Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Mon, Mar 2 1992 Date: Mon, 2 Mar 92 05:57:42 EST Message-ID: 03-02 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update March 2, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MICHELANGELO TO STRIKE FRIDAY: Anyone who isn't sure where their computer disc has been should be concerned Friday, the birthday of Renaissance artist Michelangelo. That's the day a destructive computer virus is expected to strike infected IBM or compatible personal computers, forever erasing data stored on both floppy and hard discs. The Michelangelo is one of more than a thousand known viruses. (For more, see special Virus package below.) PIONEER 10 CONTINUES JOURNEY: NASA's Pioneer 10 is winging its way into deep space at a speed of 28,900 mph. At 2:58 a.m. EST Monday, it will be 5 billion miles from Earth. The only apparent threat to the spacecraft, expected to operate until at least the year 2000, is declining power levels from its generators. The probe's radio signal now has only eight watts of power, the equivalent of a night-light. VOICE RECOGNITION V-MAIL ON WAY: Voice-mail systems may be annoying to some people, but not only are they hear to stay, new systems that can recognize human speech are on their way. The voice recognition business is soaring. The industry's revenue surpassed $161 million in 1991, and is expected to grow to $576 million in 1995. Voice-mail systems that use voice recognition are already available in some markets. NASA'S IUKA SITE MAY STAY OPEN: If NASA's solid rocket motor program is canceled, the project's Iuka, Miss., site could be used in building components for a new generation of cheaper, more reliable rockets for boosting payloads into orbit, officials and lawmakers say. That would save some jobs now threatened by President Bush's plans to eliminate funding for the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor program next year. ROCKET WILL BE LAUNCHED IN 2002: NASA'S $11.5 billion New Launch System, which is designed to complement the space shuttle, will use a modular system to build three versions of a rocket to carry payloads from 10 to 80 tons. A site in Iuka, Miss., expected to lose some of its NASA business in the next budget, could be used to build components. The first flight of the rocket is scheduled for 2002. HYUNDAI OFFERS WARRANTY: A new promotion by Hyundai Electronics America is offering customers a lifetime warranty on some of its personal computer products. It is being offered free from March 1 through June 30. It covers the base system including the motherboard and related components such as video card, floppy disk drive and keyboard. The warranty is limited to the original user of the equipment. OCTEL OFFERS V-MAIL SYSTEM: Octel Communications introduced Friday the Octel XC1000, a high capacity voice information processing system. It is designed for large companies and organizations. Fully configurated, it has 144 ports, 672 hours of message storage and supports up to 30,000 mailboxes. The price ranges from $260,000 to more than $1 million. MORE BUY SECURITY TIMERS: About 7 million security timers were sold in the USA, according to Intermatic Inc. In 1980, 4 million of the devices that turn lights on and off were sold. In 1985, 4.5 million were sold. The next five years saw a noticeable jump: 6.5 million were sold in 1990. BELLSOUTH SIGNS DEAL: BellSouth and Racal Datacom Inc. have signed a comarketing agreement, the firms say. BellSouth will market its network services in conjunction with Racal-Datacom's line of T-1 multiplexers, as well as other data communications products. Multiplexers are used to improve efficiency of networks by concentrating the traffic. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON VIRUS: FIVE MILLION ARE INFECTED: The Michelangelo computer virus has become troublesome for the computer industry because it's believed to have infected some five million personal computers and can cause a lot of damage, says Ken Danielsen of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. With some viruses, data can be recovered after an attack. The Michelangelo virus, however, permanently deletes the information. VIRUS IS STORED IN DISCS: A computer virus is essentially a hidden computer program designed to wreak havoc. They can instruct a computer to run tasks against a user's wishes, such as interrupt normal operations, make copies of itself onto other discs and, in this case, erase information. The program is stored in sectors of discs that most users usually don't bother with, making it hard to detect. VIRUS BEGAN IN SCANDINAVIA: The minute a computer with the Michelangelo virus is turned on Friday, the virus automatically will instruct the computer to erase all information stored on hard and floppy discs. The virus, computer experts believe, originated in Scandinavia. It quickly spread throughout the world when computer users exchanged discs or retrieved programs from electronic bulletin boards. PROGRAMS CAN KILL MICHELANGELO: The virus can be detected using special anti-viral programs. Mark Medici, of Rutgers Computing Services in Piscataway, N.J., said there are several inexpensive programs that can detect and destroy the Michelangelo. They can be purchased through software stores or on-line bulletin boards. For those unwilling to buy anti-viral programs, he strongly recommends making copies of all files. (End of package.) Technology Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM