This is the last issue of the VOGON News Service in 1995. It was sent to 4477 direct readers within Digital and copied to over 60 readers outside of Digital, using the expanding Internet.
The publishing system continued running automatically throughout 1996 and 1997 mainly containing the Main and Computer News sections.
<><><><><><><><> T h e V O G O N N e w s S e r v i c e <><><><><><><><>
Edition : 3458 Wednesday 27-Dec-1995 Circulation : 4477
VNS MAIN NEWS ..................................... 74 Lines
VNS COMPUTER NEWS ................................. 401 "
For information on subscribing to VNS, backissues, contacting VNS staff
members, etc, access our Web service at http://expat.zko.dec.com/vns/ or
send a mail to EXPAT::EXPAT with a subject of HELP.
VNS MAIN NEWS: [Kevin Bowen-Nellthorp, VNS News Desk]
============== [Nijmegen, Netherlands ]
Thousands hit by Arctic freeze
THOUSANDS of people in the north of Scotland endured their third day
without power yesterday as their worst winter weather for 40 years
showed no signs of abating. Storm-force winds brought Arctic conditions
to the whole of Scotland and Shetland council declared a state of
emergency as snow continued to fall.
'Death on Rock' court costs paid
THE Government found itself at the centre of another row over European
courts yesterday after it confirmed that it had paid the legal costs of
almost #40,000 for the relatives of three IRA members killed by the SAS
in Gibraltar.
Dial 192 for chummy inquiries
BT IS LIKELY to introduce a chummy first-name approach to Directory
Inquiries callers next year following a pilot scheme in Lincolnshire
French student feared murdered
DETECTIVES searching for Celine Figard, the French student who went
missing after accepting a lift from an English lorry driver, fear she
may have been murdered.
ID cards not to be forced on British
PLANS for compulsory identity cards are to be abandoned. Michael Howard,
the Home Secretary, will announce in the spring that a voluntary scheme
based on a photocard driving licence is the favoured option.
Murdered headmaster voted personality of the year
PHILIP Lawrence, the headmaster stabbed to death outside his school
while protecting a pupil from a gang of youths, was named personality of
the year yesterday by listeners to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Wrong-way driver's 14-mile trip on M4
A MAN drove for 14 miles in the wrong direction along the outside lane
of a motorway yesterday with only three tyres on his car.
Tour firms cut prices after bookings slump
DISCOUNTS of up to 15 per cent are being offered by holiday companies on
summer packages following a slump in pre-Christmas bookings.
Halifax says house prices on verge of mini-boom
FORECASTERS are predicting that house prices in Britain are set to
recover in 1996 and will continue to rise.
MI5 to join fight against illegal immigration rackets
MI5 is to join the fight to eliminate the traffic in illegal
immigrants, with major racketeers being targeted in the new year.
Experts solve computer snags
EXPERTS are manning telephone helplines over the Christmas holidays to
help children solve problems with their new computer games.
Fish cuts provoke anger in the ports
FISHERMEN'S leaders and politicians from all parties reacted angrily
last night to new cuts agreed in Brussels for quotas throughout British
waters, bringing renewed demands for Britain's withdrawal from the
European common fisheries policy.
