   ______                            _   __      __
  / ____/___  ____ ___  ____  __  __/ | / /___  / /____  _____
 / /   / __ \/ __ `__ \/ __ \/ / / /  |/ / __ \/ __/ _ \/ ___/
/ /___/ /_/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /|  / /_/ / /_/  __(__  ) 
\____/\____/_/ /_/ /_/ .___/\__,_/_/ |_/\____/\__/\___/____/  
                    /_/                                       
                         This Week's Contents:

My Notes:
1) Help for the Tired Hands . . .

Columnists' Corner:
1) Response to David Squier -- "Learn a Little History" - Mark Shapiro

News:
1) NetWare Web Server Version 2.5 Debuts!
2) CompuServe Links Family to Mir Space Station!

Reviews:
1) WinShield for Windows 95 -- Reviewed by
   Paul Baker (paulbake@macc.wisc.edu)
2) Olympic Gold -- Reviewed by David R. Leininger (services@alanrand.com)
3) Road Warriors: Dreams and Nightmares Along the Information Super
   Highway -- Reviewed by: Craig E. Bull (craig.bull@udayton.edu)
4) Norton Navigator for Windows 95 Reviewed by Gray Johnson
   (gray@posh.internext.com)

Web Sites:
1) Do You Need Help with McDonalds' Game Piece Trivia?
   (http://www.storms.com/)
2) Multimedia Wire Web Site Sold!
   (http://www.mwire.com)

FTP File:
1) Which Compression Program is Best for You?

Interview:
1) Are you a newshound? Check out our interview with Jim Opfer from
Farcast, the best email news service going!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date  : May 6, 1996       |CompuNotes is a weekly publication available
Issue : 45                |through email and many fine on-line networks.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
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(pgrote@inlink.com)                       |concise reviews for us. Send
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------------------------------------------|on you to make things happen
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Patrick's News
         Being The Publisher and Managing Editor Has Its Perks!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help Me . . . Or My Hands . . . |
---------------------------------
    You all may know I still handle this list by hand each week. I use
Pegasus and a funky setup to make it happen. The problem is I like to
keep the list in a standard mail format like: pgrote@inlink.com, but
Pegasus keeps its mail in forms like Patrick Grote <pgrote@inlink> or
even pgrote@inlink.com (Patrick Grote). Does anyone have a program that
will go through a text file line by line and keep only the internet
address on each line? If so, I will mention you and/or your product
here! Let me know . . .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Columnists' Corner - We bring you a different person each week!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Shapiro very quickly responded to David Squier's column last week.
Unfortunately, it was so fast we misplaced his address. Going through
the CompuNotes subscription list found *three* Mark Shapiros. So, if you
want to send a response, send it to us and we will forward it to Mark.
And oh, Mark, could you drop us a line . . .

David Squier presented an excellent argument regarding the use of Java
on Web pages.  Unfortunately, he got some of his facts wrong.  He also
failed to consider the history of the Internet.  The Internet started
back in the 1970's as a military research network.  It soon spread to
educational facilities across the US, and eventually, across the world.
Only in the past few years has it become commercialized.  Mr. Squier
asked why we let fools with Sun's and T-1 connections lead the Internet
movement.  We let these "fools" (his word, not mine) lead the Internet
movement because it is these very geniuses who began the Internet
movement.  If it were not for them, the Internet would not even exist
today.  You should not join a regatta and then complain because everyone
else is going faster than your rowboat can handle.

While it is true that the majority of Internet access by individuals is
via 14.4 or 28.8 modems, this only holds true for individuals. Research
organizations, government and military facilities, and colleges and
universities, the original creators and users of the Internet,
overwhelmingly have a T-1 or faster connection.  The Internet was not
ever designed to be accessed via dialup modem, so the fact that it is
possible now should be considered an unexpected benefit, not a
controlling factor.

