1. TERENA and European NRENs News
1.1.1. TERENA General News (GA, TA)
TERENA Technical Committee meeting have been held on December 4 1998 in Amsterdam
Next TTC meeting in Geneva 15-16 February 1999
Proposed IETF Web Caching Working Group hosted at TERENA Web server
The aim of this working group is to define a co-ordinated application-level
caching / replication framework within the IETF. The group will provide
a basis for discussions on application-level caching proxies, describe
existing application caching proxy protocols and define design goals and
research issues before possibly embarking on specific protocol development.
http://www.terena.nl/tech/wrec/
CHIP (Clearing House for Internet Projects) Project Database Pilot
Service
CHIP aims to support people whose work is related to research and education
networking, particularly those who are based at national research networks.
It is aimed at those who work on technical issues, user support and policy
making in this area.
http://www.terena.nl/chip/
http://edward.ilrt.bris.ac.uk:80/ROADS/welcome.html
JANET Year 2000 Compliance Statement
"Year 2000 conformity shall mean that neither performance nor functionality
is affected by dates prior to, during and after the year 2000." A report
summarising the status of UKERNA's work towards Year 2000 compliance may
be inspected on its Web server (at URL http://www.ja.net/documents/y2k_status.html).
This report is updated from time to time to reflect progress to date.
http://www.ukerna.ac.uk/announcements/y2k.html
UKERNA announces a new Head of CERT
http://www.ja.net/press_release/cert_head.html
JANET's link to the TEN-155 network
UKERNA are pleased to announce that the JANET link to Europe is now
running on the TEN-155 network. The link was moved across successfully
on 10 December 1998.
http://www.ja.net/press_release/janet_ten-155.html
New issues of SURFNET news for December 1998
http://www.surfnet.nl/surfnet-nieuwsdienst.html
Digital Denmark
Terms of Reference for the Special Committee published
Formulation of a new IT strategy. The Government has therefore decided
to appoint a committee to prepare a proposal for the Government's future
IT political strategy entitled "Digital Denmark".
http://www.fsk.dk/fsk/div/digdenuk/digitaldenmark.html
Seniors & IT
The report details a study designed to investigate the experiences,
knowledge, and needs of people over sixty regarding modern information
technology, such as computers, the Internet and touchtone services on the
telephone.
http://www.fsk.dk/fsk/publ/it_ae/eng/
1.3. The Works of DANTE (bi-monthly news -
TEN-155 Operational!
The world changed for the better for the European research community
on 11 December 1998 when the new pan-European research network TEN-155
became operational. TEN-155 interconnects 16 European university networks
across Europe at speeds of 155 Mbps. For researchers and students at universities
and research institutions this means an increase in capacity for their
pan-European communication by a factor of at least 7! The network makes
direct use of SDH technology and employs multiple international OC-3 links.
For the first time and as a direct result of the liberalisation of the
European telecommunications market, international bandwidth will be the
same as bandwidth available on the national services used by the European
academic and research community. In addition to a basic IP service, TEN-155
will offer guaranteed Quality of Service using a combination of ATM and
IP technology.
The first links of the TEN-155 network to become operational were the
155 Mbps SDH-ring connecting France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United
Kingdom, as well as the links connecting the Nordic countries (via a node
in Sweden) and Switzerland to Germany and the Netherlands.
http://www.dante.net/ten-155.html
Q-MED - CONNECTING ISRAEL AND CYPRUS
The Q-MED project is a complementary project to QUANTUM and will provide
for the connection of the Israeli research network MACHBA/ILAN and the
University of Cyprus/CYNET to the TEN-155 network. The location for the
connection to TEN-155 is yet to be determined and will most likely depend
on the cost of international access circuits.
http://www.dante.net/pubs/works/30.html
1.4. Security Services (JANET-CERT, EuroCERT)
CANARIE's 3rd Annual Network Workshop December 15 - 16, 1998
Presentations now available
http://www.canarie.ca/eng/networks/optical/workshop3.html
Internet2 News Update
Internet2 Press Releases
http://www.internet2.edu/html/i2_press_releases.html
CA*Net 2 News archive
http://www.canet2.net/c2news.htm
Qbone. An Interdomain Testbed for Differentiated Services
http://www.internet2.edu/qos/qbone/
http://www.internet2.edu/qos/
World renowned technologist elected to prestigious Internet Society
Board
Sun Microsystems Director of Science Office appointed to Board of Trustees
RESTON, VA - December 9, 1998 - The Internet Society (ISOC) today announced
the appointment of John Gage, director of the Science Office for Sun Microsystems,
Inc., to its Board of Trustees. Gage will fill the unexpired term of the
late Jon Postel.
http://www.isoc.org/isoc/media/releases/981209pr.shtml
Information Concerning the Formation of ICANN Supporting Organizations
December 21, 1998
The Board wishes to encourage the early formation of Supporting Organizations
and the seating of additional Directors nominated by recognized SO's. The
ICANN Bylaws provide for substantial delegation of policy responsibility
to Supporting Organizations in the belief that putting policy development
and recommendations organizationally closer to working professionals will
produce a better result for the entire community.
The purpose of this note is to provide assistance to those members
of the Internet community who are interested in forming ICANN Supporting
Organizations.
http://www.icann.org/icann-pr21dec98.html
ICANN Membership Advisory Committee Appointed
LOS ANGELES, December 17, 1998 -- The Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers is pleased to announce that the following individuals
have been appointed to the ICANN Membership Advisory Committee: This committee,
called for in the ICANN bylaws, will advise the ICANN board on the creation
of an at-large membership structure. The committee's work will begin immediately;
it is scheduled to report on its progress at the next ICANN meeting, planned
for Singapore March 2-4.
http://www.isoc.org/internet/issues/dns/icann-12-98.shtml
The ICANN Membership Advisory Committee has established a public mailing
list, membership@icann.org, devoted to discussion of the issues involved
in establishing a membership structure to elect At Large directors of ICANN.
http://www.icann.org/list.html
Released November 25, 1998: Memorandum of Understanding Between
the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/icann-memorandum.htm
Information on Management of Internet Names and Addresses (Comment
Period is closed).
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/domainhome.htm
November 23th, 1998: "ICANN Announces Changes, Requests DNS Transition
Begin"
http://www.icann.org/contents-pr23nov98.html
Transmittal Letter to U.S. Department of Commerce, November 23, 1998NSI takes a new domain name partners
http://www.icann.org/letter-pr23nov98.html
ICANN Bylaws (As Revised)
http://www.icann.org/bylaws-pr23nov98.html
Articles of Incorporation (As Revised)
http://www.icann.org/articles-pr23nov98.html
Conference to launch the Fifth Framework Programme, Essen (Germany),
25-26 February
On 25 and 26 February 1999, the European Commission is holding a major
conference to launch the Fifth Framework Programme, which will cover all
the research, technological development and demonstration activities of
the European Union for the period 1999-2002.
T he Fifth Framework Programme is unique in providing a framework for
European research with a five-year strategic planning horizon. Its aim
is to help EU companies meet the challenges of the 21st century and, through
research, to come up with answers to a wide range of issues that are important
for European society, such as employment, health, environment, communications
and mobility.
The purpose of the conference is to present the new features of the
programme, to explain to interested parties how to participate, and to
give examples of particularly successful European research projects.
