Newsbytes - Internationa…ews 1983 May to 1994 June/Newsbytes - International Computing Industry News 1994 Edition - May 1983 - June 1994 - Wayzata Technologies (5045) (1994).iso/mac/Text/Mac Text/1993/nb120693

Text File | 1993-12-17 | 74KB | 1,600 lines

(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00001)

Slovak Police Break Up DTP Counterfeiting Ring 12/06/93
BRATISLAVA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC, 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- The Slovakian
Government has announced it has broken a counterfeiting ring whose
activities led the National Bank of Slovakia to abruptly withdraw
all 1,000-crown federal Czechoslovak notes from circulation on
October 18.

Police raided a Bratislava apartment in late November, arrested
three men and found 91,000 counterfeit stamps, Slovak Interior
Minister Jozef Tuchyna said.

Newsbytes notes that Government officials marked the former
Czechoslovak notes with stamps to distinguish them from Czech
currency after the monetary union between two countries ended on
February 8 this year.

Had the counterfeit stamps been used on withdrawn notes, about 100
million crowns would have been put illegally into circulation,
police said. The abrupt termination of the notes caused Slovaks to
flood banks for fear of being left with worthless paper.

Tuchyna said that the three men faced charges of counterfeiting and
manufacturing and holding counterfeiting equipment. Police said they
also found guns and forged bank notes in the apartment. Newsbytes
understands that the forgers used computerized desktop publishing
(DTP) equipment to forge the notes, although officials have refused
to disclose what equipment was used.

In a related story, the Slovak Republic has just issued a new 500
Crown note. As a result, from early December onwards, the country
has all new banknotes. Old-style notes will be withdrawn from
circulation at the end of 1993, although banks will still change
them until the end of March, 1994.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931206)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00002)

Germany: Citibank Privatkunden Bank Centralizes Euro Network 12/06/93
DUSSELDORF, GERMANY, 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Citibank Privatkunden Bank,
the German operation of Citibank, has announced plans to centralize
control of its European networks at its control center in the
Rhineland.

According to board member Alexander Mettenheimer, the networks of
Belgium, Spain and the UK are being linked together and networks of
other countries will be linked by 1994. The bank claims that it is
the first bank in Germany to operate a European on-line banking
network in the private customer sector.

Citibank claims that the main reason for linking its country banking
networks together is the increasing liberalization of Europe's
telecoms services, as mandated by the European Commission (EC). The
EC has instructed all European telecoms companies to open their
markets to free market competition by 1998.

Earlier this year, almost all of the remaining telecoms companies in
Europe, who had not opened up their markets, announced plans and
time scales on the phased introduction of an open market to their
respective countries. It is this initiative, in the case of the DBT,
the German telecoms giant, that appears to have allowed Citibank to
link its disparate European networks together.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931206/Press & Public Contact: Citibank
Privatkunden - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00003)

US Robotics Ships Free Guide To Online Services 12/06/93
SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- US Robotics Limited,
the UK operation of the US-based modem manufacturer, has confirmed
it is shipping "The Sportster Guide To Online Services," a free
color booklet that is designed to extol the benefits of high speed
modems to potential first-time buyers of modem technology.

Although the booklet was pre-announced last month at a press
conference in London, the company has only today announced the color
booklet, which contains what must arguably be the UK's most
comprehensive guide to online services, detailing most services
available, as well as a selection the most popular bulletin board
services (BBSs).

According to Clive Hudson, Managing Director of US Robotics, around
300,000 of the booklets have been printed and are being distributed
as inserts in the PC press, as well as offered via computer dealers
in the UK. The booklet will also be made available to schools,
colleges and public libraries,

"The modem has moved from being a rather dull technical product to a
consumer product with a wide range of possibilities, We felt the
guide would stimulate increased use of the amazing range of services
that are out there," Hudson said,

"It's not just the big boys though, We have included a number of
smaller BBS operator and we will be offering a hotline for anyone
who wants information they cannot find in the booklet," he added.

Readers of Newsbytes who want a copy of the guide should contact
Sally Roberts at the company.

(Steve Gold/19931206/Press & Public Contact; US Robotics - Tel: +44-
753-811180)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00004)

Networks Expo'94 Scheduled For February In Boston 12/06/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Networks Expo'94, the
eight-annual edition, will be held in Boston from February 15
through 17 where the latest in distributed computing hardware and
software will be shown to corporate users. Seventy-six conference
sessions will be the key to learning about the current state-of-
the-art, while the more than 30,000 expected attendees will see
actual products at the three days of exhibits.

A special tutorial session scheduled for Monday, February 14,
1994 will cover topics such as LAN (local area network) Disaster
Planning; Using Bridges, Routers, and Gateways; Analyzing Netware
LAN Performance; Internetworking with Netware and TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol); and using
Windows In A Corporate Environment.

Showing that the conference and exposition will focus on practical
applications, Tuesday's keynote speaker will be Travers Waltrip, VP
Telecommunications Division, for The Travelers, a diversified
financial services organization instead of a computer hardware or
software company executive.

(John McCormick/19931206/Press Contact: Bruno Blenheim, 800-829-
3976, 201-346-1400, or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00005)

Floorplan Plus 3D For Windows Debuts 12/06/93
TEMPE, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- ComputerEasy
International has announced an upgrade of their Floorplan Plus for
Windows software. The new version is called Floorplan Plus 3D for
Windows, and includes a virtual reality capability that allows users
to "walk through" their designs.

The company claims that novice and expert alike can quickly design,
plan, layout, modify and view in 3D everything on the top of the
dining room table to a 20 story office building.

Floorplan Plus 3D for Windows can support drawings of up to 27
million square feet, and comes with an object library that includes
hundreds of items ready for placement, or you can design your own
equipment, furniture, or landscaping using the built-in drawing
tools. The user can also import 3D drawings created with
ComputerEasy's 3D Design Plus V2.0 program.

A 3D button initiates a viewing plan then automatically renders the
drawing in three dimensions, while a shade tool renders the 3D
surfaces using a user-positioned light source. A stair tool creates
straight or spiral staircases, there is a roof editor to customize
the roofs of your designs, and the program automatically tracks the
required building materials. Files can be exported in ASCII format or
you can create an Estimator Plus file for job costing, bidding and
quotation purposes.

The program can import 3D Plus Files with their DXF format, and can
export to the DXF format. Printing can be done in wire frame or
shaded model, automatic layering is supported, and a floating tool
box includes measuring tools.

(Jim Mallory/19931206/Press contact: D. Thomas Sibbio, Computereasy,
602-829-9614; Reader contact: Computereasy International,
602-829-9614 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00006)

Great Plains Software Intros New Accounting Modules 12/06/93
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Great Plains
Software has announced two new modules in its Great Plains Dynamics
accounting product line. The new modules include Invoicing and
Federal Magnetic Media, and bring to 15 the number of Dynamics
modules currently shipping.

Invoicing can be used as a stand-alone package for processing and
printing custom invoices, returns, and packing slips; or it can be
integrated with other Dynamics modules. Invoicing has a suggested
retail price of $1,000.

The Federal Magnetic Media module integrated with the Payroll-United
States module and provides users with the ability to file W-2
information electronically. It has a suggested retail price of $500.

The Dynamics module line is a LAN-ready graphical accounting system
for Apple Computer's Macintosh platform and Microsoft Windows. It
supports object linking and embedding (OLE), dynamic data exchange
(DDE), open database connectivity (ODBC), Apple Script AppleEvents,
and Apple's Open Collaboration Environment (AOCE).

