Interactive Knowledge Inc. Software Builds Basic Worker Skills     
Nov. 21--Suppose you run a manufacturing company, such as a textile firm. 
Unemployment is low, and increasingly complex technology calls for stronger 
thinking and analytical skills on the part of your employees. 
It's hard to find replacements who don't require a lot of training, which is
expensive. So you want to keep your present employees, but you need to 
increase their skills. 
Say hello to Interactive Knowledge Inc., a Charlotte software company that
just might have an answer to your problems. 
Interactive Knowledge makes CD-ROMs, specializing in remedial, literacy and
skill-building programs. 
The company recently came out with a $2,000-per-workstation interactive CD-ROM
called TEXTdisc. The CD is easy to set up (it took less than 5 minutes), the
instructions are clear and a wide range of math and reading problems are
included - all related to the textile industry. 
For example, the CD doesn't ask a student just to add numbers; it asks 
students to add pounds of yarn. A typical question: "If a loom is down 15 
percent of the time and produces 55.25 yards of cloth in a day, how many yards
of cloth would it produce if it didn't stop?" 
It includes 45 hours of self-paced reading and 15 hours of self-paced math. 
If you're worried that employees wouldn't know how to work a computer, the
program walks users through each step needed to complete every part of the CD,
including communicating with instructors using a clever electronic mail
program. 
TEXTdisc got started with a U.S. Department of Education grant in 1991. That
grant was for N.C. State University and Sara Lee Knit Products to develop an
experimental approach to literacy for textile employees. Interactive Knowledge
was hired to create the multimedia part of the project. The company spent
three years developing the core program, or shell, which it can adapt for any
industry. 
Interactive Knowledge is a three-person partnership of Chuck Barger, Tim 
Songer and Sam Hess. They started the company in 1990 after leaving Central 
Piedmont Community College, where they had managed Project READY, an adult 
literacy research and development project, for six years. 
Startup financing came from contracts worth about $250,000, plus a little seed
money from the three partners and a couple of loans. Songer is projecting
revenue of $400,000 for 1994 - and the firm's first profit. 
The company has carved an interactive niche in producing innovative custom
workplace literacy products, but also makes non-literacy CDs for companies. 
One example is a CD produced for the Charlotte Spine Center. Patients are 
taken through an 11-minute series of questions on a computer while they're 
waiting to see a surgeon. 
The computer compiles the answers and produces a preliminary diagnosis, all of
which is printed out and handed to the examining physician, who uses it as an
evaluation guide. All of this speeds up the diagnosis, helps separate those
who aren't likely surgery candidates, saves time and money. 
Still, Songer says, "We're much better known outside Charlotte than in it." 
Interactive Knowledge has produced CDs for Apple Computer, the Sara Lee Corp.,
and about a dozen other corporations and government bodies nationwide. It also
is helping the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte develop a CD-ROM version of its
permanent art collection, developing an educational program for Grady Hospital
in Atlanta and completing multimedia training for Harris Teeter cashiers on
produce identification. Next year, if an HT cashier can't recognize the
honeydew melon you're trying to buy, you can blame Interactive Knowledge,
Songer says of a joint project with the Salem Company, a literacy consulting
firm. 
Among corporate users so far is Fieldcrest Cannon, which opened a learning
center with a four-PC computer lab in July 1993. Fieldcrest has been using
TEXTdisc for six months. 
"It's going over real well," says Smitty Drum, Fieldcrest personnel and 
training manager in Kannapolis. "This is really great. There are a lot of 
reading and math programs out there, but none using textile terms and 
processes." 
As more and more industries compete for limited numbers of employees in a 
bustling economy, Interactive Knowledge is hoping the flexibility of its 
approach with TEXTdisc will pay off in sales - and profits. 
"We can customize the CD to suit any individual client in about six weeks,"
says Barger, who focuses on software design. 
Drum, a self-taught computer user, says the program is especially good at 
getting people past the initial fears of using a computer. 
"They really did their homework on that," he says. "I find that after the
first time or two, most people just go on by themselves." 


==================================
Computer Associates Cozyzing Up to Banks In Financial Software Chal
Microsoft
(Nov. 21)  Computer Associates International Inc. is the
latest technology company trying to portray itself as "banker friendly" in its
approach to the emerging world of electronic commerce. 
The Islandia, N.Y.-based software company says its wide range of software
products and existing bank relationships can give it a leg up in developing
financial services systems for the information superhighway. 
Computer Associates is pursuing this course at a time when Microsoft Corp.,
the only larger software company, is striking fear in many bankers' hearts. 
Many are wary of Microsoft's recent acquisition of Intuit Inc., provider of
the dominant brand of personal finance software, and its plan to build a vast
interactive network for delivery of financial and other services to personal
computers. 
Computer Associates is playing into the notion of Microsoft as the enemy,
while accentuating its status as a provider of core banking software to gain
the support of financial institutions for its offerings on the front and back
ends of home and other remote banking transactions. 
"The synergy is so obvious with our banking products," said Mark Combs, a
senior vice president for research and development with Computer Associates.
"They (banks) are looking very closely at Microsoft . . . there's a lot of
speculation. But we're in the software business purely and simply and our
customers know that." 
Among others putting themselves forward as Microsoft counterweights are Block
Financial Corp., a competitor of Intuit that has struck a marketing alliance
with Visa; Checkfree Corp., a bill-payment processor that has allied itself
with MasterCard International; and Interactive Transaction Partners, which
provides processing and related support to institutions offering home banking. 
ITP is a joint venture of Electronic Data Systems Corp., U S West, and France
Telecom. 
Computer Associates - which has made its name in large-scale applications
software for banks and other institutions - has never established much of a
presence among average consumers. 
It contrasts that record with the likes of Microsoft and Intuit's Quicken
software, whose well-established consumer brands are part of the threat some
bankers perceive. 
Among large banks, Computer Associates is best known for its Infopoint 
products - core processing software for mainframe computers. Company officials
claim that Infopoint is used by 60% of banks with assets of more than $1
billion. 
The software is used to process checks, create electronic images, and produce
financial reports, among other functions. 
For the past 3#1/2 years, Infopoint's financial industry base had been handled
by a joint venture of Computer Associates and a specialized bank- software
firm, the Newtrend Group. Computer Associates took control of Infopoint when
it bought out its partner last month. 
The big software vendor is seeking to encourage its banking customers to build
on top of Infopoint a gateway to on-line computer network capabilities. 
A press release from Computer Associates shortly after it took back Infopoint
said that the company views the product line "as a potentially important piece
of the on-line software puzzle." 
Mr. Combs added, "Infopoint could be tied into an on-line service just by
adding additional computer networking gear." 
Going against Quicken, Block Financial's Managing Your Money, and Microsoft's
less successful Money product, Computer Associates released its own personal
finance software five months ago, called Kiplinger's Simply Money. 
Computer Associates officials claim that more than one million consumers use
Simply Money, but almost all of those copies were given away in a marketing
push when the first version hit the shelves in June. A second version of the
software was released in October. 
Computer Associates is attempting to turn the tide among consumers and enlist
the banks' help by playing up the notion that Microsoft is after their
customers. 
"We don't believe the culture of Microsoft is in sync with banking America,"
said George Kafkarkou, the general manager of Computer Associates' recently
formed consumer products unit. "Bill Gates (Microsoft's chairman) is smart -
so smart that he wants to become banking America." 
Mr. Kafkarkou claimed that Computer Associates is nearing a deal with a 
banking industry "enabler" that would help achieve its electronic commerce 
objectives. 
He would not disclose whether the partner is a bank, but said there would be
no attempt to "discriminate from one bank to another." 
Electronic Data Systems Corp., the Plano, Tex.-based company involved in 
Interactive Transaction Partners and other information highway initiatives, 
might make a nice fit. 
EDS and Computer Associates signed a 12-year partnership agreement in May,
putting aside years of legal wrangling. 
They have recently been dealing with each other on better terms than ever. EDS
bought the Newtrend Group software that Computer Associates did not want to
hold on to in the Infopoint repossession. 
"We are hungry for personal finance software - within a year we'll have the
best product," Mr. Kafkarkou said. 
Computer Associates created its consumer products unit, called 4Home 
Productions, in August. Aside from the Simply Money software, the subsidiary
also markets about four other products, including Simply Accounting and Simply
Tax, which was released last month. 


======================================
HOW CAN BANKS USE THE INTERNET?                                    
(Nov. 21) - DAN SCHUTZER Vice president Citibank New York 
THE INTERNET HAS TREMENDOUS potential, especially when looked at in context
with other on-line services. There are applications for both consumer and
corporate areas. It also has some direct marketing and information value. 
The role banks play is multiple. We can reach out directly to consumers
offering any number of financial services, from payments to credits. Or we can
work with corporations that are conducting commerce over the Internet. 
We could have video conferences. There is the vision of the virtual bank, with
an ATM-like device at home linked to a financial institution. Consumers could
dial up and reach a financial adviser or they could download cash and write
checks. The people who want to do it are there and the technology is there. It
is a matter of cost performance. 
We are in the beginning. Some people liken it to the change from an agrarian
economy to the industrial. It certainly could be that big. It depends on if it
turns out to be something that makes life convenient or richer; not something
that keeps people locked in little rooms with no human interaction. The aim
must be to improve the quality of life. 
As security begins to be addressed and the right measures are put in place,
there is potential for a number of different transactions to be conducted. It
is all a matter of timing. It could take off dramatically, or it could go a
lot slower than we thought. 
*** RANDY KAHN Senior vice president First Interstate Bancorp Los Angeles 
THE INTERNET IS THE BEST current candidate to be the information superhighway
that many people have been talking about. Banks have two potential areas to
use the Internet. One is consumer and one is business. 
There is still a lot that needs to be done on the business side to build a
secure enough environment to conduct business. We have yet to evolve to that.
Assuming that we do, we can send payments. And then will come the ability to
write electronic checks. We are not there yet; we are still in the initial
research and development stage, and not even quite up to the development part. 
For the consumer, we have things like the bank card transaction. Transactions
are already happening in an unstructured way in message format. It is pretty
unsecure. It scares the bejeebers out of me. You are giving away the key to
the bank card. Banks need to get in there and offer those payment services in
a safe way. 
Banks can also use the network as a vehicle to deliver traditional services. I
don't quite see a printer sitting on top of a television set, sending money
like an ATM, but electronic banking services like bill paying are reasonable
to expect in a 10-year horizon. It may not be universal by then, but it will
be something that is available in the home. 
*** PETER HILL Senior vice president Visa International San Francisco 
THERE IS A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY for home shopping, and from that would flow
payment transactions. 
Cardholders and merchants are already starting to use the Internet to purchase
goods. Except for a limited number of cases, there is no security for this.
Obviously, since it is not a secure network, those payment instructions could
be modified or compromised and used fraudulently. There are various areas
along the line - whether by the merchant, the person buying the goods, or an
outsider - (where) fraud could be committed. The level of risk is difficult to
determine. A more secure environment is needed from the very simple act of
encrypting instructions to changing the payment infrastructure to a higher
level where cardholders can ask for authentication to see if the merchants
offering goods and services are who they say they are. 
We're working together with software developers and other cardholder 
associations to change that. One capability that can be supplied quite readily
is encrypting those payment instructions so they couldn't be recognized,
captured, or modified. We are exploring ways to do that with software
providers and MasterCard. If appropriately funded, it could be done in a year. 
The idea will be to authenticate who is using the card, to secure the 
transaction, and, thirdly, to authenticate the merchant. 
*** JAYNE LEVIN Editor The Internet Letter Washington, D.C. 
THE INTERNET CAN BE USED as a document delivery service for such areas as
mutual fund sales. Banks could do such things as convert paper prospectuses
into electronic formats. The user of Internet could access the information,
and in the time it takes to hit a few keys, have the information delivered. 
The network could also be used to provide various sorts of information, such
as rates on mortgages and other loans. This is one way for banks to reach out
to consumers and increase market share. These services can be set up with
simple units that are really no-brainers to implement. 
Banks can also set up E-mail addresses. Consumers could use it to learn about
different products and services. It will cut administrative costs, since
answering questions about such things as rates on passbook savings accounts,
loan rates, or branch hours is time consuming. The bank can set it up so
automatic replies to mundane questions are generated. Banks can also send out
promotional material to generate revenue. 
However, unless different types of encryption tools are used, it is just not
secure enough for banks to use on a broad scale. I see it changing, but slowly.
I don't exactly see banks using the Internet any time soon to conduct real
transfers of money, but when one progressive bank with some foresight starts
offering services that do not need as high a level of security, others will
follow suit. 


======================================
Express Mail Giants Race for Cyberspace                            
Nov. 21--The race for cyberspace has started for express mail couriers. Both
Federal Express and United Parcel Service have announced plans to offer their
services to computer users through agreements with electronic information
service providers. 
Federal Express is aggressively pursuing the on-line market with a plan to do
100 percent of its business on-line by the end of the decade. FedEx also is
determined to set the standards for on-line courier services through a series
of joint ventures with computer manufacturers and electronic commerce services.
UPS has hit the ground running as well, offering customers an electronic link
to its services through CompuServe and Prodigy beginning this month. The 
connection will incorporate a new customer automation system to track orders 
and maintain a detailed database about shipments. 
"Getting on-line is a major goal for UPS," said Dudley Land, UPS vice 
president for customer automation. "We don't have any relationships beyond 
what we have announced, but we are aggressively pursuing relationships where 
bundling is a significant component." The company's immediate focus is on its 
current customers, he said. "We have 1.4 million shippers and our primary goal
is to establish that electronic relationship with them first. They expect more
personal service." 
UPS's software was developed with the help of ConnectSoft, a specialist in
Windows applications, electronic mail and on-line service. 
Mark Dickens, Federal Express managing director for customer automation 
programs, said customers' growing ease with computer technology and the 
expanding on-line market are driving FedEx's strategy. "Our customers are 
acquiring networks and PCs and we have the opportunity to expand our services.
Customers are getting used to this technology and our intention is to be
on-line as much as possible." 
About FedEx's plans to do all of its business electronically by the end of the
decade, Dickens said, "It's realistic. We believe the world is going to be
doing business on-line and we've seen that the information surrounding the
package is as important to our customers as the package itself." 
Customers of the new FedEx Ship software will be able to order pickups, track
shipments, print labels and maintain mailing lists using a desktop computer,
modem line and laser printer. Available at the end of January, the Windows
software will be free to FedEx customers, who will be able to make modem
connections using local or 800-number lines. A Macintosh version is planned
for the first quarter of 1995. 
To reach its end-of-the-decade goal, Federal Express has struck a deal with
IBM to install FedEx Ship in its Aptiva, IBM PC 300 and 700 models and the
portable IBM Thinkpad. Apple Computer and Intuit, manufacturer of Quickbooks,
an accounting program, also are making plans to offer the software to their
customers. 
"There are two things that our customers want to achieve," Dickens said. "They
want to maintain control over the shipping, but they don't want to expand
their mailrooms. They also want mail to be labeled before it gets to the
mailroom. If a secretary or assistant has an address list on the computer, the
package can be labeled and it goes to the mailroom for FedEx pickup. The
mailroom has the choice of offering centralized or decentralized service." 
Besides large global accounts, FedEx Ship targets the occasional shipper, 
such as the home or office user who does not send packages regularly. Dickens 
said FedEx's research indicates as much as 25 percent of Americans work either
from their homes or away from their central offices, making them lucrative
prospects. 
FedEx strategy includes a range of electronic business connections. The 
company already has a presence on the Internet with a dedicated "Home Page" 
connection on the World Wide Web server, which can be reached at 
http.//www.fedex.com, and has started a partnership with America OnLine, 
another electronic information service provider. It is also a member of 
CommerceNet, an organization that promotes standards and participation in 
electronic commerce.  


