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What's Inside

Ah it's April, the time of year we goof about all the April Fools jokes we could put in the magazine -- at your expense. We always decide against it though. Except for one April issue when I wrote about a wireless product that had completely astounded our editor with its 256-Mbps throughput. I was amazed at the number of requests for more information on the company. A venture capital firm wrote me.

Interestingly enough, the letters weren't all about the wireless end of things. Many of them indicated great excitement over the throughput I reported. Which is one reason I'm particularly interested in the switching hubs feature Art Wittmann and Rob Kohlhepp have put together this month. While 256 Mbps will continue to be a dream, switching hubs are making real inroads into filling bandwidth demands. If you are getting ready to implement a switching hub, for added bandwidth or network flexibility, this one's for you, starting on page 66.

The January 1994 issue featured a cover story on the Internet. I recently scoped it out again and I am amazed that as much as we were gung-ho on the net back then, even we didn't quite figure on the explosion Mosaic would cause. The WorldWide Web is no longer about to explode -- it already has. Without a doubt there are daily demands on you to supply your users with a browser. Turn to Barry Gerber and Dan Dern's cover stories, beginning on page 52, where they've done your homework for you.

Ever wonder what reviewing a ton of products month after month can do to a person? We recently took a set of photos of our technology editors (the se lf-same photos, in fact, that appear in the Well-Connected Awards supplement you received with this issue) and we decided to try our hand at morphing these photos to try to get a single "editor" image. The result was quite revealing, as you can see...and yes, we've arranged for psychiatric care for all of them.

Yet, we feel this is a very small price to pay to bring you the kind of in-depth coverage you'll find in our pages. Such as Jay Adams' comprehensive PC Card Ethernet NIC review; and Rob Kohlhepp's comprehensive print server review; and Eric Carr's comprehensive fax server review. Or perhaps you are ready for something a little different. Scope out our review of VocalChat, a voice-based e-mail system. Reviews begin on page 92.

On the workshop front this month, starting on page 138, we've got important information on BLOBs (you know, Binary Large Objects) by Tom Henderson, Internet security via PGP (you know, Pretty Good Privacy) by Karl L. Barrus and a great tutorial on LAN emulation from the great Art Wittmann-our graphics artist tells me Art contributed greatly to the final morphed image of our editors. Don't forget the Buyer's Guide on V.34, offering complete details on every V.34 modem out there-page 157.

Finally, did you happen to notice that I'm not traveling, gambling or skiing as I write this? Then again, maybe I'm just not telling you the whole story this month. Just maybe I'm in Chamonix, France.

-Tony Rizzo