_   _ _____ _  __                        NEED TO KNOW NOW  18/07/97
| \ | |_   _| |/ /   _ __   _____      __ o Commemorative 'the
|  \| | | | | ' /   | '_ \ / _ \ \ /\ / / o closest working hardware
| |\  | | | | . \   | | | | (_) \ V  V /  o to this site is on Mars'
|_| \_| |_| |_|\_\  |_| |_|\___/ \_/\_/   o Death o' the Net Edition


           "Drivers and passengers will access services that go well
         beyond classical navigation.  These could range from remote
          diagnostics to locating a teenager who has missed curfew."
              - Axel Fuchs of Daimler-Benz on German car tech, SciAm
             AUTOCAR! DIE JUNGLING IST MISSING CURFEW! *LOCATE* HIM!


                               >> HARD NEWS <<
                                 weak excuses

         NETWORK SOLUTIONS, the US company you pay when you want a
         .COM, .NET or .ORG domain name, took some heavy flak at the
         start of the week. The Justice Dept launched an
         investigation into their domain name monopoly (uncharitably
         described as 'a UNIX script that outputs money'). Then, in
         an unrelated incident, NS complied with a request to cancel
         a domain name, a request that was a complete fake - and
         thus almost bankrupted an innocent company. Next they were
         roundly condemned by NASA for allowing NASA.COM to be
         reserved by a hardcore pornography site. And finally - the
         ultimate humiliation -  their *own* domain-name,
         www.internic.net, was snuck from underneath them by hackers
         and replaced with that of their arch-enemies
         www.alternic.net. To start with, it looked like NS were
         taking all this criticism calmly... but then...

         On Thursday, at around 6.30AM, NETWORK SOLUTIONS went
         completely insane. They trashed their own master database
         of .COM and .NET net addresses. Then, drunk with lunatic
         power and gibbering like baboons, they sent out the mangled
         database to the main Internet name servers. Every .COM and
         .NET on the planet effectively disappeared. For four hours
         (and sporadically throughout the day), only sites whose
         addresses were saved on local machines were accessible. NS
         released a statement at 6PM, saying it was all due to
         an error by a "system administrator", but that's clearly
         rubbish. Yeah, like they'd trust their most important
         responsibility to a single sysadmin. Like they'd not have
         safeguards in place. And like they're not trying to launch
         an IPO next month. No, only one explanation is possible:
         Network Solutions have gone psycho. Picking through the Net
         wreckage on Friday, a lot of commentators have been, once
         again, heavily critical of Network Solutions'
         "incompetence". We say: shut the fuck up! Don't get them
         angry again!
         http://www.netsol.com       (or 198.41.3.10) company motto:
         - WE'RE MAD AS HELL, AND NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE

         And it looks like they're not the only ones. Somebody is
         going around sticking giant spades (or 'backhoes' as JCBs
         are called in the US) into every fibre optic cable they can
         find. On Wednesday, fibre provider WorldCom lost 496 DS3s
         (each carrying 45 Mbps of data) in a 'hoeing' incident
         somewhere in the desert between Los Angeles and Vegas. Then
         on Thursday, the same company lost over 100 DS3s in the New
         York City area. The result for UK users was slow traffic
         all across the US. Or it have would been had the DNS
         servers not been so resolutely fritzed. Aaanyway, WorldCom
         blame summer construction crews - often crews laying more
         fibre, ironically. We, on the other hand, are beginning to
         see a pattern. The NYC cut took place, sources indicated,
         just half a mile from the National Security Agency
         headquarters. And we don't have to remind regular NTK
         conspiracy buffs of the NSA/NETWORK SOLUTIONS CONNECTION,
         DO WE?
         http://mediafilter.org/zk/conf/zkArch3.html      oh. We do?
         - check out 'The Dark Side of Net Names'... FOR THE TRUTH

