COM NET NEWS Vol. 1 No. 4 July Part 2--News from Other Newsletter Sources >From the Editor This issue of COM NET NEWS reflects the suggestions of several subscribers. First, COM NET NEWS will contain a Table of Contents, and two, the newsletter will be broken down into two parts--News from Other Newsletter Sources, e.g., Edupage.; and Original and Other News. Richard W. Bryant, Editor RW Bryant Associates P.O. Box 1828 El Prado, NM 87529 Tel/fax: 505-758-1919 rbryant@hydra.unm.edu **************************************************************** **************************************************************** NEWS FROM OTHER NEWSLETTER SOURCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Educom Apple Computer--Solutions for Disabled Broader Electronic Surveillance Powers CEA Predicts $100 Billion Gain from Telecom Reform New Network Division at IBM Telemedicine Expands in Georgia Lotus Goes Multi-Lingual--Improves E-Mail Prospects Multimedia Exec Goes Hollywood Motorola Unveils 3-Way Chip, Snags Hong Kong Contract PSI Tells Law Firm to "Cease and Desist" Advertising 3 Rs + Computer Literacy The Traffic Report Delivering Fish on the Highway A Virtual Government Printing on the Leading Edge of the Highway Electronic Forms To Reduce Paper Information Highway Guide Headed to the Printer HPCwire Singapore Telecom $50 Million System Upgrade Survey Says: Large U.S. Firms Slowly Buying into Superhighway Idea ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FROM EDUCOM Apple Computer, Inc. provides solutions for people with disabilities. Apple has announced Aisle 17, a mail-order source that provides technology solutions for those with disabilities. It's the first nationwide distribution channel to bundle Macs with assistive technology products from leading software and peripheral manufacturers. Bundles are affordably-priced for individuals with learning disabilities, visual impairment, and physical disabilities. Also available: bundles for rehabilitation professionals. Contact: Aisle 17 at 800-600-7808. BROADER ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE POWERS The Canadian government wants a review of proposed legislation that would make it easier for police to intercept digital or computer communications. If approved, the legislation would allow police to monitor a wide range of personal data such as credit card usage, telephone calling patterns, automated teller transactions and even proposed interactive cable systems. (Ottawa Citizen 6/13/94 A4) CEA PREDICTS $100 BILLION GAIN FROM TELECOM REFORM The Council of Economic Advisors released a White Paper June 14 predicting the economy could grow by an extra $100 billion over the next decade if the Clinton administration's proposed telecommunications legislation is adopted. CEA estimated 500,000 new jobs would by created by 1996, and employment in the telecommunications and information sector could increase from 3.6 million to 5 million workers by the end of the next decade. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 6/15/94 A26) NEW NETWORK DIVISION AT IBM IBM is creating a new Networked Applications Services division to consolidate the company's projects in multimedia, electronic trading, Internet services, video teleconferencing, software for networked groups, interactive information kiosks, and electronic publishing. (New York Times 6/17/94 C3) TELEMEDICINE EXPANDS IN GEORGIA The Georgia Statewide Academic and Medicine System, a two-way interactive TV system connecting doctors with patients at remote sites, will link at least 50 health care facilities by year's end. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 6/17/94 B8) LOTUS GOES MULTI-LINGUAL, IMPROVES E-MAIL PROSPECTS Targeting the needs of multinational organizations, all new versions of Lotus's software products will simultaneously be available in seven languages, including Japanese and Chinese. The first product to go multi-lingual will be Approach 3.0 for Windows. (Information Week 6/20/94 p.15). Meanwhile, Lotus has snatched up SoftSwitch Inc. for about $70 million, giving it access to strategically important communications technology for its cc:Mail and Lotus Notes products. (Wall Street Journal 6/17/94 B10) MULTIMEDIA EXEC GOES HOLLYWOOD Robert Kavner, the head of AT&T's multimedia efforts, has joined Hollywood's premier talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, in a move that analysts say signals the increasing convergence of the entertainment and communications industries. (New York Times 6/17/94 C1) MOTOROLA UNVEILS 3-WAY CHIP, SNAGS HONG KONG CONTRACT Motorola's new MC68356 chip combines a microprocessor, a digital-signal processor, and a special communications processor, all on a single sliver of silicon. The three-way