======================================
Plug and Play: New Standard Would Make Computer Add-ons A Snap     
Nov. 20--Rob Warmack of Intel Corp. makes his living designing products for
personal computers. Still, it took him four infuriating days to install a 
compact-disc drive on his home PC. 
The problem was a common one, Warmack said. The information on the multimedia
upgrade kit said it would be compatible with his PC. It wasn't. 
"The whole ordeal was hard for me to deal with, and I do this kind of thing
every day. The novice computer user must be absolutely bludgeoned with 
complexity," said Warmack, who last week was showing off Intel's Plug and Play
product lines at Comdex, the nation's largest computer trade show. 
Intel and nearly 100 other companies involved in the personal computer 
business have rallied around a set of standards, dubbed Plug and Play, that 
they say will make PCs easier to use. 
Supporters say the feature will be a godsend, reducing money spent on 
technical support and product returns. Skeptics counter that the effort smacks
of an impossible dream, at least in the short term. 
"If it all comes together the way it has been planned, it will be a great idea,
" said Andrew Shulman, a Sonoma-based author who recently wrote "Unauthorized
Windows 95." "The problem is there's a lot of systems out there that aren't
Plug and Play compatible." 
The backbone of Plug and Play is Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95 operating system,
which is due out next year. 
Windows 95 promises to keep track of all the hardware inside and outside a
computer. When something is added or taken out, Windows 95's Plug and Play 
feature will automatically update the system software to accommodate changes. 
If it works, users no longer will have to struggle with cryptic chores such as
trying to fix their AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. 
Instead, equipment manufacturers will have to solve those problems, or forgo
being part of Plug and Play. 
Ultimately, the goal is to sell more computers and eat into Apple Computer's
market share. 
One of the big advantages Apple has over IBM-compatible competitors is 
control. Because Apple has a tighter rein on its market, products made for 
Macintosh computers typically are easier to use. 
Microsoft will attempt to gain similar control by certifying companies that
make products that meet Plug and Play specifications. Before the product or
accessory can carry the Plug and Play logo, which will read "Designed for 
Microsoft Windows 95," it will have to pass a compatibility test administered
by Microsoft. 
"The logo will be the defining factor that consumers can look for," said Glenn
Thompson, who heads up hardware relationships for Microsoft, based in Redmond,
Wash. 
Though some products already describe themselves as Plug and Play, none will
be certified until Windows 95 is complete, Thompson said. 
Some industry experts say Microsoft is promising the impossible. The problem
isn't so much with the slew of new products added each year that Windows 95
software will have to recognize. Instead, the challenge is in making Plug and
Play work on old systems that have a mishmash of accessory cards and upgrades
that don't have the necessary software to talk to the operating system. 
"I don't think there's any question that it's going to be mayhem for a couple
of years until companies iron all the wrinkles out," said Jindrich "Hank"
Semenec, an applications engineer for chip maker Cirrus Logic of Fremont,
which is participating in the program. 
The problem, Semenec explained, is that "there are hundreds and thousands of
different cards out there combined in different ways in each computer." 
Though Microsoft denies it, outsiders say that Plug and Play is one of the
primary causes for the yearlong delay in shipping Windows 95. 
Even when complete, the feature is unlikely to be foolproof. "The reality is
that they'll also probably never accomplish 100 percent compatibility with all
the multimedia products out there, especially the sound cards and video boards,
" said software consultant Bruce Fredrickson, 
president of Channel Tactics in Boulder, Colo. 
There's also an issue of expectation. Plug and Play will mean different things
to different manufacturers and users. 
Microsoft's standard for add-on cards in portable computers, for example, 
doesn't require that the cards be able to be pulled out of a computer by 
mistake, Carl Perkins, president of Irvine-based New Media Corp. said. That 
may come as a surprise to some users. 
"If you buy a product and it says it's Plug and Play and it freezes your 
computer on the road, that's a problem," Perkins said. "Basically, consumers
will still have to pay attention to what they're buying."


======================================
Florida's Expert Software Needs No Hard Sell                       
Nov. 21--Ken and Sue Currier were living a trendy life when they met and 
married in New York City in 1973. 
He was a producer, working with John Belushi and Chevy Chase on the National
Lampoon Show, just before the comics made the big time on Saturday Night Live. 
She was a top fashion model, gracing the covers of Mademoiselle, Redbook and
Working Woman. 
"Back then, there was a lot of cool stuff going on," Ken Currier recalls.
"Studio 54 and other places like the Mud Club. I think even the Rolling Stones
showed up one night at the Mud Club and played a set." 
"When we lived in New York back then, and got involved in that scene, you
begin to think it's normal," he said as he leaned back in his chair at Expert
Software, the company the couple now owns. 
Whatever life was like in 1973, the couple didn't imagine they'd own a 
software company in South Florida 20 years later. With 94 employees, it 
occupies 7,400 square feet - including an exercise facility - in the Douglas 
Entrance office building in Coral Gables. They expect 1994 sales to reach $20 
million. 
"You don't plan these things out. We had hard times,'' Sue Currier said. 
"We're lucky. The last five years have just been like a rocket. We used to 
have to use credit cards to pay our payroll." 
So how did they succeed? Because they developed a sense of what the public
wants, and because they knew how to sell through the mail, she said. 
Sue Currier learned about the financial side of catalogs while modeling for
many of them. That, plus her partner's business background as a producer, 
helped them when they started a mail-order software business. It began on the 
kitchen table in their small East Side apartment in New York. 
"The landlord eventually threatened to evict us because there was too much UPS
traffic coming through," he said. 
So in 1984, they moved the business, then called Softsync, to an apartment on
Madison Avenue. The company lacked focus, Currier said. It made anything, from
games to databases. "It was such an early time in the industry that people
didn't know what they wanted," he said. 
Money was tight. Often, the couple used credit cards to pay the many 
freelancers who helped them with the technical side of the business. But they 
were the early days of a rapidly growing industry. 
"It was a very tiny little business that required virtually no start-up costs,
" Sue Currier said. They began with $500 and paid employees as cash came in. 
By 1989, Softsync had changed its name to Expert and grown to 12 employees,
with sales of about $1.5 million. It was recognized as a good investment by
larger companies looking to grow. 
Bloc Development, a Coral Gables firm that develops and markets software and
hardware, offered the Curriers $1 million for the company in 1990 - and the
chance to remain in charge. 
Gilbert Fiorentino, Bloc's executive vice president of marketing, said a 
single software product caught his company's attention: "They had an 
accounting product that we were excited about. ... The rest just sort of fell 
into place." 
Two years later, the Curriers regained full control of Expert. Price tag: $7.5
million. 
To make the purchase, they used some of their own money, borrowed some, and
hooked up with TA Associates, a venture capital group in Boston. 
"Bloc wanted to focus on two of its other subsidiaries," Fiorentino said. "The
company just decided that it was in the best interest of Bloc not to be in the
software business any longer." 
Recognition came quickly when the Curriers changed the company name (just 
before Bloc purchased it), realizing they had to be more consumer-oriented. It
has come even more swiftly since the Curriers bought back the company. 
They have always focused more on marketing than on technical matters. As far
back as 1982, they hired people to create the programs. 
The next step was logical, Ken Currier said: Give people programs they could
learn from but that were fun, too. 
Since 1990, programs featuring things like travel planning, interior design
and home education have replaced the more-technical programs like accounting,
taxes and small business. 
Prices were once as high as $499; today, they range from $15 to $50. Two of
Expert's programs (Expert Travel Planner CD and Home Design) were recently
featured on NBC's Today show. Home Design is the 25th best-selling software
program in the world, according to PC Data. PC Computing magazine just named
Home Design one of the Top 100 CD-ROMs. And in September, PC Magazine picked
another Expert product, Astronomer, for its cover, naming it one of the 100
how to sell and best CD-ROMs. 
And the industry "has no end in sight," said Sara White, public relations
assistant at the Software Publishers Association in Washington, 
D.C. 
The primary trade association for PC software, it calculated software sales
for the first half of 1994 at more than $3 billion. 
David Tremblay, the association's research director, said Expert was in the
right place at the right time with the right products. 
The Curriers said they expect between 35 and 40 new programs in the next year.
Right now, they don't see a down side to the business - especially with the
holiday season. 
"The home computer market has just blown up," Sue Currier said. "Prices are
coming down. It's virtually a new source of entertainment." 
Her husband assesses things a bit differently. "We're just a couple of 
ex-hippies who have grown up to become capitalists," he said. 


======================================
CHINA: TIBET DEVELOPS TRADITIONAL MEDICINE                         
 LHASA (NOV. 21) - SOUTHWEST CHINA'S TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION HAS
BECOME A TRAINING AND RESEARCH CENTER FOR TRADITIONAL TIBETAN 
MEDICINE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. 
UP TO NOW, SCORES OF RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND MEDICAL SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN SET UP
TO PROMOTE TRADITIONAL TIBETAN MEDICINE WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY. 
IN THE PAST, LAMAS WHO MASTERED THE SCIENCE ONLY TAUGHT SELECTED YOUNG LAMAS
AND WROTE MOST OF THE MEDICINE BOOKS IN THE TIBETAN LANGUAGE. THE ORDINARY
PEOPLE HAD LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF IT. 
THINGS ARE DIFFERENT NOW. THE FIRST SCHOOL TO TEACH TIBETAN MEDICINE WAS BUILT
IN 1983 AND THE FIRST COLLEGE WAS SET UP IN 1989. 
MEANWHILE, MANY TRAINING CLASSES WERE OPENED TO PEOPLE IN THE REGION AND TO
THOSE IN CHINA'S INLAND AREAS WHO WERE INTERESTED IN THE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE. 
MANY HOSPITALS USING TIBETAN MEDICINE WERE BUILT AND MORE THAN TEN YOUNGER
DOCTORS OF TIBETAN MEDICINE WERE PROVIDED WITH ASSISTANTS IN THE REGION. 
THE MEDICINE IS A SYSTEMATIC SCIENCE EVOLVED BY THE TIBETAN PEOPLE IN THEIR
STRUGGLE AGAINST HARSH NATURAL CONDITIONS AND IT DIFFERS FROM OTHER SCHOOLS OF
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE AND FROM WESTERN MEDICINE. 
A LARGE PART OF THE MEDICAMENTS USED IN TIBETAN MEDICINE ARE PREPARED BY USING
HERBS GROWING ONLY ON THE QINGHAI-TIBETAN PLATEAU. 


======================================
REPORT: MATSUSHITA, IBM TO LEAD MULTIMEDIA PROJECT                 
Tokyo-Nov. 21---MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL Co. of Japan and
International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. of the United States will lead a
project to develop a household multimedia terminal, Japan's top financial 
newspaper said today. 
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the terminals will combine the functions of a
computer and a home entertainment appliance, allowing users to call up movies,
music and video games as well as offer on-line shopping and other services. 
Matsushita acknowleded that discussions were taking place with IBM, along with
other companies, on such a project, but a spokesman said a firm agreement had
not yet been reached. 
IBM officials in Tokyo declined to comment on the issue. The Nihon Keizai
Shimbun said the two companies planned to exchange official letters of intent
for the project in the near future. 
Analysts said such a project would be a good deal for both IBM and Matsushita
and could play a significant role in boosting demand for personal computers in
Japan. 
"IBM has the digital know-how, Matsushita has the distribution network," said
David Benda, a technology analyst at Barclays de Zoete Wedd Securities Ltd. "I
would have thought it would work splendidly for both companies in Japan." 
IBM "wants people badly to line up for PCs" and Matsushita wants to sell
"faster, sexier machines," added Steve Myers, an industrial electronics
analyst at Jardine Fleming Securities Ltd. 
The newspaper report said the terminals will be developed over the next two
years and will be based on 64- bit PowerPC microprocessor technology developed
by IBM, telecommunications equipment maker Motorola Inc. and Apple Computer
Inc. 
U.S. software maker 3DO and Motorola plan to take part in the project, and the
terminal will be compatible with 3DO's home video game machines, it added. 
A key incentive for Matsushita would be that the project could help the
electronics giant gain access to the PowerPC chip for use in developing
high-performance personal computers and other products. 
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the two companies are negotiating Matsushita's
development of personal digital assistants using PowerPC technology. 


======================================
Intuit, Others Offer On-Line Services Through Intel
  Intel Corp. said six software companies and a bank have agreed to convert
 their products for delivery to home personal computers over cable-TV lines.
  Intuit Inc., Netscape Communications Corp., Team Software and Wells Fargo
 Bank said they plan to make products for banking and financial services that
 work with Intel's CablePort technology for connecting PCs to the cable
 system. Computer Curriculum Corp. and Ingenius will convert educational
 software.
  Another company, eShop Inc., said it plans to offer merchants software that
 lets them set up on-line shopping services using cable lines.
  Once upgraded to handle two-way communications, cable systems can carry
 data up to 1,000 times faster than conventional telephone lines. Intel said
 it expects the service to be available in some cities by the end of 1995.