Commenting on Java, Mr. Squier mentioned that there is another
alternative, called "server push", where a Web server sends a sequence
of images displayed on top of each other.  One side effect of this, he
says, is that the Stop button is always lighting up, as is the hard
drive activity light.  He then goes on to accuse Netscape of using this
very technique. In this, he is dead wrong.  Netscape uses a technology
that has been around for a few years, called "animated GIF".  One of the
extensions to the original GIF standard, called "GIF 89a", includes many
features that you have undoubtedly seen.  GIF 89a allows for interlaced
images, which are images that display partially as they are downloaded,
so you can get an idea of what a picture is going to look like, without
downloading it entirely.  GIF 89a also implements transparent images,
providing for a "floating" graphic, instead of a noticeably square
picture.  Finally, GIF 89a introduced animation into the GIF standard,
which allows a single GIF file to have multiple frames, which can be
displayed with a delay, or in a loop.  This technology, which has
recently been supported by Netscape, solves the constant load of the old
"server push" trick.  It is this technology that Netscape uses to get
those nifty little ticking clock graphics on their home page.

Mr. Squier should check his facts and his history before he attacks what
he perceives as an injustice against those of us with less than optimal
Internet connections.  If the Internet had been created for public and
commercial use,  then Mr. Squier's commentary would have been right on
track.  As it is, though, he was fighting windmills.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS OF THE WEEK| This section is dedicated to verified news . . . All
News (C)opyright  Respective Owner - Will Only Reprint
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NetWare's New Web Server . . . |
--------------------------------
INTERNET WORLD, SAN JOSE, Calif. -- April 30, 1996 -- Novell, Inc. today
announced NetWare Web Server 2.5, the fastest web server on the market
and the only web server that allows users to browse critical information
in Novell Directory Services# (NDS#). Additionally, NetWare Web Server
2.5 features Java# applet support and gives developers the broadest
choice of interfaces available with a web server today. Combined, these
new features make it easier for customers to publish, access and manage
information on corporate intranets and the Internet.

"This significantly enhanced NetWare Web Server reaffirms Novell's
commitment to providing high-performance solutions for corporate
intranets and the Internet," said Vic Langford, senior vice president
and general manager of Novell's Internet/Intranet Services Business
Unit. "This product meets real customer needs today and provides many of
the key technologies customers will need tomorrow," he added.

NetWare Web Server 2.5 is a NetWare Loadable Module# (NLM#) that lets
customers utilize NetWare servers as the core of their fully fledged web
sites. Users can install and configure the software and create a web
page quickly and easily on an existing NetWare 4.x server, without
having to learn any new languages or protocols. The new features of the
product are:

NDS browsing capabilities -- The de facto industry directory standard,
Novell Directory Services is a distributed database that presents all
network users and resources as objects that can be located, viewed and
managed from a single location. The new directory-enabled NetWare Web
Server improves productivity and simplifies network management by
allowing users to access information stored in the NDS tree. The
information, such as user names, e-mail addresses, Uniform Resource
Locators (URLs) and listings of computers, applications and other
resources, can be stored securely in NDS and made accessible to
appropriate users through their web browsers.

Java applet support -- Java-coded applications, called applets, can be
embedded into web pages and then executed by the browser. This is
particularly useful for processing intensive or time-sensitive elements
of a web page, such as in multimedia applications.

Enhanced performance -- In recent independent tests against Microsoft's
Internet Information Server 1.0 and Netscape's Communications Server
1.12, NetWare Web Server 2.5 outperformed the competition, in some cases
by up to 400 percent. This means that NetWare Web Server can handle more
traffic, giving users a comfortable margin for peak loads today and
providing room for growth tomorrow.

Development interfaces -- NetWare Web Server 2.5 is the only web server
to offer three interfaces for developers, allowing them to simply and
easily develop applications for use with NetWare and the NetWare Web
Server. The new product includes a Local Common Gateway Interface
(L-CGI) extension, as well as a Remote-CGI (R-CGI) extension and,
through Novell's Net2000 API initiative, Visual basic, C++ or Java tools.

Symmetric Multi-processing -- NetWare Web Server supports NetWare 4.1
Symmetric Multi-processing (SMP). This enables users to scale their
NetWare Web Server to different numbers of microprocessors, allowing the
NetWare Web Server to handle large numbers of "hits" or user requests.

