sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sun/NC/north-carolina sunflash-Send requests, problems to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Sunergy Newsletter #14 (April, 1994) Part 1 of 2 SunFLASH Vol 64 #60 April 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 64.60 Sunergy Newsletter #14 (April, 1994) Part 1 of 2 From Vicki.Pedretti@Corp.Sun.COM Sunergy is a program designed to inform and educate computer users worldwide. Sunergy brings the great minds of the world to its audience through satellite television broadcasts, electronic newsletters and a library of whitepapers and other associated online documents. In the coming weeks, Sunergy will be accessible through the Mosaic network browser. Sunergy broadcasts are now being downlinked by over 1000 sites in over 40 countries. The broadcasts raise awareness of new technologies in existing, new and emerging markets. (( The Sunergy group also produce this great newsletter. Note that I have dropped a couple of parts that have already been posted to SunFlash. You can send for back isues of SunFlash by placing the vol.issue number in the subject line of mail to flashadm@sun.com -johnj )) *1* Broadcast Summary Sunergy #9 Satellite Broadcast *2* Upcoming Broadcasts *3* Tech Tips and Ideas (499 lines) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ********************************* * * * S U N E R G Y E M A I L * * * ********************************* NEWSLETTER 14 April, 1994 Distributed by Press Relations (PR), Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation, a Sun Microsystems, Inc., business. All rights reserved. Sunergy Manager: Larry Lettieri Sunergy Editor: Vicki Pedretti Contributing Editor: George Paolini Contact the Sunergy editors by email at: sunergy@sun.com. ============================================================================== = CONTENTS - ISSUE #14 = ============================================================================== ANNOUNCEMENTS *1* Broadcast Summary Sunergy #9 Satellite Broadcast *2* Upcoming Broadcasts TECHNICAL TOPICS *3* Tech Tips and Ideas *4* Advanced Systems Magazine Excerpt: "When Enough is Not Enough" *5* Internet Services List INDUSTRY OUTLOOK *6* Of Interest from Sun -Information Highway Pilot Projects -Fast Ethernet Seminar Series PRODUCT UPDATES *7* SMCC Announcements *8* O'Reilly & Associates SUNERGY INFORMATION *9* Sunergy Update *10* Sunergy ftp site login instructions *11* Sunergy enrollment and contact info --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ANNOUNCEMENTS - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************** *1* Broadcast Summary * *********************** The 9th Sunergy live, interactive, satellite broadcast, "Creativity in the Digital Domain", took place on March 15. The third in our series of broadcasts on the information highway, this broadcast focused on multimedia and what's happening creatively on the Internet. This broadcast, as was the last, was closed-captioned for the hearing impaired and was broadcast over MBONE (Multicast Backbone). Hosted by John Gage of Sun Microsystems, with guests: Geoff Baehr, Chief Networking Officer for Sun Microsystems Labs, Inc. Marc Andreessen, Product Engineer for Engerprise Integration Technologies (EIT) Philip Dodds, Executive Director, Interactive Multimedia Services (IMA) Tom Van Sant, M.F.A., Founder & Ceo of The GeoSphere Project Gina Blaber, Product Manager for O'Reilly & Associates Recap of the broadcast: #John Gage discussed proposed legislation to go before congress which would provide for greater competition in the telecommunications market. [Note: In this regard, on March 16 (the day following the Sunergy #9 broadcast), two bills were approved by two House committees. The first, HR 3636, approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to open the local telephone market to competition and to allow cable companies to offer phone services. This bill, sponsored by the committee's Tele- communications and Finance Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) and ranking member Rep. Jack Fields (R-TX), also would create a joint federal/state board which would make recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission regarding universal service. The committee also approved an amendment by Markey to protect the privacy of subscribers to electronic information. The amendment would prohibit electronic publishers from passing along or selling subscriber information without the consent of the subscriber. The bill also includes language to promote open systems for "set-top boxes." The second bill, HR 3626, was approved by