From: rich@tosh.wcc.govt.nz (Richard Naylor )
Newsgroups: nz.comp
Subject: Vogon News - Friday 6 Nov 1992
Date: Mon, 09 Nov 92 21:35:08 GMT
Organization: City Net -  Wellington City Council's Community Computer Network

21:34:46
 9-Nov-1992
 
<><><><><><><><>  T h e   V O G O N   N e w s   S e r v i c e  <><><><><><><><>

 Edition : 2700               Friday  6-Nov-1992            Circulation :  7671 

        VNS MAIN NEWS .....................................   52 Lines
        VNS COMPUTER NEWS .................................  125   "
        VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH ..............................   87   "
        VNS UK SPORTS REPORT ..............................   50   "

        Please send subscription and backissue requests to CASEE::VNS


VNS MAIN NEWS:                                     [Tom Povey, VNS UK News Desk]
==============                                     [Reading, England           ]

    Here is the News at 07:00 GMT on Friday 6-November-1992
    -------------------------------------------------------
        
    UK News
    -------
    FT-SE = 2711.1
    Exchange Rate for UK pound = $ 1.5355  = Dm 2.4295

    The Home Secretary has been accused of suppressing a report on the
    funding of the police service.

    A survey by the Radio 4 Today programme indicates that next week's vote
    by the General Synod of the Church of England on the ordination of women
    priests is going to be very close.

    Talks on the political future of Northern Ireland continue today and are
    expected to be completed next Tuesday ahead of an Anglo-Irish
    conference on 16th November.

    European News
    -------------

    A row has broken out within the EC following the breakdown of trade
    negotiations with the USA and the imposition by the USA of tarrifs
    against EC goods. The chief EC trade negotiator, Ray MacSharry, has
    resigned saying that the EC president, Jacques Delors, blocked any deal
    between the EC and the USA. Other sources say that M. Delors took the
    side of french farmers rather than the EC as a whole. The US negotiator
    has commented that one reason the talks broke down was because the EC
    could not agree within itself upon a position. She also said that the
    new tarrifs were the way for the US to receive compensation for loss of
    trade over recent years.

    A general election has been called in Ireland for later this month
    following the collapse yesterday of the coalition government. 

    World News
    ----------

    Japan is to re-start loans to Viet-Nam for economic development which it
    stopped following the invasion of Cambodia. This is seen to indicate
    that Japan expects the USA to remove its boycott on economic aid.


    {News courtesy of the BBC}


    Local Weather
    -------------

    A slightly misty start, staying cloudy but dry. High 15C/59F. Rain
    likely over the weekend.


VNS COMPUTER NEWS:                            [Tracy Talcott, VNS Computer Desk]
==================                            [Nashua, NH, USA                 ]

    Wednesday's Market                               Digital Fair Market Value
      Quote     Change                              2-Dec-1991   $60.6875
 IBM   68 1/4	-  7/8				   29-May-1992   $42.4375
                                                   85% of lower  $36.250
    Thursday's Market	   Dow Jones    Change      1-Jun-1992   $40.750
 DEC   36 5/8	+2 1/8	   3243.84	+20.80

 CompuAdd Computer - Sets new line of workstations and servers under $2,000
	{The Wall Street Journal, 5-Nov-92, p. B6}
   CompuAdd Computer said its new MC series involves six computer systems,
 including four high-powered desktop machines and two floor-standing servers
 designed to route information through large networks of PCs.  The entry-level
 system, already loaded with Novell's NetWare networking software, is priced at
 $1,779, compared with $2,700 for Compaq's bottom-of-the-line machine and
 $7,365 for Dell's new 466SE/DSA.

