"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
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NEED TO KNOW
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