========
Subject: Project Gutenberg September Newsletter
From: "Michael S. Hart" <hart@prairienet.org>
To: "Michael S. Hart" <hart@pobox.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 11:45:19 -0500 (CDT)
This is Project Gutenberg's Newsletter of Wednesday, September 1, 1999
Etexts Readable By Both Humans and Computers Since Before The Internet
[Usually sent the first Wednesday of each month, delayed if by relay.]
Main URL is promo.net Webmaster is Pietro di Miceli, of Rome, Italy
*Check out our Websites at promo.net, and ask me for our FTP servers.*
Welcome to our new sites at:
http://www.cddc.vt.edu/gutenberg
ftp://www2.cddc.vt.edu/pub/mirrors
We also have a new Etext in German. . .but like an American Western.
It looks like we will be able to make our goal of one Etext in German
each month. . .and more volunteers in German are more than welcome.
We would also like to post one Etext per month in other languages,
if you would care to help with those, please let me know.
**
Table of Contents:
Requests
Comments on Our Schedule
New Files
Index Listings for the New Files
Notes from Edupage and News Scan
**
Requests
**
We would like to complete the Tom Swift series, up to 1922,
if any of you would care to help with that, Mike said virtually .
Please contact:
Ron Benninghoff <rbenning@tampabay.rr.com>, please also cc:me
I am working on #2 [Motorboat]
I also have the following books that I will do:
Tom Swift and his Wireless Message
Tom Swift in Captivity
Tom Swift in the City of Gold
We need proofreaders for these.
**
We still need copies of Faust in German that say their text
is before 1923. . .we have the Etext, but we need to do the
proofreading and the copyright research. . . ! Contact me,
and please cc: Mike Pullen <globaltraveler5565@yahoo.com>
Also need Herman and Dorothea in German.
**
We received no replies to our request for help on Romanian Etext.
**
Ben Bennett <fiji@ayup.limey.net> would like to continue with
the 11th Edition of the Britannica. . .please cc:me. . . .
**
Comments on Our Schedule
A number of people have asked about our current schedule...
My apologies for jumping so far into the future for some of
the files we are currently working on, but putting them all
in a single block in the index really makes it much easier,
for us, and also for those using the raw index I produce in
the first week of each month, relating the postings, events
and other comments from the previous month.
The quick answers:
1. We are currently about 8 months ahead of our schedule.
2. We are currently just barely making our schedule of 36
Etexts per month. . .so we can't increase scheduling.
3. We reserved space in March, 2000 for a 21 volume set,
of which we have now completed 11 volumes. We also
reserved space in June, 2000, for Human Genome files,
of which we have now complete 18 chromosomes, but this
leaves some gaps still to be filled. . .we have just
finished all the April, 2000, Etexts, and started on
May. . .all of which you will see indexed below. If
possible, I will sneak in the last 6 chromosomes for
this Newsletter, but it will be very close. . .they
are big files, and the person who helps me with them
is unavailable at the moment.
The more detailed answers:
Our current official schedule is to do 36 Etext per month--
I am TRYING to do 40 per month--but it is a tough go at the
moment, with so many of our academic people having been out
for the summer, and not really back in the saddle yet. . .I
am therefore officially sticking to the 36 Etexts per month
schedule, but doing my best to really make it average 40.
If we CAN average 40, we will reach 3,333 Etexts by the end
of 2001. . . . We were going to try to double production--
every year--but without and serious Public Relations effort
or funding effort, we have still survived, but not expanded
our production much from the 32 Etexts per month we did for
several years. . .this is still more than anyone else but I
do hope can eventually move to 72 per month, and then more.
But this will take some serious PR and financial grant work
. . .if ANY of you are interested, please let me know.
Now. . .having said ALL that. . .we somehow managed a great
deal of extra production during the last 6 months last year
. . .no one seems to have any idea why. . .but we actually,
really did manage to average 72 Etext per month then, so we
ended up about 8 months ahead of schedule. . .since we were
about a month or two ahead when we started that period. . .
we have never quite figured out what happened, and we can't
really change our schedule without the premise that this is
actually possible on a continuing basis, without additional
resources. . .so it is just one of those little mysteries--
and a very nice one to have had.