Great Plains says it plans to ship a client/server accounting
package called Dynamics C/S+ with scalable server hardware targeted
at midrange corporation with revenues from $25 - $100 million in the
first half of 1994. Also scheduled to ship by mid-1994 are major
upgrades to the existing Dynamics product line, that will be called
Dynamics Release Two.

(Jim Mallory/19931206/Press contact: Terry Kalil, Great Plains
Software, 701-281-3130; Reader contact: Great Plains Software,
800-456-0025 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00007)

Infobusiness CD-ROM Helps Job Seekers 12/06/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Introduced at last
month's Las Vegas Comdex trade show, Orem, Utah-based Infobusiness's
two new CD-ROM titles, Job-Power Source, and Job-Power Source
Professional target the growing need and recognition among
professional workers that they need to be prepared to change jobs on
a regular basis in today's rapidly moving job market.

Job-Power Source, at $59.95, is a Windows/MPC-compliant multimedia
CD-ROM-based resource containing thousands of pages of text
describing career advancement techniques and the current outlook for
new jobs in more than 200 areas.

Training and educational requirements for the jobs, along with
salary information and prospect for career growth are given for each
job and the disc also includes more than 200 examples of resumes and
job search letters to help the job seeker get a head start on the
competition.

Job-Power Source Professional, at $149.95, is the job placement
counselor's version of the same information, with information on
more than 12,000 job titles.

An earlier CD-ROM release, The Ultimate Job Finder ($60), also
targets the job seeker with listings for more than 4,500 trade
publications, directories, hotlines, and job matching services.

(John McCormick/19931206/Press Contact: Michael Terpin, The Terpin
Group, 310-798-7875 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00008)

France Telecom Victim Of Minitel Fraud 12/06/93
VAL-DE-MARNE, FRANCE, 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- France Telecom (FT) has
taken three of its engineers to court at Creteil, Val-de-Marne. The
engineers are charged that they deliberately increased to the number
of logged calls to the Minitel viewdata network, as well as their
duration, in order to allow Cap France, which provides service
facilities to France Telecom, to bill FT for additional units.

The three engineers have been found to be co-owners of Cap Telecom,
which offers database services to Minitel subscribers.

Unlike Prodigy in the US, which are is run completely by the
company itself, the French Minitel network is a universal public
carrier of information, with the carrier allowing callers to gateway
into services provided by third parties. Minitel makes its money on
the commission charged for the services, as well as a charge to the
information providers for routing their data across the Minitel
network.

Newsbytes notes that this is the first time that France Telecom has
found its own engineers to working a scam with Minitel. The telecoms
company claims that it is now interviewing its staff as they join the
company for any conflicting interests.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931206/Press & Public Contact: France Telecom -
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00009)

Presidential Guard Claims Pres. Mitterand Ordered Bugging 12/06/93
PARIS, FRANCE, 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- A former senior security guard of
French President Francois Mitterand has claimed that the president's
office ordered the illegal bugging of phones being used by
journalists and politicians in the early 1980s.

In court last week, Patrick Rizzo, a solicitor, quoted his client,
former gendarmerie captain Paul Barril, as telling an investigating
magistrate that the telephone buggings were being managed by a close
presidential aide, Gille Menage.

Menage, then deputy director of Mitterrand's cabinet, currently
heads up EDF, the French state electricity company.

According to Rizzo, the anti-terrorist unit at the Elysee Palace set
up a computerized filing system at the presidential palace in August
of 1982, with the express intention of processing buggings at the
Elysee and managed by the highest state institutions.

"My client said that under the cover of the anti-terrorist fight,
his file was used to wiretap lawyers, journalists and politicians,"
Rizzo said, adding that Barril had declared genuine the accounts of
bugged phone conversations reported in the French press last spring.

Newspapers reported shortly before last March's general election
that the anti-terrorist unit at the Elysee had bugged the telephones
of dozens of people between 1983 and 1986. They included
journalists, an actress, a lawyer and an author. The division,
Secure Computing understands, has since been dismantled.

Press reports of the time said that at least 114 wiretaps were
requested for reasons ranging from suspected arms trade to terrorist
links or presidential security, but it was not clear if all of the
buggings were actually carried out.

(Sylvia Dennis/19931206)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00010)

Nynex Denies Broadband Plans Set 12/06/93
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Nynex appears to
be backing away from statements by its chairman that it has firmed
up plans to upgrade its network.

While William Ferguson was responding to questions from reporters at
the Western Show, a cable convention at which the "information
superhighway" was a primary theme, his executives remained engaged
in negotiations with regulators. The company wants a "new kind of
regulation, and part of that will allow us to build the broadband
network," according to spokesman Maureen Flanagan.

What Nynex is seeking, like other regional Bells, is so-called
"incentive regulation" which will let it accelerate depreciation of
its current plant and guarantee revenues from new broadband systems.
"We've been saying we'll build the broadband network of the future,
and we're still working with regulators to make that happen," said
Flanagan. "That's something we have to discuss with the regulators."

All the Regional Bells are caught between their current status as
regulated monopolies and their future as competitive pipelines.
Nynex faces not only potential cable competition, but real
competition in New York from MFS Communications for business
customers.

MFS recently won the right to compete directly with Nynex in
Manhattan, and plans to expand into the rest of the city and its
suburbs. A unit of Time Warner's cable operation, in which US West
holds an interest, is also seeking approval to offer phone services
in competition with Nynex in New York, and in competition with
Rochester Telephone in Rochester.

Once competition comes to a market most regulators, including those
in New York, want rate regulation ended. But that's a long process,
which will begin first in high-density business markets, and much,
much later in low-income and rural neighborhoods. Nynex wants to
guarantee that its investments in broadband equipment -- whether
made in the Catskills or Harlem -- will bring it a pay-back. But
when competition comes to a market, guarantees end, analysts agree.

Nynex is also among the companies making risky investments in
program content. It has put $1.2 billion into Viacom, partly to
finance its struggle for Paramount with QVC Network. QVC is backed
by, among others, BellSouth. US West has $2.5 billion in Time Warner
Entertainment, while Bell Atlantic is buying TCI, the nation's
largest cable operator, and Southwestern Bell has bought a piece of
Jones Intercable to go along with its buy last year of Hauser
Communications, a Washington, D.C. cable operation.

None of these investments guarantees a return. As a result,
brokerage firms like Kidder Peabody are changing the way they
evaluate phone stocks, looking for growth rather than steady
dividends, and bond rating agencies like Moody's are looking at the
risk in new investments and considering rating downgrades which will
raise the cost of debt.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931206/Press Contact: Maureen Flanagan, Nynex,
914-644-7633)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00011)

 ****NetWare For Local Area Transport Now In Beta Testing 12/06/93
WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- NetWare for LAT
(Local Area Transport), a new product aimed at simplifying desktop
and network configurations on NetWare networks running DEC
applications, is now in final beta testing and will ship in January,
according to Ray Combs, product manager for Novell.

Novell's new series of NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs) lets Windows,
Windows NT, Macintosh, DOS, OS/2 and Unix users access applications
running on VAXes, Alpha workstations, and other LAT-compliant hosts
without installation of a LAT protocol stack on the desktop, said
Combs, in a presentation attended by Newsbytes at the Novell office
in Wellesley, MA.

By moving the LAT protocol stack from the client PC or workstation
to the NetWare server, the product saves memory on the workstation,
and spares end users and network managers from dealing with
potential conflicts between the LAT protocol stack and the NetWare
shell, he explained at the briefing.

NetWare for LAT also extends the use of DEC applications beyond the
Ethernet networks commonly supported by DEC's LAT protocol to any
local area network (LAN) topology, including token ring and Arcnet,
he added.