chip will be used in credit-card-sized high-speed modems, cellular telephone equipment and automobile guidance systems. (Wall Street Journal 6/20/94 B8) Meanwhile, Motorola's been hired to build a $40 million high-speed wireless computing network in Hong Kong. A trial run of the network, operating at 19.2 K bits per second, is planned for later this year. (Investor's Business Daily 6/20/94 A14) PSI TELLS LAW FIRM TO "CEASE AND DESIST" ADVERTISING Performance Systems International Inc., which provides Internet access for Arizona law firm Canter & Siegel, has ordered them to "cease and desist" their unsolicited advertising on some 1,000 bulletin boards. The law firm has raked in about $100,000 in business since their first ad was posted in April, but the husband- and-wife principals also have been deluged with obscene phone calls and "carloads" of magazines to which they never subscribed. "This is a down and dirty bunch of irresponsible" miscreants, says Ms. Siegel. (Wall Street Journal 6/22/94 B5) 3 Rs + COMPUTER LITERACY New Brunswick plans to make computer literacy a core subject required for high school graduation, in hopes of reducing unemployment. (Toronto Globe & Mail 6/24/94 B1) EDUPAGE. To subscribe to this free service, send e-mail to: listproc@educom.edu. In the body of the message type: sub edupage . To unsubscribe send the message: unsub edupage. Edupage is also available in Portuguese and Spanish: edunews@nc- rj.rnp.br. EDUCOM REVIEW. Our bimonthly print magazine on learning, communications, and information technology. See the Electronic Newsstand for a look at the latest issue (gopher.internet.com). EDUCOM UPDATE. A twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational news and events. To subscribe, send mail to listproc@educom.edu with the message SUB UPDATE . Send news items to info@educom.edu. For information about Educom, see gopher.educom.edu. To communicate with Edupage or Educom, send mail to comments@educom.edu or info@educom.edu. ******************************************************************* From: The Traffic Report Issue No. 8 Information Highway Secretariat June 9, 1994 >From mauricel@gov.nb.ca Jun 9 1994 DELIVERING FISH ON THE HIGHWAY The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture is connecting its electronic mail system to the Internet, an early step in using the information highway to reach international markets. The objective is to gain a competitive edge by providing up-to-the-minute information to global customers. The department is also examining the ways and means of using the Internet for research and video conferencing to cut travel and offer training to international students. Contact: Guy LeBlanc (506) 457-7303 A VIRTUAL GOVERNMENT First, there was a coherent program for voice communications that offered government departments better services at lower costs. Now, the same idea is being used by the Information Highway Secretariat to find to find the best and most cost effective ways to exchange data. Issues being discussed include how small, medium and large government offices will connect, the hardware and software they will use. Most of the information is already in place and is being put into an overall plan that will be released sometime this fall. Contact: Danny Keizer (506) 457-4888 danny@gov.nb.ca PRINTING ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE HIGHWAY A sophisticated computer network, high speed digital modems and video conferencing equipment are all working together to help Centennial Print in Fredericton print documents on demand. A major customer for the service is Northern Telecom which uses the system to print small quantities of software manuals as they are required by clients around the world. Locally, the print on demand system is being used for small runs of textbooks and brochures. Contact: Mark Lancaster (506) 453-1310 ELECTRONIC FORMS TO REDUCE PAPER The Department of Supply and Services wants to replace paper forms with electronic versions. The objective is to reduce the amount of paper used by government. More important, though, is the promised reduction in handling. Intelligent computer forms can be built to require that all the blanks be filled in and can help reduce typographical errors. The project is a step towards EDI - electronic data interchange - that aims to eliminate paper between people, offices and organizations. Contact: Richard Dunphy (506) 453-8737 richardd@gov.nb.ca INFORMATION HIGHWAY GUIDE HEADED TO THE PRINTER More than 60 companies that make use of the Internet have asked to be included in the guide being produced by Harley*Mallory Strategic Communications. The guide will be officially released at the "Doing Business on the Information Highway" conference to be held