Last updated:Wednesday, April 9, 1997, 8:30 a.m.
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Social Security has been asked by some U.S. Senate leaders to close the web site where taxpayers can get access to their personal payroll records.

The Internet Society has approved domain name expansion, an action that's been expected. It will add .firm, .arts and .web to the more familiar .net, .com, .edu, .gov, .mil and .org. Some ISPs are still cool to the new suffixes. But a tech columnist calls the current system a "security sieve".

Foretelling the future: We're all becoming inured to what would have astounded us a few years ago; but you've got to marvel every once in awhile about the world coming into view. Focus on the near future if you must, but isn't this a great time to be working in technology?

KKK on AOL: The Anti-Defamation League is criticizing America Online for allowing a Ku Klux Klan page on its site. Created by a user, the site provides mostly historical information, and AOL says it isn't offensive enough to warrant removal.

Oh give me a home: Whether it's Anchorage, Alaska or Boulder, Colorado, software developers aren't required to battle the traffic jams and inhabit the unimaginative office parks of Silicon Valley.

Federal Express thinks about giving its Net customers discounts for online orders.

PCs become ATMs: A new application called MoneyClip should ease electronic transactions, its developers hope. It's a floppy disk that can be used in any PC and contains a smart card.

Dow Jones and Microsoft are trying to revive Telerate, the financial data division of Dow Jones.

Progressive Networks will demonstrate its RealVideo today with a live broadcast of a Mariners-Indians baseball game. You can't see it unless you're at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas.

Did you hear that Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 beta is out? It's intended for developers, but it's available to anyone to download.

Cyrix rolls out its MMX chip, rated at 233 megahertz, but its real-world performance isn't yet established. You can now get a Pentium MMX chip in an Acer laptop, by the way.

Apple plans to raise Mac OS license fees, prompting some tension with its long-time partner IBM, which helped develop the PowerPC chip. Clone-makers don't like the fee increases, either, warning Apple that it could jeopardize their businesses.

Love at first sight: That's how Microsoft's courtship of WebTV appeared to those of us out of the loop. But it was more like a short romance, the Seattle Times says.

Speaking of wooing, Compaq has offered its hand to Micron, but the Boise, Idaho firm is apparently thinking it over.

But the family of Compuserve users isn't thrilled with suitor AOL, it appears.

From Mercury Center:

Intel CEO Andrew Grove earned $98 million in 1996
Pedophiles active -- and elusive -- online