So. . .we started this year about 7-8 months ahead. . .this
is why we started the Etexts for the year 2000 a few months
ago. . . . If we manage an extra 4 Etext per month for the
first 9 months or a bit longer we will end up with one more
month done ahead of schedule. . .but even with the 24 files
of the Human Genome Project going in right now, it looks as
if we will have to work pretty hard to achieve that goal.
**
Reposted Files:
Apr 1999 Our Legal Heritage, by S. A. Reilly [2nd Edition] [rlglhxxa.xxx]1694
The new version is rlglh10a.txt and .zip. . .in /etext99
This is direct from the author, the brand new edition, and pretty interesting
and
Jan 2000 Iphigenie auf Tauris, Johann von Goethe[#4] German[iphgnxxx.xxx]2054
Jul 1998 Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy/Tolstoi [Tolstoy #5][nkrnnxxx.xxx]1399
[A much improved version. . . .]
**
New Files
Jun 2000 Human Genome Project, X Chromosome [#23] [0xhgpxxx.xxx]2223
Jun 2000 Human Genome Project, Chromosome Number 22 [22hgpxxx.xxx]2222
Jun 2000 Human Genome Project, Chromosome Number 18 [18hgpxxx.xxx]2218
Jun 2000 Human Genome Project, Chromosome Number 17 [17hgpxxx.xxx]2217
Jun 2000 Human Genome Project, Chromosome Number 07 [07hgpxxx.xxx]2207
Jun 2000 Human Genome Project, Chromosome Number 06 [06hgpxxx.xxx]2206
We have now posted 18 of the 24 chomosomes, should be done with the first
version of all 24 sometime this month.
And from May:
Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext]####
*****A "C" Following a Project Gutenberg Etext Number Indicates Copyright****
May 2000 Seven Discourses on Art, by Joshua Reynolds [artdsxxx.xxx]2176
May 2000 You Never Can Tell, by [George] Bernard Shaw [#7] [nvrctxxx.xxx]2175
May 2000 Frau und Kindern auf der Spur, by Gerold K. Rohner[8spurxxx.xxx]2174C
May 2000 Frau und Kindern auf der Spur, by Gerold K. Rohner[7spurxxx.xxx]2174C
German/Two versions/7-bit version without accents/8-bit version with accents.*
May 2000 Thoughts on Present Discontents, etc., by Burke [thdscxxx.xxx]2173
May 2000 That Mainwaring Affair, by Maynard Barbour [mnwrnxxx.xxx]2172
May 2000 Brother Jacob, by George Eliot [George Eliot #5][brjcbxxx.xxx]2171
May 2000 Misc Writings and Speeches, Lord Macaulay V4 of 4[4mwsmxxx.xxx]2170*
May 2000 Misc Writings and Speeches, Lord Macaulay V3 of 4[3mwsmxxx.xxx]2169*
May 2000 Misc Writings and Speeches, Lord Macaulay V2 of 4[2mwsmxxx.xxx]2168*
May 2000 Misc Writings and Speeches, Lord Macaulay V1 of 4[1mwsmxxx.xxx]2167
[Only volume 1 is done right now, the other three are reserved for later..mh]
May 2000 King Solomon's Mines, by H. Rider Haggard [HRH #9][7kslmxxx.xxx]2166
May 2000 King Solomon's Mines, by H. Rider Haggard [HRH #9][8kslmxxx.xxx]2166
**Two versions, 7-bit version without accents, 8-bit version with accents.**
May 2000 The Lifted Veil, by George Eliot [George Eliot #4][lftvlxxx.xxx]2165
