COM NET NEWS Vol. 1 No. 4 July Part 1--Original and Other News >From the Editor This issue of COM NET NEWS reflects the suggestions of several subscribers. First, COM NET NEWS will contain a Table of Contents, and two, the newsletter will be broken down into two parts--News from Other Newsletter Sources, e.g., Edupage.; and Original and Other News. Two areas of interest which will be covered in future issues of COM NET NEWS are: 1) Commercial Marketing on the Net--pros, cons, and how its being done. 2) Growth of Community Nets--Problems and Successes. Richard W. Bryant, Editor RW Bryant Associates P.O. Box 1828 El Prado, NM 87529 Tel/fax: 505-758-1919 rbryant@hydra.unm.edu ****************************************************************** ************************************************************** ORIGINAL AND OTHER NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- New Organizations on the Net American Indian Computer Art Project Rural Economic Development New Law-Related Internet Site U.S. Federal Budget 1995/ U.S. Tech Corps Combining Public Radio and Community Networks Scholastic Launches Internet Server and New K12 Services Mosaic Site in China -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- NEW ORGANIZATIONS ON THE NET From: mwalsh@internetinfo.com New on the Net--April/May 1994 A cursory review of 1,400 plus Commercial Domains and their owners added to the Internet in the April/May 1994 timeframe yields the following observations. Over 30% are in the computer related fields. This is based upon a rigorous and proprietary classification technique of assuming that if the company's name contains any of the magic words.... computer, digital, data, software, etc, etc... that the company probably has something to do with the computer industry. Most (70%) of the companies are small or very new. This observation is based on the fact they do not show up in any of the standard directories of business organizations or full text databases of newspaper and trade articles. Large companies signing on the Net: ARCO Products AET.COM Anaheim Baltimore Gas & Electric BGE.COM Baltimore Bell & Howell Company BHOWELL.COM Ann Arbor Boston Scientific Corporation SPENCER.COM Spencer Fisons Instruments FISONS-LIMS.COM Beverly Gates Rubber Co. GATES.COM Denver General Cinema Theatres GCTI.COM Chestnut Hill GMAC Mortgage GMACM.COM Elkins Park Greyhound Lines, Inc. GREYHOUND.COM Dallas Homelite Division of Textron HOMELITE.COM Charlotte James River Corp of VA JAMESRIVER.COM Richmond MOTOROLA ROAMING.COM Boynton Beach Nordictrack NORDICTRACK.COM Chaska Olin Aerospace Company OLIN.COM Redmond Panhandle Eastern PEL.COM Houston Purina Mills, Inc. PURINA-MILLS.COM St. Louis Rocky Mountain Health Care RMHCCO.COM Denver The TORO Company, Inc. TORO.COM Bloomington Thiokol Corporation THIOKOL.COM Ogden Wisconsin Electric Power Co WEPCO.COM Milwaukee Publishing and media related companies: Books That Work BTW.COM Palo Alto Booth Newspapers BOOTH-NEWS.COM Ann Arbor USA Today USATODAY.COM Silver Spring Encylcopaedia Britannica EBEC.COM Chicago Gazette Telegraph GAZETTE.COM Colorado Springs KVOR/Springs Radio Inc KVOR.COM Colorado Springs Macworld Magazine MACWORLD.COM San Francisco McGraw-Hill, Incorporated MCGRAW-HILL.COM Highstown MECKLERMEDIA MECKLERMEDIA.COM San Francisco Phoenix Newspapers Inc. PNI.COM Phoenix R.R. Donnelley & Sons RRD.COM Chicago San Diego Daily Transcript SDDT.COM San Diego SENTINEL SENTINEL7.COM Irvine Telluride Daily Planet DPLANET.COM Telluride The New York Times Co TIMES.COM New York Time Warner Inc. TIMEWARNER.COM New York Time Magazine TIMEINC.COM New York WCBS Radio WCBS88.COM New York WIRED HOTWIRED.COM San Francisco ZIFF-DAVIS Expo & Conf DIGITALWORLD.COM FOSTER CITY Financial: American Bankers Ins Grp ABIG.COM Miami Chemical Bank CHEMBANK.COM New York Chicago Board of Trade CBOT.COM Chicago Fidelity Investments FIDELITY-INV.COM Boston Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc. KP.COM New York Prudential Securities Inc. PRUSEC.COM New York The Connecticut HedgeFund HEDGEFUND.COM Easton Advertising firms: Bernard Hodes Advertising HODES.COM New York Bernard Hodes Advert, Inc. CAREERMOSAIC.COM Palo Alto Hill, Holliday HHCC.COM Boston Consulting: Coopers & Lybrand COLYBRAND.COM New York Ernst & Young EY.COM Lyndhurst Forrester Research, Inc. FORRESTER.COM Cambridge KPMG Peat Marwick KPMGUS.COM Montvale Some big (and some nefarious) law firms: Cadwalader Wickersham and Taft CWT.COM New York Canter & Siegel PERICLES.COM Scottsdale Wiley, Rein & Fielding WRF.COM Washington Venture capital firms: Hummer Winblad Venture Partners HUMWIN.COM Emeryville TA Associates TA.COM Palo Alto And some that just make the Net more interesting: American Swings of Florida ASFL.COM Miami Bakery Crafts BKRYCFT.COM Cincinnati Propellerhead PROPELLERHEAD.COM Seattle Roadkill Consulting ROADKILL.COM Champaign Superior Dairy, Inc. SUPER.COM Canton Ratite Reporter BIGBIRD.COM Fort Worth We at Internet Info will not rest till we find out what the dairy is doing on the Net. As for geographic concentration, well here are the stats... The Top 10 States for New Companies Connecting to the Net April/May 1994 Population New in New Companies Companies Millions per Million California 350 29.8 11. Canada 95 24.3 3.90 Colorado 85 3.3 25.70 New York 81 18.0 4.49 