The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 06, 2000, Page 7, Image 7
This Week in History
Oct. 7, 1981-The new .bike registration program, which
suggested registering the serial number of students’ bicy
cles, recording and filing them, as well as engraving it
into the bicycle, was a success with more than 340 stu
dents responding to the program.
Friday, October 6,2000 ~^ %\\Z (BaimtOtk " page 7
Peer-to-peer networks
> allow people, businesses
to share files over Web
by Chris Farnsworth
College press exchange
While other people were using Napster to download pirated songs, Randy Saaf
had a bigger idea for sharing files over the Internet.
Saaf, then a first-year student at the UCLA Law School, wondered why not
use the same kind of software as Napster to transfer files for business and not
just fun. He called his friend Octavio Herrera, who’d just been accepted to busi
ness school, and spun the idea to him.
The two, who met while working in software development at Raytheon in El
Segundo, got so excited that each abandoned the security of an advanced degree.
Almost nine months later, Saaf s idea has turned into InterFriendly.net, a com
) pany started by six friends who are betting their careers on an idea called “peer
to-peer networking,” also known as P2P.
They’re not alone. Peer-to-peer networking is rapidly becoming the next
big thing in the technology world.
P2P networking uses software to create “virtual networks” across the Inter
net. Like Napster or Gnutella, the music services that enable people to trade
digital sound files online, P2P sends files over the Web between people who agree
to share theni. P2P software doesn’t require a central server, which means it can
turn any home PC with a modem into a network hub, accessible by anyone who
is authorized to use it from anywhere on the Net.
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maker of computer chips, which unveiled its own initiative to push the use of the
technology at its Intel Developer Forum in San Jose.
In a keynote speech, Intel’s chief technology officer, Pat Gelsinger, called
P2P “the next computing revolution. “ Intel’s newest chip, the Pentium 4, due
out later this year, is also aimed at speeding up P2P applications.
Intel joins a growing list of companies betting on P2P. Scour, based in Los An
geles, lets people trade digitized videos online.
A utonomous Zone Industries of Mountain View is testing a program that lets
people earn money by renting their idle computer power over the Net. And eBay
is reportedly looking into possible uses for P2P software on its auction Web site
“Everyone is getting into this now, and we had the idea six months ago,”
^ Saaf said. “Six months in the world of the Internet is a lifetime.” InterFriendly.net
started with just Saaf, Herrera and several other friends front Raytheon: Jason Neu
and Ron Paxson of Laguna Beach and Stefan Kaczntarek and Jay Mares of Los
Angeles. All except Paxson, 52, are in their 20s.
They incubated their idea at Saaf’s alma mater, Harvey Mudd College in Clare
mont. They traded the school a small equity stake in exchange for use of the cam
pus’ buildings, computer network and facilities during the summer lull.
Now the company has moved its headquarters from Laguna Beach to an of
fice in Venice to accommodate its eight employees. The friends are in discussions
with venture capitalists after a recent demonstration of the alpha version of
their software at Harvey Mudd. And, like many Internet startups, they’ve hired ,
a director of marketing: Cliff Goldman, formerly at Flashcom, the high-speed In
ternet service in Huntington Beach.
Despite the bigger names out there for P2P, the InterFriendly team hopes to
cash in on the whole startup dream: an initial public stock offering, or an acqui
sition by a multibillion-dollar company, or maybe even their faces on the cover
of Industry Standard magazine.
“We have the vision that private, busirtess-to-business networks are the fu
ture,” said Herrera, who serves as the company’s chief financial officer. “We elim
inate the need to know how to set up a network. Our software takes care of all
9 of that.” InterFriendly intends to give away a home version of its software and
chaige businesses a licensing fee for a program with more features. The compa
ny also plans to advertise on its site, www.interfriendly.net, which will launch in
October.
But lnterrnendly s backers, and everyone else in tne new yly marKei, rmgni
want to hold offbefore buying any Porsches, said Stacey Herron, an analyst with
Jupiter Research, an industry research firm.
Napster has created an extraordinary demand for P2P services, Herron said.
“The pure popularity and controversy surrounding Napster only shows the
desire for applications like this.... Consumers really like the idea of sharing
ideas with their friends,” she said.
However, there’s one problem with P2P. No one’s made a dime from it yet,
and Herron’s not sure anyone ever will.