         It gets creepier. On Wednesday, MICROSOFT announced their
         second preview release of INTERNET EXPLORER 4.0. Within
         minutes, Versace was dead. The new Explorer beta include:
         Microsoft's new 'hyperlinky-look' desktop (single clicks to
         run programs, horrific underlined text everywhere). Also,
         if you're not careful, the new Explorer installs an 'Active
         Desktop', a Web page that runs as though it was animated
         desktop wallpaper. It was this complete disregard for the
         personal customisation and tastes of the user that we
         believe required Versace's 'silencing'. Following
         Netscape's lead with Communicator 4, Microsoft's package
         also includes a ruined e-mail client, and a 'push-channel'
         feature that can be scheduled to crash in the background
         without user intervention.
         http://www.microsoft.com/ie40
                          - police are looking for a repeat offender

         In another arena, SONY showed they're not too worried about
         the "PlayStation software glut" (current PSX titles: around
         240, current N64: between 7 and 9), by snapping up
         Cambridge-based softies MILLENNIUM, perhaps best known for
         their James Pond platformers on the Amiga. Intriguingly,
         the deal doesn't include a buyout of "sister company"
         Cyberlife Technology, which provided Millennium with their
         biggest hit for some time, the cute 'n' chirpy A-life sim
         Creatures, released here a while back and currently
         launching in the US. Last we heard, Cyberlife wanted to
         adapt Creatures for numerous "intelligent agent" apps;
         meanwhile Sony crow about buying a Cambridge base before
         Microsoft have even got out their chequebook. Once again,
         we warn them not to tease Mr Gates too often...
         http://www.millennium.co.uk/      Millennium. Oh sorry, the
         - "Sony Computer Entertainment Europe: Cambridge Studio"


                               >> ANTI-NEWS <<
                            news we knew you knew

         Bill Gates $10 billion richer than any other human... first
         anti-stalking rulings ban anti-vivisectionists, anti-hunt
         supporters from Hyde Park... Apple's $56 million loss "less
         than predicted"... Microsoft recruiting 2,600 new staff...
         American arrested for shooting own PC... Mir crew close
         ranks over "clumsy" astronaut (Our sick bet: it's Commander
         Tsibliyev!)... Satellite uplink station jammed by nearby
         car alarm... child was "too clever to live" warns Daily
         Mail... Microsoft net income up 86% to $1.06 billion... UK
         tax software gives "wrong answers", says accountant...
         Future Publishing to extend standard computer mag template
         to Cult TV, popular science, and the Ministry of Sound...
         Bible Code finds Bill Gates in Book Of Revelations...


                                >> CULTURE <<
                         as in Iain M. Banks, right?

         Just how anti-censorship are you, anyway? Find out at the
         FREEDOM IN CYBERSPACE conference, taking place at the
         London University Union on Tues 29/7/97. Expect the agenda
         to be pretty hardcore: it's organised by the Campaign for
         Internet Freedom, who frankly make the Electronic Frontier
         Foundation look *squishy soft*. Check out their site for
         arguments against PICS, *any* form of filtering software,
         and some unfortunate slagging off of NTK pal and Serbian
         death-camp exposer Ed Vulliamy. Err... which they have
         every right to publish.
         http://www.easynet.co.uk/cam/censorship/
                                  - is our credibility still intact?

         A somewhat more relaxed ambience, we suspect, at Neals Yard
         Meeting Rooms, London (7.30pm, same day - 29/7/97) where
         Dr. David Nichols, professor of medicinal chemistry and
         molecular pharmacology at Purdue University, will be
         speaking on drugs. Let's rephrase that. Dr Nichols did some
         the early mechanistic studies of Ecstasy, and is the
         creator of MBDB, a drug sometimes sold as Ecstasy. He's
         interested in discussing both the technical and
         philosophical aspects of psychedelic drugs. Tickets are
         5UKP at the door.
         http://www.ecstasy.org/dave.html
                             - we doubt that includes any 'freebies'