Running on a NetWare 3.x or 4.x server, NetWare for LAT "speaks LAT"
to the DEC host over a dedicated Ethernet link, but communicates
with client PCs and workstations on Ethernet, token ring, and Arcnet
LANs using Novell's IPX/SPX protocol, Apple's AppleTalk protocol, or
TCP/IP.

By isolating LAT from other network traffic, the product lets
organizations take advantage of the DEC protocol's high-speed
performance for host-based printing and file transfer applications,
while eliminating the need to run LAT all the way from the host to
the desktop, said Combs.

Client workstations connect to the NetWare server and NetWare for
LAT through the NetWare shell, removing the requirement for desktop
installation of the LAT protocol stack. Terminal emulation software
continues to be required on the desktop, however. Emulators will be
available through third-party vendors.

In "quarantining" the non-routable LAT protocol to the host-to-
server link, NetWare for LAT also facilitates remote access to DEC
applications over wide area networks (WANs), said Combs.
Organizations routing IPX/SPX or TCP/IP on their WANs will no longer
be required to install and maintain a series of remote bridges to
transport LAT across the WAN.

Novell's development of NetWare for LAT was inspired by NetWare for
SAA, an existing product that provides desktop connectivity to IBM
mainframe and AS 400 applications. "Research has shown that a very
large percentage of people who have NetWare for SAA also have
VAXes," Combs remarked.

In the future, Novell will introduce additional NetWare products in
this category, including an offering for Telnet to be launched next
year, he said.

NetWare for LAT is not just a gateway, but also a platform for
application solutions that integrate the NetWare and DEC
environments, indicated Wood.

Novell's third-party partners have announced applications that
integrate DEC printing services with NetWare printing services,
integrate DEC mail services with NetWare Global Message Handling
Services (MHS), and allow files and data to be transferred between
DEC systems and NetWare servers. The products consist of NLMs that
run on NetWare servers and VMS programs that run on DEC hosts.

InterConnections' Gateway File Transfer Services will provide file
and data services. Mail service integration will be supplied by
Wingra Technologies' Missive NetWare Global MHS to VAX/VMS gateway.

Printer services will include Firefox's Novax for NetWare for LAT,
Meridian's SuperLAT HostPrint, and InterConnections' Gateway Print
Services.

Third-party products for terminal emulation will include Novax
for NetWare for LAT, InterConnection's Leverage Gateway Terminal
Services, Wall Data's Rumba for VAX, and the Reflection series
from Walker Richer & Quinn (WRQ). The emulators will use IPX/SPX,
AppleTalk, or TCP/IP to connect to a NetWare for LAT server.

WRQ has developed an interface to NetWare for LAT for its Reflection
terminal emulators for the Windows, Macintosh and DOS environments,
said John Vanderwall, product manager for WRQ, also at the briefing.

Reflection emulators support multiple host sessions and VT340
emulation, including graphics, command language macros, and file
transfers, according to Vanderwall. When used with NetWare for LAT,
the emulators will allow sessions with LAT hosts via IPX or
AppleTalk.

NetWare for LAT is priced at $3,495 for a 16-user pack, $5,995 for a
32-user pack, $9,995 for a 64-user pack, and $16,995 for a 128-user
pack.

Each user is assigned one connection and can use up to four
simultaneous sessions. The product will be offered in 3.5-inch
diskette and CD-ROM packages. NetWare Runtime is included.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931206/Reader contacts: Curtis J. Cowley,
Novell, tel [phone]; John Vanderwall, WRQ, tel [phone];
Reader and press contact: Novell, tel [phone]; Press contact:
Linda Lewis, WRQ, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00012)

Electronic "Whiteboard" Comdex Award Finalist 12/06/93
BEAVERTON, OREGON, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Softboard, the
electronic "whiteboard" reported on by Newsbytes in September of
this year, was selected as a finalist in the "Best of Show" category
at the computer industry's fall exposition Comdex.

Softboard is a $2,995 electronic version of the ubiquitous
whiteboard found in nearly every conference room, that lecturers
seem to love to scribble on with colored markers. Marketed by
Microfield Graphics, the electronic version is connected to a
Macintosh or IBM-compatible PC and displays everything written on
the board on the PC's monitor. Each screen can be saved for later
viewing and/or printing.

That by itself is a useful feature, but Softboard goes even further.
Using a modem and ordinary phone lines, the Softboard sessions can
be shared interactively with conference participants in other
locations. Multi-site sharing is possible.

Softboard uses two invisible infrared beams located near the top
corners of the board to continuously scan the entire area of
the whiteboard. When a user writes on the board using a special dry-
erase marker, the lasers locate, identify and track the position of
the markers in real time and translate that data onto the computer
display.

The special dry-erase markers are equipped with bar-coded sleeves
which are scanned by the laser. Information about the marker's
position and color is fed to a digital signal processor, where it is
converted into a screen image and graphic file. A special eraser
functions in a similar manner.

One of the potential uses for a product like Softboard is to train
users of the pen-type devices that are currently coming to market. A
Softboard integrated with an LCD projector and a pen-based operating
system could provide a huge input tablet for demonstrating the
pen-based software or for training users at multiple sites.

Microfield Graphics says it is developing a software developers kit
(SDK) that will allow software developers and integrators to
incorporate Softboard into their applications. The SDK is scheduled
to ship in January 1994.

(Jim Mallory/19931206/Press contact: Karl Damhave, Microfield
Graphics, 503-626-9393; Reader contact: Microfield Graphics,
503-626-9393 or 800-334-4922, fax [phone]/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00013)

Book 'Em, Identix -- Police Subcontract Awarded 12/06/93
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- IBM and Westinghouse
Electric, the prime contractors putting in a new booking system for
the Maryland Department of Public Safety, have chosen Identix of
Sunnyvale, California, to supply optical live-scan fingerprinting
and photo image capture products.

The Identix products will capture fingerprints and mug shots to
be stored in the system's electronic files.

The Arrest Booking System (ABS), is due to be installed early in
1995 in Baltimore's new Central Booking Facility, currently under
construction. According to state law enforcement officials, about
half of all bookings in Maryland are handled in Baltimore.

Identix said it has received an initial purchase order of about
$100,000 as the exclusive supplier of live-scan hardware and
software for the project, now in development at IBM's Baltimore
facility. The company said it expects further orders for custom
engineering work on the system.

According to IBM, the system is meant to be fast, so the arresting
officer can get back to street patrol as quickly as possible, and
easy to use. It will be the front end for a program the state is
developing called Offender-Based Management Information System
(OBMIS), which will be able to track a suspect's entire history with
the Maryland correctional system.

Identix makes identity verification systems for security and law
enforcement use.

(Grant Buckler/19931206/Press Contact: James P. Scullion,
Identix, 408-739-2000)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00014)

 ****Stentor, Kodak Canada In Image Alliance 12/06/93
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Stentor, the consortium
of regional Canadian phone companies, and Kodak Canada have formed
an alliance to transmit digital images over the telephone network,
private data networks, and local-area networks (LANs).

A key result of the deal will be availability in Canada of the Kodak
Picture Exchange (KPX) service. Recently launched in the United
States, KPX is to become available in Canada early in the new year,
said David King, executive director of corporate accounts at Kodak.

According to King, KPX will allow publishers, advertising houses and
others who use stock photos to look for the pictures they need
online and have only their final choices delivered in physical form.

Kodak said that the service will save time and expense for the
customers of stock photo agencies, which would otherwise have to
send batches of photos for customers to choose from.

Others will also be able to send and receive photos by wire,
officials said. "We see quite a wide range of applications involving
imaging," said Don MacNeil, multimedia planning manager for Stentor
Resource Centre Inc. An example is a project Stentor has done with
the National Aviation Museum, which allows people to view museum
exhibits in an online multimedia encyclopedia.

