Monthly Technology Updates

MARCH 1999

1. Year 2000 Update - Are you covered?

At the end of 1998, when many businesses renewed their insurance coverage for 1999, they received a shock. Many insurance companies amended business insurance coverage to exclude losses caused by the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem. This exclusion may have a far-reaching effect on both businesses and individuals who work there. Businesses may be exposed to liability claims. For example, a vendor who makes certain claims about the Year 2000 compliance of a product may not be covered by insurance if the product has a Y2K problem. High-level company executives who make Y2K claims may be sued by shareholders. These executives typically have an insurance policy, called a D&O (an abbreviation for Directors and Officers), that covers certain suits. However, new policies may now contain a Y2K exclusion.

Most businesses have commercial general liability (CGL) insurance. This type of insurance typically covers bodily injury or property damage caused by "an occurrence." The debate now raging in the insurance and legal communities is how to define "an occurrence." Many people believe that "an occurrence" is an unforeseen event, such as a hurricane or an accident. Because the Y2K problem has been known for many years and so is hardly "an unforeseen event," some insurers and attorneys believe it should not be considered "an occurrence."

One type of insurance that may cover Y2K problems is Errors and Omissions (E&O) coverage. E&O insurance typically includes coverage for loss to intangible property, such as computer data, and failure to perform.

If you are concerned about your insurance coverage, you should conduct an insurance audit with your provider and attorney.

For more information, click on these links:

2. PC Tips - Find Lost Files With Outlook

If you forgot where you stored a critical file or important document, Microsoft Outlook can help. It contains a feature called the "Journal," which keeps track of the files you create and change.

To set up Outlook, follow these steps:

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Click on the Tools menu item.
  3. Click on Options.
  4. Click on the Journal tab.
  5. On the bottom of the screen, under the "Also record files from:" box, check the box(es) of the type of files you want the Journal to track. If you are not sure, check all the boxes. NOTE: If this feature causes your computer to run noticeably slower, you may want to turn it off by unchecking these boxes.
  6. Click on the AutoArchive Journal Entries button.
  7. Use this dialog box to set how often the Journal will clean out entries. If you use your computer heavily, you might want to set this option to every month (or even less). If in doubt, leave the option set for every six months.
  8. Using the dialog box you can decide if you want old entries deleted permanently or archived. Choose to delete permanently if you are running low on hard disk space.
  9. When done, click on OK to exit the AutoArchive dialog, then click on OK to exit the Options dialog.
  10. Close Outlook.

Now every time you use a file that the Journal tracks, a Journal entry will be made. To access Journal entries follow these steps:

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. On the left side of the screen in the Outlook area, scroll down and click on the Journal icon. NOTE: The first time you create a Journal, the process can take a long time.
  3. Once the Journal is created you can view your documents by type and by the date(s) you worked on them.

For example, if you are looking for a Microsoft Word file called MyDocument.doc, you would first expand the Word category by clicking the plus sign to the left of the category name. Next you would use the bottom scroll bar to scroll to the left (back in time) in search for your file. When you find the file, double click on it to show its log entry. Then double click on the shortcut icon to launch the file.

3. Forget That CD, Try MP3

You may soon be able to download your favorite songs off of the Internet. MP3 is a method for compressing audio files while maintaining near CD-quality sound. MP3 stands for MPEG layer 3. MPEG, the Moving Pictures Experts Group, defines standards for compressing multimedia files. With MP3, music files can be compressed into 1 megabyte for each minute of music. This is a four-to-one compression and makes the files easier to download off the Internet.

To play MP3 files you will need a computer with a soundcard and a modem and an MP3 player. Winamp (for Windows) and Macamp (for Macintosh) are popular shareware players. Try downloading some songs from sites like MP3.com or MP3now.

With an MP3 encoder, such as MP3ENC, you can convert audio files into the MP3 format. However, you should be aware that distributing copyrighted music is a crime. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been concerned about copyright violations.

Finally, when you have your MP3 files you can take them with you. If you have a CD-ROM recorder, you can "burn" a CD with your favorite MP3 tracks. Or you can use the new Rio portable MP3 player.

For more information about MP3, click on these links:

  

4. Your new computer may get IDed

Intel Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of microprocessors, caused a stir in January when it announced that its new Pentium III chip (see the article in this month's technology updates) would include a processor serial number (PSN). A PSN is a digital code in the chip that is programmed to a unique number during the manufacturing process. This number could be used as an added layer of security when shopping the Web or by Web sites to track the browsing habits of individual users.

The user must download a software applet that reads the PSN and transmits it to the Web site. However, most Web browsers, such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, have security mechanisms that enable the user to block applet downloads.

Intel promoted the PSN feature as a security mechanism. However, privacy advocates were upset by Intel's plan to ship the chips with the PSN feature turned on. These advocates seem to have been appeased by Intel's announcement that it will ship the Pentium III with the PSN turned off and it will be up to the user to turn it on.