Call for applications:Fifth Framework Programme: Experts for
the evaluation of proposals received in connection with the specific research
programmes. First Deadline: 31 January 1999
http://www.cordis.lu/expert-candidature/
The NECTAR Information Update
http://www.nectar.org/update/index.htm
European Journal of Engineering for Information Society Applications
Volume 1, Issue 1, September 1998
http://www.nectar.org/journal/index.htm
FLUIDS Technology Bulletins
http://www.nectar.org/fluids/bulletin/index.htm
AESOPIAN Best Practices Electronic News Report
http://www.nectar.org/aesopian/index.htm
Events section at NECTAR Electronic Journal
http://www.nectar.org/update/events/index.htm
The 24th edition of the FLUIDS Bulletin
Available from the NECTAR web site. This edition covers the latest
developments in intelligent user interface design, featuring the latest
commercial developments and market trends and news of events and publications
in the field. New research achievements noted include a survey of developments
in anthropomorphic interface agents, a field which has developed into one
of the salient topics within the area of intelligent user interfaces.
http://www.nectar.org/update/stories/1998120805.htm
The bulletin is available from http://www.nectar.org/fluids/bulletin/24.htm
NewsDesk
Daily Digital News from the EU
http://www.echo.lu/news/
Studies and Surveys in Information Engineering (since 1995)
http://www2.echo.lu/ie/en/studies.html
El.pub Weekly
http://inf2.pira.co.uk/
El.pub News Archive - http://inf2.pira.co.uk/base02.htm
Conferences Europe 1999 onwards - http://inf2.pira.co.uk/base05.htm
New topics at El.pub Server
http://inf2.pira.co.uk/base04.htm
Cultural Heritage & EC Funding
New pages which give detailed information on: European Commission funding
programmes which are open to cultural heritage institutions; and on past
and current EC-funded projects relevant to cultural heritage.
http://inf2.pira.co.uk/pub/ecwebsite97.html
EUN Metadata Handbook
This recently updated Handbook presents a tool which builds on the
Dublin Core metadata set, but because this does not meet the multimedia
and commercial requirements of the EUN, the element set has been extended
with a range of additional sub-elements from other metadata initiatives
including the IMS and ARIADNE set. This work has also involved co-operation
with the EUC (European Universal Classroom) which has been studying DBS/GER
(Deutscher Bildungs-Server / German Educational Resources), GEM (The Gateway
to Educational Materials) and EdNA (Education Network Australia).
http://www.eun.org/eng/metadatabook-en.html
Version 2.0 of ARIADNEs metadata work has been included in this new
version of the EUN Handbook, revised as of December 8th, 1998. You can
download the new Metadata Handbook, as a ZIP file (269K), which extracts
as an .RTF file.
http://www.eun.org/eng/metadatahandbook.zip
MLIS (Multilingual Information Society) News section
http://www2.echo.lu/mlis/en/news/home.html
Commission mid-term review of 11 MLIS projects, Action Lines 1.1 and
2.1 Luxembourg, 26-30 October 1998
http://www2.echo.lu/mlis/en/news/projectsreview.html
UN - Researchers Work on Universal Internet Language
(APA/Reuters) A new computer language will enable Internet communication
beyond language barriers. More than 120 computer experts and linguists
at the University of the United Nations in Tokio work at present on a so-called
UNL, Universal Networking Language, a common computer language for the
net.
http://www2.echo.lu/mlis/en/news/fresh.html
SCIMITAR News
New design for SCIMITAR 2 Web Server - November 1998
The SCIMITAR 2 project, which provides supportive actions and information
dissemination for projects in Telematics for Research, has a re-designed
Web Server. This includes information on all the projects in the sector,
and links to similar support activities in other sectors of the Telematics
Applications Programme.
http://www.scimitar.terena.nl/
IST 98 - 30 Nov to 2 Dec 1998
The Information Society and Technologies Conference and Exhibition
takes place between 30 November and 2 December 1998. It will present leading-edge
technologies and products stemming from work in the TAP, ACTS, Esprit and
info2000/MLIS programmes and illustrates the outcome and potential of take-up,
demonstration and technology transfer actions.
http://www.cordis.lu/ist98/home.html
Desire Demonstrator Plan
http://www.terena.nl/projects/desire/deliverables/N5.2.1.html
Multimedia Access to Education and Training in Europe - Draft MoU
A Partnership for a Common Approach to the Production and Delivery
of Learning Technologies, Content and Services".
http://www2.echo.lu/telematics/education/en/news/mou.html
Current list of Initial Signatories of the MoU
http://www2.echo.lu/telematics/education/en/news/mou1198/mousignatorieslist.html
Educational Media and Distance Learning in Health
The International Forum for Educational Media and Distance Learning
in Health '99, will be organised in Tokyo on April 6, 1999, to help the
public understand telemedecine and medical distance learning.
http://square.umin.ac.jp/medforum/
MBA programs go online
Internet-earned degrees are gaining recognition as the real thing as
distance learning is proving to be a solid alternative for some students.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=43004
The Ariadne newsletter is aimed initially at subject librarians
and other working librarians in academic libraries, though many people
in the UK Higher Education and LIS communities will find items of interest
within it.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/
4. Internet Technology News and Standardisation
IETF43 Meeting, 6-11 December, 1998, Orlando
http://www.ietf.org/meetings/wg_agenda_orlando.html
Personal notes from mainly applications area sessions during the IETF
meeting in Orlando, December 1998
By Professor Jacob Palme, Stockholm University and KTH Technical University
ietf-december-98-notes.html
http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/
The MECCANO trip report for the 43rd IETF meeting by Colin Perkins,
Lambros Lambrinos, Orion Hodson & Edmund Whelan
http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/c.perkins/reports/ietf_43.html
New RFCs
RFC 2460: Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification, S. Deering, R. Hinden
Draft Standard, December 1998
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2460.txtRFC 2473: Generic Packet Tunneling in IPv6 Specification, A. Conta, S. Deering
Proposed Standard, December 1998
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2473.txtRFC 2474: Definition of the Differentiated Services Field (DS Field) in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers, K. Nichols, S. Blake, F. Baker, D. Black
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2474.txtRFC 2475: An Architecture for Differentiated Services, S. Blake, D. Black, M. Carlson, E. Davies, Z. Wang, W. Weiss
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2475.txtRFC 2476: Message Submission, R. Gellens, J. Klensin
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2476.txt
The IESG has approved publication of the following Internet-Drafts
as Proposed Standards:
SMTP Service Extension for Secure SMTP over TLS
ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-hoffman-smtp-ssl-10.txt
Gateways and MIME Security Multiparts
ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-freed-gatesec-03.txt
Message Submission
ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-gellens-submit-13.txt
IPv6 over Non-Broadcast Multiple Access (NBMA) networks
ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ion-ipv6-02.txt
IPv6 over ATM Networks
ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ion-ipv6-atm-03.txt
HTTP Extensions for Distributed Authoring -- WEBDAV'
ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-webdav-protocol-10.txt
An Architecture for Differentiated Services
ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-diffserv-arch-02.txt
Voice over Differentiated Services
ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-naser-voice-diffserv-eval-00.txtSimple Multicast: A Design for Simple, Low-Overhead Multicast
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-perlman-simple-multicast-01.txtCryptographic Message Syntax
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-smime-cms-10.txtEnhanced Security Services for S/MIME
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-smime-ess-10.txtRegistration for the 'widetext' Media Type
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-hoffman-widetext-01.txtA Tagged Index Object for use in the Common Indexing Protocol
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-find-cip-tagged-07.txtMulticast Discovery of DNS Services
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-manning-multicast-dns-00.txtOn-Demand Multicast Routing Protocol (ODMRP) for Ad-Hoc Networks
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-manet-odmrp-00.txtJapanese Character Encoding for Internet Messages
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-yamamoto-charset-iso-2022-jp-01.txtURLs for GSM Short Message Service
