/// CPU Status Report                     Late Breaking Industry-Wide News
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                 Computer Products Update - CPU Report
                 ------------------------   ----------
                Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
 
                               Issue #26
 
                            By: John Deegan
 
 
   WINDOWS PASSES DOS IN SALES - For the first time, North American 
sales of programs for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows environment have sur-
passed sales of applications that run on MS-DOS.

   Sales of all applications software, including word processors and 
spreadsheets, reached $1.46 billion in the first quarter of 1993, which 
is an increase in dollar value of 20% from first quarter 1992 and a 26% 
rise in unit sales.

   Currently Microsoft says it sells more than a million copies of Win-
dows each month. At the same time, the older MS-DOS system now is used 
on an estimated 120 million to 140 million PCs.


   LANGUAGE SYSTEMS OFFERED - A new language-training system has been 
developed by E-Systems' HRB Systems subsidiary and is being offered to 
educators, businesses, government agencies and international companies.
 
   The company said the product provides a self-paced and economical 
method to achieve conversational fluency. It features foreign films and 
users' own personal computers for interactive learning benefits.


   ERICSSON OFFERS WIRELESS MODEM - The $775 Mobidem AT, described as 
the first commercial packet radio modem that could implement a circuit-
switched AT command set interface, has been developed by Ericsson GE 
Mobile Communications Inc.

   The firm, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Ericsson SpA, 
said the provides quick compatibility with major computer operating 
systems.


   IRS TO CONTINUE ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATION SERVICE - The Internal 
Revenue Service has reversed an earlier decision and will continue to 
allow taxpayers and preparers who file electronically to learn in 
advance if their refund will be seized by the agency to pay debts owed 
by the taxpayer.

   MICROSOFT'S BILL GATES TOPS FORBES' U.S. RICHEST LIST - Forbes maga-
zine in its seventh annual ranking of the richest people in the world 
has placed Microsoft's Bill Gates at the top of its U.S. list.  Gates, 
according to Forbes, has a net worth of $7.4 billion.


   SONY, APPLE, KODAK TEAM ON CD-ROM - A jointly-sponsored CD-ROM title 
called Open Wider is being released by Apple Computer Inc., Eastman 
Kodak Co. and Sony Electronic Publishing.

   Reports say the disk was created by New York multimedia design com-
pany Imergy and documents the assembly of Open, a magazine that explores 
creativity in the digital age.


   COMPUTER CHIP THEFTS INCREASE - Computer chips, described by one 
California deputy district attorney as "the dope of the '90s," are being 
targeted by daring robbers who sell their high-tech booty for big bucks 
on the black market.

   Sources say the incentive to steal the tiny chips is high since they 
are in such short supply and demand for them is great.

   "Pound for pound, [chips are] more valuable than cocaine," said 
Julius Finklestein, a deputy district attorney in the Santa Clara 
County's high-tech crimes unit.

   A typical modus operandi calls for large numbers of armed men to 
invade a site, overwhelm and terrorize employees and disappear with the 
loot which is then sold for cash to middlemen. Smaller companies are 
often targeted because their security systems tend to be less 
sophisticated than larger firms.

   So far, no one has died in any of the heists, but officials fear 
escalating violence.

   The most recent theft occurred Tuesday night in San Jose, California 
when 10 armed men invaded Bestronics, a circuit board assembly plant. 
Using plastic handcuffs, they tied up a dozen workers and stole an 
undetermined number of computer memory chips. One employee was badly 
beaten, while others were pulled around by their hair. The suspects 
escaped.


   LEXMARK, IBM CHASE RIBBON FAKERS - In a Miami sting operation, IBM 
and former subsidiary Lexmark International -- working with a federal 
judge and the U.S. Marshals Service -- have busted a ring that was 
counterfeiting printer ribbons.

   David Lyons of The Miami Herald says six people signed consent de-
crees promising never to do it again and to cooperate with the company 
in any future investigations.

