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FINDIANS BRIEFINGS

ARCHIVED ISSUE

Volume No: 02 Issue No. 09 - - - - 3rd November 1996

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Editorials
1. Heal Thyself AOL - Paedophiliacs Anonymous
2. Environmental Madness in China
Letters to the Editor
Subjects:
- Election of Rectors in Finnish Universities
with thanks to "communication briefings"
- Saying It All In Six Minutes
COMMENTS ON HOT NEWS ITEMS
Stockmarket Analysis
- Stock Market Performance Week Ending 1st November 1996

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Editorials
1. Heal Thyself AOL - Paedophiliacs Anonymous
  - AOL, one of the largest Internet Service Providers is intending to launch a software product called "PreferredMail". The special feature of this software is that it is supposed to let their subscribers avoid spamming. It supposedly blocks junk mail.
    This is a great idea, except that probably the most disgusting junk mail seen on the Internet seems to have emanated from AOL.
    Am I talking through my hat.
    Well I guess I have to prove my case, so here is the worst possible one that has reached our mailbox during the last two weeks. Considering that we here, in Finland, live in a society where one is considered guilty till proven innocent, this sort of insinuating junk mail from AOL is especially distressing. And this junk mail is on a subject which makes my insides turn horribly.
    The immediate reaction, knowing it was a hoax because of the names used in the sender's name and address, was agony and distaste. The insinuation that we were interested in child pornography was painful.
    We immediately forwarded the message to our ISP along with this message:
    To this our ISP replied thus:
    We checked the full address of the sender of our mail which was:
    --------------
    --------------
    So it was again AOL.
    It would be better if AOL could set up a software program that ensures that its subscribers are not allowed to send out disgusting and distasteful junk mail to the rest of us in this universe. We think that AOL should get its own house in order before moralising to the rest of the world about spammers, or as they say more commonly
    "Heal thyself, AOL".
    P.S. We sent the above text to the postmaster at AOL to get the comment of their management. We received an automated reply which included this:
    --------------
    --------------
    This seems a case of AOL closing the stable door after the horse has bolted - and what about those of us who have been traumatised by you, AOL, by your irresponsible marketing techniques! The fault lies with an irresponsible AOL, not elsewhere!
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2. Environmental Madness in China
email your comments to the Honorary Editor
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Letters to the Editor
- VP of Assciation of Foreigners in Finland writes
  Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 16:09:47 +0000
  From: Daryl Taylor (daryl@clinet.fi)
  Subject: Hobby Hall
  Hi there!
  Vis-a-vis the story about Hobby Hall, there is a route for complaint and remedy which leads through the Finnish court system to the International Court of Justice. I can recommend a couple of lawyers interested in such cases.
  The job of the Parliamentary Ombudsman is to supervise the actions of public officials in Finland, so the complaint is not his concern. The Ombudsman also has no obligation to investigate anonymous communications. On the other hand, it's worth filing a criminal complaint with the local police and then, if necessary, asking the Ombudsman (or the Attorney General) to follow up the matter if the investigation does not proceed. However, do not expect rapid results from this procedure. Two years is not an unusually long waiting time.
  Since the Hobby Hall telephone operator is providing a public service to a particular individual, it is perfectly legal for the caller to record the telephone conversation without the operator's consent or knowledge. The court is then free to decide on the admissibility of such evidence, (which naturally involves listening to it). Under these circumstances (remember it's not a jury trial) the court can hardly find against the plaintiff on the grounds of lack of evidence while excluding the evidence which it has heard.
  Put the people concerned in touch with me if they want to start a process on these matters.
  Regards,
  Daryl Taylor
  