May 2000 The Lumley Autograph Susan Fenimore Cooper[SFC#2][lumlyxxx.xxx]2164
May 2000 The Bridge-Builders, by Mark Twain[Mark Twain #16][brdgbxxx.xxx]2163
And we have finally finished all the Etexts for April, 2000, all listed here:
Apr 2000 Anarchism and Other Essays, by Emma Goldman [nrcsmxxx.xxx]2162
Apr 2000 Song Book of Quong Lee of Limehouse, Thomas Burke [qunglxxx.xxx]2161
Apr 2000 The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, Tobias Smollett[txohcxxx.xxx]2160
Apr 2000 A Little Tour In France, by Henry James[James #20][altifxxx.xxx]2159
Apr 2000 The Prime Minister, by Anthony Trollope[Trollope5][prmnsxxx.xxx]2158
Apr 2000 Female Suffrage, by Susan Fenimore Cooper [SFC #3][sffrgxxx.xxx]2157
Apr 2000 China and the Manchus, by Herbert A. Giles [#3][8mnchxxx.xxx]2156
Apr 2000 China and the Manchus, by Herbert A. Giles [#3][7mnchxxx.xxx]2156
7mnch is the 7-bit Plain Vanilla ASCII version/8mnch uses extended characters
Apr 2000 Phyllis of Philistia, by Frank Frankfort Moore [phophxxx.xxx]2155
Apr 2000 Around the World in 80 Days Jr. Ed. by Jules Verne[80dayxxa.xxx]2154
[A totally different edition than prevously released this = 80day10a.xxx]
Also see:
Jan 1994 Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne[Verne2][80day10x.xxx] 103
Apr 2000 Mary Barton, by Elizabeth Gaskell [Gaskell #4][mbrtnxxx.xxx]2153
Apr 2000 On the Makaloa Mat/Island Tales, Jack London 72-78[mklmtxxx.xxx]2152
[We stopped numbering the stories individually, but since these are close to
the last stories he ever wrote, we will finish Jack London this same way. mh]
Contains
Apr 2000 The Kanaka Surf, by Jack London [Jack London #78][mklmtxxx.xxx]2152
Apr 2000 The Tears of Ah Kim, by Jack London [London #77][mklmtxxx.xxx]2152
Apr 2000 The Water Baby, by Jack London [Jack London #76][mklmtxxx.xxx]2152
Apr 2000 Shin-Bones, by Jack London [Jack London #75][mklmtxxx.xxx]2152
Apr 2000 When Alice Told Her Soul, by Jack London [JL#74][mklmtxxx.xxx]2152
Apr 2000 The Bones of Kahekili, by Jack London [London #73][mklmtxxx.xxx]2152
Apr 2000 On the Makaloa Mat, by Jack London [London #72][mklmtxxx.xxx]2152
On the Makaloa Mat
The Bones of Kahekili
When Alice Told her Soul
Shin-Bones
The Water Baby
The Tears of Ah Kim
The Kanaka Surf
Apr 2000 The Works of Edgar Allan Poe V5[Raven Edition][10][poe5vxxx.xxx]2151
Contents
Philosophy of Furniture
A Tale of Jerusalem
The Sphinx
Hop Frog
The Man of the Crowd
Never Bet the Devill Your Head
Thou Art the Man
Why the Little Frenchman Wears his Hand in a Sling
Bon-Bon
Some words with a Mummy
The Poetic Principle
Old English Poetry
and other poems including
The Raven, Lenore, and many others.
Apr 2000 The Works of Edgar Allan Poe V4[Raven Edition][#9][poe4vxxx.xxx]2150
Contents
The Devil in the Belfry
Lionizing
X-ing a Paragrab
Metzengerstein
The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq.
