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Net Issue 11
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From: boswell@well.sf.ca.us 1/5/93 Noted on the Net
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IN ISSUE 11:
LEWIS CARROLL ON NETIQUETTE
THE PEN WILL BE MIGHTIER THAN THE FAX
EX-CONGRESSMAN TO PUT TELECOM CONTACTS TO WORK IN A JIFFY
PRICE WAR BREAKS OUT OVER VIDEOPHONES
THE WHISPER OF THE IBM AX IS HEARD IN NEW YORK
DUELING ACRONYMS: DISA YAKS TO FCC ON PCS
THE YARD GETS A CLUE!
JAPAN LAUNCHES OF OPERATION HOPE FOR U.S. CHIP MAKERS
APPLE TO BLOW OFF KEYBOARD
FROM THE MAIL SPOOL
A REALLY USEFUL ERROR MESSAGE
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
FROM EMAIL TO FLAMES TO KILLFILES TO CRYPTOGRAPHY:
LEWIS CARROLL ON NETIQUETTE
I sent a letter to the fish,
I told them, "This is what I wish."
The little fishes of the sea,
They sent an answer back to me.
The little fishes' answer was
"We cannot do it, sir, because ..."
I sent a letter back to say
It would be better to obey.
But someone came to me and said
"The little fishes are in bed."
I said to him, and I said it plain
"Then you must wake them up again."
I said it very loud and clear,
I went and shouted in his ear.
But he was very stiff and proud,
He said "You needn't shout so loud."
And he was very proud and stiff,
He said "I'll go and wake them if ..."
I took a kettle from the shelf,
I went to wake them up myself.
But when I found the door was locked
I pulled and pushed and kicked and knocked,
And when I found the door was shut,
I tried to turn the handle, But ...
"Is that all?" asked Alice.
"That is all." said Humpty Dumpty. "Good-bye."
-- Lewis Carroll,
"Through the Looking Glass"
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THE PEN WILL BE MIGHTIER THAN THE FAX
From com-priv:
On 01/05/93 Jeff Haas posted:
] A short note from the peanut gallery:
]
] One other reason that fax machines are much more popular among
] businesses than e-mail happens to be the fact that many people still
] don't type. Or for the ones who can, it may be quicker to pen a
] note rather than enter it using your favorite editor.
]
] While text may be much faster to enter via typing than writing,
] the market may have to wait until reliable speech to text software
] exists before Common-Joe gets on the Net for email.
]
New technology perhaps not yet covered in this forum is the "pen-based
computer" interaction paradigm: Electronic ink with graphic entry
simulating the traditional pen on paper. With fax, the normal
non-nerd "Common Joe" scribbles on paper then scans the paper through
a fax machine. With a graphic entry communicating device, one
scribbles on the smart paper, then directs the message through the pen
computer/modem/software equivalent of a fax machine sending the image
to any conventional fax machine as well as to an equivalent
communicating pen oriented computer.
No need for handwriting recognition, no need for OCR, no need for
typing ever -- just cursor control with a hand-held pen-like stylus on
a sensitive display surface. Everything is in the world of electronic
ink like the fax bits after they've been scanned from paper into the
conventional fax machine.
While the pen paradigm is expensive and not really perfected
commercially or technologically yet, it does have a strong existing
and growing commercial marketplace in such applications as
meter-reading, route delivery, trucking, etc. where signature capture
is important and literate but not computer literate people like truck
drivers, meter readers and futures/stock market traders use the
equipment. The networking aspect fits in via wide area network links
to these mobile people -- who cannot be expected to be internetworking
gurus.
There is a whole marketplace assembling itself around companies
ranging from Tandy through PC folk like Microsoft ("Pen" Windows) to
VC startups to the telecommunications and wide area network
organizations.
Carl Helmers, President & Editorial Director, Helmers Publishing, Inc.