The financial sector is showing interest in using the technology to
transmit images of checks and other financial documents, MacNeil
added, and business training, tele-medicine, and document image
systems are other possible applications.

It will be possible to transmit and receive photos using a 9,600-
bit-per-second (bps) modem over an ordinary telephone line, or for
those who need faster service, using dedicated switched 56-kilobit
or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lines.

King said a "mini-thumbnail" version of a photo -- about the size of
a 35-millimeter slide -- would take four or five seconds to transmit
using a 9,600-bps modem. The largest image the system will handle, a
three-by-four-inch design proof, would take 20 to 30 seconds to send
by 9,600-bps modem, somewhat less with a faster connection, he said.

The Kodak Picture Exchange will arrange with stock photo suppliers
to provide online access to their photo libraries, officials said.
After viewing photos online, users will place an electronic order
for the photos they want and the stock suppliers will then contact
the customers directly.

Using the KPX will cost C$106 per hour for connect time, plus
C$11.50 for each design proof image downloaded. Image providers may
add a surcharge for design proofs downloaded. Downloading thumbnail
images will be free except for connect-time charges, and there is no
monthly minimum charge, officials said. These costs do not include
the fees payable to the owner of the image for using it in a
publication.

(Grant Buckler/19931206/Press Contact: Cindy Willins, Stentor, 613-
781-7828; Sue Paterson, Kodak Canada, 416-766-8233 ext. 35454)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00015)

Electronic Entertainment Show Set for Atlanta 12/06/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Atlanta has been
announced as the site for the new Electronic Entertainment Expo,
a show on interactive entertainment promoted by Infotainment
World and Knowledge Industry Publications.

Infotainment is a publication of IDG, which also produces PC World,
InfoWorld, and the Game Pro and Electronic Entertainment magazines,
among other titles.

Spokesman Bill Freed told Newsbytes that Atlanta was chosen in part
because it had a hall big enough for the show -- the 340,000 square
foot East Hall of the Georgia World Congress Center. That would make
the new show about one-third the size of the annual Spring Comdex
and Windows World shows scheduled to arrive in Atlanta the week
before Memorial Day. Over 300 exhibitors have been signed up.

Freed said the new show should attract over 30,000 buyers of
interactive software, along with publishers, rights owners, the
media and financial community. An estimated 10,000 titles are on the
market, including systems for video game systems like those of
Nintendo and Sega and a variety of CD-ROM machine formats, including
the 3DO multiplayer, and multimedia personal computers.

Freed said that a portion of the show will be dedicated solely to
developers and programmers, including makers of authoring platforms,
replacing and packaging services and software required to create new
titles.

Infotainment World president Patrick Ferrell that said there are now
over 150,000 retail outlets for the wares to be shown at this show.
IDG unit Link Resources estimates $6 billion is spent each year on
home gaming, with nearly 20 million PCs used for entertainment, and
3 million households having CD-ROM drives.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931206/Press Contact: Bill Freed, for
Infotainment, 415-328-5555)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00016)

 ****Chip Makers Hit By Downgrades 12/06/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- An industry insider and
no less than the Merril Lynch brokerage firm had negative comments
about both the microprocessor industry in general and Intel in
particular this morning, resulting in more than a 10 percent drop in
Intel's stock price in early trading in the over the counter trading
(NASDAQ Stock Exchange). According to reports, Intel 486
microprocessors aren't selling as well as earlier, while Pentium-
base computers aren't taking up the slack much as the company had
expected.

Intel's popular 80486 line has been hit by inroads from competing
chip makers which offer low-cost alternatives, and at the same time,
the new Pentium (80586) microprocessor has not proven as popular as
many industry observers had expected. But even if it had, pricing
pressures from competitors who make compatible, but slower chips has
caused Intel to establish less profitable prices for the Pentiums it
has sold.

On the basis of the brokerage's analyst's report which lowered
Intel's earnings estimate from $7.20 per share to $6 per share,
Merril Lynch brokerage cut its rating on Intel.

Motorola, the telecommunications company which also makes the 680XX
microprocessors which form the heart of all CD-ROM drives and Apple
computers, was also hit by concerns over the strength of the
microprocessor market in general and trading in the stock was
delayed.

Merril Lynch lowered its rating on Motorola and the stock was down
by about three percent in early stock trading on Monday but
Motorola's chip making division is not the only source of revenue to
that company so it would not be as badly hit by a drop in
microprocessor sales.

Just last Friday VLSI Technology, a San Jose, California-based
specialty chip maker, that Apple Computer had notified the company
of the computer maker's intention to reschedule or cancel some
orders which may reduce VLSI's 1994 sales by up to $20 million.

(John McCormick/19931206)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00017)

Toys For Tutorials - Computer Show Takes Toy Donations 12/06/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- National Trade
Publications of Alexandria, Virginia, has gotten into the spirit of
the season by announcing that it would accept toy donations in lieu
of the normal $15 exposition admission price for this week's
Baltimore Computer Conference.

Working with the US Marine Corps in their annual Toys for Tots
campaign to gather new toys for disadvantaged children, national
Trade Productions has set up drop-off points for Baltimore Computer
Conference Expo (BCCE) attendees who are invited to donate one new,
unwrapped toy in exchange for a free exposition pass to the show
floor where hundreds of major computer companies are displaying
their latest products.

Exposition hours, at the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore,
Maryland, will be Wednesday, December 8th, and Thursday, the 9th,
from 10 am to 4 pm.

NTP and the BCCE made the same offer last year and collected more
than 300 toys for local children in 1992. The exposition organizer
says that they hope to double that number for this year's event and
encourages those who have already purchased tickets to make a toy
donation anyway.

The Baltimore Computer Conference and Exposition is an annual event
held each December for the many business and government agency
computer buyers who are located in the Baltimore-Washington, DC
corridor.

(John McCormick/19931206/Press Contact: Rosanne Desmone, NTP,
703-683-8500 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00018)

Jones Deal Signals Cable Future For BCE 12/06/93
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- BCE, the holding
company that controls Northern Telecom Ltd. and Canada's largest
regional phone company, wants into the cable television business. A
deal signed last week, giving BCE a 30-percent stake in Jones
Intercable of Englewood, Colorado, is not quite the first step and
almost certainly will not be the last.

BCE was already involved with Jones Intercable in a cable television
operation in the United Kingdom. The company is also working with
another Montreal firm, Groupe Videotron, in a second cable joint
venture in the UK.

Both companies are in the London area. Derek Burney, chairman,
president, and chief executive of BCE's subsidiary BCE Telecom
International, told Newsbytes those projects have given his firm
valuable experience and BCETI sees growth opportunities in the cable
business.

The British ventures will continue, Burney said, but now BCETI
wants to gain a foothold in the United States. The company felt that
cable "was an appropriate entry for BCE into the world's most
dynamic market for telecommunications, namely the US," Burney
said. He added that BCETI officials "came to know and respect" Jones
Intercable over the past 18 months of working with the Colorado firm
on the Encom cable venture in the UK.

As Newsbytes reported Friday, BCETI is to buy about 10 million
shares of Jones Intercable's common stock for US$275 million, giving
it 30 percent of Jones. For another US$55 million, BCETI will get
the option to purchase control of the cable firm later. Third, the
Canadian company has committed itself to take part in future equity
financings up to US$125 million, increasing its total investment to
US$400 million.

Company officials said the BCE purchase is to follow a planned deal
in which Jones Intercable is to buy Jones Spacelink. Both Jones
Intercable and Jones Spacelink are controlled by Glenn R. Jones.