How to Write a Blackwood article
A Predicament
Mystification
Diddling
The Angel of the Odd
Mellonia Tauta
The Duc de l'Omlette
The Oblong Box
Loss of Breath
The Man That Was Used Up
The Business Man
The Landscape Garden
Maelzel's Chess-Player
The Power of Words
The Colloquy of Monas and Una
The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion
Shadow.--A Parable
Apr 2000 The Works of Edgar Allan Poe V3[Raven Edition][#8][poe3vxxx.xxx]2149
Contents
Narrative of A. Gordon Pym
Ligeia
Morella
A Tale of the Ragged Mountains
The Spectacles
King Pest
Three Sundays in a Week
Apr 2000 The Works of Edgar Allan Poe V2[Raven Edition][#7][poe2vxxx.xxx]2148
Contents
The Purloined Letter
The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade
A Descent into the Maelstrvm
Von Kempelen and his Discovery
Mesmeric Revelation
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
The Black Cat
The Fall of the House of Usher
Silence -- a Fable
The Masque of the Red Death
The Cask of Amontillado
The Imp of the Perverse
The Island of the Fay
The Assignation
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Premature Burial
The Domain of Arnheim
Landor's Cottage
William Wilson
The Tell-Tale Heart
Berenice
Eleonora
Apr 2000 The Works of Edgar Allan Poe V1[Raven Edition][#6][poe1vxxx.xxx]2147
Contents
Edgar Allan Poe, An Appreciation
Life of Poe, by James Russell Lowell
Death of Poe, by N. P. Willis
The Unparalled Adventures of One Hans Pfall
The Gold Bug
Four Beasts in One
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Mystery of Marie Rogjt
The Balloon Hoax
MS. Found in a Bottle
The Oval Portrait
Apr 2000 Egmont, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe[German] [#5][8gmntxxx.xxx]2146
Apr 2000 Egmont, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe[German] [#5][7gmntxxx.xxx]2146
We produce two versions of each of our Etexts that have diacritic accents, an
8 bit version with the accents included, and a 7 bit version without them, so
all our readers can download a version they can read on whatever programs. mh
[The 8 bit version filenames begin with 8xxxx, and the 7 bit ones with 7xxxx]
Apr 2000 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, by Lew Wallace [benhrxxx.xxx]2145
Apr 2000 The Bible, in Danish, Old Testament, Copyrighted [bbldoxxx.xxx]2144C
Apr 2000 The Bible, in Danish, New Testament, Public Domain[bbldnxxx.xxx]2143
Apr 2000 Childhood, by Leo Tolstoy/Tolstoi [Leo Tolstoy #7][chldhxxx.xxx]2142
Apr 2000 Strictly Business[More 4 Million] by O Henry[OH#7][stbusxxx.xxx]2141
Contains:
STRICTLY BUSINESS
THE GOLD THAT GLITTERED
BABES IN THE JUNGLE
THE DAY RESURGENT
THE FIFTH WHEEL
THE POET AND THE PEASANT
THE ROBE OF PEACE
THE GIRL AND THE GRAFT
THE CALL OF THE TAME
THE UNKNOWN QUANTITY
THE THING'S THE PLAY
A RAMBLE IN APHASIA
A MUNICIPAL REPORT
PSYCHE AND THE PSKYSCRAPER
A BIRD OF BAGDAD
COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON
A NIGHT IN NEW ARABIA
THE GIRL AND THE HABIT
PROOF OF THE PUDDING
PAST ONE AT RODNEY'S
THE VENTURERS
THE DUEL
"WHAT YOU WANT"
Apr 2000 Extracts from the Diary of William Bray, by Bray [drbryxxx.xxx]2140
Apr 2000 Alvira, Heroine of Vesuvius, by A. J. O'Reilly [alvraxxx.xxx]2139
Apr 2000 The Day's Work - Part I, by Rudyard Kipling [RK#7][dywrkxxx.xxx]2138
Apr 2000 Rosamund, by Algernon Charles Swinburne [ACS #2][rsmndxxx.xxx]2137
Apr 2000 The Tale of Balen, by Algernon Charles Swinburne 1[balenxxx.xxx]2136
Apr 2000 Stories by English Authors in London, Scribners [sbealxxx.xxx]2135
Contains:
The Inconsiderate Waiter, by J. M. Barrie
The Black Poodle, by F. Anstry
That Brute Simmons, by Arthur Morrison
A Rose of the Ghetto, by I. Zangwill
The Omnibus, by "Q" [Quiller-Couch]
The Hired Baby, by Marie Correlli
Apr 2000 Utopia of Usurers, et al, by G. K. Chesterton[#14][uusryxxx.xxx]2134
Apr 2000 Chinese Sketches, by Herbert A. Giles [Giles #2][chnskxxx.xxx]2133
Apr 2000 The Daughter of an Empress, by Louise Muhlbach [dmprsxxx.xxx]2132
Apr 2000 An Account of Egypt, by Herodotus, Tr. by Macaulay[agyptxxx.xxx]2131
Apr 2000 Utopia, by Thomas More[Banned in his time][More#2][utopixxx.xxx]2130
Apr 2000 Murad the Unlucky, etc., by Maria Edgeworth[ME #3][muradxxx.xxx]2129
Apr 2000 Original Narratives of Early American History[var][mohwkxxx.xxx]2128
Apr 2000 Paul and Virginia, by Bernardin de Saint Pierre [pandvxxx.xxx]2127
And one from March
Mar 2000 Carlyle's "History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 11[11frdxxx.xxx]2111
[We still have 10 more to go in this series]
**
Notes from Edupage
NAVY OFFICIALS BACK OFF DIRE Y2K FORECAST [Under Duress]
The Navy issued a statement denying its earlier reports of
expected power failures resulting from the year 2000 (Y2K)
computer bug for nearly 60 Navy and Marine Corps installations.