Texas 81 17.5 4.75 Massachuesetts 78 6.0 12.94 Virginia 55 6.2 8.85 Washington 52 4.8 10.64 Illinois 48 11.4 4.19 Maryland 41 4.7 8.55 Ohio 35 10.8 3.22 Source: Internet Info, Falls Church, VA For more information email to info@internetinfo.com The Top 10 States for New Companies Connecting to the Net April/May 1994 (Adjusted for State Population) Population New in New Companies Companies Millions per Mill ion Colorado 85 3.30 25.70 Dist. of Columbia 10 0.60 16.42 Massachusetts 78 6.02 12.94 California 350 29.83 11.73 Washinton 52 4.88 10.64 Vermont 5 0.56 8.87 Virginia 55 6.21 8.85 Maryland 41 4.79 8.55 New Hampshire 8 1.11 7.19 Rhode Island 7 1.00 6.97 Source: Internet Info, Falls Church, VA For more information email to info@internetinfo.com ****************************************************************** AMERICAN INDIAN COMPUTER ART PROJECT From: turtle@aicap.s21.com (Turtle Heart) Turtle Heart turtle@soft21.s21.com (Ahnishinabeg) American Indian Computer Art Project BBS 619-374-2100 Land of Kaw-ii-su ancestor: Land of Light American Indian Computer Art Project needs anywhere from (1) to (8) 4 MB 9-pin SIMMS memory chips. They will trade fine original art for any chips. (we need at least two real bad). We are in the remote Mojave Desert. ****************************************************************** RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT From: Jeff Lohrmann Jeff Lohrmann Facilitator for Gov Information IGC Networks jlohrmann@igc.org From: Christian Gibbons Subject: Some Practical Stuff I thought I might post some of the work we have done over the last couple of weeks to give you an idea of day to day activities here in Littleton. For a fast growing landscape contractor who wants to take his company public, we did extensive research on IPO's (Initial Public Offerings). We were able to find articles on the problems of manipulating earnings before going public; pro's and con's of IPO's; a list of major underwriters and their performance; books and other publications on taking your company public; and a list of local companies who had gone public recently. He was also concerned about the liability of handling toxic waste and its impact on his personal finances. We found a whole series of articles from sources as diverse as Risk Management, Business of New Hampshire, LA Business Journal and Pennsylvania CPA Journal which indicated that he did have a major liability as a transporter which would have to be accounted for when he went public. We also found a couple of newsletters that we suggested he subscribe to: Construction Claims Citator and Hazardous Waste Litigation Reporter. The idea is that information like this makes you more competitive which eventually leads to wealth and job creation. This morning, we worked with our the TV studio of our local community college to finish production on two video tapes about local "best practices". One is on customer service at The Tattered Cover, a four story book store in Denver (Cherry Creek). The other is on business strategies and features a high quality independent meat store called Tony's. In the era of mega-grocery stores, Tony's has grown and prospered by filling a niche for high quality meats. Last Friday, we briefed some bankers on our search capabilities and then proceeded to develop a list of auto parts wholesalers in the region, ranked by sales, so they could make sales calls. Yesterday, a company that puts embroidered logos on hats and golf shirts asked for a list of conventions coming to Denver within the next year. He will approach the participants and offer to provide shirts and hats. We had the list within 10 minutes. Last Thursday, we met with a company that specialized in merging private companies into public shells and providing financing. We do not believe that our small efforts at trying to solve the multi-billion dollar capital needs of Littleton businesses will make much of a dent so we try to improve the workings of the private capital markets through better information. Last Tuesday, we worked with our community college and the local telecommunication companies to kick off a curriculum and training programming supporting that effort. We recently visited a CD-I(interactive) shop and may use that technology to deliver training in the field. The cable TV houses may install CD players in trucks and then their field people can learn and review while they are on the job. Other portions may be broadcast out of the college's TV studio. The community college made a major effort to get a micro-wave path to an uplink station last year and it is starting to payoff. We are continuing in our effort to become the "wired city". We are thinking of T-shirts that say "Whoever dies with the most wires, wins". We are also sponsoring the Colorado Issues Network meeting in July with a theme of "Complexity and Economic Development". We hope to talk to Brian Arthur via conference phone call. ****************************************************************** NEW LAW-RELATED INTERNET SITE From: Neal Friedman Pepper & Corazzini, L.L.P. 1776 K St., N.W. Washington, DC 20006 VOICE: 202-296-0600 FAX: 202-296-5572 http://www.iis.com/pandc-home.html gopher://gopher.iis.com/11/p-and-c ftp://ftp.iis.com/companies/p-and-c Pepper & Corazzini, L.L.P., is proud to announce the launch of the first