NOW KNOW WHAT 'THEY' KNOW 

When a sudden disturbance occurs in the night, like Iraq invading Kuwait, where does one quickly obtain an immediate basic grounding on the countries, people and politics involved? That depends who you are, but some people go to their CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), toss in the disc that the CIA prepared and pull up maps and detailed briefing notes that reveal what the White House knows (I mentioned in earlier columns there is no secrecy).

Not only the CIA collects this data. Some of it is gathered from such other sources as the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Defense Nuclear Agency, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Coast Guard. CD-ROM is a compact and swift way to get what you need to know fast, with the knowledge that it is the same information being used, with other materials, during top decisionmaking late-night sessions in national capitals friendly to the United States.

This 1990 (current to October, 1992) "publication" also known as the World Almanac of the U.S.Federal Government, covers such major areas as: geography, disputes, environment, population figures, government, politics, diplomatic representation (names, addresses and phone numbers), economy, industry, communications, infrastructure and defense forces. It also explains the United Nations system, provides extended economic overviews with interactive text and maps, plus notes, definitions and abbreviations.

Do you know exactly how many countries and territories there are around the world? According to this disc there are 249. The disc lists it all, from the largest (the U.S.S.R.) to the smallest -- the Ashmore and Cartier Islands 320 kilometers northwest of Australia in the Indian Ocean. These islands have a land area of only five square kilometers and are (as pointed out in the CIA World Factbook) about 8.5 times the size of The Mall in Washington, D.C. They're just sand and coral, and the only natural resource is fish ... no ports, economic activity or people.

Another CD-ROM with supporting information on the Middle East is the Middle East Diary a lengthy review of history, personalities and conflicts. This timely disc provides all the background needed to make competent decisions on travel, business, and relations in any of the volatile Middle Eastern states. It includes U.S. Department of State background notes, all treaties in force with Mid-East states, U.S. Department of State travel advisories, Central Intelligence data and maps. It also describes political leadership, and royal family activities, historical background and weapons proliferation, embassy and consulate addresses, geographic profiles and economic statistics. And the CD-ROM includes hundreds of photographs that are interactive with the text.

In both discs covered here textware indexing, search, and retrieval software is included on the disc for easy information access. Documents may also be printed while searching the discs. Cost for the more than 640,000,000 bytes of information (equal to 20 volumes of similar print encyclopedia) is US $129, plus $12.50 for shipping outside of the U.S. for the CIA disc and US $179, plus shipping for the Middle East Diary. The discs are available for both Macintosh and MS-DOS IBM or compatible operating environments.

CD-ROMs are one of the best ways to keep up with the Niagara of new information that is flowing around the world. CD-ROMS are part of "The Invisible University" now spreading over the globe in the form of massive amounts of information becoming available through new technologies unknown in many traditional educational institutions ... in many cases years after the products are in distribution in the marketplace. Graduates of this "invisible university" are doing very well, riding their electronic gazelles into the future, at a time when the majority of school students are being taught how to operate a stagecoach pulled by arthritic elephants. Meanwhile, people using CD-ROMs and other advanced devices are moving into the photonic/information elite. Information is power, for countries, companies and individuals and you better quickly get this message in order to have the necessary knowledge and skills for our rapidly changing world. If you have one of today's Ph.D.s, it's a bit of a help. It might get you into the kindergarten of tomorrow.

More information, including a free CD-ROM catalog: Dennis E. Burke, Director of Marketing, Quanta Press, P.O. Box 8044, St. Paul, MN. 55114. Phone: 612/641-0714.

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