  Ed: Daryl Taylor is the Vice President of the Association of Foreigners in Finland, the only body that seems to look after the interests of foreigners here (other than Findians Briefings and the National Union of Foreign Students in Finland). We have encouraged the foreign writer of the letter about the Hobby Hall incident to get in touch with Daryl, while the Finnish lady who was so rudely insulted should proceed through the police. A two pronged attack will certainly bring this and other Finnish companies practising Namial and other forms of discrimination to their knees.
Election of Rectors in Finnish Universities
- Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 21:46:04 +0000
  From: Name withheld by the Editor in the interest of the concerned individual
  To: findians@friendly.netppl.fi> Subject: Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp
  Dear Editor,
  I was absolutely delighted to get your book [Ed: "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University"] (there are others clamouring for it too).
  One thing that strikes me about your book is the horrifying resonances with this place, there's plenty of incompetence here and shameless promotion of yes-men and time-servers. I have long been considering writing an open letter calling for a total change in the way the rector is elected, your own view vis a vis Oulu is very similar to mine.
  It is high time the rector was elected in a secret ballot of all members of staff (I'd like to include students too but I suspect that would be too much....) I find it actually nauseating to witness this ludicrous dance that goes on every so often whereby an unelected panel of professors and their admin. ilk play around at re-electing the incumbent. In direct imitation of course, of the presidential system itself! (Ed: The standard joke everywhere around the world in the sixties and seventies and even the early eighties, when President Kekkonen was already suffering from dementia, except that the only ones who did not know ths joke were the Finns, was that Kekkonen's re-election was organised every six years! So what more can you expect in a Finnish University - the seat of learning!) But even this has been altered to allow the people a direct vote (Ed: Not much if the education system and the army indoctrination has taught them that authority is always right!), so too should these carcasses on high be obliged to think of their constituents rather than merely playing musical chairs or maintaining the sanctity of the time serving principle.
  I'd have to adopt a fairly bland tone if I were to get my views made public but already I can anticipate the smug guffaws that would greet proposals that might imperil entrenched priviliges.
  A foreign clown making a fool of himself by not understanding the way 'we' do things, etc. (Ed: According to Rector Lauri Lajunen of Oulu University - it is a difference of culture. Don't we know it! World Culture vis-a-vis Finnish culture. Justice vs Fraud.)
  The elections both local and Euro are producing some queer behaviour: One highly placed administrator in the Univ, whose family is both wealthy and powerful locally, was up for election. I caught sight of him 'slumming' it with the riff-raff in a working man's caf� the other day, dutifully chatting (clearly ill at ease) and sharing a lunch of oven sausage with pensioners and builders. He greeted me cordially, now I wonder if he'll be seen out of his office after Sunday night? Will he still be so friendly to me? I'm usually ignored. Don't tell me I'm becoming a cynic... Looking forward to the next newsbriefing.
  My very warmest regards,
  A reader of Findians Briefings and the book "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University"
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with thanks to "communication briefings"
- Saying It All In Six Minutes
  You can deliver a dynamic presentation in just six minutes by following this formula:
  - 30 seconds to describe your "burning issue." Example: "We have a great training program. But once we train people our competitors lure them away. They are robbing us blind. What can we do?"
  - 60 seconds to give an "overview" of what you think caused the burning issue and what you suggest doing about it. Example: You review the history of your training program, conclude that employees are not as loyal as they once were and recommend a program overhaul.
  - 120 seconds to deliver the "IT" - the "Idea made Tangible." On this topic, you might suggest longer and tougher training. Show the audiece a redesigned course certificate for trainees and recommend a $5000 graduation bonus.
  - 120 seconds to describe the "payoff." Note: Do not spend a lot of time on research for this segment. Just estimate key figures and nail down final numbers later. You might, for example, estimate an 80% retention rate instead of the present 50%. And you might predict it will take four years to earn back training costs.
  - 30 seconds for an "interactive close." As the phrase suggests, you ask for audience involvment. You might tell them it is their decision to make, and now you want to hear what they think about the idea.
(Source: Say It in Six, by Ron Hoff, Andrews and McMeel, 4900 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64112, USA, and contained in the October 1996 issue of "communication briefings".)

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COMMENTS ON HOT NEWS ITEMS
- Findians Humour Archives Rated as a Great Site
  Dateline: 1st November 1996
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- Punjab GSM Mobile Switching System Order for Nokia
  Dateline: 25th October 1996
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- Will Bangalore host the Miss World Contest?
  Dateline: 1st November 1996
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- Kesko Thinks EU Commission are Fools
  Dateline: 1st November 1996
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- Finnish Voters Show Their Dissatisfaction
  Dateline: 1st November 1996
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- Plagarism Reserved for Finnish Professors
  Dateline: 1st November 1996
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- Grey and Black - Popular Colours of Finnish Economy
  Dateline: 1st November 1996
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Stockmarket Analysis

Dateline: 6th October 1996

(Before you decide on your next computer purchase visit our page David vs Goliath)

Dow Fluctuates Around 6000 Mark
Apple Reduces Prices - High Performance Power Mac Computers
Enter 530 MHz Exponential PowerPC Chip and Message Pad 2000
Now - AST Legal Chief Quits
Samsung In Dire Trouble as South Korean Markets Tumble

Stock Market Performance Week Ending 1st November 1996

Dow Fluctuates Around 6000 Mark
The Dow Jones Index had been fluctuating around the 6000 mark ending just above it at the end of the week. This fluctuation of the index was similarly reflected in the stock prices of most genuine high tech companies.