Internet site devoted to communications law and the emerging field of information law. Information is reachable by WWW, FTP or gopher. The URLS are as follows: http://www.iis.com/p-and-c gopher://gopher.iis.com/11/p-and-c Gopher bookmark: Type=1 Name=Pepper and Corazzini, L.L.P, Attorneys at Law Path=1/ftp/pub/business-center/companies-and-orgs/by-name/pepper- and-corazzini Host=gopher.iis.com Port=70 ftp://ftp.iis.com/companies/p-and-c Pepper & Corazzini's site includes memos written by our attorneys on a variety of current issues related to broadcasting, cable, common carriers, PCS and information law. Our WWW server has a direct link to the FCC gopher. We welcome your comments and suggestions. ***************************************************************** U.S. TECH CORPS From: Gary J. Beach Publisher Computerworld ustech@cw.com Anyone who has written code, maintained a network, or planned a company information system knows that implementation is everything. Surprisingly, so do thousands of U.S. school teachers and administrators. Throughout the U.S., our schools say that a shortage of technical talent is their largest obstacle in moving the "information superhighway" from vision to reality. Their tight budgets and a dire shortage of technical skills stand in the way of implementing technology where it is most needed: the local classroom. A solution may be in sight. Computerworld, the national newspaper of information systems management, is working jointly with the White House Office of Science and Technology to develop the U.S. Tech Corp. Modeled on the U.S. Peace Corps, the U.S. Tech Corps will rally the talents and skills of more than 1.9 million computer professionals to assist public schools in planning and implementing information technology. Through contributions of their time and expertise, these volunteers will play an integral and crucial role in building local roads to the national information superhighway. Even an hour a week of discussion and planning can help your local school. The U.S. Tech Corps will be operated with assistance from the White House, the National Education Association, and the National Association of School Administrators. Volunteers will receive a U.S. Tech Corps certificate signed by the President, as well as local recognition. Of course, the greatest reward may be the satisfaction gained from contributing your valuable skills to the future of our school children. [Action Items: What else is needed? Do you think that your fellow computer professionals will respond favorably or unfavorably to this proposal? How might the U.S. Tech Corp be made to work?] Comment to ustech@cw.com. **************************************************************** U.S. FEDERAL BUDGET 1995/ From: Gleason Sackman The following is from the gopher at: sunny.stat-usa.gov It is located in: 5. Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1995/ TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Explanation of Estimates........................................ 3 Government-wide General Provisions............................... 9 Detailed Budget Estimates by Agency: Legislative Branch............................................. 13 The Judiciary.............................................. 43 Executive Office of the President.............................. 55 Funds Appropriated to the President............................ 67 Department of Agriculture...................................... 109 Department of Commerce......................................... 241 Department of Defense--Military................................ 277 Department of Defense--Civil................................... 343 Department of Education........................................ 361 Department of Energy........................................... 395 Dept of Health and Human Serv, except Social Security 427 Dept of Health and Human Services, Social Security....... 459 Department of Housing and Urban Development................ 463 Department of the Interior..................................... 503 Department of Justice.......................................... 577 Department of Labor............................................ 609 Department of State............................................ 633 Department of Transportation................................... 651 Department of the Treasury..................................... 711 Department of Veterans Affairs................................. 749 Environmental Protection Agency................................ 791 General Services Administration................................ 805 National Aeronautics and Space Administration.............. 821 Office of Personnel Management................................. 831 Small Business Administration.................................. 841 Other Independent Agencies..................................... 853 Other Materials: Supplemental Proposals......................................... 987 Rescission Proposals........................................... 1005 Amendments to and Revs in Budget Authority for 1994... 1025 Advance Appropriations, Advance Funding, and Forward Funding for 1995...................................................... 1027 Estimates for Government-Sponsored Enterprises.............. 1029 Index........................................................... 