Burney said he would not describe the BCE deal as being contingent
on the Jones Spacelink purchase, but said his company's plans were
based on the assumption the Spacelink buyout would be completed and
might have to be adjusted if that deal did not take place.

Burney also said he would not rule out BCETI investments in cable
ventures elsewhere in the world. He hinted that BCE might even
get into that business in Canada. It is not clear whether the
company might run into regulatory problems in doing that.

Canadian telephone companies are not allowed to enter the cable
TV business, but BCE is a holding company and Burney suggested
the rule might apply only to its regulated subsidiary, Bell
Canada. However, Burney added that as head of BCE's international
subsidiary, possible domestic cable ventures are not his direct
concern.

(Grant Buckler/19931206/Press Contact: Derek Burney, BCE Telecom
International, 514-392-2300; Patrick Lombardi, Jones Intercable,
303-792-3111)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00019)

Next Generation Best UPS Series Announced 12/06/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Best Power Technology, of
Necedah, Wisconsin, has announced the fifth major upgrade to its
popular Ferrups uninterruptible power supply (UPS) line, increasing
performance and reliability through the use of a new, more powerful
microprocessor control system.

The FE series Ferrups UPS systems come in sizes from small 500 VA
for single computers, to powerful 18 KVA units capable of powering
an advanced network server for long enough to properly shut down the
network.

New for the UPS line is something called active voltage regulation
(AVR) which the company says will improve performance across the
board regardless of the line power problems encountered.

Best reports that AVR intelligently supports the three major kinds
of computer power supplies: linear, switch-mode, and power-factor
corrected and will handle voltages as low as 72 volts or a surge as
high as 138 volts without switching to battery power.

AVR samples supply voltage 4,000 times each second and is thus able
to better manage the need for tapping actual reserve battery power,
while maintaining near perfect power output for sensitive computer
systems.

New software supports more than 50 interfaces which let systems
automatically and safely shut down Windows, network, or other
operating environments as reserve power dwindles during long
power outages.

Data links provide communications between computers and the
Ferrups power conditioners at baud rates from 50 to 38.4
Kilobytes per second.

(John McCormick/19931206/Press Contact: Kenneth Urban, Best Power
Technology, 800-356-5794, 608-565-7200 or fax [phone]/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00020)

Network Replaces Charles Schwab's Mainframe 12/06/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Charles Schwab & Co has
purchased a software program to manage the client/server network
that will replace the discount stock broker's mainframe.

The Tivoli Management Environment from Tivoli Systems will manage
Schwab's computer network that will connect several hundred retail
brokerage offices and regional telephone centers across the US and
includes service, support and training in addition to the software.
Tivoli says the deal will be worth more than $2.3 million over the
next two years.

Tivoli Systems says initially Schwab will use the software to manage
hundreds of networked nodes at regional telephone centers in
Phoenix, San Francisco, and Denver. Over the next few years, the
software will be deployed nationwide to manage the thousands of
server workstations and desktop broker workstations.

Networked servers will enable Schwab brokers to get real-time market
data, process customer orders, and generate confirmations more
quickly. Schwab reportedly processes about 30,000 transactions daily
worldwide. The company says that's an increase of about 13,000 per
day over the 1990 transaction rate.

The Schwab system is based on Unix and standards such as TCP/IP
network protocol and the Open Software Foundation's Distributed
Computing Environment. To handle the necessary volume Schwab says it
will distribute data, applications and processing power over three
types of computer systems.

At corporate headquarters and the company's regional data centers
Hitachi mainframe computers will handle non-transactional customer
information. Cluster of Unix servers will handle time-sensitive
transactions such as trades and requests for market data. At the
regional offices, local servers will allow brokers to access the
customer data maintained on the mainframes, while PCs will support
word processing and other local applications.

(Jim Mallory/19931206/Press contact: John Hime, Tivoli Systems, 512-
794-9070; Reader contact: Tivoli Systems, 512-794-9070, fax 512-794-
0623)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00021)

Comshare Adds Commander Budget To PC Financial Apps 12/06/93
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Comshare today
announced Commander Budget, a Windows- and DOS-based client-server
application meant to combine "top down" and "bottom up" budgeting
approaches on the corporate enterprise network.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Mark N. Wood, the company's director
of marketing, Financial Applications Division, explained that the
terms "top down" and "bottom up" refer to the needs of an
organization at different levels of the corporate ladder.

"From the top of an organization, looking down, you want to have
consistency and control. From the bottom, looking up, you want
flexibility and the ability to control your own destiny," he told
Newsbytes.

Before producing Commander Budget, Comshare undertook a two-year
study of more than 700 finance and budgeting professionals,
according to Wood. When asked to characterize their budget process
as either "top-down" or "bottom up," about two-thirds of the
respondents said "both."

Like other members of Comshare's growing family of PC-based
financial applications, Commander Budget draws on Comshare's three
decades of experience in the mainframe world, while adding features
developed with the client-server environment in mind.

The budgeting application maintains all corporate budget data in a
secure, centralized multi-user relational database, which is
currently based on Novell's Btrieve database manager, said Wood.

Commander Budget also incorporates Commander Prism, Comshare's
Windows-based "multidimensional modeling spreadsheet." Unveiled at
Business Software Solutions in Boston last summer, Commander Prism
provides a visual interface for "slice and dice" query and analysis
of up to nine different planning dimensions.

Within Commander Budget, Commander Prism lets users employ newer
budgeting practices such as multidimensional business segment
budgeting and activity-based budgeting.

Comshare's inclusion of multidimensional business segment budgeting
reflects a recent trend toward business segment reporting, or
"breaking down financials by line of business." This trend is being
spurred by activities of the Financial Accounting Standards Board
(FASB), a private cross-industry group that sets financial
accounting standards in the US, Newsbytes was told.

"Business segment reporting is there for the benefit of the
community, so everyone can better understand all the risks and
opportunities involved in a conglomerate's financials. There's been
a lot of talk about raising the level of business segment reporting
required by FASB 19, a standard that tells companies their
requirements for business reporting. So most companies have been
gearing their financials increasingly toward business segment
planning," Wood maintained.

Commander Prism also incorporates "what if" tools, including a "Goal
Setting" tool aimed at automatically scaling cost center budgets to
achieve a consolidated, corporate-level target.

Commander Budget shares the same database structure as Commander FDC
(Financial Data Control), a Comshare application used for statutory
consolidation and management reporting of financial actuals, added
Wood. As a result, the two applications are able to share
information for integrated management, analysis and variance
reporting of budgets and actuals.

Commander Budget also integrates an "intelligent" general ledger
interface, he pointed out. "The bottom line is that the interface
understands the way accounting systems store numbers. So when you
bring numbers out of the accounting system into the budgeting
system, you don't have to write a program. You merely check off
boxes and fill in blanks on a form."

Many other features are also oriented to ease of use by non-
technical business analysts and managers, according to Wood. These
include a drag-and-drop organizational chart, as well as direct bi-
directional interfaces to Microsoft Excel on Windows-based PCs, and
to Lotus 1-2-3 in both the Windows and DOS environments.

Commander Budget is designed to overcome several limitations of
traditional spreadsheets that Comshare uncovered in its survey, he
indicated.

Comshare's research showed that, although most companies have
already downsized all budgeting to spreadsheet-based solutions,
users are not entirely satisfied with traditional spreadsheets.
Respondents said that the transition to spreadsheets has improved
bottom-up empowerment, but at the expense of complicating most top-
down corporate processes.

The top four problems cited with regard to traditional spreadsheets
were an inability to perform meaningful "what if" planning across
consolidated corporate structures, "difficulty in tracking
assumptions behind bottom-up assessments from pass to pass," "delays
in making changes to inflexible consolidation and allocation
procedures," and the high cost of building and maintaining links to
accounting and other corporate systems.