The first Navy report found the probable and likely failure of
natural gas, electricity, water and sewer utility services in
communities near the installations. The Navy retracted the
statement, saying it now agrees with the White House assessment,
which states electrical failures will be unlikely in the new
year. Meanwhile, the Navy has not yet completed verifying Y2K
computer readiness for various Navy and Marine Corps communities.
The Navy posted its original findings on the Internet, but
removed them due to inaccurate and misleading information. Navy
officials say the database will be put back on the Internet,
accompanied with text explaining the findings.
(Washington Post 08/21/99)
[Here is the original report]
NAVY Y2K REPORT PREDICTS 'LIKELY' UTILITY OUTAGES IN SEVERAL CITIES
A recent updated Navy report predicts that electric utilities
serving nearly 60 of the approximately 400 Navy and Marine
facilities will probably suffer a power outage due to the year
2000 (Y2K) computer bug. The military report also expected power
failures in several cities, including Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla.; as well as some midwinter natural gas failures in such
places as Fort Worth, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and Albany, N.Y.
The Navy report is in sharp contrast to other predictions,
including conclusions from the White House. John
Koskinen--President Clinton's top Y2K advisor--said the Navy's
results were overly cautious and were based on the worst-case
scenario. (Washington Post 08/20/99)
WIRED ON CAMPUS E-LIFE
Many students are beginning to pick universities based on how
"wired" they are, according to a recent article in USA Today.
This is because students are performing more functions online,
from registering for classes and communicating with professors to
ordering take-out, than ever before. Of the 15 million students
currently attending a college, 60 percent say they go online
daily, and 85 percent of students own their own computers,
according to research firm Student Monitor. The company predicts
that university students will spend $700 million online during
the next school year, and over $4 billion online annually by
2002. (USA Today 08/19/99)
MICROSOFT-AOL WAR HEATS UP OVER NET ACCESS
Though America Online is on top of the online service provider
heap right now, Microsoft is aiming to knock it from its perch.
While AOL continues to charge for its service, Microsoft wishes
to move the market towards free or cheap access. The company has
tested a $9.95 price point for monthly access fees, and is
mulling over the idea of giving free access to consumers who
agree to spend a certain amount each month with some of
Microsoft's e-commerce partners. For its part, AOL says that
Microsoft's attempts to undercut monthly charges will ultimately
not be successful, as even deep-pocketed Microsoft cannot afford
to lose money on Internet access forever. Meanwhile, Microsoft
says its moves against AOL are protective in nature, believing
that in the near future AOL is planning to become an online
software platform to rival Microsoft's Windows.
(Wall Street Journal 08/05/99)
[More on the same subject]
ALTAVISTA OFFERING FREE INTERNET ACCESS
AltaVista Thursday launched a free Internet access service,
becoming the first major Internet site to do so. The company,
which owns one of the Web's 10 most visited sites, hopes to
attract more customers by providing free Internet access.
Although AltaVista will lose subscription revenues, the company
believes increased ad revenues will compensate for the loss.
