PREVIEWS / TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES IN CYBERSPACE
* Today, 6 p.m.: O.J. Simpson defense lawyer Robert Shapiro answers questions about the civil case against his famous former client. He will be followed at 7 p.m. by Simpson prosecutor Hank Goldberg. America Online. Keyword: Court TV
* Today, 6 p.m.: “Star Trek’s” Jonathan Frakes (Cmdr. William T. Riker), John de Lancie (Q) and series director Jim Conway will gather for a chat. Internet. https://wbs.net
* Today, 6:30 p.m.: New age jazz group Hiroshima discusses its new album, “Urban World Music.” America Online. Keyword: Warner
* Tuesday, 7 p.m.: Patricia Hearst, the kidnapped-newspaper-heiress-turned-outlaw, discusses her new career as a novelist. Prodigy. Jump: Chat
* Thursday, 6 p.m.: USA Today writer Bruce Haring talks about his new expose of the music industry, “Off the Charts.” Internet. https://pathfinder.com/people/interactive/chat.html
* Thursday, 7 p.m.: Actress Jacqueline Bisset. America Online. Keyword: Oldsmobile
ON THE NET
* The Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed by President Clinton in February, is changing the face of the telecommunications industry. The site where you can read the full text of this historic law (https://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:s.652.enr:) also has links to Congressional Record items related to the legislation.
* The International Telecom Center’s Web site (https://www.telematrix.com) shares hundreds of ways to save money on telecommunications services such as long-distance, cellular and faxing. The site also has updates on telecom policy and law in the U.S. and abroad, and a schedule of telecom-related events around the world.
* Keep up with the telecom revolution with the Voters Telecommunications Watch at https://www.vtw.org. Look for action alerts relating to privacy, free speech, copyrights and more, and read up on how telecom reform will affect your life.
* Telecom Information Resources (https://ippsweb.ipps.lsa.umich.edu:80/telecom/telecom-info.html) is chock-full of articles about the technical, economic, social and public policy aspects of telecommunications. Voice, data, video, wireless, cable TV and satellite technologies are all included. There’s also a directory of more than 100 telecom-related mailing lists on this exhaustive site.
* For a weekly roundup of telecommunications-related news, visit the Telecom Update at https://www.angustel.ca/update/up.html
* Corporate Technology Information Services Inc. (https://www.corptech.com/itelmnu.htm) has prepared employment trend reports on various sectors of the telecom industry. Look up how much growth is expected in Southern California and nationwide for major product groups such as telephones, satellites, modems and more.
* The International Telecommunication Union is a special agency of the United Nations for governments, private companies, and scientific and industrial institutions working to improve the rational use of telecommunications. On the ITU home page (https://info.itu.org.br), you’ll find links to telecom-oriented sites and to regulatory agencies around the world. You can also jump to ITU’s virtual training center, with online courses about telecommunications, networking, radio frequency administration and more.
Site suggestions can be sent to cutting.edge@latimes.com