SHAREWARE If you READ or use this book, then you must pay the registration fee. ********************* * THE ONLINE WORLD * ********************* Version 1.5 - May 1994 (Version 1.0 was released in Aug. 93) By Odd de Presno 4815 Saltrod, Norway (Europe) Voice (registrations only): +47 370 31204 Internet mail: opresno@extern.uio.no Data/BBS: +47 370 31204 FAX: +47 370 27111 PREFACE ======= This is the ASCII online distribution of the Online World. It deals with practical aspects of using the rapidly growing global on-line information resource. The book is distributed in a form that is designed to be easily accessible with the maximum range of computers, printer types, and search programs. In this way, it is also compatible with most electronic reading devices for the blind. Many frills, such as fancy formatting, extraneous characters or tags, have been omitted to achieve this. The main subject of the book is what you can get out of the global online resource. Expect an outline, not a comprehensive list or directory of all available offerings. We will explore selected applications across network and service boundaries, to show how selected needs may be satisfied. In the process, it provides information about how to access a large number of specific offerings. Our applications range from entertainment and the bizarre to databases and special services for professionals and organizations. You are not expected to live in the United States or in Norway. Emphasis is on international offerings available through major services and networks like the Internet, BITNET, Usenet, FidoNet, CompuServe, Echo, Dialcom, Dow Jones/News Retrieval, MCI, NewsNet and UUCP. These services can be accessed from almost anywhere. Talking about the Internet, we still have to assume that many readers are unable to get full interactive access at an affordable price, and that they therefore only have access to these offerings by electronic mail. I wrote The Online World for anybody interested in knowing more about the "Global Village" of today, they be parents or youth, teachers, students, business people, social workers, psychologists, young, or old. You can read the book like a novel, to get an idea of what is going on. It can be used as a practical guide book to online databases and news sources, or as a book of reference. You do not have to be a computer expert or an experienced "onliner" to find it useful. While not a textbook on data communications, it contains much information to help novices get started. For an introduction to telecommunications, read appendix 2 and 3 before continuing with Chapter 1. Finally, one word of warning: New online offerings are born every day, while others are closing down. Chances are that most services in this book are still around when you read it, but the text certainly needs to be updated regularly. Therefore, all feedback is welcomed with thanks! Please tell me what you like, what you don't, and what you think I have missed -- or have gotten hopelessly wrong. Send by electronic mail to me at opresno@extern.uio.no . This book is not free --------------------- The book is NOT public domain. It is copyrighted material, and may be distributed only pursuant to this license. You are granted a limited read and use license of the book to see if it is for you. Unregistered use other than to determine if the book meets your needs is a violation of this license and is forbidden. If you decide to read or use the book, you must register your copy. The rate (excluding shipping and handling) is NOK 105.00 for payment by credit card (around US$ 15.00) US$ 20.00 for all other types of payment Your contribution will support further research, and maintenance of the text. To stay current, you can also register for six updates per year. Details are given in appendix 9. Note: I do not receive any compensation from vendors of shareware disks. You must register your copy to have a legal license for use of the book beyond an evaluation period. Please give to others --------------------- Permission is granted to reproduce and distribute the Online World book so long as: (1) No remuneration of any kind is received in exchange. A distribution fee may be charged for the cost of a diskette, shipping and handling, as long as the total (per disk) does not exceed US$8.00. (2) Distribution is without ANY modification to the contents of all accompanying text files, including the copyright notice and this license. All files in this package are to be distributed together. (3) No publication of the book or individual articles from the book in print is permitted, in any language, without the express written consent of the author. Any other use, including bundling of any of the book's chapters or appendixes for your own distribution, is prohibited without express, written permission in advance. If archiving this book for use on a BBS or in a library, please include all files. Use the name ONLINE15, as in ONLINE15.ZIP, or ONLINE15.LZH. This will provide consistency for future updates. Information about where to get the latest version of the book can be retrieved from TOW, a mailing list set up to support the project. For information, send electronic mail to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu (LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 on BITNET) containing the command: GET TOW MASTER How to read the book -------------------- You may read the book using any ASCII viewing or text searching program. My favorites are: LIST - Shareware MS-DOS file viewing program, LOOKFOR - Shareware boolean text search program. Print versions of The Online World ---------------------------------- The Online World shareware book is not meant for any specific area of the world. Local versions will be printed and published in various countries through local partners. These versions of the book are be adapted to local conditions, and contain many local examples and references. The following local versions of the book is available: Norwegian --------- "Ut i verden fra egen skjerm," Norwegian text, Dataforlaget A/S, 1992. 220 pages. Phone: +47 22 63 61 62. Fax: +47 22 63 60 09. Price: NOK 245.-. ISBN: 82-90628-67-6. Local language versions of the book are being published by partners in Germany and Canada: German ------ "ONLINE-world," by Dr. Karl Sarnow and Odd de Presno. Publisher: Verlag Heintz Heise GmbH & Co KB, Helstorfer Strasse 7, D-3000 Hannover 61, Germany. Fax: +49-511-53 52-129. Email to Dr. Karl Sarnow: karl@dadoka.h.ni.schule.de . English ------- "The Online World - How to Profit from the Information Superhighway" by Mike Weaver and Odd de Presno. For free information brochure and order form, send your postal address to the publisher: Productive Publications, P.O.Box 7200, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1X8, Canada. Email: Iain.Williamson@CANREM.COM . Fax:+1-416-322-7434. To contact co-author by Email: mweaver@UNIBASE.UNIBASE.SK.CA . Do you want to be a partner? ---------------------------- If you are interested in becoming the co-author of a local language version of the book for your country, please write me at opresno@extern.uio.no to discuss the possibility. Saltrod (Norway), May 11, 1994 Yours, Odd de Presno ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Online World book's text on paper, disk and in any other electronic form is (C) copyrighted 1994 by Odd de Presno. All rights reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX ===== PREFACE ----------------------- PART 1: AN ONLINE WORLD ----------------------- 1. Going online will make me rich, right? Knowledge is Power. A larger personal network will give you a stronger punch. The value of information, and of having fun ... 2. The online world The structure and content of the online offerings. About Bulletin Board systems, mailing lists, conferencing systems, and online databases. About packet data services, and network services like FidoNet, i-Com, Infonet, Internet, and others. A constantly changing environment. 3. How to use online services Short introduction. How to use menus, and how to navigate like an expert. Tailoring online services to your interests and needs. -------------------- PART 2: APPLICATIONS -------------------- 4. Hobbies, games, and fun About computer programs, online adventure games, threatening viruses, planning holidays and travel, collecting coins and stamps, genealogy, music, shopping and other leisure activities. 5. Home, education, and work Tips for house owners, for those more concerned about money, about education and the exchange of knowledge, electronic conferences. Building a personal network. Job hunting by modem, and about working from home. 6. Your personal healthnet About support for diseases like AIDS, cancer, and kidney diseases. Forums for people with physical or mental disabilities, like hearing impairments, learning disabilities, vision impairment, mobility problems. 7. Electronic mail, telex, and fax How to communicate globally at a ridiculously low cost, with notes about how to address electronic mail. 8. Free expert assistance How to get free advice about your computer, software, profession, and many other things. 9. Your electronic daily news Read national and global news before getting it through the traditional media. Get those interesting background facts. Read special interest news that the media never bother to print. 10. Looking for a needle in a bottle of hay Searching databases. 'Clipping' news. How to locate interesting books and articles. Monitoring the online offerings, and sources about sources. 11. Getting an edge over your competitor Using the networks to manage projects. Monitor competitors, prospects, suppliers, markets, technologies, and trends in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and xUSSR. Marketing and sales by modem. ----------------------- PART 3: WORKING SMARTER ----------------------- 12. Practical tips about how to get more out of your online time. 13. Cheaper and better communications Using packet data services or competing data transport services like Tymnet Outdial, Infonet, Internet, PC Pursuit, and others. 14. Keep what you find. Build your local personal database. Strategies for locating interesting information. What separates good from bad information. 15. You pay little for a lot! How to figure out costs. 16. Automatic communication Get a lead on your competitors. Avoid duplication of effort. Reduce costs. Reduce boring repetitive work. No need to remember the "tricks" of communications anymore. 17. Gazing into the future. Thoughts about things to come. ----------------------------------------------- Appendices: ----------------------------------------------- 1. List of selected online services 2. How to get started About your personal computer, modem and communications program. 3. Your first online trip Typical pitfalls and simple solutions. Down- and uploading. 