Virus . . .what an ugly, hated, detested, evil, invasive word that causes the destruction of one's computing capabilities, whether entertainment or business oriented. Fortunately, on the desktop side of things, companies such as Symantec have managed to build AntiVirus software that have become indispensable in their prevention of data destruction. The good news is that Netscape Communications Corporation has now signed a licensing agreement with Symantec Corporation for their Norton AntiVirus Internet Scanner plug-in. This software will automatically checked your saved files downloaded from the net. Over 7,300 viruses are detected by the program and, once identified, they are killed. This antivirus software will part of the Netscape Power Pack 2.0 for Windows that will be available later this month.
PARENTAL CONTROL WITH SURFWATCH
SurfWatch, parental control software, has been released as a result of an alliance with SurfWatch Software, Inc. and EarthLink Network, Inc. In addition to SurfWatch, every copy of EarthLink Network's ExpressNet Suite includes Netscape Navigator 2.0. Valued at more than $250 as separate products ExpressNet Suite sells for $49.95 per multi-platform CD-ROM.
SurfWatch lets parents, teachers and employers block unwanted sexually
explicit material and other matter from their computers' Internet access without restricting the access rights of other Internet users.
The SurfWatch software removes no material from the Internet or any server,
but simply blocks it at any computer or local network where it is installed. SurfWatch Software can be reached at 415/948-9500 or via the World Wide Web
at http://www.surfwatch.com.
More Fun Stuff
EXTRATERRESTRIAL ROADWAY
Many popular feature films encompass the theme of alien encounters. Why, the titles of such enormous hits run the gamut from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Star Wars and on and on. One of the most highly anticipated films to release this summer is Independence Day from Twentieth Century Fox. This is the ultimate alien invasion film and stars Jeff Goldblum, Robert Loggia, Bill Pullman and Brent Spiner. April 17th is the day set for the preview screening of Independence Day footage at the Century Theatres Cinedom 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. At this screening, Nevada Governor Bob Miller will dedicate Nevada Highway 375 as The Extraterrestrial Highway. Following the screening, there will be a V.I.P. reception at Planet Hollywood at Ceasars. The following day a press convoy leaves Las Vegas and heads to Rachel, Nevada, where the official Highway dedication will be held. A panel discussion featuring many of the nation's leading UFOlogists will follow. Now if the movie is half as entertaining as the group turning highways into film icons . . .
BUENA VISTA BREAKS $300 MILLION
Box office results are regularly announced on TV, with listings from the top running movies. Buena Vista has reached the $300 million box-office results that outpaces the previous record holders by nearly seven weeks.
NOT HAPPY CAMPERS AT CBS
If you're one of the 350 news writers, graphic artists and others of the Writers Guild of America and CBS you already know that you've been without a contract for almost a week. This is not a good situation. A strike was threatened as of March 31st by the network folks in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington. Although this date is in the past-tense, both sides continue to talk.
CBS has no comment concerning the negotiations while the Writers Guild has said CBS is taking a hard line in its negotiations under the new owner, Westinghouse. The union reports that the network has proposed eliminating seniority and other job protections and is seeking greater ``multi-tasking,'' or allowing non-members to perform writer tasks.
BILLY GRAHAM RAMPS UP BROADCASTS
Evangelist Billy Graham will offer MTV-style broadcasts in primetime to more than 200 countries during the month of April via the World Television Series. The presentations are designed to appeal to today's younger, sophisticated, video-driven international audience. It is anticipated to reach 2.5 billion people, broadcast in 48 languages on national TV networks in more than 160
countries. It will also be broadcast on two of the largest intercontinental
satellite networks in the world, STAR-TV and BSKYB, which cover approximately two-thirds of the world's population -- including some countries traditionally opposed to the proclamation of the Gospel.
MIND AND FILM OVER MATTER
A unique alliance has been forged between Miramax Films and The Other 90% Technologies. Perhaps the next generation of movie making is at hand where viewers determine a film's outcome through the power of their minds. The studio now has the rights to use MindDrive technology in a variety of entertainment products, including films. The MindDrive is the first product that lets you operate computer with just your thoughts and it will be available this June. The pacts calls for MindDrive in films, MindDrive apps being marketed and created using new Miramax films that are developed using this technology as content, and to debut the technology on the Internet at http://www.miramax.com.
MTV'S ROCK N'JOCK SOFTBALL CHALLENGE
MTV is hosting rock-and-roll and sports celebrities to benefit the T.J.
Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research. Named the Rock N' Jock Softball Challenge it will be shown Saturday, April 13 at 1:00 p.m. (ET/PT) and a repeat performance on Sunday, April 14 at 10:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.(ET/PT).
Just a few of the biggies are: Roger McDowell- Baltimore Orioles, Mike Piazza-LA Dodgers, Bobby Bonilla-Baltimore Orioles, J.T. Snow-California Angels and John Franco-NY Mets. Others are: Jon Cryer-Partners, Jonathan Silverman-The Single Guy, Amy Yasbeck-Wings, Jason Gedrick-Murder One, David Chokachi-Baywatch and Nate Morris-Boyz II Men.
PBS FORMS ALLIANCE AS THEY COME TO THE WEB
In a combined effort the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and VDOnet Corporation today announced an alliance to bring PBS's video programming to the Internet. This partnership is the first such relationship formed by PBS.
Under this relationship, PBS will use VDOnet's VDOLive Internet video technology and servers to offer real-time video to anyone viewing the
Internet, including those with a regular phone line and a dial-up modem. The
video will reside on PBS ONLINE, the PBS World Wide Web site (http://www.pbs.org).
PANEL SITS ON PICKT FENCES
If you're really into Picket Fences and its stars, Tom Skerritt and Kathy
Baker, there'll be a panel discussion and screening of highlights of the series' past four seasons will take place on Monday, April 15, at the Academy Plaza Theater, 5230 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. The program, beginning at 7:30 PM, will be followed by a reception. ATAS members will not have to pay for admittance to this event and it is also open to non-members of ATAS for a fee of $15.00. For more information please call 818-754-2890.
Picket Fences has received 12 Emmy Awards in its four years on CBS including two for Outstanding Drama Series, 22 Emmy nominations, awards from Viewers for Quality Television, The Hollywood Foreign Press, The Directors Guild of America and many other national organizations.
SESAME STREET TAKES THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Sesame Street a production of Children's Television Workshop has been nominated for 12 Daytime Emmy Awards for the 1996 season which is a record. Including this year's nominations, Sesame Street has received the second highest number of Emmy nominations. This highly respected, forever young show has been on TV for 27 seasons and has been the recipient of more than 96 awards.
THE SELLING OF 90210
Information came from an anonymous source that talks regarding the selling of Spelling Entertainment Group, Inc. have fallen by the wayside. Viacom who owns 77 percent of Spelling felt that they didn't have to sell Spelling. Spelling is the producer of popular television programs with a large inventory of old shows. Viacom was hoping to sell Spelling by March 31 and had been seeking a price possibly as high as $1.5 billion. Published articles quoting unidentified sources said five companies had submitted initial bids to Bear Stearns, Viacom's agent in the auction for Spelling. Analysts said the bids were around $700 million, and the most likely bidders were networks such as General Electric, NBC, Walt Disney and Time Warner.
PALMER TEES UP ON THE WEB
For those golf enthusiasts, SportsLine USA, an on-line service devoted exclusively to sports information has teamed up with Arnold Palmer to bring Palmer to the World Wide Web. The Arnold Palmer site can be accessed from SportsLine USA's home page at http://www.sportsline.com.
Online members of "Arnie's Army" will have immediate access to Palmer's
biography, career statistics and highlights, photos and information about
the hundreds of golf courses that he has designed. SportsLine USA members
will soon have the opportunity to interact directly with Palmer during
real-time chat sessions, read his exclusive monthly golf column and
eventually purchase Arnold Palmer merchandise.
MRS. WINTERBOURNE BENEFITS HOMELESS
TriStar Pictures is presenting their premiere romantic-comedy, Mrs. Winterbourne, April 16, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Mrs. Winterbourne is the comedy starring Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake and Brendan Fraser. Proceeds will go to the Drop-In Center, Outreach Team and Adopt-a-Family Program of the Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) in Santa Monica. Tickets are $100 for general and $150 for preferred seating, popcorn not included.
SUCH A DEAL FOR TURNER
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.'s TBS Superstation and Turner Network Television (TNT) have succeeded in putting together a deal with Sony Pictures that is big beyond belief. Turner has acquired exclusive rights to 25 motion pictures from Sony Pictures Entertainment company Columbia TriStar Television Distribution (CTTD) in a film licensing deal that includes some of the studio's most recent box-office blockbusters
What makes this agreement so awesome is that the agreement marks the first time that TNT and TBS Superstation have preemptively purchased the syndication window of a major motion picture package and the first time CTTD has sold one of its theatrical packages exclusively to basic cable.
