The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 27

LOS ANGELES TIMES MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1999 C5 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY CPU Speeds Vary- but Does PC User Care? A Web of Dumb Laws and Paper Clips display and other components. We can also expect to see graphics applications, games and other programs designed specifically around the Pentium Ill's new features. This isn't to say that these programs won't run on Pentium II machines, older Pentium and Pentium-class CPUs from AMD and Cyrix. In fact, the old 200-MHz Pentium at our house is still doing a great job even with some of the demanding 3D games my son plays. The Pentium III will also have some new security features, including a unique serial number that, if turned on, can identify itself to software products and Web sites.

The serial number can be used to enhance security in electronic commerce and positively authenticate your identity in chat rooms. This feature prompted the Electronic Privacy Information Center (http:www.epic.org) to call for a boycott of Intel because of the potential privacy implications of a chip that can reveal the identity of its user. Intel promptly changed the specification on the chip so that, by default, it doesn't reveal its serial number unless the user enables the feature. EPIC won't be happy until the serial number feature is removed, but personally I feel OK about it as long as Intel makes good on its promise to give the user complete control. While enticing power users with a faster and more powerful Pentium III, Intel has also beefed up its entry -level chip by revamping its Celeron CPUs.

When the Celeron first came out, it was widely criticized as being much slower than the Pentium II. Well, it was supposed to be a bit slower because it was a cheaper chip designed for cheaper PCs. But the new Celeron, boosted by high-performance L2 cache memory, is actually faster than the more expensive Pentium II. PC Week's labs tested machines with 366- and 400-MHz Celeron CPUs against similarly equipped systems with Pentium II CPUs and concluded that "as hard as it is to believe, Intel new 366-MHz and 400-MHz Celeron processors are just as fast as 350-MHz and 400-MHz Pentium II chips." Intel's Walker says the trade weekly was wrong and that Intel's far more expensive Pentium II really is faster. If all this seems confusing, welcome to the club.

I sometimes wonder if Intel deliberately clouds the waters with an array of products aimed at different market sectors. The chip maker does have an interesting marketing challenge. Without a lower-cost CPU, it loses market share to AMD and Cyrix. But with widespread acceptance of its robust entry -level Celeron, it cannibalizes sales of its more lucrative Pentium II and, soon, Pentium III. Intel's strategy is to encourage PC makers to use the Celeron in desktop PCs and notebook machines and aim the Pentium II and Pentium III toward more expensive units.

Most PC vendors go along with that logic and typically equip Pentium II systems with more memory, faster video cards and larger hard drives. But it doesn't have to be that way. Gateway's Web site, which lets you configure machines any way you want, features a $1,499 400-MHz Celeron machine with 64 megabytes of RAM, a 10-gigabyte hard drive and a 17-inch monitor, but you can order an otherwise identical machine with a Pentium II CPU for only $70 more. If you believe PC Week, the Celeron might be a bit faster, but if you believe Intel, you'll get more for your money with the Pentium II. All of this presupposes that speed is a major factor, but for many users, it's not even an issue.

Most of today's software runs fine on any Pentium-class PC, and users are far more concerned with price, followed by ease of use, reliability and bundled software. Mac users, by the way, once had an even more confusing array of CPU choices, but Steve Jobs simplified life by equipping all new Macs with PowerPC G3 processors running at different speeds. iMac buyers, however, are confronted by a choice of colors. My favorite is tangerine, but rumor has it that the strawberry iMac might run a bit faster. Lawrence J.

Magld can be reached at larry.magldlatlmes.com. His Web page Is at http:www.larry$ world.com. On AOL, use keyword "LarryMagld." PC FOCUS LAWRENCE. MAGID When you're shopping for a new PC, one of your biggest decisions is what type of central processing unit to get. The CPU is not the only important component in a PC, but it tends to be the defining one.

With some exceptions, PC makers bundle high-performance components with faster CPUs. But having a faster CPU doesn't necessarily mean you have a better computer, and a PC with "Intel Inside" doesn't necessarily mean anything at all. Intel has spent a fortune building brand awareness, but based on numerous benchmarks and compatibility tests, there is nothing inherently superior about Intel CPUs. PCs with Advanced Micro Devices and Cyrix chips inside can run the same software as Intel CPUs. That said, Intel continues to lead the pack not only in quantities of units shipped but in research and development, especially at the high end.

Intel's latest and greatest chip is the Pentium III, which should start showing up in PCs by March, according to Intel spokesperson Seth Walker. The first shipments will offer machines with clock speeds of 450 and 500 megahertz, and later in the year we can expect systems running at 600 MHz or higher. The new CPU will be the first microprocessor optimized for the Internet, Walker said. Normally, I would be skeptical about any CPU maker's claim that it can improve Internet access, because in the past, the bottleneck for online communications has always been the modem speed. However, the equation is starting to change.

First, an increasing number of users have high-speed connections via cable modems, DSL and other technologies, and as the connection speed increases, other factors of a PC's performance start to matter. Second, Web sites are using graphics, video, audio, teleconferencing, speech-recognition and Java and ActiveX programs that take advantage of the CPU power as well as the PC's memory, video greatest icons, the Star-Spangled Banner, at http:www.historychannel.comstarspangled. You'll learn that although Continental Congress decided the American flag should have 13 red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue background, it didn't specify how they should be arranged. As a result, there were several versions of the Stars and Bars for 40 years. You'll also learn that the 42-by-30-foot flag on display at the National Museum of American History took six weeks to sew and attracts 5 million visitors each year.