4. Frequently used terms 5. Books and articles for further reading 6. Important Internet tools & pointers 7. List of services offering access to Internet 8. About the author 9. How to register ----------------------------------------------- PART 1: AN ONLINE WORLD Chapter 1: Going online will make me rich, right? ================================================= There are so many sources of information and services out there, and each of them has to be searched or used separately. Therefore, half the battle is figuring out where to look. Information is abundant, even overwhelming. At risk of drowning in that vast sea, anyone navigating the online world needs to know what is available, and how to find and use it. Getting there takes time, but the potential rewards are interesting: - Knowledge is power. - The value of critical information is increasing, - A large personal network gives you a punch. You will also discover that using the online resource can be quite fun and entertaining. After all, there's more to life than business and work. Knowledge is Power ------------------ My wife has a rare and dangerous kidney disease. One day her doctor joined us on an online research session to look for experiences and advice in other countries. We sat down in my office in Norway. I turned on my personal computer and started a communications program. After some keystrokes, we could hear the attached modem dial the number of CompuServe, a North American information utility. (A modem is a piece of equipment that converts computer signals to and from sound codes, so that data can be sent by phone.) It took just a few seconds to make the connection. A greeting scrolled over our screen, followed by a menu of available choices. For an introduction to practical telecommunications, check out appendix 2 and 3. Appendix 1 lists major services mentioned in this book. We selected "Health," and "Database for Rare diseases" from a new menu. Here, we found the address of a foundation for "cysts in kidneys," which is the name of her disease. My wife made contact. Since then, she has since received regular reports of research results and experiences gained in the field. We sent a request for help to an electronic forum for doctors. This resulted in several useful pointers. We searched a magazine database for medical articles containing the word "kidney." Paper copies of the most interesting finds arrived by mail a few days later. My wife gave them to her hospital doctor as background reading. Kenya Saikawa is paralyzed. He communicates with his PC and modem using light key strokes and Morse code. Online communications allows Kenya to be in regular contact with people outside the walls of his Tokyo hospital. We met online in a "Handicap Club" on a computer center called TWICS in Tokyo. He was there to exchange experiences with others with disabilities. I called in by modem from Norway. Geographical distance is no problem in the online world. CompuServe's Cancer Forum has a similar function. "It's a blessing that I can visit here 24 hours a day," one visitor said. "When I'm unable to sleep at night, I often sit down by the PC to read and write messages to others." The forum works like a family. The file library is full of information about cancer. Members can go in there and pick up whatever they want to read. Dave Hughes from Old Colorado Springs, Colorado in the United States has had a long career as a professional soldier. He has fought in places like the Yalue river in Korea and Vietnam's jungle. When he retired, he became a political online force. "I'm using the new tools of the individual mind to change the world," he says. Native American Indians are among those, who have benefited from Dave's energy and knowledge. He has helped them show their culture to the outside world in a graphical form. Vladimir Makarenkov from the Crimea in the Ukraine is manager in a company called VINKO. In early 1993, he distributed an offer of partnership with foreign companies through the E-EUROPE mailing list on BITNET/Internet. VINKO is into aluminium processing. He wrote: "From our own production we can offer some one metals and aniline dye for cotton, viscose, wool, silk, leather. We are interested in deliveries of chemical production (gamma acid, H-acid) and not quickly deteriorating foods (food concentrates, canned food etc)." George Pavlov is Planning and Reporting manager with an American computer manufacturer. Daily, he logs on to online services to monitor industry product announcements and daily news from several electronic sources. It helps him stay ahead of rapid technological developments. Chairman Bill Gates of Microsoft says messaging is his most important application personally. He spends as much as five times more time in electronic mail as in spreadsheets or word processing, and claims that "it's probably the most mission-critical application for Microsoft in terms of running the company." IBM relies on the Internet to give OS/2 users and developers around the world a way to retrieve documentation, technical interface specifications, fixes and upgrades. Semafor A/S in Arendal, Norway, produces modems and telecommunications equipment. They operate an electronic bulletin board for customers, users and prospects. Anybody can call in to get information about products and offerings. If in need of help, they can leave a message to Semafor A/S day and night. A response will be waiting for them, when they call back. Eduardo Salom heads Software Plus SA in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He discovered the online world in 1988, and uses it to find information that can help his company develop industrial applications. The Norwegian civil engineer Kai Oestreng regularly calls specialized online computer clubs to discuss his computational needs, fetch programs and monitor developments. Mary Lou Rebelo was born in southern Brazil. Today, she is married to a Japanese and lives in Tokyo. She teaches Portuguese and works as a translator. The modem enables her to keep in touch with others around the world, who are interested in Portuguese and Spanish language and culture. Sheena Macleod teaches in a primary school in Lusaka, Zambia. She integrates the online world in her teaching to motivate her students. Her classes are involved in international projects with schools all over the globe. In August 1991, the "Old Stalinists" made a coup d'etat in the Soviet Union. The news media were silenced, but they forgot the country's many bulletin boards. Early one morning, a foreign caller picked up the following messages from a Moscow BBS: From: Valery Koulkov To: All Msg #560, 00:42am 20-Aug-91 Subject: Moscow, August 19, 23:00 Some news from the square news RSFSR white building, 23:00. Local inhabitants are very welcome for the people guarding 'white building', they carry food and some garments to the square. Approx. 8 tanks stand by the house under the RSFSR flags! There is an information that 'white house' is surrounded by the soldiers from Vysshee Desantnoye uchilische from Ryazan. The people are not so desperate than some hours ago. There are more and more people. From: Stas Stas To: Alexey Zabrodin Msg #562, 02:53pm 20-Aug-91 Subject: Russia In Agency news I have sent two files RIA4.txt & ria5.txt It's msgs of Russia Information Agency Spread it as much as you can!!! From: Andrew Brown To: All Msg #563, 06:31pm 20-Aug-91 Subject: What's happening? I am a journalist on the London Daily newspaper *The Independent*, and I am trying to discover whether this technology, like fax machines, is being used for independent communication now that the censors have clamped down on everything else. Can people describe what is happening, and what they see? Something similar was done on Compuserve during the Gulf War, by subscribers who where in Israel and were able to describe Scud missile attacks without censorship. Andrew Brown Select: 564 From: Valery Koulkov To: All Msg #564, 00:52am 21-Aug-91 Subject: Moscow events There is shooting near the American embassy and RSFSR state building. Informer said (by phone) that he saw several victims (shot and killed under the tanks. there is fire near the RSFSR building. Moscow, August 21, 1:15 am Telecommunications played a role in this historic event. While CNN televised the coup, it was not the images, but the words of men like Yeltsin that held sway for Russian citizens. Within hours of Yeltsin's statement in defiance of the coup leaders, handbills reproducing his statement papered the walls of the Moscow metro and Leningrad houses. Another one: On Friday, Feb. 26 1993 at 12:18 p.m., a bomb exploded in the World Trade Center in New York City, U.S.A. Four minutes later, the Dow Jones News Service flashed this headline: "NYC Fire Dept. Says Fire At 3 World Trade Center." You can! -------- Online communication is not just for the privileged or those with a special interest in computers. It is for you, me, everybody. There is much to learn in the "online land," and the medium is fascinating. It makes learning fun. You can learn about your hobbies, your profession, life in other countries, languages, other people's views about whatever, and more. Often, you will find reports about experiences and know-how that it is hard or impractical to get in other ways. Some go online to learn how to do things better. Teachers want to give their students a better and more motivating learning environment. Architects, engineers and companies want increased competitiveness and sales. They seek timely information about competitors, technologies and tools, partners and trends. You can take a Masters Degree in Business Administration while sitting in front of your computer at home. You can join online seminars arranged by local or foreign educational institutes. You can even study at night, when the rest of your family has calmed down. Some build their own educational programs supported by databases, online forums and associations of various kinds. You may feel helpless in hospital, or when visiting your doctor. Knowledge about your disease will make you better equipped to handle the situation. The online resource is just keystrokes away, and knowledge is power. To get this power, you must know what you can get from the online world. This book is filled with examples of what is available, and practical tips about how to use the many offerings. A large personal network gives strength --------------------------------------- Most of us belong to one or several networks. They consist of persons that we can call on when we need help. Your network may be private, like your family. You may be member of associations, or part of a group of people with common interests within a company or organization. The modem allows you to be part of more personal networks than you can possibly cope with in the "real world." Besides, it's easier to develop personal networks in the online world. We have used words like "clubs" and "associations." By this we mean groups of people interested in helping You and in participating in what You happen to be interested in. That's what networking is all about. Today's communications technology lets us participate in networks in other countries at a very low cost. Many describe it as being participation "beyond time and space." Write a message and send it to a person in your network. It arrives in his/her "mailbox" within minutes (sometimes seconds) and stays there until the recipient wants to read it. This built-in ability to send messages to other people's electronic mailboxes reduces the power that time and geographical distances have over our lives. A friend in a remote country gets out of bed nine hours after you, but keeps going well into what, for you, is the next morning. No problem. You can send letters when you are awake and receive replies when you are asleep. You can pick up and read your friend's messages the next day or when you feel like doing it. That is how two people as far apart as Arendal, Norway and Beijing, China could be involved in the development of this book. Sometimes "real time" discussions are important. Consider the following example. CompuServe has a Diabetes Forum. You can call there any time, day or night, seven days a week. Whenever you feel like it. You will always find someone to chat with who understands and shares your problems. Hours of real-time chatting may be expensive, but you are free to decide your level of involvement. If you think that $10 spent on a chat session is enough, then just stop there. What is the point? ----------------- Thousands of commercial and noncommercial online services offer over 5,000 online databases. These infobases are repositories of electronic information. They contain full-text and reference books, magazines, newspapers, radio and TV shows, reports, and more. In 1992, BiblioData (USA) found that around 4,000 titles (i.e., magazines, newspapers, etc.) were available online in full-text. You will find facts and figures about almost anything in the online world. The world has over 100,000 public bulletin board systems (1993). Most are small information centers, running on personal computers using a simple computer program and modems. People call in to read messages and information, retrieve free software, or just to have a good time. Most BBSes are free. Some charge a small annual fee. The largest board has 213 telephone lines, seven gigabytes of storage for letters, conferences, computer programs, and more (1993). Mind you, 7 gigabytes is a lot. It is equivalent to more than 7,000,000,000 characters, or a whopping 12,000 copies of this book! The entrepreneur sees the online world as a new, profitable playground. Many have made it their profession to search for information for others, and they earn a good living doing so. Others advertise and sell products