   "It was the third time in the last two years that IBM and its 
distributors had swung into action to knock out counterfeiters in South 
Florida," Lyons reports. "Their chief weapon: civil lawsuits in federal 
court aimed at enforcing IBM's trademark rights."

   Earlier Lexmark successfully sued two California companies and four 
other firms in South Florida.

   The latest targets included Digital Ribbon and Supplies of West Dade, 
also known as Superior Ribbons Inc.; Williams Printing Inc. of Hialeah; 
and six individuals: Gustavo Ibanez, owner of Superior; Mayda Silva, a 
Miami saleswoman; Mario J. Williams Jr. of the printing company; Jose 
Peraza, a Miami artist; Juan Marin of Colombia; and Cesar Giron of 
Pembroke Pines.


                      ------------------------------



"FEES" HIDDEN IN BUDGET (New modem/telecommunications "tax")

Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1993 18:40:34 GMT
From: rpwhite@cs.nps.navy.mil (rpwhite)
Organization: Monterey Bay Yacht Club, Monterey CA
Subject: "FEES" HIDDEN IN BUDGET WILL COST YOU $$$$!!
Keywords: modems,taxes,fnord

[Excerpted from The San Jose Herald, and used without permission
under the Reasonable Use interpretation of the 1976 Copyright Act.]


BY ROBERT DOBSON
Herald Washington Bureau

     WASHINGTON - The Senate moved toward approving its version of
President's Clinton's budget package early this morning, a move
that is expected to set the stage for a showdown over "hidden
taxes" and spending in a House-Senate conference committee. At
which time, conservatives in the senate say they will fight efforts
to increase taxes and spending which they say is hidden in the
legislation. Singled out was $60 million to be used to finance the
National Data Network that Vice-President Gore is a supporter of.
     The $60 million is to be raised by the imposition of a tax on
the manufacturers of telecommunications hardware and by fees on the
users of such equipment, known as modems. "We used the Pittman-
Robertson act, which finances conservation efforts through a tax on
firearms and ammunition, as a model," said Congressional
spokesperson Bonnie Houck. "The people purchasing and using this type
of equipment are affluent and well off. It's fair, it's not taxation,
this is a progressive measure that asks the users of a resource to
pay for the costs of that resource."

[deleted]

     Clinton Administration spokesperson J. R. Dobbs cautioned
against calling the fees a tax; "Inaccurate buzz words like `modem
fees' and allusions to `modem taxes' produce knee-jerk reactions
that short-circuit constructive inquiry into a vital public issue.
Telecommunications users from all sectors - educators, small
business, local governments, public service entities. liraries and
recreational users - should take strong interest in how the next
generation of telecommunications networks will be developed and
financed.
     The newly authorized user fees are concealed in an obscure
line item (Docket 37-42 of the Data Communications Network
Architecture, or DCNA proposal), "the implications of which NO ONE
at this time fully understands," according to noted MIT
communications policy expert James Parry. These changes would
require telecommunications users to pay "usage sensitive" carrier
charges.

[deleted]

     Roger Carasso is a special assistant to the chief of the
Common Carrier Bureau at the FCC. He said it made sense that
someone using a 14,400 bps modem pay more than someone using a 2400
bps modem. He also commented that it was good policy to have the
fees collected by modem manufacturers and the regional Bell
operating companies (RBOC's). "That way the users don't see the
government involved in the same old `tax and spend'. In this case
the users can take pride in the fact that they are, in fact,
directly financing the new `data superhighway' while, at the same
time, freeing up scarce government resources for truly necessary
social programs such as Medicare, food stamps and education."

[rest of article deleted]

               UN-altered REPRODUCTION and DISSEMINATION of this 
                    IMPORTANT Information is ENCOURAGED. 