This multi-year agreement that begins on January 1, 1997, joins the TBS Superstation and TNT with some of Columbia TriStar's biggest titles, stars and directors. Just a few of these titles are Philadelphia, A River Runs Through It, The Remains of the Day, Sleepless In Seattle, The Age of Innocence and The Quick and The Dead.
PERSPECTIVES
Icebreaker
Reviewed by Kirstin Ahearn
Icebreaker (Magnet Interactive) should be renamed Nerve Breaker. Talk about the ultimate twitch and panic game that keeps your fingers pounding on the keyboard (or pushing the joystick to funky new positions.) It doesn't take long for your heart to start racing as you frantically try to clear pyramids (Dudes) from the screen while fending off killer pyramids (Seekers) that attack from all different directions. Gamers get started by, quite frankly, easily clearing three types of Dudes from the screen: Blue ones that shatter when run over, Red ones that die when shot (although they kill you if you touch them at all), and Green ones that are killed when Seekers saw through them. You learn early on that you can trick Seekers into helping you clear the screen by chasing you around and sawing through green Dudes. You also learn that Seekers get stuck behind Red and Blue Dudes. So, you can sort of trap them and come back and kill them later. No big deal, you think. But that's as easy as the game gets.
After the evil creators of this game suck you in with a few quickly masterable levels, they shock you with more powerful and vengeful Dudes, Seekers and types of deadly terrain for you to deal with. The Purple Dudes turn into bottomless pits after you shoot them; Concrete Dudes have to be shot 10 times before succumbing to you, the Dudemeyer; and Rainbow Dudes turn into anything after you touch or shoot them -- which means you have to react accordingly to kill them. Now remember, these Dudes don't just sit there waiting for you to attack. They change colors all the time, which means if you're heading towards a Blue Dude in the hopes of shattering him, he could quickly turn to Red and thereby kill you on the spot. This is one of the lesser dangers of the game--but be warned.
Additional Seekers have more brains: Cyanides don't get stuck behind other Dudes; Pinkos don't fall into bottomless pits; Limeys avoid Dudes and pits; Chameleons leap out at you when you least expect; Lurkers are totally fast; Zombies appear out of the swamps that are found in the higher levels, and they take three shots to die; and Meanies split off into smaller Dudes who keep attacking until shot a bunch of times.
And, of course, the terrain has to be against you as well. You start with simple, harmless grass and barren land, but soon enough the terrain turns to ice, which causes you to slide all over the place uncontrollably. This means you're always in danger of running into a pit, or a Red Dude or some lava or something. So, easy on the gas when you're on ice. The lava is easy enough to understand: don't get too close or you'll melt. Same goes for the bottomless pits and slime. Just avoid them, whatever you do. And then, in the deeper levels (which I call hell), you're slowed down by the goo in the swamp, and your shooting and movement abilities are blocked by stone and rock piles. So there you go. That's all you have to conquer to win this game of nerves, strategy and ... ok, ice.
There are 150 tear-jerking levels of game play, each with their own unique blend of the above-listed obstacles to overcome. No matter how you feel when you start playing Icebreaker, your bravery and intrepidation rapidly dwindle with each passing level. Soon, you fall back on the game's one kindness: four difficulty levels from easy to insane. I admit, I started on hard and pretty much dropped down to medium after about level 10. It was either that or risk nightmares of Seeker pyramids pushing me into bottomless pits or lava pools . Not fun.
There's a great field guide that accompanies this title, and the Read Me (and help) files are pretty cool, too. Like a lot of these games, the music can grate on you after a while, so it's nice to know you can freeze the sound. There's also a pause feature, so you can explain to your family and friends what all the yelling is about. And, of course, you can save games, get some sleep, rebuild your courage, before returning to Icebreaker for more torture.
Minimum PC system requirements are 486/33, Windows 3.1, double-speed CD-ROM drive, 8 MB RAM, 3.5 MB free hard drive space, super VGA monitor, Sound Blaster (or compatible sound card), mouse, joystick or joypad (optional). Mac requirements are System 7.0, 4.5 MB RAM, double-speed CD-ROM drive, 2 MB free hard drive space, 14-inch monitor, 256 color display
