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1995-01-31
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
THE v.FAST LANE
January 1995 (Issue#6)
by Steve Meirowsky
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- HOW TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR
- DISCLAIMER
- WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET THE NEXT ISSUE?
- WHEN IS THE NEXT ISSUE?
- TELL ME ABOUT NEW PRODUCTS AND STANDARDS
- SCOTTY DOES PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
- INTERNET HYPE
- NEW MODEM / SOUND CARD CHIPSET
- MICROSOFT WWW EDITOR
- INTERNET IP SPOOF DANGER
- COMPUSERVE LOWERS COST
- GIF ROYALTIES
- MPEG-4 RUMORS
- INTEL CPU PRICE CUTS
- INTEL P6 (FOLLOW-UP)
- INTEL CPU ERRATA (BUGS)
- FUTURE DRAM SIZE PREDICTIONS
- FUTURE DOMAIN IDE CARD
- 10,000 RPM HARD DRIVES
- DVD CDROM (FOLLOW-UP)
- HDCD CDROM (FOLLOW-UP)
- CDROM STANDARDS BATTLE
- NEW MIDI XG STANDARD
- FIREWIRE (FOLLOW-UP)
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HOW TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR
- Internet Email:
steve.meirowsky@nwis.com
- BBS:
(316)262-1829, 300-28.8K baud
- Mail:
New World Information Service BBS
P.O. Box 12217
Wichita, KS 67277-2217
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DISCLAIMER
Copyright 1995 by Steve Meirowsky and New World Designs. All rights
(known and unknown) are reserved worldwide. You may copy or print
this file only if it remains intact and unedited! If you would like
to use any part of this newsletter in your newsletter, please contact
me for permission.
You can upload this newsletter into message conferences on most BBS's
since it's not wider than 72 columns!
Also, don't hold me liable for any advice that I give you! Remember
how much this cost, nothing! If you do have any problems, I will
reimburse the cost of this newsletter <grin>.
I don't claim to be perfect so there may be mistakes or typos in this
newsletter. See the end of this newsletter for my BBS phone number.
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WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET THE NEXT ISSUE?
The best way to get the next issue of this newsletter is to call NWIS
BBS, 316-262-1829, with a QWK mail reader and always get the "NWD
UUEncoded Files" conference. I am uuencoding all NWD and NWIS files
into messages into that conference. All you need to convert the
uuencoded messages is a file called UUEXE521.ZIP. If you have any
more questions, please read that conference for related messages!
Also, you can download it out of the FILE area as a ZIP file.
This newsletter will exist as a file called VFASTymm.ZIP, where
'y' is last digit of the year and 'mm' is month of the year.
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WHEN IS THE NEXT ISSUE?
Many people have been asking when to expect the next issue of this
newsletter and the Kansas BBS List. The answer is every other month!
Expect the next issue toward the end of March 1995. I am very busy
so I can't make this a monthly thing... Sorry!
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TELL ME ABOUT NEW PRODUCTS AND STANDARDS
If you know of any new products or new standards, please send the
information about it ASAP. I am especially interested in cutting
edge cool products and not just a minor update to something that is
already out there! I reserve the right to state it as I see it <G>.
If you know of any new modems, please send the information about it
ASAP. I will list the new products in a future issue!
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SCOTTY DOES PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
James Doohan, Scotty on Star Trek, will be doing public service
announcements during National Engineers Week on Feb 19 to 25.
I wonder if he says "The engines are gonna blow captain...". <grin>
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INTERNET HYPE
Have you noticed how many people have jumped on the Internet "super-
higway" bandwagon lately. You know what really makes me laugh is
watching the pinhead TV people, who barely know how to turn on a
computer, try to hype it. It's just like alternative and progressive
rock, the big companies jump on it because of the $$$ and not because
they like or enjoy it. It is just the in-thing to do...
I do expect the Internet hype to start falling off after the mom-pop
croud finally realize that it isn't a cake walk. Most people can't
even download files from a BBS, let alone trying to FTP a file
across the country using the UNIX shell. The Internet is not fluffy
enough yet for most of the world to use. Also, what are these
people going to think when their kids can get access to ALT.SEX
newsgroups and a ton of other adult material. <grin>
Time will tell what happens...
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NEW MODEM / SOUND CARD CHIPSET
Sierra Semiconductor has shown off a v.32bis chip set that interfaces
directly to the new OPL4 wavetable synthesis chip from Yamaha. They
plan to update the chipset to v.34 later. You should expect sound
cards with modem capabilites in the near future!
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MICROSOFT WWW EDITOR
Microsoft has announced a WWW (World Wide Web) HTML editor add-on for
Word 6.0. There will be two versions of the product with different
level of features. We should have more details in the near future.
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INTERNET IP SPOOF DANGER
The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), a federally funded
organization that monitors security events, issued an advisory
alerting network managers to guard against IP spoofing. This warning
followed a report by a San Diego Super Coputer Center where the it
happened.
The hackers were using a fairly simple concept...watch traffic moving
back and forth between two computers. Capture the IP address of all
computers talking to the computer you are interested in getting into
and then try to connect with that IP address. Many computers only
look for exact IP address matches and nothing else, so connection
is very easy!
The bottom line, don't rely on IP address-based authentication. Use
Encryption-based authentication and dynamic password control. Install
an Internet firewall capable of reverse address resolution, under
which a packet's IP source address can be checked against a physical
location of the computer it came from.