Source: Electronic Telegraph - Friday December 22, 1995
Electronic Telegraph is a Registered Service Mark of The Telegraph plc
For more details on any of the above headlines stories, visit the
Electronic Telegraph on the Web at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
VNS COMPUTER NEWS: [Tracy Talcott, VNS Computer Desk]
================== [Nashua, NH, USA ]
Tuesday's Market Fair Market Value
Quote Change Dow Jones Change 1-Jun-1995 $45.625
IBM 91 3/4 + 1/2 30-Nov-1995 $59.062
HPkd 85 5/8 +1 85% of lower $39.00
Msft 90 1/4 - 1/4 1-Dec-1995 $58.187
DEC 63 1/2 -1 1/8 5110.26 +12.29
DEC PRa 26 3/4 + 1/4
Digital - SkyConnect to market Mediaplex ad insertion systems
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 22-Dec-95}
Digital and SkyConnect, Inc. of Boulder, Colo., announced an alliance that
will provide cable television operators with the industry's first national
online system that will automatically distribute commercials and insert them
locally into cable channels. By eliminating much of the time and expense
local cable operators now spend preparing, inserting, and verifying local
spots, Digital's Mediaplex ad insertion systems, combined with SkyConnect's
software and services, will help cable operators profit from spot advertising
revenue. SkyConnect will begin selling and installing Digital's ad insertion
systems immediately. SkyConnect, which had been developing its own digital ad
insertion system, will now modify its software products and services to
operate as a front-end to Digital's Mediaplex servers. The alliance with
SkyConnect significantly expands Digital's reach in the market for digital
video advertising systems. SkyConnect, through its acquisition of Ad Systems
in April 1995, has an installed base of 950 cable systems using analog ad
insertion technology. SkyConnect is a digital video management company
applying its technologies to develop automated advertising solutions for the
cable industry. SkyConnect launched its Across Media Network video publishing
channel with Tele-Communications, Inc. in October 1995.
Across Media Network is the nation's first centrally managed, local cable
advertising and information channel. SkyConnect also offers Ad Systems analog
ad insertion products and services and is developing digital advertising and
other video distribution services.
Digital - Wins network service award from Data Communications magazine
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 22-Dec-95}
Digital is the clear favorite vendor for network software service and
support, according to a survey of readers by Data Communications magazine.
Digital won a Users' Choice award topping IBM, Microsoft, Lotus, Novell and
Banyan in a poll of U.S. subscribers last September. Responses from 386
readers covered such topics as technical competence of phone and on-site
staff, the speed of problem resolution and overall value for the money.
Digital's rating was 3.69 with IBM next at 3.51 out of a possible five points.
The results appeared in the December 1995 issue of Data Communications
magazine.
Digital - Technology Exchange Program offers "PC Integration" session focus
on Windows 95 & Windows NT
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 21-Dec-95}
February 5 through March 1, 1996
The Technology Exchange Program (TEP), Digital's premier program for
developing multivendor knowledge, information, capabilities and skills for
Services and Engineering, will hold a "PC Integration" session specifically
focusing on Windows 95 and Windows NT. This session is scheduled to run from
Feb. 5 through March 1 in the NIO facility, Salem, N.H.
This particular session will focus on Windows 95 and Windows NT networking,
application support, migration, troubleshooting, and interoperability with
other Network Operating Systems such as Novell Netware and Digital PATHWORKS.
The target audience is highly skilled specialists who are or will be
expected to advise, consult, develop, integrate applications or troubleshoot
in this environment.
TEP is not a "training course." Rather, it provides an opportunity for
field engineers to experiment, research, and learn in our multivendor
interoperability lab.
Network Services
Training Management will subsidize tuition for MCS participants. MCS
participants' cost centers will also receive some level of reimbursement to
offset travel expenses. The exact amount of this financial support has not
yet been finalized.
The deadline for admission is Jan. 10. To apply:
(DECnet) Set host to FOUNDR, Username: TEP_REGISTER
(TCP/IP) telnet foundr.nio.dec.com, Username: TEP_REGISTER
This will log you into the TEP Information & Registration System where you
can apply for the participation, as well as find a significant amount of
general program information.
For more information, contact Julie Plourde at FOUNDR::TEP or DTN 285-2672,
or check the TEP home page at URL http://tep.zko.dec.com/homepage.html
Digital - Delivers storage management software tools
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 21-Dec-95}
Digital delivers high performing storage management software tools Digital
unveiled two OpenVMS software tools that help users simplify the
administration of network computing, protect their mission-critical data and
manage the data consistently.
Both the new POLYCENTER Archive/Backup (PAB) for OpenVMS Version 1.1 and the
POLYCENTER Sequential Media Filesystem (SMF) for OpenVMS Version 1.2 combine
robust features with measurable performance improvements.
