Message-Id: <55206A473154D011924D0020AFF7ACB549D2A4@mail1.oulan.ou.edu>
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 08:47:24 -0600
From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@ou.edu'" <it-fyi@ou.edu>
Subject: Edupage, 28 December 1997
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Edupage, 28 December 1997. Edupage, a summary of news about information
technology, is provided three times a week as a service by Educom, a
Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities
seeking to transform education through the use of information
technology.
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TOP STORIES
1997 Biggest Year Yet For Computer M&A
NEC And Groupe Bull Invest In Packard Bell
Netscape Offers "Customer Choice" In Latest Browser Battle
ALSO
DOE Issues Warning On Cracker Tools
FCC Nixes BellSouth Bid For Long-Distance Market
Lawsuit Challenges Library's Use Of Filtering Software
Comdex Has Become "Too Hectic" To Show IBM "Solutions"
1997 BIGGEST YEAR YET FOR COMPUTER M&A
More money was spent on computer industry mergers and acquisitions in
1997 than any other year to date, and competition is heating up for
buying whatever's left over in their 1998 shopping spree. "Second-tier
manufacturers are going to get creamed in '98," says an International
Data Corp. analyst, who notes that the big four -- Compaq, Dell, IBM and
Hewlett-Packard -- are poised for a spending war in the coming year.
"We'll see them tearing at each others' throats. Dell has already lost
a bunch of major accounts to what is being called 'Dell killer forces,'
sent out separately by the other three vendors." (InfoWorld Electric 24
Dec 97)
NEC AND GROUPE BULL INVEST IN PACKARD BELL
NEC and Groupe Bull have invested another $300 million in PC maker
Packard Bell NEC. The latest cash infusion raises NEC's stake to $1.3
billion, or 49%. Groupe Bull owns 13% of Packard Bell NEC. The
investment will be used to enhance Packard Bell NEC's build-to-order
manufacturing facilities and its direct-marketing operations.
(Information Week 26 Dec 97)
NETSCAPE OFFERS "CUSTOMER CHOICE" IN LATEST BROWSER BATTLE
Netscape Communications has launched its "Customer Choice" program, an
initiative that invites consumers to access software that will switch
their default browser to Netscape Communicator and uninstall Microsoft's
Internet Explorer software. Netscape currently has some 35,000 Web
sites that include icons that can be clicked on to download free browser
software.
(InternetWeek 24 Dec 97)
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DOE ISSUES WARNING ON CRACKER TOOLS
The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a bulletin warning that two new
computer attack tools, known as Teardrop and Land, are being used
maliciously by crackers intent on breaking into computer systems and
networks. The software sniffs out vulnerable servers and launches
attacks based on the "denial-of-service" strategy that overwhelms
servers with bogus messages, blocking out legitimate traffic. "They hit
the button and go down to the cinema with their girlfriends," says a
senior systems consultant with the Defense Information Systems Agency.
"They come back and see that they have looked at 200,000 systems."
(TechWeb 24 Dec 97)
FCC NIXES BELLSOUTH BID FOR LONG-DISTANCE MARKET
The Federal Communications Commission rejected BellSouth's request for
permission to offer long-distance phone service in South Carolina. The
FCC decision was based on the judgment that BellSouth had failed to make
it sufficiently easy for its competitors to enter the local phone
service market. (Last year's telecommunications law stipulated that the
regional phone companies may enter the long-distance market only after
their local markets have been opened to genuine competition.) As of
this date, no regional Bell telephone company has been given FCC
approval to offer long-distance service. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution
25 Dec 97)
LAWSUIT CHALLENGES LIBRARY'S USE OF FILTERING SOFTWARE
A group of individuals in Loudon County, Virginia, have filed a federal
lawsuit to block the county's public library system from using filtering
software to prevent library patrons -- both children and adults -- from
using the Internet to access material that is obscene, contains child
pornography, or that is harmful to minors under Virginia statutes. The
suit argues that the requirement is an infringement of the free speech
right of adults, especially insofar as it would prevent access not only
to sexually explicit material but to legitimate material as well. (New
York Times Cybertimes 24 Dec 97)
COMDEX HAS BECOME "TOO HECTIC" TO SHOW IBM "SOLUTIONS"
IBM has decided not to participate in next year's Comdex, the world's
largest computer show, saying "Comdex is a good way to talk to customers
about products, but not the best way to talk about solutions." IBM
feels it needs "an environment that is not as hectic and crowded as
Comdex has become." About 220,000 people attended the last Comdex, held
in Las Vegas. (New York Times 25 Dec 97)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) and Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu). Telephone: 770-590-1017.
Technical support for distributing Edupage is provided by Information
Technology Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Today's Honorary Subscriber (giving the word "honorary" a generous
interpretation) is the author Clifford Irving, who in 1972 forged the
handwriting of billionaire Howard Hughes, including entire handwritten
letters that fooled leading handwriting experts. In the forged
documents, Hughes seemed to give permission for a biography of his life
to be written by Irving, who used the forgeries to convince McGraw-Hill
and Life magazine that he had a deal with Hughes. When the eccentric
Hughes -- who was shunning all human contact and letting his fingernails
grow several inches long -- learned what Irving had done, he hotly
denied through his spokesmen that the letters were genuine. The U.S.
Postal Service authorities subsequently confirmed that the "agreement"
was a hoax.
[Note: A number of readers have informed us that the prose poem written
by the "Anonymous" author who was the honorary subscriber in our last
issue of Edupage was actually written by an Indiana writer named Max
Ehrmann (1872-1945) who specialized in sentimental verses. The work we
quoted (called "Desiderata" and still in print) is really quite sweet,
though it's been widely parodied as well as turned into saccharine
by-products, including records, posters, etc. We had never previously
heard of Mr. Ehrmann, and came across his poem only recently -- not in
an old church in Baltimore but, less poetically, in a new pizza house
outside of Atlanta.]
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Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
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