“I’m not sure how they’re going to be a viable business and how they’re go
ing to make cash off of it,” Herron said. “Look at Napster. Napster is insanely pop
ular, and has millions and millions of users, and we’re still not sure how they’re
going to make money and if they’re a viable business.” Saaf is aware Napster is
n’t bringing in any cash, but he believes InterFriendly will be different.
“Systems like Napster mid Gnutella get all the press coverage, but ultimate
% ly, there’s no future there, because there’s no way to profit from them,” he said.
“Our primary customer is the mom-mid-pop shop. We are taigeting businesses.”
There are still a lot of obstacles to success. People are understandably ner
vous about sharing their files online. P2P could become one of those tech ideas
that never catches on, like Apple’s failed hand-held computer, the Newton.
But even if the company doesn’t become the next Netscape, or Microsoft or
even profitable, as Saaf and his friends hope, they’ve still taken a shot at .the big
dream.
“This is a technology that’s going to change the Internet,” Herrera said. “That’s
why we’re here.”
it • """ ■■■ ■ ” T
Special to The Gamecock
lnterfriendly.net is a group of friends who have anticipated the next big
thing in computing, peer- to- peer networking. The Venice, Calif, group
develops software that lets people and businesses share files. Co
founders Randy Saaf, far right, and Octavio Herrera, fourth from left, gave
up work on advanced degrees to start the company.
r
Peace Frogs find
way to Columbia
by Heather
Hardison
The Gamecock
A local merchant is attempting
to make frogs fashionable in Co
lumbia while supporting the envi
ronment.
Columbia resident Larry Frye
decided to open a Peace Frogs kiosk
after a business trip to Charleston.
While in the Charleston area,
he and his wife visited a Peace Frogs
store.
When Frye returned home, he
looked into the Peace Frogs busi
ness. He accessed the company’s
Web site and found information on
entrepreneurship. He then pro
ceeded to contact Catesby Jones,
founder of Peace Frogs. Frye opened
the business in Columbiana Centre
this past September.
Peace Frogs of Columbia olfers
t-shirts, pajamas, boxer shorts, hats,
jewelry, socks, note pads and much
more.
The typical setup of a Peace
Frogs includes the use of a Volk
swagen bus. The bus, which serves
as the actual store, is painted an ar
ray of colors much like Retro Frog,
the most popular Peace Frog.
“I wanted to bring in the bus,
but they didn’t have enough space
for me to have one,” Frye said.
As of now, Frye has a small spot
next to the food court in the mall.
While his space won’t accomodate
the typical bus, he hopes to bring
in a smaller Volkswagen bug.
“Hopefully by March, I will
have the space and access to a Volk
swagen bug. If by chance they don’t
have enough room, then I would
like to take the bug to the festivals
and other events that I attend,” Frye
said.
Peace Frogs was founded in
1985 at the University of Viiginia.
The frogs, two fingers extended
in a peace sign, were first used as
logos on shorts that displayed in
FROGS see page 8
L___
Heather Hardison The Gamecock.
Verna Cannon releases album
by Marguerite
Higgins
The Gamecock
With their recent CD release,
The Verna Cannon is broadening
their horizon with upcoming per
formances in Washington, D.C. and
their main showcase at the College
Music Journal Music Marathon
in New York City next week.
A slowcore Columbia-based
band, The Verna Cannon is a mix
between Mazzy Star and Velvet Un
derground, according to guitarist
Dan Cook.
“We definitely fall between the
coffeehouse indie band and rock,
but it fits our medium,” Cook said.
Formed in 1996, The Verna
Cannon uses Columbia resident and
USC alumna Molly Ledford as lead
vocalist, whose low, sultry voice
made an impact in both their self
titled first CD and newest CD,
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Ledford said she’s looking
forward to the chance to play at the
CBGB Art Gallery, where such
bands as Talking Heads and Raynion
frequented.
“I think our music is great be
cause it gives people a break from
the real heavy rock music and
changes the scenery to something
different to contemplate,” Ledford
said.
Accompanied by USC alum
nus’ Jonathan Bradley on drums,
Cook on guitar and violin and Jay
Barry on bass. The Verna Cannon
intermixes their music with vary
ing bands such as Hank Williams
and Dag Nasty to show their di
versity, Cook said.
“To give an example, we have
a song now that sounds like E-Mo
lown and we always have these old
er and more recent influences to
pay tribute but not directly rip off
anyone, Leaiora saia.
Ledford said the band started
out with a quicker tempo than their
current slow songs, but changed to
the more sedated sound to be nat
ural.