"Companies today are faced with a rapid increase of information to be
managed within both file systems and databases, as well as with increased
pressure to control or decrease storage management costs," said Tom Shea,
senior product manager with Digital's Storage Management Software Group.
"Our software tools for a growing number of platforms help solve this
dilemma. Digital offers the industry's most complete suite of storage
management software products for OpenVMS users. Plus, we help reduce the
overall cost of storage ownership and further maximize users' OpenVMS storage
hardware investments."
Digital - Storage business launches incentive program for VARs
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 21-Dec-95}
Storage business launches incentive program for VARs Digital has launched
"The PERFECT FIT Program," an awards promotion that provides value-added
storage resellers in Europe and North America with additional incentive to
sell the StorageWorks product line.
Perfect Fit offers both an immediate cash award for product sales, as well
as a point program that results in additional cash rewards ranging from $500
to $20,000, depending on the level of sales achieved over a nine month period
(Oct. 1, 1995 through June 28, 1996).
For more information, VARs can call:
North America
Phone (Toll-Free): 1-800-STORWORK (786-7967)
Fax: 508-841-5841
Internet mail: 1800storwork@shr.mts.dec.com
Europe
Phone: 31-24-352.9985
Fax: 31-24-352.9965
Internet mail: storageworks@stowks.enet.dec.com
The StorageWorks product line is a comprehensive family of disk, tape and
optical storage subsystems, offering modular, competitively-priced,
industry-standard solutions in customizable desktop, deskside, departmental
and datacenter enclosures.
StorageWorks products are available on multiple operating systems and
hardware platforms, including Digital, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun
workstations and servers, and Novell and Windows NT environments.
Digital - Digital's Learning Services business moves to WCAS
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 21-Dec-95}
Digital and privately held equity capitalists Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
(WCAS) today announced that they have signed an agreement to move Digital's
Learning Services business to WCAS.
Digital's Learning Services currently provide information technology
training to Digital's customers worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement,
WCAS has established a new training-focused company called Global Knowledge
Network (GKN) that will assume the assets and retain all of the current
Learning Services employees. In addition, the companies have entered into a
strategic alliance in which Digital will continue to develop courseware on its
products and GKN will be the preferred provider for Digital proprietary
training to customers and Digital employees. Further details of the agreement
are confidential by mutual consent of the two companies.
John J. Rando, vice president and general manager of Digital's Multivendor
Customer Services Division, commented, "This agreement supports Digital's
global strategy. By partnering in this area, we can better focus our
resources in areas that represent core competencies for the company while
still having training available for our customers from a trusted and
experienced provider.
"We are very pleased to add Global Knowledge Network to the 25 companies
that already make up our information technology portfolio," said Thomas E.
McInerney, general partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. "We see great
opportunity in Global Knowledge Network as a free-standing company with an
experienced, technically expert, performance-driven workforce and are
enthusiastic about the strategic partnership with Digital."
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe was formed in 1979 and is headquartered in
New York City. It is one of the largest firms in the United States providing
private equity capital. The firm specializes in acquiring and building
established businesses within the health care and information services
industries. WCAS manages limited partnerships with resources of approximately
$3.5 billion and has portfolio companies with combined revenues of
approximately $9 billion.
Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open client/server
solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems.
Digital's scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking, software and
services, together with industry-focused solutions from business partners,
help organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace.
Digital, Cirrus Logic - Sign agreement to enter into semiconductor
manufacturing relationship
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 19-Dec-95}
Digital and Cirrus Logic, Inc. of Fremont, Calif. today announced that they
have completed a memorandum of understanding to enter into a semiconductor
manufacturing relationship to produce wafer products at Digital's
state-of-the-art Fab 6 facility in Hudson, Mass.
Under the arrangement, Cirrus Logic will provide approximately $355 million
of leased equipment financing and fixed payments to maximize the capacity of
Fab 6. Cirrus Logic will have a take-or-pay contract to purchase wafers
manufactured by Digital, primarily using Digital's leading edge, 8-inch CMOS
technologies. The contract will have an initial six-year term and will have
provisions for renewal. The transaction is subject to execution of definitive
agreements and final approval by the Boards of Directors of both companies.