                                >> TRACKING <<
                             our monkey curiosity

         And where are the best UK Websites? Well, throw away your
         bookmark files, because those wiseacres at WWW.YELL.CO.UK have
         decided it all for you, in their "OFFICIAL" UK WEB AWARDS. A
         casual observer might, perhaps, have expected a wider range of
         winners - Amnesty International took two prizes, as did that 17
         year-old's unofficial Spice Girls site, while design-your-own-
         Mini got at least 2 (or 3?) nominations. And don't be sad if
         you weren't invited to the glittering BAFTA presentation
         ceremony, as highlights included a quote from Bill Gates about
         how the Net is "the most significant invention since the wheel"
         and some joker from The Computer Channel banging on about push
         technology and 56k modems (as important as fire and arable
         farming respectively, we imagine).
         http://www.yell.co.uk/yell/yellawards/index.html
         - at least there's some recognition for www.teletext.co.uk

         You too can create sites like these, with the new beta
         preview release of PC HTML editor, Hot Dog Professional 4.
         The interface still looks like it was written by said dog,
         but it'll look familiar if you've got a 'legacy' of working
         with the mutt. There's a backpack of new features to try
         too. Whoop.
         http://www.sausage.com/   Sausage Software. "Professionals"

         London listings mag TIME OUT seems very excited about an
         upcoming drum and bass CD/CD-ROM that also provides
         rudimentary DIY mix facilities via one of those clumsy
         point-and-click-your-way-round-a-pre-rendered-room
         Director-style interfaces. It's from Breakdown
         Records/Suburban Base, it's called VIRTUAL DJ (as if you
         hadn't guessed), and is available in both Drum & Bass and
         Underground Garage flavours. Should be an improvement on
         Pearson Multimedia's recent pseudo-interactive MUSIC
         MACHINE, as at least you get a dance album for your 14
         quid, though the low price only partly conceals the fact
         that you could mix your own techno properly on a PC by
         downloading a Tracker program and some WAV files - for
         nothing!
         http://www.subbase.com/breakdown/
              - no info here, you could email them at sb@subbase.com
         http://www.pne.co.uk/musicmachine/               old school
         http://www.maz-sound.com/     where real "players" hang out
                                 >> MEMEPOOL <<
                          those nodal points in full

         "ALIEN LOVE TRIANGLE"  - Scotland's 5th Element... gangster
         tamagotchis... www.revolting.com (no, really this time)...
         the return of TEXAS INSTRUMENTS... after Oasis Interactive
         Songbook - PULP and BLUR... Apple and Wired looking for new
         CEOs - what if they both pick Howard Rheingold?... Solaris
         "ping o' suicide"... MAE-Mir... does the data protection
         registrar have to register *their own* database?... Pentium
         II? Mmm, maybe if it was a bit cheaper... REALDOLL... Cook
         Island companies get .co.ck domains... SEINFELD to return
         in BBC2 Tues double bill - BUT WHEN?... Strangely, the
         nameserver run by the military *didn't* fall over...
         Wormnerd!... AEON FLUX action figures... DEC ALPHA FP
         bug?... Umami tastebud found - physical basis for hacker
         MSG addiction... colour onomatography... hold the Minstrels
         - pass the GIANT SMARTIES!