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-antti-gsm-sms-url-03.txtUTF-16, an encoding of ISO 10646
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-hoffman-utf16-01.txtS/MIME Version 3 Certificate Handling
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-smime-cert-06.txtTransmission of IPv6 over IPv4 Domains without Explicit Tunnels
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ipngwg-6over4-01.txtA framework for QoS support for open control
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ranganathan-gsmp-qos-framework-00.txtW3C Composite Capability/Preference Profiles
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-conneg-W3C-ccpp-01.txtSecurity Expectations for Internet Service Providers
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-grip-isp-07.txtThe Transmission of IP Over the Vertical Blanking Interval of a Television Signal
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ipvbi-nabts-01.txtProxy Chaining and Policy Implementation in Roaming
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-roamops-auth-09.txtTransmission of IPv6 over IPv4 Domains without Explicit Tunnels Proposed Standard
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ipngwg-6over4-01.txtMIME-based Secure EDI
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ediint-as1-09.txtRequirements for Inter-operable Internet EDI
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ediint-req-06.txtThe Network Access Identifier
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-roamops-nai-12.txtQoS Routing Mechanisms and OSPF Extensions
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-guerin-qos-routing-ospf-04.txtACAP Email Personality Dataset Class
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-acap-pers-01.txtACAP Personal Addressbook Dataset Class
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-acap-abook-03.txtDomain Name System Security Extensions
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-dnssec-secext2-07.txtMultiprotocol Encapsulation over ATM Adaptation Layer 5
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ion-multiprotocol-atm-01.txtAnti-Spam Recommendations for SMTP MTAs
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-lindberg-anti-spam-mta-08.txtBuilding Directories from DNS: Experiences from WWWSeeker
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-rfced-info-moats-03.txtH.323 Firewall Control Interface (HFCI)
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-rfced-info-mercer-00.txtGuide to Administrative Procedures of the Internet Infrastructure
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-rfced-info-iana-00.txtIP Header Compression
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-degermark-ipv6-hc-08.txt
4.2. Standardisation in Telecommunications
and IT (ISO, ITU, CEN/ISSS, EEMA)
A new section on Metadata Interchange Standards has been added
to the European Commission's Open Information Interchange (OII) Standards
and Specifications List
http://www.echo.lu/oii/en/meta.html
Individual copies of standards from the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI) can now be accessed and downloaded free
of charge via the Internet. At present, the trial version gives access
to download ETSI Technical Reports, Technical Specifications, Technical
Bases for Regulations, Guides. This will soon be extended to include European
Norms and ETSI Telecommunications Standards.
http://www.etsi.org/eds
ITU warns that CDMA-based RTT proposals for IMT-2000 could be excluded
from further consideration if IPR stalemate is not resolved by the year
end
ITU/98-34, 7 December 1998
Geneva – Discussions at the meeting of Task Group 8/1 held in Jersey,
Channel Islands from 9 to 20 November 1998 indicated that the ITU may only
be able to consider RTT technologies for IMT-2000 that are based on TDMA
technology if the dispute surrounding Intellectual Property Rights of CDMA
proposals is not resolved before the end of this year.
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press/releases/1998/98-34.html
ITU Starts Work on Important new Standard for Internet voice Gateways
to Interface with Conventional Telephone Systems
ITU/98-33, 4 December 1998
Geneva - At a meeting held on 17-20 November in Turin, experts from
a number of companies and organizations involved in multimedia communications
over the Internet, started work on an important new Internet standard.
The meeting was part of the work programme of Study Group 16, the multimedia
group of the Telecommunications Standardization Sector of the International
Telecommunication Union. The new standard, which is being referred to as
H.gcp during its development phase, will be an important addition to the
H.323 family of Recommendations which have already been widely adopted
by the industry as the standards for multimedia communications over the
Internet.
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press/releases/1998/98-33.html
QL'98 - The Query Languages Workshop
December 3rd and 4th, 1998
Temporary list of the position papers for the QL'98 workshop
http://www.w3.org/TandS/QL/QL98/pp.html
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in October released the Document
Object Model Level 1 specification as a W3C Recommendation. The specification
reflects cross-industry agreement on a standard API (Applications Programming
Interface) for manipulating documents and data through a programming language
(such as Java or ECMAScript). A W3C Recommendation indicates that a specification
is stable, contributes to Web interoperability, and has been reviewed by
the W3C Membership, who favor its adoption by the industry.
http://www.w3.org/Press/1998/DOM-REC
Ruby Working Draft, published today by the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) on behalf of the W3C I18N Working Group.
http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-ruby
Worldwide TV Standards - A Web Guide
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/WorldTV/
ITU Newsroom
http://www.itu.org/newsroom/index.html
CEN News
http://www.cenorm.be/News/NEWs.htm
CEN/ISSS Newsletter December 1998
Introducing the European Odour Unit
http://www.cenorm.be/News/Newsletter/Dec98News.htm
New Forces at Work: Industry Views Critical Technologies
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 167: December 18, 1998
Office of Science and Technology Policy released a report by the newly-named
Science and Technology Policy Institute (formerly the Critical Technologies
Institute) on critical technologies. The 155-page report, "New Forces at
Work: Industry Views Critical Technologies," provides thoughtful analysis
of the responses of 39 senior corporate executives to the question, "What
technologies are critical to your firm/industry?" The report gives considerable
attention to the sometimes controversial issue of the appropriate role
of government in R&D.
The report, the fourth in a series, contains much useful information
and food for thought. It can be accessed at http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1008/MR1008.pdf/
Home radio frequency network specification ratified
The HomeRF Working Group (HomeRF WG) announced the ratification of
the Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP) specification 1.0. The HomeRF
SWAP system operates in the 2400 MHz range and uses digital frequency hopping
spread spectrum radio. It was derived from existing cordless telephone
and wireless LAN technology and is capable of 1 Mbps (using 2FSK modulation)
and 2 Mbps rates (using 4FSK modulation). A SWAP network accommodates a
maximum of 127 nodes covering a range of "a typical home and yard." Thirteen
companies have committed to build products based on SWAP, including Compaq,
HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola and Samsung. The first SWAP-based wireless
devices are expected to reach the marketplace by the end of 1999. http://www.homerf.org/
HomeRF Working Group, January 5, 1999
The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (a separate organization) is
developing standards for 1 Mbps Ethernet LANs over existing telephone wiring
in the home. http://www.homepna.org/
http://tweetie.canarie.ca/ntn/hypermail/testnet/1189.html
Kevin Almeroth has completed a white paper called "Managing IP Multicast
Traffic".
The paper is supplied by IPMI as a part of the 3rd Annual IP Multicast
Summit on Feb 7-9, 1999 in San Jose, CA USA.
http://www.ipmulticast.com/events/summit99/
or
http://www.ipmulticast.com/events/summit99/whitepaper.htm
IBM has launched a web site dedicated to XML, complete with online
courses, papers, standards and sample XML code which is aims to spur development
of XML applications and the acceptance of the technology.
http://www.ibm.com/xml
Development tools
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com
XML to "revolutionize" info exchange
XML will revolutionize the exchange of business information similar
to the way the phone, fax machine, and photocopier did when those devices
were invented, a new report says.
IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and other vendors have made
significant investments in the technology--and 1999 will be known as the
year XML was commercially born. Companies will include XML support in more
and more products, such as Web browsers and application servers, he said.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30429%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.fs2.1231
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language
To make authoring of TV-like multimedia presentations on the Web easier,
W3C has designed the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL,
pronounced "smile"). The SMIL language is an easy-to-learn HTML-like language
allowing to use a text editor to write multimedia presentations with streaming
audio and video.
http://www.justsmil.com/
http://www.w3.org/AudioVideo/
The "Rapidly Changing Face of Computing" is a weekly technology
journal providing insight, analysis and commentary on contemporary computing
and the technologies that drive them.The RCFoC is written by Jeffrey R.
Harrow (jeff.harrow@compaq.com), a Senior Consulting Engineer with the
Corporate Research Group of Compaq Computer Corporation.
You can subscribe to this weekly journal which will help you keep up
on the changes that are constantly occurring in our industry!
http://www.compaq.com/rcfoc
Open source -- the way the Net was won
Christophe offers a list of his favorite online resources for Webmasters
to learn about Java, Perl, meta tags, and more.
http://www.sunworld.com/swol-12-1998/swol-12-webmaster.html?1221a
Microsoft memo attacks open source software
An annotated article ("Halloween I Document''), posted on the Internet
by Open Source evangelist Eric Raymond analyses a confidential Microsoft
memorandum on Redmond's strategy against Linux and open source software
(OSS), supposedly leaked to Raymond by a "nameless" source.
The "Halloween I Document'' contained references to a second memorandum
specifically on Linux. While not as dramatic in its implications as the
first memo, "Halloween II" apparently includes a lot of material at variance
with Microsoft's public party line on Linux.
http://www.opensource.org/halloween.html
Internet Research Journal
(Subscription required)
http://www.mcb.co.uk/intr.htm
CERT Summary CS-98.08
December 14, 1998
The CERT Coordination Center periodically issues the CERT Summary to
draw attention to the types of attacks currently being reported to our
incident response team, as well as to other noteworthy incident and vulnerability
information. The summary includes pointers to sources of information for
dealing with the problems.
Past CERT Summaries are available from
http://www.cert.org/summaries/
Open Software to Improve Security, Performance, and Reliability of
Internet E-Mail
IBM is making available, as open-source software, its Secure Mailer
to improve the security, reliability, and performance of e-mail delivery
systems. Secure Mailer could replace Mail Transfer Agents that process
more than 75% of Internet e-mail traffic today. By offering Secure Mailer
free, without licensing restrictions, IBM is building a stronger base for
secure e-business.
http://www.ibm.com/software/news/n/alme437l3s/
SA: Crack DES in a Day
In 56 hours, the Electronic Frontier Foundation made mincemeat of the
federally approved standard for data-scrambling. Now encryption vendor
RSA challenges the world to crack DES in two days or less.
The winners of RSA's last challenge cracked DES in just 56 hours. So
now RSA is calling on contestants to crack open an encoded message in 24
to 48 hours, and there's money in it for whoever does. "The target we're
looking for is to get down to one day," Kaliski said. "We've set the threshold
so that basically anything less than two days wins US$5,000, and one day
[or less] wins $10,000."
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/16995.html
'Remote Explorer' Virus: Danger or Opportunity for Antivirus Firm?
A new virus that hit MCI WorldCom servers is either "the first legitimate
incident of cyberterrorism" or exaggerated hype to help the firm that's
paid to stamp out the virus.
A Network Associates manager told ZDNet that it wasn't hyperbole to
call the Remote Explorer virus "an information time bomb," but others weren't
so sure. Windows NT Virus Reproduces Itself
http://www.thestandard.com/articles/display/0,1449,2946,00.html?02
New Strain of Computer Virus Is Discovered at MCI WorldCom
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB914288258379301500.htm
Using Palm Pilots to Steal Cars
This week the U.K.'s New Scientist reports that computer journalist
Lars Sorensen has discovered a technique for using the infrared port on
the new generation of Palm Pilots to break into cars with infrared remote
keyless entry systems. The Palm Pilot apparently has software that records
the infrared signals from TV and video remote controls, so that you can
turn your PDA into a universal remote for all your home entertainment gadgets.
According to New Scientist, Sorensen successfully used the same system
and software to record the infrared signal from a friend's car remote,
enabling him to enter the car and disable its alarm.
Palmtop Plunder
http://www.newscientist.com/cgi-bin/pageserver.cgi?/ns/981205/newsstory6.htm
Palm Pilot-Assisted Auto theft
http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/feature/
Open-Source Java at Last?
Sun Microsystems is planning to relinquish its stranglehold on the
Java programming language. The company will announce a new, more open version
of its platform at the Java Internet Commerce Expo on 8 December.
Sun wants to make it easier for developers to improve upon the Java
source code, Baratz said, "But at the same time, we need to ensure we maintain
cross-platform compatibility." Sun promised to submit Java to the International
Organization for Standardization for ratification nearly a year ago, but
it has made no progress.
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/16499.html
Messaging helps move Java into the enterprise
Find out how the Java Message Service API helps developers create more
robust enterprise applications. With the development of the Java Message
Service API, Sun ensures that Java applications won't be left behind in
the rush to embrace this up and coming enterprise technology.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=43238
Jigsaw 2.0.0 final release
W3C released award-winning Java Web server Jigsaw 2.0.0 the last week
of 1998. Designed for running multiple protocols, and both as a server
as a cache/proxy, Jigsaw has for example been used to test HTTP 1.1 including
new collaboration features. With Jigsaw, the open source community has
an implementation of the servlet interface in addition to cgi and server
side includes. Yves Lafon, W3C's Jigsaw Architect, explains: Now Jigsaw
2.0 is stable we can both prototype new ideas like HTTP-NG. and permanently
extend it in line with W3C Recommendations, for example using XML as the
configuration file format.
http://www.w3.org/
Servlets or CGI-Perl?
In this introduction to servlets, Java servlets and CGI/Perl technologies
are compared in terms of performance, portability, and other key issues.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=40785
IBM Java page News
http://www.ibm.com/java/news/
5. Internet and IT Industry News
5.1. Companies, Telecommunications, Infrastructure
IXC First To Carry Research and Commercial Traffic On Nationwide
Next Generation Internet Backbone
IXC Communications (Nasdaq: IIXC) today announced that it has activated
the first coast-to-coast, next generation Internet backbone network to
carry both commercial and research community traffic.
IXC's OC-48 SONET network, named Gemini2000, will eliminate Internet
congestion and backlog by offering high-speed communications that are 100
to 1,000 times faster than today's Internet. The Gemini2000 Network, which
is supported by technology from Cisco Systems, Newbridge and Nortel Networks,
is segmented into eight regions, each containing a central traffic aggregation
point, or Core Site. The New York City, Washington D.C. and San Francisco
Core Sites have been activated and are carrying traffic. By the third quarter
of 1999, Core Sites in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Newark,
Delaware will be brought on line. (A network map is available from IXC
http://www.ixc-comm.com/gemini/backbonemap.html)
http://tweetie.canarie.ca/ntn/hypermail/testnet/1185.html
AT&T to provide IP/DWDM Network for @HOME
@Home Network awarded a long-term contract to AT&T to create a
nationwide IP/DWDM backbone for its broadband cable Internet service. The
new backbone is scheduled to be deployed in mid-1999 with capacity for
up to five million broadband users. AT&T will initially provide @Home
Network with two OC-48 channels over each route of a 15,000 mile DWDM optical
network. The facilities-based agreement provides for significant expansion
of capacity, additional routes, and co-location space in AT&T POPs
and carrier hotel facilities for interconnecting @Home's network with other
major backbones. @Home cited performance and cost advantages for choosing
IP/DWDM over architectures based on SONET add-drop multiplexers and ATM
switches. As of September 30, @Home reported 210,000 cable modem subscribers
across North America.
http://www.att.com/press/item/0,1193,264,00.html
Federal antitrust regulators' approval of AT&T and Tele-Communications
Incorporated merger sets the stage for a very different communications
world, if not necessarily a cheaper one, for consumers.