1045 ****************************************************************** COMBINING PUBLIC RADIO AND COMMUNITY up information about what we did. This announcement was played on the radio station this week, and I posted it to ba.internet and ba.broadcast (ba = Bay Area). > So you've logged on and you're ready to surf the internet, but which > way do you go? lt's a long stretch of highway and even the road maps > are confusing. > > Well, on Friday, May 27th, at 8:30am, we can go cruising together when KPFA's Computer Access show will host a community login. Eric Theise, from Bay Area Internet Literacy, will guide us thru an exploration of > USENET and Internet Relay Chat. > > So set your radio to 94.1fm, log onto your favorite internet provider > and join us for a community login on Computer Access, May 27th at > 8:30am on your listener supported station, KPFA. > > --Chupoo Alafonte' Here's one bit of feedback that came across today on the newsgroups. > Eric S. Theise (verve@well.sf.ca.us) wrote: ... > : So set your radio to 94.1fm, log onto your favorite internet provider > : and join us for a community login on Computer Access, May 27th at > : 8:30am on your listener supported station, KPFA. > : ... > And we of the usually timid, semi-literate public did indeed login and > actually participate in this broadcast. My wife sat next to me in front > of the radio and p.c. monitor (which she usually avoids like the plague) > and showed an interest in the guided tour of the newsgroups. Maybe it was Eric's and Chupoo's enthusiasm and well modulated voices that sold her. >When it came time to join the KPFC IRC, I got cold feet (having never done more than "lurk" before), but couldn't resist the temptation and > joined my first IRC. Being all thumbs and having no prepared scripts, > I only got a couple of one-liners in -- but it was fun. Am I hooked on > Internet Chats? Well, maybe I'll wait for the next KPFA multi-media > event. Which brings up the question I came here to ask: When are you (KPFA, Eric, Chupoo) going to do it again? I'll be there with my wife. > Make it an hour instead of 30 minutes and I'll invite the neighbors. > Good show. Keep it up. > David McKay It was a half hour show, and we started by talking about what USENET was, how it worked, and the different ways of accessing it. The detailed instructions I gave were for the tin newsreader, but we also talked about how select aspects of USENET could be found on AOL and local bulletin board systems such as Women's Wire, SF Net, and the SF PC Users Group. The USENET stuff went on for about 20 minutes, and we had a few listeners call in with questions about access. We then contrasted the asynchronous nature of USENET with the real- time nature of IRC. I created a #kpfa channel, gave instructions, and was blown away by a few dozen people cascading in from The WELL, Netcom, CRL, a21, UC Berkeley, and Delphi. The radio program might have gone up for grabs at the point, as the IRC channel filled with good natured banter about the program, questions about USENET, and a call for people to post what cities they were connecting from. We're going to do it again on June 17th for 45 minutes as part of the KPFA Marathon. We're hoping that Osborne, who's local, will kick in a few pairs of Hahn and Stout as $75 premiums. We'll probably tour gopher/veronica-space and wind up with another IRC session. I have a tape of the show. If anyone wants to mail me a cassette (in a re-usable, post-paid mailer), I'll dupe it for you. I suppose I should put this out on the Web as an .au file, but maybe I'll just wait until Carl "Internet Talk Radio" Malamud comes calling. 8-) ****************************************************************** SCHOLASTIC LAUNCHES INTERNET SERVER AND NEW K-12 SERVICES From: NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY : June 22, 1994 Stephen Covington New York, NY--June 12, 1994-- Scholastic Network today announced the launch of Scholastic Internet Services, Created to offer K-12 teachers and students an easy-to-use, high-value destination on the coming 'Information Superhighway, the Scholastic Internet Services are accessible to all Internet users and include a K-12 net site running Gopher, WAIS and WWW.. The new Scholastic Internet services announced today are: Scholastic Internet Libraries, four electronic curriculum libraries with a myriad of resources and over 5,000 full-text articles offered for site licenses; the Scholastic Internet Center, a free Internet site offering information, lesson plans, and electronic newsletters; and the Ultimate Education Store, a searchable, on-line catalog of educational books, magazines, software, curriculum kits, and more. "These Internet Services are an effective first step in bringing Scholastic's information resources onto the Internet," said Susan Mernit, Director of Network Development. "All the Scholastic Divisions contributed to this effort.". "As more schools connect to the Internet, Scholastic Internet Services provide a simpler method for teachers and students to get access to libraries of information on science, language arts, and technology," said Richard Robinson, President, Chairman, and CEO of Scholastic. " When we launched Scholastic Network with America Online last fall, our goal was to help K-12 teachers and their students work