Comshare also found, though, that these four problems were rarely
reported among the segment of surveyed companies that were already
supplementing spreadsheets with multidimensional modeling products
such as Comshare's System W or IFPS, according to Wood.

In addition, many respondents who use traditional spreadsheets
reported spending half their time on such time-consuming tasks as
rekeying data, re-creating standard reports, and re-programming
macros.

Commander Budget is available immediately. Pricing is based on
number of users. A 50-user license is priced at $60,000.

The product runs under either Windows or DOS, on any NetBios local
area network (LAN). "But in its current release, Commander Budget
has special value on Novell LANs, in that the Btrieve database can
run on a NetWare server as an NLM (NetWare Loadable Module)," said
Wood.

A future update to Commander Budget, slated for announcement in
mid-1994, will support additional database managers through the
Microsoft ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) specification, he
told Newsbytes.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931206/Reader contact: Comshare Marketing,
tel [phone]; Press contacts: Ricia Hughes, Comshare, tel
313-769-6068; Tim Hurley, David Copithorne or Nick Berents,
Copithorne & Bellows for Comshare, tel [phone]/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00022)

Outsourcing Conference To Be Held In Boston This Week 12/06/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- What are the
benefits of outsourcing? What are the risks? How can you selectively
outsource portions of your network without losing corporate control?
What are the best methods to use in evaluating outsourcing proposals
or systems integration deals?

These questions and many others will be addressed Wednesday,
December 8 and Thursday, December 9 at the Outsourcing Conference.
The two-day event, being held in Boston by Digital Consulting Inc.
(DCI), is aimed at helping corporate executives and consulting
organizations to determine how and when outsourcing is the right
tool for improving a company's bottom line.

This year's edition of the annual conference will revolve around six
separate keynote presentations, along with 14 other sessions within
the three tracks of Opportunities, Strategies, and Realities.

Day One of the event will conclude with a Networking Reception and
Solutions Showcase. Day Two will feature a special luncheon in which
participants, divided into focus groups, will share ideas with
industry experts, experienced users, and fellow attendees around
areas of common interest.

The Outsourcing Conference is being co-sponsored by Digital
Equipment Corporation, Unisys, SHL Systemhouse, Litton Computer
Services, Acxiom Corporation, Corporate Software, and the Computer
Task Group.

Keynote speeches at this year's conference will include "Making the
Outsourcing Decision," by Dale Kutnick, conference chairman and also
president and research director, META Group; "Outsourcing: The
Latest Update," by Rita Terdiman, program director, Gartner Group;
and "Maintaining Value Throughout the Outsourcing Process," by
Robert E. Zahler, partner, Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge.

Also on the keynote agenda are "Effective I/T Strategy: Not by
Outsourcing Alone," by N. Venkantraman, professor, MIT Sloan School;
"Understanding the Economics of the Outsourcing Contract," by Dennis
McGuire, president, Technology Partners; and "International
Outsourcing: A Challenge to the US Software Industry," by Capers
Jones, founder and chairman, Software Productivity Research.

The Opportunities track will offer sessions entitled "Systems
Management Services as Part of a Downsizing Survival Strategy,"
"Outsourcing: The Key to Making Client/Server a Reality,"
"Transitional Outsourcing: Implementing and Open Application and
Information Architecture," and "Selecting the Right Outsourcing
Partner."

The Strategies track incorporates these three presentations:
"Outsourcing, The Modular Company, and the New CIO,"
"CompaniesHelping Each Other to Evaluate and Implement Sourcing
Options," and "Users Speak Out: Q&A Panel Discussion."

The Realities track will supply real-life case studies of
outsourcing experiences at Occidental Petroleum Services, McDonnell-
Douglas Corporation, and elsewhere.

The topics in the Realities track are "Outsourcing or Insourcing: A
True-Life Adventure," "$3 Billion Outsourcing Agreement: Early
Lesson Learned," "PC Software Support: Is It a Tactical or Strategic
Requirement?" and "A Computer Task Group User Story."

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931206/Reader contact: DCI, tel [phone];
Press contact: Todd J. Keefe, DCI, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00023)

 ****CompuServe Launches Graphics on Shopping Mall 12/06/93
COLUMBUS, OHIO, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- CompuServe now offers
graphic images on its Electronic Mall, an effort to make it more
competitive with printed catalogs.

After a year of testing, the photos were offered in August, the
service said, and so far nearly one-third of the mall's 125
merchants have offered pictures. The pictures are in the .GIF
format, a compressed file format pioneered by CompuServe, and take
about one minute each to download at 9,600 bits/second.

They are only available to users who use the company's CompuServe
Information Manager graphical interface, which is available in
Macintosh, Windows and DOS versions. Resolution is 640 x 480 pixels,
and while a regular EGA monitor will show the pictures, VGA or Super
VGA monitors are preferred, said spokesman Debra Young.

The company emphasizes that its technology platform and use of
graphics are still evolving. Recently it announced it will begin
testing delivery of the service through cable television, and at 10
million bits/second, the speed with which the new Intel and Zenith
cable modems operate, pictures like those being offered now would
arrive practically instantly.

Other major online services, including America Online and Prodigy,
are planning to work with cable systems to expand access to their
services, and PSInet, which offers access to the Internet, has a
deal with Continental Cablevision to link its subscribers.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19931206/Press Contact: Debra Young, CompuServe,
614-538-4553/PHOTO)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00024)

2,000 Developers Converge For Lotusphere Conference 12/06/93
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- More than 2,000
commercial and corporate software developers have converged in
Orlando, FL today for the first day of Lotusphere '93.

Now through December 6, the developers will view a showcase of new
products, and hear Lotus officials outline the future directions for
its Lotus Notes platform for creating groupware applications.

More than 70 companies are unveiling new products and services
designed to enhance Lotus Notes, and more than 100 third-party
developers are displaying new tools for Notes, Lotus 1-2-3, and
cc:Mail.

Also at the conference, Lotus is holding technical sessions to brief
attendees on the latest technologies for group-enabling
applications.

One featured topic is Notes/FX, a Lotus technology that establishes
a connection between Notes and desktop applications launched from a
Notes document.

Notes/FX is designed to make it easy to store desktop documents as
Notes documents, where they can take advantage of Notes services
such as field-based views, multiple user access, security,
replication, and workflow process management.

Notes/FX-enabled documents include Lotus 1-2-3 Release 4.0.1, Improv
Release 2.1 for Windows, Ami Pro Release 3.01, and Freelance
Graphics Release 2.01.

When embedded in Notes, these documents can exchange information
with fields in a Notes form, enabling the information to be used
as the basis for categorizing, viewing and searching.

Via the latest Notes Application Programming Interface (API),
Notes/FX is available to all software developers who choose to
integrate their products with Lotus Notes, or who want to use
Lotus' desktop applications as extensions to the Notes form-based
interface.

Also being highlighted at Lotusphere is Lotus VIP (formerly code-
named Notebook), a technology that extends Notes in four key
areas: query and update of Notes and SQL database, event-driven
programmability, report generation, and creation of sophisticated
GUIs (graphical user interfaces).

Featured, as well, is LotusScript. An integrated macro
environment for all Lotus applications across computing
environments, LotusScript also communicates with other scripting
languages and interfaces, such as Visual Basic and OLE 2.0.

Additional Lotus technologies in the spotlight at Lotusphere include
Lotus Forms, a new technology designed to provide sophisticated
forms capabilities, ScreenCam, a technology that lets developers
capture application screen activity and sound into multimedia
"screen movies," and Video Notes, which enables developers to store
video in Notes databases.