AT&T has said that its primary motivation in the merger is gaining
access directly to consumers' homes, giving it the ability to offer local
phone service without going through the networks of existing local phone
companies. Once the company gains this access through TCI's cables, the
newly-merged business will be able to offer consumers a broad package of
services--including cable TV; local, long distance, and wireless telephone
service; high-speed Internet access; and paging services.
Gigabit Internet to every Canadian Home by 2005
One of last great impediments to wide scale and rapid deployment of
the Information Society is the "last mile" issue. Competitive equal access
at both the physical and logical layers, low cost Dense Wave Division Multiplexing
(DWDM) equipment, and new Internet architectural concepts currently under
development in CANARIE's optical Internet network -CA*net 3 may allow for
a initial deployment at relatively low cost. It is estimated that a GITH
(Gigabit Internet to the Home) system would cost less than Hybrid Fiber
Coax (HFC) systems currently being deployed and would be marginally more
expensive than xDSL or Cable Modem services. The early market pull of GITH
network may be "always on" applications, multimedia "push" services, mega
e-mail, DWDM caching, and DVD video applications.
http://tweetie.canarie.ca/ntn/hypermail/testnet/1182.html
IDC predicts the Net landscape for 1999
Media companies that have been watching from the sidelines will finally
make their move to invest in--or outright acquire--major Web portals in
1999, leaving the hyper-competitive industry controlled by a handful of
behemoths, according to a new study. Major consolidation in the portal
space is market research firm International Data Corporation's top prediction
about what the Internet landscape will be like next year.
Following on the heels of Disney's new stake in Infoseek and NBC's
investment in Snap, media interest will culminate with Time Warner or CBS
tapping Yahoo as a partner next year, the study forecast.
Software giant Microsoft, for example, likely will throw its weight
behind a major portal, and Citigroup or Wells Fargo likely will acquire
E*Trade, the report said. IDC also predicted the possibility of three additional
deals in 1999: Compaq Computer will sell off AltaVista, Infoseek will merge
with Lycos, and NBC will purchase a greater stake in CNET and Snap.
http://www.idg.com/
Raft of network vendors support interoperability initiative
Six companies have joined an initiative designed to provide interoperability
among IP-telephony platforms, according to a statement issued jointly Wednesday
by VocalTec Communications, Lucent, and ITXC.
iNow (interoperability Now) is to make the gateways and gatekeepers
used for IP telephony interoperable. VocalTec, Lucent and ITXC developed
the iNow interoperability agreement based on the ITU H.323 standard and
the upcoming H.225.0 Annex G standard, the statement said.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42256
Broadband Data Hits The Information Highway.
http://www.digital.com/rcfoc/981214.htm
It won't happen quite yet, but according to Ericsson, by 2005 we could
all
be experiencing 2 megabits/second wireless data to our stationary computers,
or 384 kilobits/second data to our mobile pocket and briefcase (and AutoPC)
information appliances! (http://www.ericsson.com/wireless/products/mobsys/3rdgen/
subpages/3gcell/subpages/3wcdma/3wcdma.shtml)
WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) technology, or a "3rd
generation mobile services platform" known as IMT-2000 or simply "3G,"
is currently being explored as one successor to current GSM mobile phone
technology. Indeed, Motorola is already working towards a goal of putting
an entire 3G cellphone on a single chip (http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?EBN19981102S0050).
ABCnews.com (http://www.abcnews.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/nextfiles981207.html)
describes claims by Tachyon Communications that they have a technique to
expand the number of data streams that a satellite transponder can provide
by eight times, providing 64 kilobits/second uplink and 500 kilobits/second
downlink data for as little as $500/month.
European AORTANet broadband network (http://www.chello.com/press/presindx.htm)
plans to begin offering $50/month broadband Internet access in major European
capitals, "by the end of the year"! According to ABCnews.com, "Europe is
now in the broadband race."
WorldCom has announced plans to roll out DSL service in "25 major markets"
by for $40-$60/month. "The size and speed of this rollout will provide
the first credible challenge in the U.S. broadband market to cable providers
like USWest and other Bells who have only paid lip service to getting DSL
on the street."
Computer giants join the DSL-regulatory fray
In a petition filed with the Federal Communications Commission, a group
that includes Compaq, Gateway, Intel and Microsoft, as well as GTE and
several RBOCs, says the FCC is slowing the deployment of digital subscriber
line (DSL) high-speed access services.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=40816
Europe's first ADSL service launches
A London government-owned telecommunications carrier, Kingston Communications,
has become the first telco in Europe to offer a commercial ADSL service,
a company spokesman said Wednesday.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=40948
Report: ADSL Will Overtake Cable
Friday Most pundits say that cable modems will zoom the bulk of high-speed
Internet content to consumers. But a new report says the underdog technology
will catch up by 2004.
By 2004, the phone line-based technology of asymmetric digital subscriber
line, or ADSL, will capture 37 percent of the market for US broadband subscribers,
Allied Business Intelligence predicted Friday.
Cable modems, which deliver high-speed data over cable TV lines, will
trail ADSL with a 26 percent market share, the company said. ADSL works
over standard copper phone wiring and allows users to receive data roughly
50 times faster than today's 56K modems.
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/16922.html
Cable Marriage With CBS on Digital TV
The agreement between Time Warner and CBS to carry CBS' digital television
signals on cable stations is significant for two reasons. It's the first
sign of a detente between the warring broadcast and cable factions, and
it might be the impetus needed to speed the arrival of high-definition
TV to the vast consumer market.
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/12/biztech/articles/09digi.html
AT&T Buys IBM's Global Network
Tuesday But there's more to the deal than a US$5 billion cash purchase:
The two giants also traded huge outsourcing contracts.
http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/16701.html
Microsoft invested $200 million in Qwest Communications
Both companies try to make inroads into the burgeoning market for e-commerce
and "mission-critical" business software applications and services. Unlike
the thrust of "Raw Iron," the move promotes Windows NT, as a platform for
digital subscriber line technology.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C29864%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.wr
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C29918%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.wr
Japan Telecom to Collaborate with Cisco Systems for its Next-Generation
Network Infrastructure
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- December 16, 1998 -- Japan Telecom Co., Ltd. will
evaluate IP-based networking solutions from Cisco Systems in the development
and trial of its Progressive and Revolutionary Integration on Service Media
(PRISM) next-generation network infrastructure. This would be the first
new-world network in Japan and among the first in Asia, and it would allow
Japan Telecom to significantly reduce the cost of existing services while
enabling next-generation data, voice and video services. Eventually, PRISM
would also replace Japan Telecom's existing core network of voice switches
to provide a single, integrated multimedia network.
Singapore commits $152 million to network upgrade
Regulatory body Telecommunications Authority of Singapore has committed
S$253 million (US$152 million) to further develop the country's information
and communications network.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42943
AOL Rings Up $31 Million Bell/GTE Deal
America Online Inc. (AOL) said it will carry online commercial directories
from Bell Atlantic (BEL) and GTE (GTE) as the Yellow Pages database. AOL
will offer the listings on its proprietary online service, its free AOL.com
Web site and its Digital Cities network of local information guides. The
phone companies together will pony up $31 million for AOL to carry the
directories, according to terms of the three-year deal, and AOL gets a
share of the ad revenue.
