Web a resource for Hale-Bopp comet watchers
March
23, 1997
By JIM BROOKS
Web a resource for comet watchers Comet Hale-Bopp is now appearing
nightly in the northwestern skies over Kentucky ... and most of
the world.
If you remember the celestial fizzle and disappointment when Comet
Halley returned in 1986, you'll be nothing but delighted with Hale-Bopp.
On my way in from the barn this evening, I couldn't help but notice
the comet about 20 degrees above the horizon in the northwestern
sky. Try a clear night around 8 p.m., you won't be disappointed.
For details about the comet and the excitement it's generating,
the Web has a great many sources of information.
The first place to stop is the astronomy publication Sky &
Telescope, who's comet Web site at http://www.skypub.com/comets/comets.shtml
is chock full of Hale-Bopp information.
Here you'll find viewing information, charts that show where in
the sky the comet will be in the twilight hours before sunrise and
after sunset.
Simulations offer a realistic look at what Hale-Bopp will look
like in your average night sky.
A nice touch is the inclusion of photos taken by amateur astronomers
and photographers who have sent them in from around the world. The
site also has a section on do-it-yourself comet photography for
the amateur shooter.
A site devoted solely to the comet is the Comet Hale-Bopp Homepage
at www.halebopp.com.
The site archives lots of photos, with many from observatories around
the world. The comet's namesakes, Alan Hale and Tom Bopp, are among
this site's principal contributors.
The site also hosts the Hale-Bopp Magazine, and more astronomy information
plus links to other sites on the Web.
For a quick hit of comet and viewing information, simply click on
the "Eye on Science" icon found at the News-Enterprise
Online Web site at www.newsenterpriseonline.com.
You may want to check out the site's NCAA Final Four pages, as well
as the online news of the day.
TIME'S UP. Having products and services on the Internet
is becoming increasingly important in the business world. But drawing
people to your information or service isn't always easy, as discovered
recently by Time magazine.
The news magazine moved its electronic edition from America Online
to CompuServe last March. The move was seen as quite a victory for
CompuServe -- especially considering the fact that it has a significantly
smaller subscriber base than AOL.
Apparently the magazine's content wasn't a big enough draw for
CompuServe. The company announced in January that it was exercising
an option in its contract with Time to drop it from its lineup.
Time responded Wednesday by saying it was suing CompuServe for
$3.5 million for allegedly reneging on its two-year contract.
CompuServe representatives responded Thursday by saying the magazine's
content wasn't sufficient to justify keeping it on their service
and Time's claims were "without merit."
The magazine has a site on the massive Time Warner Pathfinder site
(www.pathfinder.com/time/), though many of the stories from the
print edition are edited down at the Web site.
Time has served as the anchor for CompuServe's news section, providing
current and archived editorial content and round-the-clock daily
news.
Legal questions aside, CompuServe has yet to announce how it plans
to replace the content previously provided by Time. The service
-- which has not followed AOL's lead by offering unlimited access
for a monthly fee -- targets business users with most of its content
offerings, and it will be interesting to see how they fill the void.
Time became the first online newsmagazine in 1993 and in 1994,
was the first magazine launched on the Internet.
For corporate information about CompuServe you can visit their
Web site at www.compuserve.com.
PEELED AND CORED? Apple Computer Inc. announced recently
that it was slashing its workforce by 4,100 jobs and discontinuing
its current consumer product line, the Macintosh Performa model.
The announcement is the second restructuring of the company in
a year as it tries to reduce costs in order to become profitable
once again.
To break even this year, the company needs to cut $500 million
in annual costs, according to a Reuters report.
Apple will focus on its more profitable Power Macintosh computers,
though industry observers say the company has yet to introduce new
products that would reignite sales and consumer interest.
But don't count Apple out yet. The company's new operating system
will give Macintosh a technological advantage over PCs -- or at
least that's the plan.
The operating system's release has been delayed, and Apple now
says it will likely be the end of 1998 before it is released.
Complicating the marketplace for Apple is the entry of Macintosh
clones -- computers that operate just like Apple's Power Macs --
that are priced more competitively than most Apple-brand products.
The job cuts may well bring the company back to profitability by
the end of this year. A leaner, meaner, more competitive company
may well emerge from the current chaos.
SECURITY ALERT. Internet users who've been online for a
year or more will likely remember all the reports in the news about
security holes that showed up in Netscape's Navigator and Microsoft's
Internet Explorer Web browsers last year.
Java and JavaScript, programming languages for animation and other
special Web effects, were both reported to allow programmers to
access or delete information on an Web surfer's computer.
While those "holes" were plugged, Microsoft's new preview
release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 is so un secure that PC
Week's devoted last week's editorial to the topic.
Microsoft announced last December that its products would all be
Internet-ready. In fact, the Windows desktop eventually will look
more like a Web browser window than the traditional desktop.
Internet Explorer 4.0 blurs the line between your local computer
and the Internet -- which sounds really neat.
But the magazine says that the software "offers too many doors
and not enough locks."
Microsoft's ActiveX programming language offers some really great
animation and effects, but it could also be a source for computer
code that could manipulate your PCs files and applications.
Fortunately, the software is still in "beta" -- released
for trial and testing -- and there's still plenty of room for improvements.
In the meantime, PC Week suggests disabling ActiveX if you test
the software.
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