PRAVDA
Vol. 1 Issue 3	May 29, 1996             The International Computing Authority 
THE BI-WEEKLY NEWSLETTER FOR REAL COMPUTER USERS

Editorial
Complaints Answered
by Junaid Ahmad Editor, Founder,  and President

	This is the third issue of the Computer Clubs Newsletter.  We have 
had a revolution with our latest edition.  We've added many new differences 
from the last two issues of our newsletter.  First off, we received a 
new coat of makeup.  We've changed the name from IN SEARCH OF HUMANITY 
to PRAVDA.  Pravda means "the truth" in Russian.  We've also redone 
the layout, which we expect to keep changing until we get the look 
we are searching for.
	Now its time to get the facts straight about PRAVDA.  I will 
describe how PRAVDA is written so you can get a better idea of what 
it stands for.
	Many of our readers have been complaining about the way I've 
been writing my articles.  I will sum up my writing style: It is 
opinionated with facts to back up the truth (my opinion).
Many of our readers have asked that I either state the facts, or give 
my opinion, but because I went through European History, I am forced 
to give both, and cannot change.  Many readers also 
complained that our newsletter looks at the computer industry in a 
very dim light.  The fact of the matter is that my personal opinions 
about the computer industry and the monopolies which control it will 
always come out in my writing.  The other writers on the PRAVDA team 
have a very different outlook on life and the industry.  They do not 
hold my or even express their personal feelings through their writing.  
So to receive a unbiased analyses of the computer industry read their 
writing first, then role on to the truth by reading mine.  
	I have been called the propaganda minister by many of our readers, 
because of my rhetoric on the inevitable downfall of Microsoft and 
Intel.  Joey Davis is our games and entertainment software analyst.  
Our readers have chosen Jawad Ahmad and Joey Davis as their favorite 
staff writer's, do to their witty and informative articles.  Steven 
Inuma and Tofan Rafati contributes articles about the latest 
happenings going on in the industry.  Milo Amorsolo is contributing 
for the first time this issue.  His writing have been judged by our 
staff as upbeat.  Duke Huynh is our commercial technologies reporter. 
He's also is a writer for the Investors Club's Newsletter News & 
Outlook.  Tofan Rafati writes Digital Toof, in which he informs 
the computer users on how to solve problems they maybe facing on 
a daily basis.  
	Even though we've had a great turnout by our writers, many 
other people who "claimed" they would write stuff never did follow 
suit.  Those people who claimed they would write but didn't have 
lost their positions in the Torrey Pines Computer Club.  Robert 
John has lost his Vice President seat to Ajit, and as a result 
our new Treasurer is Milo Amorsolo.
	Well, I hope that my articles aren't to biased and opinionated 
with facts for you light of heart people, so here I take another stab 
at preaching the truth.

Products
VoiceType Dictation
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations

	Do you ever get tired of typing continuously on your home computer 
for hours and hours?  Typing on the computer could be a slow and painful 
job to anyone, especially to new beginners in the PC world. 
	Well, the good people at IBM have produced a software product which
 is an unbelievable breakthrough in technology.  Its called IBM VoiceType 
Dictation.  
	For those of you who don't know what VoiceType Dictation is, all 
you have to do is simply talk into a speaker hooked up into your computer, 
and watch your words go on into the computer screen.  
	In VoiceType Dictation, accurate text is available within seconds, 
and text is available at a faster rate than which many people can type!    
How does VoiceType Dictation work?  Well, VoiceType Dictation uses an 
advanced statistical language model which understands common word patterns.  
Once the system learns your voice, it can easily distinguish between words 
such as "to," "too," and "two."  Accuracy can be as high as 99% and 
throughput up to 100WPM are not uncommon.  
IBM states VoiceType Dictation has the following features and benefits:
 
* Advanced speech-to-text transcription - your own personal dictation 
machine!
* Based upon more than two decades of IBM expertise in speech 
recognition technology - easily differentiates like sounding words. 
* Audio playback for proofreading. 
* Voice macros for increased productivity. 
* Runs on both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. 
* You can even use speech to navigate through standard Windows 
applications by speaking the words into the menu bar, command 
buttons, check boxes, and option buttons!
	
	IBM VoiceType Dictation has a VoiceType Control icon which allows 
you to customize your computer by voice.  IBM VoiceType Dictation is 100% 
customizable and spoken commands and new command macros could also 
be configured.  For instance, you could open Corel Draw by saying the 
words "Corel Draw" instead of "Start, Programs, Corel, Corel Draw."
	When the noise level of the environment changes or when a different
 microphone or sound card is used, Voice Manager automatically adjusts for
 the change, not having to configure the change yourself.  VoiceType 
recognition can further be configured to provide the best recognition 
accuracy on the way you speak.  Window locations, command list window 
sizes, fonts, and many more VoiceType Controls are also customizable.   
	VoiceType Dictation has a standard vocabulary of over 22,000 words, 
and another 2,000 can be added while dictating.  Also, specialty 
vocabularies are available for professions such as medicine, 
journalism, and law.  
	Though this application may have thought to be hell to be running 
on your computer, VoiceType Dictation has only a minimum requirement for 
a 486DX 33MHz, 33 MB of hard disk, and 16MB of RAM running on Windows 95 
or Windows 3.1.  Windows does need a math coprocessor.  Better yet, 
VoiceType Dictation only needs 8MB of RAM while running on OS/2 Warp!  
Sorry Mac users.  As usual, IBM VoiceType Dictation has not yet been out 
for Macs, but Macs do have a their own voice recognition software out.
	Though this program is not a pain for the computer, it might be 
pain in your budget.  IBM VoiceType Dictation ranges from $900-1000 
depending on which operating system you use.  VoiceType Dictation is 
cheaper for the Macs, though.   VoiceType Vocabulary for Legal, 
Journalism, Emergency Medicine, and Radiology costs an additional 
$449 each.  If your wondering why you don't see this product out 
in famous brand-name computer stores like Computer City and Egghead, 
IBM VoiceType Dictation is only being sold directly through IBM.  If 
you would like to buy this product, or if you would like further 
information on this product, please call IBM Direct at 1 (800) 342-6672 
or you could contact them at HTTP://WWW.IBM.COM.

	
	Something to think about:  Are humans becoming so lazy to type?  
First, we made the remote control to change channels without getting up.  
Later, E-mail was invented if we were to lazy to go get the mail.  
Foreign translators were then made if people had a hard time being 
bilingual.  Now, we could type on the computer without having to 
press a single button.  What's next, computerized toilets where the 
computer wipes our butt?  Soon, all humans will become fat slops 
depending on their computers to run the house and pick up after us.

