THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511110441
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: DOUBLECLICK
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Doubleclick authors Richard and Roger Grimes of Virginia Beach happen to be twin brothers and computer authorities. Their discourse on life in the computer lane appears just about every other week in Hampton Roads Business Weekly.
Roger: Richard Grimes, would-be Klingon warrior, dodgeball enthusiast and Dan Marino super-fan, has accomplished a feat no other Sunday quarterback in the history of football has ever been able to do. He broke his pinky. . . with a Nerf football.
Richard: I sacrificed my body for the game I love.
Roger: Naturally, I'm not letting Richard play football with my kids again.
Richard: Since I'm on the bench for the rest of the season, I've had time to contemplate the next computer craze. I'm going to pitch a concept that I call a ghost network. Roger prefers to call it a ``virtual'' network, but I've sworn off using the word virtual ever again.
Roger: Networks are typically valuable for four reasons:
1. Users can share programs. This means you don't have to buy a copy of your software for everyone that uses it, just as long as no more than one person is using the same copy at the same time.
2. Users can share printers. Most people probably use their printers less than 15 percent of the day, leaving them idle 85 percent of the time. Printer sharing gets the most out or your printers.
3. E-mail. Electronic mail not only frees up your phone, it allows you to send multiple copies of a document to different people instantly.
4. File sharing. Multiple users can access and modify a files.
Richard: Now the downside of normal networks. One study estimates that large-scale company networks cost the company something in the neighborhood of $750 per month - per user.
Roger: I believe that the study overestimated the cost, but there's no doubt that normal networks in general are expensive and difficult to maintain. Lack of money or technical know-how forces a lot of smaller companies to forego the advantages of a network.
Richard: That's where ``ghost'' networks come into play. Most Internet access providers have cut their prices to around $25 per month for unlimited access. For that $25, the subscriber usually gets free software that gives you - you guessed it - electronic mail and a way to move files across the provider's network.
Usually, either for the same amount or a neglible added fee, the user can also get space on the provider's computers. Using these tools you can emulate some of the advantages without actually having your own network. Here's how:
Printer sharing - If you have a print job, put the document in a space on your provider's computer called something clever like ``print jobs.'' The person in your company with the printer checks that space periodically for documents, downloads them and prints them. Is it a fast solution? No, but it can be accomplished in minutes.
File sharing - it works the same way. After you work on something - a training manual, for instance - you upload it to a spot on the provider's computer called ``training manual.'' The next person downloads it, works on it and uploads a copy back to the provider's computer. E-mail is pretty self-explanatory. You'll never be able to show off your network, because it doesn't exist until you need it. That's why it's called a ``ghost network.''
Best of all, it takes no special equipment other than your computer and modem and you spend only $25 per user per month. And because your Internet provider does most of the work, there's no need to hire someone, uh, like Roger.
Roger: I doubt this solution would work for most companies because of speed and security issues, but for some it's ideal. My company is using a consulting firm that has no offices. Their employees are around the country, but are working on a single project. There are no offices, no walls, no cable, and certainly no expensive computer geeks hanging around.
Richard: Ma Bell loves 'em. Right now they spend lots of money on long distance phone calls and playing floppy diskette tag. Using the Internet as their ``office'' network, they could work and communicate as if they were in the next cubicle.
Roger: They could even send each other Dilbert cartoons. And best of all, historically, no one has broken a finger on the Internet.
Richard's Screensaver Idea
Richard: Roger, I know how I'm going to get rich quick.
Roger: Does this have anything to do with that Nerf personal defense system?
Richard: No, and laugh all you want, but Nerf can kill. I want to make screensavers. I want to make screensavers so graphically cool that people will be physically stunned. They'll be so mesmerized that they'll immediately blow off any possible productive part of the day. I want to get rich making something creative, but total useless. Other than this column, I mean.
Roger: Many people already know that using today's high-quality super VGA screens make screen savers virtually unnecessary. Years ago, especially in the monochrome screen days, screen saver software was needed to prevent the screens from ``burning-in'' if a single image was left displayed on it for too many days. But today, the high-quality phosphors used in the screen manufacturing process makes screen burn-in a moot point.
Richard: I don't want to let science or logic get in my way. I'll let them modify the screen savers with some type of screen saver construction kit. That way they can make hundreds of totally cool, customized screen savers. I'll be rich!
Roger: Except for the fact that Gibson Research Corporation's ChromaZone already has exactly that. For those of you not familiar with the company, Gibson Research is headed by Steve Gibson, maker of the software, SpinRite, and previous InfoWorld columnist. SpinRite is a hard disk utility that no serious computer geek would be caught without.
Richard: GRC has released a screen saver construction kit. Written in assembly language, Steve Gibson has produced the mother of all screen savers. It comes with about 100 different screen savers, each with names such as ``warp core breach'' or ``nebulous nebula.'' All are fantastic.
Roger: Not only do you get about 100 different screen savers, but Gibson gives you the tools to experiment and make your own. The screen savers work with Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. The most amazing part is the total program only takes up 400k of hard disk space.
Richard: It's kind of ironic. Steve Gibson goes from making one of the world's best software tools to something completely worthless. Geez, I'm jealous! To waste part of your productive day, call 1-800-736-0637 and order your copy. It $24.95 till March '96, then goes up to $39.95. If you like to collect screen savers, then you'll want to add this one. MEMO: The man with the overly aggressive football playing daughters can be
reached at groger@infi.net
The Nerf-a-phobe with fragile fingers can be reached at rgrimes
infi.net
by CNB