General News and Notes.

This article presents news briefs related to computer industry. A snippet presents information on a recent report on the satellite communications market, which depicts a struggling industry beset by mounting expenses and damaging setbacks. According to "Satellite Communications Services and Equipment Markets, U.S.," an industry report by International Resource Development Inc., a New Canaan, Connecticut-based market research firm, satellite communication service vendors are currently reviewing their options to determine if the commercial market has a future. Most noted among the series of repeated setbacks the industry has endured is the loss of numerous satellites during launch, which has escalated insurance premiums to 20 percent or more in construction costs. Another snippet reports that an international conference on the subject of "Women, Work and Computerization" will be held in Amsterdam on April 27-29, 1988. The conference is being organized by IFIP's Technical Committee on the Relationship Between Computers and Society and will explore the conditions under which computers can open up career prospects for women.