Digital's Chairman Robert B. Palmer commented, "We have evaluated a number
of opportunities to optimize our investment in our world-class facility in
Hudson and we are very pleased to enter into this agreement with Cirrus Logic.
This arrangement will preserve Digital's capacity requirements and provide
additional guaranteed capacity for Cirrus Logic. The result will be reduced
manufacturing costs for both companies."
Michael L. Hackworth, president and chief executive officer of Cirrus Logic,
noted that the manufacturing agreement with Digital will support his firm's
phased expansion program to build a world-class manufacturing infrastructure.
"Over the next five years, we intend to build a manufacturing capability to
serve the opportunity created by our product and technology investments."
Cirrus Logic is a leading manufacturer of advanced integrated circuits for
the desktop and portable computing, telecommunications and consumer
electronics markets. The company applies its system-level expertise in analog
and digital design to innovate highly integrated, software-rich solutions.
Cirrus Logic has developed a broad portfolio of products and technologies for
applications spanning multimedia, communications, mass storage and data
acquisition.
Digital - Selects Shandwick as lead, worldwide PR agency
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 15-Dec-95}
In a move designed to unify and integrate its communications on a worldwide
basis, Digital today announced it has hired Shandwick International as its
strategic, global public relations firm. The account will be led by
Shandwick's largest agency, Golin/Harris Communications.
The consolidation of full service public relations activities with
Shandwick, the world's second-largest public relations firm, will streamline
and improve Digital's communications in the 100 countries in which it now does
business. Over time, Shandwick is expected to represent the company and its
ten business units in all geographic regions. The move follows a similar step
taken a year ago when Digital hired DDB Needham Worldwide as its lead
worldwide advertising agency.
"We are pleased that Shandwick has been named Digital's lead public
relations agency on a worldwide basis. The agency was selected after the most
rigorous public relations agency selection process in Digital's history," said
Charlie Holleran, vice president, Communications.
"Our task now is to create the powerful and clear positioning that our
resurgence as a global leader in information systems solutions demands. We
are moving fast to accomplish that goal," he said.
"This move is the result of our top-to-bottom re-engineering of Digital,"
commented Art Fiacco, vice president, Information Programs. "We believe that
Shandwick is well positioned to provide the depth of expertise and breadth of
geographic reach to help us create a clear, unified brand image worldwide.
Also, the Shandwick people mirror our 'whatever it takes' attitude."
"With this action, Digital is making a bold statement endorsing its unified
worldwide brand, and is at the forefront, leading a trend toward global public
relations," said Dermot McNulty, group chief executive, Shandwick
International. "At Shandwick, we are redefining the role of public relations
in a worldwide marketplace; therefore, we see synergy in our two
organizations' missions. We are thrilled and excited about being chosen as
Digital's partner in this global communications effort."
Gary W. Thompson, head of Golin/Harris' technology practice, will serve as
worldwide account director.
Shandwick plc is the world's largest independent public relations agency
servicing its clients through 90 principal public relations offices located in
North America, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia Pacific.
Founded in 1956, Golin/Harris is one of the fastest growing firms in North
America with offices in nine cities.
Digital - Develops Internet's first 'Super Spider'
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 15-Dec-95}
Digital today introduced the Internet's first "super spider" software, as
part of the most advanced information search and indexing technology available
for the World Wide Web. Blazing fast, it conducts the most comprehensive
search of the entire Web text orders of magnitude faster than spiders used in
conventional information search services.
Under development at Digital's Corporate Research Group in Palo Alto,
Calif., the technology promises to surpass the limitations of current
information services by delivering the most complete, precise, and up-to-date
information of the Web's entire text. The technology's super spider and super
indexer employ next-generation software and advanced networking, powered by
the highest-performing 64-bit Alpha computers.