Network Security
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations

	When the worlds first Internet bank opened last October, many 
hackers weren't far behind in trying to get a few quick bucks.  
	Within a few months, the Atlanta headquarters of security First 
Network Bank counted over 15,000 attempts to electronically enter areas 
of its computer network that were off-limits to the public.  As 
electronic intrusions increase, so does the demand for network 
security.  Mike Higgins, a technical director of SAIC's technical 
security team, once said this about on-line commerce, "If you look 
at the market potential, this could be a $200 million to $300 million 
a year business - easily."
	SAIC's squad, also known as the Center for Information Protection, 
was made 15 months ago to help out corporate customers for experts in 
computer security.  SAIC has provided computer security for many 
governmental agencies which have experienced dramatic increases in 
hacker attacks.  SAIC recruits many important and highly trained 
individuals for the job, including top experts from the Department 
of Defense.  
	Higgins, for example, was the former chief of countermeasures 
at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).  
	SAIC is located in Virginia where it has only twelve employees, 
but get calls weekly from major Wall Street consumers.  Banks, 
insurance firms, and brokerage houses provide most of SAIC's business. 
	To check out how many companies actually get hacked into, the 
San Francisco Computer Security Institute sent 5,000 questionnaires 
to top US corporations, government agencies, financial   institutions, 
and universities dealing with computer crimes.  Only 8.6% of the 
institutions responded. 
	Of the 421 institutions that responded, 41% claimed to some type 
of intrusions into their computer systems within the past year.  
One hacking incident which gained major worldwide attention was last year, 
when a Russian software expert cracked into Citicorp's computerized 
cash-management system from St. Petersburg, taking in funds electronically.  
About $12 million in customer accounts were transferred illegally.  
Of that money, only about $400,000 was actually withdrawn.  
	Another well-publicized hacking incident was also taken place 
during last year.  Kevin Mitnick, a mischievous computer hacker, 
stole software from Qualcomm Inc. and other cellular phone companies.  
Sadly enough, a computer security specialist at the San Diego 
Supercomputer Center later caught Kevin.  
	A conference in San Diego was held last month about network 
security.  This conference was sponsored by the University of 
California San Diego and by the San Diego Regional Info Watch, 
an informal group formed by computer operators at local government 
agencies and universities.  
	SAIC's biggest competitor for computer security devices is the 
all-mighty IBM.  IBM established a computer security response team as 
part of its business recovery services group in Sterling Forest, New York.  
IBM has ten full-time people on Internet intrusion detection and another 
five on the anti-virus side.  
Some of the workers on IBM's security team are from Digital Equipment 
Corporation, the New York financial community, and IBM's own TJ 
Watson Research Lab.  
	In conclusion, although Internet protection is not perfect, 
efforts on this project are continually being made.  Corporations 
have two options to go to when it comes to on-line security: You could 
create your own internal capability, or you can find someone who can do 
it for you.

Why Macs Rule 
By Michael Colton, Co-Layout Designer

80 to 90 percent of the world was shocked yesterday when three top labs 
in conjunction with MIT and CalTech published results proving without 
debate that the Apple Macintosh Computer line is vastly superior to any 
others available.
	A three page report was released to the public containing the 
results of their tests, the following are those which they found to 
be most significant:
* The Macintosh computers proved to have much faster, more powerful 
and more reliable processors than their counterparts. Exact statistics 
were provided and will be available in other publications.
* The Mac OS was found to be much easier, more useful, intuitive, 
crash-resistant, faster and more efficient than any other operating 
system in existence today (other than the soon to be released Mac OS 
System 8 (code named Copland) which was not included in the testing 
but was mentioned.)
* The Mac OS was the only operating system capable of running full 
versions of MS-DOS, Windows, Windows95, OS/2 (though not included in 
the testing), UNIX (including AI/X, AU/X and Solaris) and Linux.
* The Macintosh Computers included many more standard hardware features 
than the other computers tested.
* They had the most cutting edge features and most ground breaking 
design of any computers tested. The Macintosh debuted the PowerPC 
processor (Motorola Inc.), they include built-in voice recognition 
and the PowerBook line has won numerous awards for its sleek, 
ergonomic design.
* The Mac OS was found to have an enormous software pool, nearly 
equal to that of the other computers (this, of course is excluding 
the DOS, Windows and UNIX software it is also capable of running.)
* The Macintosh line was found to cost less than any other comparably 
equipped computer. They were also found to cost several thousand dollars 
less to operate in five year trials.
* The Mac OS was rated much higher in customer satisfaction, receiving 
less returned computers and calls to their service department and 
retaining many more life customers.
* Due to advanced programming technique the Mac OS was found to be 
immune to most computer viruses (even when run without antiviral 
software), it was also uncovered that there have not been any serious 
viral threats to the Macintosh in over five years.
* The Macintosh line was found to be better suited to every current 
computer position than the other computers tested. They were found to 
be ideally suited to home use, gaming use, Internet browsing, 
publishing, business, scientific applications and programming 
fields.
	Many leading computer experts were questioned about the validity 
of the report and unanimously agreed that all the claims in the report 
were indeed true, and several seemed surprised that they had failed to 
notice the Macintosh superiority earlier.
	It is expected that Apple computer will continue its rein of 
superiority for some time to come. As if foreshadowing things to come, 
only hours after the release of the report, Apple's stock prices shot 
through the roof.

In Search of the Perfect Computer Magazine
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations 

	Ever since the technological revolution, many companies have been 
trying to become the worlds dominant computer magazine publisher.  There 
are hundreds of computer magazines out today, but only about three or 
four are dominant.  Some of the more dominant computer magazines are 
BYTE, PC World, Electrical Engineering Times, Windows, MAC World, 
Computer Life, PC Computing, and DR DOBBS.  Here are just some 
reviews of the computer magazines out today.  
	PC World is probably the thickest computer magazine out. To 
see if PC World was any good, I randomly picked out a PC World issue 
from my shelf.  It turned out to be an August 1995 issue selling for 
$4.95.  The front page was dealing with Windows 95: What Works and 
What Doesn't.  On the outside, this magazine looked to be informative 
because of its thickness and because it was 329 pages.  
PC World had 62 articles, but 14 of them were about Windows 95.  Out 
of the 329 pages, over 220 pages were pure advertisements!  Even 
trying to flip the pages to find a good article to read was tough 
enough for me.  In my opinion, I would definently not recommend 
people to buy this magazine because it is loaded with advertisements 
and not enough articles.
	My next magazine in review was Windows Source.  This edition was 
the March 1995 edition, also dealing with Windows 95.  Windows Source 
usually sells for $2.95, but this was their anniversary, so it was on 
sale for $1.95.  
Windows Source had only 209 pages in this issue, so it is only about 
2/3 the thickness of PC World.  Out of the 209 pages, about 105 of 
them were pure advertisements.  Even though the articles were better 
written than the ones in PC Magazine, I still would not recommend 
buying this magazine because it looks so much like a catalog. 
	BYTE's June 1995 edition was my next magazine in review.  The 
cover dealt with portable PC's.  This magazine had about the same 
thickness of PC Magazine, 307 pages.  With a $3.95 cover price, this 
magazine got my highest rank because even though 160 pages were 
advertisements, the last 44 were advertisements.  That means 112 out 
of the first 264 pages were advertisements, leaving more room for 
articles and text.  BYTE had the most text out of all the computer 
magazines.  
	A good magazine to buy, if your a hacker, is 2600: The Hacker 
Quarterly.  These are small booklets costing around $4.00.  If your 
wondering what it is, its all in the name.  This magazine comes out 
every three months and deals with hacking and how you can illegally 
get money. 
This magazine should not be bought by the regular computer user 
because he would not be able to relate to the magazine as he is 
with others.  But if you hack, you can get your $4.00 back plus 
a lot of profit by trying some of these schemes.  They are around 
55 pages per issue and can be bought at Barnes and Noble bookstores.  
	My last magazine in review was Electrical Engineering Times.  
This magazine is for free, but there is a catch.  You have to write 
a letter to the company proving that you are not a loser.  If you 
qualify, they'll send you a lifetime subscription.  If you fail, 
you could pay a yearly fee of $159 (Do I smell rip-off?). Of the 
first 101 pages, over 64 were advertisements.  Nonetheless,  
Electrical Engineering Times goes second on my list only to BYTE.  
If you don't pay for Electrical Engineering Times, its a great deal.  
If you do pay for it, cancel your subscription.  