                               >> MO' MEDIA <<
                               in media hi-res

         TV >> Find out if those "empty stadiums" rumours are true,
         as U2 broadcast their oh-so-ironic POPMART LIVE (11.25pm,
         Fri, BBC1) from Rotterdam, and (apparently) find enough
         time off from rehearsals to co-host TOP OF THE POPS
         (7.30pm, Fri, BBC1)... let's hope those continuity
         announcers don't tempt fate when introducing the unusually
         nightmarish psycho-thriller CANDYMAN (11.05pm, Fri, C4)...
         cheeky eighties-fixated youngsters romp around foiling
         unlikely crimes - an equally good description of both the
         new series of BUGS (8.10pm, Sat, BBC1) and dirt-bike
         classic BMX BANDITS (11am, Sat, BBC1)... Joe Dante's
         INNERSPACE (5.55pm, Sat, BBC1) is a much worthier homage to
         Fantastic Voyage than you'd thought... while Richard
         Linklater's follow-up to Slacker is a rambling high-school
         graduation drama, that, true to its title, appears both
         DAZED AND CONFUSED (10.15pm, Sun, BBC2)... Bill Pullman
         investigates the reality behind voodoo zombies in Wes
         "Scream" Craven's THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (11.55pm,
         Tue, BBC1), and battles equivalent strangeness on the other
         side from repeats of VIC REEVES' BIG NIGHT OUT (11pm, Tue,
         C4)... the end of the "Colony" two-part episode of THE X
         FILES (10.30pm, Wed, BBC1) is mysteriously scheduled
         against the new (late-night) series of BABYLON 5 (10.40pm,
         Wed, C4)... but no-one dares go up against the ratings
         colossus that is a new 24-part (!) series of THIRD ROCK
         FROM THE SUN (9pm, Thu, BBC2)...

         MOVIES >> Hugely convincing animated creatures resent man's
         intrusion into their complex ecosystem - but that's enough
         about THE LADY AND THE TRAMP (Disney cartoon re-release)...
         you want to know what, exactly, is wrong with THE LOST
         WORLD (Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete
         Postlethwaite)... well, we could start with the ending,
         where the film grinds to a halt, then goes off on a totally
         different tack - not even as good as the GODZILLA trailer
         (out next Summer - www.godzilla.com) or current import
         GAMERA... sure, the dinos are fun, but fail to make up for
         the obligatory annoying kid, throwaway semi-explanatory
         dialogue, a repeated bloodstained-water gimmick, PLUS
         massive, gaping plot-holes (why don't the T-Rexes just push
         the bloody truck over the cliff and finish the job?)... oh,
         and the fact that the best scene involves Julianne Moore
         and a great big piece of glass, and no dinosaurs at all...
         on a high note, however, SWINGERS (as we recommended last
         week, sight-unseen) is as excellent as we'd hoped. Check it
         out.
 
         BIO >> Sure, I've rubbished the view that marijuana
         consumption can lead to heroin abuse. Who hasn't? But I can
         stop any time I want. Especially now that scientists from
         the US, Spain and Italy have produced evidence that
         marijuana withdrawal causes the release of a hormone in the
         brain which has already been linked to opiate, alcohol and
         cocaine withdrawal. The implication is that smoking dope
         can 'prime' you for other addictive drugs. On the other
         hand, it just might be a general pleasure response. But...
         hold on... that would imply that marijuana was in some way
         enjoyable...  More news for addiction addicts: Swiss
         neuroscientists have found that damage to a specific area
         of the brain causes a craving for fine food and good wine.
         Of course, it could simply be that such a liberal and open
         country as Switzerland regards an appreciation of the finer
         things in life as a medical disorder... And your monthly
         Neanderthal update: If you were relieved by reports of
         genetic studies suggesting  that humans and Neanderthals
         never interbred, perhaps you should check yourself in the
         mirror once more. The DNA analysed was *mitochondrial* DNA
         which is strictly maternally inherited. Which means
         that one of our male ancestors may still have been
         Neanderthal. A fact which I'm sure many men would be very
         proud of. I know *I* am.
                                                  - doctor@spesh.com


                              >> 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 it out 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 "family-oriented".
                      ( http://www.tomski.demon.co.uk/ )

                                 NEED TO KNOW
            THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK.
                  Archive - http://www.spesh.com/cgi-bin/now
                      Excuses - http://www.spesh.com/ntk

      Unsubscribe? Mail majordomo@flirble.org with 'unsubscribe ntknow'.
        Subscribe? Mail majordomo@flirble.org with 'subscribe ntknow'.
      NTK now is helped by VIRGIN MEDIA, VENUS INTERNET and FLIRBLE.ORG.
             They worry about us, but we don't worry about them.

    (K) 1997 Special Projects. Copy at will, but retain this SMALL PRINT.

                   Tips, news and gossip to tips@spesh.com.