NetWare 4.1 Runtime# -- NetWare Web Server includes the core NetWare
4.1# operating system, NetWare 4.1 Runtime. This gives customers a
cost-effective way to implement the NetWare Web Server on a dedicated
runtime server in either a NetWare 3.x or NetWare 4.x environment.

System Fault Tolerance -- To assure the utmost reliability, NetWare Web
Server is fully compatible with NetWare SFT III#, providing
fault-tolerant performance 24 hours a day, every day.

NetWare Web Server 2.5 will be available in June through Authorized
Novell Channel Partners for the suggested retail price of US$995. The
new version is an integral part of the new web-publishing suite, Novell
InnerWeb Publisher, which was also announced today. (See related
release.)

-------------------------------
CompuServe Links Mir to Earth!|
-------------------------------
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 1 /PRNewswire/ - E-mail on CompuServe has long
connected continents but is now connecting earth to outer space.  Thanks
to CompuServe e-mail and helpful crew mates, astronaut Shannon Lucid
will keep in touch with her crew at home during a five-month NASA
mission aboard the Mir space station.

Dr. Lucid, a 53-year-old biochemist from Bethany, Okla., is receiving
messages sent by family and friends to her laptop computer at the Moscow
Mission Control Center.  The NASA flight surgeon is uplinking the
messages and downlinking responses with the astronaut, as orbits and
message traffic scheduling allow.  While NASA regularly provides its
crew with as many home "comforts" as possible, providing a constant
connection with loved ones has, up until now, been nearly impossible.

"Since 1978, CompuServe has been setting the standard in global e- mail
communications.  Who would have thought it would be used to bring space
travelers down-to-earth messages from family and friends," said Bob
Massey, CompuServe president and chief executive officer.   "It's
important to understand that this is the same e- mail service we provide
to all users.  This mission clearly illustrates e-mail's ease of use and
convenience as well as how it enables people to stay in touch globally .
. . and beyond!"

Dr. Lucid is a station researcher on the Russian orbiting space station
Mir, collaborating with Russian cosmonauts on joint scientific
investigations.  These investigations will provide important scientific
information about the human body and the microgravity environment.  She
will return to earth in August 1996.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
REVIEWS OF THE WEEK | Interesting software/hardware you may need . . .
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: WinShield for Windows 95
Reviewed By: Paul Baker (paulbake@macc.wisc.edu)
Reviewed on: 486 SX33, 8 MB RAM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," our Computer Services staff
grumbled as they rescued my PC from a recent (and unauthorized) botched
attempt to install Windows 95 on my PC at work. Despite my precautions,
I managed not only to cut off my network access but also to scramble my
C drive. All is well now, but our Computer Services staff will forever
regard me under a cloud of suspicion and doubt.

I recount this story because it illustrates how closely corporate
network managers and security specialists have always had to keep a
sharp eye out for employees (like myself) who feel compelled to tinker
with system configurations, despite warnings, costing valuable time to
fix whatever got broken. And now that Windows 95 is becoming more
common, the problem will likely escalate.

Fortunately, WinShield for Windows 95 is here to help prevent damage to,
and misuse of,  PCs running Windows 95. A product of Kent-Marsh, Ltd.,
WinShield joins its sister program, WinShield for Windows 3.1. WinShield
95 prevents unwanted configuration changes, controls the use of
peripherals, protects applications, and protects against unsupervised
surfing on the Internet. Although it seems most appropriate for service
bureaus, corporate workstations, and educational labs, it may also be
used in the home.

In a nutshell, WinShield lets you define what rights and privileges
other users may enjoy when they use the Windows 95 desktop. An
"alternate setup" option allows you to establish and toggle between
several setup environments depending on how you want the machine
configured at any given time. For example, certain users may need a less
restrictive environment. Just give users a password and they can toggle
from the default setup to the alternate setup.