and services by modem. Some set up their own services to sell knowledge and know-how, be it of aqua culture, wine production, marketing, or about the petroleum offshore market. In business, it pays to be one step ahead of the competition. Early warnings of customers' needs, competitors' moves, and emerging opportunities can be turned into fortunes. This can reduce potential losses and help develop businesses in more profitable directions. Turn this to your advantage. Build your own early warning system that monitors online information sources and networks. Have fun -------- The online world has an abundance of joke clubs, dramatic adventure games with multiple players, and large archives filled with computer game software. You can transfer these programs to your personal computer and be ready to play in minutes. Others may feel more entertained when things get "interesting." Surely, those calling Moscow in August 1991 for news about the coup must have had a strange sensation in the stomach. Some online users react quickly when dramatic events occur. They go online to read news directly from the wires, from Associated Press, TASS, Reuters, Xinhua Press, Kyodo News and others. Usually, online news comes directly to you from the journalists' keyboards. Often, you heard it here first. Others prefer to socialize. They meet in online "meeting places" to debate everything from Africa and the administration of kindergartens to poetry, LISP programming, and compressed video for multimedia applications. It has been claimed that increased use of online networking in a country can effect social changes within politics, economics, communication and science. It can support democratic tendencies, the transition to a market economy, the formation and support of businesses, the spreading of interpersonal and mass communication, the forging of invisible colleges among scientists, and breaking-up of traditional and closed information systems developed in some societies. The Star-Ledger (USA, 1/13/94 p. 41) wrote that with communications playing a greater role in economic development, experts are warning of the creation of a new technological underclass. They think that communities deprived of computers and telecommunications will end up in poverty. No matter whether your application is useful or just a pastime, online services queue up to help give your life a better content. Some people fear that language might be a problem, and in particular if English is not their first language. Don't worry. There are many other languages used in the online world. Besides, you are in the driver's seat. If something is hard to understand, just log off to study the difficult text. Take your time. Nobody is watching. Will you being member of the online world make you rich? Probably not. On the other hand, it certainly provides the means to help you achieve such a goal, no matter how you define the word "rich." Go for it! Chapter 2: The online world =========================== This chapter is about the structure and contents of the online world. You will read about Bulletin Board systems, discussion lists, conferencing systems, online databases, packet data services, and network services like FidoNet, i-Com, Infonet, and the Internet. From papyrus to bits and bytes ------------------------------ Around 1500 B.C., the world's first library was established in Tell el Amaran, Egypt. Eight hundred years later, the first public library opened in Athens, Greece. It took another two thousand years for the first stored program computer to be invented (Wilkes, Cambridge, England), and it was not until 1954 that the first online search service was launched by the Naval Ordinance Test Station, in Michigan, U.S.A. Six years later, MEDLARS, a full-text bibliographic database containing references to medical literature was launched. Now, things started to roll faster: 1972: DIALOG (U.S.A.) opened their Educational Resources Information Center and National Technical Information Service databases for online searching. (Appendix 1 contains information about the major online services referred to in this book.) 1974: Dow Jones News/Retrieval (U.S.A.) launched a financial financial information service for stock brokers. 1978: The first bulletin board was put into operation in Chicago. 1979: CompuServe (U.S.A.) launched a service for home users. 1993: The number of countries reachable by electronic mail through the Internet is around 137. The online world was born in the United States. Little happened in the rest of the world until the late 1980s. American companies and users may still seem dominate, but they are no longer alone. Today, we can access tens of thousands of public databases. They are available from millions of online systems ("host computers") all over the world. With so many online services, and a large variety of access methods, it is difficult to find our way through the maze of offerings. Telecommunications has therefore often been presented as one of the more difficult things to learn to do on a computer. The good news is that it was never all that terribly difficult and its getting easier all the time. It may help to have a picture in your mind of the various parts of this "online world" before we embark on the applications. The book therefore starts with an analogy. Think of it as a "map" of the online world. The structure and contents of the online world ---------------------------------------------- The online world can be visualized as a cake with multiple layers. The information sources are the bottom layer, and you, the user, the marzipan figure on the top. The online world contains the following tiers: (1) Database producers and information providers (2) Online service companies (3) Gateways and networks (4) The service offerings (5) The user interface (6) The data transport services (7) The User. If you are a novice, it may seem complex at this time but none of the levels are difficult. It often helps to visualize what level you are dealing with at any given time. Lets consider them in more detail. 1. Database producers and information providers. ------------------------------------------------ I have a bulletin board system in Norway (at +47 370 31378). It runs on a small personal computer, and offers shareware and public domain software. Anybody can call this BBS and have programs transferred to their personal computers by modem (see appendix 2 for how to do this). When you call it to "download" (retrieve) a free program, do not expect to find one made by me. I do not write programs. All available programs have been written by others. When you call Data-Star in Switzerland, or CompuServe in the U.S. to read news, you may find some stories authored by these companies. Most of their news, however, has been written by others. The Associated Press, an American news agency, let online services like Dialog, CompuServe, Nexis and NewsNet 'resell' their news to their users. My BBS (the "Saltrod Horror Show"), Data-Star, Dialog, CompuServe, Nexis, and NewsNet are online services. We call those who have provided the news and information on these services for information providers or database producers. The information providers sell the right to distribute news. What you pay to an online service to read news may be imbedded in its standard access rates. Some services will ask you to pay a surcharge when reading news. CompuServe subscribers pay a membership fee of US$8.95 per month for unlimited use of a variety of services (Standard Pricing Plan, March 1994). The services in this options include The Associate Press Online News (Hourly News Summaries, Sports, Entertainment, Business, News, This Day In History), UK News Clips, and Deutsche Presse-Agentur Kurznachrichtendienst. CompuServe pays Associated Press part of what they earn whenever you read their news. There is no surcharge for reading AP news on this service. Others charge more. To read Mid-East Business Digest through NewsNet, you pay a surcharge of US$72.00 per hour at 2400 bps (1993). To scan newsletter headlines and conduct keyword searches you only pay a basic connect charge, which is US$90.00 per hour at this speed. The total cost for reading Mid- East Business Digest amounts to US$162.00 per hour. CompuServe's database service, IQuest, lets you search NewsNet through a gateway to find and read the same articles. Here, reading will only set you back US$21.50/hour (provided the articles are among the first hits in your search. 1993). Information providers may have subcontractors. The Ziff-Davis' Computer Database Plus, a database with full-text articles from magazines like Datamation and Wall Street Computer Review, depends on them. Datamation pays journalists to write the articles. Ziff-Davis pays Datamation for the right to distribute the articles to CompuServe's subscribers. CompuServe pays Ziff-Davis part of what you pay when reading the text. Some information providers also distribute information through grassroots bulletin boards. The Newsbytes News Network, Boardwatch Magazine, and the USA Today newsletter services are two examples. The bottom line is that rates for reading the same article may differ considerably depending on what online service you are using. If you are a regular reader, shop around for the best price. 2. Online services ------------------ The term "online services" refers to the services which are provided by computer systems, large or small, to owners of personal computers with modems. The services may include access to electronic mail, online shopping malls, discussion forums, hardware and software vendor support, access to libraries of programs and data, games and entertainment, financial data, stock market quotes, research capabilities, or simply access to other service providers as often is the case with many Internet hosts. You do not always need a phone and a modem to "log on." Some services can be accessed through leased phone lines, amateur radio, or other methods. Appendix 1 contains a list of major services mentioned in this book, with addresses, phone numbers, and a short description. CompuServe (U.S.A.), Twics (Japan), and Orbit (England) are commercial. They charge you for using their services. Some online services are priced like magazines and newspapers with a flat subscription rate for basic services. You can use this part of a service as much as you like within a given period. CompuServe, GEnie, BIX, America Online, Delphi, and many for-pay BBSes offer such pricing options. Other online services charge for 'connect time'. They have a rate per hour or minute. MCI Mail uses "no cure, no pay." You only pay to send or read mail. To check for unread letters in your mailbox is free. There are all kinds of creative pricing schemes. Some have different rates for access during the day, night and weekends. Others charge users living far away less, while others again charge the remote user more than ordinary subscribers. Still, most online services are free. This is particularly true for the over hundred thousand bulletin board systems of the world. The owners of these services often regard them as a hobby, a public service, a necessary marketing expense, or do it for other reasons. The cost of setting up and operating a BBS is low. Consequently, the BBS systems are as varied as the people who run them. Each BBS has its own character. My BBS is also free. I consider it an online appendix to this book and the articles I write. Some large, international service providers on the Internet, BITNET, and UUCP are free. They address research and educational institutions and are partly financed by public funds. Some users fear that using online services will increase their telephone costs dramatically, and especially when using services in other countries. This is often unjustified. Read in chapter 13 and 15 about how to keep your communications costs down. 3. Gateways and networks ------------------------ CompuServe users select the Computer Database Plus from a menu. This prompts CompuServe to dial another service provider and lets you use this, as if you were still using CompuServe. You hardly notice the difference. You are using Computer Database Plus through a gateway. When you search the IQuest databases, you will get a similar welcome message: One moment please... Connected to 19EASYN Welcome to IQuest (c) 1991 