For more information about the PSN controversy, click on these links:

5. Faster Than Ever With Intel's New Pentium III

The new Intel microprocessor, called the Pentium III, began shipping in personal computers on February 26, 1999. This new chip will run at a top clock speed of 500 MHz. It includes 70 new instructions for handling various multimedia applications, such as three-dimensional graphics and voice recognition.

Intel is marketing the chip at users of the World Wide Web. It should improve the performance of audio and video feeds streamed over the Internet. In addition, Intel has included a new processor serial number (PSN) (see this month's technology updates) that will make possible greater security for Web-based transactions.

To buy a computer with the Pentium III processor, click on these links (also check your campus computer store for educational discounts):

6. Collaborate Over the Web To Make Better Decisions

Researchers and practitioners have long known that when it comes to decision making, many heads are better than one. However, group decision making has its own problems. For instance, in many groups ideas are lost as everyone attempts to speak at once. Also, some people are afraid to express themselves in group settings.

To overcome these problems, group decision support systems (GDSS) were created. A typical GDSS is specialized software run on a computer network in an electronic meeting room. Each group member sits at a computer and types his or her ideas. These ideas, and comments about them, are electronically displayed in the electronic room. Although electronic meeting rooms have proven very successful in helping groups make decisions, they are very expensive to set up and operate. In addition, they require all the participants to be at the same electronic meeting roomand participate at the same time.

Recently, a new breed of GDSS has been created that takes advantage of the World Wide Web. These new tools allow groups to collaborate even when members are distributed geographically and by time. For more information on this groupware, click on these links:

7. Buy Low and Sell High, and Never Speak to Your Broker

During the last three months of 1998 it is estimated that 20% of all stock trades came through online brokers. These brokers typically offer very low commissions, anywhere from $8 to $30 per trade. The catch is that you have to do your own investment research and initiate your transaction via the Internet.

All of the major online brokers allow customers to buy and sell stocks and mutual funds. Many also allow qualified investors to establish option accounts. Online brokers typically provide customers with research tools, such as the ability to chart stocks, reports from Standard and Poors and Zacks, and mutual fund screening tools.

Even some of Wall Street's most venerable companies are going online. For example, Merrill Lynch has an online presence at http://www.plan.ml.com/ as does Smith Barney at http://www.smithbarney.com/. These companies typically charge their normal commission for online trades. While their research services are usually reserved for their clients, they do occasionally offer the general public access to their research reports.

You should be aware that almost all of the online brokerages have had major software problems during the past year. But most online brokers have a toll-free number for trading if their Web site is experiencing problems.

For more information, click on these links to the top online brokers:

8. "I seek you" - Chat With Old Friends or Make New Ones

If you want to chat with friends or collaborate with business associates over the Internet then ICQ may be for you. ICQ (short for "I seek you") was created in 1996 by a small Israeli company called Mirabillis (now called ICQ Inc.). Since then over 15 million people have become registered ICQ users.

After downloading ICQ, users provide their E-mail address, name, and interests and are assigned a unique ICQ identifier. Users can also build a "buddy list" of friends and associates who use ICQ. When somebody on the list connects to the Internet, the user is notified that his or her "buddy" is online and both users can begin a chat session.ICQ also allows users to indicate their availability for chatting. In addition, the software provides a number of privacy features. For example, a person can specify whether or not other people can add him or her to a list of contacts. In addition to private two-way chat sessions, ICQ permits multiparty chat rooms and online games. Registered users can also start their own chat room and invite others to join.

For more information on ICQ, click on these links:

9. Put Your Peripherals on the Universal Serial Bus

If you have purchased a new computer in the last two years, chances are good that it includes a new type of computer bus called a universal serial bus (USB). A computer bus is an electrical pathway that allows peripheral devices, such as joysticks, scanners, and keyboards, to be connected to the computer. In the past, buses have been very limited in the number of devices they could connect. In addition, these devices would sometimes conflict with each other, causing one or both to fail.

USB allows up to 127 devices to be connected off a single port in the back of the computer. Working with drivers in the Windows 95/98 operating systems, USB ensures that devices do not conflict with each other. USB is capable of transmitting data at a rate of 12 megabits per second.

For more information about USB, click on these links:

10. Will Your Web Site Start a Law Suit?

A new online trademark dispute has broken out. This one is between earth.com and Mondial Trading Company. Earth.com is a domain registered by Tony Sanders and used for his personal Web site. However, in 1985, Mondial acquired the trademarks for the words "Earth" and "Earth Shoe." Mondial claims that Sanders is in violation of these trademarks and has filed suit.

The issue of trademarks used as domain names has arisen before. Some Webmasters who control domain names with a .org extension have been contacted by companies that have the same name with the .com extension about trademark infringement.

One of the most famous cases of domain-name trademark infringement involves the domain name pokey.org. That name was owned by a 12–year-old boy who used the nickname "pokey" all his life. The boy was sued by Prema Corporation, which has a trademark on the Gumby cartoon horse named "Pokey." Prema eventually dropped the case.

For more information on trademarks and domain names, click on these links:

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