Capitalistic Endeavor
Language Translators: Friend or Foe???
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations

	Now that high schools made it mandatory to take two years of a 
foreign language (three recommended) to graduate, some students have 
been struggling to pass in their foreign language classes.  
	While some students have been hiring tutors, and others in 
Spanish 2 have been buying tests from the Junior Varsity football 
team, some computer freaks have been buying language translators.  
	Some people may be wondering what language translators are.  
Well, it's all in the name.  Type up a section of writing in English, 
and by the press of a couple buttons, poof!  The document is converted 
to the language of your choice.  
	There are four languages which translators translate into: 
Spanish, German, French, and Italian.  Though Italian is not a 
foreign language class at Torrey Pines High School, and Italian 
is not a very common language spoken, companies have made an 
Italian translator just for the hell of it.  
	The Power Translator and Assistant Series are both made by 
one company, Globalink: The Translating Company.  
	The Assistant Series translators are the most widely used 
translators around the world.  The regular price for these 
translators are around $50.00 each.  The Assistant Series 
translators are called French Assistant, German Assistant, 
Italian Assistant, and Spanish Assistant.  
	The other translators, the Power Translators, also have 
translators in French, Italian, German, and Spanish.  The Power 
Translators cost a little extra, about $125.00 each.  These 
translators are called the Spanish Power Translator, the French 
Power Translator, the German Power Translator, and the Italian 
Power Translator.  
While researching these two translators, I was wondering if they 
really did translate well, so I put the two translators to the test.  
	The Power Translators and Assistant series both have a great 
guarantee.  If you don't think that these are the best translators in 
the world, Globalink will refund all your money within 90 days, no 
questions asked.  
	The good thing about Power Translators is that they are compatible 
with your word processor.  That means that you don't have to change your 
settings to translate the document.  The bad thing about the Assistant 
Series is that it is not compatible with your word processor.  Actually, 
it is not even compatible with text files.  That means if you want to 
translate a document in the Assistant series, you would have to type 
up the document (even if it is in your computer) again and then you 
could print it out into text format.  In the Assistant series, you 
cannot add columns, pictures, or even borders.  
	The Power Translators claimed to translate several pages per 
minute.  While I was unable to get my hands on a Power Translator, 
I did manage to get a French and Spanish Assistant.  In translating 
about one page of English to Spanish in Spanish Assistant, it took me 
about 1 minute and 55 seconds, a lot slower than  what Power Translators 
claimed to be.  
	Power Translators have won many awards in the software 
department, including

* Word Perfect Readers Choice '94 Award, 
* PC Magazine Recommendation List, and 
* Discover Technological Innovation Reward. 

	In a issue of PC Magazine out in February of 1994, PC Magazine 
said that, "Globalink makes superb machine translation for desktop."  
	Even though Power Translators claimed to be great translators, 
I was not able to test it out, therefor I cannot claim that Power 
Translators are good or bad translators.  
	But I can't say the same for the Assistant series.  While using 
the Spanish Assistant, I typed up the words "I am tall and fat" in 
English.  Once I translated the document into Spanish, it said "Estoy 
alto y gordura."  The real translation of "I am tall and fat" in 
Spanish is "Soy alto y gordo."  I was also unable to find any awards 
or recommendations for the Assistant Series.  I'm not surprised.  
	Even by reading the README file of the Spanish Assistant, Globalink 
claimed to "Be careful!  While the software generally produces 
understandable translations, only a professional translator can 
guarantee a perfect translation."  The Spanish Assistant and the 
French Assistant was very inaccurate.  
	In conclusion, never buy the Assistant Series translators.  
If you are struggling in a foreign language or if you are having a 
hard time communicating, try the Power Translators for 90 days and 
see if they're any good.  The minimum requirement for these translators 
are a 486 processor with 4MB of RAM, so they're not a beating on you're 
computer.

Overthrow of Monopoly
By Junaid Ahmad, Editor, Founder and President

	Presently the most influential corporation out there in the computer 
industry is hands-down Microsoft.  It has successfully made some of the 
worst applications, yet at the same time they've conquered the software 
industry.  They've done this by marketing.  Microsoft from day one has 
made sure everyone would eventually come to its platforms, and abide by 
its terms.  Their is no problem with that idea except the fact that their 
products are consistently inferior to other products.
	The latest word with Microsoft is that the government and many 
corporations are trying to charge it with being a monopoly, but the 
Justice Department has failed to bring the charges against Microsoft.  
What the government and many corporations might be doing is waiting for 
the right time to charge the complaints with Microsoft at a later date.  
If the government is presently doing nothing to stop Microsoft from 
stretching its monopolistic claws, who can?  
Well the simple answer is its competitors.  If Apple and IBM, for 
example, were to team up together they could overthrow Microsoft's 
and Intel's monopoly, and at the same time nearly double their profits.  
Its a win-win situation for both of the companies, investors, and the 
employees.  
	How can a company make a strike against Microsoft and Intel?  
You need to hit them in the family jewels, their core markets.  In 
Microsoft's case, that's against their operating systems division and 
with Intel, its against their CPU's, the Pentium and Pentium Pro.   
IBM and Apple already have products to replace Microsoft's and Intel's, 
but they simply need to redirect their marketing focus.  IBM is able to 
compete against Intel with its Power PC chip, which is used by Apples 
PowerMac computers, and other machines.  Apple is able to compete 
against Microsoft's operating systems with its Mac OS.
Why would IBM want to challenge Intel and its Pentium and Pentium Pro 
CPU's?  If IBM were to have its Power PC line successfully compete 
against Intel's line, then IBM could increase its post tax profits 
from $4,000,000,000 to $7,200,000,000.  That's almost a double of its 
profits.  If your a investor of IBM, you should be clamoring at its 
headquarters at Armonk, NY.
	IBM's latest Power PC chips are clocked at 240mhz, which perform 
superior to Intel's Pentium Pro chips in all categories.  Take for 
example graphics.  IBM's new Power PC chips are floater point intensive 
(which means they can do a lot of math without sweating bullets), can do 
data mining, and other intensive applications without to much complication.
	Apple is best positioned to strike Microsoft.  Since Microsoft is 
able to make the operating system, it is able to make the rules by which 
software developers must write their applications.  These standards, no 
matter how inferior, must be the ones used.  For example, compare OpenDoc 
to OLE.  Both are tools software developers use to cut production time.  
OpenDoc has been shown to be better because it is object orientated, and 
so it is easier to work with and easier to deal with.  But OLE is not 
object oriented and is difficult to work with.  Since Microsoft makes 
OLE, it has shoved it down the throats of developers, so it is now the 
standard.  This is just another example of the extent of Microsoft's 
empire.
	In our last issue we had shown how Apple's Mac OS was superior 
to all OS's.  So it already is one leg up on the competition.  All it 
needs now is a little marketing muscle, behind it.
	The best combination we see at PRAVDA is if IBM and Apple were to 
team up together to take on the WinTel (Windows and Intel) monopoly.  As 
we've shown not only would it improve the computing life of all but it 
would return huge profits to the investors of both companies.  All both 
companies have to do is simply market their products as aggressively, 
just as Microsoft and Intel do, and they should be able to win market 
share and gain profit margins.

