Chicago Computer Guide This Week
For September 1-7, 2001

CONTENTS:
I.    This Week's Calendar of Events
II.   Taking Back An Online Reputation
III.  Computer Law - Follow-up
IV.  When A Killer App Can Be A Killer
V.   Chicago Computer Company News
VI.  Chicago Computer Dealers

==============Special Event=====================
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2001
Event Sponsor: Geneer
Event Name/Topic: "Developers' Tips & Secrets for 
Motient's Terrestrial Network and Motorola's DataTAC 
Technology"
Event Type: Midwest Wireless Application Developers SIG.
Time: 6 to 8:30 PM
Speakers: Rod Massie, Director of Systems Development 
for Motient
Location:Marriott Suites, 8535 W. Higgins Road,
Chicago, Illinois
Price: Free with complimentary food and beverages
RSVP: Register at: http://www.geneer.com/mwadsig
Contact email: jchipkin@geneer.com
Contact Phone: 847-294-0300

Additional information:

Geneer is pleased to announce the creation our Midwest 
Wireless Application Developers Special Interest Group (SIG).  
Developed for technical professionals by technical professionals, 
this new, non-commercial SIG is designed to promote discussion 
of wireless developer tips and tools and provides the opportunity 
to network and learn.

We cordially invite you to the first meeting of the Midwest 
Wireless Application Developers SIG. Our Guest Presenter is 
Motient Corporation ( www.motient.com), provider of eLinkSM 
and BlackBerry by Motient wireless email services:

Guest Speaker: Rod Massie, Director of Systems Development 
for Motient Topic: Developers' Tips & Secrets for Motient's 
Terrestrial Network and Motorola's DataTAC Technology

The Motient network currently reaches over 220 million people 
and enables two-way wireless data communications to a variety 
of devices and numerous business segments. This presentation 
provides a detailed look into the intricacies of the network and 
vital information for developing compatible applications. Topics 
covered by Rod in this meeting include:

·    Motient Network Technology
·    Wireless Data System Architecture
·    Implementation and Connectivity Options
·    SCR Vs. Binary SCR
·    Host Routing and Message Flows

To register, visit http://www.geneer.com and look for the 
wireless SIG icon.
====================================================

I. This Week's Chicago Computer Events**:

Event: Diamondcluster Insight Forum
Date: September 10-12, 2001
Place: Sheraton Hotel & Towers, 301 E. Water St., Chicago, IL 
Information: Go to http://www.insight.diamondcluster.com for 
registration info.
The two-day event features leading thinkers from business, 
academia, and science who will explore the realities surrounding 
today's customer (who thanks to the Internet is better informed, 
less patient, and more demanding than ever) and chart how market 
leaders build and synchronize successful customer relationships.


Event: CSA Marketing Roundtable Presents: 
Writing to impress a seminar for high tech marketers
Date: September 11, 2001
Place: Sears Tower, 233 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 3350, 
Chicago, IL 60606 
Time: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Information: Register now online at http://www.csa.org/workshop.html
As communications professionals - and as 
in any business - writing skills are paramount. Our writing 
needs to be clear, concise and easy to follow; it must also 
be catchy and memorable. Everything from ad copy, press 
releases and websites to memos, letters and e-mail will be 
covered in this thought and action provoking workshop. In 
this half-day program, writing instructor Clyde Leland will 
discuss all of these topics (plus the difference between 
"that" and "which"), using real-world examples and in-class 
exercises. 


Event: MobileEXPO with Illinois Technology**
Showcase & ProjectWorld 
Date: September 11-13, 2001 
Location: Lakeside Center at McCormick Place, 
Chicago, IL 
Information: Contact Paige Miller at (415) 641-2450 
or email at info@mobilevillage.com
If you are a CIO, CTO or Project Manager planning to 
buy, implement or develop a mobile and wireless solution, 
MobileEXPO is the place to shape your mobile future! 
MobileEXPO brings together the top mobile and wireless 
companies to showcase their products and services. Plus, 
experts deliver practical approaches and information through 
in-depth tutorials and breakout sessions spanning three 
intensive tracks over two days.


Event: Illinois Technology Showcase (ITEC)
Date:  September 12-13, 2001
Time: 10:00am to 6:00pm
Place:  McCormick Place, 2301 S. Lake Shore Dr., 
Chicago, Il.
Information: Go to www.goitec.com or contact Thaddeus 
Woosley at twoosley@ctcomm.com
North America's fastest-growing exhibition and conference 
returns to Chicago! The Illinois Technology Showcase is the 
region's most collaborative IT event that serves as a forum for 
Corporate, Education and Government leaders to facilitate 
discussion, education and evaluation of IT solutions and their 
impact on the region's marketplace.