AOL Bigger Than Local ISPs
America Online Inc. (AOL) is reported to have more users than all local
Internet service providers combined. Research by Ziff-Davis's (ZD) ZD Market
Intelligence estimated AOL had 14 million members as of last August, compared
to 13 million users served by ISPs which offer Internet access locally
and regionally around the nation. The figures do not include members of
CompuServe, ZDnet said in its report on the research. The customer counts
mean AOL has 42 percent of the at-home Internet access market, up from
30 percent in January of this year, the report added. The company is also
said to be making strong gains in providing access to business users, a
factor that has had other ISPs nervous for some time.
America Online goes to the majors
The online giant gets its due as its stock is named a Standard &
Poor's 500 component. At the same time, Oracle chief Larry Ellison uses
the firm's $4.3 billion buyout of Netscape as proof that Microsoft has
seriously hurt its competitors.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30260%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.fs2.1223
Europeans tap document management to compete
A new study found that more European firms are turning to electronic
document management to boost competitiveness and to ease compliance with
government regulations.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42953
Network Associates inks DARPA deal
Network Associates' NAI Labs research division has won three U.S. government
contracts to build security products and protocols for a new generation
of computer networks, according to a company statement.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42111
Cisco News Releases
http://www.cisco.com/public/Corp_root.shtml
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/146/
IBM* e-business and Software News Alert on the Web
http://www.ibm.com/software/news-alert/
HP Press Releases
http://www.hp.com/pressrel/
Maxum Development (http://www.maxum.com) recently released "WebDoubler
1.0", a new caching proxy that supports the current 'state of the art'
feature set for caching proxies, including what may be the first non-experimental
implementation of HTTP/1.1 request pipelining in a proxy. Cache storage
can span multiple disk volumes, and WebDoubler supports a plug-in architecture,
PICS content filtering tools, etc. The surprising thing about WebDoubler
is not the (reasonably respectable) feature set, or the solid performance;
the surprise is that WebDoubler runs on the Mac, and not on UNIX or NT!"
http://www.maxum.com/WebDoubler/
Patently Proxied
SurfWatch recently obtained a patent for technology that "includes
the steps of maintaining a database of filters, comparing information in
an Internet request to filtering information ... and determining whether
to prevent or allow the transmission in response to the comparison." Hmm,
sounds like access lists to me. Read about it at
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/16270.html
.
Proxy Benchmarking
The IRCACHE group at NLANR is actively working on software and procedures
to benchmark Web caching products. The software, known as Web Polygraph,
has a number of improvements since its initial release a couple of months
ago.
Polygraph will be used to drive the benchmark simulations. In order
to reach community-wide consensus on measurement techniques and procedures,
the IRCACHE group has established a mailing list for discussion.
http://www.ircache.net/Polygraph/
Aberdeen Group Report: "IBM WebSphere: The Best of Web, Java, and
Enterprise Computing"
Aberdeen Group predicts that IBM WebSphere* will "quickly become the
most widely deployed, open-standards-based runtime environment in the market.
... WebSphere is the most mature and capable open-standard, Java-based,
application development and deployment platform."
http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/doc/aberdeen/websphere.pdf
Aberdeen Group Report: "The Extraordinary Potential of XML"
A recent Aberdeen Group report states that the use of XML for application
integration is likely to reduce the costs of establishing system-to-system
Interoperation within an enterprise, and to forge intercompany integration.
Aberdeen Group stresses that application interoperation is not easy, and
XML affords an immediate solution.
http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/doc/aberdeen/12981072.htm
Microsoft, DataChannel unleash beta 2 of XML parser
Microsoft and DataChannel Monday announced the second beta version
of their co-developed Extensible Markup Language (XML) parser written in
Java.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42813
PalmPilot dominance may slip in 1999
This year, the PalmPilot may have won most of its battles against attacks
from Microsoft's Windows CE devices, but industry watchers predict that
the handheld computing war is far from over. 3Com's PalmPilot easily continued
to dominate the field in 1998, garnering almost 80 percent of the market,
in the face of a full assault from Microsoft and its fleet of palm-size
devices. But analysts caution that if the software giant continues to refine
its Windows CE operating system, the balance will inevitably shift to Microsoft.
This year saw the launch of the third-generation PalmPilot, the Palm
III, as well as the first Generation of palm-size PCs from companies such
as Casio, Philips, Everex, and Hewlett-Packard, among others.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30350%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.ts2.1229
TiVo launches "smart TV" trial
TiVo has started field trials of a service that will enable old-fashioned
analog TVs to pause, rewind, and play back television programs as well
as seek out programs that might be useful to their owners.
TiVo's service uses a special set-top "receiver" that acts like a digital
VCR. It permits users to view, pause, and rewind live programs as well
as record programs and replay them at will. The device also dials in to
a central database of program information as part of its ability to let
users customize their viewing experience.
The field trials, which started this week in the San Francisco Bay
Area and will be expanded to other test markets, are being conducted in
anticipation of a full scale launch of the service in the first quarter
of 1999. TiVo's announcement follows news of a similar service in the works
by Replay Networks.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30226%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.fs10.1222
New Web radio technology aims for masses
Nullsoft (http://www.nullsoft.com/) says its newly released SHOUTcast
product enables anyone using a WinAMP audio player to create his or her
own Web radio station--without high bandwidth requirements. SHOUTcast allows
its users to broadcast lower-quality MP3 sound files to other WinAMP users,
and to broadcast their programs through Nullsoft-hosted servers. In addition,
anyone with a WinAMP player can listen to any other SHOUTcast stations.
The company that created WinAMP and MacAMP--software that can play
MP3 compressed audio files--hopes that SHOUTcast will stir up a grassroots
tidal wave of independent Web broadcasters.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30443%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.fs8.1231
Sun, Alcatel building Internet phone
Sun Microsystems and French telecommunications giant Alcatel are working
together to develop a consumer electronics device with lots of space-age
style: Internet screen phones.
Alcatel's screen phones are consumer-oriented devices combining a telephone
with a basic Web browser, letting people easily connect to the Internet.
They have a 7.5-inch touch screen, retractable keyboard, and smart card
reader, and use a Sun Web browser running on the JavaOS for consumers operating
system.
The first screen phone, due at the beginning of the fourth quarter
of 1999, is expected to cost about $350, although consumers also will have
to pay Internet connection fees, said Karen Peck, director of marketing
at Alcatel USA. The Internet screen phone is intended for quick Web-based
transactions such as ordering pizza or downloading stock quotes.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30225%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.fs9.1222
Cabletron enters cable modem fray
Cabletron's new cable modem products are designed to let users access
the Internet over cable TV networks.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=43287
IBM-Red Hat Deal Opens Window on Corporate Challenges
IBM is exploring a deal with freeware company Red Hat that will see
IBM service and support Red Hat's version of Linux. IBM has quietly supported
commercially available versions of Linux that now run on IBM RS/6000 systems.
But the IBM deal apparently requires IBM's legal team to feel comfortable
that if they or their clients change the source code, no patent, copyright
or other liability would arise. It's a fascinating look at a major enterprise-computing
player fighting to come to grips with freeware.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2177559,00.html
Sprint changes ION local-loop emphasis
Sprint Thursday said it has changed its strategy for securing local-loop
access for its Integrated On-Demand Network (ION).