Happenings
At TPHS Comp. Club
By Junaid Ahmad, Editor, Founder and President
	
	The Torrey Pines Computer Club lately has been going very well.  For 
the past 2 weeks we have been showing videos on new products and how 
technology has effected us all.
	Most importantly new membership has been soaring.  We haven't been 
getting the crowds we use to get during the beginning of the club, 
but membership has been steadily rising for the past few weeks.  What's 
most shocking is that we have a female student of Torrey Pines as a 
member.  We all are very proud of this accomplishment.
Presently we are working very hard on our web page in which we hope 
will be up and running within the next few weeks.  A couple of the 
members of the club have been trying to figure out how to make a Java 
enhanced WWW page and a separate VRML\VRML+ page.  Whenever there is 
further development on that front, we will keep you in touch.
	Basically everything is going good at the computer club, and we 
expected this to continue.  Unlike many other clubs and newsletter of 
Torrey Pines, we will be continuing over the summertime.  Since we are 
so dedicated to preaching the truth(and I have nothing better to do), 
expect to find PRAVDA, either snail mailed or e-mailed to you.
	The rich tradition of PRAVDA will continue.

Literature
Discovering Microsoft's Tycoon
By Milo Amorsolo, Treasurer 

	About two weeks ago I was having one of my boring weekends, until 
I picked up a book about the life of Microsoft's tycoon and Americas 
billion dollar man, Bill Gates.  While skimming through the book, I 
discovered incredible things about this zealot that can serve as an 
inspiration for us highschooler's.  
	I learned a lot of information while skimming through this book.  For 
instance, Bill read the encyclopedia from A-Z by the age of nine.  Also, 
when he was in elementary school, he would ditch home late at night and 
walk 3 miles to his schools computer room.  When he was also in 
elementary school, his class had an essay exam in which he scribbled 
14 pages about the heart, while others were just about to finish their 
second.  
	His own parents thought that he was a real problem child and would not 
get anywhere in life.  He received C's in college--at Harvard 
University, though.  
	All in all, I found out that he was intrepid, arrogant, impervious 
and he was especially a zealot, and I mean a real zealot.  That's 
why I like him, he was resilient and hardworking to get what he 
wanted.  Its no surprise that with his sheer determination he 
became Americas richest man with a high-tech mansion and a limited 
edition Ferrari, but no girls though.


Big Blues: The 
Unmaking of IBM
By Junaid Ahmad, Editor, Founder and President

	In this world of hip Generation X silicon Valley computer companies 
we have forgotten our roots.  One of the few ways to drench yourself in 
the history of the company that started the whole computer revolution is 
by reading Big Blues: The Unmaking of IBM, by Paul Carroll.  Its a heavily 
researched and richly detailed book chronicling the rise and fall of the 
mightiest corporate beast.
	John Carroll has been covering IBM for seven years for the Wall 
Street Journal, and I admire him for the quality of his resources.  His 
writing style is easy to read.  He doesn't try to kiss butt to IBM, 
instead he goes straight to the point by analyzing why IBM fell: its 
thick layers of bureaucracy, slow development cycles, lack of vision 
in PC industry, mainframe mentality, and most important, the inability 
for top management to see how bad this really got.
	The book is fast paced, has lots of information that has appeared 
before but also gives news information about the company.  He covers a 
huge range of subjects, from the trends of the computer industry for the 
past two decades, the key executives inside and outside of IBM and their 
role in shaping the industry.
	The strongest aspect of Big Blues is its anecdotes.  How Carroll 
revels how IBM could have numerous times in the '80s been able to 
reasserts its divine right to rule, but fell straight on its butt 
instead.  Such as when IBM made a better 286 then Intel's but decided 
not to use it.  He shows dozens of examples of how IBM squandered 
opportunities.
	What I found especially interesting was IBM's and Microsoft's 
relationship.  How initially Microsoft did everything it could to keep 
up the relationship, but how at the end of the 80's it did everything it 
could to cut off the relationship.
	But his main weakness of the book is that it is not technical enough, 
which is understandable because Paul Carroll is a journalist and not an 
engineer.  If he were to have had more technical detail to back up his 
main theories, maybe they would have more weight to them.  Such as with 
his analysis of the downfall of the Mainframe, and other big computers.  
It seems everyone says the Mainframe is dead, but Mainframe sales have 
been going up year after year.  Readers who are not versed very well in 
the technical side of computing will appreciate this, but those we are 
very computer literate will find his lack of technical computer information 
a large hindrance on the book.
	The books organization is mainly chronological thematic, which 
makes the book redundant, and sometimes confusing the order of events.  
	Although he doesn't offer a unique look at IBM, this book is 
a peep hole to the heavily walled gates of IBM.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Don Estridge: Father of the PC
By Junaid Ahmad, Founder and President