Telebase Systems, Inc. U.S. Patent No. 4,774,655 Through another gateway, CompuServe connects you to the online service Telebase Systems, Inc. Telebase lets you go through other gateways to search in databases located on services like BRS, MEDLINE and NewsNet. While searching, you may get progress reports like these: Dialing BRS Connect BRS Scanning .... Please wait Dialing Medline Connect Medline Scanning .... Please wait All the time, your modem is connected to CompuServe. You are mentally using CompuServe and not other online services. Technically, you are going through various gateways to reach the information libraries. You pay CompuServe for the privilege. They, in turn, pay a fee to the others. You can read The New York Times on Down Jones News/Retrieval through gateways from MCI Mail and GEnie. Accessing information through a gateway is often simpler than logging on to several online systems. Calling several systems often costs more, and it certainly takes more time. Users of BBSes connected to RelayNet or FidoNet can join in global discussions. Participants in other countries also call their favorite local systems. To the individual user, it looks as if they all use the same bulletin board system. The networks that tie these boards together regularly send new discussion items to the other participating boards. Write "This is not correct!" in a distributed conference on a Norwegian FidoNet BBS, and others may soon read your line on San Bernardino BBS in Colton (California), Wonderland Board in Macau or the HighTech BBS in Sidney (Australia). KIDLINK is a global project for children between 10 - 15 years of age. It allows kids to discuss through a system of electronic mail. Part of the dialog takes place by the children sending email to a recipient called KIDCAFE. A message to 'the cafe' goes through the international networks to a host computer in North Dakota (U.S.A.). There, a computer program called LISTSERV distributes copies of the message to names on an electronic address list. (Conferences administered by a LISTSERV are called 'discussion lists'.) SciLink in Toronto is one recipient. Messages forwarded from North Dakota are made available for users there as entries in a 'local' conference called KIDCAFE. A user in Toronto can read a message, as if it had been entered locally. If she wants to reply, her answer is sent back to the LISTSERV for redistribution to the world. Western Michigan University (U.S.A.) is also a recipient. Here, another LISTSERV program is in charge of forwarding the mail to yet another list of (local) addresses. We call it a 'mail exploder'. This mailing exploder has been set up by local administrators to reduce costs as the individual user does not have to receive his own copies of messages all the way from North Dakota. One Michigan recipient may be a local area network which further spreads the messages. Actually, this is how the online world got started. Two systems were interconnected for exchange of electronic mail. Then, another system was added, and another, until it developed into a large network of computer systems. Some network systems are connected by leased telephone lines. Other networks, like FidoNet, depend mainly on dial-up using regular voice-grade telephone service. Each BBS dial regularly to other computers in the network to send or receive mail and files. They may do it once per day, twice per day, or whatever. Then someone got the idea of interconnecting networks. FidoNet was connected to the UUCP network, which was connected to the Internet, which in turn was connected to the Bergen By Byte BBS in Norway, CompuServe, SciLink, MCI Mail, and various local area networks for exchange of email and other offerings. Today, the online world is a global web of networks. The world is 'cabled'. You, I, and all the other modem users stand to benefit enormously. 4. The services --------------- The most popular online services are electronic mail, chat, file transfers, conferences and discussion forums, news, reading of online journals and grassroots publications, database searching, and entertainment. The online world contains an infinite number of niches, things that people are interested in and have fun doing. Electronic mail --------------- is not just like paper mail. Email is faster, easier to edit and use in other applications. Your mail may be private, or public. It can be 'broadcasted' to many by a mailing list. The principle is the same on all systems. Typically, an email message is sent to your mailbox in the following form: To: Odd de Presno Subject: Happy Birthday Text: I wish you well on your birthday. -Ole The sending mail system automatically adds your name (i.e., the sender's return email address), the creation date, and forwards it to the recipient. If the recipient's mailbox is on another system, the message is routed through one or several networks to reach its destination. When the message gets to the receiver's mail system, it is stored in her "mailbox" until she logs on and chooses to read it. Besides reading the message, she can print it, save it to a disk, forward it to someone else, or send a reply. Depending on the mail system, if the reply option is chosen, the address is automatically supplied from the original mail piece and you have the option of including all or parts of the original message. Several email services offer forwarding to fax, telex or ordinary postal service delivery. Some offer forwarding to paging services. With these, when new mail arrives in your mailbox, a message with text like 'MAIL from opresno@extern.uio.no' will be displayed on your beeper's small screen. By the turn of the century, it probably will be difficult to tell the difference between fax messages and email. The services will automatically convert incoming faxes to computer-readable text and pictures, so that you can use them in word processing and other computer applications. Automatic language translation is another trend. You will soon be able to send a message in English, and have it automatically translated into Spanish for Spanish-reading recipients, or into other languages. Conference systems with automatic translation are already being used in Japan (English to/from Japanese). One day we may also have a global email address directory where you can ask, "What is the address of Nobuo Hasumi in Japan." and have it supplied. This will be nice since email addresses are somewhat more volatile than normal (snail mail) addresses. Since they currently reside on many different networks and systems and the sharing of email between systems is still fairly young, this has yet to be implemented. 'Chat' ------ Email has one important disadvantage. It may take time for it to be picked up and read by the recipient. The alternative is real-time conferencing, a form of direct keyboard-to-keyboard dialog between users. We call it 'chat'. Most large systems let you chat with many users simultaneously. Even small bulletin boards usually have a chat feature. Chat is set up in several ways. On some systems, you see each character on the screen as it is entered by your dialog partners. Other systems send entries line by line, that is, whenever you press ENTER or RETURN. Here, it may be difficult to know whether the other person is waiting for you to type, or if he is actively entering new words. You will find regular chat conferences in CompuServe's forums. Often, they invite a person to give a keynote speech before opening 'the floor' for questions and answers. Many a famous person has been featured in such 'meetings'. In May 1991, KIDLINK arranged a full-day chat between kids from all over the world. Line, a 12-year old Norwegian girl, started the day talking with Japanese kids at the Nishimachi and Kanto International School in Tokyo. When her computer was switched off late that night, she was having an intense exchange with children in North America. The chats took place on various online services and networks, including Internet Relay Chat (IRC), BITNET's Relay Chat, Cleveland Free-Net (U.S.A.), TWICS in Tokyo, the global network Tymnet, and the Education Forum on CompuServe. The discussions had no moderator. This made the encounters chaotic at times. The kids enjoyed it, though! One-line messages shot back and forth over the continents conveying intense simultaneous conversations, occasionally disrupted by exclamations and requests for technical help. Speed is a problem when chatting. It takes a lot of time as most users are slow typists. If an individual message spans more than one line, there is always a risk that it will be split up by lines coming from others. It takes practice to understand what goes on. Users of SciLink (Canada) use a method they call 'semi-sync chat'. The trick is to use ordinary batch-mode conferences for chatting. Instead of calling up, reading and sending mail and then log out, they stay online waiting for new messages to arrive. This approach allows the entry of multiple-line messages without the risk of them being broken up by other messages. The flow of the discussion is often better, and each person's entries easier to understand. File transfers -------------- The availability of free software on bulletin boards brought the online world out of the closet. Today, you can also retrieve books and articles, technical reports, graphics pictures, files of digitized music, weather reports, and much more. Millions of files are transferred to and from the online services each day. File transfers typically represent over 75 percent of the bulletin boards' utilization time. Downloading free or inexpensive software is still the most popular service. In February 1994, users downloaded 105 megabytes' worth of public domain and shareware programs from of my BBS (which has only one phone line). Add to this the megabytes being downloaded from hundreds of thousands of other bulletin boards. The number is staggering. If you want to download software, check out appendix 3 for additional information. Downloading is simple. Just dial an online service, order transfer of a given file, select a file transfer protocol (like XMODEM), and the file comes to you through the phone line. Services on the Internet offer file transfer through gateways using a command called FTP (File Transfer Protocol). It works like this: Say your mailbox host is an Ultrix system with an interactive connection to the Internet. You access it using a dial-up modem. Today, you dial up to download free programs from a large archive in the United States. After having connected to the Ultrix system, you enter 'ftp OAK.Oakland.Edu' to connect to a computer in Michigan. A few seconds later, the remote host asks for your logon id. You enter 'anonymous', and supply your email address as the password. This gives you access. You use the cd command (change directory) to navigate to the desired library catalog on the remote hard disk. You locate the desired file, and use a GET command to transfer the file to your personal file area on your local Ultrix system. When done, you logout from the remote computer and are returned to the Ultrix service. Finally, you transfer the file from the Ultrix to your personal computer using traditional methods (like XMODEM). This file transfer involve the use of 8-bit binary code. Some mail systems only use a 7-bit binary code. Being able to send Internet mail does not guarantee access to the ftp command. If ftp is unavailable, you may be able to have the file sent to you by email using a technique called UUENCODEing. In this case, the file is converted before transfer into a format that can be sent as ordinary mail (into a seven bits, even character code). When the file arrives in your mailbox, you 'read' it as an ordinary message and store the codes in a work file on your disk. Finally, you decode the file using a special utility program (often called UUDECODE). Read more about this in Chapter 12. Conferences and discussions --------------------------- Online conferences have many things in common with traditional face-to-face conferences and discussions. The main difference is that the participants do not physically meet in the same room. They 'arrive' by modem and discuss using electronic messages. There are conferences about nearly every conceivable topic, from How to start your own company, Brainstorming, Architectural