======================================
Summa Four, Hewlett-Packard  To Join In Phone-Equipment Pact
  Summa Four Inc., a maker of programmable call-switching computers for the
 telephone industry, said it will work with Hewlett-Packard Co. on advanced
 technology for phone networks.
  Systems made by Summa Four, based in Manchester, N.H., already are used in
 new applications such as Sprint Corp.'s voice-activated dialing for
 phone-card customers. Its switches, which are based on standard software and
 are designed to work easily with equipment from other companies, also
 provide voice-mail service to Pacific Bell users in California.
  The relationship with Hewlett-Packard echoes earlier agreements with other
 computer makers including International Business Machines Corp. and Unisys
 Corp. While it won't bring in immediate revenue it could contribute
 significantly over the long term, executives said.


======================================
Cyrix To Unveil Big Computer Chip, Vows To Cut Costs
  RICHARDSON, Texas -- Cyrix Corp. today will unveil what may be the largest
 microprocessor chip ever made, but the company vowed to quickly rectify the
 big chip's cost disadvantage.
  The long-awaited chip, code-named M1, is 20.3 millimeters long and 19.4
 millimeters wide. That is more than twice as large as Intel Corp.'s Pentium
 microprocessor, a top-of-the-line chip for personal computers that Cyrix is
 targeting.
  In making semiconductors, large size means higher production costs and
 lower profits. Cyrix said the M1 turned out so big because the company
 needed to adapt the product to the most widely available production
 processes. Cyrix contracts with other companies to build its chips;
 International Business Machines Corp. and SGSThomson Microelectronics NV
 will manufacture the M1.
  When packaged, the M1 will nevertheless fit into the same socket as the
 latest version of the Pentium and operate 30% to 50% faster, Cyrix said.
  Until recently, Cyrix was promising the M1 chip would appear in computers
 by the end of the year. A company spokeswoman said the chips now may appear
 by mid-1995, and Cyrix will have its first working samples of the chip
 "within days." Cyrix is already working on a smaller version of M1 that the
 company expects to be ready by the end of next year, she said.
  Microprocessor chips carry such high prices that even the original M1 may
 be profitable, said Michael Slater, editor of Microprocessor Report, an
 industry newsletter in Sebastopol, Calif. But its cost disadvantage over
 competing chips will be significant, noted Mark Edelstone, an analyst at
 Prudential Securities Research, who predicted that Cyrix to focus on the
 smaller version and another chip that is targeted at notebook computers.


======================================
Microsoft May Get Help In China From Its Uncle Sam
  HONG KONG -- After blundering in its early efforts to crack the coveted
 China market, mighty Microsoft Corp. soon may get a little help -- courtesy
 of U.S. trade policy.
  Not that the software concern isn't popular in China. Its products are
 available in English and Chinese, and on practically every compatible
 personal computer sold in the fast-growing market. With 1.2 billion people
 in an increasingly prosperous society, the world's most populous country
 should have been a natural expansion slot for the world's biggest software
 company.
  Instead, its China strategy has been plagued by embarrassing glitches.
 Microsoft programs were overpriced, its customized Chinese software was
 politically incorrect, and what looked like smooth sailing has been a
 disturbing journey through a pirates' lair.
  "It makes it difficult to go back to the head office in the U.S. and ask
 for more investment and more people," says Charles Stevens, vice president
 of Microsoft's Far East operations.
  For now, the pirates have the upper hand. Most Microsoft products in use in
 China are illegal copies made and transferred with no payment to Microsoft.
 Company executives recently came across a CD-ROM set containing nearly every
 top-selling program Microsoft has ever written. Even a goodwill visit to
 Beijing by Microsoft's billionaire founder Bill Gates -- admired by many
 Chinese entrepreneurs for business acumen -- spurred no official effort to
 curb the piracy undermining Microsoft's plans.
  Now, though, U.S. companies such as Microsoft stand to get help from a
 powerful ally: the U.S. government. China is being told to improve
 protection of copyrights, trademarks and patents by year end or lose as much
 as $800 million in U.S. trade. Washington also is reluctant to back
 Beijing's bid to rejoin the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade unless
 so-called intellectual property rights like Microsoft's are protected.
 Microsoft aides are backing the U.S. side with guerrilla warfare, digging
 through trash bins, paying locals to spy, and even posing as money-grubbing
 businessmen to collect evidence of piracy.
  The government's high-stakes, high-profile battle marks an important new
 stage in Microsoft's stumble-prone campaign to break into China. The
 Redmond, Wash., company is launching a new Chinese-language version of its
 popular Windows software, intended to create a platform for software
 development on the mainland and render most existing pirated versions
 obsolete.
  The new product will make up for one of the company's first gaffes, the
 introduction earlier this year of Taiwanese-designed Chinese software. China
 was incensed by the product, objecting that Microsoft should have consulted
 it rather than developing the software in Taiwan, which Beijing still
 regards as a renegade province. In retaliation, China threatened to set
 software standards that would have made Microsoft's Chinese-language
 software effectively illegal.
  Despite its new software, Microsoft still faces overwhelming competition
 from pirates. In October, the company slashed its prices on the mainland as
 much as 200% to try to compete with the copies. Still, few in China will pay
 $200 for a Microsoft program when they can buy an illegal copy for $20 in
 any major city. China's government is itself believed to be one of the worst
 offenders. Microsoft's lawyers complain that Beijing doesn't yet budget for
 software purchases, forcing its cash-strapped bureaucracy to find cheap
 software solutions. Much of the government ends up using pirated software,
 they say.
  Only if the government sets an example and budgets for software will China
 develop "the mindset that software is property and if you need it you buy
 it," says Alix Parlour Grice, Microsoft's senior corporate attorney in Hong
 Kong. "That mentality is completely lacking today."
  China's intransigence is a threat to Microsoft's business elsewhere: The
 country is becoming a mass-exporter of counterfeit software. Microsoft
 executives don't have to travel far to see the problem first hand. Just a
 few blocks from the company's Hong Kong office a woman in a pink cotton
 sweat suit sells pirated software from a tiny shop in Kornhill Plaza, one of
 the dozens of shiny new shopping malls that dot the British colony. The
 woman, who refuses to give her name, offers a shopper compact disks each
 crammed with dozens of computer programs which together are worth as much as
 $20,000. The price: 400 Hong Kong dollars per disk, or about $52.
  She laughs when asked if the disks are legal, and goes back to her meal of
 noodles. But Microsoft doesn't find the question quite so funny. The disks
 are spreading even further afield. Hong Kong customs recently seized a
 shipment of 2,200 such disks enroute from China to Belgium.
  Such recordable disks, churned out with a $7,000 desktop machine, are only
 part of the problem. More sophisticated factories with multimillion-dollar
 equipment are stamping out counterfeit copies of CD-ROM disks with the
 latest multimedia programs, the fastest-growing segment of the software
 market. "We're just seeing an explosion of it," says Ms. Grice. "My office
 can barely cope with what's happening."
  But she's trying. Frustrated by China's lack of enforcement of copyright
 laws, Microsoft has begun acting on its own. Last year, the company pressed
 officials in the southern province of Guangdong to raid a hologram
 manufacturer that was making counterfeit Microsoft holograms used as the
 finishing touch on counterfeit software. The counterfeiter's penalty: a
 $2,000 fine -- even though the order for the counterfeit holograms was worth
 100 times that much. Microsoft is appealing.
  "The damages are so small, it doesn't send a signal," laments Mr. Stevens.
 The company hasn't had much more luck with the central government in
 Beijing. Last year, China established special courts to hear intellectual
 property cases and Microsoft succeeded in prodding the Beijing court to raid
 shops in the capital's Haidian district -- a thieves market of computers and
 illegal software.
  The court raided six shops in June. But Microsoft hasn't been able to take
 action because the court hasn't allowed it to inspect the material seized.
 The court is now demanding Microsoft pay nearly $8,000 for an independent
 accountant to inspect the evidence. Now, the company is mounting its own
 covert operations to build airtight cases that it can take to the courts. It
 goes through the trash of suspected counterfeiters, piecing together
 profiles of the bosses and their businesses. The company even pays
 informants to keep watch on targets, so it can collect enough evidence to
 press authorities for a raid.


======================================
H-P, Affymax Unit To Build   Machines To Sequence DNA
  PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Hewlett-Packard Co., seeking to become a big supplier
 of equipment to the biomedical field, said it plans to build a new
 generation of DNA-sequencing machines.
  H-P's machines, for research and diagnostic uses, will be built in
 collaboration with a unit of Affymax NV.
  H-P is best known for its computer products. But the company said demand
 for high-volume gene analysis is growing fast among clinicians and
 scientists amid huge strides in cracking the human-genetic code.
  Affymetrix, the unit of Affymax, a startup company also based here,
 developed a technique for doing such analysis quickly and cheaply, using a
 laser scanner that reads gene samples squirted onto silicon chips. H-P will
 make the scanner, which is about the size of a microwave oven, while
 Affymetrix will make the disposable chips.
  "This is our first entry into making tools for the DNA generation," said
 Douglas Carnahan, vice president and general manager of H-P's measurement
 systems division.
  The market for DNA sequencing devices is relatively small. Sales of gene
 sequencers world-wide this year will be about $300 million, though that is
 about triple the 1992 level, according to Phortech International, a market
 research firm in Belmont, Calif. Such devices are used mainly in research
 labs to determine the makeup of unknown genes. The biggest manufacturer is
 Applied Biosystems, a unit of Perkin-Elmer Corp.
  The H-P device, in contrast, would identify small changes in known genes,
 or mutations, permitting disease diagnosis in a doctor's office or various
 comparative tasks in a research lab in a matter of minutes. The market for
 clinical diagnostics is immense, and products that help reduce overall
 health-care costs are considered desirable.
  "There's a lot of pent-up demand" for an affordable gene sequencer, said
 Mike Eby, president of PhorTech. "The Affymetrix machine does appear to be
 quite promising."
  The two companies won't say when the machine will be available, or how much
 it will cost. An Affymetrix executive previously indicated that a commercial
 version of the system would be sold starting in 1996. Automated DNA
 sequencers cost at least $65,000. The H-P machine is likely to sell for a
 small fraction of that amount.
  David Singer, Affymetrix chief executive officer, said Affymetrix chose H-P
 for its manufacturing skills, world-wide distribution, and reputation for
 customer service. In addition, one of Affymetrix's board members is John
 Young, formerly chief executive at H-P. "This technology has such a broad
 future, there was no reason for us to hold onto it," Mr. Singer said.
  Commenting on the machine's potential relative to H-P's computer printers,
 Mr. Carnahan said, "It's too early to make a prediction that this will be
 more explosive. But at the conceptual level, we want to keep that kind of
 vision in mind."


======================================
MCI To Unveil Ambitious Plan To Commercialize The Internet
  NEW YORK -- MCI Communications Corp., setting a major foray into
 cyberspace, is expected today to unveil the most ambitious plan yet by a
 major telecommunications company to commercialize the Internet.
  MCI is slated to unveil an array of services linking consumers and
 businesses to the global web of computer networks, including an electronic
 "mall" for on-line shopping, new easy-to-use software for tapping into
 disparate databases and an "access service" giving businesses fiberoptic
 hookups.
  The "internetMCI" initiative is set to begin early next year. In a bid to
 imprint the well-known MCI name onto the Internet effort, MCI plans to
 launch TV commercials touting the new venture as part of its networkMCI
 program. That will bring the business of the Internet, long the domain of
 high-tech specialists and scientists, to the mainstream audience of prime
 time.
  "The message is basically going to be: When you think Internet, you'll
 think MCI," said Vinton Cerf, an MCI senior vice president and one of the
 Internet's original designers when the U.S. Defense Department built the
 experimental network 25 years ago.
  The Internet is becoming commercialized at a rapid pace, and so many
 companies are rushing to capture the market that few analysts can keep
 track. Currently, the global network is doubling in size each year, reaching
 an estimated 25 million people connected to 42,000 computer networks,
 although far fewer people are believed to actually make use of the Internet
 on a daily basis.
  By the end of 1999, the Internet may reach some 400 million people on 4.1
 million networks, Mr. Cerf maintains. "That's a hell of a big market and a
 market that excites MCI," said another company executive. MCI's initiative
 "is certainly the most ambitious plan articulated by a telephone carrier,"
 said David Farber, a professor of telecommunications at the University of
 Pennsylvania.
  Competition will be fierce from rivals large and small. The company that
 provides the easiest access to the arcane Internet is bound to win, said Mr.
 Farber.
  MCI's traditional competitors, AT&T Corp. and particularly Sprint Corp.,
 have made inroads in offering Internet connectivity, and titans such as
 International Business Machines Corp. and Microsoft Corp. also have targeted
 the looming market. Dozens of small companies already offer low-cost access
 and easy-to-use Internet software.
  "MCI is competing against some extraordinarily low-cost providers --
 literally Joe in his basement," said Scott Bradner, a senior technical
 consultant at Harvard University.
  In the mid-1980s, MCI worked with a few other companies to build the
 federal government's stretch of the Internet, a major "backbone" run by the
 National Science Foundation. Earlier this year, it began building its own
 alternative backbone, a fiber-optic pipeline that delivers data nationwide
 to smaller networks dangling from its limbs.
  The MCI pipeline will become the centerpiece of the company's new push to
 build a business in cyberspace. As the U.S. government phases out its
 involvement with the Internet, the MCI network will provide connections to
 some of the "regional providers," the Internet's version of Baby Bell local
 carriers.
  Large-scale users will be able to have rapid fiber-optic connections to the
 MCI web. Individual users will be able to have slower, and less costly,
 phone-line links to the network.
  The company also plans to offer "interactive shopping" via
 "marketplaceMCI," a mall on the Internet's World Wide Web, a data-retrieval
 system that uses graphics and sound on the network.
  ATLANTA  MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC) unveiled internetMCI, a
 portfolio of services featuring a new secure electronic shopping mall, and a
 software package for Internet access and high-speed network connections to
 the Internet. 
  In a press release, MCI said internetMCI will allow businesses of all sizes
 to display and directly sell their goods and services over the Internet. 
  MCI said the system allows consumers to shop and make secure transactions
 directly over the Internet without the fear of having their credit card
 number or other sensitive information stolen by electronic eavesdroppers. 
  MCI will offer internetMCI software starting at $49.95. The internetMCI
 software will also be included at no additional charge to customers of
 networkMCI BUSINESS, an integrated information and communications software
 package. 
  MCI's internetMCI Access Services will be fully integrated with its
 existing business long distance services. Internet access will be available
 in a range of methods from switched local and 800 access and dedicated
 access to more advanced switched data services such as ISDN, frame relay
 and, in the future, SMDS and ATM, the company said. 