The advanced technology is set to undergo its toughest testing starting
today (Friday, December 15), as Digital makes a "beta" version available to
tens of millions of Web users worldwide.
Users can test the super spider's Web index and provide feedback through
Digital's Internet address at: http://www.altavista.digital.com
Thousands of Digital employees worldwide are testing the new technology
behind the corporation's Internet firewall.
Cyber Search
"Finding a 'cyber needle' in an ever-growing 'cyber haystack' has long been
a dream of Web users," said Samuel H. Fuller, vice president, Corporate
Research. "This technology is a major step in that direction. It features
the most complete and precise Web index. In fact, it's the only one with the
potential to keep up with the phenomenal growth of the Web," he added.
Fuller said the super spider has been crawling the Web at up to 2.5 million
pages per day, and already has found and indexed more information than any
other spider or crawling service. It is enroute to finding every page and
indexing every word of text on the Web. "We believe users will find Web pages
they have never seen through any other indexing technology," he added.
Digital said the technology has implications for market research because of
its precise search capabilities. For example, users for the first time can
pinpoint the exact number of "hot-links" or references to their home page from
other Web sites.
What It Does
The super spider creates and dispatches a "brood of spiders" that crawls the
entire Web. Second-generation scalable software simultaneously locates and
indexes text as it finds Web pages.
A powerful search engine enables Web users to conduct precise searches for
specific information by looking for phrases, specifying key words, using
case-sensitive matches, and restricting searches to titles or other parts of a
document. Network connectivity is provided through Digital's fiber optic and
high-speed network switching technologies. Ultra-high-speed search and
indexing is enabled by Digital's Alpha computers, the industry's
highest-performing 64-bit servers. This powerful combination of software,
networking, and hardware overcomes the limitations of conventional
spider/indexing technologies. Patents are pending.
Fuller said current Internet search and indexing technology is much slower
due to the constraints of 32-bit technology. "Users do not receive all of the
information available on the entire Web, and frequently miss entire documents.
Digital's second-generation technology indexes every word of every document,"
he added.
"Businesses will find this powerful indexing and search capability will
assist them in instantaneously locating information on markets, customers, and
competitors," said Rose Ann Giordano, vice president, Internet Business Group.
"This new capability complements Digital's portfolio of industrial-strength
Internet servers, security, and service offerings."
Digital - AlphaServer 1000, Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Power World's Best
Single-Processor TPC-C Price/Performance Result
{Livewire, Worldwide News, 15-Dec-95}
Today Digital and Microsoft Corporation announced the world's best TPC-C
benchmark price/performance results for a single-processor system.
Breakthrough results of 1153.7 transactions per minute (tpmC) at $229/tpmC,
based on the TPC-C benchmark Revision 3.0, were achieved on the uniprocessor
AlphaServer 1000 4/266 system running Microsoft Windows NT Server operating
system V3.51 and Microsoft SQL Server V6.5 client/server database management
system in a heterogeneous client/server environment.
With a total system cost of $264,653, the AlphaServer 1000 4/266 system
delivers 57% better throughput performance and $149/tpmC less than the IBM
RS/6000 E20. It even delivers superior performance and price/performance to
the dual-processor Sun SPARCserver 20.
TPC-C Comparisons with Competitive Systems
System tpmC $/tpmC Total
Cost
---------------------- ------ ------------
Digital AlphaServer 1000 4/266 1153.70 $229 $264,563
IBM RS 6000 Model E20 735.27 $378 $278,029
HP 9000 Series 800 Model E55 728.73 $424 $308,982
Sun SPARCServer 20 (2 CPU) 1063.90 $440 $467,863
Earlier this month, Digital and Microsoft announced results of 3194 tpmC at
$196/tpmC on an AlphaServer 2100 5/300 with three CPUs running Microsoft SQL
Server 6.5.
"Today's results for Microsoft SQL Server reconfirm the commitment of
Microsoft and Digital to provide superior value for transaction processing and
database applications," said Rich Tong, general manager, Business Systems
Division, Microsoft. "The combination of Microsoft BackOffice and the Digital
Alpha platform is a powerful tool for corporate MIS."
