Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Tue, Jul 28 1992 Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 04:32:03 EDT Message-ID: 07-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update July 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TECHNOLOGY HELPS DISABLED: Technology is the answer for putting many of America's 36 million people with disabilities to work. Two-thirds of all disabled Americans of working age are unemployed, yet 66% of them want jobs. On Sunday, a federal law with the goal of ending hiring roadblocks went into effect. It requires employers to provide on-the job accommodations for people with disabilities. (For more, see special Disabilities package below.) COMPUTERS USED TO VIEW MOVIES: A couple of Santa Monica, Calif., exhibitors at this week's Video Software Dealers Association convention are experimenting with the technology, known as CD-ROM. It allows people to watch movies on their home computer. This fall, the Voyager Co. will release the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" on CD-ROM. Laserdisc Entertainment has released X-rated "House of Dreams" on CD-ROM. MOVIES CAN BE PLAYED ON MACS: CD-ROM software that can be used to watch movies on computers is contained on a compact disc similar to the familiar music CDs. Commonly used for data retrieval, the software can be played on specially equipped Macintosh computers. The movies will be sold initially in computer stores. Right now, the movies don't fill the whole screen. They occupy a space smaller than a postcard. WRECKED V-22 TO BE REASSEMBLED: A barge carrying the wreckage of an experimental V-22 Osprey left Quantico, Va., for the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent, Md. Investigators will try to reassemble the tilt-rotor aircraft to find out why it crashed into the Potomac River July 20, killing seven. In Washington, the House voted for a study of the feasibility of tilt-rotor aircraft for commercial use. ATLANTIS SET FOR FRIDAY LAUNCH: The seven Atlantis astronauts begin preparing Tuesday for one of the most complex shuttle missions ever. Atlantis is scheduled to lift off Friday during a launch window that will extend from 9:56 a.m. to 12:26 p.m. During a seven-day stay in space, the shuttle's crew will deploy an experiment-laden European spacecraft and test the Tethered Satellite System. DEC SAYS JOBS WON'T BE CUT: Digital Equipment Corp.'s new CEO says there are no immediate plans to cut jobs. Robert Palmer, who takes over from DEC founder and president Ken Olsen Oct. 1, told employees that, "eliminating thousands of jobs is not the way (DEC) goes about becoming competitive." But he did not rule out layoffs, saying that DEC has too many people for its current level of revenue. AST CUTS PRICES: AST Research Inc. said Monday it has reduced its prices by as much as 47% on its complete product line. That includes AST's Premium Exec notebook line. The company also said it is offering a new Windows bundle with each Power Premium 210-MB model desktop system. LITTON OVERCHARGED PENTAGON: A Litton Industries Inc. unit illegally overcharged the government for computer services in the mid 1980s and now faces at least $400 million in fines, a Los Angeles ruled Monday, Bloomberg Business News reports. U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer ruled that Litton Systems overstated its costs to the Pentagon by $50 million for computer services, violating the False Claims Act. MICROPROSE BUYS PARAGON: MicroProse Inc. said Monday it has acquired Paragon Software Corp., a Greensburg, Pa., computer game development company. Terms of the acquisition weren't provided. Paragon's 19 employees will now produce games under the MicroProse label, the company said. MicroProse designs and markets entertainment software for personal computers and video-game systems. SIERRA FILES SUIT: Sierra Semiconductor filed a suit Monday against Hayes Microcomputer Systems in San Jose Federal Court. The suit accuses Hayes of trade libel, false and misleading advertising and unfair competition. The suit was prompted by ads in technical, trade and consumer publications. The Hayes ads erroneously suggest some users need to replace their hardware, Sierra contends. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON DISABILITIES: CHANGES COST LESS THAN $500: Job Accommodation Network's D.J. Hendricks said most employers can adapt their workplaces for disabled people for less than $500. The Job Accommodation Network is a service of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. "There is a misperception about what the potential costs could be," said Kathy Peterson of the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Center for Independent Living. COMPUTERS ARE EASY TO ADAPT: Computers can be easily adapted for the disabled. For about $200, screens designed to double the size of type can be placed over computer terminals for visually impaired workers. Special software programs can increase the type size on personal computers by 15 times for a cost of less than $600, said Larry Fontan, a human factors consultant at the Job Accommodation Network. SYNTHESIZERS ARE EXPENSIVE: More expensive, Fontan said, are screen-reading software and voice synthesizers, which can cost $800 to $2,800. Computers also can be operated by eye contact, using sensors to follow the movement of the user's eyes. But the systems cost from $2,000 to more than $3,000 and require good eye control, which some disabled individuals may lack. RENOVATIONS CAN BE COSTLY: Devices are available to operate a computer by tongue for $300 to $400. Some people can type 30 to 40 words a minute with their tongue, Fontan said. More costly accommodations often involve physical renovations to a building or the addition of special equipment. That can mean a chair stairway lift for buildings without elevators. They cost about $6,000. (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