design, Investments, The Future of Education, to AIDS, The Baltic States, Psychology, and Cartoons. Instead of calling these discussions "online conferences," some services use terms like echos, discussion or mailing lists, clubs, newsgroups, round tables, SIGs (Special Interest Groups), and forums. They use other terms in an attempt to make their offerings more attractive and exclusive. Others refer to "conferences" by using the name of the software used to administer the discussions, like LISTSERV, PortaCom, News, Usenet, Caucus, or PARTIcipate. On the bottom line, we're still talking email. However, while private mail is usually read by one recipient only, 'conference mail' may be read by thousands of people from the whole world. All of them can talk and discuss SIMULTANEOUSLY. It is almost impossible for one single individual to dominate. The number of active participants can therefore be far larger than in 'face-to-face' conferences. The conferencing software automatically records all that is said. Every character. Each participant can decide what to read and when. He may even use the messages in other applications later on. Opinions and information can easily be selected and pasted into reports or new responses. Some conferences are public and open for anybody. Others are for a closed group (of registered) participants. Conferences are normally structured by topic and influenced by the participants' behavior. If the topic is limited, like in "The football match between Mexico and Uruguay," it may start with an introduction followed by comments, questions, and answers like pearls on a thread. After some time the conference is 'finished'. Other conferences go on indefinitely. The content and the quality of the discussion is what separates one online conference from others. How a conference develops, depends in part on the features of the software used by the online service. But this is much less important than the kind of people you meet there and their willingness to contribute. Still, let's take look at some differences in features. Messages in the IBM Hardware Forum on CompuServe are divided into 11 sections. Section 2 is called Printers' utilities. If you have problems with an old Epson FX-80 printer, send requests for help to "All" (=to everybody) and store it in this section. CompuServe's subscribers call in from all over the place to join the forum. Some are there to show off competence (read: to sell their expertise). Others visit to find solutions to a problem, or simply to mingle or learn. A conference with many users increases your chances of meeting others who are compatible and have relevant skills. As always, the quality of the people is the first requirement of a good conference. On CompuServe, professional 'Sysops' (system operators) moderate the discussion. They get up to 15 percent of what you pay CompuServe for using their forums. To them, being a sysop is a profession. They expend considerable time trying to make the forum a lively and interesting place. The Printers/utilities section is not just about Epson FX-80. Its members have hundreds of different printers, each with their own set of user problems. Let's use this to explain differences between some conferencing systems. Each message in CompuServe's forums contains the sender's name (his local email address), subject, date, and the text itself. We call this the 'bulletin board model'. Messages posted on Usenet, Internet and BITNET mailing lists, and most bulletin boards have a similar structure. On CompuServe, systems, a message typically looks like this: #: 24988 S10/Portable Desktops 22-Jul-91 10:05:38 Sb: #T5200 425meg HDD Fm: Gordon Norman 72356,370 To: Menno Aartsen 72611,2066 (X) Menno- Can you share the HD specs on that 425'er...random access time, transfer rate, MTBF, etc.? Gordon The problem with this message is that it may not be of interest to you. Each day, thousands of messages OUTSIDE your areas of interest are being posted. You do NOT want to read all these messages. The good news is that most services that use the bulletin board model allow selective reading of messages. You can select all messages containing a given word or text string in the subject title ('Sb:' above). You can read threads of messages from a given message number (replies, and replies to replies). You can read all messages to/from a given person, from a given message number, and from a given date. There are many options. The PARTIcipate conferencing software functions diametrically opposite to from CompuServe's forum software with its bulletin board style. PARTI is used on TWICS (Japan), and several systems in the United States. PARTI lets the user log on using an alias. For example, she can use the identity 'BATMAN'. You may never get to know the true name of the other person. On the other hand, this allows people to talk about controversial topics, with which they may not want to have their names associated. Anyone can start a conference. The conference can be public, private or a combination. Combination conferences allow public review of the messages in the conference, but restrict the number of people who can contribute to the discussion. To start a new conference, simply enter 'write'. PARTI will prompt you with "Enter the text of your note, then type .send or .open to transmit". You can enter the welcome text for your new conference, like I did in this example: "This conference is based on a series of articles about shareware and public domain programs for MSDOS computers, which I wrote for publication in England. Since the editor cheated me and they never reached the printing press, I've decided to make them available online instead of letting them rot on my hard disk. Join to read, discuss or (hopefully) enjoy! " The conference was presented to the other users of TWICS like this: "MSDOS TIPS" by ODD DE PRESNO, Feb. 23, 1990 at 11:57 about GOOD PD AND SHAREWARE PROGRAMS (7 notes) Few systems of the bulletin board model let users start new conferences at will. New topics must be stored in a given structure. The administrators (sysops) of the services manage the evolution of the 'conference room'. Periodically, old messages may be deleted to make room for new. On PARTI, all participants read all notes. Selective reading must be done in other ways (by searching conference contents). These two conferencing models seem to attract different types of discussions. PARTI has given birth to more discussions on topics like these (from PARTI on The Point, January 1992): "HELLO BEEP" by THE SHADOW on Sept. 17, 1991 at 19:20, about BEEP'S ADVENTURES IN JAPAN, AND THE LIKE (840 characters and 22 notes). "MEMORIES" by LOU on Dec. 21, 1991 at 12:31, about .......I REMEMBER WHEN...... (423 characters and 1 notes). "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOTO" by PONDER on Jan. 2, 1992 at 14:34, about AND I BET HE THOUGHT I FORGOT. (86 characters and 15 notes). "PUERTO RICO" by PACKER on Jan. 18, 1992 at 20:47, about PARA DISCUTIR ASUNTOS PUERTORIQUENA (166 characters and 9 notes). Systems using the bulletin board model rarely have conferences like "MEMORIES." In PARTI, one-note conferences are allowed to stay. In the bulletin board environment, they soon disappear. In larger PARTI conferences, the notes can be read like a book. Often, side discussions appear like 'branches' on a 'tree'. Join and read them, if you want to. Or just pass. The bulletin board model systems and PARTIcipate are at two extremes of the spectrum of conference systems. Toward the BBS model, there are systems like Usenet, FidoNet Echo, RBBS-PC, and PortaCom. Toward the PARTI side, there are systems like Caucus. On Norwegian bulletin boards the primary language is Norwegian. In France, expect French. Local systems usually depend on messages in the local language. Services catering to a larger geographical area may have a different policy. English is the most common language for international discussions. Spanish possibly number two. The global web of connections between computers enables us to discuss with people living in other parts of the world, as if they were living next door. Things Take Time! ----------------- How long does it take a message to get from Hyougo in Japan to Saltrod in Norway? Or to Dominique Christian in Paris? Sometimes, mail travels from mailbox service to mailbox service in seconds. This is usually the case with messages from my mailbox in Norway to Dan Wheeler in Ohio (U.S.A.) and Mike Burleigh in London. Messages that must go through many gateways may take more time. How long it takes, depends on the degree of automation in the mail systems involved, and how these systems have been connected to the global matrix of networks. Speed is high if the computers are interconnected with fixed, high-capacity lines. This is not so for mail from Oslo to Dominique in Paris. Although the distance is not great, mail is routed through a system in London and is forwarded only once a day through a dial-up connection. It usually takes at least one day to reach the destination. News ---- Most large news agencies have online counterparts. You can often read their news online before it appears in print. This is the case with news from sources like NTB, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Kyodo News Report (Japan), Reuters, Xinhua English Language News Service (China) and TASS. Some news is only made available in electronic form. News may be read in several ways, depending on what online service you use: * From a list of headlines. Enter a story's number to receive its full text. The news may be split up into groups, like Sports, International news, Business, and Entertainment. * Some services let you hook directly into a news agency's 'feed line' to get news as it is being made available. At 11.02, 11.04, 11.15, etc. * News may be 'clipped' and stored in your mailbox twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Clipping services search articles for occurrences of your personal keyword phrases while you are offline. In this way, you can monitor new products, companies, people, events, and countries, even when you are not online. NewsFlash is NewsNet's electronic clipping service, a powerful resource that lets you monitor NewsNet's newsletters for topics of interest. The Executive News Service on CompuServe let you search for words in story headlines, or in the first three lines of text. ENS searches through 8,000 stories/day from the Washington Post, ITAR/TASS, Associated Press, Xinhua News Agency, United Press International, Reuters Financial News Wire, and others. Newspapers used to receive news through the wires before the online user. This built-in delay has now been removed on many services. Industry and professional news is usually available online long before it appears in print or even on television. Databases --------- Some years ago, most databases were bibliographic. They just contained references to articles, books and other written or electronic sources of information. The typical search result looked like this: 0019201 02-88-68 TRIMETHOPRIM-SULFAMETHOXAZOLE in CYST Fluid from Autosomal Dominant POLYCYSTIC KIDNEYS. Elzinga L.W.; et al. W.M. Bennett, Dept. of Med., Oregon Hlth. Sci. Univ., 3101 Southwest Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97201. Kid. Int. 32: 884-888. Dec. 1987 Subfile: Internal Medicine; Family Practice; Nephrology; Infectious Disease; Clinical Pharmacology; Highlights of General Medicine You had to take the reference to a library to read a printed copy of the article. Some services did let you to order a copy while online, to be sent you by mail from a copying service. Full-text searching is now the rule. When you find an article of interest, you can have the full text displayed on your screen at once (often without accompanying pictures and tables, though). The search commands have also become simpler and more powerful. Just for fun ------------ Many online services focus on your leisure time. They offer reviews and news about movies, video, music, and sport. There are forums for stamp and coin collectors, travel maniacs, passionate cooks, wine tasters, and other special interest groups. Besides, many services are entertaining in themselves. Large, complex adventure games, where hundreds of users can play simultaneously, are popular choices. Some people sit glued to the computer screen for hours. Others prefer 'Chat', a keyboard-to-keyboard contact-phone type of simultaneous conversation between from two and up to hundreds of persons. It works like a combination of a social activity and a role- playing/strategy/fantasy/skill-improving game. Shopping is the online equivalent of the traditional mail order business. The difference is that you can buy while browsing. Some commercial services distribute colorful catalogues to users to support sales. Some distribute pictures of the merchandise by modem. You can buy anything from racer fitness equipment and diamonds to cars. Enter your credit card number and the Chevrolet is yours. The online mail order business is becoming increasingly global. Level 5: The user interface --------------------------- Part of the character of all online service providers is the way they interact with the user. The term "user interface" refers to how the online service is presented to you, that is, in what form text, pictures and sound appear on your computer. Most online services offer the first three of these four levels. Some offer more: 1. Menus for novices. The user can select (navigate) by pressing a figure or a letter. 