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T A B L E__T A L K Apple's Newton: Good idea, badly carried out? How does it compare with the Palm Pilot? Weigh in on hand-held computers in the Digital Culture area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y Trashing the flamers By Mike Godwin An online civil libertarian discovers the proper uses of "censorware" software filters (05/15/98) The 21st Challenge No. 9 By Charlie Varon and Jim Rosenau 1 percent -- of software -- for the arts! Let's Get This Straight By Scott Rosenberg Hacker heaven, editors' hell: The New Republic's bogus article reveals a chasm of cluelessness (05/14/98) Post no shills By Scott Rosenberg With its new Web cartoon, "Super Postal Workers," has the USPS lost its mind? (05/14/98) The dumbing-down of programming By Ellen Ullman Part Two: Returning to the source. Once knowledge disappears into code, how do we retrieve it? (05/13/98) - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE 21ST FEATURE ARCHIVES - - - - - - - - - -

The Internet strikes back Online sleuths piece together the plot of the forthcoming "Star Wars" film -- and post it on the Web. - - - - - - - BY HOWARD WEN | A year from now, on Memorial Day weekend, 1999, the next chapter of "Star Wars" will premiere in theaters. Currently in extensive post-production, the as-yet-untitled film will be the first in a new trilogy. Officially, not much is known about the movie. We do know that it, like the rest of the trilogy, will be a "prequel" set before the events of the original "Star Wars" trilogy. It will introduce us to a 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker -- the future father of Luke and Leia who's destined to become Darth Vader. Other than who's starring in it -- Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman -- that's about it. Unofficially, on the Web, much, much more is known about this film -- depending on whether you're willing to believe what you read. While scoops sent in by spies involved in a film's production have become standard material on movie-gossip Web sites, for the "Star Wars" prequel the process has been both more intense and better organized. With the skill and determination investigators might use to solve a crime, online "Star Wars" fans have been assembling the prequel's entire story line a whole year in advance of the movie's release -- by stitching together official news about its production with insider scoops, gossip and plausible theories. At The Force.net -- one of two major sites solely focused on "Star Wars" prequel news and gossip -- you can even read an illustrated "Virtual Edition" of the movie. (If you prefer not reading plot-revealing "spoilers" of movies you might want to see, this would be a good place to stop reading. And definitely don't follow the links.) Most of the scooped information, often debated among online fans for their veracity, has been trivial: The names of characters and planets -- if they're real or stand-ins for finalized, cooler-sounding names to come. Or: who or what is a "Gungan" -- and is it the same thing as a "battle droid"? (Final consensus based on additional scoops: They're different things.) Think Princess Leia's hairstyle in the original film was laughably bad? Wait until you check out the 'dos George Lucas has envisioned for Portman -- complete with ceremonial makeup that will make her look like either a mime or a geisha. But some other scoops have been more tantalizing, and perhaps distressing to the filmmakers -- especially the revelation of a "pod" race sequence on the desert planet Tatooine in which young Anakin competes. This report lent further credence to speculation that the first prequel pays homage to "Ben Hur" by presenting Anakin's early life as a slave. Supposedly, Lucas himself was upset by this specific posting. Most of the scoops didn't surprise the production company, Lucasfilm Ltd., according to a Web informant who uses the pseudonym "True Fan," who provides tidbits of information to the other notable "Star Wars" prequel gossip site, Prequel Watch. Corresponding with me through a third person's e-mail, True Fan describes her/his sources: "I have sources that work directly for Lucasfilm Ltd. and LucasArts Entertainment in many different departments. My main source of information has worked closely with Lucas and Lucasfilm for more than 15 years." True Fan says he/she is careful not to give away critical plot details -- like the pod race. (For the record, a representative of Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Internet Development division could not answer specific questions for this article and, instead, issued his company's standard statement regarding fan sites: It has no official policy regarding them, though the company is generally supportive of fans' efforts on the Internet.) "The Lucasfilm production staff wasn't caught off guard at all [by the online scooping]," True Fan writes. "They expected this to happen. Matter of fact, Lucas assembled an 'Internet task force' because he knew the implications the Internet would have on the film." Another scooper for Prequel Watch -- who works for the creature animation division of Lucas' special-effects house, Industrial Light & Magic, and who chooses to remain nameless -- writes, "I can say that there appears to be a LOT of bogus [information] out there, but also a lot of 'real' stuff that has pissed off more than a few people here." - - - - - - - - - - - - N E X T__P A G E .|. Scene by scene, the movie gets a Web preview -- but can we trust it?