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COMPUSERVE LOWERS COST
CompuServe has announced an overall lower cost for their users. The
monthly charge will raise from $8.95 to $9.95 but thier hourly fee
will drop from $9.60 to $4.80 for all access speeds.
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GIF ROYALTIES
All developers who use the GIF format have been told by Compuserve
to pay royalties. The GIF standard has long thought to be available
for free. Unisys Corp owns a patent on the LZW compression algorithm
used in all GIF files. They have negotiated a deal with Compuserve
to enable it to recover royalites. The royalty is 1.5 percent for
each registered copy of software that uses GIF. End users are not
directly affected by the actions.
Unisys said it intends to enforce its patent by pursuing companies
that build software for the commercial market, but those that provide
FREEWARE are immune to liability.
CompuServe is working on a GIF replacement that does not use the
Unisys compression algorithm and will offer support for 24bit color.
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MPEG-4 RUMORS
It is rumored that MPEG-4 will support very low bit rate audio and
video schemes for slower than 64Kbit/sec phone line use. It is
expected to achieve international-standard status by November 1998.
In the short term, Microsoft plans to put TrueSpeech in Windows 95,
which supports 8.5kbit/sec play back on a 386 25Mhz machine. You
can expect PC-based voice mail functions to be integrated or very
close behind Windows 95.
For your information, all rates faster than 64Kbit/sec uses the H.321
standard already in place for video, speech, and multiplexing.
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INTEL CPU PRICE CUTS
Expect CPU prices to be slashed in February and May to combat against
competing CPU makers! In May, expect the price of the 100MHz DX4 CPU
to be about 40% of the price it was last Christmas.
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INTEL P6 (FOLLOW-UP)
What's after the Pentium? Intel's internally code named P6 will have
a 128-bit external bus, a 256K level-2 cache integrated into the CPU
chip, four processor cores (compared to 2 in Pentium), and conversion
process that will translate existing x86 code into RISC-like opcodes
that which will increase the performance of existing applications
without recompiling.
Intel is already shipping engineering samples to manufactuerers and
expect to sell 200K by the end of the year.
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INTEL CPU ERRATA (BUGS)
Because of the lousy way Intel handled the most recent Pentium bug,
they have decided to publish errata on a quarterly basis, starting
this quarter (by end of March). Also, they will start putting better
identification on its chips to make it easier for users to identify
particular chips. Also, they have a 4 step process to validate flaws
and release information about them. If you can document a flaw in
one of their CPU's, call (800)628-8686. I'm sure they would like to
hear from you. <grin>
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FUTURE DRAM SIZE PREDICTIONS
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has released it's
projection for future DRAM memory development in the USA.
1995 - 64 Meg bit per chip
1998 - 256 Meg "
2001 - 1 Gig "
2004 - 4 Gig "
2007 - 16 Gig "
2010 - 64 Gig "
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FUTURE DOMAIN IDE CARD
Future Domain Corp, maker of PC-based SCSI cards, has announced they
will be producing an Enhanced IDE card. No details available...
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10,000 RPM HARD DRIVES
Since most of the hard drive makers are moving their upper-end drives
from 5,400 RPM to 7,200 RPM, they are forcing some of makers to move
into the 10,000 RPM arena. I expect to see this happen this year.
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DVD CDROM (FOLLOW-UP)
Hollywood and many big name consumer electronic giants joined to back
a new digitial video disk (DVD) system from Toshiba and Time-Warner.
They expect this CD to replace VHS videotapes in the future because
of its new digital features.
The disk standard specs either one or two sides (where double-sided
is two half thickness disks glued together). One side holds 5gig and
two sides hold 10gig. For high quality image movies, 74min/side and
lower quality at 135min/side.
Hollywoods wish list included the ability to do full-length feature
film (135min) on a single disk, picture quality similar to current
laser disks, capacity for 3 to 5 languages, audio in matrixed digital
surround-sound, copy protection, multiple aspect ratio, choice of
subtitles or dubs, multiple versions of the same program on one disk,
parental-lockout feature. They stated the new format exceeds all of
these listed wish list items.
Expect a player in June 1996 at $499 and disks at $30.
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HDCD CDROM (FOLLOW-UP)
Sony and Philips are getting ready to announce an enhanced CD spec
called High-density CD (HDCD). Microsoft plans to support the new
standard under Windows 95. The new format is scheduled to be
announced by the end of February. No announcements on ship dates.
This new standard is unique in that it is a double-layer, single-
sided disk. One layer supports 3.7gig and two layer supports 7.4gig.
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CDROM STANDARDS BATTLE
Can you believe there will be two new standards not compatible with
each other? Hopefully someone will make one or the other the main
standard BUT more than likely, the public will be the deciding vote,
just like VHS vs BETA.
It is also rumored that Matsushita may help decide the final blow to
one or the other since they make so many home consumer items.
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NEW MIDI XG STANDARD
Yamaha has disclosed plans for a next-generation MIDI standard. It
will change the number of "voices" from 128 to 650, as well as add
voice editing, digital effects, and external-input capability.
There is another proprietary extension known as MIDI GS by Roland.
It is expexted to be confusion and a battle to come about...
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FIREWIRE (FOLLOW-UP)
Microsoft has stated that it plans to ship drivers for the 100Mbit/S
serial link (known as FireWire) in Windows 95.
It is rumored that Europe's Digital VCR consortium is seriously
considering adopting FireWire as its interface.
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See ya on the modem highways...
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