PLUGGED IN : NEWS BYTES.

HOME BANKING BOOM: Digital Insight recently announced that 27,000 households are now using its AXIS Home Banking System to make on-line financial transactions. The Camarillo-based technology firm has contracted with 38 financial institutions, including Western Federal Credit Union and the Riverside Campus Credit Union. Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass., forecasts 390,000 households will be using the Internet for on-line banking by the end of 1997. Forrester Research also forecasts that 2.91 million households will be using the Internet for on-line banking by the end of 1999.

STUDIO BATTLES ON: Digital effects studio Flat Earth Productions Inc. has expanded its offices and opened up a new facility in Burbank. The Hollywood-based production firm, known for its work on the television shows ``Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and ``Xena: Warrior Princess,'' hopes to use the new office space to give their artists more room.

WEB LINKS

TREK TUNES: For an out-of-this-world wacky time, check out the Capt. James T. Kirk Sing-Along Page at http://www.loskene.com/singalong/kirk.html. Dally not: Viacom, which owns the lucrative ``Star Trek'' franchise, wants to shut down this site. Life will be poorer for those who do not hear William Shatner singing ``Lucy! ... in the sky! ... with diamonds!''

TAKE OUT THE TRASH: Junk mail clogs your post office box, fills your recycling bin and litters your front porch. Now, it's flooding into your e-mail in-box. For those looking to dump the junk, there are several Web sites that can help.

Outlaw Junk E-Mail Now! (http://www.public.asu.edu/(tilde)dtoppi ng/ojen.html) promotes the idea of federal regulations prohibiting junk e-mail. It's also a handy launching point to other sites covering this issue.

Net Abuse FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions, offers the complete guide to Internet abuse, from junk e-mail to spamming. (http://www.cybernothing.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq.html)

How to Get Rid of Junk Mail, Spam and Telemarketers (http://www.csn.net/(tilde)felbel/jnkmail.html) gives tons of tips for dealing with junk mail of all types, from the ``get rich quick'' schemes to porno-pushers. Even better, there's a continually updated list of information about how to remove your name from mailing lists.

Get That Spammer (http://kryten.eng.monash.edu.au/gspam.html), a hand-holding step-by-step guide to figuring out who sent the junk mail and how they can be reported.

RANDOM ACCESS

FILMLESS FUN: Anna Priestly examines new Kodak Digital Science DVC 300 digital video cameras as they come off the line in Rochester, N.Y. The filmless camera captures still pictures for input into a computer and motion video for teleconferencing or digital video clips. It was introduced last week.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) No caption (Anna Priestly and Kodak Digital Science camera)

(2--Color) No caption (Star Trek web site)