======================================
Intel signs agreements with additional leading  software and retail
to bring more interactive services to the home via cable; Electronic commerce
and education comes to the home
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. -Nov. 21, 1994--Intel Corporation
Monday added six leading software developers and one major bank to its roster
of software applications which are being developed for Intel's CablePort
technology, which brings high speed multimedia-rich interactive services to
personal computers in the home via cable. 
To meet the needs of the electronic commerce market for banking, financial
services and shopping, Intuit, Netscape Communications Corporation, TEAM
Software and Wells Fargo Bank have signed agreements to port applications to
the CablePort technology.  To meet the needs of the educational market for
in-home learning, Computer Curriculum Corporation and Ingenius have also
signed agreements to port their applications to the CablePort technology. 
Intel also announced porting and development agreements with eShop Inc. to use
their interactive shopping system to demonstrate Tower Records' first
broadband home, music and video store at the Western Cable Show and future
Intel CablePort technology trials. 
The combination of the data speed offered by cable -- up to 1,000 times faster
than a telephone modem -- with the interactive power of home personal
computers using Pentium processors, makes it possible to deliver these
services with high quality sound, video and graphics with response times not
possible over a standard phone modem. 
Once the applications are ported, the firms plan to participate in trials
using the Intel CablePort technology. 
America Online and Prodigy are already working with Intel to provide 
multimedia applications to the home PC over cable.  They are currently 
participating in trials with Intel and Comcast Cable and Viacom Cable. 
The cable PC networking technology and support employed in these trials is
being provided by Hybrid Networks Inc., which is also providing Internet
access. 
Today's service providers are in addition to a host of other companies who
already signed agreements with Intel last May including Redgate Communications
Inc. (recently merged with America Online) and market trial agreements
including Reality Online Inc., (a Reuters subsidiary) and News Electronic Data
Inc. 
Intel also signed memorandums of understanding earlier this year with Rogers
Cablesystems Limited and Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) to bring interactive
on-line services to the home PC. 
"Now, one year after the 1993 Western Cable Show when we announced our vision
that the PC would be the interactive appliance in the home, we have line up
four major cable operators and 12 content providers to bring interactivity to
the home PC via cable," said Avram Miller, Intel vice president, corporate
business development.  "The PC has become recognized as the platform of choice
for interactivity over cable." 
The U.S. home market is the fastest growing market for personal computers,
according to Computer Intelligence InfoCorp.  Trendata, the market research
firm, reports nearly 59 percent of home PCs have telephone modems and 42
percent have CD-ROM players, meeting the need for consumers to be both online
and interactive.  Today's announcement is the next step toward electronic
commerce and education in the home. 
Demonstrations of America Online, Computer Curriculum Corporation, Ingenius,
Intuit, Netscape Communications Corporation, Prodigy, Softbank, 
Taxi and Tower Records are being shown at the Western Cable Show in Anaheim,
CA November 30 - December 2. 
Intel, the worlds largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of 
personal computer, networking and communications products. 


======================================
Matsushita Electric, IBM Mull Multimedia Tie-Up >IBM
  TOKYO  Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and International Business
 Machines Corp. (IBM) are mulling a tie-up in the multimedia area, said
 spokesmen for the two companies, also indicating that no decisions have been
 made yet. 
  The two companies are discussing whether to use the ''Power PC''
 microprocessor that IBM helped develop in the 64-bit ''Real'' video-game
 machine that Matsushita will produce, both companies said. But they denied
 reports that the two companies had already reached a basic agreement on a
 broader tie-up to jointly develop multimedia equipment. 
  Concerning a broader multimedia tie between the two companies, both IBM and
 Matsushita would only say they're considering a broad range of
 possibilities. 
  Neither company offered a target for decision-making on either the video
 game tie-up or a broader collaboration. 
  The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that IBM and Matsushita had reached a
 basic agreement on developing a home-use multimedia machine that would
 combine computer, game-software, music, video and home-shopping
 capabilities. 


======================================
The Advanced Research Projects Agency  to fund UCLA's Computer Scie
Department and Locus Computing Corp. for joint research in the performance of
scalable processing systems
LOS ANGELES -Nov. 21, 1994--The University of 
California, Los Angeles, Computer Science Department and Locus Computing Corp.
Monday announced a joint research effort that will analyze the performance of
scalable processing systems. 
The research effort will combine the UCLA Computer Science Department's 
performance-modeling skills and Locus' strong experience in developing 
large-scale systems to conduct an in-depth analysis of the performance 
limitations of massively scalable processing environments. 
The project, which is being funded by Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA),
is a multimillion-dollar endeavor encompassing a period of three years. 
The objective of the research project is to analyze parallel systems behavior
to predict performance and introduce new approaches or designs to new systems
software to improve performance of massively parallel processing (MPP) systems.
Gerald J. Popek, chairman and general manager, Product Division of Locus 
Computing, said:  ''Locus has been a recognized leader in distributed systems
technology for over a decade.  We believe our vast experience in building
large scalable systems and the commercial environment will make a significant
contribution to the success of this endeavor.'' 
''Our goal is to provide an integrated view of all aspects of MPP performance,
from the interconnection network up to the compiler and applications, thereby
providing a global space-time profile of the system behavior,'' said Dr.
Leonard Kleinrock, professor and chairman of the Computer Science Department,
UCLA. 
Locus Computing is one of the largest independent suppliers of distributed
computing services, products and technology, including Merge DOS and Windows
integration software for UNIX, the PC-Interface family of desktop integration
products, and Transparent Network Computing (TNC) single system image software.
The UCLA Computer Science Department is one of the nation's largest and most
prestigious graduate education centers in computer-information technology.  It
is recognized for its research in the design and analysis of complex computer
systems and networks. Internationally recognized research has been carried out
in artificial intelligence; biocybernetics; computer-aided design and
manufacturing; computer arithmetic; computer networking; computer-science
theory; computer-system architecture and design methodology; distributed 
computing; economic modeling; parallel processing systems; programming 
languages and software systems; reliable computing and fault tolerance; and
scientific computing. 


======================================
Megahertz selects Global  Village software to bundle with its PCMCI
brings integrated Windows communications solution to portable PC users
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. -Nov. 21, 1994--Global Village 
Communication Inc. (NASDAQ:GVIL) and Megahertz Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:MEGZ)
Monday reached an agreement to bundle Global Village's new FaxWorks Data 3.0
software for Windows with Megahertz's market-leading products. 
FaxWorks Data 3.0 enables customers to communicate easily with the office,
clients and on-line services, providing a total, plug-and-play solution. The
package offers fax and data communications capabilities and one-button access
to on-line services. 
FaxWorks Data 3.0 will ship with Megahertz's entire product line, including
PCMCIA data/fax modems with award-winning XJACK (R) connector system; PCMCIA
cellular data/fax modems; and PCMCIA Ethernet-Modem combination cards. 
"We're excited that Megahertz chose Global Village's FaxWorks Data software as
the premier, easy-to-use solution for PCMCIA fax/modem users, " said Neil
Selvin, Global Village president and CEO. "We see the agreement with Megahertz
as a long-term working relationship which allows us to expand our presence as
a top player in the personal communications market." 
"It is a priority at Megahertz to provide customers with innovative, 
easy-to-use data communications solutions," said Steve Smith, Megahertz's
senior vice president of marketing. "Our partnership with Global Village
enhances our ability to provide our customers with an intuitive communications
package that will make data transfer easier than ever." 
FAXWORKS DATA 3.0  Provides Seamless Setup 
FaxWorks Data 3.0 saves users setup time by providing automatic software 
installation and modem initialization. For novices, the program offers 
optional cue cards which provide quick explanations of key functions and act
as a valuable supplement to the user's technical manual. 
Includes Wide Range of Easy-to-Use Fax Capabilities 
Based on Global Village's award-winning Windows fax engine, FaxWorks Data
offers Megahertz customers the ability to create and send faxes; automatic
cover sheets; the ability to add signatures and company logos; thumbnail fax
viewing for seeing the whole fax document at a glance; streamlined management
of faxes; and a personal phone book. 
In addition, the package integrates optical character recognition (OCR), 
allowing for quick and easy conversion of fax documents to editable text 
files. Annotation and drawing tools also give users the ability to add notes
and drawings to their faxes before resending.  Offers Efficient and Simple
Data Capabilities 
FaxWorks Data 3.0 provides a quick, efficient avenue for launching 
applications and connecting to bulletin boards and on-line services. The 
QuickDial (TM) utility provides user-defined buttons for frequently used phone
numbers. QuickDial buttons are easily customized via the software's advanced
scripting capabilities. 
FaxWorks Data also features terminal emulation, enabling easy connection to a
wide variety of host machines. For versatility, FaxWorks offers host mode for
remote dial-in as well as a variety of data transfer protocols.  Handles
Communications Transparently 
FaxWorks Data's unique Smartport (TM) technology instantly identifies incoming
calls as data or fax. Furthermore, Smartport transparently coordinates the
user's lineup of communications applications by automatically releasing the
communications port when another communications program requires it. 
Global Village Communication Inc. 
Global Village is a leading supplier of easy-to-use communication products for
personal computer users. The company develops, markets and supports
industry-acclaimed products, including the FaxWorks family of fax software for
Windows, OS/2, and DOS; GlobalFax software for Macintosh; TelePort and
PowerPort fax/modems for Macintosh desktop and PowerBook computers; and the
OneWorld line of plug-and-play telecommunication servers.  Megahertz Holding
Corp. 
Megahertz Holding Corp. is a leading supplier of solution-oriented mobile data
communications products and manufactures PCMCIA data/fax modems, PCMCIA
cellular data/fax modems for selected cellular telephones, 
PCMCIA Ethernet/modem combination cards, PCMCIA Ethernet adapters and 
external "pocket" modems. Megahertz recently announced a PCMCIA-based remote
access server, providing easy network access for mobile computer users and an
end-to-end connectivity solution for IS managers.


======================================
Apple, Amer Online : Form 2Market For Home Shopping Svcs
  SAN MATEO, Calif.  America Online Inc. (AMER), Apple Computer Inc.
 (AAPL), and Medior Inc., an interactive software-development company, have
 formed a company to deliver interactive shopping from home. 
  The first of 2Market Inc.'s services are being delivered on multimedia
 CD-ROM for Apple Macintosh and Windows personal computers and on on-line
 services, including America Online and Apple's eWorld. 
  2Market is receiving financing, technology, and marketing expertise from
 the three companies, 2Market said in a press release. 
  The first 2Market CD-ROM includes products from more than 25 catalogs and
 retailers, as well as a one-stop connection to American Online.
 Additionally, other products and services will be available on America
 Online and eWorld and will provide content tailored to on-line capabilities.


======================================
FTP Software teams with MCI to bring  Internet shopping to consumer
business markets
NO. ANDOVER, MASS.  -November 21, 1994--FTP Software,
Inc. (Nasdaq:FTPS) today announced that they have teamed with MCI to provide
software and services that will revolutionize the way consumers shop and
companies do business on the Internet. 
In conjunction with today's unveiling of MCI's internetMCI, the two companies
announced an agreement where FTP will provide software, technology integration,
and support which will form the software foundation of internetMCI's
easy-to-use connection and navigational tools. 
This agreement with MCI is the latest move in FTP Software's strategy of 
providing both consumer and corporate Interprise networking solutions, 
according to David Fowler, FTP Software's vice president of marketing. 
"While FTP Software has always been a leader in the corporate Internet world,
our goal is to also become a major force in the consumer and small business
market by teaming with strategic partners," said Fowler. "Working with MCI is
a big leap forward in implementing this strategy." 
The agreeement also encompasses joint marketing activities, including the
electronic distribution of FTP's newly released Explore OnNet Internet package
through MCI's new "Internet mall," called marketplaceMCI. 
"It's a perfect fit," said John Donoghue, vice president of marketing, MCI
Business Markets.  "MCI teamed with FTP Software because of its Internet
knowledge, service and support, and robustness and reliability of its
technology.  MCI, in turn, provides the high-speed networking, brand
recognition and marketing reach. Together through internetMCI and 
marketplaceMCI, we make it simple for even novices to quickly connect, 
navigate and shop the Internet." 
With 1993 revenue of nearly $12 billion, MCI Communications Corporation is one
of the world's largest communications companies. Headquartered in Washington,
D.C., MCI has more than 65 offices in 58 countries and places.  The company's
Atlanta-based MCI Business Markets provides a wide range of communications and
information services to America's businesses, including networkMCI BUSINESS,
long distance voice, data and video services, and consulting and outsourcing
services. 
FTP Software is the leading independent supplier of TCP/IP-based network 
software for the PC, with the industry's largest TCP/IP support team and 
development staff.  Considered one of the pioneering developers of TCP/IP for
PCs, the publicly held company provides internetworking software and
applications for the corporate and personal Interprise networking market.  The
company's Interprise technology enables millions of PC users worldwide to
access resources across workgroup LANs, enterprise networks and the global
Internet. 
  NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.  FTP Software Inc. (FTPS) signed an agreement with
 MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC) to provide software and related services for
 MCI's Internet connection and navigational tools. 
  Terms weren't disclosed. 
  Under the agreement, FTP will provide software, technology integration and
 support for MCI's InternetMCI offering, FTP said. The pact also calls for
 joint marketing activities, including distribution of FTP's Explore OnNet
 Internet package through MCI's marketplaceMCI on the Internet, the company
 said. 