To encourage third-party development, Lotus is providing all
Lotusphere attendees with a free CD-ROM containing all Lotus APIs
and toolkits, along with the latest versions of Lotus Notes,
cc:Mail, Improv, and the entire Lotus SmartSuite of desktop
applications.

The product and service announcements at Lotusphere '93 are wide
ranging. Wang, for example, is introducing OPEN/image for Lotus
Notes, a product that integrates Wang's production-grade multiple-
platform imaging software with Lotus Notes, allowing Notes users to
display and share OPEN/image documents.

Powersoft is announcing that its PowerBuilder libraries for Notes
will be the first client-server development tool to integrate
unstructured Notes information with structured relational data.

Simpact Associates is showing its latest version of Remark!
PhoneClient, the first voice processing system to support Lotus
Notes. PhoneClient 2.0 allows mobile or non-Notes users to
participate in business processes by dialing into a Remark! server
and recording and playing back voice information contained in Notes
databases.

WorkFlow Designs is demonstrating one of the early Lotus Notes 3.0
end user applications. ActivityBase, which organizes contact
information and provides tools for increasing communications between
organizations, is the first in a series of offerings in the
company's new TeamBase product family.

Mail/Utilities and ACL/Updater, two add-on products for Notes 3.0,
are being released at Lotusphere by Distributed Systems Solutions
International (DSSI). Mail/Utilities features a Vacation/Agent and a
Timed Deliver/Agent, along with a Mail Deleter.

The Vacation/Agent provides an automatic, customized response to
mail addressed to users when they are away from the office. The
Timed Deliverer/Agent holds messages in a unique mailbox until the
delivery time specified by the author occurs.

ACL/Updater provides facilities to Notes systems administrators for
managing the Access Control Lists of Databases and Templates on
Notes servers and OS/2 client workstations. These functions include
adding, deleting, or replacing ACL entries of databases throughout
the network.

CompuServe is announcing the immediate availability of a new mail
service that connects Notes users with each other, as well as with
such mail services as MCI Mail and the Internet.

Wolf Communications is announcing the January 1 availability of
WorldCom, a public communications hub for Notes as well as cc:Mail
users. WorldCom subscribers and send messages, attach files, and
replicate databases. All users have access to the Internet and to
other public mail services via X.400.

A start-up venture known as nett Information Products is launching
nett infoWare, a Notes-based, bidirectional information highway for
computer professionals worldwide. The new online service will
deliver product information in standard format, regardless of vendor
or data source, making the information easy to find, the company
claims.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19931206/Reader contact: Lotus Development Corp.,
tel [phone]; Press contact: Meryl Franzman, McGlinchey & Paul
for Lotus, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00025)

Book Aids DOS Users With Wit, Cartoons 12/06/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- All over the country
professors who teach marketing 101 are probably reaching for their
high blood pressure medicine as they see the title of the latest
book intended to make using MS-DOS easier to use and understand.

The cause of the skyrocketing apoplexy quotient is a book titled DOS
for Dummies written by Dan Gookin, part of the MS-DOS 6.2 Upgrade
for Dummies package that also includes the MS-DOS 6.2 software.

Microsoft released MS-DOS 6.2 mostly to correct the problems users
claimed they were having with the data compression features of DOS
6.0. There was no MS-DOS 6.1, probably because Microsoft wanted to
appear to be one step ahead of IBM's PC-DOS 6.1. That's the
same reason Microsoft went from Version 2.0 of Microsoft Word for
Windows to Version 6.0 of the program; rival Wordperfect had released
its Wordperfect 6.0 for Windows.

Gookin's book DOS for Dummies is supposed to be easy to read and a
gold mine for the millions of PC users who are secretly - and in
many cases openly - intimidated by PC software. "The book covers 100
percent of the tasks users will be performing with their computers"
according to Gookin. He describes the style of the book as engaging,
informative and humorous.

In addition to instructions on how to turn on the computer -- some
people actually have a problem finding the power switch -- Gookin
includes topics such as "Ten Common Beginner Mistakes," "Ten
Things You Should Never Do," and "After You Panic, Do This."

So if your favorite computer user is willing to admit he or she is a
dummy, this book might be just the thing for the Christmas stocking.
MS-DOS 6.2 Upgrade for Dummies has a suggested retail price of
$77.95.

(Jim Mallory/19931206/Press contact: Collins Hemingway, Microsoft
Corp, 206-882-8080; Reader contact: Microsoft Corp, 206-882-8080 or
800-426-9400)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00026)

 ****Clinton's Rocketdyne Visit -- Peace-Time Technology 12/06/93
CANOGA PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- President Bill
Clinton met with political and business leaders Saturday at
Rockwell's Rocketdyne division located in Canoga Park in the San
Fernando Valley of Los Angeles to discuss ways to solve economic and
social problems in California and the nation.

Computer manufacturer AST was represented by its Chief Executive
Officer Safi Qureshey who joined the round table discussion with
other business leaders in his second time in the lime-light with the
White House. Earlier this fall the AST hosted a visit by Vice
President Al Gore on the subject of reinventing government.

Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, California Senators Dianne
Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan
were also present for Clinton's round table discussion.

The upshot was the Clinton administration is pushing for the use of
technology developed in conjunction with national defense for use by
the general public. For example, Clinton pointed to video surgical
techniques developed for the battlefield need to be used now in
helping ill patients in rural settings. These techniques involve the
use of video conferencing technology and could allow doctors in
remote areas to tap into medical experts at a moment's notice on an
as needed basis.

Emphasis was placed on the space station by the White House, a cause
Clinton said his administration fought hard to keep. In addition,
Clinton repeatedly said California's economic recovery is essential
to the recovery of the nation's economy as a whole and claimed new
programs at the federal level were likely to benefit California
disproportionately to the rest of the nation.

Officials at the event said Rocketdyne is the most likely to be
responsible for the power system for the orbiting space platform.
Rocketdyne already produces engines for the space shuttle, many of
which were in evidence on the manufacturing floor where Clinton
addressed over 1,500 Rocketdyne workers.

Despite the company's business in aerospace, however, Rocketdyne has
announced it will join other California companies in layoffs,
placing another 1,000 of its 6,800 workers in the unemployment
lines. This is despite the fact that the company is one of 66
awarded federally backed defense conversion projects under the
Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP). Rocketdyne is responsible
under the program to develop a portable environmental monitor to
identify low concentrations of toxic chemicals.

Clinton spent an extra two hours in the round table discussion while
Rocketdyne workers waited, most standing in cramped conditions in a
space shuttle engine hanger. Clinton apologized for being late
saying there were just too many people who had come too far with
specific suggestions and ideas for him to cut them off.

In his address to Rocketdyne workers, Clinton said there were no
easy answers. It has taken 20 to 30 years to get into the current
state of affairs, it will take some time to get out, the President
added. He focused on federal programs that should benefit California
and warmly greeted members of the standing crowd after his address,
wading into the crowd and shaking hands.

Clinton's visit also included an exclusive dinner and reception in
Beverly Hills, put on by Creative Artists Agency to benefit the
Democratic Party. Dinner tickets were $25,000 a couple and others
paid over $2,000 to attend the reception where the President was
present.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931206/Press Contact: Christie Varns, Rocketdyne,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00027)

Lots of Software Choices For Compaq Buyers 12/06/93
HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Buyers of Compaq
computers have lots of software choices available to them under two
new programs recently announced by the company.

Compaq says it is offering three additional free software programs
to anyone who purchases a Compaq Presario or Compaq Prolinea PC
before January 31, 1994.