According to Michael Goulde, of Patricia Seybold Group in Boston, "Digital
is one of the few major computer makers that have actively supported NT, and
as a result will be in a unique position to capitalize on NT's success."
"Once again, Digital and Microsoft have raised the bar considerably in
database performance and affordability," said Pauline Nist, vice president,
Alpha Server Business Segment. "Our customers continue to benefit from our
combination of superior performance, price/performance, and value."
Alpha Tops in Watermark Application Performance
Digital also announced performance results for the AlphaServer 1000 4/266
system running the Watermark Enterprise Image Server 2.1 application under
Microsoft SQL Server 6.0. The uniprocessor AlphaServer/Microsoft SQL Server
ensemble far outperformed an Intel 90 MHz dual processor server in both
performance and cost per transaction.
The performance of the Alpha system is nearly twice that of the Intel server
(28,644 files accessed per hour, compared with 15,024 files on the Intel
server). And since the Alpha server costs about the same as the Intel system,
the Digital system provides twice the performance for the same price.
Similarly, a dual-processor AlphaServer 2100 5/250 SMP system accessed
nearly three times as many files as the Intel system.
"Watermark Enterprise Image Server running on the Digital AlphaServer system
delivers outstanding throughput and performance," said David Skok, President
and CEO of Watermark. "The price/performance characteristics of the Digital
AlphaServer make it an ideal platform for customers deploying mission-critical
document imaging and workflow applications."
Watermark Enterprise Image Server software, from Watermark Software, Inc.,
of Burlington, Mass., provides specialized network storage for document images
and other document types, using magnetic and/or optical media. Watermark
Enterprise Image Server enables users to integrate document images into
existing applications and workflow processes, streamlining communications and
improving access to information.
Heterogeneous Computing Environment
The AlphaServer 1000 4/266 TPC-C benchmark was conducted using a single 266
MHz Alpha microprocessor and 1 GB of memory. These results were achieved in a
heterogeneous computing environment, using Visigenics ODBC client software for
SCO UNIX running on Digital's Intel-based Prioris PC systems.
"No longer must customers limit themselves to a single operating system to
get interoperability, performance, and affordability," said Nist. "With these
results, Digital has proved that one of the best ways to solve business
problems can include a heterogeneous environment. Digital demonstrates that a
customer can leverage the strengths of both Windows NT and UNIX to provide a
cost-effective high-performance solution."
The TPC-C benchmark is the industry-standard test for measuring database
transaction processing performance and price/performance. The $/tpmC result
reflects the cost of acquisition and ownership of the system over a five-year
period, including hardware and software maintenance, software upgrades, and
extended warranties.
The Digital-Microsoft Alliance for Enterprise Computing
Digital's AlphaServer systems provide a highly scalable enterprise platform
for the Microsoft BackOffice family of integrated server applications, which
includes Microsoft Windows NT operating system, Microsoft SQL Server,
Microsoft Systems Management Server, Microsoft SNA Server, and Microsoft Mail
Server. In June, Digital announced an OEM agreement with Microsoft to bundle
Microsoft BackOffice with Digital AlphaServers and Intel-based Prioris
servers.
In August, Digital and Microsoft announced their strategic Alliance for
Enterprise Computing, which helps customers implement and support
Windows-based computing across the enterprise. The performance numbers
announced today demonstrate the results of the joint efforts of Digital and
Microsoft to deliver Windows NT-based solutions to the enterprise.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
For information on subscribing to VNS, backissues, contacting VNS staff
members, etc, access our Web service at http://expat.zko.dec.com/vns/ or
send a mail to EXPAT::EXPAT with a subject of HELP.
Permission to copy material from this VNS is granted (per DIGITAL PP&P)
provided that the message header for the issue and credit lines for the
VNS correspondent and original source are retained in the copy.
<><><><><><><><> VNS Edition : 3458 Wednesday 27-Dec-1995 <><><><><><><><>
History of the VOGON News Service 