(what else do you do after starting BYTE?) <carl@planet.mv.com> 174
Concord Street, Peterborough, NH 03458 Phone: 603-924-9631 FAX:
603-924-7408 (We publish ID Systems and Sensors magazines) (-|-)
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
EX-CONGRESSMAN TO PUT TELECOM CONTACTS TO WORK IN A JIFFY
Terry Bruce lost big in his bid for re-election to Illinois' 19th
Congressional District, but has won big in his bid to be hired by
Ameritech for the aptly named post of "vice president for federal
relations.
During his four terms in congress, Bruce serve on numerous committees
whose present and future members could be of immense benefit to
Ameritech. His contacts with the FCC will also be of use. As Ameritech's
CEO put it, "His first hand knowledge of the workings of the federal
government will be a significant asset."
Mr. Bruce will begin his efforts on Ameritech's behalf on February 1.
Ameritech oversees Bell companies serving much of the midwest and
has interests in cellular communications, systems integration, audiotex
services, and lease financing. The revenues for Ameritech have been
cited as nearly $11 billion in 1991. Mr. Bruce's compensation has not
been disclosed but it is believed to be greater than the salary he
received as a member of the house.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
PRICE WAR BREAKS OUT OVER VIDEOPHONES
Proving that the consumer wins when competition is allowed to flower,
AT&T has just chopped $500 off the price of its videophone. The
videophone had been placed on the market at $1,500, but the recent
announcement that MCI is planned to introduce a competing model at
a much lower price may have had something to do with concentrating
the marketing minds at AT&T.
This idea, however, was stoutly denied by AT&T spokespersons who
maintained that they were cutting their price out of a messianic
commitment "to bring this new technology to consumers as quickly
as possible."
Those pioneering consumers who have purchased the AT&T videophone
at $1,500 can look forward to a $500 cash rebate. Future consumers
will have a chance to buy the AT&T item on an interest free payment
plan.
Look for more attacks of the price-slashers in the near future.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
THE WHISPER OF THE IBM AX IS HEARD IN NEW YORK
"Downsizing" has begun at IBM in upstate New York with the
announcement that 3,500 jobs in company plants in Kingston,
East Fishkill, and Poughkeepsie will be eliminated. Breaking
with tradition, IBM noted that layoffs would be used should
incentives to depart and outplacement to other parts of IBM
fail to meet the target.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
"DISA YAKS TO FCC ON PCS"
by Paul Robinson, via RISKS
Article Summary
Government Computer News, January 4, 1993, Page 38
This is a summary of an article about a technology you've probably never
seen, complained about by an agency you've probably never heard of.
In an article titled "Defense agency wants PCS voice services in public
domain", author S. A. Marud tells how the Defense Information Systems
Agency (DISA) has jumped into the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) inquiry into the standards to be set on the operation of the
startup Personal Communications Services (PCS) industry.
PCS is a wireless digital technology which operates at 2 gigahertz.
Cellular is analog. Also, one advantage of the service is that a number
can be assigned to a person, not to a telephone.
Two groups in DISA, the Federal Wireless Services User Forum (FWSUF) and
the Interagency Cellular Radio Working Group (ICRWG) were the impetus
for filing comments. They want to be certain that PCS supports at least
Group 3 / Group 4 Fax, paging, images, and voice and data encrypted with
an STU-III device. i.e. that a group 3 fax modem should work the same
whether it's plugged into a wall jack or a PCS phone. PCS should also
support dialing "0" for Operator and 911 for Emergency. ICRWG wants
there to be two nationwide carriers for PCS, or in the alternative, at
least one frequency block reserved nationally to one carrier and the
rest awarded to local carriers.
DISA's concerns on National Security and Emergency Preparedness makes it
want certain basic services (Such as area code 710?) to be part of the
new system, and that at least voice services to be available through the
public switched (read local telco, AT&T, FTS-2000, MCI etc.) network.
The systems should be made to be interoperable (meaning the phone you
use in Dallas should also work in Kansas City, Chicago, New York and Los
Angeles), either from the start or soon after some industry standards
can be developed. DISA would also prefer that PCS licenses be issued
for large areas if no nationwide carrier(s) are authorized.
DISA is worried that PCS may be declared to be "private carriers" which
means that the government cannot mandate that they be part of the
Telecommunications Priority System (TSP) which allows the government to
seize telephone lines. TSP was invoked by the federal government for
more than 4000 circuits and services during Hurricane Andrew.
