7 Message 7: From exi@panix.com Tue Jul 27 12:40:30 1993 Return-Path: Received: from usc.edu by chaph.usc.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1+ucs-3.0) id AA25853; Tue, 27 Jul 93 12:40:28 PDT Errors-To: Extropians-Request@gnu.ai.mit.edu Received: from panix.com by usc.edu (4.1/SMI-3.0DEV3-USC+3.1) id AA15062; Tue, 27 Jul 93 12:40:02 PDT Errors-To: Extropians-Request@gnu.ai.mit.edu Received: by panix.com id AA01220 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for more@usc.edu); Tue, 27 Jul 1993 15:29:35 -0400 Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 15:29:35 -0400 Message-Id: <199307271929.AA01220@panix.com> To: Exi@panix.com From: Exi@panix.com Subject: Extropians Digest X-Extropian-Date: July 27, 373 P.N.O. [19:29:06 UTC] Reply-To: extropians@gnu.ai.mit.edu Errors-To: Extropians-Request@gnu.ai.mit.edu Status: R Extropians Digest Tue, 27 Jul 93 Volume 93 : Issue 207 Today's Topics: ADMIN: List Problems [1 msgs] BOOK GHG [1 msgs] Bits and Bytes Online v1 #3 [1 msgs] Controlling your neighbor with a button [1 msgs] EXI EMERGENCY [1 msgs] FSF: Some Useful Software, No Useful Politics [2 msgs] Future Fairs [1 msgs] Natural rights and Natural Law [1 msgs] POLI: William Gibson - a statist! :-( [1 msgs] SOC: Design of a confidential poll [1 msgs] Wage Competition [3 msgs] meta: involuntary crossposting [1 msgs] Administrivia: No admin msg. Approximate Size: 53043 bytes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 19:51:12 EDT From: fnerd@smds.com (FutureNerd Steve Witham) Subject: Wage Competition dkrieger@synopsys.com (Dave Krieger) sez- > At 6:08 PM 7/23/93 -0400, FutureNerd Steve Witham wrote: > >Also, 1E6/1E2 is still 1E4. If this could be done in ten years, it might > >do the trick, but it has to work *during* the singularity, right? > > Ah, but Perry was talking about humans. With AIs you can do the variation > and selection at machine speeds (the variation/selection mechanism doesn't > need to be as complex as the programs it's supervising), maybe with > hundreds to thousands of generations per day. Well, let's define a unit. One "PIPS"--Person Interacting at Person Speed-- is the processing power to run one human-equivalent AI at human-equivalent speed. Now, ask yourself, how many PIPS will common desktop computers have at the point where "real AI" software becomes commonly available? It's a trick question, though. The more PIPS are available, the faster AIs will be able to take over the economy. But the fewer that are available, the fewer slave-breeding generations you'll be able to run before it's too late. Wouldn't you need to run the thing through a whole lifetime before you could test it for slavishness? Maybe ten years. Also, what environment would you run it in? Some kind of light-processing-load VR? How do you simulate the slave-owner? -fnerd quote me; I love it when you do that ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1993 17:11:01 -0800 From: Romana Machado Subject: SOC: Design of a confidential poll Fellow Extropians: Would you like to collect data on any pet theories you might have about Extropians or their behavior? Please send me private mail about the questions you would like to see included a confidential poll. Romana Machado (romana@apple.com) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I want to have control / I want a perfect body I want a perfect soul / I want you to notice..." - Radiohead, "The Creep" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 20:17:20 WET DST From: rjc@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray) Subject: EXI EMERGENCY Alexis Rosen () writes: > > I have moved your .forward file to former-forward. It almost crashed Panix. > Here is some output from a sysadmin utility I use. It is representative but > not complete- there were almost a hundred of these exi processes. > > This is _totally_ unacceptable. I don't know what was going on but you _must_ > preflight or test while logged in. I can't have this list crashing the whole > machine, which it threatened to do by chewing all available swap space. (The > load hit 25 momentarily.) I have fixed the problem, added new measures to detect such rogue processes, and reenabled the list. I am very very sorry this happened. The problem was in two key areas: 1) perl was dumping because someone's db record expanded past 1024 bytes (current dbm limit), this corrupted the db slightly (the corrupted db left newlines in odd places like email addresses, truncating the sendmail command line and running email addreses through the shell. This has been fixed by an error check. 2) a typo in a split() in the digest code caused e-mail addresses packed into a string to be split into individual characters. One of those characters happened to be 'e' and somehow hundreds of copies of 'e' (the editor) got ran. The typo was made by me last night but didn't show up till today because digests only run every 12 hours. Here's what our list software log said: [10030]Sending Message to List, Users=772, Size=881 lines. Since we only have 20-30 users on the digest, I recognized that email addresses must have been exploded into characters. I have added a process listing to my login script to detect rogue processes being ran and I am writing a script to scan the list software logfile looking for odd things like incredibly long user lists, messages, or mail loops. Once again, I'm sorry. -Ray -- Ray Cromwell | Engineering is the implementation of science; -- -- EE/Math Student | politics is the implementation