both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and by the House Judiciary Committee. The bill is a compromise between Rep. Jack Brooks (D-TX), the House Judiciary chairman, and Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) to lift the manufacturing and long-distance restrictions currently imposed on the seven regional Bell operating companies, while establishing safeguards for their entry into those markets and into information services to ensure competition. Both measures now go to the House floor for consideration.] Congressional testimony on this proposed legislation by Wayne Rosing of Sun Microsystems is included with the other broadcast documents from the March broadcast at the Sunergy ftp site. Contact John Gage (john.gage@sun.com) for a copy of his testimony. When the text for the above legislation is finalized, it will also be available at the ftp site. [See ftp site login instructions at the end of this newsletter.] #John Gage and Geoff Baehr talked about the explosion on the network, the increase in Mosaic traffic (increasing exponentially), security as it concerns Mosaic and Mosaic's probable impact on the jobs of system administrators. Further discussion centered on Sun's involvement in setting up a mirror site in the US to Oslonet's server which provided up-to-the-minute results of the Winter Olympics in Norway. Plans are underway to provide the same service for World Cup Soccer results this summer. #Marc Andreessen did a live demonstration of Mosaic. Andreessen is the creator and chief architect of Mosaic, the application which is sweeping the Internet and, as John Gage described, is "the first civilized way to read and write across the Internet". During the demonstration Marc and Geoff Baehr looked at a server the White House and MIT are in the process of putting up, then on to an on-line bookstore in Palo Alto, California. They then looked at the City of Palo Alto's information which included listings for city government, city council, restaurants, etc. Marc talked about the developing and creating of Mosaic and his ideas for improving future versions. A brief related discussion of security and firewalls, followed. He also addressed multimedia capabilities across platforms as it relates to Mosaic. The number of accesses via Mosaic is increasing rapidly, on a daily basis. #Phil Dodds, of the International Multimedia Association (IMA) was a guest on the broadcast via satellite from Washington DC. IMA, a trade association which has existed for seven years, is working on a variety of multimedia standardizations. Mr. Dodds spoke about a meeting of the members of the IMA on April 21st in Washington DC, to discuss standards in an object world. This meeting will focus on set-top, business issues, technical issues and policy issues surrounding the evolution of set-top devices on televisions. [The announcement and agenda for this meeting is available at the Sunergy ftp site, along with various other files of IMA information. See ftp site login instructions at the end of this newsletter.] #The GeoSphere Project, which is a visualization based on a satellite view of the whole earth, in digital file, cloud-free and color converted to appear as we would see it from space, was presented via a video segment with Tom Van Sant, its creator. The project has gathered and created global databases for visualization. These have been digitized, co-registered in geographic information systems, rendered for overlays and animated for time-lapsed sequences and zooms. Satellite images can then be combined with elevation data to create images of simulated terrain, such as the floor of the ocean. Other files currently in the GeoSphere Project's database include weather patterns, political boundaries, species migration and ocean currents. Mr. Van Sant spoke on the live broadcast about his efforts to organize, through visual images, a universal global library. [Further information on the GeoSphere Project is available at the Sunergy ftp site. See ftp site login instructions at the end of this newsletter.] #Gina Blaber of O'Reilly & Associates participated in the broadcast both live and in a video segment in which Global Network Navigator (GNN) was demonstrated. GNN is an electronic catalog of services and products, providing organized access to information on the Internet. GNN was accessed during the demonstration using Mosaic. Ms. Blaber also talked about "Internet in a Box", their soon-to-be-released shrink-wrapped product which provides a solution for PC users to easily get onto the Internet. [See Product Updates later in this newsletter for more information on