Apple's Claris now has a Claris Clear Choice label for software from independent developers. A recent addition is BrushStrokes, a $139 painting and image-editing package from two Swedish programmers. (800) 3-CLARIS or (408) 727-8227. [TidBITS, 7/19/93. Bill Park.]

An alternative to shareware distribution will be in place by this Christmas (and in test markets now). Memorex (Santa Clara, CA) is putting racks of low-cost DOS/Windows/Mac software in thousands of retail stores. Some titles will be prepaid shareware, others will be limited "trial" versions of brand-name software. Dan Shafer of GUI (Redwood City) is in charge of acquiring titles. [Software Industry Report. Todd Merriman (todd@toolz.atl.ga.us), SEML, 7/25/93. Bill Park.]

Lists of entertainment software and hardware companies are available from swkgohw@nuscc.nus.sg, aka Sir Launcelot du Lac of Britannia. [comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.announce, 7/6/93. Bill Park.]

PLEASE COPY THIS DISK is a new information source for librarians, teachers, and students. Public-domain reference works, classic texts, United Nations source material -- environment, human rights, space, biology, etc. -- international literature, science topics, economics, women's issues, and Internet news will be sold on diskettes for $10 each. You can distribute copies without fear of copyright problems. Initial offerings are the 1992 World Factbook (on two disks), a complete Shakespeare (five disks), Lewis Carroll, Frank Baum, John Milton, The Federalist Papers, the 1990 US Census, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news, and several Internet guidebooks. (The World Factbook alone is 2.4MB and would take 8 hours to download at 2400 bps.) IBM 3.5" format only, at present. A weekly subscription service is planned. Barbara Hartley Seltzer (samizdat@world.std.com), B.R. Samizdat Express, P.O. Box 161, West Roxbury, MA 02132. [LM-NET, 7/24/93. net-happenings.]