If you've got a RealNetworks RealPlayer, you can download files of articles read out loud from the New Yorker, Harper's, Wired and other magazines at Assistive Media (http:www.assistivemedia.org). The site is designed for people with "print readingaccess barriers," and the American Foundation for the Blind allows them to download RealPlayer for free. Did you know it is illegal to drive more than 2,000 sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time? Or that it is illegal to curse on a mini-golf course in Long Beach? How about the law that says horror films may be shown in Glendale only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays? These and other dumb laws are listed at http:www.dumblaws.com. If you don't have enough challenges in your life, stop by Puzzability at http:www.puzzability.com puzzlesindexMml. There are crossword-style puzzles, hangman -style games, a variant of Boggle and puzzling quotations.

Here's a sample question: "Take a seven-letter word that could be defined as 'gathered some Move the currently in the fifth position to the second position and you'll get another word that could be defined as 'gathered some What are these words?" Answer: "Bottled and Blotted." Read up on the intriguing history of the paper clip at http:www.acco.comofficehtmlhistory A Norwegian named Johan Vaaler invented the indispensable office supply in 1866, although the standard double-oval shape (known as the Gem clip) didn't come along until a few decades later in England. For a more tongue-in-cheek paper clip history, check out http:www.net-effect.co.uk clipithistory.htm. This site includes paper clip pictographs in the famous caves of Lascaux, France. The Brunching Shuttlecocks are self -described purveyors of satire. "So if you see famous names or trademarks," their site explains, "that's why.

Non-famous names are a coincidence." Other random bits of humor include reviews of Schoolhouse Rock tunes and of "the worst unseen movies of 1998." An aerospace engineer's proposal to spend 500 years building an interstellar spacecraft elicited several other humorous suggestions of ways to spend 500 years. There's also the Alanis Lyric Generator, so that visitors can just type in a few words and write a song like the angst-ridden Generation crooner Alanis Moris-sette. Karen Kaplan can be reached at karen.kaplan latlmes.com. Send Internet site suggestions to cuttlng.edgelatlmes.com. By KAREN KAPLAN TIMES STAFF WRITER The World Wide Web is a great place to turn when you're looking for a diversion.

Cutting Edge readers certainly know this they've sent us scores of interesting recommendations. Based on their suggestions, this week's column is another random walk through cyberspace: If you made a New Year's resolution to live healthier, stop by VegSource Interactive at http:www.vegsource.org. This site, produced locally, includes two dozen message boards on topics ranging from gardening to veganism to bio-spirituality. An online magazine presents alternative views about diet fads, artificial sweeteners and more. There are charts of nutritional information on all kinds of foods (including such non-vegetarian items as beef, poultry and fish), along with book reviews and more than 5,000 recipes.

There are even tips for new vegetarians (Step 1: Reduce intake of meats and give yourself larger portions of rice, potatoes and vegetables). While the economy is booming, it's a good time to step back into the Great Depression via historical photographs commissioned by the Farm Security Administration Office of War Information. The collection, "America from the Great Depression to World War (http:memory.loc.govammem fsahtmlfahomeMml), includes works of migrant workers in California, dust storms in Oklahoma, cotton pickers in Arkansas and dispossessed city dwellers in New York. You can search the images according to their photographer, including such greats as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans (biographies are included of each). You can also peruse the most popular images and those recommended by experts.

More than 55,000 images are part of this Library of Congress exhibition. If you don't know how your VCR works and you want to find out, stop by How Stuff Works (http:www.howstuffworks.com). This site won't show you how to set your machine to record "ER," but it will tell you how it can fit hours of video data on a flimsy piece of tape. You can also find out how car engines, wireless phones, smoke detectors, toilets, the power distribution grid, radar, digital clocks, modems, the stock market, your immune system and even Web pages work. There's also a fascinating section that shows the inside of household items such as TV remote controls and bathroom scales.

The MIDI Studio Consortium is like an online jukebox Select an artist, then choose the song you want to play. Music styles include pop hits, contemporary, jazz standards, easy listening, classical, patriotic, big band and bluegrass. A section called the Faculty of MIDI Music includes a library with tips for enhancing and editing your own MIDI files. Read up on the history of one of America's I lJ sJ ssSsJsJ sJ sJsJ J'sJ sJ sJsJ sJ ssi sJsJ sJ sJ sJsJi sJ sJsJsJ sJsJsJ sJ sJsJsJ sJsJsJ ssS sJsJ sJ xJzJsJ ssi ssJsJ sJ sJ il il i il il il il il il il il mm A mm il il il il il ir hi il ili il il il ii i i il il il i il il il II il il il il i il il il il il if il i i IK MIPS IK -'I il ill i ilj SI 1 ft il il if il! inH.7 jmud 4wk mmA am tBisJir 4 JSj zU zJ Zj zLi JSJ ZJ zJ zLi zJ zJ -J zJ zJ JZJ zJ zJ zJ zJ zJ SJ SJ SJ zJ zJ 'ZJ zJ zJ zU' tJm.jm. jj unMum, m.mjm.

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