======================================
Cyrix Corp.-Microprocessor :Production By Early '95>CYRX
  RICHARDSON, Texas - Cyrix Corp. (CYRX) unveiled its 586-class
 microprocessor for superscalar and superpipelined. 
  In a press release, the company said it designed its initial 586 CPU for
 the high-end business and consumer markets. It is also ''ideal'' for dual
 processor desktop systems, Cyrix said. 
  Cyrix said its first 586 product based on the M1 architecture will be
 produced in a 296 pin SPGA package. The microprocessor includes a 64-bit
 data bus and a single 64-bit enhanced x87-compatible floating point
 pipeline. 
  Cyrix said the initial 586 uses superscalar and superpipelined
 technologies, and other architectural innovations, to allow software to
 execute more efficiently in the processor. Superpipelining divides the
 pipeline into seven stages, a design that provides for higher frequencies
 and better performance. 
  The company said its 586 microprocessor will be sampling in the fourth
 quarter and in production by early 1995. 


======================================
MCI announces, as expected, Internet commercialization plan        
     New York--Nov 21--MCI Communications (NASDAQ:MCIC) today as 
 expected announced a portfolio of services, called "internetMCI", to 
 commercialize the internet. 
     The portfolio features components such as a new secure electronic 
 shopping mall, a user-friendly software package for easy Internet 
 access and high-speed network connections to the Internet, MCI said. 
     "MCI is making the Internet as easy to use, as accessible and as 
 critical to businesses as today's global phone network," said Timothy 
 Price, president of MCI's Business Markets. 
     "With internetMCI, businesses of all sizes will now be able to 
 not only display but also directly sell their goods and services over 
 the Internet," he added. 
     InternetMCI will allow users to shop in MCI's new Internet 
 shopping mall called marketplaceMCI. The firm said it has already 
 begun beta testing on-line electronic shopping with about 40,000 
 employees. 


======================================
  ATLANTA  MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC) and the Boston Software Works
 unveiled MCI Mail Access Unit for the InterOFFICE Message Exchange product
 line. 
  In a press release, MCI said InterOFFICE, for users of MCI Mail Services,
 provides connections with several office and electronic mail systems, from
 PC LANs to mainframes. The MCI Mail Access Unit will extend communications
 of InterOFFICE customers to the value-added delivery options available
 through MCI Mail. 
  The MCI Mail Access Unit, when used in conjunction with InterOFFICE, allows
 users of a variety of office and electronic mail systems to exchange
 electronic mail with users of more than 61 public systems around the world,
 plus send fax, telex and paper mail. 
  The MCI Mail Access Unit will be available without a software license fee
 to existing and new users of InterOFFICE. It is currently in beta test and
 will be available early in the first quarter of 1995. 
  Boston Software Works, located in Boston, is a privately held software
 development firm, specializing in office system integration. 


======================================
Evans & Sutherland acquires  Portable Graphics Inc.                
SALT LAKE CITY  -Nov. 21, 1994--Evans & Sutherland 
Computer Corp. (E&S) (NASDAQ/NMS:ESCC) of Salt Lake City Monday announced the
purchase of Portable Graphics Inc. of Austin, Texas. 
Under the terms of the acquisition, E&S has purchased all the stock in the
company for a value of $1 million.  Portable Graphics is a wholly owned
subsidiary of E&S and continues to operate from its Austin location. 
The merger of E&S and Portable Graphics will position E&S as a leading 
supplier of GL-based software development tools, which allow applications
developed in the IRIS GL(TM) and OpenGL(TM) programming interfaces to run on
all the industry's leading workstation platforms. 
This follows a round of strategic announcements by Digital Equipment Corp.,
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), IBM, and Sun Microsystems that positions E&S as the
primary supplier of high-performance 3D graphics hardware. 
"The acquisition of Portable Graphics adds the software expertise and market
experience we need to provide world-class graphics solutions to a broad
customer base," said Lloyd Turner, president of the Design Systems Division of
Evans & Sutherland. "This announcement affirms E&S's position as the major
third party supplier for leading-edge 3D graphics technology," he added. 
"We are very pleased with our new association with Evans & Sutherland," said
Bhupi Bhasin, president of Portable Graphics Inc. "The combination of our
companies' unique strengths will produce the largest source of third-party,
multi-platform 3D graphics software and hardware solutions in the industry." 
The alliance of Portable Graphics and E&S is important to customers of both
companies, including E&S's workstation partners. 
"We are very pleased by this announcement," said Michael A. Gallup, marketing
manager for HP's Workstation Systems Group.  "For HP, this merger ensures that
HP customers will have both leading-edge graphics hardware and GL-based
software available on our Series 700 workstations. 
This will strengthen HP's position in the visual analysis and styling 
markets." On July 18, HP announced a partnership with E&S under which E&S will
provide graphics hardware and OpenGL software for HP workstations. 
"For Sun, the merger between E&S and Portable Graphics further extends Sun's
partnership with E&S, which began in October 1992. Today, we sell and support
the E&S Freedom Series to round out our own graphics family at the high end. 
"With this merger, software developers programming in OpenGL can now provide
their applications across the entire Sun product line -- from entry level
systems all the way up to the Freedom Series.  We are very supportive of this
merger," said Niraj Swarup, product line manager for graphics at Sun
Microsystems Computer Corp. 
"Portable Graphics has helped us successfully port CFD-VIEW, our interactive
3D graphics, animation, and flow visualization software to HP and Sun
workstations to open up a larger market for the product. CFD-VIEW is a
graphics-intensive application originally written with IRIS GL for Silicon
Graphics workstations," said R. Sukumar, marketing engineer at CFD Research
Corp. 
"The merger with E&S will offer Portable Graphics better resources and 
strengthen their capability to offer high quality graphics solutions to ISVs
like us." 
Portable Graphics is a software company that develops and markets GL-related
libraries and toolkits for developing 3D graphics applications on a variety of
hardware platforms. 
Portable Graphics' flagship product is NPGL(TM), an IRIS GL 4.0 
software-compatible library for HP, IBM, Sun, and DEC workstations. The 
company is currently working on OpenGL products and is also a supplier of the
Inventor(TM) application toolkit. 


======================================
Netscape's Commun Software To Be Used On MCI Internet Service
  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC) will use
 Netscape Communications Corp.'s Navigator and Netsite Commerce Server
 software with integrated security on its new ''internetMCI service.'' 
  In a press release, Netscape said that MCI is offering a secure online
 shopping mall called ''marketplaceMCI'' that will include electronic
 newsstands and storefronts. The system incorporates secure credit-card
 transaction processing without telephone operator intervention and a
 database management system integrated by Netscape Communications. 
  Netscape said that its Navigator package, which has been especially tuned
 for high performance over 14.4 kilobit/second modems, allows consumers to
 browse electronic storefronts and purchase goods and services securely using
 any major credit card. 


======================================
=Intel -2-: Wall Street More Optimistic On Pentium >INTC
  Other factors also may be helping semiconductor stocks in general, such as
 the holiday season impact and improvements in the European markets, said
 analyst Michael Geran of the Pershing Division of Donaldson Lufkin &
 Jenrette. 
  Many investors appeared to be most particularly optimistic about the fate
 of the Pentium after previously believing the chips were gaining a
 slower-than-expected acceptance. 
  ''The transition to the Pentium microprocessor is now well underway,''
 Merrill Lynch analyst Kurlak said in his report about Intel. He said
 Pentium-powered computers are expected to account for about one-third of all
 personal computers in 1995, compared with about 10% this year. 
  Kurlak also gave a 1996 earnings estimate of $8.70 a share for Intel in his
 report. 
  ''Demand for the Pentium is clearly picking up,'' said analyst Chaudhri of
 Goldman Sachs. He said the Pentium chips will be featured in 15% of the
 personal computers in dealers channels for the current quarter, which is
 nearly double the amount in the third calender quarter. 
  ''There's a growing recognition about the penetration of the Pentium,''
 Chaudhri said. 


======================================
Netherlands' KPN In Internet Venture With Dutch Publishers
  AMSTERDAM  Koninklijke PTT Nederland NV, or KPN, the Netherlands' post
 and telecommunications monopoly, said it will set up a joint venture with
 Dutch Quote Publishers, to offer access to the global computer network
 Internet at local telephone rates. 
  PTT Multimedia, KPN's multimedia arm slated to start operations in January,
 will own the majority in the venture, to be named Planet Internet. 
  Planet Internet will start operations in the western part of the
 Netherlands in the spring of 1995. It is scheduled to cover most of the
 country by the end of 1995. 
  In addition to electronic mail and Internet access, the venture will offer
 electronic newspapers and magazines, information services and home-shopping
 services. 
  Planet Internet's on-line electronic mail facility will offer the
 possibility to conduct live conversations with subscribers at the other side
 of the world at local telephone tariffs. 
  A spokesman at Groningen-based KPN declined to specify investments linked
 to the venture, or to be more specific about the company's stake in the
 venture. 
  ''Maybe there's going to be a third party in the venture. That's what it
 depends on,'' he said, stressing PTT Multimedia will hold the majority in
 Planet Internet. 


======================================
Arizona Satellite Owners Tune in for CD-Like Sounds, Sharp Sights  
Nov. 21--John Allen isn't a high-tech guy. It took him a couple months to 
figure out the basics of his VCR. 
"My wife applauded me when I got the clock to stop blinking," he says. But
Allen got on a waiting list to buy an 18-inch satellite dish touted as an
electronic breakthrough. Now he breezes through dozens of TV and music 
channels and praises the system for its sharp picture, clear sound and ease of
use. 
"The picture quality is superb," Allen says. "The stereo on it is tremendous.
I couldn't be happier and I'm not one to hold back a negative opinion." 
Early reviews of the Digital Satellite System suggest that Thomson Consumer
Electronics and its programming partners built a system that lived up to its
hype. That's a tall order for a gizmo that's been ranked with the 
videocassette recorder and the compact disc as revolutionary products in home 
entertainment. 
Many Valley residents are unplugging their cable and rooftop antennas to buy a
system that costs them $700 to $900 for the hardware and maybe a couple 
hundred more for installation. Then there's the monthly program fees. Some 
have found weaknesses in the system but apparently can live with them. 
"It's the neatest thing I've brought into my home since I first brought my
Macintosh computer home," says Loren Roetman, a salesman at Buzz Jensen's 
Sound Advice in Phoenix. 
Roetman installed his own dish. He punched his ZIP code into the system and
his TV screen told him where to point the dish to pick up the digital 
satellite feed. 
"You just tweak the dish a little bit," Roetman says. "You move it a couple of
degrees each time until it locks on." 
Thomson and its two program providers, DirecTv and United States Satellite
Broadcasting, have been promising laser disc picture quality and CD sound. The
picture is an obvious improvement from cable or over-the-air sources but some
observers don't think it equals laser disc. 
Buyers and industry pros have noticed some picture quirks, too. They say 
fast-moving figures sometimes leave a small, blurred wake called "digitizing." 
Heavy rain can interrupt the signal. So can the flood of sun that bathes 
Arizona in the spring and fall equinoxes. Interruptions usually last a few 
minutes. 
Video magazine rates the picture as "far better" than video CD but somewhere
short of laser disc. The magazine calls the sound "absolutely fabulous." 
Stephen Smith, editor of This Week in Consumer Electronics magazine, says DSS
lives up to its billing. 
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," he says. "It's supposed to be laser
disc quality. I will agree with the manufacturer's claims on that score." 
Roetman thinks so, too. "It's as good as a laser disc. It blows away regular
cable. And (it has) CD quality sound." 
A buyer named Peter, who didn't want his last name in print because he owns a
ton of home theater gear burglars might like, jokes that DSS may make him
neglect his kids. 
"I'm shocked at what I can see," he says. "Blades of grass on a football
field. Nicks on a helmet. Little street signs in the background that used to
be a blur." 
DSS has upgraded its picture delivery and more improvements are planned. Bill
Wohl, president of BMW Satellite Home Theatre Systems in Scottsdale, 
doesn't sell the small dish but expects refinements when Sony puts them on the
market, probably next year. 
"Our feeling is we think it needs a little more polishing," he says. Program
costs could fall, too, when other suppliers get involved. "We think with the
competition, that's one area that will come down," Wohl says. 
DirecTv and USSB offer a range of program packages at prices aimed at various
types of viewers. Dish buyers haven't been put off by the costs, though some
are paying close to $50 a month. 
"I pretty much bought this thing for the movies," Roetman says. "I'd spend at
least that on rental movies and I will probably never rent another movie." 


======================================
 SCIENCE & MEDICAL - MEDITATION MEDICINE           
 MEDITATION MEDICINE  British doctors hope to save the National Health 
Service millions of pounds by prescribing Transcendental Meditation. They
believe the technique can treat many complaints including migraine, ulcers,
high blood pressure, insomnia, angina and asthma. They say it can also help
beat excessive drinking and smoking. The discipline helps the body enter a
state of deep relaxation. Last year (93) health secretary Virginia Bottomley
said doctors could offer patients complementary therapies if they thought it
in the interests of their patients. 


======================================
AST Research Says On Track To Return To Black In FY96>ASTA
  IRVINE, Calif.  AST Research Inc. (ASTA) said it has taken most of the
 cost-cutting steps it needs to restore profitability in the next fiscal year
 beginning in July. 
  After a loss of $39.9 million, or $1.23 a share, in the fiscal first
 quarter ended Oct. 2, the big computer maker had announced it would reduce
 its 6,900-member work force by about 10% through closing its manufacturing
 plant in Fountain Valley, Calif., and trimming elsewhere. 
  Chief Executive Safi Qureshey told Dow Jones that those measures, combined
 with consolidation of product lines, are ''most of the actions we need'' to
 regain AST's financial footing. 
  ''When we exit the fiscal year, people will see a well-run, well-executed
 company,'' Qureshey said. 
  Once a fleet-footed runner in the personal-computer industry, AST stumbled
 badly when recent production delays resulted in late shipments of its new
 Ascentia line of portable computers as well as some new Bravo and Advantage
 desktops. AST was forced to cut prices on older computers until those
 products could ship, resulting in such a crimp in gross profit margins that
 the company said overall results suffered. 
  Qureshey said AST ran into trouble because it had tried to compete in too
 many markets with too many products. Hoping to attain better efficiency, the
 company recently announced it was taking such measures as reducing the
 number of PC hard drives it offers to three or four from as many as 10. The
 company also dropped an unreleased line of Ascentia 500 subnotebooks. 
  ''We got distracted by trying to do too many things at one time,'' Qureshey
 said. 
  With a leaner work force and refocused strategy, Qureshey said the company
 should return to normal in the next fiscal year. ''By doing a few things
 well, we will get back on track.'' 
  An I/B/E/S Inc. survey of 22 analysts has a mean fiscal 1995 projection of
 a $1.23-a-share loss and a mean 1996 view of net income of $1.28 in a survey
 of 10 analysts. The company reported fiscal 1994 net income of $53.5
 million, or $1.64 a share. 


======================================
Global Internet shopping will reach  $600 billion of product and se
purchases by the year 2000
PALO ALTO, CALIF.  -Nov. 22, 1994--A new study from
Killen & Associates, "Purchasing and Payment on the Internet: Digital Money
Takes Off," forecasts that shoppers around the world -- at home and in
businesses -- will use the Internet to purchase $600 billion of goods and
services in the year 2000. 
This will account for nearly 8% of the $8 trillion of goods and services 
purchased that year. 
The shift to using the Internet to purchase goods and services will have a
significant impact on all industry sectors, including banking, financial
services, wholesale and retail trade, and manufacturing. 
Layers in the purchasing and payment hierarchy -- some wholesalers and 
distributors -- and some financial payment and settlement services will be
eliminated.  Traditional broadcast and paper-based media -- i.e., catalog,
yellow pages and other print advertising -- will also be severely impacted as
the traditional hierarchy becomes much flatter. 
The study forecasts that purchasing and payment transactions on the Internet
will grow to 17 billion by the year 2005.  In that same year, credit card
transactions are expected to top 30 billion.  The 17 billion in Internet
purchasing and payment transactions will create a $50 billion market worldwide,
for processing alone. 
The study provides insight into the development of the Internet purchasing and
payment infrastructure.  It puts numbers on the business opportunities that
Internet commerce will create for banks, financial institutions, retailers,
manufacturers, wholesalers, mail order firms, telephone companies, software
companies, and on-line computer services. 
The study is scheduled for release in December 1994.  For additional 
information contact Jules Street at 415/323-3842, fax: 415/323-2846, 
saleskillen.palo-alto.ca.us. 
Killen & Associates Inc. produces studies and seminars that enable high level
executives and their teams to identify business opportunities created by
advances in computer and telecommunications technology, changes in public
policy, and dynamic forces in industry. 
Studies:  The company's focus includes studies on on-line information services,
commerce via the Internet, and personal communications services and products. 
Titles produced in 1994 include "The Internet: Impact on Commercial
Transactions," "PCS Equipment Markets," and "AT&T's Financial Services
Strategy: Transactions Anytime, Anywhere." 
Seminars:  Killen & Associates' seminars are delivered via satellite 
television, cable or video tape.  Programs produced in 1994 include "Wireless
Technologies: Access Anytime, Anywhere" and "The National Information
Infrastructure: A Platform for Transformation." 


======================================
NEC To Cut Some PC Prices By 16-26% On Dec. 9 >NIPNY
  TOKYO  NEC Corp. (NIPNY) will cut prices on some of its personal
 computers by between 16% and 26%, effective Dec. 9. 
  The price reductions will cover six products and 12 models in the
 Pentium-based 98Mate series, and two products and six color models in the
 98Note series, the company said. 
  NEC also introduced a new low-priced desktop PC, the PC-9821Xf in the
 98Mate series. The company aims to sell 40,000 units of the new product in
 the next year. 
  The company said PC demand from corporate customers is growing amid
 improving business conditions in Japan. It also noted that the demand for a
 low-priced multimedia-based PC is strong, due to the arrival of the Windows
 operating systems. 


======================================
Expanded Microsoft Probe Could Delay Billion-Dollar Intuit Buyout  
Nov. 22--The U.S. Justice Department has significantly expanded its antitrust
investigation of Microsoft Corp.'s $1.5 billion buyout of Intuit Inc., a move
that could delay the deal and possibly force changes to its terms. 
A Microsoft spokeswoman Monday confirmed that the company had received a
so-called "second request" for information related to the purchase. A second
request, which is pursued by the Justice Department in only a small portion of
its antitrust reviews, seeks comprehensive information about a deal and can
prevent companies from closing a transaction until they satisfy antitrust
lawyers, a process that could take months. 
But Claire Lematta, a spokeswoman for Redmon, Wash.-based Microsoft, said the
inquiry was "not unusual. This is standard operating procedure, and Microsoft
is cooperating." 
Lematta said she did not know what information the Justice Department had
requested or whether the inquiry would stall the Intuit buyout. "I don't think
we can speculate what the implications are for the acquisition," she said.
"It's just not part of the standard procedures." 
Justice Department officials could not be reached for comment. The department
began a routine antitrust probe of the deal after it was announced Oct. 13.
The Boston Globe reported earlier this month that government antitrust lawyers
were likely to expand that investigation and could possibly demand changes in
the terms of the acquisition. 
Intuit, based in Menlo Park, Calif., makes Quicken, the most popular personal
finance, budgeting and billpaying software. Microsoft intends to use Intuit as
a platform for moving beyond software sales and into services like home
banking and stock tgrading, which might allow it to collect a transaction fee
every time someone uses the service. 
Microsoft operating systems software control the basic operations of 80
percent or more of all personal computers. Federal antitrust lawyers have been
concerned that Microsoft's dominance in operating system software could give
it an unfair advantage in the market for personal finance software. 
Microsoft's stock closed Monday down 5/8 at 631/2. Intuit closed at 681/2. up


======================================
Alpha.net to Link Milwaukee Firms With Internet                    
Nov. 22--Alpha.net Inc. said Monday that it has reached an agreement to 
provide a major new Milwaukee link for companies that want to gain access to 
the Internet. 
The New Berlin company said that it signed the accord with Ameritech Advanced
Data Services and Norlight Inc. over the weekend to provide a high- capacity
communications channel between Milwaukee and Chicago. 
Chicago is one of four primary network access points in the United States 
where companies - large and small - can connect directly to the worldwide 
computer network. 
Alpha.net's agreement is significant because it makes it one of the first 
companies in the five-state Ameritech region that does not receive federal 
funding to connect directly to Chicago, according to Eric Bennett, manager of 
Internet business development for Ameritech. 
Alpha.net decided to make the investment "to be on the curve, to stay ahead,"
said Joe Klein, manager of network operations at Alpha.net. 
Terms of the deal were not made public. Alpha.net, a six-month-old company
with eight employees, was formed to sell Internet services to companies that
want data, information and entertainment. Alpha.net also provides Internet
access to other companies that then re-sell the Internet to smaller customers,
like home computer users. 
Alpha.net's charges run from $70 to about $1,000 a month. Klein also said
companies increasingly want to sell their products and services on the
Internet. 
Alpha.net is an offshoot of Technetix, a New Berlin computer consulting 
company. 
Both Klein and Bennett said that Alpha.net's decision to gain direct access to
a so-called "on ramp" to the information superhighway will give it a technical
edge over other companies that provide Internet connection services to
business. 
Furthermore, the link to Chicago - using broad-band digital communications
technology - means that Milwaukee-area companies connecting to the Internet
through Alpha.net will have the same technical capabilities as companies in
Chicago. 
Alpha.net's deal to beef up its communications link to the Internet comes as
interest from major companies in the computer network is exploding. 
MCI Communications Corp. announced Monday it plans to begin offering Internet
services next year. And last week, software giant Microsoft Corp. said it also
would start providing Internet services next year. In addition, 
the Big Three in on-line services - America Online, CompuServe and Prodigy - 
are trying to increase their ties to the Internet. 
Instead of being a threat, such entries by large companies "only increase the
number of people using the Internet," Klein said. Alpha.net's customers would
have a larger universe in which to market their products, he said. 
The Internet started about 25 years ago as a way for government researchers -
most involved in work for the Defense Department - to stay in contact through
their computers. Today, it connects myriad computer networks in 154 countries. 
One reason for the big growth is that new software, using a Windows-like 
format, has made moving through various computer networks easier. 
The digital fiber-optic line that will connect Alpha.net to the Internet is a
broad-band technology "that will have hundreds of lanes on the information
highway," said Nancy B. Carey, president of MRC Telecommunications Inc., which
owns NorLight. 
MRC is a unit of Journal Communications. Another subsidiary of that 
corporation owns the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Milwaukee Journal. 
Carey said the fiber-optic line Alpha.net will use - called a DS 3 - is 
capable of transmitting 672 conversations at the same time. 
At NorLight, "we think that we will be doing more and more of this as people
discover new ways to use this technology," Carey said. 


======================================
MCI to Offer Internet Access and Software in January               
SAN JOSE, Calif.--Nov. 22--MCI Communications Corp., joining the rush to make
the global Internet computer network as common as the global telephone network,
said Monday it would offer Internet access and software beginning in January. 
MCI will be the first long-distance carrier to offer a full range of Internet
services, including accounts for individual consumers at a cost of $20 per
month for the first seven hours of use. 
It joins a host of major computer and communications companies, including 
International Business Machines Corp. and Microsoft Corp., that are seeking to
transform the Internet from a university-based research network into a highly
commercial, mass-market medium. 
"Global Internet dial tone will soon be a reality, and that is the closest
thing we are going to have in this century to a global information 
superhighway," said Vinton Cerf, MCI's senior vice president of data 
architecture and one of the original inventors of the Internet. 
Cerf said "Internet dial tone" will give computer users the ability to connect
to the network with a simple telephone call from anywhere in the world. 
MCI said its line of Internet services will include easy-to-install software
for personal computers, monthly accounts for businesses and individuals, and
support for merchants that want to offer products through MCI's new electronic
marketplace. The $50 software package includes a tool for navigating the
Internet's World Wide Web from Netscape Communications. The browser includes a
security feature to make possible credit card purchases over the Internet. 
The MCI deal is the first major success for Netscape, the Mountain View 
software firm founded by Jim Clark, former chairman of Silicon Graphics Inc., 
and Marc Andreessen, who developed the original Mosaic software at the 
National Center for Supercomputing Applications. 
Netscape also supplied the software for MCI's electronic marketplace, which
also will open for business in January. MCI said it would announce the names
of participating "major retailers" in several weeks. Small businesses will pay
about $2,000 per month for a presence on the Net. 
"This isn't a strip mall we're putting on the Internet," said John Donoghue,
vice president of marketing for MCI Business Markets. "We're opening the Mall
of America. It will be an attraction." 
The entrance of the second-largest long-distance company into the Internet
market could mean trouble for the dozens of independent Internet pioneers who
offered access to early users able to master the Internet's complicated
software and arcane commands. The market, estimated at about $125 million in
1994, is expected to double next year. 
"The market presence of an MCI or a Microsoft is something to be reckoned with,
" said John Rugo, vice president for BBN Internet Service Corp., which
operates BARRNet in the Bay Area. "MCI has tremendous marketing ability. They
raise the stakes for marketing for the rest of us." 
One of the fastest growing of the early providers, Netcom On-Line 
Communication Services Inc. of San Jose, is planning to make its initial 
public offering early next year. But Netcom warns investors that competition 
is getting stiffer. 
In addition to MCI, IBM recently announced that it would package Internet 
software with its new OS/2 operating system and offer access through its 
worldwide network. Microsoft will gradually add full Internet features to the 
Microsoft Network, which will be launched next year, said Russell Siegelman, 
general manager of Microsoft's on-line efforts. 
Pacific Bell is working on several Internet initiatives but has disclosed few
details. 
And existing on-line providers such as CompuServe, Prodigy, America Online are
quickly adding Internet access to their services. America Online recently made
overtures to purchase Netscape Communications before acquiring two other
Internet software companies, Booklink Technologies Inc. and Navisoft Inc. 


======================================
-Companies Often Ignore Computer Crime; Peril Goes Unrecognized     
Nov. 23--Information security expert Dan White illustrates the attitude of
some managers to computer security with the strange tale of a company that 
found itself the victim of a $300,000 embezzlement. 
An employee had used the company's computer system to transfer the money into
his own account. White's group was brought in to help sort through the mess
for insurance purposes. 
The reviewers identified a number of problems with computer security and 
suggested that a review might be in order. After much debate, senior 
management came back and said they already had enough on their plate and 
didn't want staff or budget increases. 
"The only possible reaction to that is, 'Excuse me, you've already been hit
for $300,000,'" says White, the national director of information security 
effectiveness at Ernst & Young, the accounting firm. 
Unfortunately, he adds, that sort of attitude to computer security is not 
unusual among U.S. firms. 
A survey released last week by Ernst & Young shows information losses are 
increasing rapidly as companies adopt new computer technology without taking 
the proper security measures. 
More than 50 percent of the survey's 1,271 respondents reported computer- 
related losses in the past two years, sometimes exceeding $1 million. 
Almost a third weren't even able to quantify the losses and 17 percent said
they had experienced losses as high as $250,000. Three percent said their
losses were between $250,000 and $1 million and 17 companies lost more than $1
million. 
The figures represent a big increase on previous estimates and, says White,
are symptomatic of the indifference with which some managers treat security
issues. 
More and more employees are gaining access to computers and businesses are
making greater use of the Internet and electronic mail. Yet more than 40 
percent of managers rate computer security as only "somewhat important" or 
"not important" and many bigger organizations have more people devoted 
exclusively to physical security than to information security. 
"Senior management needs to become more aware of what is at stake and how 
significant the security problems can be," White says. "Technology 
professionals are being pressured to implement critical systems for the 
purposes of "downsizing" and operational efficiency without being given the 
resources to adequately protect those systems." 
When managers do think about computer security, the survey shows, they 
consider the security of computer networks and unauthorized external access 
their most important worries. Competitors are ranked as the biggest security 
threat followed by employees, customers, public interest groups, suppliers and
foreign governments. 
Computer viruses are the one area where most companies - some 91 percent -
have some security in place. But, says White, many fail to keep up in with the
constant changes in virus detection software made necessary by the emergence
of new viruses. Nearly 60 percent said their computer systems were disrupted
by some sort of computer virus in 1994. 
Other security techniques in use include dial back or secure modems (54 
percent), firewalls to protect from external access (45 percent), file 
encryption (36 percent), hardware security devices (33 percent), 
telecommunications encryption (22 percent) and message authorization codes (17
percent). 
White says that the change to computer networks means that the security issues
are more complex than they were in the mainframe environment. 
He suggests that companies worried about computer security should bring in an
external party to evaluate the risks. 
He also recommends that those looking at expanding their computer systems 
bring in security experts during the design phase. 
"It's not that difficult to build in security and control as you're developing
a system but if you try to go back and add it at the end, that's where the
difficulty is and the time and expense," he says. 


