| Anvil
Issue Thirty One
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*Welcome to Anvil, a free weekly newsletter and Web site providing
insight into online industry news, issues and trends. We put the
"fun" in funerals.
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TOP
INDUSTRY NEWS
*Gates Schools At TechEd
*The Breakup Of Microsoft
DESIGN
*Sun Dims With Lack Of Java Support
*Pentium II Bugs Intel
HOSTING
*GTE Beats ATT To BBN
*Cruel Hack Of The Day
MARKETING
*ISPs Can Spam King
*Living With The Web
TOP
WEB PICKS
*ABC News
*Altoids
*Kasparov Vs. Deep Blue
*Mammoth Records
*Rogue Market
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TOP INDUSTRY NEWS
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*Gates Schools At TechEd
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates provided insight into his plan to
dominate distributed computing this past weekend at the TechEd conference
in Orlando. The vision hinges upon Microsoft’s Component Object
Model (COM) and cross-platform version, Distributed COM (DCOM).
Backed by industry giants Hewlett-Packard and Digital Equipment,
the new architectures will enable the distribution of software applications
in a highly controlled, cost-effective manner. COM and DCOM directly
compete with Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA),
backed by Netscape, Oracle, IBM and Sun. This architecture ensures
Microsoft’s Windows OS will continue to dominate the corporate environment,
despite the advent of Java, intranets and network PCs.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C10356%2C00.html?nd
*The
Breakup Of Microsoft
Industry guru Jesse Berst has a revolutionary old idea: Microsoft
should break up voluntarily before the Department of Justice does
it for them. While this idea may seem naïve or silly to some,
it makes economic sense in many ways. First, parting Microsoft’s
many divisions would improve the focus, motivation and flexibility
of each division. Smaller and lighter is always better. Second,
the companies are more appealing to potential employees (pre-IPO
stock options) and investors with higher potential returns. Third,
improved products result as competition increases, directly benefiting
the end-user. Unfortunately, Gates is unlikely to agree, as it would
reduce his ability to monopolized and control the industry as well
as generate the huge profits necessary to put his child through
college.
http://www5.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_883.html
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DESIGN
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*Sun Dims With Lack Of Java Support
Sun’s attempt to turn Java into an industry standard is losing steam
as large companies vocalize their frustration with the process.
Lucent Technologies, Intel and AMP have joined Apple, Texas Instruments,
Microsoft, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard in their criticism of Sun.
Opponents argue Sun is withholding valuable technology and trademark
rights, rendering it virtually impossible for Java to become a truly
open standard. The two joint technical committees reviewing the
standards, International Standards Organization (ISO) and the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), will decided on Sun’s proposal
to become a Publicly Available Submitter (PAS) in July. Twenty two
member countries will participate in the decision.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C10368%2C00.html?nd
*Pentium
II Bugs Intel
AMD investor and publisher of the Intel Secrets Web site, Robert
Collins, recently published the discovery of a bug in Intel’s Pentium
Pro and Pentium II chips. The bug, or in Intel terminology "erratum"
is nicknamed Dan-0411, after the person who originally discovered
the flaw and the date he notified Collins. The bug concerns "floating
point" calculations related to data overflow which can result
in a system crash. Ph.D. physicist Martin Atkinson-Barr, computer
consultant and programmer, convinced Collins to upgrade the severity
of the bug after closer inspection. Any calculations made using
Fortran, C, Pascal and ALGOL could be prone.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C10373%2C00.html?nd
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C10496%2C00.html?nd
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HOSTING
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*GTE Beats ATT To BBN
Talks of AT&T buying out BBN dried up as GTE announced it will
purchase the Internet service provider for roughly $616 million.
