"The Web is my mind. I brought the Web into play."
- CHARLES MANSON
interviewed at www.revolting.com (launches: 1/6/97)
Charlie IS surf
>> HARD NEWS <<
soft underbellies
The SEGA/BANDAI merger was called off just hours before the
first official document was due to be signed on Wednesday.
The combination of Sega's video game experience with
Bandai's high tech toys (Power Rangers, Tamagotchi et al)
could have created a Japanese Disney beater, but apparently
Bandai workers feared a corporate culture clash between
their relaxed, informal working style and Sega's stricter
management practices. Nothing to do, then, with the poor
performance of the Bandai-manufactured Apple net-box
Pippin, or the Sega Saturn (last seen in Selfridges at a
bargain-basement UKP99...) Bandai president Makoto
Yamashina says he takes full responsibility for the flopped
deal, and will now resign. And they're the informal,
relaxed ones, remember?
http://www.bandai.co.jp/
http://www.sega.co.jp/ (all in Japanese of course, but you
gotta love those dinky little manga graphics)
The National Criminal Intelligence Service's PROJECT
TRAWLER looks to be recommending new Net monitoring powers
for the police. Detective Super BRIAN DREW of the NCIS
announced "Interception of Internet communications is very
difficult", and clearly hoped a few new laws might simplify
the process. Meanwhile NCIS Director General Albert Pacey
reported that "In the UK, we're finding criminals moving
from drugs importation to software piracy". Drugs barons
can't afford Office either?
http://www.open.gov.uk/ncis/ncishome.htm
- Don't click! It's a trap!
AT&T is to shut down UK PLANET INTERNET, the ISP it bought
from Royal Dutch PTT six months ago. Subscribers have been
offered transfers to AOL, which is odd, because AOL are the
hated competitors to AT&T's US-based "World"Net. Customers
will be shipped off in mid-June; e-mail will be forwarded
for three months after that.
http://www.uk.pi.net
- includes amusing piece on how to de-install your software
As if you needed reminding that no-one's buying edutainment
CD-ROMs, Wakefield-based UK games house TEAM 17 has axed
its multimedia division, formerly known as The Big Room,
with the loss of seven jobs. Over the last two years, the
department had completed just one title - an introduction
to the Internet called Access All Areas. The company now
hopes to spend more time with its core business of writing
PC games, like its reworking of that old tanks-on-mountains
classic, Worms.
http://www.team17.com/
The validity of those blanket disclaimers on software
packages is to be tested in court. COMPUTING reports that
GEOFFREY DARNDON, a management consultant, is to sue SAGE
after their software wasted nine months of his work
(allegedly). 'Opening the envelope meant I had agreed to a
licence that states Sage is not responsible for anything,'
said Darndon. He's fighting that declaration in Portsmouth
Court next month. We asked Sage for an e-mail comment, but
we're too scared to read past the headers.
http://www.sagesoft.co.uk/
That wouldn't be a problem if we were COMPUSERVE users, who
can now have their e-mails read out to them over the phone.
As if they weren't mollycoddled enough. Subscribers call a
special number ("from anywhere in the world", CIS notes,
proudly) and hear the text read out by a voice synthesiser.
Ascii art comes out like a slasher porn line, apparently.
http://www.compuserve.co.uk/
- compoosi-yerve period cuh period ook
>> ANTI-NEWS <<
what's the opposite of 'scoop'?
Jurassic Park site hacked... www.microsoft.com falls
over... LAPD site hacked... proto-push software Freeloader
folds... man who filtered 10,000 credit card numbers was
"amateur"... Internet "may be insecure" - Sunday Times...
Intranet "not top of list for UK firms" - PC Week... More
than half of software in Italy is pirated, SPA study shows,
again... Digital TV bidder DTN plans to link "every school
to the Internet" *As well* as BT? How many pipes do these
kids need?
>> CULTURE <<
passes for a lifestyle these days
On Sat 31/5/97, godfather of sci-fi conspiracies and ex-
Playboy editor ROBERT ANTON WILSON will be speaking at
TRANSCENDANCE, a "national conference celebrating and
discussing 'human consciousness'". Also on the bill are
TERENCE MCKENNA and HOWARD MARKS. The press release
misspells consciousness and refers to ISDN as though it was
a Class A drug - two big danger signs - but with this line-
up, we forgive them. Info from jabba@enterprise.net.
5.30pm, Brighton Dome Theatre, 29 New Road, Brighton.
Ticket Enquiries: 01273 709709
Event Info: 01273 502471
US direct action group FREE SPEECH TV are running 12 weekly
video lessons in effective civil disobedience on their Web
site. To take part, you'll need a RealVideo player, a
Javascript-enabled browser, a whistle and a friend with
handcuffs. While you're there, check out the feed of the
brilliant ROX, which this week examines police brutality at
underground 70s revivalist raves. "Their dogs are trained
to attack polyester," says one concerned party-goer.
http://www.freespeech.org
Once you've learnt those tricks, why not join the movement
that truly frees the world? The One True Programming
Language is having its first conference, so beg, borrow or
ask your boss for the money to go to: THE O'REILLY PERL
CONFERENCE, San Jose, US, 18/8/97-21/8/97. Then go on to
Burning Man and laugh at their priorities.
http://www.ora.com/info/perl/conference/
>> TRACKING <<
scans well
ADOBE have gone update crazy! The interfaces of ILLUSTRATOR
7.0 and DIMENSIONS 3.0 have been snipped and re-arranged to
mimic those of Photoshop 4.0 and Pagemaker. Adobe say it
"reduces the user's learning curve" - not if you used
Illustrator 6.0, it won't. 299UKP or 85UKP to upgrade. Also
on site, a mondo, yet free upgrade for Mac Photoshop 4.0.
