general news.

This article presents various news items related to the computer industry. A new network linking southern California universities and high-technology firms will provide supercomputer access to a number of smaller institutions. The new California Education and Research Federation Network (CERFnet) is one of 17 regional networks connected to NSFnet, a national network that provides access to the five National Science Foundation supercomputing centers, NSFnet will replace the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency's ARPAnet, which was established in 1969 and is now being phased out of service. Eventually CERFnet is expected to link all 19 California State University campuses, as well as several smaller private schools, such as the Claremont colleges and Occidental College. A new software authoring package will enable DVI developers to rapidly integrate full-motion video, high resolution stills, high-quality audio, graphics, animation and text into interactive applications. Using pulldown menus, worksheets, and dialog boxes, nontechnical users will be able to generate a variety of DVI applications.