======================================
Justice Department probe of Microsoft is extended                  
SEATTLE _ The Justice Department likely will spend several more weeks or 
months investigating Microsoft's potential monopoly in personal-finance 
software, says one industry insider who has been interviewed by the department
several times about the case. 
Under federal law, government antitrust lawyers have 20 days to review 
documents they are gathering as part of a ''second request for information''
they delivered to Microsoft on Friday. But that period, which applies to
merger antitrust cases in general, often is extended. 
The Justice Department investigation centers on Microsoft's proposed 
acquisition of Intuit Inc., maker of Quicken personal-finance software. The
$1.5 billion deal is the largest ever in the software industry. 
Microsoft confirmed Tuesday that it had received the second request for 
information, which amounts to an extension of the government's review. 
Company spokeswoman Erin Carney said officials remain confident the deal will
be approved and don't expect to be forced to restructure it. As part of the
deal, Microsoft has agreed to sell its own personal-finance program, Money, to
Utah-based Novell. 
But an anonymous group of competitors, through a prominent high-tech law firm
in Silicon Valley, has issued a ''white paper'' laying out complicated
economic reasons for why the deal should be blocked. Meanwhile, a
Virginia-based trade group, the Information Technology Association of America,
has invited companies and banks to testify at a hearing in Washington, D.C.,
on Dec. 5 and will forward the comments to investigators. 
''If you listen to (Bill) Gates and Microsoft, this is a done deal. But 
there's a fairly substantial groundswell of interest,'' said Dan Schley, who
until last year owned the company that sold Managing Your Money, a program
that competes with Quicken and Money. Quicken holds an estimated 70 percent
market share. 
Schley said Justice Department investigators have held several lengthy 
interviews with him, at their request, leading him to believe Microsoft could
be forced to negotiate a settlement if it wants to complete the deal. 
''They're not kidding around,'' he said. ''I'm not sure Microsoft will be able
to satisfactorily ease their concerns.'' 
Schley last year sold his Meca software company to H&R Block and still 
consults for the new owner. But he said he has no vested interest in the 
Intuit deal. 
Justice investigators met with him first to learn about the industry, then to
ask whether he thinks Novell could compete against Microsoft with Money;
whether Microsoft's dominance with Quicken would shut down other competitors
and discourage new ones; what he views as the future of electronic banking;
and whether he thinks Microsoft could use Quicken and its own online service,
Microsoft Network, to gain a monopoly in electronic banking. 
Schley referred to electronic banking as ''the killer 'app' (application 
software) of the '90s.'' 
One key question, Schley said, is whether the Justice Department will limit
its review to the personal-finance software market or broaden the scope to
include Microsoft's potential dominance given its ownership of an online
service and the Windows operating system. 
One possible settlement of this case would involve Microsoft promising not to
''bundle'' Quicken with its Windows 95 or Microsoft Network programs, Schley
said. 
The Justice Department began a routine antitrust investigation of the deal
after it was announced Oct. 13. Department officials have refused to discuss
the scope of the case. 


======================================
IBM, AT&T, Apple, Siemens Vow To Standardize Sending Data
  NEW YORK -- Four high-tech giants -- International Business Machines Corp.,
 AT&T Corp., Apple Computer Inc. and Siemens AG -- have agreed to use common
 standards for sending data over computer networks, phone equipment and other
 devices, helping to pave the way for the promised era of "anytime, anywhere"
 communications.
  The agreement, which the companies plan to announce next week, could make
 it far easier for travelers to use portable devices such as notebook
 computers and "personal digital assistants" to keep in touch while on the
 road. Today, incompatible technical standards used by computers, office
 phone systems and computer networks often make such seamless communications
 impossible.
  "It's a tremendous growth opportunity as these two worlds --
 telecommunications and computing -- come together," said one industry
 executive familiar with the agreement.
  Today it is difficult to send a text message, for instance, from a portable
 computer over the phone lines via an office or hotel phone system. Computers
 use a modem to send the data in the analog format, while many office and
 hotel phones use the digital format. That means traveling executives often
 find it difficult to link up with their office-computer network to check
 electronic mail and perform other tasks.
  An alliance by the four heavyweights could help address such problems, if
 these four competitors' agreement holds together as details of the
 communications standards are worked out. "You'll be hardpressed to know
 who's a friend and who's a foe," said industry consultant Sam Albert.
 Moreover, the proposed partnership so far lacks two influential players:
 Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp., the two main adversaries of IBM and Apple.
  For Apple, such standards may bolster its flagging attempt to popularize
 its Newton, a personal digital assistant that was panned in part because it
 lacked much wireless capability. Siemens, a big German computer maker, has
 licensed the Newton technology for use in its own products, which include
 the Rolm line of office phone systems or PBXes.
  AT&T also makes PBXes and has rolled out an ambitious "anytime, anywhere"
 communications network called PersonaLink that could benefit from common
 technical standards. IBM is working on a similar service called Intelligent
 Communications, and is a big maker of computer-networking gear that would
 benefit by incorporating the specifications.
  Emphasizing the importance the companies place on the agreement, they plan
 to have top executives make the announcement at a New York news conference,
 including Apple Chief Executive Officer Michael Spindler and Ellen Hancock,
 an IBM senior vice president who heads its networking business.
  The four companies have agreed to use existing industry communications
 standards but to modify them when necessary to ensure their equipment and
 networks can work together, said another industry executive familiar with
 the talks. "Just because two people sign up to the same standard doesn't
 mean the stuff talks to each other," the executive said.
  The standards will be available for other companies to use, the
 knowledgeable executives said. Novell Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are
 among companies believed to be considering them.
  Spokesmen for IBM, AT&T, Apple, Siemens, Novell and H-P declined to
 comment.


======================================
Q&A on home electronics                                            
Q. When will we be seeing low-cost ''virtual reality'' game goggles for home
use? 
A. Next April, when Nintendo starts selling the stand-alone Virtual Boy game
system for under $200. You'll set it up on a table top, and look into a
side-shaded (room-light blocking) screen at separate left and right eye views.
Virtual Boy's 3D image is two-color (red etchings on a black backdrop), but
the picture is reportedly well shaded and appears quite deep, produced by two
high-resolution, mirror-scanning LEDs (light-emitting diodes). The VR
experience will be enhanced with stereophonic sound and a double-grip
controller that accommodates multi-directional movement. Nintendo plans to
offer three cartridge games at Virtual Boy's launch, then two to three more
titles a month. A formal unveiling is planned for the January Consumer
Electronics Show. 
Q. Are we far from embracing a ''cashless'' society? 
A. The first seeds have already been planted, in debit cards (like MAC) that
can be used to move funds instantly from your bank to a merchant and in those
calling cards you purchase to use in pay phones. 
Several companies are now test-marketing ''smart'' telephones with built-in
display screens and credit card readers that will let you order and pay for
products by phone. Just one step beyond is a home ATM phone that lets you load
cash credits into a chip-equipped smart card. MasterCard, among others, has
been actively developing such a paperless payment card. 
Much effort and money is also being invested so people will be able to make
credit-card purchases safely on the Internet and other computer on-line
services. The trick is to secure the communications between purchaser and
seller, so that hackers can't nab your card number. 
Netscape Communications Corp. (formerly Mosaic Communications) has just teamed
with credit-card processor First Data Corp. to set up secure electronic
storefronts on the Internet's World Wide Web, a multimedia information
retrieval system. The system uses the Mosaic software, which makes navigating
the Web much easier. 
Also working on a cashless Internet transaction scheme is a new partnership of
Microsoft Corp. and Visa International. The Windows-compatible data-encryption
software for this system may be available next year. 
Q. I recently tripped onto a 30-minute TV show hyping a high-capacity 
CD-changer called ''Studio 24.'' Is this a legitimate product? 
A. Fisher Audio/Video, a division of the Japanese giant Sanyo, is the 
well-known maker, though clearly taking an offbeat tack with its half-hour TV
''brandmercial.'' 
The advertorial lures you in with little skits featuring Alice Cooper and his
mom, then gives you a pitch about the product and incentive to check it out
personally. Folks who visit a store for a demonstration receive a free Capitol
CD sampler featuring music from Heart, Us3, Nat King Cole, I Mother Earth and
Dave Koz. 
The jukebox-style Studio 24 lets you store and play back up to 24 CDs by 
inputting names or categories. You can set up the system to separate your
music by type (jazz, rock, etc.), by owner (mom's music, brother's tunes), by
occasion (party mix, romantic) or by disc name. Fisher promises protection for
the discs in a ''virtually dust-free'' environment. And the CDs are much less
likely to walk way at a party when packed inside the component. 
Studio 24 sells for $299. If you want even bigger capacity, Pioneer, Sony and
JVC are now offering 50- and 100-CD changers costing $500 to $1, 000. 


======================================
 SCIENCE & MEDICAL - CD MOVIES                     
 CD MOVIES  Interactive movies on CD will soon bridge the gap between video
games and the Hollywood blockbuster, according to an American company. Digital
Pictures has released four new interactive video titles - Supreme Warrior,
Corpse Killer, Slam C ity and Kids on Site, which gives children the illusion
of being in the operators' seats of big construction machines like a bulldozer,
excavator and steamroller. Digital Pictures president Tom Zito claims the
"movies" are the first to use only video f ootage, rather than a combination
of video and computer graphics, making them more of a film than a video game.


======================================
Sneak Preview in Seattle:  Information  Superhighway Access for Ped
SEATTLE  -Nov. 23, 1994--Tickets to the latest 
show...cash for a night on the town...payment for an overdue parking ticket. 
These features and more will soon be at your fingertips as part of a new 
interactive technology unveiled last week by former Microsoft executive Ida
Cole in front of a "sell-out" crowd at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.  Her
company, TransActive Technologies Inc. has developed what it calls the
SuperTerminal, a device designed to make access to the information
superhighway as easy as using a cash machine. 
SuperTerminal, which was demonstrated by Ms. Cole during the invitation-only
preview at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, combines full motion video;
easy-to-use, colorful touch screens; stereo sound; two-sided printing and cash
acceptance with advanced processing capabilities to put users in touch with
the interactive technology of the future.  All without having to own a
personal computer or a credit card, and in an environment that's become
familiar to the millions of consumers who already use ATM machines. 
"SuperTerminal builds on the widespread public acceptance and use of ATMs,"
Cole said.  "We're taking the interactive technology to a new level by meeting
customer expectations of greater functionality and better presentation of
goods and services.  It's information superhighway technology all the way, but
we're putting it on the streets today." 
TransActive Technologies Inc. (TTI) was founded in 1992 by Ida Cole and Chip
Wilson to develop the SuperTerminal.  They jump started the project by
purchasing the "TicketQuick" business unit from Southland Corp., and 
TicketQuick's technical project manager, J. Scott Wall, joined TTI as its
director of engineering in 1992. 
Wilson, former president of a record label and concert promotion company, 
brings a solid entertainment industry and business background to the company.
Cole also owns and operates the Paramount Theatre which is currently
undergoing major renovation, and SuperTerminal's ticketing and promotional
capabilities will dovetail with the Paramount's operations. 
TransActive will have 10-12 SuperTerminals up and running for a pilot program
in Seattle next year and is actively seeking working alliances with a variety
of businesses, financial institutions and other entities. 
Cole projects that SuperTerminal will be available across the country within
five years. 


======================================
Atari Says Alien Vs. Predator Game Nearly Sold Out >ATC
  SUNNYVALE, Calif.- Atari Corp. (ATC) said initial production of its new
 Alien Vs. Predator game, launched Oct. 21 in stores worldwide, has nearly
 sold out. 
  In a press release, the company said it is working with suppliers to get
 additional quantities to stores for the holiday shopping season. 
  ''In less than three weeks, over 50% of our installed base purchased Alien
 Vs. Predator,'' said Atari. ''We have also seen a strong increase in sales
 for the Jaguar system coinciding with the release of this game and the
 launch of our expanded advertising program.'' 


======================================
Cultural Differences Survive On-Line Networks, So Far
  NEW YORK  It's easy to see the Internet and its on-line services
 brethren as a melting pot for American society. 
  Culture, geography and social status all disappear in the come-one,
 come-all world of digital messaging. 
  But cultural diversity is so far surviving this societal equalizer. 
  Witness the most recent addition to cyberspace: LatinoNet, billed as the
 first on- line network organized around ethnic identity. 
  LatinoNet, set to open for business on Nov. 29, actually will be an on-line
 service within a service when it appears as an option America Online Inc.
 (AMER). 
  The network hopes to host workshops and discussion groups and to provide
 lists of college scholarships, regional job opening and events around the
 country. But its real task is to establish a cyber spot for Hispanic
 empowerment. 
  ''No one ethnic community can afford to be left out of this transformation
 our society is going through,'' said Jose Montes de Oca, chief operating
 officer of LatinoNet. ''We recognize the ground breaking (nature) our effort
 is taking on.'' 
  One ground-breaking character of the network is its focus on cultural
 identity. That focus is something rival on-line service Prodigy has found
 subscribers relish. Prodigy is a joint venture between International
 Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Sears Roebuck & Co. (S). 
  For more than a year, Prodigy bulletin boards have allowed users to
 communicate in their native languages. The boards are not only popular but
 draw in people interested in cultural preservation, said Brian Ek, director
 of communications. 
  Prodigy offers bulletin boards for more than 20 ethnic groups, including
 ones that focus on Scandanavian, Hungarian, Hispanic and Russian cultures,
 he said. 
  At first Prodigy hesitated to offer the bulletin boards becasue it couldn't
 censor in the native languages, Ek said, but users volunteered to act as
 censors. 
  Ethnic groups often fear losing their cultural identities as they venture
 into the mainstream of American life. On-line services are emerging as a way
 to preserve that identity, Ek said. And as access to the Internet becomes
 easier in the U.S. and countries around the globe, this network of networks
 could become a means for future generations to strengthen their cultural
 bonds, he added. 
  For Montes de Oca, the key to LatinoNet's success is in enabling the
 Hispanic community to become information producers instead of simply
 information receivers, which he describes as the community's traditional
 role. 
  The network hopes for at least 10,500 users in three years, which will
 represent the financial breakeven point. LatinoNet has gotten a $450,000
 grant from the National Telecommunications Information Administration, which
 is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, to help with its initial
 financing. How the users might be billed for the service in addition to
 their America Online fees isn't clear. 