Event: Midwest Oracle Users' Group Fall Conference
Date:  September 17-18, 2001
Place: University of Illinois-Chicago Illini Union, 
828 S. Wolcott Ave., Chicago
Time: 1-5pm (17th); 8:00am - 4:30pm (18th)
Information: To register, email Barb Dully at dullyb@tusc.com 
or call her at 630/960-2909, ext. 1047. Cost for the two days 
is $75 for MOUG members, $95 for others. Companies who 
register three or more attendees will receive an additional 
$10 discount per person.

**Courtesy of Techvenue.com
                                     

II. Taking Back An Online Reputation
By Michael Cloutier

In June of 2000 when Greg Halpern, CEO of Mundelein-based 
Circle Group Internet, was informed by his network administrator 
of the more than 100 complaints received about the massive 
pornographic spam sent through their e-mail server, many of which 
were sent to children, he was shocked. Click here 
http://www.chicago-computer.com/septclout.htm 
for more.


III.  Dot biz and Dot info - The Update
(c) Larry M. Zanger, 2001, all rights reserved.

Last month, I presented an overview of the implementation of 
the first two of seven new top-level domain names that the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 
approved last fall. 
Click here: http://www.chicago-computer.com/septzang.htm
for more.


IV. When A Killer App Can Be A Real Killer
By Michael Carruth

Apple has done a masterful job of developing, then bringing X 
to the public, and in evangelizing its use to all us loyal subjects.
They now need to put the king-size squeeze on major developers 
to get the mainstream applications on the proverbial street. If
this does not happen, it seems logical that hardware sales will suffer. 
See how at http://www.chicago-computer.com/septcarruth.htm.

********************************************************************************
V. Chicago Computer Company News

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer to Speak Out on '.NET Effect' of 
New Web Services Platform at Chicago Software Association 
Sept. 19 Event

CHICAGO, IL/PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago Software Association 
(CSA) just announced that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will address 
the Chicago business community during a special "Networking Session
and Luncheon" on Sept. 19, beginning at 11:30 a.m., in the Navy Pier 
Grand Ballroom.  One of the technology industry's most respected and 
passionate CEOs, Ballmer will discuss how a new generation of 
XML-enabled platforms, services and tools will transform the way 
organizations do business.
The event is part of a series of unique seminars and conferences that 
CSA sponsors to bring together a cross-section of technology leaders 
to share their viewpoints with businesses and organizations in the 
Greater 
Chicago area.  Following Ballmer's address, he will preside over a Q&A 
session for event attendees.  Those interested in attending the seminar 
can register online by visiting the CSA Website at 
http://www.csa.org/ballmer.html .
"We are pleased and excited to be welcoming Steve to Chicago," 
said Candace Renwall, executive director of the 575-member CSA.  
"As he leads Microsoft in the development of its .NET strategy, Steve 
is in a unique position to explain how a new generation of software 
technology will revolutionize America's businesses."
The Greater Chicagoland area has been identified as a New Economy
incubator for the next wave of growth in the knowledge- and 
technology-based industries, according to a just-issued study 
conducted by the world-renowned consulting firm McKinsey & 
Company.  The comprehensive research study was commissioned by 
the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors, and personally by Chicago 
Mayor Richard M. Daley.  In the study, McKinsey & Company identified 
three promising technology-related sectors in the Chicagoland area that 
are poised for substantial and rapid growth: software development, 
wireless/software and biomedical (including biotechnology, medical 
diagnostics and medical devices).  The Chicago Software Association was
named by Mayor Daley to lead the software development growth initiative 
outlined in the McKinsey study.

