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new issue of EDUPAGE -- check out the first item
``` [I will not be forwarding EDUPAGE to RRE regularly, since most issues are of roughly equal interest and those who wish to receive it can subscribe. I've just included this one because of the interest of the first item.]
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 1994 21:34:29 -0500
From: E-D-U-P-A-G-E
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EDUPAGE. Edupage, a summary of news items on information technology, is provided several times each week as a service by EDUCOM -- a consortium of leading colleges and universities seeking to transform education through the use of information technology.
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SMOKING OUT THE OPPOSITION Lawyers for the American Tobacco Co. were granted a subpoena for the membership list of a computer network used by anti-smoking groups. The move to acquire SCARCNet's (Smoking Control Advocacy Resource Network) records is believed to be the first legal action of this kind. The subpoena also demands the names of those funding the network and copies of all posted strategy sessions. Attorneys for the Advocacy Institute have filed papers seeking to deny the subpoena on First Amendment grounds. (Wall Street Journal 3/30/94 B1)
POWER PC CHIP ON IBM COMPUTERS The PowerPC chip developed jointly by Apple, IBM and Motorola and now available on Macintoshes will be available this Fall on three new IBM PCs, one of which is a laptop with a CD ROM option. All three will have a microphone and will feature IBM's personal dictation system, allowing spoken English to be translated into text on the screen. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 3/31/94 F2)
BANK BETS ON AUTOMATION An Ohio bank is transforming as many as 40% of its traditional branches into automated facilities with only teller machines and videophone devices, on which customers applying for a loan will be able to see and be seen by the loan officer. (New York Times 3/31/94 A1)
DATABASES LOADED Prodigy and ESPN are teaming up to offer ESPNET, an on-line sports information service delivering sports news, statistics and color commentary from ESPN personalities. The service soon will evolve to include sound, and full-motion video is planned by the end of the year. (Wall Street Journal 3/30/94 B5)
COMPAQS ON AISLE FOUR Walmart will begin selling Compaq Presario 425 PCs in all 2,000 of its stores. The computer is already available through Sam's Club, Walmart's wholesale outlet. (Miami Herald 3/30/94 C3)
ANOTHER CHANGE AT SPECTRUM The CEO of Spectrum, the wireless company that was headed briefly by John Sculley, has resigned after 10 days on the job, saying that the company needs an outside person to take over the company's reins, because "the media will not cease its attacks on Spectrum" as long as a company insider is running the corporation. (New York Times 3/31/94 C1)
POWER UP FOR LESS Weitek Corp.'s Sparc Power Up chip can as much as double Sun Microsystem's Sparc workstation performance for only $1,500, as opposed to spending many times that for a new model. The Power Up chip operates at 80 megahertz and plugs directly into Sparcstation 2 and Sparcstation IPX workstations. (Investor's Business Daily 3/30/94 p.4)
SUN SLASHES PRICES Sun Microsystems has slashed prices on its new line of workstations by as much as 50%, fending off competition from increasingly powerful PCs capable of delivering similar performance at a much lower price. "They've put themselves in a nice, aggressive position," notes a computer analyst for Prudential Securities. (Wall Street Journal 3/30/94 B5)
RECORD SOFTWARE SALES The Software Publishers Association says North American software sales set a record high last year, up to $6.81 billion, an 18.4% increase from 1992. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 3/31/94)
IBM'S NEW DISK DRIVE IBM has unveiled a 3.5-inch optical disk drive with 80% more storage capacity than the models currently on the market. The drive, which stores, reads and writes optical disks for computers, will be available in small quantities in April, with prices starting at $700. (Miami Herald 3/30/94 C3)
AMDAHL GOES MASSIVELY PARALLEL Amdahl Corp. has formed an alliance with three other companies to produce massively parallel computers. The machines will be built by nCube Corp., and will use software from Oracle Corp. and Information Builders Inc. (Wall Street Journal 3/30/94 A4)
CAD ON WALL STREET Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software, normally associated with engineering design, is being adapted to handle financial "derivatives" -- exotic loans, futures contracts and options that allow big investors to hedge their bets. The key to the software is Object Oriented Programming, which allows streams of payments and other financial components to be defined as "objects" which can be easily re-used in new programs. (New York Times 3/30/94 C5)
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EDUPAGE. To subscribe to this free service, send e-mail to:
listproc@educom.edu. In the body of the message type: sub edupage
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
For information about Educom, see gopher.educom.edu. To communicate with Edupage or Educom, send mail to comments@educom.edu or info@educom.edu.
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EDUCOM -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
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