 Compaq - Says supply woes won't halt growth
	{The Wall Street Journal, 5-Nov-92, p. B6}
   Compaq said its record revenue growth will continue in the fourth quarter,
 despite a supply shortage of some key parts.  Fear of parts shortages at
 Compaq prompted Alex. Brown & Sons to downgrade its recommendation on the
 company's stock to "neutral" from "buy."  Analyst Steven L. Eskenzai lowered
 his earnings estimate of Compaq's full-year earnings to $2.29 a share from
 his previous estimate of $2.55 a share.  The moved help send Compaq's stock
 down 87.5 cents to $39.50 in New York Stock Exchange trading yesterday.
 Though Alex. Brown officials declined to comment on its move, industry
 analysts guessed that the downgrade stemmed from a mention of the parts issue
 in Compaq's most recent quarterly financial statement.  In that report, the
 company says components shortages "will have a dampening effect on revenue and
 profitability in the fourth quarter."  The Compaq report goes on to say that
 additional price cuts likely will result in further drops in the company's
 gross profit margins, which fell to 28.1% in the third quarter from 34.3%
 during the year-earlier quarter.  "The can be no assurance that resulting
 volume increases will be sufficient to offset declining gross profit
 percentages," the Compaq report said.  When asked about the Alex. Brown
 downgrade, Benjamin M. Rosen, Compaq chairman, said he doesn't expect the
 parts shortage to affect overall growth.  "The truth is that if we had an
 unlimited supply of components, we could build even more computers," Mr. Rosen
 said.  Demand keeps going up, not down.  We're not holding back the orders,"
 Mr. Rosen cautioned that the quarterly financial report was "written by
 lawyers" and shouldn't be interpreted to mean that Compaq is expecting a
 drop-off in fourth quarter profits."  "Traditionally, said a company
 spokesman, "the fourth quarter is our best quarter.  We don't see any reason
 why that's not going to be true this year."  For months, Compaq has complained
 about the difficulties in finding enough disk drives, power supplies and
 flat-panel displays to meet the surge in demand created by the success of
 ProLinea, its new line of low-cost computers.  Nevertheless, the company last
 month said 3rd quarter sales rose 50% to $1.07 billion.  Analysts say Compaq
 sold more than 500,000 machines in the 3rd quarter, up from about 200,000 sold
 in the second period.

 Microtest Inc. - Goes public at $14.50/share. Closes first day at $17/share
	{The Wall Street Journal, 2-Nov-92, p. C6}
   The Phoenix, Ariz., company, which makes local area network monitoring
 devices, offered 2.3 million shares.  The offering included 825,000 shares
 sold by existing stockholders.

 Fiscal News - Quarterdeck Office Systems
 Quarterdeck Office Systems - 4th quarter earnings $0.07 vs. $0.16 a year ago.
	{The Wall Street Journal, 2-Nov-92, p. C6}
   The software company blamed the decline on rising costs associated with an
 expansion of its business. It's stock dropped 1 1/4 to 5 7/8 on the news.

 Digital - Bob Palmer announces new ethics office, time frame for new
	organization at annual meeting
	{Livewire, Worldwide News, 5-Nov-92}
   Digital President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Palmer announced today
 that the company is creating an Office of Ethics to help set standards for 
 ethical business practices worldwide.
   Bob made the announcement at Digital's annual meeting of stockholders at the
 World Trade Center in Boston in response to a question about Digital's values. 
   The Office of Ethics will be a vice-presidential position that reports 
 directly to Bob.      
   Bob also outlined the company's restructuring into customer-focused business
 units and repeated Digital's intent to return to profitable growth.
   He said he expects to announce the business units and their managers before 
 the end of this year.
   Although pressed to do so, Bob declined to say exactly when Digital would 
 return to profitability, repeating that it will take time.  He re-emphasized
 that the customer must be the primary focus of everything that Digital does.  
   The business units, Bob said, will have complete responsibility for business
 strategy, customer solutions, revenue generation and profit and loss 
 statements.  
   Bob added that Digital will continue to invest in core competencies in 
 services, software, networking, storage and silicon.
   "We are undertaking a major task:  reinventing Digital for the 1990s," Bob 
 concluded.  "Digital has the talent, the technology, the financial resources
 and the commitment necessary for profitable growth and success in the
 marketplace.  One year from today, our progress will be obvious."
   In other business, Digital's shareholders approved the appointment of three 
 members to the Board of Directors:  Dr. Thomas Gerrity, dean of the Wharton 
 School of Finance; Colby H. Chandler, retired chairman of the board and chief 
 executive officer of Eastman Kodak Co.; and current Digital director Arnaud 
 de Vitry.  Their terms of office will expire in 1995.
   Shareholders also formally approved the selection of Coopers & Lybrand as 
 Digital's auditors for FY93.