The system requirements are Windows 95 and a VGA monitor. WinShield
gives you broad control over nine areas of Win 95. In particular:

1. Appearance: Prevent changes to the screen saver, wallpaper, display
resolution, or color scheme.

2. CD-ROMs: Prevent the use of CD-ROMs entirely, or allow access only to
certain CD-ROMs.

3. Diskettes: Prevent the diskette drive from recognizing any disks, and
constrain all file saving to diskettes only.

4. Explorer: Shield all icons on the Explorer desktop (i.e., only items
you've placed on the Start menu will be usable), restore icon positions
at shutdown, shield all drive icons in the My Computer window, shield
control panels and printer folders.

5. Network: Allow nothing/local machine only/local machine and
workgroup/entire network in the Network Neighborhood; freeze network
hardware and configuration settings; prevent remote administration of
the computer over the network.

6. Printer: Freeze driver, port, and spool settings; disable deletion or
addition of printers.

7. Sharing: Prevent all file sharing, all print sharing, or dial-in
networking; freeze shared access control settings; freeze
user-customizable desktop settings.

8. Start menu: Prevent Start Menu customization; limit access to the
Settings menu item, limit access to the Find, Run, and the Shut Down
commands.

9. System: Shield access to MS-DOS, prevent hardware driver deletion or
changes, prevent creation of hardware profiles, prevent registry editing
tools, freeze system performance settings, freeze the computer's
identity, or prevent date and time changes.

The setup interface is easy to follow and follows an attractive tabbed
folder metaphor.  One thing to remember when using WinShield is that
when you install applications, you must use the WinShield Setup item
under the Start menu to toggle WinShield off before the installation.
This ensures that WinShield will preserve any new settings the
application has made to the computer's setup information.

WinShield for Windows 95
Kent-Marsh Ltd. Inc.
Kent-Marsh Building
3260 Sul Ross
Houston, TX 77098
(713) 522-LOCK (5625)
Fax: (713) 522-8965
Sales: (800) 325-3587
sales@kentmarsh.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Olympic Gold: A 100 Year History of the Olympic Games
Reviewed By: David R. Leininger (services@alanrand.com)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world's most celebrated festival has been held every four years for
the past century. The Olympic Games bring together the finest athletes
of nearly every nation to compete for medals in dozens of sports. In
conjunctions with the International Olympic Committee, S.E.A. Multimedia
has created a CD-ROM which offers a beautiful and extensive look into
the people, places, and events which are known simply as the Olympics.

The artistry of the user interface is superb. Color and monochrome
images from past Olympic events form the backgrounds throughout the
disc. The design does not overshadow the subject matter; rather, it
serves as an intuitive means to access information from five
perspectives: Athletes, Nations, Games, History, and Events.

The disc offers plenty of content for even the most enthusiastic Olympic
admirer. Some 15,000 athletes are listed, including their sport,
country, year(s) of participation, and medals won. Searching for
specific athletes is possible based on a variety of criteria, including
event, nation, name, and related text. More than 100 legendary athletes
are depicted through photos, movies, and textual narratives.

The Nations section provides facts and figures for every National
Olympic Committee, including contact information, logos, medals won, and
participation results. The listing of nations is a joy to use. Press an
'S' and the list quickly scrolls to countries beginning with that
letter. Click on a country name and the logo and background information
are presented within a second or two.

Twenty five 'movies' delve provide an overview of the individual
quadrennial Games . Each Olympiad is profiled in a narrated sequence of
photos, movies, and animations. Users gain a sense of the historical
times and places as they learn of the highlights of each of the past
games, plus a preview of the upcoming event in Atlanta.

History is divided into textual narratives with accompanying pictures
for the 11 sections: Arts, Ancient Games, Drugs, Marketing, Media,
Olympic Ceremony, Olympic Movement, Olympic Museum, Politics, Symbolism,
and Women. Hypertext links in each of the narratives allow users to
branch to information of particular interest.