of faith. -- -- rjc@gnu.ai.mit.edu | - Zetetic Commentaries -- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 19:09:24 CST From: Subject: Future Fairs On Mon, 26 Jul 93 16:43:13 CDT, wrote: >Dan Goodman sez: >>There will be a future fair (more like a local carnival, actually) in >>Minneapolis next month. The people running it seem to have decided that >>the future will be cyberpunk and heavy metal. > >Dan, can you give us more details on what's happening at the fair? >Is it running 24 hours like a future information society should? >What's their spin on "heavy metal" in the future? > So far, all I've seen is their posters inviting exhibitors to participate. I'll have to look again, to see the exact wording (and I've forgotten the date!). Stay tuned for further reports. I suspect their spin on heavy metal in the future is "The kind of music I like is the music of the future." Dan Goodman dsg@staff.tc.umn.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 20:25:02 EDT From: fnerd@smds.com (FutureNerd Steve Witham) Subject: Wage Competition Jay sez- > Heck, simple operant conditioning would be enough to turn anyone on this > list into slaves. > > Dont' believe me? Come to my house; I'll imbed the necessary radio > controlled devices in your pain and pleasure centers, watch you through video > cameras at a safe distance, and see what happens after a year to two of > judicious application of current... Okay, this is a good argument. Jay proposes: 1) start with a matured intelligence 2) condition it for a year. Assuming this would work, what happens when you then release copies of me on the world? Will none evolve (naturally or through someone's deliberate deprogramming) that think for themselves? If some independent fnerds evolve, would they be economically more viable than Jayslaved fnerds? They would for people other than Jay, I guess, but could you condition me to want to work for my "owner," in general, rather than a specific person? How would you program me to recognize my owner? -fnerd quote me, master ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 20:11:48 EDT From: fnerd@smds.com (FutureNerd Steve Witham) Subject: Wage Competition i mentioned the idea of the slave holder having control of the slave-AI's pleasure center (with a button). Hans Moravec sez-- > > No, no the conditioning system is a program inside the robot. The robot > feels good when its psychology module says its owner is happy. Okay, but who or what conditions the psychology module to give the right answers? Or how do you program it with a suitably subtle idea of what the owner wants? Maybe having this module unable to learn is a good safety feature--the robot might never "get" some of your interesting desires, but at least it would be less likely to veer off course believing it knows what you "really" want. The easier the psychology module is for the human to understand, the more it's like the pleasure button, in which case my previous argument stands. In any case, I think with a sufficiently smart, learning system, it would turn into a game of "find out what makes the psychology module say the owner is happy," with solutions on the order of holding a picture of the smiling owner up to your face. > >I don't believe the idea of a "strictly rational" intelligence makes sense. > >Emotions are the aspect of intelligence that figures out what to think about > >and what works. I think those issues are central, not peripheral, to making > >intelligence work. > > Logic is a universal programming language. It's possible to implement > anything in it, ... I believe I was denying a statement of yours that with a logically set-up robot, you could set arbitrary goals (axioms) for a general reasoning system. You're right that if something is programmable, it's programmable in logic. But what I'm effectively saying is, although it's logically possible, it's too hard to program an arbitrary goal structure into a robot. Certainly much harder than "changing the axioms in a reasoning system" makes it sound. And it's just as hard again whenever you change your mind. > Pure logic may be, but probably isn't, the best way of > implementing a robot psychology. [I say I haven't read _Mind Children_ yet] > better hurry, the chapter I mentioned is from the next book! I'm enjoying the chapter you posted! -fnerd quote me quote me let me be your footnote ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 20:35:36 GMT From: al007@cleveland.freenet.edu (Nombrist Beor) Subject: FSF: Some Useful Software, No Useful Politics In message <9307262014.AA07223@klingon.East.Sun.COM> you write: >The basic charter of FSF states that software ought to be free and that >intellectual property is a sham, solely because that software can be >copied without destroying the original. (At base, this is what the >claim rests on. The appeals to economics to be found in the FSF >literature are uneducated claptrap.) The original "copyright" law from the common law jurisdiction was that of the Statute of Anne. When the printing press became wide spread, the previous scribes lobbied the royalty to enact this statute to secure a monopoly on their books to stop the evil printing press from putting them out of business. Agreed: In general, the FSF is using flawed interpretations. >Now, FSF can produce tons of code every year and give it away, but none >of this erases the fact that their express purpose is to work towards a >legal environment in which the product of an individual's mind and >hands can be expropriated