 Digital - Digital's new licensing flexibility; facilitates Alpha AXP upgrades
	{Livewire, Worldwide News, 5-Nov-92}
   Digital has announced a new business practice that provides customers the 
 flexibility to move software applications between hardware platforms without 
 paying additional licensing fees.  This new practice -- the first of its kind 
 in the industry -- enables customers to make more strategic use of computing 
 assets and will facilitate integration of the forthcoming Alpha AXP systems.
   Digital's user licenses now provide cross-platform mobility by allowing use 
 of a layered product across all platforms running the same operating system.
   For example, a Personal Use License for DEC FORTRAN for OpenVMS can be used 
 on either a VAX or Alpha AXP platform.
   Customers benefit by being able to move the user licenses between systems
 they already own and systems they buy in the future, provided they are running
 the same operating system.  Customers can be assured that their investment in
 user licenses is protected.
   Cross-platform mobility applies automatically to all user-based application 
 licenses that the customer already has purchased and those that are purchased 
 in the future.  No additional paperwork is required.  There are no additional 
 license fees.
   The mobility provided by the new business practice is unique to the
 industry. Other companies require customers migrating to new hardware
 platforms to purchase new licenses, resulting in additional costs and
 administrative overhead.
   It allows customers who need an application not yet available on Alpha AXP
 to make the investment today on an available platform and with the confidence
 of full investment protection.  This flexible business practice complements
 the functional compatibility of the operating systems that provide customers
 the technical ease to migrate applications.


VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                           [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent]
=====================                           [Littleton, MA, USA            ]

          Windows NT Demonstrated On World's Fastest Microprocessor
          {DEC press release}

    October 28, 1992 -- The first public demonstration of Microsoft
    Corporation's Windows NT software running on a Digital Equipment
    Corporation Alpha AXP computer was conducted on Wall Street.
    Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer William Gates performed
    the demonstration to an audience of senior managers from the financial
    and banking industry.

    According to David Stone, Digital's vice-president of software
    engineering, "The financial community plays a strategic role in
    adopting new information processing technologies as it seeks more
    efficient and cost-effective ways to process and access information.
    The Windows NT operating system with Digital's enterprise-wide software
    and Alpha AXP systems will offer a unique combination of high
    performance to meet demanding application needs well into the
    twenty-first century."

    The Alpha system demonstrated is an Advanced Technology Display of 
    the first member of Digital's family of Alpha AXP personal computer
    systems, which incorporates Digital's 21064 microprocessor. The
    microprocessor has been ranked by the Guinness Book of World Records 
    as the "world's fastest", and is the fastest single-processor machine
    capable of running Windows NT software.
    {Contributed by David Price}

            Microsoft Windows NT Supported on Leading SMP Machines
            {Microsoft Press Release}

    With the announcement of the COMPAQ* SystemPro/XL, nine vendors have
    announced and are actively demonstrating symmetric multiprocessing
    (SMP) using Microsoft* Windows NT operating system version 3.1. 
    These nine vendors are demonstrating Windows NT running symmetrically
    on 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 16 processor machines, and include traditional PC
    and PC server vendors, such as ACER, ALR, AST Research, Inc., Compaq,
    Olivetti and Wyse; superserver vendors, such as Tricord; and
    minicomputer vendors, such as NCR and Sequent. These Windows NT-based 
    SMP systems range in cost from $8,000 up to $1 million, and are
    designed for everything from high-end workstation uses to enterprise
    business applications servers.

    The benefit of symmetric multiprocessing is to increase processing 
    capacity, allowing SMP workstations and servers to handle tasks more
    efficiently. Microsoft Windows NT version 3.1 has been designed from
    the ground up to take full advantage of symmetric multiprocessing. 
    The multiprocessing support in Windows NT is particularly strong
    because its efficient scheduler operates at the thread level: it can
    assign two threads from the same process to different processors. The
    Windows NT operating system itself is enabled for multiprocessing
    throughout the system.

    "Windows NT will provide immediate benefits to users running SMP 
    systems at the desktop and to MIS workers running SMP systems at the
    server. Existing multithreaded applications, such as database
    servers, can take advantage of symmetric multiprocessing without any
    modification of the application, greatly improving performance," said
    Dwayne Walker, director, Windows NT and networking products at
    Microsoft.

    "With the announcement of the COMPAQ SystemPro/XL, COMPAQ delivers
    outstanding price performance, manageability and reliability for 
    business-critical applications based on Microsoft Windows NT," said
    Mike Clark, COMPAQ vice president, North American systems marketing. 
    "The combination of Windows NT with the revolutionary TriFlex system
    architecture, with fully symmetric multiprocessing capability, provides 
    the ideal processing platform for databases and large-scale office
    automation applications."

