[AppleSurf Inbox] Apr 25, 2000

[applesurf at myapplemenu.comapplesurf]

AppleSurf Inbox

== Top Stories ====================

U.S., States Favor Plan To Split Up Microsoft (Washiongton Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2076-2000Apr23.html>
The Justice Department and 19 states are leaning toward asking a court to split Microsoft Corp. into two or three separate companies in a plan designed to end the software giant's monopoly in the U.S. computer industry, people familiar with the discussions said over the weekend.

In His Own Image (The Industry Standard)
<http://www.thestandard.com/news/net21/display/0,3455,l14272,00.html>
The person who has done the best job promoting Internet goods and services: Steve Jobs.

== Seize the Day! (Great news for Mac users) ====================

In His Own Image (The Industry Standard)
<http://www.thestandard.com/news/net21/display/0,3455,l14272,00.html>
The person who has done the best job promoting Internet goods and services: Steve Jobs.

== Listen Up! (Opinions around the web) ====================

The Mac Enterprise? Who Cares? (Creative Mac)
<http://www.creativemac.com/HTM/Features/talkinsmack/04_00/dave10.htm>
A network should be transparent, and we should be happy Apple remains focused on the workstation and continues to deliver the best creative tool on the market.

== Thousand Flowers (News on Macintosh third-parties) ====================

Corel Responds To Bankruptcy Story (MacCentral)
<http://www.maccentral.com/news/0004/24.corel.shtml>
Susan Gauthier, Director or Public Relations for Corel Corp. said that although "the facts of the [Ottawa Citizen] story are correct, the gist of the story isn't." The facts according to Gauthier are that "as required, Corel filed their SEC 10-Q report -- that report, by it's very nature, is conservative and cautionary in the extreme." 

== Know Thy Enemy (Keeping track of the Wintel empire) ====================

Microsoft Breakup Is Hot Issue (San Jose Mercury News)
<http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/dg042500.htm>
Western civilization is in jeopardy. And it's all my fault. Not just mine, actually -- the U.S. Justice Department and a bunch of state governments are also to blame. We're all just carrying water, you see, for a bunch of anti-capitalist losers that can't stand to see anyone else succeed. That was the tone of some of the e-mail I received in the wake of my Sunday column suggesting that the government lawyers, having prevailed in the Microsoft antitrust trial, now seek an appropriate remedy for corporate misbehavior.

Breakup Good For MS? (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,35877,00.html>
The thinking goes like this: If Microsoft and the government enter into a consent decree, the DOJ will have to scrutinize Microsoft's every move for years to come, micro-managing the company's business strategy at every turn. The government will essentially be in the software business -- the greatest fear of Microsoft's supporters.

U.S., States Favor Plan To Split Up Microsoft (Washiongton Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2076-2000Apr23.html>
The Justice Department and 19 states are leaning toward asking a court to split Microsoft Corp. into two or three separate companies in a plan designed to end the software giant's monopoly in the U.S. computer industry, people familiar with the discussions said over the weekend.

Microsoft Puts On Good Face For Hardware Faithful (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-1727900.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..1006-200-1727900>
Microsoft is refusing to abandon future plans for the computing industry, notwithstanding its antitrust troubles.

Microsoft Dives On Downgrades, Breakup Reports (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1750314.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..1005-200-1750314>
Shares of Microsoft plummeted today, as investors digested the gloomy outlook for the software giant on several fronts.

Microsoft Ships New Test Version Of Database Software (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-1750235.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..1003-200-1750235>
Microsoft today will ship a second test version of its next-generation database software, a crucial piece in the company's e-commerce software strategy.

== Breaking Barriers (About the internet and the web) ====================

Singapore Broadband Providers Must Guarantee Minimum Access Speed (CNET Singapore)
<http://singapore.cnet.com/news/2000/04/25/20000425m.html>
Singapore is likely to be the first country in the world to impose a minimum standard for access speed. High time, frustrated local users must be saying.

Myanmar's Rulers Block Internet (Associated Press)
<http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/456445l.htm>
``Why would we want to collect garbage, as it were, in our own homes?'' a government spokesman, Lt. Col. Hla Min, said when asked about banning Burmese from seeing foreign-produced pro-democracy Web sites like www.burmanet.org. ``We want to use the Internet for constructive purposes to improve the knowledge of our people, not as a platform for troublemakers to create problems,'' he said.
 

== The AppleSurf Reader (Great Reads!) ====================

All Elian, All The Time (MSNBC)
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/399118.asp?cp1=1>
Media, politicos, exiles and Fidel put one child’s tragedy to their own cynical purposes.

== Technology ====================

Singapore Broadband Providers Must Guarantee Minimum Access Speed (CNET Singapore)
<http://singapore.cnet.com/news/2000/04/25/20000425m.html>
Singapore is likely to be the first country in the world to impose a minimum standard for access speed. High time, frustrated local users must be saying.

== Around Town ====================

NTUC Disappointed Over DBS Latest Banking Requirements (Channel NewsAsia)
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/articles/2000/04/25/singaporenews24914.htm>
Singapore's labour movement on Tuesday expressed disappointment over DBS Bank's decision to raise the minimum requirement to open an account and to impose a penalty charge on accounts with small balances.

Speakers' Corner At Hong Lim Park Expected To Be Launched By August (Channel NewsAsia)
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/articles/2000/04/25/singaporenews24912.htm>
A speaker will not be allowed to use a microphone, but can speak on just about anything he wants. All he has to do is to register at the Kreta Ayer Police Post nearby, show his IC and bring his own soapbox.

Minimum Sum Fees At POSBank (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/money/sinb1_0425.html>
The man-in-the-street was, however, less forgiving. Said civil servant Goh Kim Hua, 23: "This is ridiculous. POSBank is traditionally known to be a bank for the people. It has not charged these fees for so long...why impose them now?"

Differentiate Between The Innocent And Perpetrators (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/for2_0425.html>
Robert Teh Kok Hua: We could legislate more but we need to temper the enforcement agencies with a kinder approach.