2. Short menus or lists of commands for the intermediate user. The user knows some about how the service works, and just wants a short reminder to help navigate. 3. A short prompt (often just a character, like a "%"), which tells the expert user where he is in the system right now. Those knowing the service inside out, do not need reminders about what word or command to enter at this point. 4. Some services offer automatic access without any menus or visible prompts at all. Everything happens in a two-way stream of unintelligent data. The only menus that the user sees, are those belonging to the program running on his personal computer. Some services emphasize colors, graphics and sound. They may require that users have certain hardware or special add-on cards in their communications computer. Often, a special communications program is also needed. Other services use methods for presenting colors and graphics already built into their users' computers (and programs). Colors, graphics and sound are highly desirable in some applications, like online games and weather forecasts. But even where it is not important, there will always be many wanting it. To the professional on a fact-gathering mission, these features may give slower data transfer and problems when saving text to disk for later use. Therefore, some prefer ASCII text with no extras. Sports cars are nice, but for delivering furniture they're seldom any good. The same applies to user interfaces. No one is best for all applications. Level 6: The data transporters ------------------------------ When the host computer for an online service is far away, the user often faces the challenges of: 1. Noise on the line, which may result in unreadable text, errors in the received material, or inability to maintain a desired transmission speed level. 2. Expensive long distance calls (especially if using a low- speed modem). There are many alternatives to direct long distance calling. Some offers better quality data transfers and lower costs. The Internet is a global network serving hundreds of millions of mailboxes. It provides very cost-efficient mail exchange with private and public networks throughout the world. If your local mailbox computer is directly connected to the net, you can use it to connect (often for free) to remote service providers in other countries. The regional packet data services used to be a popular option. In Scandinavia, the offerings of the local PTTs are called Datapak. Similar services are offered in most countries, often by a national telephone monopoly. Competitively priced alternatives exists in many countries. For example, Infonet, TRI-P, and i-Com has competed successfully with former monopolies for transport of data to and from North America. IXI is a packet data network operated by European Research centers. DASnet offers transport of mail between mail systems that have no direct connection with each others. (More about this in Chapter 13.) The packet data services, however, are quickly loosing ground to remote computing through the Internet and direct calls using cheap high-speed modems. Level 7: The user ----------------- This is you, your computer and communications equipment. Turn the page to the next chapter and read about how to use the online services. Chapter 3: How to use the online services ========================================= The user interface refers to what you get on your computer screen and how, when you call an online service. It includes menus and help screens, and various options to tailor the service to your personal preferences. Navigating by menus is simpler ------------------------------ Most online services have menus to make them easier for novices to use. A typical menu looks like this: R)ead messages Q)uick search available messages W)rite messages C)omments to Sysop D)ownload programs ?) for help G)oodbye. This is enough! Enter a letter (or ?) to select a function. Enter R to read messages. There is hardly any need to read the documentation to use this service. CompuServe greets European users with this menu: CompuServe Europe EUROPE COMPUSERVE EUROPE MAIN MENU 1 About CompuServe 2 What's New 3 Member Assistance 4 Electronic Mail 5 Personal Computer Support 6 Company Information 7 Logon Instructions (Europe) 8 CompuServe Information Service (U.S.) Enter '8' to get another menu: CompuServe TOP 1 Member Assistance (FREE) 2 Find a Topic (FREE) 3 Communications/Bulletin Bds. 4 News/Weather/Sports 5 Travel 6 The Electronic MALL/Shopping 7 Money Matters/Markets 8 Entertainment/Games 9 Hobbies/Lifestyles/Education 10 Reference 11 Computers/Technology 12 Business/Other Interests You can "go" to Associated Press' newswires or the section for home- schooling in the Education Forum by entering numbers listed in menus. The service is like a tree with menus by every set of branches. A code in the upper right-hand corner of each screen tells you exactly where you are. The last menu has the code 'TOP' meaning that this menu is at the 'top of the tree'. By each CompuServe system prompt, the command GO followed by a destination code will take you directly to a desired location. Enter GO IBMHW to go directly to the IBM Hardware Forum. The GO command will save you time and money. Similar codes and commands are used on several other online services. On many systems, the first menu encountered when logging on is a list of announcements and new offerings. The following is from GEnie, General Electric's Consumer Information Service (U.S.A.): GEnie Announcements (FREE) 1. July 1991 GEnie Billing Completed. To review yours, type:....*BILL 2. Hot Summer Nights continues to SIZZLE.........................*HSN 3. NEW...Quality Product and Amazing Value in....................SOFTCLUB 4. LAST CHANCE---Blue GEnie Sweatshirts..........................*ORDER 5. Color hypermedia in Apple II world. HyperStudio RTC in........A2 6. Meet the Product Manager, FREE RTC............................SFRT 7. "Future of Online Gaming" RTC with GEnie Game Designers in....MPGRT 8. A Revolutionary Credit Service - TRW CREDENTIALS..............TRWCREDIT 9. 900 Numbers: Ripoff or Good Business Sense - RTC 8/11 9PM.....RADIO 10. Air Warrior Convention set for Sept.26-29. in Washington......AIR 11. SEARS Fall/Winter Catalog On-line NOW.........................SEARS 12. How to Sell your CRAFTS for Profit............................HOSB 13. Stellar Warrior Campaign starts with a FREE weekend...........WARRIOR 14. Followup Investment RTC with Mickey Friedman in...............REAL ESTATE 15. Federation II, the adult space fantasy........................FED Enter #, elp, or to continue? At the 'Enter #' prompt, enter '7' to go directly to the "Future of Online Gaming" conference (RTC=Round Table Conference). Enter H for Help, or press RETURN to get to the systems' main menu. You can "go" to selected services by entering a videotext page number code or a number (selected from the menu). Type 'mail' to get to your mailbox, 'backgammon' to play, or 'SEARS' to visit the online version of this North American shoppers' paradise. 'Mail' has page number 200. Enter 'm 200' to go there directly. To go to NewsBytes' technical news reports by subject, select "5" from menu page number 316. GEnie even has a faster way. Like some other services, it let you stack commands. Instead of issuing one command, and then wait for the system to respond before issuing the next command, stacking allows you to put all commands on one line. The command "m 316;5" will take you directly to choice 5 from the menu on page 316 without displaying intermediate menus. Many online services use the same template. They have commands like GO SERVICE-NAME, JOIN SERVICE-NAME (or just J), DELTA SERVICE-NAME, or just the code or name of the offering as in 'mail' and 'sears' above. Entering H or ? (for help) usually give you assistance. Few services are fussy about whether you use lower or capital letters in commands. On some services, and especially if a selection requires just a letter or a number, you do not even have to press return to make it happen. This method is used on many bulletin boards. Some codes are standard. This is particularly the case with ?, H, or Help for more information. Test drive ---------- Several commercial systems let you try the service for free or at lower rates. You can check what's out there without paying for the exploratory connect time, and get some free training in how to use the service. CompuServe's Practice Forum (GO PRACTICE) does not carry any connect charges, but applicable communication surcharges are still in effect. They also have a free 'Guided Tour'. Free trials are particularly useful before a search in an expensive database. Use DialIndex on Dialog. Orbit has DBIN (The database Index), and Data-Star has CROS. They are master indexes to the databases on the system. First, select a general subject area, then enter your search terms. The systems will respond with lists of databases and hit counts. Note: You must go to the 'real' databases for results. You cannot retrieve actual information during a test drive. Selecting an expert level ------------------------- Most services regard all new users as novices. The software designers assume that users do not want (or are unable) to read lengthy explanations. They think that most users prefer navigation by going from menu to menu. Commercial services may support this view for financial reasons, and especially when charging for access by the minute. (Some of them let you read their help screens for free, though.) Menus are important when browsing new offerings, or accessing services that we seldom use. Frequent users of a service, however, quickly learn how to do things. Menus may soon begin to annoy rather than please. Reading them costs money, and it slows our communications down. We do not need menus when accessing online services in fully automated mode. Your communications program remembers exactly what to do, and does all the typing for you. There is no point in paying extra for having menus. You'll not read them anyway. The objective is to access the service at maximum speed and the lowest possible cost. Most online services can be tailored to your personal needs and preferences. Many let you choose between: * Full menus * Short menus * A prompt line with a list of the most often used commands, * a prompt character or word (see "prompt" in appendix 4 for examples). Prompts can be used by automatic communication script files to trigger the next action. If concerned about costs, note that you can use expert mode without being a true expert. Just print the menus, and keep them by your keyboard while moving around. Some users draw 'road maps' of the services to navigate more quickly. Others automate the process using automatic communications scripts. Tailoring your services ----------------------- The need to tailor the online service's prompts and menus differs considerably from user to user, as they use all kinds of computers for communication. Some screens are large. Other screens can only display a few lines of text at a time. One user of my BBS even used a Hewlett Packard pocket calculator