Twenty nine Events, plus a section on discontinued and demonstration
events, are described in text and portrayed in photos. A very
interesting part of the disc is in this section: a concise rule book and
animation for nearly every event. Once again, the graphics are superb.
The rule book, while informative, is not the complete text. For instance,
the rules are simply text paragraphs, not the numbered and structured
style found in the official rule books. However, this does not detract
from the usefulness of this consumer disc, which is not positioned as
the ultimate official's guide to rules on Olympic events.

There are only a few drawbacks to Olympic Gold. Some users may find the
fade to black/fade from black between each section to be somewhat
annoying, and it may take several seconds on a machine with less
capability than a Pentium90. The need for the fades is clear: 256 colors
is the standard setting for video cards and their drivers. The wait is
worth it. Secondly, too few music clips are used throughout the disc.
The few in use are repeated so often as to get monotonous ... quickly.
Finally, the print function provides no formatting of the text and the
images will not print in landscape mode, resulting in pictures that are
printed out of their proper perspective.

Overall, the disc is clearly worth $39.95 to anyone remotely interested
in the Olympics. It is a must-buy if you are going to Atlanta, if for no
reason other than to gain a strong overview of the Games through the
years.

Olympic Gold: A 100 Year History of the Summer Olympic Games
Developed by S.E.A. Multimedia
515 Madison Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10022-5403
FAX: (212) 935-6577
Internet:  seacomp@netvision.net.il
Distributed by Discovery Channel Multimedia

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Road Warriors: Dreams and Nightmares Along the Info Highway
Reviewed By: Craig E. Bull (craig.bull@udayton.edu)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I first received this book, with its bright yellow jacket, I
thought "Oh, great. A couple of guys are going to tell me that the Info
Highway is either the greatest thing since the digital watch, or the
worst thing since 'The Last Action Hero.'"  But, this turned out to be
one of the better books I've read on the so-called Information
Superhighway in a while.

Rather than going into great detail about how the Internet can be a boon
to the corporate world, the authors instead talk about the coming of age
of the 'Digital Revolution', from how it got started to where it may be
headed. Did you realize that one company, General Instrument,
effectively derailed the push for high-definition television (HDTV) and
made the Information Highway practical?  By doing something that no one
thought was possible; an all digital approach to HDTV.  It was this
technology which, according TCI's John Malone, "made the Information
Highway financially possible."  And they almost didn't submit it to the
FCC for consideration!

The sections of the book, each with several chapters, are interesting
and readable independently of each other.  (Obviously, reading the whole
book gives a better perspective.)  The book seemed to me to be a
documentary of the evolution of the `Digital Revolution.'   The authors
describe events of the last 10 to 20 years, with interviews with some of
the most significant players in those events. In the third and final
section, they address some of the future social and political concerns.
Who should be responsible for the morality of the Info Highway?  Should
the government get more involved in encouraging the development of the
technology needed to maintain America's superiority in this field? The
appendix consists of interviews with John Malone, CEO of TCI, Ray Smith,
CEO of Bell Atlantic, and Reed Hundt, Chair of the FCC.

There are chapters devoted to the mass of telecomm/cable mergers that
have occurred over the last several years, including those that have
failed for various reasons.  This includes interviews with the major
players in the failed merger efforts and their perspectives on why those
efforts failed.  You also get a sense for what the "big boys" (TCI,
Microsoft, Sun, etc.) see as the role of the Information Highway.  There
is also commentary on the recently passed Telecommunications Act.
(Obviously, it was still in Congress at the time of the publication of
the book.)

The issue for the next several years, according to the authors (and
others), is not going to be the technology as such.  Sure, the
technology is important.  But it's the content that is going to make or
break the idea of Interactive TV, for example. What good are 500
channels, if half of them are Infomercials or home shopping channels?
The authors indicate that companies might have the great technology. But
without the content, they are not going to succeed.  That explains the
recent merger mania.  Why does a telephone company want to own a
production company? To paraphrase the campaign slogans of  92, "It's the
CONTENT, stupid!"  And how to do all this, and yet keep the cost down to
something the consumer is willing to pay?

Of course, no book of this nature will discuss all this without going
into what the authors feel are the things that need to be done to make
this work.  But they don't say "This is what must be done.  If it's not,
it won't work."  Rather, they pose a number of questions that they feel
must be answered.  As they stress, they are "early-stage ideas and
provocations...for the massive political and social discussion to come."

