Friday, July 9

U.S. West has introduced a new lower-cost DSL flavor for $19.95 per month. The service uses a slower, 256 Kbps connection, and is not an always-on connection, meaning that busy signals are possible. The service can be used with any of U.S. West's DSL ISP partners, or purchased with U.S. West's own access program for an extra $17.95 per month, for a total monthly fee of $37.90.

Data Communications has the most extensive article yet on Internet access through satellites, both one-way and two-way.

Put on your metal colander hat and your tinfoil scarf: the Internet's trying to control your mind. If that sounds crazy to you, congratulations! You're sane. According to Wired, the Internet has become the psychotic's paranoid choice of external mind control influences, eclipsing such old school technologies as microwave dishes and spy satellites.

The IPv6 Forum is a new group promoting the adoption of IP, version 6, which will greatly increase the number of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses by moving from a 32-bit system to a 128-bit system. The current IP system is running out of addresses, in part because of Internet growth and in part because of address hoarding. According to one (unconfirmed) calculation, IPv6 would provide 665,570,793,348,866,943,898,599 IP addresses per square meter of the earth's surface.

Computer security

Microsoft is bracing for the release of Back Orifice 2000, a supposed security tool that provides intruders with remote control of a computer running Microsoft Windows NT.

Wired reports on security problems with Third Voice, a web page annotation program that lets visitors exchange notes about a site.

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