	Don Estridge: Father of the PC, the title says it all.  At age 
of 43, he was a mid-level manager.  By that age all the important 
IBM'ers were Vice Presidents of their divisions for years.  His main 
accomplishment up until the PC was a major sales deals he did with 
State Farm Insurance.  If it wasn't for that he would have been 
kicked out of IBM years before, but he was given the job by Bill 
Lowe. 
	He had always a rebellious attitude to the corporate ways of IBM.  
He rejected the strict dress code IBM'ers wore, and instead stuck 
to lizard skin cowboy boots, instead of wing tips worn by other 
IBM'ers.  But that wasn't really anything new to IBM in the pre 
1980's days, because IBM had a lot of rebellious managers in 
their mid-forties, but lost them all during the early 80's when 
the corporation decided it wanted full conformity.  The rebellious 
managers ended up at other corporations and even became 
millionaire's overnight while becoming CEOs of other 
corporations.
	When Don was given the job to start the PC business in 1980 
within IBM he decided not to play by IBM's rules.  Instead he 
used entrepreneurial ideals to start the business.  He instilled 
the same values in the PC business that Thomas Watson Sr., who 
started IBM used. Instead of having thousands of programmers and 
engineers, like all new IBM startup projects, Don started out with 
thirteen.  Don decided to have the PC parts mainly come from outside 
of IBM sources.  The advantage of this was he didn't have to wait for 
IBM to research and develop stuff.  
	The major disadvantage of that idea is IBM didn't directly control the 
standards and operations for the parts.  For example, take the operating 
system.  Don Estridge felt IBM couldn't write OS's so he contracted the 
work out to a small band of gangsters named Microsoft.  Fifteen years 
after this fateful decision Microsoft has the software industry on its 
back.  
	Don Estridge also contracted the CPU work to Intel, and 15 years 
later Intel has a monopoly in the CPU market.  Contracting important 
work outside of IBM was a fateful decision that lead VP's of other 
IBM divisions very jealous of Don because he wasn't working within 
the IBM empire.  So he created many internal enemies within IBM. 
We here at PRAVDA congratulate Don for doing this because he didn't 
allow the chains of  bureaucracy of IBM to stop him.  
He didn't return phone calls to senior management and shunned 
hundreds of meetings which he was summoned to.
	Don Estridge's group of thirteen disgruntled IBM'ers, which were 
later nicknamed the Dirty Dozen (even though their were thirteen 
of them).  We feel they worked harder and better than any group at 
IBM has before or since.  
	Dan Wilkie, who was an IBMer for 14 years, said that he made more 
decisions in the first 30 days he worked for Estridge then in his 
history with IBM.  This was a result of the fact that Estridge wanted 
people to make decisions for themselves, because what they were getting 
into was so new to IBM and the whole industry that everything they did 
was a gamble.
	It is also ironic that he was a devoted fan of the Apple II, which we 
would tinker with at home.  Now a days PC users tinker with their PC's 
endlessly, and we can thank this unexpected feature to Estridge's love 
of tinkering with his Apple II.  
	The modern PC experiment started at IBM in early 1980 at Boca Raton, 
Florida.  By 1981 Estridge was able to ship out IBM PC's.  IBM was 
many years later then Tandies and Apples PC's, but until those two, 
IBM had the financial and media support to make sure that their PC 
was going to be mass marketed.  As a result of being mass marketed 
it became a instant hit.
	In addition to Estridge's rebelliousness he went out on a limb to 
claim that after three years of release the PC would have sold one 
million copies, and as usual he was right on the dot.
	Not only did he take the home consumer on a new ride with the PC, he 
got IBM's feet wet (and bloody) in the home user department, so all 
the marketing IBM did in the PC division was new, so IBM didn't know 
what to expect.  
	Estridge, with his Dirty Dozen not only sold one million machines but 
also within '81 brought one billion dollars worth of revenue literally 
out of the blue.  Then by '84 they led revenue to four billion dollars.  
After unleashing the PC to the world, Estridge kept advancing the PC by 
making it more powerful which lead to the XT (which stands for extended 
technology), and then the AT (which stands for advanced technology).  
With all this success, Estridge became a victim of his own success 
because the rest of top management became overly jealous of him.  
As a result, they slowed things down for the PC business by making 
it into the PC Division.  When the PC business was changed to the PC 
Division, Estridge no longer was able to make decisions off the bat.  
He was now forced to go through several layers of IBM bureaucracy to 
get things done.  That resulted into a major slowdown in development 
times, which eventually lead to the downfall of the PC Division in the 
late 80's to even this very day.
	Not only was Don Estridge a great innovator, but he was a devoted family 
man.  He didn't allow promotions or advances in his career to compromise 
with his family life (imagine someone doing that today).  He had many 
opportunities to advance his career before '81, but decided it was best 
for his family to stay in Florida where he and his family where raised.  
On top of this accomplishment, he adopted the daughter of a friend who 
was killed in an accident.  He also preached his "family first" values 
to his employees.  For example, he would drive late at night past his 
office building to see if their was a light on.  Then he would go inside 
and wake up whoever it was and send them home.  I would like to see a 
boss today who would do that.
	Then, on top of it all, by 1984 Apple was willing to give Don Estridge 
$1,000,000 annually as their CEO, and Sun Microsystems also wanted him.  
He went from being fired to the top man in the industry, but he refused 
leaving IBM because he felt it was neat to say, "I work for IBM," and 
then have watch people admire him in their eyes.
After that in March of 85, Estridge was kicked out of the PC Division 
then sent up to work in Armonk, NY (IBM's headquarters).  Later that 
year he took a trip with his wife.  
	They wound up on a Delta flight that tried to land in Dallas with 
stormy weather on August 2, 1985.  But the plane had spun out of 
control do to the wind and it left 137 people dead, including Don 
and Mary Estridge.
	It was a tragic end to a wonderful life.  It just goes to show how 
short life really is.

HAARP: The Governmental Cover-Up
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations

	Some think its a revolutionary breakthrough in technology, while 
others think its the worst thing since the atomic bomb.  Its called the 
HAARP program, which stands for the High Frequency Active Auroral 
Program.  This multibillion dollar program takes place in Gakona, 
Alaska.  The HAARP program will be a joint project between the US 
Navy, Air Force, and the University of Alaska.  
	For the most of who have not heard of HAARP, this is a program 
which will investigate aurora borealis, which are beautiful luminescent 
scenes seen in the nighttime sky.  But in reality, this project will 
be a military-industrial endeavor which will employ renegade Tesla 
technology to alter the ionosphere in such a fashion to tactically 
affect weather patterns, block all global communications, and even 
effect planned earthquakes.  

	Using the latest in Tesla technology, HAARP is able to do many 
things which were only being talked about in the early 1900's.  With 
yesterdays ideas and today's technology, HAARP is now not just a 
futuristic idea, but it is now off the ground and running.  
HAARP is costing taxpayers $1.8 billion, with $800 million going to 
black projects.  These black projects are so secret, not even the 
United States Congress is being told how its being spent.  
Interestingly enough, a company called APTI, which is a subsidiary 
of ARCO, holds a patent (#4,686,605) which matches the HAARP proposal 
dealing with transmitting extremely large amounts of RF energy into the 
ionosphere.  The patent claims to have the following uses: 

	"cause...total disruption of communications over a large portion 
of the earth...disrupting not only land-based communications and sea 
communications (both surface and subsurface)... missile or aircraft 
destruction, deflection, or confusion... weather modification... by 
altering solar absorption...ozone, nitrogen, etc. could be artificially 
increased..."