Chip Bayers, Managing Editor of HotWired, says on the back cover: "Road
Warriors should be on the reading list of anyone planning to do business
in the digital world. In other words, anyone planning to do business,
period."  I think it should be on the reading list of anyone who has an
interest in the future of the Information Highway. I enjoyed this book,
and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Dutton
A Division of Penguin USA
375 Hudson Street
New York, NY  10014

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Norton Navigator for Windows 95 on CDROM
Reviewed By: Gray Johnson (gray@posh.internext.com)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The limitations of Program Manager in Windows 3.1 can be irritating.
Anyone who has used the PC Tools, the Norton Desktop for Windows, or
(Dare I say it?) a Mac, quickly sees the advantage of extending the
desktop metaphor. The Windows 95 GUI is clearly an improvement, but has
the new OS made Symantec's shell irrelevant?

Applets?
Let's examine what the Norton Navigator, Symantec's Win95 file-handler
and desktop-polisher adds to the GUI. The program is actually a group of
applets which can be run individually. So, rather than a redrawing of
the OS, the Navigator is a collection of additions and improvements. The
Norton Command Center allows you to activate and configure the other
parts of the as well to as access documentation.

The Norton Taskbar applet adds a Quick Launch area to the 95 Taskbar.
Shortcuts dragged to this area take up residence there and can be
launched with a single click. This is more convenient than a stroll
through the Start Menu, and you don't have to minimize running
applications to reach a program shortcut on your desktop. In a second
pane of the altered Taskbar, you can create multiple desktops, each
shrunken to an icon. This is my favorite feature. Although multiple user
profiles achieve the same end in Windows 95, that approach requires a
restart to change desktops. The contents of each desktop including open
windows are depicted on the icons. Running programs can be dragged  from
one desktop to another.

The Norton File Manager is much more versatile and capable than the
Windows Explorer. Available directory formats include a view of deleted
files, at least those not yet dumped from the recycle bin. File handling
abilities include zipping and unzipping compressed files, encrypting and
uuencoding for Internet use. FTP sites are represented as folders on a
virtual drive. For example, click on the Symantec FTP icon in the left
panel, and you are connected to the site via your Internet connection.
The files at the site are displayed in the right-hand panel, as if they
resided on a drive on your local network or desktop. You can "quick
view" or download them from there. The QuickFind applet allows file
indexing, speeding repeated searches of file groups. The applet can also
save and recall searches.
 
The Navigator also adds options to the desktop QuickMenus. The
"Navigator" option in a folder Quickmenu opens a cascading list of the
folder's contents. This lets you open a file several folders deep
without leaving a stack of open folders on the desktop. You can also add
options to compress folders and Zip files. Any of these additions can be
deleted through the Command Center.

Something for nothing?
The features added by the Navigator exact a price in performance. You
will notice slowing in boot up as well as overall system performance
using Norton Taskbar. The File Manager is slower to open than the
Explorer, so I use either one, depending on the situation. Symantec has
addressed speed  in an update of the Navigator. It can be downloaded
from CompuServe or their WWW or FTP sites. When I added the patch, I did
notice an improvement in speed. But let's face it. As they say in
Cupertino, there's no such thing as a free latte. Still I think the
added features are worth the price($99, by the way.) I recommend the
Navigator on CDROM, or on disks for that matter.

There's more to the CD version than convenience installation. It
contains a manual in Adobe Acrobat format (including the Acrobat viewer)
and a multimedia overview of the program. (Yes, you still get a printed
manual to read on the bus.)  I found the overview useful for orientation
before running the Navigator.

Symantec Corporation
10012 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, California 95014
[800] 441-7234
WWW: http://www.symantec
Compuserve: GO Symantec


------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITES OF THE WEEK! | This section is devoted to cool WebSites . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------
McDonalds' Trivia!|
-------------------
Several websites have space dedicated to people who wish to  share their
correct answers to the Disney trivia game currently sponsored by
McDonald's but by far the best one to my untrained eye is the McTrivia
Answer Page.

