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The Daily Links Goes On
Hiatus
When we first started doing The Daily Links back in January,
we realized that it had the potential to be both a blessing and a curse
to commit to a daily column. It has been very rewarding and fun to produce,
and has given us (Brett especially) a place to publish commentary and analysis
that would not gotten out otherwise. We've blown the lid off bogus surveys,
debunked fantastic PR statements, provided references to original
documents (rather than the watered-down accounts often published in the
press), and pointed the way to material that might otherwise have gotten
little notice in the vastness of the Web.
Unfortunately, after 80 installments (that's four months!), we
have no advertising support. And while quite a few readers have offered
to kick in a few dollars a month to keep the site going, we also need alternative
writers for the Daily Links so that we can have a life too. (You
have no idea -- or maybe you do! -- what it feels like to have to get on
the Web every weekday, wherever you are, no matter how dog-tired
you are, and spend 90 minutes to two hours surfing and getting a good column
together.) But we've heard from only a couple of candidates -- not a sufficient
number to allow us to actually assign each day and take a whole week or
two off if we had to.
So, for the moment, we're putting The Daily Links on hold while
we figure out what to do next. Perhaps we'll publish "issues" bi-weekly,
as does LockerGnome.
Or perhaps we'll move off in some different direction altogether. Or we
may move The Daily Links to an established publication with a staff that
can handle some days of the week while we handle others. (If anyone out
there edits an established online pub -- say, a newspaper -- and would
like a similar page done there, please e-mail!) In the meantime, we'll
beef up other parts of the site and listen eagerly to your ideas. Thank
you!
Monday Afternoon, May 18,
1998
News
DoJ, States File
Suit Against Microsoft
As expected, the US Department of Justice and a large contingent
of state Attorneys General filed suit against Microsoft today. Conspicuously
absent from the latter group was Dan Morales of Texas, home of Compaq and
Dell, who appears to have knuckled under to pressure.
Both suits contain powerful arguments and persuasive evidence.
The
DoJ's case focuses mainly on the tying of Internet Explorer to Windows
(especially Windows 98), while the
states' case goes farther, attacking the bundling of such products
of Outlook Express with Windows and per-CPU licensing of Microsoft Office.
The DoJ filed a
huge memorandum in conjunction with its suit, containing hundreds of
citations of case law, scary quotes from Microsoft internal memos,
and more. Because press accounts of the suit seem to consist mostly of
rhetoric and sound bites from both sides, we'll deviate from our usual
practice and intentionally not cite an article to read. Instead,
we'll recommend that you follow the three links above to get the details
of the suits right from their respective sources.
Internet Explorer Problem
Worse Than Originally Thought
Not long ago, BugNet reported a problem which could cause Microsoft's
Internet Explorer to hang when used with Microsoft's Internet Information
Server and a caching proxy server. According to Brian Livingston, however,
the bug can crop up even if there's no proxy server in the loop.
InfoWorld
Electric
Reach knowledgeable
readers, cheap!
Click here
for our aggressive ad rates.
SatPhone Agreement May Make
It Safer To Travel
Carrying a satellite telephone could get you labeled as a spy and
cause the expensive device to be confiscated when you enter some countries.
So, the US is angling to have these policies changed.
San
Jose Mercury News
Virus Spread Via E-Mail
We're always telling folks that under normally conditions you can't
get viruses on your computer just by reading your e-mail. Nonetheless,
if you allow your e-mail program to open attachments automatically, or
open them manually without checking them, it's possible to get a virus.
This article describes how the latest scam works.
ZDTV
Senate Approves Copyright
Law With "Anti-Circumvention" Provision
It may soon be illegal to own programs or equipment that can be
used to defeat annoying copyright protection schemes, at least if a bill
passed by the US Senate becomes law. The problem: there are often legitimate
reasons to do so -- including backups, access to material that has entered
the public domain, or "fair use" of the material. See this
link to the bill for the exact text.
C|Net
NEWS.COM
Intel's Katmai 3D Instructions
Revealed
A programmer has reverse-engineered Intel's sample code, and has
pieced together a pretty good picture of the new instructions in Intel's
next-generation architecture. Unfortunately, the additions look pretty
specialized, when what is more likely needed is faster performance on ordinary
programs.
EE
Times
Will The Lights Go Out On
January 1, 2000? No One Knows
Federal utilities regulators admit that they have no idea whether
Year 2000 bugs will cause power grids, gas pipelines, and other utilities
to malfunction. Makes you feel real secure about the Millennium, right?
C|Net
NEWS.COM
Teaching Technology To Girls
It's surprising that it took so long: the Silicon Valley just got
its first technology-focused all girls' middle school. We're all for this,
or anything that will help to ameliorate the technology gender gap.
The
Spotlight
SPA Rejects Microsoft Bid
For Board Seat.... Again
Members have rejected Microsoft's second bid for a spot on the
Board of Directors of the Software Publishers' Association. Apparently,
the local bully is unlikely to win many popularity contests....
C|Net
NEWS.COM
Commentary
How Microsoft Negotiates
If you've got a successful startup in the software industry, chances
are Microsoft will come a-knocking. But what will they say or do? Tom Nadeau
offers his scenario.
OS2
Headquarters
Wireless Disconnect
Michael Surkan thinks wireless LANs would be great -- if the equipment
were interoperable.
PC
Week Online
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Fine Print
The citations (hyperlinks) in this column will take you away
from the YMMV Web site. We try to link to only the best, but since we can't
control the editorial content of others' Web pages, we cannot be responsible
for errors, omissions, or damaging information that might appear there.
For the same reason, we cannot guarantee that the material won't
change, move, or even vanish! The names of the publications cited are,
in virtually all cases, their trademarks or service marks.
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