at will by "society." It's a grim sort of >benefactor indeed that gives with one hand while trying to take away >with the other. I do not understand this? You believe that the only way for your economic theory to work is purely on the basis of a monopolistic system, where the means of production AND the process itself cannot be duplicated by someone else? It appears from the rest of your reasoning that this is not so, but it is the claim you appear to be making here. Although at the time of this writing, I can't think of an alternative (I took the time to do so), but copyright is an inherently monopolistic system, in the same vein as patents. I fail to see where individuals and thereby society in general benefit from them. What you do is create an artificially inflated market (which is the nature of a monopoly) for a product that by your claims would be unmarketable otherwise. I own very little software. In every case, I bought the software specifically for reasons other than the code itself. In several cases (such as shareware), I paid for the software because I feel that it really is worth the price. Although you may look upon my interpretation as flawed because I am "giving to charity", I am not doing so. I am entering into a value-for-value relationship with the author in which I am tendering the author money in a nebulous hope that he will respond in kind by producing more software of a similar nature. This is also the nature of the Free Software Foundation. Note also that I have never paid a dime to FSF. I have no current need for their compiler; emacs is too slow and large for my tastes, and their dozen or so other utilities are equally unusable to me currently for various other reasons. I do have one solution to your dilema. I am a contractor. I am currently being paid to develop instrumentation systems. The instrumentation systems are computer controlled sensors and the software is all custom written. When I leave the project, the source code will remain with it and it is very possible that the work I have done will be marketed. I could have obtained a royalty agreement or raised my asking price; however, I did not do so because I did not feel that the net gain from such an agreement would be worth my time. I may be wrong, and that's the chance I take. I have also had several other contracts. Some of them were strictly software, while some were strictly hardware in nature. Some didn't involve any construction at all, such as one firm that essentially wanted a book keeper and another which wanted a different graphic artist than the local printing shops. I have never needed a monopolistic copyright to this day. The only time I have ever even considered such a beast was when I was very young (in High School), but I have become more experienced over time. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 19:44:34 CST From: "" Subject: meta: involuntary crossposting Messages I was sure I'd sent to AltInst but not to Extropians have been showing up on both lists. I thought my memory might be a bit off. However, the last message I sent was definitely sent only to AltInst. And it showed up on both lists. So far, I haven't sent anything to AltInst that I specifically didn't want to go to Extropians. But I'd like to know what's going on. Dan Goodman dsg@staff.tc.umn.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 21:02:00 WET DST From: rjc@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray) Subject: ADMIN: List Problems I accidently sent a private message to the list, but it bears clarifying. Today, the list software blew up because of a bug. I've fixed it, but some people didn't get their digests/filterlists because of it. If you think you've missed messages (and you are on the beta list), send a ::list, and use ::resend, or ::resend thread to retrieve messages you want. For further info, see ::help list and ::help resend -Ray -- Ray Cromwell | Engineering is the implementation of science; -- -- EE/Math Student | politics is the implementation of faith. -- -- rjc@gnu.ai.mit.edu | - Zetetic Commentaries -- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 18:00:54 -0700 From: davisd@nimitz.ee.washington.edu Subject: Controlling your neighbor with a button > From: fnerd@smds.com (FutureNerd Steve Witham) > Subject: Wage Competition > > > i mentioned the idea of the slave holder having control of the slave-AI's > pleasure center (with a button). For those interested, Stephen Donaldson's new series revolves around issues of power and control, particularly around putting electrodes in people's heads and pressing their buttons. Haven't read the third in the series yet, since I am a cheap bastard and am waiting for it to come out in paperback, but the title is A_Dark_and_Hungry_God_Arises. Buy Buy -- Dan Davis ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 21:32:22 WET DST From: rjc@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray) Subject: FSF: Some Useful Software, No Useful Politics Nombrist Beor () writes: > I do not understand this? You believe that the only way for your economic > theory to work is purely on the basis of a monopolistic system, where the > means of production AND the process itself cannot be duplicated by someone > else? It appears from the rest of your reasoning that this is not so, but it > is the claim you appear to be making here. > > Although at the time of this writing, I can't think of an alternative (I > took the time to do so), but copyright is an inherently monopolistic system, > in