The site claims to have answers to 3,330 questions -- but it does have
duplicates.  The site has questions as obscure as the name of Walt
Disney's wife (Lillian) to the name of the show the character "Unwin"
appeared on (Gummi bears), along with the "easy" ones like, "Who is the
little boy who is Winnie-the-Pooh's special friend?"  (Christopher
Robin)  It includes many date questions like, "In what year did Mary
Poppins take place?" (1910), "In which of the following months and years
did Mary Poppins month and year was Mary Poppins filmed?" (May 1963) and
"Which Disney film listed won both a 1964 Oscar and a 1964 Grammy for
its musical score?" (Mary Poppins).

The site is searchable by keyword but with so many questions you should
select your key word carefully or you'll wind up with 100 questions and
answers to scan.  Also, some of  the questions are not worded verbatim
to the game playing tickets.  And with any site relying on contributions
from humans who err and have a sense of humor, you are taking your
chances.  But of the 20 or so I have checked, the answers have been
correct so I figure the odds beat random guessing.

But hurry!  The McDonald's game is over and you only have until May 23,
1996 to get the right answers and redeem your prizes.  This site is
located at: http://www.storms.com/

-----------------
Multimedia Wire!|
-----------------
POTOMAC, Md., April 29 /PRNewswire/ - Phillips Business Information,
Inc. has acquired Multimedia Wire, a daily email/faxed business news
service, and mmwire.com, a site on the World Wide Web from ProActive
Media Inc.

Since their launch in 1994, Multimedia Wire and mmwire.com have been
recognized as the best daily news source on the multimedia, online and
interactive entertainment business.  Multimedia Wire is quoted regularly
in major media including Variety, Forbes, CNBC and CD-ROM Professional,
while the editors of Wired magazine pronounce themselves "addicted to
Multimedia Wire."

Founder Christopher V. Sherman will continue as editor-at-large. "With a
large media and new media business division, Phillips has the resources,
talent and experienced reporters to make Multimedia Wire even stronger,"
Sherman said.

"Multimedia Wire will continue to bring its readers - including many of
the top players in the business - the day's news on online, multimedia
and interactive entertainment by 7 a.m. every business morning via fax
or email," explained Phillips Vice President and Publisher Kismet Toksu
Gould.  "Its companion website mmwire.com will also grow in value."

Phillips-related publications include three dailies, Interactive Daily,
CableFAX Daily and Internet Week's Today's Hot News Website. Rounding
out its stable of interactive/multimedia related publications, Phillips
also publishes Multimedia Week, New Media Week, Interactive Video News
and Inside Multimedia.

Although Phillips has launched several successful Internet and intranet
website services, this is its first website acquisition. Phillips
Business Information, Inc. is a subsidiary of Phillips Publishing
International, Inc., a diversified publisher and content provider, with
sales of $186 million in 1995.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
COOL FTP FILE OF THE WEEK | You may need this file . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.C.T. is a monthly report comparing 57 different compression programs
(archivers) for speed and ability to compress files.  The archivers are
tested on TXT, EXE, 669, BMP and multiple files.  It also includes a
checklist of special features some archivers can perform and the e-mail
addresses of the authors. New Archivers Tested: HAP 4.03, UC v2.37beta,
XPACK 1.34.

      You can find this as ACTEST16.ZIP in the following FTP site:
         ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/arcers/actest16.zip

------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERVIEW WITH ????? | Weekly Interviews with the Movers and Shakers!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I read a bunch of weekly computer magazines. InfoWorld is my favorite. I
like their balanced look at things and I like the freedom they give
their columnists. Anyway, Bob Metcalfe, the FATHER of Ethernet, writes a
column for them called From the Ether. He happened to mention news
services a few weeks back. One caught my eye -- Farcast.

Farcast is a news service that will send you email news updates from
multiple sources throughout the day. In addition, you can have up to 15
droids working for you combing through the news looking for a rules
based topic that you setup. THIS SERVICE IS WORTH IT! You can check them
out at WWW.FARCAST.COM or send an email to INFO@FARCAST.COM.