“We have moments where it’s
not slow but our faster songs in our
first album didn’t seem natural,”
Ledford said. “Most of our music
now comes from Dan, and that’s
just the mood that he takes, and we
like it so far.”
The Verna Cannon released
their second CD in April 2000
through record label Caigo Records,
which also recorded for Blink 182.
Cook said the band found their
break through a friend who played
some of their first CD for repre
sentatives at Cargo.
“They never saw us before, and
they signed us on for a first album
and an optional album if they liked
what they heard,” Cook said.
“I think it had to do purely with
the strength of our own first
CD.”
Ledford said the band would see
if Cargo Records would want to
make another CD after their re
action with the Northern cities.
“We’re writing some new stuff
now, but it’s mainly gearing up for
these performances and trying to
improve, Leuioru saiu.
Before they hit New York,
though, the band will hold a per
formance at the Metro Cafe in
Washington on Oct. 15.
They will play for the Art
Gallery Oct. 19 and make another
performance for music profession
als and record label representatives
at the Hilton on Oct. 20.
“We’re really excited just to
have the chance to be selected to
play for CMJ Music Marathon, but
to play two gigs is really phenom
enal and everyone is pumped,”
Cook said.
The CMJ Music Marathon is
an annual four-night event, which
will bring more than 1,000 per
formers representing rock, elec
tronica, dance, hip-hop, experi
mental, metal, Americana, lounge,
blues, jazz and alternative.
Other bands performing include
2 Skinnee J’s and Radiohead, which
are all hosted by the CMJ Network.
The Verna Cannon will be back
to play at New Brookland Tavern
sometime in early November, al
though the date is not yet definite,
Ledford said.
The spotlight desk can he reached at
gamecockspotlight@hotmail.com.
Special toTHE Gamecock
S.C. State Fair
events for Oct. 6
. STUDENT DAY
All children under 18
will be admitted free
until 6 p.m.
Midway opens at 11 a.m.
FREE SHOWS
10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
“S.C. State Fair Cslliope” - Pat Wilson
South Cate
11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
“Performances By S.C. Students”
WIS Spirit of Carolina Stage
12:30 p.m. - “Chainsaw Artists” The
Robinson Family
Front of Moore Building
■ “Columbia Marionette Theatre”
Front of Rosewood's
2:30 p.m. - “Richard's Racing Pigs”
Front of Cattle Arena
“Chainsaw Artists” The Robinson Family
Front of Moore Building
“Columbia Marionette Theatre”
Front of Rosewood's
3 p.m. - “Bounce & Ooo La La w/Daniel”
WNOK Stage
4 p.m. - “Bounce & Ooo La La w/Daniel”
WNOK Stage
4:30 p.m. - “Richard's Racing Pigs”
Front ol'Cattle Arena
“Chainsaw Artist” The Robinson Family
Front of Moore Building
“Columbia Marionette Theatre”
Front of Rosewood's
5 p.m. - “Cea Cea & The Sandman” .
(Hypnotist)
WNOK Stage
6 p.m. - “Phil Urban”
WIS Spirit of Carolina Stage
“Columbia Marionette Theatre”
Front of Rosewood's
6:30 p.m. - “Richard's Racing Pigs”
Front of Cattle Arena
“Chainsaw Artist” The Robinson Family
Front of Moore Building
7 p.m. - “Bounce & Ooo La La w/Daniel”
WNOK Stage
“Columbia Marionette Theatre”
Front of Rosewood's
8 p.m. - “Phil Urban”
WIS Spirit of Carolina Stage
“Columbia Marionette Theatre”
Front of Rosewood's
8:30 p.m. - “Cea Cea & The Sandman”
(Hypnotist)
WNOK Stage
“Richard's Racing Pigs”
Front ol Cattle Arena
GRANDSTAND ENTERTAINMENT
Mandy Moore
w/No Authority
7:30 p.m.
WRHA Movies
Friday - Sunday
9 a.m. - “La Bamba”
12 p.m. - “Play it to the Bone”
3 p.m. - “Fools Rush In”
6 p.m. - “Wayne’s World”
9 p.m. - “28 Days”
12 a.m. - “The Wood”
3 a.m. - “Fools Rush In”
Campus Notes
Send Campus Notes to gamecockspot
light@hotmail.com. Please include
contact name and phone number, and a
brief descript ion of your event. We can ’l
promise to print everything, but we can
promise to try.