Internet in a Box. Also check the Sunergy ftp site for a FAQ on this product, as well as other information on GNN. See ftp site login instructions at the end of this newsletter.] #John Gage's famous list of suggested reading material (which includes suggestions from other guests of the show, as well). _Complexity_ by M. Mitchell Waldrop ISBN#: 0-671-76789-5 _Tristes tropiques_ by C. Levi-Strauss (original version in French) ISBN#: 2-259-00153 _Tristes tropiques_ by C. Levi-Strauss The Complete Translation of the Classic Work (English version) ISBN#: 0-1401-65622 _The Hacker Crackdown_ by Bruce Sterling _Applied Cryptography_ by Bruce Schneier ISBN#: 0-471-59756-2 _Bad Science_ by Gary Taubes -Game Over_ by David Schiff ISBN#: 0-679-40469-4 _Steve Jobs and the NeXT Big Thing_ by Randall E. Stross ISBN#: 0-689-12135-0 _Computers as Theatre_ by Brenda Laurel ISBN#: 0-201-55060-1 -Sendmail_ by Bryan Costales (with Eric Allman & Neil Rickert) ISBN#: 1-56592-056-2 _The Whole Internet Catalog_ by Ed Krol ISBN#: 1-56595-025-2 _Connecting to the Internet: A Buyer's Guide_ by Susan Estrada ISBN#: 1-56592-061-9 Scientific American Magazine, March 1994 issue "The Information Highwaymen" Spectrum Magazine, February 1994 issue "The Art and Science of Identity Verification" The Economist Magazine, February 12, 1994 issue "Feeling for the Future: A Survey of Television" (16 pg. overview) #Video segment overviewing the happenings of World Cup Soccer, 1994. This year's events will be hosted by the United States and will take place during a four week period from nine U.S. cities. This event is being managed with the aid of an advanced network of Sun workstations. #The broadcast concluded with a Q&A session, providing a means for those watching the broadcast live, via satellite, to call, fax or email their questions for any of the guests of the show. Questions sparked dialog on the following: -Multimedia tools in the future and synchronization of data. -Multiplexing issues. -Home internet access, fast modem, ISDN and speed of data retrieval. -Future of Mosaic as it will relate to internet tools, such as gopher, WAIS, etc. -Interactive multimedia training (in particular as it regards state governments). ************************** *2* Upcoming Broadcast * ************************** Sunergy Live #10 Live from ObjectWorld, San Francisco "A Discussion on Object Technologies" July 28, 1994 8:30 am - 10:00 am PDT Guests to include: John Gage (host), Sun Microsystems Bill Joy, Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation Steve Jobs, NeXT Chris Stone, OMG An announcement on this broadcast, including agenda and guest biographies, will be sent out to all Sunergy members when it is available. If you are planning to downlink this broadcast, please make sure to contact the Sunergy office for the satellite coordinates specific to this broadcast. sunergy@sun.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - TECHNICAL TOPICS - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *************************** *3* Tech Tips and Ideas * *************************** TECH TIPS AND IDEAS from the pages of the GEMs file -- and other places -- richard.w.scott@Corp.sun.com Is it time for Sunergy again? Time flies, they say. Well, this time we're going to talk about some very special utilities that I trust you will find useful. Most of the following scripts came from Richard "Doc" Ahrens who teaches C and Shell Script programming here at Sun. Many of these scripts or tricks were born out of a need to get something done that wasn't easily available through existing utilities. The last two in this list are a bandaid for the dos2unix and unix2dos commands. Let me know if you find this kind of thing useful, and as always, if you have some of your own shell scripts, C programs, aliases or other tricks you'd like to see featured here, just send 'em along! The following scripts must be handled in this way: 1. Copy the text of the script into a separate file. 2. Be sure that for any file beginning with a #! that the "#" is absolutely the first character in the script. 3. When you've saved the script, do a chmod +x on the name of the script. The first one deals with the problem of removing extensions from a list of files. -------------------------------cut here---------------------------- #!/bin/csh -f # scriptname: rmext # remove ".txt" extension # note 1: make flist by typing: ls > flist # note 2: To remove some other extention, change .txt (below) # to .othertext for each filename ( `cat flist`) set filename2 = `echo $filename |tr -d .txt` mv ../$filename ../$filename2 end -------------------------------cut here---------------------------- These short scripts will remove all blank lines from a file and will output to a new file. use: sed '/^$/d' filename > newfile or: nawk 'NF>0' filename > newfile Some time ago I wanted to be able to pull a single line, at random, from a list of one-liners I'd gathered from various news groups. Doc came up with the following: -------------------------------cut here---------------------------- #!/bin/csh -fx # scriptname: randline # Get a random line from a file # Usage: randline filename set filesize = `wc -l < $1` @ x = ((( $$ * `date +%S` ) / 11 ) % $filesize) + 1 sed -n "${x}p" $1 -------------------------------cut here---------------------------- These command aliases can be added to your .cshrc file (assuming of course, that you use the cshell). You might find it useful to keep all of your alias lines together in the .cshrc file. I also alphabetize them. The lines above each alias beginning with a # are not necessary, they are included only to describe the function of the alias and can be left out. # Create a ".." command which takes you up on directory level alias .. 'cd ..' # Allows you to quickly make a file executable alias +x 'chmod u+x' # Powerful grep command allows you to search through all directories # from your current location and deeper alias ggrep 'find . -type f -exec grep -i \!:1 {} /dev/null \;' If you have a lot of aliases in your .cshrc file, you may find that starting a shellscript can take a "long" time. Adding the following line just above your "alias" lines will prevent them from being read when you are running a non-interactive shell. Please note that for best usage, you should have your alias lines at the end of your .cshrc file and the following line just above them. if (! $?prompt ) exit This next GEM is another "Doc" Ahrens special. I had asked him to show me how to sort a file on multiple fields. He did one better, giving me a line that would do the trick AND making it perfectly clear how it worked! cat -n file | sort -n +1 -2 +0 -1 | sed 's/[ ]*[0-9][0-9]* //' ----------- -- ----- ----- ----------------------======--- | / / | \ | add line #'s / / | remove the a tab / / | line #'s we sort numerically / | put on with / | cat -n actual 1st column is | primary sort field secondary sort on the line #'s we added with cat -n. This preserves the internal ordering that the file had when we started These last two scripts are quite a bit more complex, but if you or people at your location have a need to use either the "dos2unix" or "unix2dos" utilities, you should make use of them. This can be important to you because BOTH OF THESE UTILITIES WILL DESTROY FILES IF USED WITH WILD CARDS!!! Please note that in order to make these work you will have to have "super user" privileges. You will need to create a directory called /bin/wrapped and then put the files /usr/bin/unix2dos and /usr/bin/dos2unix into it. The two files which follow will be named unix2dos and dos2unix and left in /usr/bin. Be sure to do a chmod 555 on each of these files. -------------------------------cut here---------------------------- #!/bin/csh -f # scriptname: unix2dos - (modified) if ($#argv != 2) then echo "usage: $0 " echo "Wild cards NOT supported" exit 1 endif if ( ! -e $1 ) then echo "${0} error - cannot find file '$1'" exit 2 else if ( ! -r $1 ) then echo "${0} error - do not have permission to read file '$1'" exit 3 endif endif if ( -e $2 ) then echo "${0} error - file '$1' already exists" exit 4 endif /bin/wrapped/unix2dos $1 $2 -------------------------------cut here---------------------------- -------------------------------cut here---------------------------- #!/bin/csh -f #dos2unix - modified if ($#argv != 2) then echo "usage: $0 " echo "Wild cards NOT supported" exit 1 endif if ( ! -e $1 ) then echo "${0} error - cannot find file '$1'" exit 2 else if ( ! -r $1 ) then echo "${0} error - do not have permission to read file '$1'" exit 3 endif endif if ( -e $2 ) then echo "${0} error - file '$1' already exists" exit 4 endif /bin/wrapped/dos2unix $1 $2 -------------------------------cut here---------------------------- Well, folks, that's it for now. Hopefully you'll find at least ONE of these ideas useful on YOUR system. You should have no trouble using these on SunOS 4.1.x OR Solaris 2.x. If there is something you'd like to see in this column, or if you have something to contribute, a favorite shellscript, a command alias or a short C program, you can email me at: richard.w.scott@corp.sun.com Until next time, remember, it was Kathleen Woolsey who said: "If you're resting on your laurels, your laurels are in the wrong spot!"