with a tiny, tiny screen. Many online services allow you to tailor the way information is sent to you. If you are satisfied with how things are, skip the next couple of pages and read from "Connecting the first time." If curious of your options, read on for a somewhat brief and technical overview. Besides a selection of various types of menus, you can usually also set the following preferences: * What menu is to be the first, when you access the service? * The first menu is to be a tailored menu containing your favorite offerings, and nothing else. * Colors, graphics, or no colors/graphics. * Preferred file transfer protocol (to avoid a question each time you want to transfer a file). * Desired terminal emulator, like TTY, VT-100 or VT-52. * CAPITAL LETTERS or Mixed Case. * What ASCII character code to use for the DELETE function. * How many spaces to insert when expanding TABs in your mail. * Number of lines per screen (for example, 24 on an IBM PC, or eight on a TRS-80 Model 100. Whether scrolling is to pause after each screenful or not.) * Number of characters per line (for example, 80 lines on a PC, or 40 on a TRS-80 Model 100. * If the linefeed character is to be sent or not. * If blank lines are to be sent. * Whether the service is to check when you log on to see if you are using special software (as in 'Inquire for VIDTEX' on CompuServe). * The use of 'echo'. Is the service to return the characters that you enter on your keyboard? * Use of delay when sending line feeds. (Useful if capturing text to a dumb printing terminal. If text scrolls too fast for the printer, you risk losing some of it.) * Choice of prompt character, or prompt text string. This is useful when communicating by script files. On CompuServe, I have asked the system to add the BackSpace character (ASCII character number 8) to the end of all forum prompts. Since this character is rarely found in messages or other texts, I can safely let scripts depend on this prompt character for unattended communication. Displaying information on the screen ------------------------------------ An 'A' is not an 'A' no matter what service you use. If you call Tocolo BBS in Japan (Tel.: +81-3-205-9315. 1200 bps, 8,N,1.) with a non-Japanese MS- DOS computer, chances are that the welcome text will look like this: *--------------------------------------------------------------* * D0:[ BBS (<^/9] 7.8) * * 62>] =3 ---> 3 (@^2K.3 03-205-9315) * * 3]V3 <^6] ---> 24 <^6] 6D^3 C=D A-3 * * (Wed 9:00-17:00 J R]C I @R 5T=P C^=) * *--------------------------------------------------------------* You'll need a Japanese ROM (Read-Only Memory) in your computer, a special graphics program, or a Japanese language operating system to have the Kanji characters displayed properly on your screen. The characters that you see on your computer's screen are based on a code. The computer finds the characters to display from a table built into your system's hardware or software. Most personal computers can be preset to use various tables depending on your needs. When communicating in English, you may want it to show Latin characters. When writing in Japanese, you may want it to display Kanji characters. Those writing in Norwegian, often want to use the special Scandinavian characters 썭몤냿. If the first two of these Nordic characters read like the symbols for Yen and Cent, you are not set up for Scandinavian characters. If your system is set up correctly, they should look like an 'o' and an 'O' overwritten by a '/'. The code telling your computer what to display, may also contain information about where to put characters and what colors to use. Thus, an online service may order your computer to display a given character in column 10 on line 2, and to print it in blinking red color. If you are not set up correctly, these codes may show as garbage on your screen rather than as a colorful character in a given position. If you call a service set to display text in VT-52 format, and your communications program is set accordingly, then you should be OK. VT-52 is a setup that makes a program or a service 'behave' like a DEC VT-52 terminal. Being able to view VT-52 coded text on your screen, does not guarantee that you can capture this 'picture' to a file on your disk. Your communications program may need special features to do that. If these features are missing, you are in for a surprise. The text in your capture file may look like in this example (it came on a single, long line on my computer): -------------------------------------------------------------------- *H*J*Y"4 Innhold*Y%> *Y&4Emneoversikt 1 Brukerprofil 6*Y)4Stikkord A-] 2 Bruker- *Y*4 veiledning 7*Y,4Informasjons- *Y- 4leverand|rer A-] 3 Teledatanytt*Y.W 8*Y04Personlig indeks 4*Y2H *Y34Meldingstjenesten 5 Avslutte 9*Y64 ]pningsside *00# *Y 4TELEDATA 880823-1538*Y74 NTA01-00a*Y74 *Y74*Y74 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The character '*' in this example refers to the ESCape character (ASCII number 27). ESC is used to tell your computer that what follows is a VT-52 display command. The codes following the ESC say where text is to be printed on your screen (from line number x and column number y). If your communications program cannot save VT-52 coded text in a readable way, you'll need auxiliary programs to remove or convert the codes. Some communication programs let you take snapshots of the screen, and store the result in a file. This usually gives good results, but it may be a cumbersome approach. Prestel (British Telecom, England) belongs to a group of online services called videotex (or viewdata). Minitel (in France and the U.S.), and Prodigy (U.S.A.) are also in this group. They believe that beautiful color graphics, large characters, and menus give them a competitive advantage. CompuServe is often called a videotex service because of its emphasis on menus. However, most call it 'ASCII videotex' as it is not depending on special display formats. Their philosophy is that 'plain text' is required to attract many users across hardware platforms. The viewdata services use graphical display standards with names like Prestel, CEPT, Captain (Character and Pattern Telephone Access Information Network System, in Japan), Telidon (Canada), Minitel, Teletel (France), GIF (the Graphics Interchange Format), Viewdata, and NAPLPS (The North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax). You often need special terminal machines to use some viewdata services. On other services, you must use special software plus an emulator card in your computer. Many MS-DOS based bulletin boards let you set access defaults to colors and graphics. Most of them use ANSI graphics in welcome texts and menus. Users must set their programs to ANSI (or ANSI BBS) to take advantage. Capture these welcome texts and menus to a file on your hard disk, and view them with an editor. They are filled with ANSI escape codes, and thus hard to read (and search). The good news is that conference and forum mail only rarely contain such codes. Many users routinely keep captured online information on their hard disks for later reference. If this is your intention, make sure that text is sent to you in plain ASCII, or TTY mode. TTY sends one line at a time, and only uses the codes TAB, BackSpace, Carriage Return and LineFeed during the transfer. The rest is 'plain text'. Most online services offer TTY format. You can use the setting almost everywhere. Even the videotex service Prestel offers an option called 'TTY Teletype'. If 'TTY' or 'ASCII' is not on your online services' list of options, try 'Others' or 'Other computers'. These settings usually identify your computer as unable to handle 'standard' colors, sound and graphics. Viewdata pages may provide "selling pictures," but the screens often have a low contents of information compared with TTY-based services. They are therefore not my favorite services for news in full-text. In other applications, like games, colorful graphics are a definite advantage. Connecting the first time ------------------------- If you have unlimited financial resources, go ahead and call up services all over the world. Learning by doing is exciting. If resources are limited, start by reading user information manual. Or, go online to capture key menus and help texts. Print them out on paper for further study before going online again for a 'real' visit. I always hurry slowly during my first visits to a new online service. I call up, capture information about how to use it, and disconnect. It may take me days to study the material. My objective is to find what the service has to offer in order to plan how to use it most efficiently. The first important command to look up is the logoff command. There is nothing more frustrating than entering "bye" only to get an error message. If lost, try "quit," "exit," "logoff," "off" and "G" in the hope of finding the correct command. These are the most usual variations. You should also try HELP or "?" If you really can't figure out how to get off a system, just hang up on it. Be careful, though. Some systems will continue to charge for a period, even after you have disconnected by hanging up. One of the first things that I do, is set my options to expert status, though I am obviously an amateur at this stage. Often, I also start automating the process during my first visits. I write script files for automatic access and quick navigation to key offerings. Another good strategy is to look for automated offline readers or systems (see Chapter 16 for details). Others prefer paper and pencil. They write a list of required commands on a piece of paper, like this: Call 0165 At CONNECT: ENTER @SP ENTER At the NUI prompt: Nxxxxxppppp-a170041 At Enter 'dix' and : dix At -- More --: ENTER At Your name: Odd de Presno At Password: hemmelig At What do you want to do: - when no unread mail goodbye - when mail to read ENTER Put the list by your keyboard before calling the service. Follow it carefully. After a while you may remember the procedure, and can throw away your notes. Good luck! PART 2: APPLICATIONS "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein This part of the book is the core of the matter. We want to give you an idea of what is out there. The bad news is that the online world has too much. We have been forced to make a selection. So, if there are important pointers that you feel have been left out, please drop me a line. Maybe it can be included in a future release of the book. While references to offerings with terms like "on CompuServe," and "on TWICS" may be easily understood, you may not be used to our terms referring to resources on the Internet. These include the following: anonymous ftp gopher telnet RFC, FYI, FAQ archie WWW WAIS Do not despair. Explanation is given in appendix 6. You can also search the book for additional information. Chapter 4: Hobby, games and fun =============================== * Programs, game and fun Online adventure games. The virus threat. * Hobbies. Holiday travelling. Collecting stamps or coins. Roots, music, and online shopping. Online services have one thing in common with newspapers, magazines and books. What they offer, varies from provider to provider. The next chapters will focus on the contents of the offerings. Appendix 1 has details about how to access the major service providers. Small online services often have interesting offerings in specialized areas, and especially when they are based on local phenomena or events. They tend to be more personal. They often present their 'wares' in a local language, and offer very large collections of free software. The large online services have hundreds of thousands of users. The activity is often high. They usually attract interesting (and competent) participants to their conferences and forums, have more programs available for download and more news sources and databases to search. In short, they generally give you a wider choice. We will focus on the large international services. These are available from anywhere without too much effort, and using them comes surprisingly cheap. Therefore, please remember that this book just covers the top of the iceberg. Cheaper services may be found elsewhere, and they may even be better tuned to your particular areas of interest. Locating game software ---------------------- The fastest, easiest and cheapest method is to