was still used. It's too soon to know if this antibiotic
- will have the desired effect or if it will be like the last one. Only time
- will tell. I guess the reason I'm telling you this is so that you don't
- expect too much from this week's column. So let's get on with the reason for
- this column in the first place... all the great news, hints, tips, and info
- available every week right here every week on CompuServe.
-
- From the Atari Computing Forums
-
- When Sysop Bob Retelle mentions using MOD tracking on a PC, Rob Rasmussen
- asks:
- "MOD tracking...errr...what is that? I know what MOD sound files are, is it
- related?
-
- Yes, I realize I am still working with just the software that came on this
- PC, and that there's tons of more stuff out there that is better. I think
- I'm still in shock and in denial. What a strange feeling I had, right after I
- bought the PC, standing there in CompUSA with isles and isles of software
- everywhere that I CAN use. It's intimidating! After sending in all my
- warranty and registration cards for everything, all the magazine offers and
- ads are starting to arrive. Slightly overwhelming! For so long I did
- EVERYTHING on the Atari, but now it will be mostly for music and maybe
- graphics. I considered converting all my new MS-Word files to TXT so that I
- can have them on the Atari too, converting each database to dBase format for
- cross compatability but it seems a lost cause (too much work!). So I will
- try to keep threading a needle with a sledgehammer on this pee cee.
-
- Case in point - a simple thing, merging text from another file into a word
- processor document, or appending text to another file (ok, maybe ms-Works
- can do this but I'm still on WordPad). This concept seems foreign to this
- PC - I have to have both documents up and then cut and paste between them. On
- the other hand, it does have other things that I do like."
-
- Sysop Bob tells Rob:
- "A MOD tracker is a program to create your own MOD files...
-
- I've been looking for a good music system to use on my PC.. it's been years
- since I used to create "SIDs" on SIDplayer on my C-64, and so far
- everything has either been way too simplistic, or waaay to complex (and
- expensive)..! MOD trackers let you use digital samples to sequence music
- files on the PC.. no MIDI instruments needed, no "musical ablity" needed
- (for playing an instrument in real-time), but with terrific sounding
- results.
-
- I haven't started creating anything just yet though.. I've been downloading
- and playing as many of the existing MODs as I can find.. and there sure are
- a lot of them..!"
-
- Publisher Note. Hey Bob, Try, MidiSoft's Studio 4. Its terrific!
-
- Phillip Lamarche asks for help using QuickCIS:
- "I need more help with the program QuickCis. I can't even get it to dial
- compuserve. I don't hear the phone clicking as i do when I use Flash. It
- seems like an excellent program. The documentaqtti is obscure. For instance
- in one section It it gives directions for entering data into lines 29,30, and
- 31, but I can't find these lines. What next. Thanks for your interested."
-
- Sysop Jim Ness (who also happens to be the author of QuickCIS) tells Phillip:
- "Check View Config to ensure that you have a valid dial string entered. That
- dial string must begin with the dial command (usually "ATDT") and continue
- with the phone number needed to access CompuServe."
-
- Corey Klemow tells us:
- "I've had a cracked CPU in my Atari 1040ST for years. The worst side-effect
- was losing the sound. However, I recently -- aargh! -- dropped my monitor on
- my Atari while moving it around, and now my Atari is seriously ill. Is
- there anybody in Los Angeles who services Ataris, and could replace the CPU
- (not to mention fixing the floppy drive, which has recently made a semi-
- regular habit of trashing the directories...)? If not, do I have any other
- options (other than buying an IBM-compatible)?"
-
- Albert Dayes asks Corey:
- "What about Mid-Cities or Alternative Computing. I believe they can still
- provide service for your Atari computer... The contact Data I have for Mid-
- Cities is
- Mid-Cities Computers
- 9406 Flower St
- Bellflower, CA
- (310) 876-0626
-
- Alternative Computing is by the some of the same people who ran TCN (The
- Computer Network) in Glendale. I do not know the phone number however."
-
- Sysop Bob Retelle adds:
- "You might be able to find a used ST for sale here or on the Atari related
- Usenet newsgroups for about what it would cost to get your current system
- fixed... you might even be able to pick up a better model. Also, if there
- are any local BBSs in your area that have Atari sections, you might want to
- post a message indicating your interest in buying a used ST."
-
- Angelo Vahatoura of Evangelo's Atariwares asks:
- "[Does] Anyone out there have an ATARI Mega STE or 1040STE? If so, if a game
- says on the box Mega ST will it work with the STE series? I don't see why
- not but I have to know because I am selling some software to someone and he
- has an STE."
-
- Charles Cartwright tells Angelo:
- "I have an STe (with 4 Meg of RAM) and have found that most games run on it.
- A few older games have proved incompatible. However I beleive that the Mega
- STe was somewhat less compatible (particularly with games) than the standard
- STe. Also my TOS version is 1.62 and games tended to have more problems with
- the higher versions 2.x etc. Certainly compatibility with a Mega ST is no
- guarantee it will work with any of the STe range."
-
- Angelo asks Charles:
- "Do you have a lot of games for the STE? If not is it possible you can write
- down which ones work with the STE, it is very important to me. Although I
- have over 1000 games for the Atari computers it is very hard for me to sell
- to STE users, so when I E-mail my lists I mention this."
-
- Joe Villarreal adds:
- "I've got a Mega Ste. I'm not much of a game player. I do know that some
- games that run on a regular ST do not run on a Mega STe since it uses TOS
- 2.05 or 2.06, although they might run on a regular STe. On the other hand,
- some games for the ST do work on the Mega STe."
-
-
- Well folks, I know that this has been short as hell, but the codeine is
- taking hold and the monitor is getting a bit hard to see. 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
-
- Brilliant Republican Rhetoric..
-
-
- "Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific.
- It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United States
- that is an island that is right here."
-
- ...Dan Quayle
-
-
- STReport International OnLine Magazine
-
- [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport
- HTTP://WWW.STREPORT.COM
- AVAILABLE through OVER 200,000 PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE
-
- All Items quoted, in whole or in part, are done so under the provisions of
- The Fair Use Law of The Copyright Laws of the U.S.A. Views, Opinions and
- Editorial Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the
- editors/staff of STReport International OnLine Magazine. Permission to
- reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must,
- without exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue number
- and the author's name. STR, CPU, STReport and/or portions therein may not be
- edited, used, duplicated or transmitted in any way without prior written
- permission. STR, CPU, STReport, at the time of publication, is believed
- reasonably accurate. STR, CPU, STReport, are trademarks of STReport and STR
- Publishing Inc. STR, CPU, STReport, its staff and contributors are not and
- cannot be held responsible in any way for the use or misuse of information
- contained herein or the results obtained therefrom.
-
- STR OnLine! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" October 04, 1996
- Since 1987 Copyrightc1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 1240
-
-