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/illustrator/main.html
http://www.adobe.com/supportservice/custsupport/
Meanwhile, MACROMEDIA have at last shipped DIRECTOR 6.0,
which is as packed as jam is with new Web features:
RealAudio support, streaming Shockwave and the disturbed-
sounding Live Internet Authoring (what, like Rolf Harris?).
UK prices aren't available yet; file sizes start at around
1 megabyte.
http://www.macromedia.com/software/director/
Beta - uh, sorry - Pre-Release 5 of NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR
came out this week: a relief for cutting-edge Mac users
who've been left behind on the updates, a waste of time for
PC owners who are probably still fiddling with NETCASTER,
which only works with PR4. You might be better off waiting
for the expected full release on Mon 9/6/97. Or even the
rumoured INTERNET EXPLORER 4.0 beta on Wed 11/6/97.
ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/communicator/4.0/
http://www.memphis97.com
- Unofficial Win 97 site with a UK flavour. Who could they be?
>> MEMEPOOL <<
our idea of fun
noun-ology ... knee-jerk cypherpunks and Linux wannabees...
"teethy" days... PC Stamps... unfortunate banner-
ad/editorial juxtapositions... Locust mail... that MI5
answerphone hack... finding out we share our building with
that MI5 answerphone hack... tamagotchicide ... hacking
MULTOS... "of course, I don't actually BUY records anymore,
I get my friends to ICQ me real-audio files"... this week
on www.fray.com : Jack Handy...
>> MO' MEDIA <<
everything to do from 'T' to 'V'
TV HIGHLIGHTS
As-you'd-expect non-sequitur stand-up from HARRY HILL
(10.35pm, Fri, C4) tonight, but otherwise it's a week of
movies, movies, movies, starting off with C4 showing
(entirely uncut) that little-known cult heist flick
RESERVOIR DOGS (10.30pm, Sat, C4) - and the really good
news is that it finishes just in time to turn over for the
last episode of SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND (12.40am, Sat,
BBC2)... amazingly, there appears to be yet another series
of THE OUTER LIMITS (8.55pm, Sun, BBC2), this week ripping
off Independence Day... the sci-fi theme continues with Jim
Rockford X-File FIRE IN THE SKY (10.40pm, Mon, BBC1) -a
fairly recent alien-abduction drama apparently "based on
fact"... pigs are more intelligent than chimpanzees (or at
least better than them at playing video games) claims QED
(10pm, Tue, BBC1)... scheduling tragedy of the month is the
highly rated SAY ANYTHING (1.15am, Tue night/Wed morning,
ITV) - John Cusack, Ione Skye in cute-with-an-edge teen
romance from Cameron "Jerry Maguire" Crowe... a promising-
sounding investigation into people's perception of health
risks forms the basis of new series ANXIETY ATTACK (7.30pm,
Wed, BBC2), while ER (10pm, Wed, C4) concludes its run with
a totally undramatic non-cliffhanger ending - yeah,
right...
MOVIES: By all accounts, TURBULENCE (Ray Liotta, Lauren
Holly) is rubbish: you'd do much better to try and catch
one of the "special weekend previews" of next week's
similarly themed aerial disaster blaster CON AIR (Nicolas
Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich)... otherwise it's a
bizarre choice between wacky presidential murder thriller
ABSOLUTE POWER (Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris),
or food-related feel-gooders like BIG NIGHT and THE
SPITFIRE GRILL...
CHOC: More limited edition mutants from the Sweetshop of
Doctor Moreau: Cadbury's continue to abuse the power of
mint with their MINT CRUNCHIE, but then outdo themselves,
we think, with the WISPACCINO, a Wispa despoiled with a
cappuccino flavoured caramel. Big news though, is that
NESTLE ROWNTREE are fighting back with a BLUE KIT KAT next
month. Sadly, it's just the wrapper that goes blue when
it's put into the fridge. But still: you know - cool.
>> SMALL PRINT <<
Need to Know Now is a useful and interesting UK digest of things that
happened last week. Or might happen next week. You can read it
on Friday afternoon or print out and then take it home if you have
nothing better to do. It is compiled by NTK from stuff they get sent.
It is registered at the Post Office as "overly simplistic".
http://www.spesh.com/ntk
Unsubscribe? Mail now-l@spesh.com with 'unsubscribe' in the body.
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NTKnow is helped by VIRGIN MEDIA and VENUS INTERNET. They worry about
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(K) 1997 Special Projects. Copy at will, but retain this SMALL PRINT.
Tips, news and gossip to tips@spesh.com.