AltaVista users will be required to begin their Web surfing from
the AltaVista home page, and will have an ad constantly in the
corner of their computer screens. In addition, a MicroPortal
will appear on the screen that contains banner ads as well as
links to shopping and search sites. Although AltaVista will not
sell consumer registration information, it will use the data to
customize ads to a user's interests, says AltaVista spokesperson
David Emmanuel. (USA Today 08/13/99)
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Notes from Newsscan Daily
CLEVELAND FREE-NET CLOSES DOWN
Cleveland Free-Net, which was the nation's first free community computer
network, will shut down this Fall rather go through the effort and expense
of reprogramming the system to make it Y2K-compliant. One long-time user of
the Free-Net, which started in 1984 as an electronic bulletin board at Case
Western Reserve University, said: "It's just sad to see it go. It's an
institution." (AP/San Jose Mercury News 5 Aug 99)
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/722931l.htm
CRYPTOGRAPHER DESIGNS SUPER-CODE-CRACKING COMPUTER
Cryptographer Adi Shamir of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel has
designed a computer that uses light-emitting diode technology to crack
512-bit encryption keys in just two or three days. A recent effort to crack
465-bit keys took hundreds of computers and several months. Twinkle, which
stands for The Weizmann Institute Key Locating Engine, measures the light
from the diodes to perform the mathematical calculations necessary to
decrypt the keys. The computer, if built, would cost about $2 million, and
could jeopardize the security of the majority of electronic commerce
underway today. Longer keys, with 1,024-bits, are now used for highly
sensitive documents, but the most popular browsers used for transactions
today are set for only 512 bits. (Wall Street Journal 16 Aug 99)
http://wsj.com/
TIPTOEING THROUGH THE WEB
Privada Inc. of San Jose, Calif., is offering a new service that allows
users to make all of their Internet activities - e-mail, online chats, Web
browsing and e-commerce transactions - completely anonymous. The Web
Incognito service encrypts the data flowing from the subscriber's Internet
service provider and masks its origins before sending it on to its intended
destination. The service, which can be switched on and off by the user,
also stores the subscriber's "cookies." Web Incognito differentiates itself
from other privacy products in that it covers all Internet activities - not
just Web browsing or e-mail - and has said it will share the identity of
users with law enforcement authorities who have appropriate warrants. "Our
service is for protecting the privacy of consumers, not for hiding criminals
or criminal activities," says Privada CEO Barbara Bellissimo. "We felt it
would be irresponsible not to give law enforcement agencies the information
if they have valid warrants." (New York Times 16 Aug 99)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/08/biztech/articles/16data.html
BROADCOM'S 10-IN-1 NETWORKING CHIP
Broadcom Corp. has developed a new networking chip that can perform tasks
now handled by up to 10 separate chips. The StrataSwitch chip boasts 60
million transistors and is capable of analyzing the content of data
transmissions and assigning higher priority to those packets containing
voice and video. "What this represents is basically the world's first true
switching system on a single chip," says the general manager of Broadcom's
networking business unit. (Reuters/San Jose Mercury News 16 Aug 99)
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/086415.htm
SBC TO OFFER E-MAIL-ONLY PHONE SERVICE [Not only SBC. . .so news says]
SBC Communications plans a September launch for its new eMessage service --
designed for people who want to communicate online, but don't want to use a
computer to do it. The service will use a portable phone attachment that
includes a keyboard and screen. The e-mail-only service marks the first
time a major phone company has offered a service geared especially toward
the "Internet appliance" market. The eMessage service will cost about $10 a
month, and the device will sell for about $180 - about half the price of Web
phones. (Los Angeles Times 19 Aug 99)
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/BUSINESS/t000073861.html
NET ENEMIES LIST
Reporters Sans Frontiers, a Paris-based organization that promotes press
freedom, has compiled a Top-20 list of countries that severely restrict
citizens' access to information on the Internet. They are: Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Libya, North
Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Most of the countries named have
state-owned Internet service providers that filter and censor Web sites for
their citizens, and more repressive regimes, like Burma's, require computer
owners to register with the government. A few, like North Korea and Iraq,
have almost no Internet access at all. And in Saudi Arabia, the Internet is
viewed as "a harmful force for Westernizing people's minds." (Investor's
Business Daily 19 Aug 99)
http://www.investors.com/
INSTANT MESSAGING
Prodigy, Tribal Voice and PeopleLink have agreed to give their customers the
ability to instantly exchange notes with the 1.3 million users of the
Microsoft Network's instant message service. This accommodation with
Microsoft is in stark contrast to the position taken by America Online,
which has repeatedly counterattacked Microsoft's attempt to link its own
service with AOL's to allow instant communication between Microsoft and AOL
customers. (San Jose Mercury News 18 Aug 99)
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/764802l.htm
JUDGE NIXES AOL TRADEMARK ATTEMPT
A federal judge has rejected America Online's attempt to prohibit AT&T from
using the terms "You have mail," "Buddy List," and "IM" on its WorldNet
service. AOL had claimed that the words and phrases were trademarked.