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42187
HP powers up new Unix server
Hewlett-Packard has blown the top off its Unix server line with a new
high-end model that includes up to 32 RISC processors and is designed to
run heavy-duty data center applications.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42191
Coming soon: Home multimedia servers
Coffee, tea--or massive servers that stream multimedia content throughout
your home? Sony and Western Digital unveil their plans.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=41908
Typical desktop system, circa fourth quarter 1999
Flat panel display; IEEE 1394 I/O; Operating system: Windows 2000;
25GB hard drive; CD-RW; Two USB ports; 128MB of RDRAM; Intel 650-MHz processor
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=43190
Iomega unzips 250MB drive
Zip drive capacity up to 250MB; Iomega ships Clik drive for cameras.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42270
PalmPilot dominance may slip in 1999
This year, the PalmPilot may have won most of its battles against attacks
from Microsoft's Windows CE devices, but industry watchers predict that
the handheld computing war is far from over. 3Com's PalmPilot easily continued
to dominate the field in 1998, garnering almost 80 percent of the market,
in the face of a full assault from Microsoft and its fleet of palm-size
devices. But analysts caution that if the software giant continues to refine
its Windows CE operating system, the balance will inevitably shift to Microsoft.
This year saw the launch of the third-generation PalmPilot, the Palm
III, as well as the first Generation of palm-size PCs from companies such
as Casio, Philips, Everex, and Hewlett-Packard, among others.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30350%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.ts2.1229
Typical desktop system, circa fourth quarter 1999
Flat panel display; IEEE 1394 I/O; Operating system: Windows 2000;
25GB hard drive; CD-RW; Two USB ports; 128MB of RDRAM; Intel 650-MHz processor
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=43190
Iomega unzips 250MB drive
Zip drive capacity up to 250MB; Iomega ships Clik drive for cameras.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42270
Net calendars: the new bandwagon
Calendar services--pages that allow users to make appointments and
set their schedules--are all the rage these days, with everyone from Yahoo
to startups joining the fray.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30229%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.ts3.1222
Yahoo! Supports Palm Pilot
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) said Tuesday users of its new address book service
(http://address.yahoo.com) will
be able to access their calendars and contact information from any Net-connected
PC and synchronize it with 3Com's (COMS) palm computing devices.
5.3. Internet and IT Market Trends
NUA Internet Surveys
Nua is a specialist Internet company - a digital agent of change. Nua's
focus is on building and managing online relationships and brands - that
space between your company and its various brand communities.
Nuaware is a strategic technical and business approach to understanding
and developing for the Internet - to build and manage brands and relationships
online successfully.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/
Globalisation and the Information Society - A Response from Nua
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/roundtable/roundtable.html
White Paper: Key Research Issues in International Electronic Commerce
Edited by: Doug Vogel, City University of Hong Kong & University
of Arizona, USA
Results from the June 8, 1998 special session of the 11th annual Bled,
Slovenia Electronic Commerce Conference on Electronic Commerce in the Information
Society.
The group generated 174 issues with 531 associated comments that were
clustered into 22 categories. The clusters, in order of perceived importance
as research topics, were: organizational change, process improvement/modeling,
management, cost/benefit, human dynamics, social impact, security, logistics,
technology infrastructure, standards/protocols, legal, new services/models,
value chain, interface, design/development, education, marketing, innovation
diffusion, information management/navigation, government, SMEs (small and
medium-sized enterprises), and geographic differences.
http://ecom.fov.uni-mb.si/EC120b.nsf/5f5370162bfefab8c12565ef00600a0c/5a5c3400b774783dc12566d00039ab29?OpenDocument
'99: A Year to Make Good on Electronic Commerce
If 1996 brought the birth of e-commerce, and 1997 saw it sit up, 1998
will go down as the year e-commerce began to crawl, warts and all, into
the mainstream consumer consciousness. According to cyberscenti, the coming
1999 year will see e-commerce deliver on some of the promise it began to
show in 1998.
Notwithstanding the fact that choosing crucial e-commerce issues is
akin to selecting snowflakes in a blizzard, Internet experts were asked
to predict the next 12 months in five distinct areas: Internet speed, fraud,
consumer-oriented retail, advertising, and the software and technology
demands of e-commerce sites.
Merrill Lynch pushes back online trading, again
Merrill Lynch confirmed it is postponing the launch of its online-trading
initiative once again, citing the upcoming debut of the new European currency
and compliance snafus with the Year 2000 computer bug.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42959
Holiday Buying Hits $5 Billion
Web-based shoppers set records, boost total holiday sales.
Holiday shopping on the Internet nearly quadrupled this year to more
than $5 billion, a new survey showed--and it helped push overall holiday
retail sales to a new record.
An estimated $14 billion of Internet-based goods and services were
sold to consumers in 1998, equaling 1 percent of the nation's retail economy
for the first time, MCA said.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=43434
Networking-cable marriage in works?
Why would a networking company that counts on huge revenue streams
from its sophisticated technology for phone service and the Internet be
interested in a box that allows users to order the latest Leonardo DiCaprio
movie for $3.95?
This is what many industry observers are pondering amid a swirl of
rumors regarding possible business deals, involving the likes of General
Instrument and Scientific-Atlanta. Curiously, networking giants Cisco Systems
and Lucent Technologies are among the rumored interested parties.
General Instrument has seen its stock rise 16 percent this week on
takeover rumors, and was trading at 36.9375 late today. Philips Electronics,
another primary suitor named in reports earlier this week, halted trading
in its stock this afternoon, with trading volume in GI spiking on anticipation
of a deal. Yet Philips instead announced that it would buy back about 8
percent of its stock.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30069%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.wr
Net Access Revenues Seen Shrinking
The price of Internet access will sink rapidly in the next five years,
perhaps following a pattern now being seen in Great Britain: becoming free.
That's the judgment of Daniel Bieler, chief author of an Internet market
forecast for London-based researchers Ovum Inc (http://www.ovum.com). "Revenues
in the dial-up market will actually decline despite enormous increases
in subscribers, due to competition," he told CBS.MarketWatch.com. ISPs
will need to develop different ways of making money, possibly shifting
into other businesses such as providing content for a fee, Bieler said
from his home in London.
EWallet Reports Strong Download Demand
The developer of eWallet, which simplifies online purchases, said its
software has been downloaded by 100,000 people in the three weeks it's
been available. Ewallet securely stores a user's credit card and shipping
information on a PC. If they visit an e-commerce Web site using the technology,
they only need to drag and drop a file to upload information the merchant
needs to make the transaction. The company also announced agreements with
software retailer Beyond.com and gift merchant Presents.com in which consumers
will receive $10 off of their first purchase using eWallet.
E-Trade Site Draws 500,000
Half a million people have registered for access to E-Trade Group's
(EGRP) new Destination E-Trade Web site, the company said. The site, conceived
as a "financial portal", went live in September. No. 2 online brokerage
began a $100 million marketing campaign to add new brokerage accounts.