                      ------------------------------



            ATARI AND IBM ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC MANUFACTURING
             CONTRACT FOR MULTIMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM


June 28, 1993 - Sunnyvale, CA - Atari Corporation announced today that it
has contracted with the IBM Corporation's Charlotte, North Carolina,
facility to manufacture the Atari Jaguar, Atari's new 64-bit multimedia
entertainment system.

IBM's multi-year contract is valued at $500 million.

The Atari Jaguar, to be made in the United States, is an interactive
multimedia entertainment system which features over 16 million colors in
24-bit true color graphics and produces shaded 3-D polygons for
manipulation in a "real world" in real time. A 32-bit expansion port will
allow for future connection into cable and telephone networks a digital
signal processing port for modem usage and connection to digital audio
peripherals. The Jaguar will also feature a double-speed compact disc
peripheral.

"This system is clearly the wave of the future", said Sam Tramiel,
President of Atari, "Because the Jaguar will feature such an array of
visual and audio special effects, we wanted to work with a premier company
that we are confident can manufacture the quality product we have
developed".

The Charlotte-based IBM plant, which for 15 years has manufactured and
developed products only for other IBM businesses, just recently began
working with outside companies to meet their production needs. The Atari
Jaguar project represents one of IBM's first entries into manufacturing
for the mass consumer electronics market.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to work with Atari and their new system",
said Herbert L. Watkins, Director of Application Solutions manufacturing
at IBM Charlotte. "Everyone expects IBM to manufacture complex information
technology products, and with this we'll show that we can competitively
build a sophisticated consumer product".

In addition to assembling the Jaguar, IBM will be responsible for the
component sourcing, quality testing, packaging and distribution. The
Jaguar, announced on June 3, is based on an Atari designed proprietary 64-
bit RISC processor that features four times the technology currently seen
in the marketplace today. The sound system is based on Atari's proprietary
high-speed, Digital Signal Processor dedicated to audio which can produce
CD quality sound.

The Atari Jaguar will be available on a limited basis in the fall,
focusing on the New York market. A national roll-out is expected next year
and the Jaguar will retail for approximately $200.


Atari Corporation manufactures and markets personal computers and video
games for the home, office and educational marketplaces throughout the
world. Atari headquarters are located at 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale,
California 94089.

The IBM Corporation's Charlotte facility manufactures and develops for IBM
and other companies wide variety of products, such as banking systems,
automotive diagnostic systems and electronic circuit boards. The site
includes 2.3 million square feet of work space on a 1.200- acre site. Its
address is 1001 W.T. Harris Blvd., Charlotte, North Carolina 28257,
Telephone (704) 594 1000.

For further information:

Nancy Chan Bohbot Communications, Inc. (415) 705 6888

Bob Page IBM (704) 594 1729



                      ------------------------------



SPA CONFIRMS SOFTWARE SALES

WASHINGTON, DC -- Companies often make wild claims about the
number of copies they have sold of particular programs, so the
Software Publishers Association regularly certifies sales numbers
for some popular programs.

Since 1985 the SPA Certification Program has audited sales of
more than 450 programs published by over 55 companies and this
week they released minimum sales numbers for 49 new products.

Accolade has sold 50,000 or more units of the following:
Al Michaels Announces Hardball III; Blue Angels Formation Flight
Simulator; Elvira; Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design Signature
Edition; Jack Nicklaus Presents the Major Championship Courses;
Mike Ditka Ultimate Football; Star Control; Steel Thunder
American Battle Tank Simulation; The Cycles International Grand
Prix Racing; and The Muscle Cars: Test Drive II Car Disk.

Sales of the following were greater than 100,000 units each:
Grand Prix Circuit; Hardball II; Jack Nicklaus Unlimited Golf &
Course Design; Test Drive II The Passion; and The Supercars:
Test Drive II Car Disk.

Broderbund Software sold more than 100,000 units each of:
BannerMania; Dazzle Draw; MemoryMate; Prince of Persia; The New
Print Shop Graphics Library; Type!; Where in America's Past is
Carmen Sandiego?; Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?; and
Wolfpack.

