Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 13

THE UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL Technoli WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2,1998 B-1 Gateway G6-300 is tidy, affordable By LARRY BLASKO Associated Press A lot about parenting college-bound freshmen is also about spending money, which usually includes a PC system. Systems costing less than $1,000 are tempting, but your student will need a printer and software, Which means that you're still in for about $1,400 Worth of compromises unless you're very knowledgeable about components and more than a little lucky. But if you can afford $1,568, check out Gateway's G6-300 multimedia computer, a total package with a very high "Wow!" factor for the price. (And have Gateway ship it directly to the student instead of hauling it to school yourself.

Gateway, of North Sioux City, S.D., has been selling directly since 1985.) The G6-300 is powered by an Intel Pentium 300-megahertz processor with a 512-k cache, and Comes with 32 megabytes of RAM installed. The hard drive is five gigabytes, and there's a 3.5-inch floppy drive and a DVD-ROM drive that reads computer and audio CD-ROMs, full-screen sound and motion DVD (Digital Video Disk) movies and other CD formats. That makes it handy for cramped dorm rooms. A microphone is included, useful for language learning applications and Internet telephoning. And the audio card also handles answering machine and voicemail chores.

The monitor measures 17 inches diagonally and the sound system includes an integrated Ensoniq PCI audio powering a Boston Acoustics 635 speaker system. The graphics are an integrated four megabytes of video RAM 3-D AGP Graphics with hardware-level MPEG-2 video compression. The modem is a US V.90-com- pliant 56kbps screamer. Included software besides Windows 98: Microsoft Word 97 (word processing), Works 4.5 (integrated spreadsheets, database, processing), Money 98, Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, Greeting Workshop and an Entertainment Pack of puzzles and such. Two DVD disks Jack Nicklaus 4 by Accolade, and Warner Music Group Does DVD are included, along with a pamphlet offering more than 500 DVD film and video titles.

printer, the Canon BJC 4300, is a $200 Value. Since testing it, I have adopted it as the color printer for my home system. BIzFacts KRT TRAP Although Gateway goes out of its way to provide good documentation, online help and manuals, you can set up the system if you can just match colors: Insert orange plug into orange socket, for example. The keyboard has a series of buttons that control the CD-ROM and other installed peripherals, which seems to be the current rage. The system itself is in a tower configuration.

The warranty includes one-year on-site service and three years on parts and labor. Watching the DVD music disk blew me away. The picture, full-screen, was better than television and the sound system delivered a solid punch. The processor speed and generous system memory made Windows 98 race along nicely. An investment in the system should cover four years of college without requiring much additional spending.

As with all Gateway products I've tried, these components are solid, heavy-duty and built to last. Gateway Web site: www.gateway.com. Phone: (800) 846-2000. Questions and comments are welcome: Com- puBug, P.O. Box 626, Summit, N.J.

07901. Or email via the Internet at HIGH TECH SHOPPING Struggling Internet retailer needs $26 million to stay afloat Associated Press NEWPORT BEACH Shopping.com, the struggling Internet retailer, needs at least $26 million to stay in business for another year. Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week show Shop- ping.com went through $30 million put up by investors and it needs more cash to stay in business through January. The company is trying to raise more cash through private placement offerings. The disclosures were part of a registration statement for 2.3 million shares of stock at an offering price of $25.25.

In late August, Shopping.com shares were hovering at $22. According to the filing, the company will not receive any of the proceeds. The stock is being registered on behalf of investors who already have purchased $10 million worth of convertible debentures bonds that can be turned into stock or who hold stock purchase warrants. Officials at Shopping.com didn't return telephone calls. Shopping.com raised $11.6 million with its first public offering last year.

After the stock went from $9 to $32, the SEC suspended trading for 10 days, suggesting the share price had been manipulated. At the same time, founder Robert J. McNulty was accused in a series of lawsuits of misleading investors and misusing company finances. The SEC documents show Shopping.com had a net loss of $4.7 million for the quarter ending April 30. ihd rfrtstndt bought I therein the past e.mohtfw,-, V-4'H' i l' £, wtth internet or .1895 geitortje Stopping 997 Sates revenues): Chicago Tribune, KRT Airlines beginning use of voice-activated reservations By KATIE FAIRBANK AP Business Writer FORT WORTH, Texas It' 11 almost be like talking to a real person.

American Airlines is implementing a computer program that will let a select group of prized customers give spoken instructions, eliminating the need for them to issue commands with touch-tone telephone buttons. United Airlines also has been using a speech-recognition program, but so far it's only being used by employees when they make their own travel arrangements. Northwest Airlines is planning to test the technology for some reservations and Delta Air Lines is considering it. The airlines say that ultimately voice-activated technology will let travelers find out when their plane is leaving or make See AIRLINES, Page B-2 VOGT'S Communication Services 24 Hour Answering Service Tailored to Your Business Needs 462-4126 'Net Wars' good source free speech debates By SCOTT BUTKI Donrey Media Group is an apt namfc for about the Internet because many of the issues covered by its author Wendy Grossman do resemble battles between two sides. There are those convinced; for example, that 99 percent of the images on the Internet are pornographic.

And then-there are those who use the Net and know you have to hunt to find sites with pornography. 'There are those who think free speech should be protected at iaiy costs on this medium which knows no geographical boundaries and those who differ. You get the idea, i In her book, published by New York University Press, Grossman covers those issues and others with more depth, thought and intelligence than m'ost writers. She also tackles with ease some of the more complicated issues, such as the fight over encryption. Law enforce-' rrieht officials want to be able to read encrypted computer files while privacy rights activists disagree.

The book's best chapter, "Copyright Terrorism" is about the Church of Scientology and some of its actions on the Internet. There was a war between supporters and skeptics of the church on a Usenet discussion group called alt.religion.Scien- tology. Some skeptics posted documents that Scientology members would only be able to get access to after they move past the requisite lower levels of the church in their learning. Church 'leaders felt this was very inappropriate and possibly illegal. While this spat was going on some users' messages, invariably those of church critics, began mysteriously disappearing.

While fingers were pointed at church officials, it was not proven that they were responsible. Then things grew worse. Church members began harassing some of the skeptics and suing their internet service providers. In order to avoid harassment some Usenet members began using a remailer service, which is a way to send e-mail without it being easily tracked directly back to you. The church didn't See NET, Page B-2 Coffee Tea'N SPICE Frozen Latte Mocha Smoothies 415-B Talmage Ave Ukiah 462-8288 PROBATE, ESTATE PLANNING AND TRUSTS JAMES R.

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