	Although HAARP has been seen by the US department of Commerce, the 
National Telecommunications, and the Information Administrations that 
global communications will be changed by this, other environmental risks 
are unclear about this topic.  
	Right now, people must be wondering what HAARP has to do with 
computers.  Well, the answer is quite simple.  HAARP will be a 
breakthrough in technology and no product made yet will be able to 
compete with delivering messages to the places HAARP can.  
The first phase of this program was to develop a low-power 
high-frequency (2.8-10.0 MHz) prototype transmitter array.  Another 
achievement in this program is including DoD technology for detecting 
cruise missiles and aircraft and for communicating with submarines.  
HAARP can also be used for cleansing  the atmosphere of ozone-depleting 
chemicals, also known as CFC's.  
	Another one of HAARP's numerous functions is the ability to zap 
pollution and be able to increase or decrease the upper atmospheric 
ozone levels at will.  In fact, a special US/Soviet team project 
called "Project Woodpecker" won a special award from both the CIA 
and the NSA for their efforts. 
	So far, the military system says that HAARP could do many things, such as:
1) Give the military a tool to replace the electromagnetic pulse 
effect of atmospheric thermonuclear devices, 
2) replace the huge Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) submarine 
communication system operating in Michigan and Wisconsin with a new 
and more compact technology, 

3) be used to replace the over-the-horizon radar system that was once 
planned for the current location of HAARP, with a more flexible and 
accurate system, 
4) provide a way to wipe out communications over an extremely large 
area, while keeping the military's own communications systems working, 
5) provide a wide area earth-penetrating tomography which, if 
combined with the computing abilities of EMASS and Cray computers, 
will make it possible to verify many parts of nuclear nonproliferation 
and peace agreements, 
6) be a tool for geography probing to find oil, gas and mineral deposits 
over a large area, and 
7) be used to detect incoming low-level planes and cruise missiles, 
making other technologies obsolete.    
	These abilities stated above may sound good if  you are a believer 
in national defense and if you are concerned about cost-cutting and 
the national deficit.  The HAARP program will not only make the Unites 
States more superior than other countries, but it will also make the 
United States a more threatening country to the environment.  
So far by reading this, people might be wondering, "So what is wrong 
with this project?"
	HAARP is practically just an ionospheric heater.  It zaps up a 
steerable electromagnetic beam into the upper atmosphere and beams heat.  
Electromagnetic waves then bounce back and penetrate everything - living 
and dead.
	One problem with this breakthrough in technology is that HAARP can be 
used to change the weather by redirecting high wind patterns.  The 
invention uses an earth-based power source to create electromagnetic 
radio waves and focus them up in the atmosphere.  By doing this, 
communications all around the world may be disrupted.  
	Another effect which HAARP can bring about are the earth 
anomalies from ELF's.  When the US and Soviets tried this project 
out in 1984, the earth's internal dynamo was affected.  The 1984 
Washington Post reported that the earth had experienced a sudden 
unexpected slowdown in rotation.  Scientists at the  US Naval Observatory 
and the Jet Propulsion Lab found out that earth has developed wobbles as 
it spins. 
	Usually the earth's rotation does slow down at time naturally, 
but at the rate in which it slowed down was enormous, and this slowdown 
was more abrupt than usual. 
	Scientists have also been observing that the Atlantic Ocean is 
getting rougher.  Measurements taken during the 1960's indicate that 
during the late 1970's (a period following the start of the Soviet and 
US ELF transmissions), waves seemed to unexpectedly get bigger.  British 
scientists have observed that since the 1960's the Atlantic Ocean's 
waves in the northeast have increased more than 20%.
	Another massive piece of destruction HAARP could do is split 
the planet by combining vibrations with the correct resonance of earth 
itself.  During 1976, a person by the name of Andrija Puharich wrote a 
research paper called "GLOBEL MAGNETIC WARFARE-A Layman's Viet of 
Certain Artificially Induced Effects on Planet Earth" during 1976 and 1977.  
In this paper, Andrija stated that: "Of the many great earthquakes of 
1976, there is one that demands special attention-the July 28, 1976 
Tangshan, China earthquake."  
	Andrija's analysis is significant because it talks about airglow 
plasma effects created by the Soviet Woodpecker system.  HAARP can 
generate similar effects.  
	The 1976 China earthquake was preceded by a light flare-up of the 
entire sky over Tangshan.  Also, the earthquake came during the first 
month of the Soviet Woodpecker system. When the Woodpecker emission was 
on at full strength, the sky would light up like an ionized gaslamp. 
Another reason to panic is because of the massive earthquakes which take 
place in distant regions throughout the earth.  Usually earthquakes occur 
no deeper than 20-25 kilometers below earth, but a very rare earthquake 
took place on June 8, 1994.  There was a 8.2 earthquake that hit 600 
kilometers below  Bolivia.  This earthquake was felt in North America, 
even up to Seattle, a fact which puzzled geologists.  There was never an 
earthquake felt that hard in South America.  Though no answer yet, this 
earthquake could have been an aftermath of HAARP.  
	Also, on September 12, 1989, sensors called magnetometers detected 
unusual ULF (between 0.01 Hz and 10 Hz - the lowest ELF frequencies) radio 
signals, which grew 30 times stronger on October 5th.  These ULF signals 
could only have been made by HAARP.  On October 17th, the signals grew so 
strong they went off the sensors scales.  Three hours later, the San 
Francisco Bay area was hit by a 7.1 earthquake.  Also, the January 17th, 
1994 Los Angeles earthquake was preceded by mysterious radio signals.  
Observers in Los Angeles claimed to hear two loud sonic booms before the 
earthquake.  
	Also, in an OMNI magazine article printed on march of 1988, a 
physicist at Princeton named Richard William's stated that HAARP might 
become a threat to the earth's atmosphere and cause damage on a global 
scale. 
	Lloyd Zirbes, who strongly opposed the HAARP program, said this 
in a February 1994 issue of Cook Inlet Monthly Bush Blade, "Disruption 
of the earth's magnetic field will complete damages to the planet's 
balance done by the government nuclear bomb blasts in the natural 
radiation belts above the ionosphere.  Earth's magnetic field keeps the 
planet in balance with the moon and the sun.  Disrupting the field will 
be the last straw in sending earth into the sun or out into outer space."
	If none of this seems damaging to you, HAARP can also damage the 
body.  A geophysicist by the name of Gordon JF MacDonald says that 
artificially-excited electronic strokes could lead to a pattern of 
oscillations that produce high power levels over certain regions of 
the earth, developing a system which would seriously impair the brain 
performance of very large populations in selected regions over an 
extended period. 
	Interestingly enough, the HAARP facility was shut down at the 
end of the last set of low power tests on the Developmental Prototype 
on November 21, 1995.  No testing has been done since that time.  
In conclusion, even though HAARP looks like a technological advancement 
into the 21st century, it should not be dealt with because of the 
depletion of the ozone layer, electromagnetic sphere, and ionosphere.  
Though this can be great breakthrough in technology for communications 
and submarine radar, total humankind can be wiped out with this 
multibillion dollar  machine from hell.  For further research on this 
project, you can contact these three organizations: 
	 
1) Fer-de-Lance by TE Beardon
Tesla Book Company
PO Box 121873
Chula Vista, CA 91912 USA
 
2) The Cook Inlet Vigil
Box 916
Homer, Alaska 99603 USA
(This is an environmental group) 
 