And more than 250,000 units of these were sold: Kid Pix; The
New Print Shop; The Playroom; and The Print Shop Deluxe.

These two were best sellers for Broderbund at more than 500,000
units each: The Print Shop Companion, and Where in Time is Carmen
Sandiego?

The Learning Company was certified as having sold more than
50,000 units of Operation Neptune and Super Solvers Spellbound;
while sales of Reader Rabbit 2 were 100,000 units.

Maxis' A-Train sold 50,000 plus units; SimAnt's sales were
100,000 units; SimEarth's sales reached 250,000 units; and
SimCity was most popular with sales in excess of 500,000 units.

MySoftware Company's MyBackup and MyLabelMaker had sales of more
than 100,000 units.

Reality Technologies' Wealth Builder by Money Magazine topped
50,000 unit sales.

Spectrum HoloByte's Flight of the Intruder; Vette!; and Wordtris
all sold more than 50,000 units each; and both Falcon 3.0 and
Super Tetris sold 100,000 plus copies.

Tally Systems Corporation's PC Census had sales of 500,000 units.

Walt Disney Computer Software has two software products -
Donald's Alphabet Chase and Mickey's Runaway Zoo - that sold more
than 100,000 units each.


                      ------------------------------


TWO SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN CONNECTICUT ATM FRAUD

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT -- Two Arizona men have been arrested in
connection with a fraud case that involved using a fake automated
teller machine (ATM) in a Connecticut mall to obtain the account
numbers and identification codes of bank customers.

Alan Scott Pace and Gerald Harvey Greenfield, both of Tucson,
Arizona, are in custody and charged with fraud, conspiracy, and
transportation of stolen property, after the illegally obtained
codes were used to steal about $100,000 from bank accounts, Dan
Marchitello, the Secret Service agent in charge of the investigation,
told Newsbytes.

Several warrants were outstanding for Pace on other offenses
including credit-card fraud, Marchitello said.

The dummy bank machine was placed in the Buckland Hills Mall in
Manchester, Connecticut from April 24 to May 9 of this year,
Marchitello said. It recorded the account numbers and personal
identification numbers of bank customers. The thieves then used
those numbers to withdraw money from customers' accounts at
various bank machines up and down the East Coast of the United
States.

Marchitello said Pace and Greenfield were arrested partly as a
result of information from a New York company that had sold them
coding and embossing equipment. The company said the men had not
paid a $20,000 bill for the gear.

A court appearance is set for July 1. The Secret Service is
seeking a third suspect who played a minor role in the scam,
Marchitello said.


                      ------------------------------


PHIBER OPTIK TRIAL TO START

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- The trial in federal court of Mark Abene,
well known throughout the hacker community as "Phiber Optik," is
scheduled to begin on July 6th in the Southern District of New York.

The trial, to be presided by Judge Louis Stanton, will take
place in Courtroom 444 in the New York City's Federal Courthouse
at Foley Square.

Abene was indicted on July 8 of last year along with John Lee,
Julio Fernandez, Eli Ladopoulos, and Paul Stira, on a variety
of charges relating to computer intrusion and telecom fraud.
In the interim, Lee, Fernandez, Ladopoulos, and Stira have
pled guilty to lesser charges. Lee has been sentenced to a
year and day in federal prison and Fernandez is reported to
have become a witness for the government. Stira 
and Ladopoulos are scheduled to be sentenced on July 23.

Lawrence Schoenbach, attorney for Abene, told Newsbytes, "We
are all looking forward to the trial and the litigation of
the issues involved. This is a trial for the 21st Century
and addresses the questions of how much the government can
interfere with the search for knowledge and how far it can
intrude into personal communication."

Schoenbach added that he expected the trial to take a few months.

Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Fishbein declined to
comment on a case about to go to trial, telling Newsbytes, "We
will be making our profound statements in court."

The trial is expected to provide the cornerstone for a book by
Joshua Quittner and Michelle Slatalla, Newsday reporters,
who having been covering the case since the indictment. Quittner
told Newsbytes that he is taking a leave of absence from his
Newsday duties for the duration of the trial.


                      ------------------------------


GOT A SECOND?  THERE'S A LEAP SECOND COMING ON WEDNESDAY

WASHINGTON, DC -- If someone asks you to "wait a second" this week,
you can accommodate them without missing any of your usual weekly
activities because the government is giving you, free of charge,
some extra time this week.

Do the workdays just seem to drag on forever? Well, if this
Wednesday seems to be a bit more of a struggle to get through than
usual, you can at least look forward to a full extra second of
evening rest courtesy of the world's timekeepers at the US Naval
Observatory in Washington, D.C., and their counterparts in Boulder,
Colorado.

At precisely 23 hours, 59 minutes, 60 seconds Co-ordinated Universal
Time (UTC) or 7:59:60 p.m. EDT on June 30, 1993, one second will be
inserted into the world's most accurate clocks because variations in
the way the Earth turns have gotten it slightly out of sync with the
super-accurate atomic clocks which the world's scientists now use to
determine the "correct" time.

In the past, human beings relied on the rotation of the planet
itself as the "standard" for time keeping and reset clocks to match
the Earth's daily turning, but since the late 60s the US Naval
Observatory has been relying on a computerized clock that counts the
9,192,631,792,458 vibrations that take place every second in a
Cesium 133 atom.

By contrast, the Earth's rotation is only constant to about 1/1,000-
second each day and therefore the Naval Observatory has inserted 18
leap seconds in the clock's time since 1972 in order to keep the
clock perfectly synchronized with the Earth's rotation and thus with
rising and setting times of stars.

The reason the Navy is responsible for timekeeping goes back to the
traditional needs of the British and other navies which required
precise timekeeping in order to help them determine the position of
their ships at sea.

Today these positions are determined by using computerized global
positioning systems which rely on satellite signals which are again
related to precise timekeeping.

Although this change can be ignored by most people, computers used
to measure or record many scientific events must be set to a precise
time tick; anyone can actually have his or her clocks reset using
the Naval Observatory's special electronic bulletin board system
which is used just to co-ordinate computer clock times.


                      ------------------------------


EXPLOSION IN HOME PCs PREDICTED BY 1999

DALLAS, TEXAS -- Market research group Channel Marketing is predicting
"explosive" growth in the PC market in the next six years saying more
than eight times as many personal computers (PCs) will be sold by
1999 than have been sold since the introduction of the PC.

The group also claims the majority of these computers will be
purchased through mass marketing outlets, such as warehouse
buying clubs, just as microwave ovens and video cassette
recorders (VCRs) are now.

A high 2.5 computers per household is predicted by the end of the
decade, up from 2.2 per household predicted a year earlier. At the
end of 1992 there were an estimated 0.3 computers per household,
or about 30 million units. Contributing factors to the purchase of
computers for the home include lower prices, increased mass
market retail availability, increased growth in home-based
businesses and telecommuting, educational needs of children, and
the use of computers by college and university students, the
group said.

In the educational environment, many higher educational
institutions are now requiring that students own a computer. In
the future, parents are also expected to offer each child their own
computer as an educational advantage. The research firm also
maintains families want to have access to on-line information
utilities such as America Online, Compuserve, and Prodigy. The
notebook computer will be as common in schools across America
as the pocket calculator is today, Channel Marketing asserts.

By 1995, more than half of all computers purchased will be
purchased through the consumer mass market channel. Since most
computers come with the software installed, buying a computer
will be no different than buying any other appliance for the
home, Channel Marketing insists.

                The preceding stories are © 1993 Newsbytes.
                        Reprinted with permission.