Certain industry groups are watching the rule making process on PCS,
including the Wireless Information Network Forum (which represents
computer and communications companies including Apple, AT&T & IBM),
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) (guess who they
represent). CTIA is worried that the FCC might decide that PCS license
won't be issued to a cellular operator in the same area.
A decision on how the PCS industry is to be structured is expected from
the FCC sometime in Fall 1993.
Paul Robinson -- TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM These opinions are mine alone.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
THE YARD GETS A CLUE!
LONDON, ENGLAND-- Divisional fraud squad detectives
in Britain have admitted they are missing vital clues when solving
crimes due to a lack of computers and computer training.
A Home Office report just released shows that, although 85 percent of
fraud squad detectives and 53 percent of divisional detectives have
come across computers in their investigations, none have been
adequately trained to deal with the systems.
According to Detective Sergeant Mike Guinney, author of the report and
an officer with the Merseyside fraud squad, the problem is one of
ignorance of matters concerning Information Technology (IT) within the
police force rather than a general lack of money. "Police chiefs are
frightened of computers and that means mistakes are being made because
of ignorance of IT," he said.
In one case, police investigating a ring of men thought to be involved
in pedophile activities overlooked a large quantity of incriminating
material when they raided one member's house, because the information
they were after was on a computer.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
JAPAN LAUNCHES OF OPERATION HOPE FOR U.S. CHIP MAKERS
A Japanese official said Thursday he will continue to
promote cooperation between the U.S. and Japanese semiconductor
industries, the Kyodo News Service reported.
"I think Japanese and U.S. industries have built a very good
relationship by promoting joint development and technical tie-ups,"
said Yuji Tanahashi, vice minister at the Ministry of International
Trade and Industry.
Tanahashi's remarks followed a reported statement Wednesday by U.S.
Commerce Secretary-designate Ron Brown that he would aggressively move
to protect U.S. chip makers by pressing Japan to open its semiconductor
market further to competition and by more stringent enforcement of U.S.
trade laws.
The United States and Japan signed a trade pact in 1991 that said
foreign chip makers could expect more than 20 percent share of the
Japanese semiconductor market by the end of 1992.
Tanahashi said Thursday, ``It is clear a 20 percent target is not a
commitment.''
He added, however, "We know the United States hopes for the 20
percent share. The government will continue to encourage the U.S.hope."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
NEW TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCEMENT FROM APPLE
by Ron Reiner (rreiner@netxcom.UUCP)
In a surprise announcement, yesterday, Apple Computer said that it is
finally doing away with the keyboard. Apple stated that the
microcomputer user has suffered too long with this awkward and
inefficient input device. According to an Apple spokesperson, the
technology for replacing the keyboard with only a mouse is here and
the computer user is ready for it. The spokesperson said that Apple
has received a steady stream of complaints over the years about the
need to constantly move the hands between the Mac keyboard and
mouse. "The solution was obvious - do away with the keyboard
completely."
Acknowledging that there are still a few Mac applications that depend
on textual input in addition to graphical manipulation, Apple said the
poor people stuck with such outdated technology have not been
forgotten. They are introducing the Spinning Alphabet Wheel (SAW)
to replace the keyboard. The SAW is a screen display object
consisting of concentric circular strips showing all of the characters
which normally appear on the keyboard. The wheel rotates
continuously under character selector windows. The user selects a
character by placing the mouse pointer in the appropriate window at
the same time as the desired character is about the appear. "...and,
ta-da, the selected character appears on the screen just as though it
had been typed on an old fashioned keyboard."
"This is a marvelous new technology with plenty of room for
growth." said the spokesperson. For example, the user can configure
separate wheels for vowels vs. the consonants. Or, digits can be
placed on their own special low speed wheel. "We have
conceptualized the keyboard as a big, bulky menu selection device
and replaced it with dynamic display menus instead. Apple will
eventually replace all menus with their new Rotating Wheel
Technology (RWT)."