Apple Reduces Prices - High Performance Power Mac Computers

Last week we showed you how Apple Entry Level Computers were substantially cheaper than their PC counterparts. This week Apple announced a further 9 to 30% price reduction on the high performance Power Macintosh Computers, leaving one in no doubt that Apple is the most competitive computer supplier across the board. Given below are the prices announced by Apple on 1st November 1996.

"The new pricing on the Power Macintosh line allows us to compete very aggressively in both performance and price," said Gary Little, senior vice president and general manager of Apple's Power Macintosh division. "Now, when a business customer does a feature-for-feature comparison between a Power Mac and a Wintel Pentium Pro, that customer will find the Power Macintosh competitively priced. With the Power Macintosh 8500, for example, Apple matches the competition in features and performance. Plus, it offers fully integrated multimedia capabilities, Netscape Navigator Internet software, and the ease of use of a Macintosh. A key built-in multimedia capability is not even available on a Wintel system: near-broadcast-quality video input/output, which allows users to do high-quality video editing right on the desktop."

Estimated U.S. Retail Prices
Model 2nd Nov. 1996 Est. Price Range 2nd August 1996. Price Range

Power Macintosh 7200/120 U.S. $ 1,600 - 1,650 U.S. $ 2,300 - 2,350

Power Macintosh 7200/120 PC U.S. $ 2,300 - 2,350 U.S. $ 2,800 - 2,850

Power Macintosh 7600/132 U.S. $ 2,300 - 2,350 U.S. $ 3,000 - 3,050

Power Macintosh 8500/150 U.S. $ 3,000 - 3,100 U.S. $ 3,600 - 3,700

Power Macintosh 8500/180 U.S. $ 3,700 - 3,800 U.S. $ 4,500 - 4,600

Power Macintosh 9500/200 U.S. $ 4,200 - 4,300 U.S. $ 4,900 - 4,600

Power Macintosh 9500/200 U.S. $ 4,200 - 4,300 U.S. $ 4,900 - 5,000

Power Macintosh 9500/180MP U.S. $ 5,200 - 5,300 U.S. $ 5,700 - 5,800

Enter 530 MHz Exponential PowerPC Chip and Message Pad 2000
The Apple price reductions were definitely expected in the market as earlier in the fortnight we heard that the 533MHz Exponential chip was going to be introduced in the Apple range by mid 1997, leaving Intel machines and PCs way way behind. The Byte benchmarks on the Exponential is 12 times present Intel performance. It is going to take Intel many years to catch up with Apple, just when all the scribes were busy writing off Apple as a dead company which had been caught up by its ace copier Microsoft.
This dramatic news was quickly followed by the announcement by Apple of its new Message Pad 2000 which has left all other PDAs far far behind. This is fired by the DEC's StrongARM microprocessor operating at 161.9 MHz, which is about 10 times faster than the DEC ARM 610 chip in the 130, making the MessagePad 2000 as fast as an 8100-class PowerMac and making it the most powerful PDA to be developed so far.
It makes the Nokia Communicator 9000 working on a 24 MHz 386 processor looking like a very red sore thumb, especially as the Message Pad 2000 was targeted at a price less than US$1000 (with substantial discounts already offered - you can get a 15% discount NOW) compared to the Nokia price of over $2000 for something with hardly any speed or properties of the Mac Newton interface equipped with pen input as well.

Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other brand names mentioned are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders, and are hereby acknowledged.
Now - AST Legal Chief Quits
Here are couple of stories from AST Technical Service group which reflects the types of suckers that buy AST computers.
- AST technical support had a customer complaining that her mouse was hard to control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the plastic bag the mouse was packaged in.
  But, from our experience, that would not have mattered anyway, as their SmartPoint Mouse is so smart that it refuses to come out of hiding!!
- Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes (all AST diskettes are defective from our experience and that is why AST has a special arrangement with Federal Express). A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along with Xeroxed copies of the floppies. (Even that was expected as AST computers have a great reputation of frying things like PCMCIA cards that are put in them, so probably only the Xerox copies were available to this customer!!
The last fortnight saw the dramatic news that the Legal and Administration Vice President of AST Research Inc., Dennis R. Liebel, had also quit the company. Is this the forerunner to the investigation by the Fed into the many questionable transactions that AST has been involved with lately? This quitting came as no surprise to us considering that it fitted with the character of its major stockholder of AST, Samsung, the Korean multinational which has acquired 49% of AST stock.
To recap, the resignations, and corruption conviction that we highlighted so far are:
June 24th 1996: AST Reserach Inc. Chairman Safi Quereshy was kicked upstairs as Chairman Emeritus and Kwang Ho-Kim of Samsung took over as Chairman.
July 30th 1996: AST Research Inc. announced its fourth quarter losses totalling another US$98.7 million.
31st of July 1996: Director Carmelo J Santero of AST Research Inc. resigned.
August 2nd 1996: Ian Diery quit as President and CEO of AST Research Inc.
August 27th 1996: Samsung Chairman Mr. Lee Kun-hee was convicted by Korean Supreme Court on massive bribery and corruption charges.
September 6th 1996: Joseph E. Norberg quit as VP and Chief Financial Officer of AST Research Inc.
October 4th 1996: Michael Willcocks, 47, senior vice president, Asia Pacific, resigned from AST Research Inc.
October 4th 1996: Gerald T. Devlin, 50, senior vice president, Americas, resigned from AST Research Inc.
And now - the crowning story:
October 9th 1996: Dennis R. Leibel, Legal and Administration Senior Vice President for 11 years, quit AST Research Inc.
The last quarter results of AST should have been announced by 1st November 1996, but have been held back.
However, let us take a look at the last six quarters:
- LOSS during the previous six quarters of US$477.6 million
Considering that Samsung bought 6.44 million shares of AST stock at US$19.50 per share and 5.82 million stock at US$22 per share, a total outlay of US$253.62 million, and considering the present quote for these shares at US$4.38, these shares are worth just US$49.32 million. This is a straight cash loss of just over US$204 million.
Additionally, they paid US$7.10 per share in July 1996 for US$60 million valued AST shares. This has further depreciated by almost 40%, representing a loss of US$23 million. Further, taking the loss in trading of US$477.6 million (see above), this means that someone has had the cash loss of US$704 million and this continues to increase as AST cannot sell the computers that are piled up in theit warehouses.
Safi Quereshy, the Chairman who was kicked upstairs as Chairman Emeritus, was certainly a visionary to set up very large warehouses all over the world, as the one in Ireland, to house all the AST inventory of unsold computers!!.
The present quarter continues to be traumatic for AST Research. Considering how the media has been predicting the death of Apple and Digital (the latter for just a US$66 million loss in this quarter), it is strange that these scribes of death keep their silence in the case of the AST/Samsung axis.
In contrast to AST Research, both Apple and Digital are considerably stronger on all fronts, as they have their own solid technology and products - AST has just several bum bought-in products that, in our experience, do not work.
Samsung In Dire Trouble as South Korean Markets Tumble
If AST Research was hoping that Samsung would pull them out of trouble, they were sadly mistaken.
South Korea has wormed its way to be invited to be a member of OECD (their current President wants this to take place). This means that the trading doors of South Korea, which has so far maintained a closed door policy to protect its multinational, have to be opened.
Even before this, the markets within South Korea have collapsed - Samsung has been forced to drop its prices of its consumer electronics products by 20%.
The markets in the Tiger Economies have all shown a dramatic downturn in the last six months, and hence Samsung and AST will be trying to fill the vaccuum of orders by pushing their products in forbidden markets like Burma, which have been vacated by responsible companies, etc.
(It was refreshing to note that Apple was the first computer company that publicly announced its decision to stop marketing its products in Burma). If you are a conscientious objector, you will have to avoid buying AST and Samsung products.
In the meantime, AST has been trying to make inroads into India. What they do not know is what they are up against if they sell such shoddy products in the Indian market. Indians believe in direct action, and when they see they have been sold duds by AST, the Indians will not waste their time going to the courts for redress - watch out for some great fireworks in Bangalore. The excuse that AST will use when their computer fails to link through Internet will be to blame te Indian telephone system!!

**Estimated U.S. Retail Prices**
Model	2nd Nov. 1996 Est. Price Range	2nd August 1996. Price Range
Power Macintosh 7200/120	U.S. $ 1,600 - 1,650	U.S. $ 2,300 - 2,350
Power Macintosh 7200/120 PC	U.S. $ 2,300 - 2,350	U.S. $ 2,800 - 2,850
Power Macintosh 7600/132	U.S. $ 2,300 - 2,350	U.S. $ 3,000 - 3,050
Power Macintosh 8500/150	U.S. $ 3,000 - 3,100	U.S. $ 3,600 - 3,700
Power Macintosh 8500/180	U.S. $ 3,700 - 3,800	U.S. $ 4,500 - 4,600
Power Macintosh 9500/200	U.S. $ 4,200 - 4,300	U.S. $ 4,900 - 4,600
Power Macintosh 9500/200	U.S. $ 4,200 - 4,300	U.S. $ 4,900 - 5,000
Power Macintosh 9500/180MP	U.S. $ 5,200 - 5,300	U.S. $ 5,700 - 5,800

Stock Market Performance Week Ending 1st November 1996

Given below are the closing prices at the week ending 1st November 1996 of some the stocks in the field of Computer and Telecommunications along with the Year High and the Year Low, and the variation of the present price from the year high and year low.

