Internet Digest #8 for 1996-02-19

Internet News and Articles

Hitachi Considers Launching Cheap Internet PC
Hitachi said today it is considering whether to launch a simplified personal computer for Internet use at a retail price of about $500. Hitachi's Internet PC would include a microprocessor made by Hitachi or Intel, a CD-ROMdrive and a telephone modem, a Hitachi spokesman said. It would hook up to a television set and provide access to Internet services.

Philips To Launch Internet Access Via TV
The CDi Internet package and CD-Online (access service) bring the 'information superhighway' within the reach of everyone who has a telephone and a television. Its CDi players, which sell for just over $600, can retrieve text, photographs, music and video images from a disc that looks like an ordinary audio compact disc. costing $245, contains a modem that connects the user's television to the telephone system. It also includes software that leads the user through the Internet.

Sears Looking For Ways To Shed Prodigy
Sears chairman and chief executive Arthur Martinez said the retailer has decided it will not continue to own the online computer service Prodigy long term.

H&R Block's spinoff of CompuServe
Kansas City-based H&R Block said it plans to spin off its online subsidiary with an initial public offering of less than 20 percent in April, with a distribution of H&R Block's remaining ownership through a tax-free spinoff or splitoff within about 12 months. CompuServe projects industry growth at about 40 percent annually during the next three years, from 9.5 million subscribers in 1995 to 26.3 million. At December 31, America Online had 5 million consumer subscribers and CompuServe had four million.

Ozzy Osbourne Concert To Be Broadcast On The Web
http://www/sony.com./Music/ArtistInfo/OzzyOsbourne/menu/r al.html
Ozzy Osbourne's Feb. 22 concert at Mercer Arena in Seattle will be broadcast over the World Wide Web using RealAudio technology.
The Ozzy Osbourne concert will begin at 9:30 PM PST and the organizers advise that "seating is limited, so get there early."

Internet Quiz Show "Is That A Fact?" Debuts
"Is That a Fact?", which is being billed as the Internet's first live quiz show, debuted Feb. 12. "Is That A Fact?" is a trivia game show in which contestants and audience members answer questions and vie for prizes in a real-time live chat-room environment.
The game takes place at on the "fact" channel on Pathfinder Internet Relay Chat HOST (chat.pathfinder.com; PORT: 6667; CHANNEL: fact). A host interacts with the crowd, selects contestants, poses questions, keeps score, and, when necessary, offers support or derision to various players.

Reno suspends enforcement of Decency Act
Attorney General Janet Reno today agreed not to investigate or prosecute anyone suspected of violating the Communications Decency Act while a federal panel of judges determines the new law's constitutionality.

Articles

The enterprise and the Net - By Jeff Caruso
http://techweb.cmp.com/ia/0219issue/0219midman.html
Where the corporate network meets the Web. The Internet just may turn into one of the most powerful business tools of the late 20th century, but connecting an enterprise network to it without compromising a company's secrets often represents a sizable challenge for the network manager.

Java Creator Brews Software Revolution
http://techweb.cmp.com/cw/current/visionsb3.htm#

Once Upon a Time, A Man Unlocked the Web - By Saroja Girishankar
http://techweb.cmp.com/cw/current/visionsb10.htm#
James Clark and Netscape may not yet be household names, but they're getting there. Together,the two have unlocked a simple, user-friendly way to access information on the World Wide Web,

Best Sites of the Week

Hollywood Reporter Launches Web Site
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com.
The Hollywood Reporter announced the launch of its Web site

The Computer Museum
http://www.net.org/
Venture on a virtual reality voyage of a working computer

U.S. Space Camp - be an astronaut?
http://www.spacecamp.com/

Your guide to romance - With Fabio
http://www.tasteyoulove.com/

Mr Potato Head - A new cartoon
http://www.cybercal.com/getagift/CompuPotato.html

PBS Nova
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/nova/
Nova's jump to the online universe makes the Internet decidedly richer

WellnessWeb
http://www.pond.com/wellness/
A site founded by patients.