When asked why the wheels have to rotate, the spokesperson said
that Apple's engineers had considered using conventional "point-and-
click" technology for the wheel. "However," the Apple spokesperson
said, "we feel that this type of operation is too complicated for the
typical Mac user. So, we have done away with the mouse button
too. It is still hard for us to believe that the IBM world has stepped
backwards in technology by providing two or more buttons to
confuse the user. The IBM compatible sector, apparently, has not
yet recognized that 95% of computer usage is devoted to
experimenting with different fonts and character styles in documents"
Asked if this new technology would reduce the price of the typical
Mac computer, the spokesperson countered that it would probably
increase the price of the Mac. "After all, display space is already
scarce on the current screen. We will now deliver Macs with two
screens - one for the normal display and a larger one for the multitude
of rotating wheels the user needs to access." Apple said that the user
who is confused by complicated devices such as keyboards and
mouse buttons will gladly pay a premium to avoid them. "In fact, the
easily-confused user is our best customer" replied the spokesperson.
"Not only are we doing away with the pesky keyboard, but we are
also giving them something they have demanded for a long time -
more screen space. This is definitely a win-win situation."
Beta testers of the new technology were impressed by its ease of use,
but said there are still some minor problems to work out. For
example, one tester left his machine unattended with the uppercase
character wheel spinning at medium speed. While he was away
somebody must have jarred his desk, moving the mouse pointer into
the selector window. When he got back he found that his Word
document now had one huge paragraph consisting of all of the
characters of the uppercase alphabet repeated 2,539,987 times. "At
first glance, this appeared to be a big problem. But, I formatted the
new paragraph with 33 different fonts and 11 different type styles and
it looked great. I hope that Apple fixes this problem before they
release it, because these accidents can greatly increase the time spent
formatting documents."
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
FROM THE MAIL SPOOL
> Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 20:03:05 GMT
> From: van@eff.org (Gerard Van der Leun)
>> (_______@___.____.com writes:
>> I joined Internet to acquire information! I didn't join
>> to make the phone company richer while I pay for junk mail!
>
> If you are here to actually acquire information, investing in a
> new Britannica might be more prudent and much cheaper. Information,
> opinions, lists, infolets, factoids, opinions, one-liners...this is
> not an "Information server". "This" is over a thousand committees of
> correspondence, backyard chat, and more opinions than there are
> islands in Indonesia. You want information -- Nexis, Plexus or 411.
> van@eff.org (Gerard Van der Leun)
>
Gerard,
You may have just created "THE" definition of the Internet today.
"A thousand committees of correspondence," is, without a doubt, a
far, far better description than I have seen used to date. Most
"authorities" have tended to portray the Internet, (as in - used to
"sell" the Internet to those who have never experienced it) especially
the mailing lists and LISTSERVs, just as our disgruntled "new user" has
stated. And, as a result of misplaced expectations, such feelings are
generated.
Clearly today, "committees of correspondence," is by far the dominant
traffic on the Internet. In the future, we may be able to call on the
Internet to answer our questions - but not today. Today, we must rely on
our fellow correspondents to provide those answers. Gopher, WAIS,
ARCHIE, and what-have-you are working to change all that but their
"success" today is still limited to the TCP/IP connected Internet. The
larger electronic mail Internet still relies on individuals to answer
questions and provide pointers.
By the way, here in Bell Atlantic turf, one uses 555-1212 for
information.
William H. Magill Manager, PennNet Computing Services
University of Pennsylvania
Internet: magill@dccs.upenn.edu magill@eniac.seas.upenn.edu
magill@upenn.edu
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
A REALLY USEFUL ERROR MESSAGE
It's interesting, the features people dream up in this
age of technology....
We have a Sun SPARC laser printer which even has a feature
to print error messages like : "Printer low on toner" on a
piece of paper, in addition to those idiot lights on the
front panel.
The best was last week: I was printing and noticed the printer
stopped and on came an indicator light. I looked and realized it
was out of paper. So I reloaded it, and sure enough, out comes
the next page with:
"Printer out of paper."
Jeff Butera
jvbutera@math.ncsu.edu
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