the same vein as patents. I fail to see where individuals and thereby > society in general benefit from them. What you do is create an artificially > inflated market (which is the nature of a monopoly) for a product that by > your claims would be unmarketable otherwise. I do not see how copyright is inherently monopolistic -- anymore than land property rights. Unlike patents, copyrights (non-look-and-feel) do not prevent others from entering the market. Copyrights prevent others from stealing your work for their own gains. If copyrights were erradicated it would be near impossible for anyone who has specialized in software or writing books to make a living at it. Computer scientists would be added to the list of "starving artists", along with other professions which rely on intellectual property rights. Sure, one could get a job doing consulting/contracting, but this tiny niche market for custom software will be erradicated in the future, especially by object oriented technologies like superdistribution. If you want to get software without paying for it, you can rent it. Perhaps in the future, public libraries will carry software that can be borrowed. In my mind, there is no difference between spending 1000 hours building a car or 1000 hours building a piece of software except the former is protected by property rights and you advocate that the latter not be. Shareware sucks, and CS people know it. Programmers depending on shareware /freeware contributions for a living would be welfare cases making less than janitors. -- Ray Cromwell | Engineering is the implementation of science; -- -- EE/Math Student | politics is the implementation of faith. -- -- rjc@gnu.ai.mit.edu | - Zetetic Commentaries -- ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jul 1993 21:41:07 -0400 (EDT) From: Mark Sulkowski Subject: Natural rights and Natural Law From: "James A. Donald" > >In <9307251850.AA27700@wookumz.gnu.ai.mit.edu>, UANDCOH@uncmvs.oit.unc.edu (Andrew I Cohen) wrote: >> I am still a bit concerned about the grounding of such NL, and >> how it is that we have access to it. It's an interesting move >> to liken NL to some objectively "external" observable fact, > >As Tooby and Cosmides state, the human mind has specialized >cognitive mechanisms for reasoning about social exchange. >[Barkow, Cosmides, and Tooby, page 164] > >As I said in the essay, judging people is as important for >survival as judging distances. Robbery and assault is not >robbery and assault because the state decrees it so, but >because we can see that it is so. > >We intuitively know the difference between coercion and >consent because we know what kind of animals we are. I'm confused here. I've never been quite clear at what level this "intuition" of right and wrong operates on (according to your understanding). Are you suggesting that this intuition is hard-wired in? For example, I've heard of cases where people with brain damage have great difficulty in performing certain mental tasks. For example, a person who is no longer able to recognize 'fruit' with ease, or 'humor', or other things. Are you suggesting that it is possible that someone with just the right brain damage might not recognize 'theft' or 'right and wrong'? (And does this explain Karl Marx ;) Or, are you suggesting something less hard-wired? You said that we "intuitively" have knowledge (automatic knowledge?) of coercion because we "know" what kind of animals we are. Is this 'knowing' something learned _instead_ of instinctual? It would be nice if you could pin all of this down. Several weeks ago in extropians I asked if there was such a thing as "creole morality". (See latest EXTROPY for discussion of "creole morality".) It occurs to me that you may be asserting there is. >> James discusses the role of sociobiology in understanding NL, and >> that seems like a promising route. But, again, it's unclear that >> sociobiology will unequivocally indicate some singular conception >> of NL. Now what do we do with Randall Terry? > >If Randal Terry goes around saving unborn babies with a >six gun, then we shoot him. Otherwise we let him be. I really DON'T want to get into a huge debate on abortion on this list, but I would like to ask something here. WHY should we shoot Randal Terry? I could place a spin on this as follows: "If women go around seeking to kill their unborn babies, then we shoot them (possibly after transfering the fetus to another womb). After all, the women would be murderers. Otherwise we let them be." I don't see how this is conceptually different from your example. Also, if it is possible to be pro-life, where is the pro-choice "intuition"? >Plainly in a state of nature, a man who went around >violently preventing murder and robbery amongst strangers, >by killing and maiming murderers and robbers, would be a >hero. A man who went around violently forcing women to >carry their babies to term would be a dangerous lunatic to >be killed at the first safe opportunity to do so. I honestly wish that were so 'plain' to me! It's not! * . ====\\. ~ //==== || \\ ~ . *// || || \\ * // || || \\.