interactively with a variety of information. With the introduction of our Internet services, all educators with Internet access gain the ability to connect to Scholastic materials." "From a national perspective, the emergence of electronic information delivery presents new opportunities for all sectors of society," said Linda Roberts, Secretary's Advisor on Technology, U.S. Department of Education. "The Internet offers educators access to information that was previously difficult to reach. With a growing number of teachers on the Internet , this use of technology clearly allows teachers to better serve the needs of st udents." Using technology developed by Wide Area Information Services (WAIS), Scholastic's technology partner in this effort, parents and teachers can easily search and retrieve what they are looking for in the Scholastic libraries as well as the aisles of books, magazines, newsletters and other educational products in the store, without leaving their home, school or office. Consumers and educators can order information and materials directly from the company using credit cards and purchase orders online. The WAIS technology allows Scholastic Internet Services users to browse and search without typing long commands. For example, a student is able to ask for information about "volcanoes" and immediately see a list of all the data available relating to volcanoes. This technology makes the Internet more accessible to computer-users who often find the Internet difficult to navigate. One of the new services, the Scholastic Internet Libraries, is available to state education networks, regional telephone companies, and regional internet providers for site license for their account-holders. These school science, reading and language arts, integrating technology into the classroom, and teaching with seasonal activities. Subscribers to the Scholastic Network on America Online have full access to these Internet resources without additional charge. Education-related networks, gophers, MOSAIC sites, etc. are encouraged to connect to the Scholastic Internet Center For more information on the services, including the URL and Gopher addresses to link to, send email to sninternet@aol.com. A special effort is being made to provide appropriate and relevant resources and pages for students as well--stay turned!) Scholastic Network is the first full-service online network designed exclusively for teachers and students. Scholastic Inc. (NMS:SCHL) , headquartered in New York, is among the leading publishers and distributors of children's books, classroom and professional magazines, and other educational materials. The Company also publishes educational computer software and produces children and family-oriented video and television programming. Scholastic operates in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. For press information, contact Todd Friedman,Scholastic, 212-343-6878 email: toddotodd@aol.com For Internet Services information, contact Susan Mernit, Director of Network Development Scholastic Network 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 phone: 212-343-4940. email: Susanim@aol.com ****************************************************************** MOSAIC SITE IN CHINA From:BMcKercher@idrc.ca Bob McKercher International Development Research Centre Ottawa, Canada The machine in Beijing is bepc2.ihep.ac.cn (in fact it is from bepc1 to bepc5). You may use the command finger @bepc2.ihep.ac.cn to find out who is on. There is a way to find the email address of a particular person. I forgot the postmaster name of this service. The WWW service address is http://www.ihep.ac.cn:3000/ihep.html it also contains most information about internet in China. IHEP-SLAC Networking China Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) established its own Local Area Network (LAN) supporting DECnet in 1988 and became a user of CNPAC in 1990. Due to the physics collaboration between IHEP and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), the first direct international 64 Kbps leased line in China via AT&T satellite was established to SLAC in March, 1993. The US Department of Commerce ( DoC) restricted this first China connection to SLAC only. IHEP users can send e-mail to people all over the world, but can only transfer files and connect to SLAC machines. In 1993, IHEP local area network supported both TCP/IP and DECnet; Only DECnet ran on this lease line to the outside world. At the end of 1993, IHEP got the final permission of removing the restriction and full access to ESnet part of the US Internet, in the meantime, IHEP received the approval via DoE to get the first CISCO in China in Feb, 1994. ESnet and IHEP are working on the new network configuration of IHEP since February, 1994. TCP/IP routing between IHEP and the full ESnet began on April 25th, 1994.More software has been installed ( like WWW) and more network service will be provided. Dr. Rongsheng XU, director of Computer Center of IHEP, has opened accounts for more than 300 top scientists in different research areas in China so that they can exchange e-mail with outside world, obtain preprints... at home via modem and phone line or via CHINAPAC. In the summer of 1994 when BTA accomplishes the fiber optic between Beijing and Shanghai, the IHEP - SLAC network link will be changed