This analysis, we feel, gives a better perspective of a company's long term performance than just considering the variation of the previous week's high and low.

The announcement of the price reductions by Apple were too late to be reflected in the market.

**Stock Market Analysis**
Company	Exchange	Symbol	Present	Year High	Year Low	High Vary	Low Vary
Iomega	NASD	IOMG	20.88	55.12	3.75	62.13	456.67
Dynatech	NASD	DYTC	49.88	49.88	14.25	0.01	250.00
Dell	NASD	DELL	79.68	88.75	23.00	10.23	246.41
Gateway 2000	NASD	GATE	45.38	57.62	18.00	21.25	152.08
Intel	NASD	INTC	108.75	114.12	49.81	4.71	118.33
Zenith Electronic	NYSE	ZE	12.63	26.00	5.87	51.44	115.08
3Com	NASD	COMS	67.88	68.50	33.50	0.91	102.61
Quantum	NASD	QNTM	21.38	26.12	10.87	18.17	96.64
Northern Telecom	NYSE	NT	64.25	66.00	34.00	2.65	88.97
Compaq	NYSE	CPQ	67.75	75.37	35.87	10.11	88.88
Cisco	NASD	CSCO	60.25	67.00	32.00	10.07	88.28
Sun Micro	NASD	SUNW	61.88	70.25	35.62	11.92	73.71
Computer Ass.	NYSE	CA	58.75	66.75	33.87	11.99	73.46
Microsoft	NASD	MSFT	137.38	139.12	79.87	1.25	72.00
Oracle	NASD	ORCL	44.13	46.37	26.37	4.84	67.33
Ericsson Tel. , L. M.	NASD	ERICY	27.81	28.75	17.37	3.26	60.12
Data General	NYSE	DGN	14.13	19.12	9.00	26.12	56.94
IBM	NYSE	IBM	127.50	135.37	83.12	5.81	53.39
Tandem Comp	NYSE	TDM	12.75	15.25	8.37	16.39	52.33
Apple	NASD	AAPL	24.25	42.50	16.00	42.94	51.56
Micron Tech	NYSE	MU	25.13	73.62	16.62	65.87	51.17
Nokia	NYSE	NOK-A	46.50	59.25	31.12	21.52	49.42
National Semiconductor	NYSE	NSM	18.78	25.75	13.00	27.07	44.46
Syquest	NASD	SYQT	5.88	18.87	4.37	68.87	34.44
Stratus Comp	NYSE	SRA	22.25	36.12	16.62	38.40	33.87
Netscape	NASD	NSCP	46.00	87.00	34.50	47.13	33.33
Informix	NASD	IFMX	22.25	36.75	16.87	39.46	31.89
Eastman Kodak	NYSE	EK	79.50	81.00	60.87	1.85	30.61
Pixar	NASD	PIXR	15.75	46.00	12.25	65.76	28.57
Progress Soft	NASD	PRGS	15.50	38	12.12	59.21	27.89
Adobe	NASD	ADBE	34.25	74.25	28.50	53.87	20.18
Applied Mat.	NASD	AMAT	26.13	55.50	21.75	52.93	20.11
Hewlett Packard	NYSE	HWP	44.00	57.75	36.87	23.81	19.34
Texas Instr.	NYSE	TXN	48.00	70.75	40.50	32.16	18.52
Unisys	NYSE	UIS	6.25	9.12	5.37	31.47	16.39
Xerox	NYSE	XRX	46.25	58.25	39.87	20.60	16.00
Matsushita	NYSE	MC	161.63	188.00	140.00	14.03	15.45
Tandy Corp	NYSE	TAN	38.88	59.12	34.12	34.24	13.94
AST	NASD	ASTA	4.38	10.25	4.00	57.32	9.38
Digital	NYSE	DEC	29.00	76.50	28.37	62.09	2.22
Motorola	NYSE	MOT	45.13	68.62	44.75	34.24	0.84
Mentor Graphics	NASD	MENT	8.44	22.25	8.44	62.08	0.00
Silicon Graphics	NYSE	SGI	18.50	38.75	18.50	52.26	0.00
Novell	NASD	NOVL	9.38	19.12	9.38	50.97	0.00
Acer	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Packard Bell	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

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FINDIANS BRIEFINGS

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