~// || || \\// || || Mark \/enture || ==================== ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 20:46:17 CDT From: capntaz@dudemar.b24a.ingr.com (Heath G. Goebel) Subject: BOOK GHG -- Heath G. Goebel, ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 19:03:19 -0700 From: jamie@netcom.com (Jamie Dinkelacker) Subject: POLI: William Gibson - a statist! :-( The issue of giving software away for free to schools as a wonderful, gift from heaven benefit to all of us In The Future is confounded by the generational speed in software upgrades as distinct from hardware replacement. On DOS/WIN, I went through Wordstar, Word Perfect and MicroSquish Word, but kept plugging away on Intel driven machines from a 8086 to 80386 then my 80486. The shifts of hardware and software didn't necessarily match. I also migrated from Paradox to Filemaker (yes, it's not relational but it's EASY and FAST for most of what's needed). I'm also a VERY loyal Apple customer with desktop and portable models but my software choices are much more variable (sometimes Claris, sometimes not). My business uses both Macs and PCs. This is one example. Here's another example. It was clear in many marketing research projects I conducted that organizations don't necessarily tightly follow the software upgrade path on the same platform, especially small and medium sized companies. When platforms are upgraded enterprise-wide (e.g., '286 to '486) a fresh look is frequently taken at software apps. If the company has lagged behind the upgrade path, there's not a lot of incentive to stick with the OLD supplier if there's a more advantageous application available. It's a complicated mess of the extant personnel skill set, perceived needs and deals that can be cut. Orgs that have stayed current tends to migrate the apps to the new platform, those who have lagged behind either do nothing or make fresh decisions. The point here is that its doubtful that giving software to kids will necessarily engender long-term brand loyalty for application publishers. They'll go through much by the time they have many disposal rubles they direct to software. Many, many software generation will come and go, and so will many companies. Plus, I doubt many of the teachers would take the time to learn all the software. Aren't we always hearing how badly they're overworked and underpaid. Horrors, especially for a career path they chose freely. Jamie@netcom.com 415-941-4782 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 22:12:32 EDT From: Javier Machado from ConRail Corporation Subject: Bits and Bytes Online v1 #3 BBB III TTT SSS BBB Y Y TTT EEE SSS B B I T S B B Y Y T E S ONLINE EDITION BBB I T SSS AND BBB YYY T EEE SSS VOL 1, NUMBER 3 B B I T S B B Y T E S 7/26/93 BBB III T SSS BBB Y T EEE SSS ====================================================================== Scientists believe that the universe is made of hydrogen because they claim it's the most plentiful ingredient. I claim the most plentiful ingredient is stupidity. - Frank Zappa, 1993 ====================================================================== What's On The Tube Tonight, HAL? Imagine if while you were at work today, your TV set was busy working for you. First, it checks a list of your viewing preferences, then it sifts through thousands of shows and records several programs it thinks you might like to watch tonight. Sound like science fiction? Well, think again - this new technology is coming to a TV set near you this fall. One of B&B's primary focuses is the growing interaction between computers, phones, cable TV and just about any other gizmo you can think of. This "electronic TV Guide" is an early indicator of things to come. With it, a viewer can push a button and order their TV to find, preview and record any show. "Truly, this is the first interactive TV," says Brian Klosterman, a senior vice president at StarSight Inc., which will offer the electronic guide this fall. If successful, these guides portend big changes in how you use your TV - and how your TV uses you. ... "Channels become irrelevant in a world where viewers shop only for those shows that interest them," says T. Gary Trimm, president of Scientific-Atlanta's broadband communications group, which makes the cable boxes that use the new technology. And as viewers shop for programming, big brother will be watching, and taking careful note. Two-way TV opens up the potential for the ultimate in direct marketing, with advertisers able to reach, say, every Hispanic woman between the ages of 18 and 24 (something B&B has also been trying to do :-). "It's another step toward losing our ability to live anonymously," warns Les Brown, a media scholar at the New York-based Center for Media Studies. ... The StarSight system is intelligent enough to keep track of what you like to watch. Using your preferences, it can scan through all 7,000-12,000 shows on any given week and flag or record programming for you. However, this powerful feature will be kept turned off in its first products, since some consumers in test marketing complained that they felt like their TVs were 'spying on them'. Other features: While watching one show, you can bring up a list of what's playing elsewhere. You can preview any show without changing channels. Shows can also be grouped by type, listing all the sci-fi movies, baseball games, or swimsuit specials on today, this week or this month. And best of all, you can program your television to record a show without setting your VCR. Joy! (Source: Charles Haddad, Cox News Service) ====================================================================== Megatrends or Megamistakes II There is also serious concern that media infoglut is having a damaging effect on society - in particular the younger generation. As Chesebro and Bonsall (1989) show, the television set is on in the average American household for 7 hours and 7 minutes a day. In addition, recorded video tapes are