3) Nick Begich Jr. 
PO Box 201393
Anchorage, Alaska 99520 USA
   

Gamers Gallery
New Games
By Joey Davis, Head of Games

Strife, By Velocity Entertainment
	If you've played Doom and you're bleary-eyed and your keyboard id 
begging for mercy; and if you're bored of waiting for id to release Quake, 
then it's probably time for you to check out Strife, a new twist on the 
Doom engine by Velocity.  
	Written using enhanced Id 3-D engine, Strife adds a couple of 
new dimensions to the first-person shooter game.  For 
a start, Strife has a real story-line, strong plot elements, and a 
variety of different paths and endings, each depending on the 
decisions you make throughout the game.  You will join the Movement in 
their fight to overthrow the Tyrannical Order, the Evil rulers of the 
universe.  The game unfolds within a virtual world of over 200 miles 
and 28 different levels of game-play, each representing various states 
of technological development, from medieval times to a futuristic alien 
ship.  
	Superimposed over the essentially Doom-like, shooter elements is 
the information-gathering narrative structure of an RPG.  You'll interact 
with members of the Movement to pick up keys, clues, and weapons; you'll 
encounter vicious, venal, and ultra-destructive adversaries, including 
the dreaded Entity, which thrives on violence, bloodshed and destruction.  
Weapons include flame-throwers, a grenade launcher, a crossbow, a micro 
missile launcher, and sundry other weapons of mass destruction.  
	With non-linear plot lines, complete dialogue interface with 
every character, sumptuous graphics, a fully interactive environment 
of blood-drenched game-play, and the capacity for network and modem 
play for up to eight players, Striffe promises to bolster a ganre 
that has started to flag a little lately. 
	For more information, contact Velocity at 
HTTP:WWW.VELOCITY GAMES.COM or call 800-VLOCITY.  
	
Barrack, By Ambrosia
	A tiny company called Ambrosia has spent the last couple of years 
dreaming up simple and brilliant shareware games for the Mac.  The best 
of these so far has been Aperion.  Now, Ambrosia brings us the almost 
orimirually addictive Baraok.  Just like Aperion, Barracks game-play 
is the very definition of simplicity: A number of balls, from two 
upwards, appear on your screen, and your job is to use your "barrier 
gun" to isolate each ball in a separated area, by dividing the screen 
into sections.  
	Then you need to start reducing the area to twenty 
percent or less of the original size, taking care to prevent the 
balls from hitting your barriers as they cut across the screen.  
Bonus points are awarded for isolating as many balls as possible, 
and for each percentage point over eighty.  Power-ups increase 
speed, power, and lives.  Multi-player games are also available.  
A great mind bending game for those was like strategy with cute 
sound-bites to hear.  
	For more information, you could call Ambrosia at (716) 427-2577.  

Monty Python CD-ROM, From the 7th level
	Hard on the heels of last years well-received Monty Pythons 
Complete Waste of Time, comes the CD-ROM adaptation of the legendary 
British comedy troupe's beat and funniest film, Monty Python and the 
Quest for the Holy Grail.  The Pythons have practically reunited to 
add new material to the game.  The Game: Its your job to find the 
grail, as you pass through an assortment of logic and strategic 
puzzles. Hilarious and zainy comedy in the way that only Monty 
Python can bring.  My advice: BUY THIS CD!!!!!!

Ripper, By Take 2 Interactive
	A combination between a graphics adventure, a movie, and a puzzle 
game, Ripper is Take 2's answer to Virgins 11th Hour.  Excellent FMV and 
a great story-line puts you inside the game.  Dark, mysterious music 
sets the mood for this horrifying mystery.  A great game, but lacking 
somewhat in speed (i.e. It may take a long time to move from one place 
to another).  Unfortunately, only diehard fans of 11th Hour and The 7th 
hour will drool over this title.  
	New Games out:
	Duke Nukem 3D, Rayman, Top Gun, Warcraft II: Into the Dark Portal
	
Symantec: Taking on the World
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations

	While Microsoft, IBM, and Apple are fighting over the operating 
system monopoly and Adobe, Corel, and Fractal Design are fighting for 
the photo-making/editing industry, there is one company which is sneaking 
into the computer wars: Symantec. 
	Symantec has produced many software products in the last two years.  
Due to the technological revolution in the 1990's, there is a great need 
for utilities and easy-running applications.  Here are just a few 
applications and utilities made by Symantec.  
* Symantec CafT, Just released, this product lets you create Java 
applications, projects, and applets.  This has many object programming 
tools, such as a hierarchy editor, and a full-featured project management 
system to make it easy to understand, graphically develop, manage, browse, 
edit, and maintain Java classes and applications.  There is additional 
support in the forms of on-line help, documentation, tutorials, and a 
Symantec Java Web Central site to help you remain efficient and productive.  
CafT also has a graphical debugger that helps you debug applications, 
browse data, and manipulate threads.  Symantec CafT is selling at an 
introductory offer for around $125.  
* Symantec Norton pcANYWHERE 32, Norton pcANYWHERE 32 is the fastest 
and easiest way to access applications, programs, and data from  a 
home or office PC-anywhere, anytime.  This program lets you make 
quick and easy connections to check e-mail, download files, or to 
run applications as if you were next to your other PC.  This program 
comes with its own automatic virus-checker.  Symantec Norton pcANYWHERE 32
 sells for around $150 and comes with a free parallel cable.  
* Symantec Norton Navigator, This navigator makes the Windows desktop 
much easier and more fun to use.  This makes Windows 95 look like 
Windows 96.  Though not worth the $95 price, this program is a great 
buy for newbies.  
* Symantec Norton Utilities, Probably the most famous Symantec product 
of all-time, Norton Utilities is a must for PC protection for every PC 
user.  Norton Utilities recovers a file every time Windows 95 crashes 
on you.  Norton Utilities has won many awards in the past years, 
including 
 
1) November '92 Reader's Choice Award, Reseller Management,
2) October '92 Reader's Choice Award, Publish Magazine,
3) June '92 Reader's Choice Award, BYTE Magazine,
4) June '92 "Best Buy," PC World,
5) April '92 Reader's Choice Award, WordPerfect Magazine,
6) February '92 WIN Award, Windows Magazine,
7) January '92 Editor's Choice, PC Magazine,
8) January '92 Best of 1991, PC Magazine,
9) May '91 Reader's Choice Award, BYTE Magazine,
10) January '91 Best of 1990, PC Magazine,
11) December '90 Reader's Choice Award, LOTUS Magazine,
12) December '90 Reader's Choice Award, Publish Magazine,
13) December '90 Reader's Choice Award, Data Based Advisor,
14) October '89 World Class Award, PC Magazine,
15) October '93 World Class Award, Best Utility, Macworld Australia,
16) October '93 Consultant's Choice Award, Best Utility Technology, 
Macintosh Consultants Network,
17) October '92 Reader's Choice Award, Publish Magazine,
18) June '92 Reader's Choice Award, BYTE Magazine,
19) October '91 Reader's Choice Award, Publish Magazine,
20) September '91 Analyst's Choice, PC Week, 
21) August '91 World Class Award, Best Utility and Most Promising 
Newcomer, Macworld,
22) January '91 Editor's Choice Award, Best Utility Product MacUser, and
23) January '91  Editor's Choice Award, MacWeek.
 