E-Trade president Christos M. Cotsakos said as many as 15 million people
use the Internet for investment research.
http://www.etrade.com/
Euro users revolt against high online costs
In separate events across Europe, online users in Spain, Switzerland,
Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, the UK and France staged 24-hour
boycotts to protest the high cost of local phone calls.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42369
1999's most powerful people, companies, users & more
From feisty CEOs to companies on the move, Network World's annual Power
Issue tells you who's who and what to look for in the coming year.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=43188
Techweb's Top Stories of 1998
http://www.techweb.com/yearend98/top10/intro.html
Public signs on to e-commerce in '98 (CNET News.com top stories on e-commerce)
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,30426,00.html?st.ne.ni.lh
6. Legal and Social Issues of Internet/IS
6.1. Legal Issues (Merges, DOJ news, Crypto, Tax)
Major Court Decisions Will Shape the Internet in 1999
Future development of Internet will strongly depend on regulation and
legal basis
Wassenaar Agreement
At a meeting on Thursday in Vienna, the 33 countries that have signed
the Wassenaar Arrangement limiting arms exports -- including Japan, Germany
and Britain -- agreed to impose controls on the most powerful data scrambling
technologies, including for the first time mass market software. The United
States, which restricts exports of a wide range of data scrambling products,
has long sought without success to convince other countries to impose similar
restrictions.
http://www.wassenaar.org/docs/index1.html
Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) setting up a Community regime
for the control of exports of dual-use goods and technology
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/oj/1998/c_39919981221en.html
Encryption regulations threaten internet privacy and e-commerce growth
Hackers Can Crack Secret Codes in a Day, Technical and Standards Groups
Warn
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the Internet
Engineering Steering Group (IESG), two international groups responsible
for technical management and standards for the Internet, today issued a
warning that the Internet will be weak and vulnerable because of the restrictions
recently placed on the export of encryption software.
The IAB and IESG issued the warning in a joint statement in response
to recent changes to the Wassenaar Arrangement, which would limit the availability
of strong encryption software. Hackers could crack code using the current
approved length of 64-bit ciphers in less than a day with a relatively
small investment, according to technical experts. Three years ago, the
groups endorsed a 90-bit key as the minimum for security for Internet communications
and commerce.
http://www.isoc.org/isoc/media/releases/981222pr.shtml
European Commission Legal Advisory Board News
November - December 1998
http://www2.echo.lu/legal/en/news/9812/frontpage.html
The European Union adopts Action Plan on Promoting Safer Use of the
Internet
http://www2.echo.lu/iap/pressrel.html
U.S. eases export limits on encryption
The new export rules end the need for licenses to export powerful U.S.
encryption products for several key industry sectors--such as banking and
e-commerce--after a one-time review by the Commerce Department.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30414%2C00.html?dd.ne.tx.fs4.1231
NUA Internet Surveys
Nua is a specialist Internet company - a digital agent of change. Nua's
focus is on building and managing online relationships and brands - that
space between your company and its various brand communities.
Nuaware is a strategic technical and business approach to understanding
and developing for the Internet - to build and manage brands and relationships
online successfully.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/
Globalisation and the Information Society - A Response from Nua
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/roundtable/roundtable.html
"The Crypto Controversy A Key Conflict in the Information Society"
PhD Thesis by Bert-Jaap Koops
The Crypto Controversy pays attention to the reasoning of both privacy
activists and law-enforcement agencies, to the particulars of technology
as well as of law, to 'solutions' offered both by cryptographers and by
governments. Koops proposes a method to balance the conflicting interests
and applies this to the Dutch situation, explaining both technical and
legal issues for anyone interested in the subject.
http://cwis.kub.nl/~frw/people/koops/bertjaap.htm
Without Public Peer: The Potential Regulatory and Universal Service
Consequences of Internet Balkanization
By Rob Frieden rmf5@psu.edu, Virginia Journal of Law and Technology
I examine the development of private peering with an eye toward assessing
whether smaller ISPs, especially ones in rural areas, will face reduced
and more expensive access opportunities. I note the maturation of the Internet
and the use of alternatives to Sender Keep All settlements has established
a more hierarchical network of networks operating much like today's telecommunications
network. If this has occurred and if universal access to the Internet becomes
a public policy mission, then the goal may have become more challenging
and more expensive. This dilemma arises at the same time as we face challenges
on how to fund a more expansive universal telecommunications mission.
http://vjolt.student.virginia.edu/graphics/vol3/home_art8.html.
Chinese Hackers Get Death
Two crackers who broke into a bank computer network and stole 260,000
yuan (US$31,400) have been sentenced to death by a court in eastern China.
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/17039.html
WIPO and Electronic Commerce
WIPO Internet domain name process
Regional consultation meetings and international conference on intellectual
property and electronic commerce
WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
http://www.wipo.org/eng/internet/ecommerc/index.htm
6.3. Spam and Content Abuse problems
Spam Law on Congress Docket
A passing remark by the chairman of the House Commerce Committee raises
hopes that federal legislation to stop junk email will occupy a prominent
place on the agenda of the next Congress.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation
are among the groups concerned with free speech implications brought by
antispam legislation.
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/17065.html
AOL takes a bite out of spam
America Online has won three more lawsuits in its campaign against
companies that send unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail, commonly called
spam, to AOL subscribers.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=42765
To spam or not to spam
Sooner or later, every marketing person will be asked about sending
unsolicited e-mail. Before answering, they should read this.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=41450
7. Conferences, Workshops, Meetings
GISEDI and IESERV concertation meeting
Recent Developments in Standards for Electronic Publishing
21 - 22 Jan. 1999, La Defense, PARIS
Organised by the GISEDI and IESERV projects
Sponsored by European Commission DGXIII-E (Lux), EDIFRANCE, AFNOR
Standards play a critical role in the emerging electronic publishing
market. Many EU funded projects and industry groups have been actively
developing and promoting standards. The workshop aims to provide a forum
for presentations of the key issues covering in particular Metadata for
Context,
Content, and Commerce.
This event will assist developers of electronic publishing products
and services to address specific business objectives related to standards.
Day one provides presentations on context and content issues with case
studies and discussions of language and discovery issues. The focus of
the workshop on day two is on standards related to commerce and covers
aspects of ownership and transactions. The day also includes a presentation
by the European Commission of developments in the workplan for the 5th
Framework Programme and the focus of forthcoming Calls for proposals.
http://www.nectar.org/update/stories/1998120801.htm
Information Systems Support for Electronic Commerce
Call for Papers for a Special Issue of INFORMATION SYSTEMS, Fall 1999
The purpose of this special issue is to cover enabling technologies,
critical technical approaches and business-centered design methodologies
that address shortcomings of contemporary E-Commerce applications and that
can have a major impact on the evolution of business-to-business E-Commerce.
Emphasis is given to information systems technologies and in particular
how these meet the requirements of Internet-enabled business (vertical)
applications that span locational as well as organizational boundaries.
International Cultural Heritage Informatics Meeting
Washington, DC, USA, Sept. 23-26, 1999
Museums and the new technologies: ICHIM99 meeting focuses on international
cultural heritage informatics, Washington, DC, from 23-26 September
http://www.archimuse.com/
http://www.archimuse.com/ichim99/ichim99.html
The 33rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Maui, Hawaii, January 2000
The HICSS series of conferences has become a unique and respected forum
in computer and information systems and technology for the exchange of
ideas among the researchers and development communities in North America,
the Asian and Pacific Basin Nations, Europe, and the Middle East. In addition
to the Software Technology Track, HICSS-33 will have other Tracks in Information
Systems.
http://www.nectar.org/update/stories/1998121502.htm
European Digital Cities seminar
Hamburg, 7-8 Dec.´99
A specific session on standardisation issues coming out of the TURA
projects (Telematics for Urban and Rural Areas) will be held in the framework
of the EDC seminar (Hamburg, 7-8 December 1999). This session is co-organised
with Andrew Colleran from the TEISS project. The programme includes plenary
sessions on economic development and on education and training, as well
as workshops on standards, employment, quality of life, healthcare, the
environment, telworking, public administrations and teledemocracy, and
teh event also includes the TeleCities Annual General Meeting.
http://www.nectar.org/update/stories/1998120802.htm
Information on the agenda of the seminar together with the name of
the projects that could contribute to the specific themes
http://www.edc.eu.int/events/hamburg071298.html