watched for a further 5 hours 8 minutes a week on average (1987 figures). Young Americans can also tune in to any of 9,300 radio stations in the US, on one of the 5.3 radios in the average American household. In these and other ways, the typical American encounters no less than 1,600 advertisements each day. By the age of 17, the average American child would have seen over one-third of a million ads. It is little wonder that US academics are talking about America "amusing itself to death," its collective mind numbed by video-pulp, 10-second sound bites and 30-second video clips. A recent report by the Times Mirror group concluded that the current under-30s generation in the US - despite the benefits of a higher standard of living, better education, information technology, etc. - "knows less, cares less and reads newspapers less than any generation in the past five decades." (Tom Forrester, Opening Address to International Conference on the Information Society, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute / Green Meadow Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland, 11/18/91) ====================================================================== The Tao of DOS A master was explaining the nature of Tao to one of his novices. "The Tao is embodied in all software - regardless of how insignificant," said the master. "Is the Tao in a hand-held calculator?" asked the novice. "It is," came the reply. "Is the Tao in a video game?" continued the novice. "It is even in a video game," said the master. "And is the Tao in the DOS for a personal computer?" The master coughed and shifted his position slightly. "The lesson is over for today," he said. (from "The Tao of Programming" by Geoffrey James (Info Books, 1987) ====================================================================== IS and Business Units, Living Together In Perfect Harmony: What A Beautiful World It Could Be IS managers and the heads of their organizations' business units are in the same speedboat, says Patrick Fortune, CIO of Bristol-Myers Squibb. And they'd better learn to help each other steer as they careen wildly through a future of perpetual change. ... Without cooperation between IS and the business units, neither side can expect to make progress. His suggestions? First, break down traditional barriers between IS and the business units. Then, concentrate on creating an "information-literate" organization so that business execs understand what IT can do for them. Finally, create a comprehensive IT toolkit that can provide the standards, techniques, and procedures business units need to forge into the murky mist. (Source: John P. McPartlin, "IS And Business Units: Happy Together?" Information Week, 7/5/93, p. 62) ====================================================================== NEW PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND INDUSTRY NEWS: PictureTel Turns your PC Into A Videophone PictureTel Corp. has introduced equipment that turns your PC into a video teleconferencing system. The $6,000 setup will allow users to view the person they're talking to in a corner of the computer screen while running other applications. Users will also be able to view the work on each other's computer screens. The system includes a speakerphone and a video camera that can also be used to display printed documents. Also included will be a screen sharing application that will allow users to share and view the same file. This technology will make it easier for people to work from home but not miss out on meetings, brainstorming sessions, and other 'human contact' elements, the lack of which are one of the big stumbling blocks to effective telecommuting. The main drawback at present is lack of support for LANs, mainly due to insufficient bandwidth for the video signal. But this is a problem that will soon be resolved.(PictureTel 508/762-5000) (Sources: Wall Street Journal 7/16/93, p. B8, Communication Week 7/19/93, p. 5) ================== RAM Prices Skyrocket Prices of computer memory chips have more than doubled in the past week, in response to a factory fire in Japan where an important chip ingredient is manufactured. Small companies have experienced the largest sticker shock. It is estimated that the surge in prices could raise the cost of building a PC by $120. (Source: New York Times 7/21/93, p. D5) =================== Midrange To Go A new mobile computing concept should emerge soon from the somewhat unlikely environs of IBM's Rochester, Minn., labs - home of the AS/400. IBM has a luggable single user AS/400 in the works that would be aimed mainly at software vendors and resellers looking to do on- site customer demonstrations and AS/400 programmers who want to take their work home or on the road with them. Pricing is expeeted to start in the $5,000 to S6,000 range for the machine, which would contain the OS/400 operating system in full. (Source: Computerworld, 7/5/93, p. 90) ==================== Adobe's Acrobat: Electronic Paper Simply put, Adobe's revolutionary new Acrobat software allows users to share their documents electronically regardless of hardware platform, operating system, or what application created the document. The receiving system doesn't even need to have the right fonts installed. Like I said above, electronic paper - I create a document on my IBM PC using Pagemaker, I send it to my friend, who has a MAC and never even heard of Pagemaker, and no problemo, there is my document in all it's glory. There are 3 versions of the software: a $50 read only