* Symantec Norton AntiVirus, Did you know that Virus protection made 
for DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1 do not work for Windows 95?  Well, no 
need to panic, because Symantec has a program out called Norton 
AntiVirus.  Norton AntiVirus detects, destroys, and prevents virus 
infections.  And best of all, Norton AntiVirus runs on Windows 95!  
Norton AntiVirus sells for around $85 (and sells for around $30 for 
a trade-up version).  Norton AntiVirus has also won many major 
awards, such as 

1. March '93 Best Buy, PC World,
2. March '93 Editors Choice, PC Magazine,
3. October '93 World Class Aware, Best Antivirus Program, Macworld
 Australia,
4. January '90 Editor's Choice Award for Best AntiViral Program, 
MacUser, and
5. October '89 Five Mice Rating, MacUser.

	There have been many more Symantec products out, such as The 
Norton Backup, The Norton Desktop for Windows, Norton Utilities for 
the Macintosh, and Symantec Utilities for the Macintosh.  
	A big plus for Mac users is that Symantec makes almost all their 
programs for both IBM's and Macintosh's.  With more Windows 95-based 
programs coming out, its good to see a company helping both computer 
industries.  

Entertainment
Computer Movies
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations

There have been many computer movies out since 1990.  Many have been 
good, but most have been bad.  Here are just a few reviews in computer 
movies.
1)  Sneakers, Though some say it was intense, I think it was one of 
the dumbest and most boring movies of all-time.  This movie had practically 
nothing to do with computers, and even the action sequences kept me asleep.  
If you really want to see this movie, you really need to get a life.  
2)  Hackers, This movie had a good plot and great bad guys, but the technical 
vocabulary needed some work.  For instance, there is no software product 
which can triple RAM.  Also, the characters didn't seem to know what they 
were talking about.  
3)  The Net, This movie starred Sandra Bullock, one of the worst actresses, 
in my opinion, of all-time.  This movie also had a good plot and great bad 
guys, but once again the technical vocabulary needed some work.  I would not 
recommend watching this movie.  
4)  007: Golden Eye, Though not a computer movie, it was pretty cool when the 
IBM mainframes exploded, but it would have been more suitable to see some 
Windows 3.1 workstations get melted down.
5)  Virtuosity, This movie took place in Los Angeles in the 21st century.  
Starring Denzel Washington as a cop, he had to kill Sid 16, a computer 
serial killer who came out of the computer and into reality.  The special 
effects were very interesting, especially when Denzel fell of a 120-storie 
building and survived, OOPS!
6)  War Games, Even though this was out before the great computer age, 
this is the best computer movie of all-time.  Though the technology 
might look a little old and rusty, the plot is a classic hacker movie.  
It is really cool when the main character thinks he is playing a game, 
but is about to blow up the world.  
7)  Mission Impossible, This movie was made by Mac Power-books and had 
very little computer effects.  The movie was okay, but when Cruise was 
E-mailing some information to somebody, I hadn't seen that kind of GUI 
on the Internet.  
	In conclusion, though some computer movies might be of some 
interest to you, the only movie you should see is War Games.  You 
should definitely not see Sneakers because of its lack of action.  
Hackers and The Net were good, but the technical vocabulary needs 
some work.  If you want to see a good computer movie, rent War Games.

Internet
Places on the 'Net
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations, 
and Junaid Ahmad, Founder and President 

This is a list of some new places to go surfing on the Internet.

Computer Underground Digest
FTP://ETEXT.ARCHIVE.UMICH.
EDU/PUB/ZINES/CUD
All-Time Best Doom Levels
HTTP://DOOMGATE.GAMERS.  ORG/~WILLIAMS
Chess News Mailing List
CHESSNEWS-REQUEST@TSSI.COM
More Information About HAARP,
HTTP://WWW.XYZ.NET/~
NOHAARP/EARTHLIGHT.HTML
Official Simpsons Web Site
HTTP://WWW.WHIDEBY.COM/
BODO/TOMMYSMP.HTM
Exploding head page
WWW.KING.NET/GILMORE/
HEAD 
The Other Side of the Web
ALFA.IST.ULT.PT/~141325/MOONSPELL.HTML
Dark Side of the Web
WWW.CASCADE.NET/DARKWEB.HTML
Mac CafT
WWW.VILLAGEMAC.COM/CAFEMACF/POLITICAL.HTML

Nerd Test

This is the third installment of our Bi-weekly analysis on determining 
whether or not you are a certified nerd.  This test will be going on for 
the next 50 issues of PRAVDA.  
	Their have been many protests about taking this section off.  We 
have also received tons of support for it, coming from around the world.  
So we have decided to keep it here.

1. 	Do you know how your car's engine works?
2.  	Have you ever interpolated?
3.  	Have you ever extrapolated?
4.  	Do you know the difference between interpolation and extrapolation?
5.	Have you ever integrated numerically?
6.  ...and known the result ahead of time?
7.  ...and complained about how slow the computer was?
8.  	Have you ever seen or utilized the spherical harmonic functions?
9.  ...and found them aesthetically pleasing?
10.  	Do you know most of the words to "The Lumberjack Song" by Monty Python?
11.  	Do you own an encyclopedia?
12.  Have you ever read an encyclopedia entry that you weren't researching?
13.	Have you ever wanted to know something for no apparent reason?
14. 	Have you ever been laughed at for wanting to know something?
15.  	Can you program the time on a VCR?
16.  	Has anyone ever asked you to program their VCR time for them?
17.	Have you ever used the word "asymptotic"?
18.	Have you ever referred to something as an L.E.D.?
19.	Have you ever referred to a ruler as a "straight-edge"?
20.	Have you ever said "quartz crystal"?

Whatever Happened To...
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations

Whatever Happened To...

1)  Hugh Grant
2)  LA Gear
3)  Sim City 2000
4)  Godzilla
5)  Major League Soccer
6)  Doom II
7)  Tone Loc
8)  Cigarettes being illegal under the age of 21
9)  The American Dream
10)  Religion

Did You Know...
By Jawad Ahmad, Head of Foreign Relations

Did you know...

1)  In the new movie DRAGONHEART, it cost an average of $16,000 per 
second to shoot a scene with the dragon voiced by Sean Connery, 
totaling around $20,000,000.  
2)  It wasn't Bill Gates who made Microsoft, but his former partner 
Paul Allen.  When Paul Allen got cancer, he gave up his job at Microsoft 
and let Bill Gates run the show.  Paul Allen now lives in Portland, where 
he bought a basketball and football team, the Portland TrailBlazers and 
the Seattle SeaHawks.  Paul Allen is the richest sports team owner.  
3)  Did you know when Bill gates was growing up, his parents thought he 
wouldn't grow up to be anything special?  For more information on this, 
look in the Literature section under Discovering Microsoft's Tycoon.

Torrey Pines Computer Club

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