from satellite to fiber optic physical link from Beijing to Shanghai, to Tokyo, to US, which is more stable and easier for the future upgrading. IHEP has an intention to upgrade the link rate to 128 kbps and establish video conferencing on the Internet; In the meantime, IHEP continues to set up its scientific information database for Chinese scientists. IHEP has gained the support from National Science Foundation of China ( NSFC) for the future network development and some institutes have planed to connect their LAN to IHEP network directly. **************************************************************** COM NET NEWS SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Please send an email message to Richard W. Bryant, Editor & Publisher at: rbryant@hydra.unm.edu indicating that you wish to subscribe. You will be put on the e-mailing list for the following month. COM NET NEWS is published only in electronic format. **************************************************************** COM NET NEWS is solely under my editorship, and is unrelated and independent of the La Plaza Telecommunity, of which I am vice president. The editorial comment is my own and does not reflect in any way on La Plaza. You may reproduce or publish any parts of this newsletter and distribute it electronically or in paper format. However, any reproduction or publishing of COM NET NEWS material must be accompanied by the following reference: >From COM NET NEWS: Richard W. Bryant, Ph.D., Editor & Publisher RW Bryant Associates Advanced Technology Market Research & Com Net Consultants P.O. Box 1828 El Prado, NM 87529 Tel/fax: 505-758-1919 rbryant@hydra.unm.edu ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************** COM NET NEWS Vol. 1 No. 4 July Part 2--News from Other Newsletter Sources >From the Editor This issue of COM NET NEWS reflects the suggestions of several subscribers. First, COM NET NEWS will contain a Table of Contents, and two, the newsletter will be broken down into two parts--News from Other Newsletter Sources, e.g., Edupage.; and Original and Other News. Richard W. Bryant, Editor RW Bryant Associates P.O. Box 1828 El Prado, NM 87529 Tel/fax: 505-758-1919 rbryant@hydra.unm.edu **************************************************************** **************************************************************** NEWS FROM OTHER NEWSLETTER SOURCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Educom Apple Computer--Solutions for Disabled Broader Electronic Surveillance Powers CEA Predicts $100 Billion Gain from Telecom Reform New Network Division at IBM Telemedicine Expands in Georgia Lotus Goes Multi-Lingual--Improves E-Mail Prospects Multimedia Exec Goes Hollywood Motorola Unveils 3-Way Chip, Snags Hong Kong Contract PSI Tells Law Firm to "Cease and Desist" Advertising 3 Rs + Computer Literacy The Traffic Report Delivering Fish on the Highway A Virtual Government Printing on the Leading Edge of the Highway Electronic Forms To Reduce Paper Information Highway Guide Headed to the Printer HPCwire Singapore Telecom $50 Million System Upgrade Survey Says: Large U.S. Firms Slowly Buying into Superhighway Idea ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FROM EDUCOM Apple Computer, Inc. provides solutions for people with disabilities. Apple has announced Aisle 17, a mail-order source that provides technology solutions for those with disabilities. It's the first nationwide distribution channel to bundle Macs with assistive technology products from leading software and peripheral manufacturers. Bundles are affordably-priced for individuals with learning disabilities, visual impairment, and physical disabilities. Also available: bundles for rehabilitation professionals. Contact: Aisle 17 at 800-600-7808. BROADER ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE POWERS The Canadian government wants a review of proposed legislation that would make it easier for police to intercept digital or computer communications. If approved, the legislation would allow police to monitor a wide range of personal data such as credit card usage, telephone calling patterns, automated teller transactions and even proposed interactive cable systems. (Ottawa Citizen 6/13/94 A4) CEA PREDICTS $100 BILLION GAIN FROM TELECOM REFORM The Council of Economic Advisors released a White Paper June 14 predicting the economy could grow by an extra $100 billion over the next decade if the Clinton administration's proposed telecommunications legislation is adopted. CEA estimated 500,000 new jobs would by created by 1996, and employment in the telecommunications and information sector could increase from 3.6 million to 5 million workers by the end of the next decade. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 6/15/94 A26) NEW NETWORK DIVISION AT IBM IBM is creating a new Networked Applications Services division to consolidate the company's projects in multimedia, electronic trading, Internet services, video teleconferencing, software for networked groups, interactive information kiosks, and electronic publishing. (New York Times 6/17/94 C3) TELEMEDICINE EXPANDS IN GEORGIA The Georgia Statewide Academic and Medicine System, a two-way interactive TV system connecting doctors with patients at remote sites, will link at least 50 health care facilities by year's end. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 6/17/94 B8) LOTUS GOES MULTI-LINGUAL, IMPROVES E-MAIL PROSPECTS Targeting the needs of multinational organizations, all new versions of Lotus's software products will simultaneously be available in seven languages, including Japanese and Chinese. The first product to go multi-lingual will be Approach 3.0 for Windows. (Information Week 6/20/94 p.15). Meanwhile, Lotus has snatched up SoftSwitch Inc. for about $70 million, giving it access to strategically important communications technology for its cc:Mail and Lotus Notes products. (Wall Street Journal 6/17/94 B10) MULTIMEDIA EXEC GOES HOLLYWOOD Robert Kavner, the head of AT&T's multimedia efforts, has joined Hollywood's premier talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, in a move that analysts say signals the increasing convergence of the entertainment and communications industries. (New York Times 6/17/94 C1) MOTOROLA UNVEILS 3-WAY CHIP, SNAGS HONG KONG CONTRACT Motorola's new MC68356 chip combines a microprocessor, a digital-signal processor, and a special communications processor, all on a single sliver of silicon. The three-way chip will be used in credit-card-sized high-speed modems, cellular telephone equipment and automobile guidance systems. (Wall Street Journal 6/20/94 B8) Meanwhile, Motorola's been hired to build a $40 million high-speed wireless computing network in Hong Kong. A trial run of the network, operating at 19.2 K bits per second, is planned for later this year. (Investor's Business Daily 6/20/94 A14) PSI TELLS LAW FIRM TO "CEASE AND DESIST" ADVERTISING Performance Systems International Inc., which provides Internet access for Arizona law firm Canter & Siegel, has ordered them to "cease and desist" their unsolicited advertising on some 1,000 bulletin boards. The law firm has raked in about $100,000 in business since their first ad was posted in April, but the husband- and-wife principals also have been deluged with obscene phone calls and "carloads" of magazines to which they never subscribed. "This is a down and dirty bunch of irresponsible" miscreants, says Ms. Siegel. (Wall Street Journal 6/22/94 B5) 3 Rs + COMPUTER LITERACY New Brunswick plans to make computer literacy a core subject required for high school graduation, in hopes of reducing unemployment. (Toronto Globe & Mail 6/24/94 B1) EDUPAGE. To subscribe to this free service, send e-mail to: listproc@educom.edu. In the body of the message type: sub edupage . To unsubscribe send the message: unsub edupage. Edupage is also available in Portuguese and Spanish: edunews@nc- rj.rnp.br. EDUCOM REVIEW. Our bimonthly print magazine on learning, communications, and information technology. See the Electronic Newsstand for a look at the latest issue (gopher.internet.com). EDUCOM UPDATE. A twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational news and events. To subscribe, send mail to listproc@educom.edu with the message SUB UPDATE . Send news items to info@educom.edu. For information about Educom, see gopher.educom.edu. To communicate with Edupage or Educom, send mail to comments@educom.edu or info@educom.edu. ******************************************************************* From: The Traffic Report Issue No. 8 Information Highway Secretariat June 9, 1994 >From mauricel@gov.nb.ca Jun 9 1994 DELIVERING FISH ON THE HIGHWAY The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture is connecting its electronic mail system to the Internet, an early step in using the information highway to reach international markets. The objective is to gain a competitive edge by providing up-to-the-minute information to global customers. The department is also examining the ways and means of using the Internet for research and video conferencing to cut travel and offer training to international students. Contact: Guy LeBlanc (506) 457-7303 A VIRTUAL GOVERNMENT First, there was a coherent program for voice communications that offered government departments better services at lower costs. Now, the same idea is being used by the Information Highway Secretariat to find to find the best and most cost effective ways to exchange data. Issues being discussed include how small, medium and large government offices will connect, the hardware and software they will use. Most of the information is already in place and is being put into an overall plan that will be released sometime this fall. Contact: Danny Keizer (506) 457-4888 danny@gov.nb.ca PRINTING ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE HIGHWAY A sophisticated computer network, high speed digital modems and video conferencing equipment are all working together to help Centennial Print in Fredericton print documents on demand. A major customer for the service is Northern Telecom which uses the system to print small quantities of software manuals as they are required by clients around the world. Locally, the print on demand system is being used for small runs of textbooks and brochures. Contact: Mark Lancaster (506) 453-1310 ELECTRONIC FORMS TO REDUCE PAPER The Department of Supply and Services wants to replace paper forms with electronic versions. The objective is to reduce the amount of paper used by government. More important, though, is the promised reduction in handling. Intelligent computer forms can be built to require