version, a $195 version that allows you to create, view, annotate and print the documents, and for power users, the $695 version, which can convert Postscript files to Adobe's PDF format and is available in a network version. Sharing information just got several orders of magnitude easier. (Sources: PC Computing, INFOWORLD) ==================== Free ADA Compiler! Ada is a programming language developed by the US Department of Defense and others. There is an ANSI standard for Ada (which is named after the first programmer, Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace), and it is mandatory for all new DoD software. Apparently, Ada is a nice programming language, offering readable, structured language (all you non-programmers can skip a few lines), strong typing, separately compiled interfaces, data abstraction, built-in multitasking, reusability and more. Ada's strengths, according to INFOWORLD Publisher Bob Metcalfe, are for projects that must be written by many people, that must be readable, portable across different platforms, maintainable, reusable, and oh yeah, highly reliable. "Everthing else can be written in C," says Metcalfe, who says that C++ is old technology and best left behind. A *free* copy of the Gnu Ada compiler can be obtained by calling the BBS at 800/232-9925. ====================================================================== Smithsonian Institute Starts Software Collection The Smithsonian Institute, which often refers to itself as "the nation's attic," has started The National Software Collection at the National Museum of American History. This collection will eventually include much of the Institute's vast mainframe and minicomputer software collection. Microsoft Word will be the first program officially inducted into the collection. In addition to the software itself, the company is also donating archives containing materials relating to the creation and subsequent development of Microsoft Word. (Source: Newsbytes News Service, 7/16/93) ====================================================================== The Ross Perot Law Of Information Information doesn't care about organizational politics or institutional boundaries. The fastest way to flatten an organization is to give employees the means to send and receive information on an ad hoc basis to anyone in the company, including the CEO. Start by identifying E-mail as a mission-critical application, then stand back and watch what happens. Informal work groups will begin to form; introverts will share their ideas more freely. Mid-level bureaucrats will go into cardiac arrest when control of information leaves their fiefdom. (Source: Fank J. Ricotta Jr., "The Six Immutable Laws of Information," Information Week, 7/19/93, p. 63) ====================================================================== Documentation From Hell: Place Your Votes Now The Communications Circle, a group of fed-up professional writers, is holding a contest for the worst manual of the year. Send your nightmare documentation example to: Worst Manual of The Year c/o The Communications Circle, 918 La Senda, N.W., Albuquerque, NM 87107. Entries must be received by Halloween. There is bound to be a crowded field for this coveted award and I'm sure we all have our favorites. B&B wil report on the winner(s) as soon as they are announced. (Source: Computerworld, 7/12/93, p. 134) ====================================================================== There's A Seeker Born Every Minute In Crestone, Colorado, followers of Kuthumi, a spirit entity said to communicate via computer, say that Kuthumi has instructed them to build a 45 story pink granite pyramid near the town. Why, you ask? To draw a signal from space that that will keep the earth safely on its axis, of course! Bits and Bytes will stay on top of this momentous story, and will attempt to contact Kuthumi on the astral plane for an exclusive B&B interview. In the meantime, donations to the Pink Pyramid Construction fund can be sent in care of the editor. (Source: Newsweek) ====================================================================== The Beauty of Client/Server The beauty of client/server computing is the potential to fulfill end user's desire for more control of data manipulation, and to allow network managers and IS professionals the ability to maintain back-end network and data integrity. I like this model because makes sense. End users tend to think more strategically about data manipulation than IS and network managers. On the other hand, IS and network managers know more about networked systems, security and maintaining data integrity than end-users. (David Buerger, "End Users Are About To Gain Front-End Control," Communications Week, 7/5/93, p 38) ====================================================================== Bits and Bytes Bookshelf Amusing Ourselves To Death: Public Discourse In The Age of Show Business by Neil Postman [Penguin Books, 1985. $8.95] - (from the back cover) "Television has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of public affairs. ... Before we hand over politics, education, religion, and journalism to the show-business demands of the television age, we must recognize the ways in which the media shape our lives and the eay we can, in turn, shape them to serve our highest goals." An important, thought provoking, and entertaining book. Soon to be a major motion picture - NOT! Highly recommended. THe Metaphysics Of Virtual Reality by Michael Heim [Oxford University Press, 1993. $21.00] - (from