The "Pick 3 For Free" program includes Time Almanac (on CD-ROM),
Calendar Creator Plus, My House, LandDesigner, MasterCook II, Typing
Teacher, Under Cover, KeyDraw! Plus, Instant Resume, Correct
Grammar, Easy Working Business Letters, The American Heritage
Dictionary, and KidDesk.

To get the free software, purchasers fill out a software claim form
available from their retailer and mail it to Compaq with a copy of
proof of purchase of one of the included Compaq PC models.

Compaq has also joined several other companies in offering buyers
the ability to purchase software from a CD-ROM disk that is included
with their PC.

Called Compaq QuickChoice CD, the program was developed and is
supported by Boulder, Colorado-based InfoNow. Each Compaq Presario
buyer gets the QuickChoice disk that allows them to real electronic
literature, test drive, and ultimately purchase applications that
include spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel; word processor
Microsoft Word, software suite Microsoft Office, and other popular
applications. Programs from Berkeley Systems, Metz Software,
Micrografx, Symantec Corporation, and T/Maker are also included.

The user can access and use any of the included applications as many
as three times. If you decide to buy the program, all you have to do
is call a toll-free number and the InfoNow operator will provide you
with an electronic "key" to unlock the software in exchange for your
credit card number. No waiting for the software to arrive or being
told your retailer is temporarily out of stock.

(Jim Mallory/19931206/Press contact: Ann Theriault, InfoNow,
303-545-5012 or Compaq Computer, 713-374-0484; Reader
contact: InfoNow, 303-545-5012, Compaq Computer Corp, 713-374-1459,
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LAX)(00028)

Cirrus Teams With German ITT Semi For Low-Cost Multimedia 12/06/93
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Cirrus Logic, based
in Fremont, California, has announced an alliance to develop low-
cost, multimedia integrated circuits (ICs). The alliance is with ITT
Semiconductors of Germany and also includes the Plano, Texas-based
Cirrus subsidiary Pixel Semiconductor.

ITT says its strengths lie in analog to digital conversion, digital
signal processing, as well as encoding and decoding in the various
video formats including those used both in the US and in Europe.

The company claims it developed the world's first fully digital
video and audio television (TV) decoding chip set, highly integrated
digital signal processors (DSPs) dedicated to audio and video
processing, and low cost teletext, caption and tuning
microcontrollers. Cirrus hopes to contribute personal computer (PC)
expertise in the areas of graphics, video processing, and video
teleconferencing.

Eric Meurice, ITT Semiconductors' worldwide marketing and
business development director said: "The successful multimedia
companies will be the ones which can effectively combine the
expertise required in the consumer, telecom, and data processing
markets. This alliance positions us to become a formidable
supplier to the emerging PC video market."

Both companies say the combination of their very-large-scale
integration (VLSI) silicon technologies should allow them to make
multimedia hardware more affordable for the end user. The
companies expect to begin production on their first commonly
developed products in early 1994.

ITT Semiconductor is a division of the $21.7 billion ITT
Corporation, which also controls ITT Business and Financial
Services, ITT Manufacturing, ITT Rayonier, and ITT Sheraton.
Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS) does $354 million annually and also
owns subsidiaries Pacific Communication Services of San Diego,
California and R. Scott Associates of Raleigh, North Carolina.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931206/Press Contact: Donna Buckmaster, Cirrus
Logic, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Reinhard Preuss, ITT
Semiconductors, 49-761-517337; Gerald Wineinger, Pixel
Semiconductor, 214/985-2340; Reader Contact: Frank Averdung, ITT
Semiconductors, 49-761-517340)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00029)

 ****Cities Line Up For Apple Plant After Texas "Gay Snub" 12/06/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Cities across the country
are standing in line to get a 700-employee Apple Computer plant
after one Texas county snubbed the PC maker over its health care
coverage for same sex partners.

The whole thing started last week when, as reported by Newsbytes, a
majority of the commissioners of Williamson County, just north of
Austin, Texas, said they couldn't abide Apple's policy of applying
health coverage to all its employee's partners regardless of sex.

Texas Governor Ann Richards got into the act over the weekend,
reportedly "taking tough" to the commissioners. However the
politicians got support from the Texas Republican Committee when
that group issued a statement supporting the conservative stand. The
city of Austin also quickly entered the fray, holding a rally to
show Apple it is welcome in the state capitol.

Newsbytes Telecommunications Editor Dana Blankenhorn reports today
that the Atlanta Constitution has now made its position known,
carrying an editorial urging the Peach State to lobby for the support
center and saying the facility could "jump-start our re-emergence as
a high tech center."

Blankenhorn points out a fact that most news reports have ignored,
that most of jobs involved aren't really that high tech, primarily
being in the $5 per hour category.

More than 500 company CEOs and others who were willing to ante up
the $2,000 attendance fee will get a chance this week to hear a
panel discussion titled "Can Apple Survive?". That's one of the
seminars being offered during the Personal Computer Outlook
Conference being held in San Francisco this week.

The panel discussion was reportedly originally titled "Is Apple
Dead?" but was changed after Apple executives contacted show
organizers. Show organizer Richard Shaffer reportedly told the San
Francisco Examiner that the title was "an attention getting device."

He said that the 90 minute debate scheduled for Tuesday afternoon is
really aimed at discussing changes in the computer industry that can
be expected in 1994.

(Jim Mallory/19931206)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Apple Gets $1 Million Contract To Investigate Newton Uses 12/06/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 DEC 6 (NB) -- Apple Computer has
announced it has received a $1 million contract from the Department
of Defense's (DOD) medical sector to investigate how use of the
Newton Messagepad might help cut costs and facilitate the gathering,
management, and sharing of information.

Called the ProMED project, Apple in collaboration with the
consulting arm of the well-known accounting firm KPMG/Peat Marwick,
is to spend 11 months focusing on Messagepad personal digital
assistant (PDA) use in the DOD medical system. Apple representatives
said other PDA vendors were considered for the ProMED contract, but
it was awarded the project.

Specific issues to be looked at during the course of the contract
include: how the PDA can be used to gain productivity and cut costs,
how processes might need to be changed in health care in order to
employ the PDA, and what technology needs to be developed to ensure
successful use of the Newton.

Analysts have been saying for some time that the health care
industry will be one of the first to really benefit from the use of
portable pen-based computers such as the Newton.

Colonel Fred Goeringer, ProMED program director for the US Army
Medical Materiel Agency said: "Apple's Newton technology has the
potential of providing timely information and streamlined processes
in a cost-effective manner, thus enabling the DOD to provide leading
edge patient care while reducing health care costs for the
government. The findings and applications which result from the
ProMED study will benefit not only the DOD, but also the private
sector health care industry which will probably find direct
application of ProMED-developed solutions."

The study will be concentrated at three sites: the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center-Washington, D.C., Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base-Dayton, Ohio, and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio,
Texas.

The first phase focuses on use of the PDA for personal productivity
through personal organizer functions such as the electronic calendar
and database, provider-to-provider communications using Newton's
beaming and faxing capabilities, and rounds note-taking which allows
for free text entry and printing on demand.

The second phase of the project will introduce applications such
as ordering of lab and radiology diagnostics, results
notification through Newton paging capabilities, and prescription
ordering.

The third phase will be focused on bidirectional data sharing
applications such as physicians downloading their schedules into a
Newton Messagepad, linking and sharing of clinical documents such as
problem lists, progress notes, visit/encounter notes, medical
histories and treatment protocols between health care workers, and
the linking of clinical documents with the ordering of lab and
radiology diagnostics.

This investigation into the use of the PDA is expected to conclude
in August of 1994 and will be watched with interest. "The ProMED
project will have a great impact on setting the technological
direction of the DOD," asserted Goeringer.

(Linda Rohrbough/19931206/Press Contact: Eric Wee, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]/PHOTO)