Yup, we made up almost the entire article (other than the bit on SchoolTalk - can anyone give us more information on that?) last week on SentientNET. Nothing in our April Fools Day issue is impossible and a lot of it would probably be a good idea

Apple has begun to step down from its ivory tower, or perhaps it's being pulled down by gravitational market forces. As much as the Classic is selling like hotcakes (pretty soon you'll be able to buy Classics in department stores and roadside diners - I'm not entirely kidding on that first one), Apple still has a ways to go before it's installed base can compare with the base of Windows-capable machines

Rapport / Drive 2.4 Kennect Technology 120A Albright Way Los Gatos, CA 95030 800/552-1232 408/370-2866 KENNECT on America Online Rating: 9 Penguins out of a possible 10 Summary: -- The combination of Rapport and the Drive 2.4 provides read/write compatibility with most 3.5" disk formats as well as several special formats, such as 2.4 MB Mac HFS disks

Seen on an envelope from MacConnection recently: "Rush. Dated material. Dated for freshness. Blind dated. Updated. Open immediately. Open really soon

We've heard that, in an unexpected move, IBM plans to purchase Lotus Corp. IBM isn't telling how much it will pay, but we're betting that it will be an obscene amount of money, considering that Lotus is one of the largest software companies after Microsoft

This is weird. We heard of a new computer from small startup company in Texas called TechnoWizards. Well, OK, that's not so weird. What's strange about this particular machine is that it's a hybrid, which accounts for its name, the Hybrid/3

We've all been waiting for Apple to announce a 68040 Mac and a lighter, faster portable. Well, it looks like the wait will soon be over, but there is an unanticipated twist

Most everyone is in favor of networks these days. But current networks are quite stupid - they're nothing more than pipes through which information flows

Apparently Sitka isn't quite as odd a name as I previously thought. I recently learned that there is a Sitka spruce and a Sitka black-tailed deer. I've also heard more information from a couple of readers. Scott Robert Anderson writes, "My understanding is that it was a "meeting place" for many different groups (Americans, Russians, Eskimos, etc.)

A few weeks ago Lotus purchased cc:Mail to beef up its networking suite against Microsoft. I had mistakenly thought that Microsoft Mail ran on PCs and Macs (well it does, but only supports PC clients, much like CE's QuickMail), but it turns out that Microsoft Mail is not quite the complete solution

The Hewlett-Packard DeskWriter is a wonderful printer, combining 300 dpi print quality with street prices under $800. We even have a waterproof ink for it at long last! But a few other problems have recently cropped up

Last week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will begin a non-public investigation of Microsoft for allegedly crippling Windows 2.1 in favor of OS/2

Adobe recently announced a new font technology called Multiple Master, which should make everyone who uses fonts happy. Current PostScript Type 1 fonts have a single outline file that allows you to scale a font's size

MacInTax Federal 1990 Softview 1721 Pacific Avenue Suite 100 Oxnard, CA 93033 805/385-5000 800/622-6829 76702,1174 at CompuServe SOFTVIEW at GEnie SOFTVIEW at AppleLink SOFTVIEW at MCI Mail [email protected] (Internet format) Rating: 9 Penguins out of a possible 10 Summary: -- MacInTax is the tax-preparation program of choice, with its intuitive interface, excellent screen display, and accurate printouts

I first had to pay taxes years ago (OK, four years ago) when I was a junior in college. Before that time, students were more or less exempt from the annual ritual unless they were used as tax shelters by too-wealthy parents (i.e