that all the blanks be filled in and can help reduce typographical errors. The project is a step towards EDI - electronic data interchange - that aims to eliminate paper between people, offices and organizations. Contact: Richard Dunphy (506) 453-8737 richardd@gov.nb.ca INFORMATION HIGHWAY GUIDE HEADED TO THE PRINTER More than 60 companies that make use of the Internet have asked to be included in the guide being produced by Harley*Mallory Strategic Communications. The guide will be officially released at the "Doing Business on the Information Highway" conference to be held at the Wu Conference Centre, UNB, on June 30th. And Internet email was the key tool in gathering the information so quickly -- far faster than previous efforts of this kind that relied on phone calls and faxes. The guide is headed for the printer on Monday or Tuesday -- so this is the last call for entries. Contact: Nora Mallory (506) 450-7603 hmcom@nbnet.nb.ca ******************************************************************** >From HPCwire June 10, 1994 Copyright 1994 HPCwire. To receive the weekly HPCwire at no charge, send e-mail without text to "trial@hpcwire.ans.net". SINGAPORE TELECOM $50 MILLION SYSTEM UPGRADE Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. has commissioned a Singapore $50 million Multi-Machine Teleview System (MMTS) to expand its information transmission capacity by six times and link users to Internet, the international computer network. ST executive vice president (local services) Lee Hsien Yang said at the commissioning of MMTS that Teleview users will have services like Internet access by the end of the month. MMTS is a network of 12 mini-computers. Teleview is an on-line service with 15,000 subscribers accessing a database of over 140,000 pages of information. Users must have a personal computer and a modem to link to the information which is provided by over 100 vendors. The services include share price information, lottery results and ticket booking. Among Teleview's improved services will be access to enhanced Reuters Holdings Plc financial database, Lee said. Local area network (LAN) operators will also be able to offer Teleview through their networks. Lee said Teleview has to evolve to incorporate new technologies even as Singapore embraces cable television and video-on-demand. "Singapore Telecom will be conducting a multi-media Teleview trial within the next two years," Lee said. SURVEY SAYS: LARGE U.S. FIRMS SLOWLY BUYING INTO SUPERHIGHWAY IDEA Lake Forest, Ill. -- Large U.S. firms are buying into the heavy media hype surrounding the so-called "Information Superhighway," according to a survey conducted by Interactive Facts, an industry newsletter highlighting breaking developments in this field. Interactive Facts initiated the survey of 268 executives overseeing marketing and advertising decisions at large American organizations. The survey was conducted between April 25 and May 18, 1994. Following are the results of the survey: 1) Is your organization currently using any interactive technologies to communicate with customers or market goods/services? YES 51% NO 47% Don't Know 2% 2) Is your organization currently, or will you in 1994, be researching the new technologies such as on-line services, CD-ROM's, kiosks or interactive television? YES 72% NO 23% Don't Know 5% 3) How long do you believe it will take before interactive actually has any impact on how you communicate with customers or market goods/services? Less than 1 Year 9% 1-2 Years 48% 3-5 Years 34% 6-10 Years 6% Over 10 Years 3% "The hype certainly has gotten big firms to turn their heads, whether or not they'll follow through with interactive programs remains to be seen," commented Sherry McHone, editor of Interactive Facts. "Many of the firms claiming to already have interactive programs in place are referring to the use of Electronic Mail. Beyond that, firms apparently are feeling the need to investigate the other new technologies like on-line services and CD-ROM's. Ninety-one percent of those responding felt interactive will have an impact on how they market within five years, quite an aggressive view." ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ CNN SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Please send an email message to Richard W. Bryant, Editor & Publisher at: rbryant@hydra.unm.edu indicating that you wish to subscribe. You will be put on the e- mailing list for the following month. CNN is published only in electronic format. **************************************************************** COM NET NEWS is solely under my editorship, and is unrelated and independent of the La Plaza Telecommunity, of which I am vice president. The editorial comment is my own and does not reflect in any way on La Plaza. You may reproduce or publish any parts of this newsletter and distribute it electronically or in paper format. However, any reproduction or publishing of CNN material must be accompanied by the following reference: >From COM NET NEWS: Richard W. Bryant, Ph.D., Editor & Publisher RW Bryant Associates Advanced Technology Market Research & Com Net Consultants P.O. Box 1828 El Prado, NM 87529 Tel/fax: 505-758-1919 rbryant@hydra.unm.edu ************************************************************ ************************************************************