======================================
Apple abandons its history as it begins to PReP for new system     
For years now, the world of personal computers has been broken down into what
you could easily describe as two warring camps _ IBM PC-compatible computers
and Macintoshes. 
Up until a couple months ago, it was like the old saw: ''East is East, and
West is West, and never the twain shall meet.'' 
Not only did the two divergent camps run different basic software _ either DOS,
OS/2 or DOS plus Windows for IBM PC-compatibles vs. Macintosh System software
_ but they also used totally different hardware. 
While IBM PC-compatibles have always been based on Intel processors that 
retained compatibility with the original Intel 8088 CPU, Macintoshes have been
based on a radically different chip, Motorola's 6800. And, except for a brief
period when Motorola first introduced the 68040 in the early days of Intel's
80486 processor, the IBM world has always had the faster machines. 
An even bigger difference between the two camps, though, has been one of 
philosophy. While IBM PC-compatible machines have, since the very early days
of the original IBM PC, been based on a standard that any company could copy,
Macintoshes have always been almost wholly proprietary _ Apple made
Macintoshes, and that was it. 
Because Apple controlled all the elements of its system, it could set strict
rules for compliance that let it make Macs the first ''plug-and-play''
machines. If a peripheral device would work with a Mac, 
users could simply hook it into the Apple Desktop Bus or daisy-chain it to a
SCSI connector, and their machine would recognize and use the peripheral
without any of the tedious setup that adding peripherals to PCs often
requires. On the other hand, however, most computer peripherals simply
wouldn't work with Macs. 
And, because you could buy the basic machine itself only from Apple, it tended
to be more expensive than a similarly equipped IBM PC-compatible machine. 
The Mac System software has always been arguably easier to use than anything
available for PCs. That allowed Apple to market the machine as ''the computer
for the rest of us,'' those of us, one supposes, who weren't computer-nerdy
enough to master the (relative) intricacies of DOS. 
Unfortunately, though, ''the rest of us'' proved to be an ever-decreasing
percentage of the computer market. While at one time Apple could claim about
15 percent of the total personal computer market pie, the most recent figures
I've seen show the Mac with only about 6 percent of new system sales. 
That's the way things were for about 10 years or so, until Apple, IBM and
Motorola jointly developed the PowerPC chip, a RISC-based chip that could run
a variety of operating systems, including Mac's System software as well as
OS/2 and Windows NT from the PC world. 
''Great,'' everyone figured. ''I can buy one of these PowerPC-based machines
and run Mac System software, or change my m ind and run OS/2 or Windows NT to
have compatibility with the rest of the world.'' 
Only it didn't work that way. 
To make the PowerMacs work like Macs, Apple had to add a lot of hardware to
the basic PowerPC platform, including four megabytes of Mac-specific read-only
memory and a bunch of ASICs, or application-specific integrated circuits, that
made the machines again a proprietary platform. 
Though it still doesn't have a machine on the market, IBM has developed a set
of standards for machines based on the PowerPC chip _ the PowerPC Reference
Platform, or PReP for short. A couple months ago, Apple finally bit the bullet
and announced that it will make the Mac's System software compatible _
eventually at least _ with PReP. 
Apple took this leap in a couple of steps. 
First, it announced that it would license Mac System software to other 
companies, primarily outside the United States. Under that plan, the other
companies could manufacture what were essentially PowerMacs, using the same
ROM and ASICs that Apple uses _ machines based on what Apple was going to call
the Macintosh Reference Architecture. Though some Taiwanese companies are
believed to have licensed the software, the reception was, overall, lukewarm
at best. 
So, a couple months ago, Apple took the second step and announced that it will
transition the Mac to a fully PReP-compliant system software, forever
abandoning all the little Mac peculiarities _ from the Apple Desktop Bus and
NuBus slots to such minor items as the Mac's Command and ''Apple'' keys. 
This is a major change for the Mac, one Apple will make in stages. 
The first is the next major revision of Mac's System software, due for release
next year, code-named Copland. Copland will drop several the hardware-specific
features now contained in System. 
After the transition Copland system is out, Apple will develop and refine
another version of System, code-named Gershwin, which will make the Mac fully
PReP-compliant. 
For Apple, the problem now arises of how it will sell systems over the next
couple years. Because System still requires Mac-specific ROM and ASICs to run
on PowerPC machines, those machines will never be able to be started with any
operating system other than Mac's System (unless, of course, users replace the
Mac-specific ROM and ASICs, which I don't believe is even possible in the
current version of the PowerMac). 
So what Apple has done in the personal computer field is essentially what
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs did with Next _ convert from a hardware company to
a software company. Only Apple has basically announced that it's making the
transition a year or two (or maybe three) before making it. 
Will Apple be able to sell machines that buyers are aware will be essentially
obsolete in a year or two? Will Apple be able to successfully transition
System to PReP? Will IBM ever actually sell PowerPC-based machines? 
As they said in the days o f the serials, stay tuned to this channel. 
(Robin Stacy is special projects editor of The Macon Telegraph.) 


======================================
Microsoft seeks to establish PC standards more proprietary than ope
A software developer once explained a core piece of his company's survival
strategy: Its products had to live in a small enough niche that they would not
show up on the radar at Microsoft _ or should generate too little revenue for
Microsoft to care about even if it noticed. 
That conversation came back to mind last week at Comdex, the huge computer
industry trade show in Las Vegas. Microsoft had the dominant position on the
primary convention center floor. It also captured a big part of the mind share
as well. 
Microsoft was doing its best to convince people that its world-domination
strategy is inevitable and a good thing. The company's competitors were doing
their surprisingly feeble best to create a different impression. 
More than most enterprises, Microsoft does business as though there are two
possible outcomes: domination or death. In fairness, that seems at least
partly correct. Information technology seeks standards. But standards should
be open to foster competition and innovation. Microsoft seeks to establish
standards that are more proprietary than open. 
For years now, first with MS-DOS and then the combination of DOS and Windows
3.1, Microsoft has persuaded manufacturers to install its operating systems on
new computers. This established Windows as a standard, and it effectively
meant that Microsoft collected a tax on each new machine. 
The near-monopoly profits helped finance some of the best applications 
software you can buy, such as the Excel spreadsheet and the Word word 
processor, and allowed it to fight price wars with much better weapons. The
company's applications developers also had the advantage of leveraging the
internal workings of the operating system before the competition. 
Yet other software companies, which passionately fear and loathe Microsoft,
are falling all over themselves to write products for Windows 95 and Windows
NT, all but ignoring competing systems such as the Macintosh and OS/2 (and
lowering my sympathy level for their alleged plight). A Windows-everywhere
situation would let Microsoft keep collecting the operating system tax, and
hold its advantage in developing applications software, not to mention other
products such as its coming on-line and financial services. 
Consumers largely have been winners as Microsoft raised the bar of excellence
in applications software. But if one company ends up controlling everything
substantial on the desktop, on networks and on-line, consumers may rue the
result. There will be fewer improvements in the products that do survive. And
Microsoft will continue to stamp out or buy competitors. 
The software giant's competitors say Windows' market share leaves them no
choice: They feed a beast that gives every appearance of wanting to turn them
into dessert. 
They're hoping the alleged trustbusters at the Justice Department will use the
proposed buyout of Intuit to force Microsoft to change its ways. Judging from
the department's inaction in the past _ its settlement with Microsoft last
summer was less than a slap on the wrist _ they may be waiting in vain. 
Microsoft Bookshelf, a fine CD-ROM compilation of reference works, has a 
volume of quotations. One of them, more than a century old, has never been
more accurate: 
''Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'' 


======================================
Some Scientists Are Angry    Over Flaw In Pentium Chip,Intel
  A flaw in Intel Corp.'s Pentium chip has angered some scientists who feel
 the company's response to the bug has been cavalier.
  The defect in millions of the microprocessors causes computers to reach
 incorrect answers in rare instances, mainly involving complex division
 problems that use a portion of the chip called a floating-point processor.
 Intel says it discovered the problem early last summer, and recently changed
 its production process to eliminate the flaw.
  But the bug's existence wasn't publicly disclosed until it was discovered
 by Thomas Nicely, a mathematics professor at Lynchburg College in Virginia.
 His findings were the subject of a front-page article in the Nov. 7 issue of
 Electrical Engineering Times, a trade journal.
  The issue attracted wider publicity after scientists and engineers began
 trading scores of angry messages in discussion groups on the Internet
 collection of computer networks. Mathworks Inc., a company in Natick, Mass,
 also sent out news releases to publicize a modification to its mathematics
 program that corrects for the flaw.
  Intel encountered more serious bugs in its previous-generation 386 and 486
 chips, and has recalled chips in some cases. With the Pentium, however, the
 company has set up a toll-free number to answer customers' questions, but is
 only offering replacement chips to customers who make a convincing case that
 their work requires such esoteric calculations.
  Though Intel did not disclose precise figures, analysts believe at least
 two million chips with the problem have been shipped. Intel and computer
 makers are continuing to sell their remaining inventory of uncorrected
 Pentiums and machines based on it.
  "The chip is fine," an Intel spokesman said. "Statistically, the average
 person might see this problem once in every 27,000 years."
  Dr. Nicely said the flaw occurs once in every 31 billion calculations when
 a computer is set to pick random numbers for division operations. But any
 chance of inaccuracy is a serious matter for mathematicians in cutting-edge
 fields such as chaos theory, and some sensitive areas of aerospace.
  The Pentium's floating-point capabilities are a key selling point for the
 chip in scientific applications, where Intel has been trying to displace
 makers of computer workstations such as Sun Microsystems Inc.,
 Hewlett-Packard Co. and Silicon Graphics Inc.
  Mr. Bell said the problem could cause errors in his speciality, simulating
 space communications systems, or affect calculations of the trajectory of
 spacecraft. He contacted Intel about the problem Monday and hadn't received
 a response yet, and so was suspending use of six computers that use the
 chip.
  Besides the flaw itself, Internet messages criticized Intel for not
 adequately publicizing the problem and argue that the company should offer a
 replacement chip with no questions asked. "I'm mad as hell at the suggestion
 that Intel would ask me for proof of what I'm using the chip for before
 offering to replace it," one North Carolina resident wrote. "I paid out my
 hard-earned dollars for a chip and I want it to operate 100 percent or I
 want my money back."
  Dr. Nicely, who is now consulting with Intel, also believes the company's
 response is "not ideal." But he noted that chips from other manufacturers
 also have bugs that haven't been discovered or publicized yet. One lesson,
 he says, is that calculations in all sensitive applications should always be
 double checked on different combinations of hardware and software.


======================================
-Design competition for U.S. electric cars charged up               
CHICAGO _ Design competition for electric vehicles appears to be charging up
as independent technology firms and the Big Three join forces. 
Last week, Ford Motor Co. and Santa Rosa, Calif.-based U.S. Electricar 
announced a plan to develop a program that could lead to the conversion of the
shells of Ford vehicles, known as ''gliders,'' into electric cars. 
Ford and Electricar say the vehicles could be ready for conversion by the end
of 1995. 
On the opposite side of the country, in Cambridge, Mass., SatCon Technology
Corp. is zooming ahead in its project with Chrysler Corp. to develop a hybrid
vehicle that has an electric drive train. 
The vehicle prototype, known as the Patriot, is expected to be track-tested
this winter and could race at Le Mans in June. 
And select California consumers are in the midst of a two-year test of General
Motor's electric vehicle, kicked off last summer. 
The GM car is a purely electric vehicle, fueled by 26 batteries, with an 
additional battery for accessories also on board, said spokeswoman Nannette
Wiatr. 
Many of these vehicles will be spotlighted at an international electric 
vehicle symposium Dec 3-7 in Anaheim, Calif. 
But while a race car will give electric vehicles a higher public profile, 
the goal still is to develop a family sedan that is non-polluting, said David
Eisenhaure, president and chief executive officer of SatCon. That could happen
in 1998, he said. 
The push for funding of electric vehicle technology peaked in the late 1970s
and early 1980s, then went nearly dormant until about 1993, when the Clinton
administration started to reinvigorate it in response to the Clean Air Act,
said Ken Barber, director of the electric and hybrid propulsion division of
the Energy Department. 
In October 1993 the White House and the Big Three automakers signed an 
agreement called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, which 
includes the goal of the manufacture of a ''SuperCar'' with fuel economy three
times better than traditional vehicles. 
Ironically, although the government is throwing greater weight behind the
development of the alternative fuel vehicles, Eisenhaure said his firm had
become less and less dependent on federal funding. 
''We've switched from about 80 percent government-supported two years ago to
15 percent this year,'' he said. SatCon's sales have risen at the same time. 
The 120-employee firm logged in sales of about $2 million two years ago and
expects to see sales of $17 million to $18 million at the end of this year,
Eisenhaure said. The firm also develops similar technology with applications
for industry and utility companies. 
''We went public two years ago because we thought the whole area was going to
boom,'' he said. The firm did an individual public offering to facilitate
funding and has not regretted it. 
''We, of course, think we're in the lead, but there isn't the infrastructure
there yet'' for mass producing the nonconventional vehicles, he said. 
Fleet vehicle users and operators, such as United Parcel Service and Federal
Express, have a very large interest in hybrids because they stand to benefit
very quickly from increased fuel economy, Eisenhaure said. 
They also may be one of the first groups to be mass users of alternative 
vehicles, possibly within two years, because they can set up their own systems
to repair and recycle the cars. 
SatCon's hybrid design does not conform to ''purist'' electric vehicle 
standards. 
The vehicle has a turboalternator that converts engine output into electricity,
which it then supplies to an electric drivetrain system. It also has a
125-pound flywheel that serves as a battery that stores energy. 
But it also uses some fuel _ propane, liquid natural gas, kerosene or alcohol
_ to run its turbine engine. 
Eisenhaure suggests this compromise hybrid design is the way to go in the
future, at least until someone comes along with better technology for
batteries, currently expensive and limited to short-range drives. 
''Our goal is to produce a hybrid vehicle that will be a cost wash'' for 
consumers, he said. 


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