****************************************************************************

WorldWIT Appoints First President 

CHICAGO, IL/PRNewswire/ -- WorldWIT, Inc.
(World Women in Technology) http://www.WorldWIT.org , a 
free global networking group for professional businesswomen, 
just announced that Laura Meyer has been named president 
of the company.
"We are fortunate to have Laura heading up WorldWIT," 
said Liz Ryan, founder and CEO of WorldWIT, Inc.  "With her 
background in building First Tuesday and her extensive 
international experience, she brings the skills and contacts we 
need to further expand WorldWIT."
Prior to joining WorldWIT, Inc., Ms. Meyer was the North 
American Director of Operations with First Tuesday, an 
international networking group active in more than 100 cities.  
She spent 13 years in Europe, most recently as a senior consultant 
with Cambridge Technology Partners in Amsterdam.  
Previously, Ms.Meyer was a financial manager with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. 
company in Amsterdam and was instrumental in implementing an 
enterprise resource planning system at the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company 
chewing gum manufacturing facility in Poland.  
She served earlier as a management consultant with Alexander 
Proudfoot SA, now Proudfoot Consulting.
"I joined the ChicWIT list serv when I first came to Chicago and 
found it to be a quick and friendly personal and professional 
resource", 
said Meyer.
"It helped me to adapt to my new city and to connect with other 
businesswomen."  
ChicWIT alone has more than 2,500 members, and WorldWIT 
has more than 10,000 members globally.  The lists grow daily.  "It 
makes it all the more meaningful to me personally, to be part of 
growing WorldWIT even further," stated Meyer.
In addition to the moderated list-servs in nearly 40 markets around 
the world, WorldWIT provides value-added resources, including 
holding free networking events and job-fairs in cities with local 
lists; 
monthly columns on the website written by experts on financial and 
career topics; a pool of professional experts available to speak at 
meetings and conferences; ementoring programs for girls; and 
partnering with other academic and corporate organizations to 
conduct research involving the WorldWIT community.
The recent survey of WorldWIT women conducted by GLS 
Consulting on what women want in the workplace and at home has 
been used by the media, professional speakers and educational 
institutions worldwide as part of their programs.
In the two years since WorldWIT's founding, the organization has 
grown to almost 10,000 members from five different continents.  There 
are nearly 40 local chapters where members keep in touch with each 
other through list-servs, as well as through local networking events. 
The newest WorldWIT groups include NigeriaWIT, RockyWIT in Colorado, 
Milw-WIT in Milwaukee, KCWIT in Kansas City, DallasWIT, SouthAfricaWIT, 
RainWIT in Seattle, DesertWIT in Las Vegas and RocketCityWIT in 
Alabama.
To join any of the WorldWIT lists, get Laura Meyer's photo or to get 
additional information, please visit http://www.WorldWIT.org .

********************************************************************************

Open Channel Software Achieves "Critical Mass" for Launching
Innovative New Product Solutions

CHICAGO, IL - A full 18 months before the technology market 
"dot-bombed," the founders of Open Channel Software (OCS) 
knew that they were onto a winning formula. Their concept was 
simple but profound: create a vehicle for the hosting and 
commercialization of potentially thousands of software applications 
developed in academic and scientific institutions. 
OCS stands poised to commercially launch several leading-edge 
applications, doing for highly technical products what Red Hat, Inc. 
has done for Linux. 
By hosting and facilitating the distribution of thousands of 
applications, 
Open Channel will have the 'pick of the litter' with regard to which 
products to commercialize. The initial concept and business model for 
Open Channel Software was developed in early 1999 by vice president 
of business development Douglas Curry, in collaboration with Professors 
Stuart Kurtz and Ridgeway Scott, both on the faculty at the University 
of Chicago.
Curry had successfully evaluated early-stage software and educational 
programs, and developing vehicles to commercialize these curricula and 
technologies via licenses and starting up companies, as manager of the 
Content Venture Project at the University of Chicago for Arch 
Development 
Corporation.
From its modest office/loft space on the north side of Chicago, OCS is 
quietly poised to commercialize three to five applications this year.
According to CEO John Kennedy, some of the products being prepared 
for commercial launch include an innovative, open source, network 
administration software for Unix environments, applications that 
originated at NASA as well as software that literally saves lives.
"One type of medical software that we're really excited about, 
says Kennedy, takes standard MRI images and builds a movie 
of a beating heart, allowing for the first time a safe means of 
doing heart stress analysis.
Another application helps predict when patients that are undergoing 
kidney dialysis will suffer stenosis, or the closing of the access 
ports. 
This application helps identify problems early enough so that they can 
be treated with drugs, extending the life of the ports by 50 percent, 
in some cases."
So far, OCS is hosting more than 150 academic and research 
software applications, organized by approximately 24 disciplines that 
range from aerodynamics to A.I. and expert systems to chemistry, 
thermodynamics and meteorology. Perhaps more notably, technology 
transfer experts at internationally prestigious academic and scientific 
institutions are very supportive of OCS' efforts. 
The OCS Web site offers truly innovative, cutting-edge programs 
focused around certain categories, or Disciplines. OCS actively 
promotes the software that it sponsors, in order to build and maintain 
a community of involved users. If software has sufficient commercial 
viability, OCS provides the resources that are required to bring that 
software to commercial distribution, proactively markets it, and offers 
fee-based support and services to its customers. 
Please contact OCS by visiting the organization's Website, 
http://www.openchannelsoftware.org or by phoning 773-334-8177 
to learn more about the Open Channel Foundation, its software 
Disciplines, products and services, or to become a participating 
author/developer.

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VI. Chicago Computer Dealers

Click here at http://www.chicago-computer.com/deals.htm for our list 
of computer dealers and some of the lowest prices in town!

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