"We're pleased the court agreed that these terms are in the public domain -
available for all to use," says AT&T General Counsel Jim Cicconi. "AOL's
claim that it owns the everyday language of the Internet is another example
of AOL's attempt to monopolize all aspects of services over the Internet."
AOL says it will appeal the ruling and its general counsel is "confident
that the ruling will be reversed." (Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times 17
Aug 99) http://www.latimes.com/HOME/BUSINESS/t000073171.html
PRIVACY ADVOCATES COMPLAIN ABOUT AMAZON'S "FUN FEATURE"
Amazon.com says its new "Purchase Circle" feature is "a fun way for people
to find out what others are buying yet maintain individual confidentiality,"
but privacy advocates think it's a step in the wrong direction. The feature
allows people to see what the most popular books are among Amazon patrons at
any large organization; for example, "Memories of a Geisha" is now No. 1 at
Charles Schwab, and "The End of Marketing As We Know It" at CocaCola. Web
design expert Jacob Nielsen says, "From a privacy perspective, it's very
scary. It's a true Big Brother phenomenon." The feature can not be used to
learn what individuals are reading; the company only makes public reading
profiles of groups that include at least several hundred individuals. [No
inferences are drawn from the popularity of particular books at particular
institutions.] David Sobel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
says, "People don't like the idea that their purchases are being turned into
profiles, and they certainly don't like the idea that information is turned
over to third parties, even it it's not personally identifiable." (USA
Today 26 Aug 99) http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctf950.htm
ICANN AGAIN REJECTS REQUEST FOR INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIPS
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has for the
second time rejected a request for representation by a number of persons who
own Internet domain names as individuals rather than as corporations or
other organizations. ICANN, now meeting in Chile, has been accused of
letting its decision-making activities be biased in the interests of large
organizations that can afford to send their representatives all over the
world. (New York Times Cybertimes 26 Aug 99)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/08/cyber/articles/26domain.html
FORTY MOVIES ON A SINGLE DISK
Japan's Science & Technology Agency and Sharp Corp. have developed a 12-inch
(30.5 cm) memory disk that can store 200 gigabytes of data, which is enough
to store 40 times more data than a digital video disk (DVD), or the
equivalent of 40 two-hour movies. The new disk and disk drive will not be
available commercially for at least three years. (San Jose Mercury News 26
Aug 99) http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/011223.htm
PLAIN VANILLA INTERNET ACCESS
Swedish ISP BIP Bottnia Internet Provider is giving Internet service away
for free to customers who buy ice cream from Hemglass trucks. "All visitors
to the Hemglass trucks will be able to pick up a free Internet subscription
as a fun extra offer," says the head of marketing at Hemglass. The company's
200 trucks make 15,000 stops every day, reaching 90% of all Swedish
households. (Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times 26 Aug 99)
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/BUSINESS/t000076061.html
LONDON FIRM CHALLENGES HACKERS
London-based Global Market is offering $50,000 to anyone who can crack its
high-security "1on1" service. The service includes a special feature called
autoshredder, which allows users to order an e-mail message to delete itself
from the recipient's computer at a specified time, leaving no trace. "There
are other companies offering security, not quite to the same extent as us,
and not to the same level of security. Nobody else offers the self-destruct
e-mail," says Steven James, the company's technical director.
(Reuters 26 Aug 99) http://www.msnbc.com/news/304583.asp
AOL LAUNCHES FREE UK INTERNET SERVICE
In an effort to squelch upstart British rival Freeserve, America Online has
launched its own subscription-free service in the U.K. Freeserve's free
Internet access model has been copied by about 200 other service providers
in the U.K. over the last year, causing British consumers to lose interest
in subscription-based ISPs. In a further attempt to clone the Freeserve
model, AOL Europe has linked with retail giant Kingfisher to distribute the
free service. Freeserve uses parent company Dixons' outlets to sell its
software. (Financial Times 25 Aug 99)
http://www.ft.com/hippocampus/q14310a.htm
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