    On the high end, Sequent Computer Systems recently demonstrated
    Microsoft Windows NT running on a Sequent* Symmetry*/750, with 16
    Intel* 50 MHz 486 processors. The capability demonstration included
    ORACLE*7, SQL server from Microsoft and the PeopleSoft* Human Resource
    Management System (HRMS). Paul Gifford, general manager of Sequent's
    operation for Windows NT, said, "The combination of Microsoft Windows
    NT and SMP systems from Sequent will be a powerful solution for running 
    mission-critical applications in large corporations."

    "Windows NT supports multiprocessing at the thread level, an 
    architecture that will be especially important to database users,"
    according to Gary Voth, SQL server product manager at Microsoft. 
    "Database users are extremely performance minded. SQL Server for
    Windows NT is the first database server to implement SMP support using
    native operating system threads. This design will offer customers
    greater scalability, reduced overhead and complexity and tighter
    integration with the operating system."
    {Contributed by toddn@microsoft"  


VNS UK SPORTS REPORT:                             [Ken Merrick, VNS Sports Desk]
=====================                             [Valbonne, France            ]

CRICKET
	South Africa have withdrawn their bid to host the 1995 World Cup. In a
statement from the SACB, the board are to concentrate their energies on
developing the game as a true multi-racial sport within the country.


FOOTBALL
	European Cup, 2nd round, 2nd leg		       Qualifier
	Marseille       2   Dynamo Bucharest  0		       Marseille 
	Leeds United    1   Glasgow Rangers   2		       Glasgow Rangers 
	Lech Poznan	0   IFK Gothenburg    3		       IFK Gothenburg
	AC Milan        4   Slovan Bratislava 0		       AC Milan
	Austria Vienna  3   FC Bruges         1                FC Bruges
	FC Porto        4   FC Sion           0		       FC Porto
	PSV Eindhoven   3   AEK Athens        0	    	       PSV Eindhoven
	FC Barcelona    2   CSKA Moscow       3                CSKA Moscow

	European Cup-Winners Cup, 2nd round, 2nd leg           Qualifier
	Olympiakos      0   AS Monaco         0                Olympiakos 
	Sparta Prague   1   Werder Bremen     0                Sparta Prague
	FC Antwerp      3   Admira Wacker     4                FC Antwerp
	Boavista        0   Parma             2                Parma  
	Feyenoord       4   Lucerne           1                Feyenoord
	Steua Bucharest 2   Aarhus            1                Steua Bucharest
	Atletico Madrid 0   Trabsonspor       0                Atletico Madrid
	Liverpool       0   Spartak Moscow    2                Spartak Moscow

	UEFA Cup, 2nd round, 2nd leg			       Qualifier 
	Sheffield Wed     2  Kaiserlautern       2             Kaiserlautern
	Juventus          0  Panathanaikos       0             Juventus
	Celtic		  1  Borussia Dortmund   2             Borussia Dortmund
	Paris St Germain  0  Naples	         0             Paris St Germain
	FC Copenhagen     0  Auxerre             2             Auxerre
	Ajax              2  Guimaraes           1             Ajax
	Standard Liege    1  Hearts              0             Standard Liege
	Torpedo Moscow    3  Real Madrid         2             Real Madrid 
	G. Zurich         4  AS Roma             3             AS Roma
	Olomuc            7  Fenerbahce          1             Olomuc
	Mechelen          0  Vitesse Arnheim     1             Vitesse Arnheim
	Galatasaray       1  Eintracht Frankfurt 0             Galatasaray
	Vac Izzo          0  Benfica             1             Benfica 
	Dynamo Kiev       0  RSC Anderlecht      3             RSC Anderlecht
	Dynamo Moscow     0  Torino              0             Dynamo Moscow
	Real Saragosse    5  Copenhagen          1             Real Saragosse

RUGBY UNION
	Tour matches:
	Midlands 9, South Africa 32
	Swansea 21, Australia 6
	French Basques 21, Argentina 15


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<><><><><><><><>   VNS Edition : 2700      Friday  6-Nov-1992   <><><><><><><><>


--
rich@tosh.wcc.govt.nz (Richard Naylor ) 
Newsgroups: nz.comp