the forward by Myron Krueger) "In this book, Heim puts his finger on why virtual reality has excited us as a culture." Heim explores the philosophical implications of emerging computer techno- logies with an eye for the dark as well as the bright side. Hypertext, multimedia, RSI (repetitive stress injury), and the effects of word processing on the English language are a few of the topics discussed. I just statred reading this one, and am finding it very interesting. If these issues interest you, recommended. ====================================================================== AT THE NEWSTAND... "Domesticating Cyberspace" (Scientific American August 1993, pg.100) This article provides a good summary and analysis of the history and current status of networking developments. ==================== The July 1993 issue of PC Magazine features a search for the "perfect" PC, with lots of advice and recommendations. ==================== Last and definitely NOT least: if you enjoy B&B, there is a good chance you will enjoy WIRED magazine. With only 3 issues under their belt, WIRED is already *the* single best source for news from the frontlines of the digital revoltion. Issue 3 (July/August '93) contains a major new article on the digital highway by Mitchell Kapor, designer of Lotus 1-2-3 and co-founder of the Electronic Freedom Foundation, and interviews with science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke and Peter Drucker, the father of modern management. Also reports on interactive rock and roll (products coming soon from David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, U2 and others), online role playing games, IBM's big buck attempt to go Hollywood, the new Radio Shack stores, Internet books, cool electronic gizmos, and so much more that your head may explode. Highly recommended. ====================================================================== Meet Me On The Holodeck Admit it: Arcade games have hit a wall. That clutch-the-joy-stick-and- stand-at-the-video-terminal interface is getting real old. It's time to move to the Next Generation. Edison Brothers Entertainment agrees. By late 1993 it plans to introduce fully immersive virtual reality games based on the hit series "Star Trek: The Next Generation." To be anchored in our country's most revered cultural centers - malls - these centers will be a dramatic departure from the typical quarter- slogging video game haunts of yesteryear (many of which, by the way, St. Louis-based Edison Brothers owns and operates). Edison won't tell us how much a trip into the "Star Trek" world will cost, but it will use actual footage from Paramount Pictures ("Star Trek's" producer) and claims the ride will be fully interactive. (Source: Wired Magazine 1.1, ) ====================================================================== Sending Email To The White House: How Not To Do It DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: THERE ARE TOO MANY STATES NOWADAYS. PLEASE ELIMINATE THREE. I AM NOT A CRACKPOT. (Grandpa Simpson, The Simpsons, Fox TV, Thursday nights at 8 PM) ====================================================================== ADMINISTRIVIA Reaction to Bits and Bytes Online has been overwhelming. Subscription requests have been pouring in from all over this crazy old world. I thought I was hip to the age of information and the information explosion and all that, but my exponentially growing mailbox has made brought it all home to me in no uncertain manner. In my ignorance of my mailbox software's capabilities, however, I made a mistake: I am getting requests to the pacs address without the requestor's mailing address attached. From now on when subscribing or unsubscribing, please include the email address you wish B&B sent to. I have modified the instructions below to reflect this. If you sent in a request and are not receiving B&B, please resend your request. SORRY! If you are on America Online you can now download B&B from their files section. On the Internet, B&B will be available from various servers and mailing lists. Details next issue. Please unsubscribe if you do start getting B&B from another source. Feedback is always welcome - I am still trying to find the right balance of material. See you next week! ====================================================================== Bits and Bytes Online is a weekly electronic newsletter. Email Subscriptions are available at no cost from slakmaster@aol.com or jmachado@pacs.pha.pa.us. Put "SUBSCRIBE in the subject header and your email address in the body of the message. If you work for "the rail" send a similar message to my emailbox. To unsubscribe, send a message with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject header and your email address in the body. Questions and comments are welcome at any address. If you come across anything you think should be included here, please pass it on! Send long postings to the pacs address. If you need to reach me on paper, my snailmail address follows: =============================================== = (Copyleft 1993 Jay Machado) *UNALTERED* = Jay Machado = electronic distribution of this file for = 1529 Dogwood Drive = non-profit porpoises is encouraged. = Cherry Hill, NJ, 08003 = The opinions expressed herein do not = ph (eve) 609/795-0998 = do not necesarily represent anyone's = = actual opinion. = =============== end of Bits and Bytes Online V1, #3.================== ------------------------------ End of Extropians Digest V93 #207 ********************************* &