Wanting to learn more, we invited the CEO, Jim Opfer (jim@farcast.com),
to an electronic interview. He agreed, so here it is:

PG: Where did Farcast come from? What was the inspiration?
JO: Farcast was conceived in concept in the late '80s by Jayson Adams
and Scott Love who had a vision of electronic  "customized news for the
masses" and not the high prices that people like Dow Jones and others
were charging.  Jim Opfer was a Colonel in the Air Force at the time,
and became friends of both Scott Love and Jayson Adams when they worked
at NeXT computers.  Jim built large networks for the intelligence
community and in his earlier Air Force days he spent almost five years
working for President Reagan in White House Communications.  In a
roundabout way, Jim is actually the seed investor in Farcast. Right
after Scott and Jayson left NeXT computers and started Millennuim
Software Labs, Jim gave Scott and Jayson Air Force Research and
Development money to develop a product for the desktop NeXT computers
that the Air Force had several thousand of. Scott and Jayson
subsequently delivered a product from that R&D project and used the
proceeds from the product's revenue to build Farcast.   By the time
farcast was in design, Jim had retired from the Air Force and was
running his own consulting company in mobile and wireless
communications. Jim quickly became customer number 4 of farcast and
guided Scott and Jayson through the design based on  his experience with
delivering near-real time critical information to people, both in the
White House and the Intelligence Community.  In December 1994,  Jim and
his partner Alan Beringsmith purchased Farcast, recapitalized the
company and brought in a subsequent round of private financing to grow
the business.  In a roundabout way you could say that Jim had the vision
since his early days in the White House and implanted as much of it as
possible into farcast before he seized the opportunity to purchase
Farcast and execute the vision.

PG: Why was the decision made to bring the information via email instead
of HTML?
JO: Farcast launched its service in July 1994.  At that time there was
no such thing as any critical mass in HTML and the web was still an R&D
toy.  The founders chose e-mail because e-mail is fairly ubiquitous,
inexpensive and easily understood.  Even today, estimates are that there
are 10-12 million regular web users but over 35 million internet email
users.  Text e-mail is still the least common denominator.   HTML
delivery is surely in the plans.

PG: How many different feeds does Farcast have to search through?
JO: Today, Farcast searches through the following:

AP
UPI
PRNewswire
BusinessWire
Newsbytes
Stocks and mutual funds (15 minutes delayed)
Hoover's reference Library of Corporate profiles

PG: Without risking any proprietary secrets? How does the system work?
What is the flow?
JO: (Left blank due to secret information), PG . . .

PG: What is Farcast's target audience? Why?
JO: Farcast's target audience today is the business person.  The number
one reason people buy Farcast is as a Corporate Business Intelligence
tool.  Business people can track their own company, track their
competition, track their industry, etc  in order to make more timely,
smarter decisions and to be better informed in less time.

PG: What equipment do you run the Farcast system on? Describe the setup,
etc.
JO: Farcast runs on a mix of SUN Sparcs and Pentium PCs.

PG: What did you do as an occupation before Faracst? How did that
prepare you for the Farcast challenge?
JO: Answered in 1 above

PG: Who are your competitors and why/
JO: Our closest competitors today are Individual Inc, Mercury NewsHound,
and IBM InfoSage as all three of these services deliver news to e-mail
boxes and offer some form of two-way control over the individual
profiles.

PG: What does the future of Farcast hold? New developments, etc?
JO: Obviously, we can't comment on unannounced services or alliances,
etc.  But you can expect to see additional content feeds, several
corporate partners and alliances, and more powerful droids.

PG: What do you do for fun when you aren't computing?
JO: Well clearly running a startup allows little time for fun and when
not working I like to drink fine wine, especially in Napa, bicycle,
relax and read on the beach or read wherever (including Starbucks where
I can be seen pushing Farcast and sales).  I also am a private pilot,
but have had no time to do that sport lately.

 
                                --END OF ISSUE--