at the Wu Conference Centre, UNB, on June 30th. And Internet email was the key tool in gathering the information so quickly -- far faster than previous efforts of this kind that relied on phone calls and faxes. The guide is headed for the printer on Monday or Tuesday -- so this is the last call for entries. Contact: Nora Mallory (506) 450-7603 hmcom@nbnet.nb.ca ******************************************************************** >From HPCwire June 10, 1994 Copyright 1994 HPCwire. To receive the weekly HPCwire at no charge, send e-mail without text to "trial@hpcwire.ans.net". SINGAPORE TELECOM $50 MILLION SYSTEM UPGRADE Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. has commissioned a Singapore $50 million Multi-Machine Teleview System (MMTS) to expand its information transmission capacity by six times and link users to Internet, the international computer network. ST executive vice president (local services) Lee Hsien Yang said at the commissioning of MMTS that Teleview users will have services like Internet access by the end of the month. MMTS is a network of 12 mini-computers. Teleview is an on-line service with 15,000 subscribers accessing a database of over 140,000 pages of information. Users must have a personal computer and a modem to link to the information which is provided by over 100 vendors. The services include share price information, lottery results and ticket booking. Among Teleview's improved services will be access to enhanced Reuters Holdings Plc financial database, Lee said. Local area network (LAN) operators will also be able to offer Teleview through their networks. Lee said Teleview has to evolve to incorporate new technologies even as Singapore embraces cable television and video-on-demand. "Singapore Telecom will be conducting a multi-media Teleview trial within the next two years," Lee said. SURVEY SAYS: LARGE U.S. FIRMS SLOWLY BUYING INTO SUPERHIGHWAY IDEA Lake Forest, Ill. -- Large U.S. firms are buying into the heavy media hype surrounding the so-called "Information Superhighway," according to a survey conducted by Interactive Facts, an industry newsletter highlighting breaking developments in this field. Interactive Facts initiated the survey of 268 executives overseeing marketing and advertising decisions at large American organizations. The survey was conducted between April 25 and May 18, 1994. Following are the results of the survey: 1) Is your organization currently using any interactive technologies to communicate with customers or market goods/services? YES 51% NO 47% Don't Know 2% 2) Is your organization currently, or will you in 1994, be researching the new technologies such as on-line services, CD-ROM's, kiosks or interactive television? YES 72% NO 23% Don't Know 5% 3) How long do you believe it will take before interactive actually has any impact on how you communicate with customers or market goods/services? Less than 1 Year 9% 1-2 Years 48% 3-5 Years 34% 6-10 Years 6% Over 10 Years 3% "The hype certainly has gotten big firms to turn their heads, whether or not they'll follow through with interactive programs remains to be seen," commented Sherry McHone, editor of Interactive Facts. "Many of the firms claiming to already have interactive programs in place are referring to the use of Electronic Mail. Beyond that, firms apparently are feeling the need to investigate the other new technologies like on-line services and CD-ROM's. Ninety-one percent of those responding felt interactive will have an impact on how they market within five years, quite an aggressive view." ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ CNN SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Please send an email message to Richard W. Bryant, Editor & Publisher at: rbryant@hydra.unm.edu indicating that you wish to subscribe. You will be put on the e- mailing list for the following month. CNN is published only in electronic format. **************************************************************** COM NET NEWS is solely under my editorship, and is unrelated and independent of the La Plaza Telecommunity, of which I am vice president. The editorial comment is my own and does not reflect in any way on La Plaza. You may reproduce or publish any parts of this newsletter and distribute it electronically or in paper format. However, any reproduction or publishing of CNN material must be accompanied by the following reference: >From COM NET NEWS: Richard W. Bryant, Ph.D., Editor & Publisher RW Bryant Associates Advanced Technology Market Research & Com Net Consultants P.O. Box 1828 El Prado, NM 87529 Tel/fax: 505-758-1919 rbryant@hydra.unm.edu ************************************************************ ************************************************************ .