Under the agreement, GTE will purchase all outstanding common stock
for $29 cash. The buyout will help expand GTE’s service offerings
while dealing a blow to AT&T. On the same day of the announcement,
BBN posted a net loss of $12.2 million, or 58 cents per share, for
the third quarter ending March 31. Fortunately, revenues were up
and loses were down from the same period last year.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C10400%2C00.html?nd
*Cruel
Hack Of The Day
What is hopefully nothing more than a fluke event, the "Cruel
Site of the Day" Web site was temporarily inaccessible via
it’s domain. A sneaky "hacker" or likely a previous victim
of the tongue-and-cheek site sent a "delete domain request"
to domain name registration monopoly InterNIC. Site owner Rogers
Cadenhead said he was not notified and his identity wasn’t verified
prior to the shutdown. Cadenhead estimated he lost approximately
4,000 visitors during the downtime. Ironically, InterNIC required
he identify himself prior to getting the situation fixed.
http://www.cruel.com/
http://www.internic.net/
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MARKETING
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*ISPs Can Spam King
Internet service providers (ISPs) CompuServe and Earthlink successfully
banned Spam King Cyber Promotions from ever sending unsolicited
e-mail to members. As part of the agreement, members have to choose
to be on the junk e-mail lists. Sanford Davis, Cyber Promotions
President insists users enjoy the e-mail, and go as far as to shut
off their anti-spamming software. Also in the settlement, Cyber
Promotions was awarded $30,000 in advertising on CompuServe and
has to pay $65,000 in legal fees to CompuServe.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,10426,00.html
*Living
With The Web
A recent Find/SVP survey of 2,000 Internet users and non-users suggests
9 million Americans believe the Internet is too difficult to use
and lacks useful content while 20 million users rate the net as
an "indispensable" part of daily life. The study further
reveals that half of all Web users and 60 percent of e-mail users
go online daily. Online purchasing has also increased to 27 percent
of users, 39 percent of whom reached the purchase via banner advertising.
The study also indicated the Web is replacing alternative forms
of media including print and TV for many users. While the exact
numbers are easily disputable, the trends are hard to argue.
http://etrg.findsvp.com/internet/findf.html
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TOP WEB PICKS
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*ABC News
ABC News recently partnered with Paul Allen’s Starwave to create
the latest online news venture. Most of the content and services
are similar to that of CNET and MSNBC, but ABC indicates the best
is yet to come.
http://www.abcnews.com/
*Altoids
Home of the curiously strong mint, this site takes a creative approach
to their product - breath mints. The site if full of wacky facts,
statistics and ideas relating to the mints and famous tin. Fill
out a survey and win a spiffy Altoids t-shirt.
http://www.altoids.com/index.htm
*Kasparov
Vs. Deep Blue
Man vs. machine is back in the news as World Chess Champion Garry
Kasparov challenges IBM’s chess-playing supercomputer Deep Blue
in a six-game match in New York City. He successfully beat the microchip
opponent last year, but this year he faces a greater challenge as
the machine has been reprogrammed and upgraded. Keep track of the
rematch with IBM’s Java-based chess game viewer which requires Netscape
Navigator 3.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or above.
http://www.chess.ibm.com/home/html/b.html
*Mammoth
Records
One of the most successful small labels out there, Mammoth Records
has many of the premiere modern day bands. The site is entertaining
and highly advanced, as indicated by the following statement, "the
pages featured on this site are being dynamically generated with
the incredibly sophisticated and outrageously expensive FloogySoft
Anti-Aliasing Oscillatory Decrepidator, featuring its own proprietary
dongle." Features include interactive tours, a product catalog,
and band bios, including my personal favorite, Squirrel Nut Zippers.
http://www.mammoth.com/
*Rogue
Market
If the stock market is too risky for your taste, give the Rogue
Market a try. The site allows users to buy and sell shares of celebs,
starting with 10,000 for registering. Add 5,000 shares by filling
out a survey. People magazine addicts will find this site simply
irresistible.
http://www.roguemarket.com/
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CREDITS
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*Kent Lewis, Managing Editor
*Michael Pearo, Graphic Designer
*Monica Simmons, Copy Editor
*Theo Jones, Jeremy Huffman, Programmers
*Send
questions, comments and suggestions to
editor@anvil-media.com.
*Visit
the Web site at http://www.anvil-media.com
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