call an online service to download game programs. You will find an overwhelming number of programs for all types of microcomputers. Many games are free. We call them "Public Domain" or "Freeware" programs. Others are distributed free. You do not have to pay to get and try them out. If you want to use them, however, the copyright owner expects you to pay a fee. We call them "shareware" or "user supported" programs. When the game program has been transferred to your personal computer, you can play without worries about communications costs, or the busy signal on your phone line. My favorite game is shareware. The name is Arachnid. It is an MS Windows solitaire game (patience) made by SP Services, P.O. Box 456, Southampton, SO9 7XG, England. The desired registration fee is UKP 15.00 (English pounds). You can download the program from my board as WINCARD.EXE. The file is 106 kilobytes large. WINCARD.EXE is a special distribution file, which contains three games and all supporting files. The EXE extension may fool you into thinking that it is a program, and in a way it is. The file is a self-extract file, meaning that you just enter "WINCARD" on an MS-DOS computer to extract the game files from the "package." Games are usually distributed in such distribution files. All files used by a game (or several games) are put into one file by special software, and compressed in size. This makes retrieval of programs easier and cheaper. You do not have to download many related files individually. The transfer takes less time. (Read in appendix 3 about how to extract programs from distribution files.) You will find some of the largest collections of games on the North American services CompuServe and EXEC-PC BBS. You will also find large collections on the Internet. Asia's possibly largest anonymous ftp archives are at NCTUCCCA.edu.tw. | TRICKLE is a large collection of public domain and shareware | | programs for MS-DOS, CPM, and other computers. For information | | about how to use TRICKLE, send a message through Internet to | | | | LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU | | | | In the TEXT of the message write | | | | GET PDGET HELP | | | | An information file will be sent to your electronic mailbox. | | (Read the chapter about electronic mail, and about The SimTel | | Software Repository in Appendix 6, more information.) | | | | If TRICKLE is not enough, try Archie. It is a distributed | | index to all the files available by anonymous ftp on the | | Internet. The Archie database maintains a list of roughly 1.5 | | million files containing 100 Gigabytes of information (that | | is, 100,000,000,000 bytes) available from over 800 anonymous | | FTP archive sites (1993). | | You can search the database by email to find where files | | are located. Some Archie systems maintain a list of libraries | | all over the world, while others concentrate on a more limited | | geographical area. | | Once Archie has told you where desired programs and files | | are located, you can retrieve them by telnet, anonymous FTP, | | or FTPmail. Read "File transfers through the Internet" in | | chapter 12 for details. | | For information on how to use Archie, send email to one of | | these addresses (see appendix 6 for more): | | | | archie@cs.mcgill.ca (Canada) | | archie@plaza.aarnet.edu.au (Australia) | | | | Put the word HELP in the body of your mail. | | | | Getting programs by email is a three-step process: | | | | [1] Use Archie to find file names and where they are stored, | | [2] Send a message to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com to have them | | retrieved and forwarded to you by email, and | | [3] Use a utility program to convert the file to a useful | | format. (See "Binary files transferred as text codes" | | in Chapter 12.) | | | | Check out JVArcServ for an Archie-alike service on FidoNet. | | | | Also, check out the FAQ file on PC GAMES, "Guide To The Gaming | | World" (see "FAQ" in appendix 6). | Chances are that online services in your area also have many programs to offer. Most free bulletin boards have more software than you'll ever get around to try. Usually, there is a natural specialization between boards. Those using the Unix operating system, have the largest number of programs for such machines. Those running on MS-DOS computers, have more programs for such computers. Some games are trite and bad. Others are brilliant. There are ladder games, racer car driving, flight control, war, subsea games, electronic versions of traditional games like Backgammon, Yatzy, chess and bridge, educational games for geography, mathematics and history, puzzles, fractal programs that draw beautiful pictures on your screen, psychological tests, text- based adventure games, and more. There is something for everybody. If you want to get rich in a hurry, go for programs that increase your chances of winning horse race bets, or other "real world" money winning games. If you are into beautiful girls, fill your hard disk with picture files in GIF, PCX or other graphics formats. (Sorry ladies, there are not many pictures of naked boys around.) There are an abundance of shareware programs that will display the pictures on your computer screen. Keen users of the more popular games often want to swap tricks and discuss experiences: Super Nintendo players regularly meet on the SNES mailing list. To join, send your subscription request to: SNES-Request@spcvxa.spc.edu Yes, this is an Internet email address. We will talk more about addressing email in Chapter 7. For now, let's concentrate on what's out there. For chess, try the Chess Discussion List (CHESS-L@GREARN.BITNET), unless you are looking fo Chinese Chess (on XIANGQI@INDYCMS.BITNET). To play or watch real-time chess with human opponents, telnet aragorn.andrew.cmu.edu 5000 (or 128.2.35.185 5000). To use telnet, interactive access to the Internet is required. Type 'help' when you get to the chess area. CompuServe has a Chess forum (GO CHESSFORUM) with message sections called: Chess Basics, Theory & Analysis, News Wire, Hardware/Software, Casual Games, Electronic Knights, Oriental/Variants, Tourneys (Open), USCF Rated Games, Team Play, and Time Out. Usenet excels when it comes to games. Here are some of the newsgroups: rec.gambling Articles on games of chance & betting. rec.games.board Discussion and hints on board games. rec.games.board.ce The Cosmic Encounter board game. rec.games.bridge Hobbyists interested in bridge. rec.games.chess Chess & computer chess. rec.games.design Discussion of game design related issues. rec.games.empire Discussion and hints about Empire. rec.games.frp Discussion about Role Playing games. rec.games.go Discussion about Go. rec.games.hack Discussion, hints, etc. about the Hack game. rec.games.misc Games and computer games. rec.games.moria Comments, hints, and info about the Moria game. rec.games.mud Various aspects of multi-users computer games. rec.games.pbm Discussion about Play by Mail games. rec.games.pinball Discussing pinball-related issues. rec.games.programmer Discussion of adventure game programming. rec.games.rogue Discussion and hints about Rogue. rec.games.trivia Discussion about trivia. rec.games.video Discussion about video games. rec.games.video.arcade Discussions about coin-operated video games. With so much going on, it is difficult to stay current on new programs and new versions of old ones. Consider subscribing to the MS-DOS Archive Additions (one-way) information service. Internet MS-DOS archive managers use it to announce new additions to their collections. To subscribe, send a message to LISTSERV@TACOM-EMH1.Army.Mil with this command in the body of the message: subscribe msdos-ann These announcements are also posted to the Usenet newsgroup called comp.archives.msdos.announce . | It is probably easier for you to relate to references like | | "rec.games.video on Usenet," than to XIANGQI@INDYCMS.BITNET. | | References to BITNET mailing lists are made in various ways | | throughout the book, just as it is online. This is the basic | | rule: | | | | On BITNET, mailing lists are usually 'managed' by a program | | called LISTSERV. This program handles subscription requests, | | requests for files, and more. When you see a reference like | | XIANGQI@INDYCMS.BITNET, then this means that you must send | | your subscription request to the LISTSERV at the INDYCMS | | computer on BITNET (address: LISTSERV@INDYCMS.BITNET). Mail | | to the XIANGQI forum, however, must be sent to the address | | XIANGQI@INDYCMS.BITNET in order to be forwarded to the other | | members. | | | | For more about BITNET, check out appendix 1. You may also find | | it useful to read about email addresses in Chapter 7. | | | | All BITNET mailing lists can be used by email through the | | Internet. Several BITNET hosts also have Internet addresses. | | Example: LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET can also be reached as | | LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu . When dual addresses are given, | | Internet users should use the Internet address, while BITNET | | users should use the BITNET address. | | | | Note: In cases where a BITNET mailing list has dual addresses, | | we will usually give the Internet address in this book. If you | | are on BITNET, and using these addresses are difficult or | | impossible, ask your local postmaster for help. | Computer viruses ---------------- Few online users ever live to see or experience a computer virus, but they do exist. So, read this: A virus is a small, hidden computer program that can cause the loss or alteration of programs or data, and can compromise their confidentiality. It can spread from program to program, and from system to system, without direct human intervention. The chance of your computer being infected is small, but you are never safe. Therefore, download a program for virus detection and identification, like VIRUSSCAN from McAfee Associates, 4423 Cheeney Street, Santa Clara, CA 95054-0253, U.S.A. They also have virus disinfection programs (for MS-DOS computers). For more about viruses, subscribe to VIRUS-L@LEHIGH.EDU. CompuServe has the Mac New Users Forum (with a Virus Clinic section), the McAfee Virus Help Forum, the Symantec AntiVirus Forum, and more. FidoNet has a VIRUS echo. ILINK has VIRUS-I. Usenet has bit.listserv.valert-l (Virus Alert List), and comp.virus . The good news is that most large providers of computer programs now have sophisticated virus scanning programs integrated into their services. Online games ------------ Why not investigate online adventure games? There are many alternatives. Prestel (England) offers TRASH, an environmental multi-user game with a futuristic theme and full of humor. Up to 64 persons can play simultaneously. " ...Callers play out the role of pandimensional refuse disposal officers, whose primary aim in life is to clean up the multiverse, as the Trash environment is called." "With a diverse range of 'psionic powers', which vary from the nasty (pyrokinesis) to the gentle (faith healing), at their command, Trash players roam across dimensions and universes, completing various tasks." Bulletin boards throughout the world invite to role playing games. Some have graphics, music and sound effects. Dungeons & Dragons is a popular choice. On EXEC-PC, play Startrek. Select an identity and "play it out" according to its character. If a real aficionado, check out rec.arts.startrek.info on Usenet, or the mailing list RASI-L@ncc1701e.uucp (send your mail to LISTSERV@ncc1701e.uucp to subscribe). Advanced players swap tricks on STARGAME@PCCVM.BITNET. On many BBSes, MUD is a most popular game. | Multi-User Dungeons (MUD) is a structured and user-modifiable | | online environment, which allows users not only to interact | | with each other, but to do role-playing, build and furnish | | living areas and interaction areas, extend and create the | | interactive "space" and the rules for using that space. | | | | As programmers create new types of MUDs, new names appear. | | These include TinyMud, DUM, MOO, MUCK, MUG, and many others. | | There is a MOO at 155.31.1.1 8888 , which allows 'guests' to | | look around (this is a telnet address). | | | | For a copy of "The Totally Unofficial List of Internet Muds," | | ftp to rtfm.mit.edu as 'anonymous', cd pub/usenet, and get | | the rec.games.mud.announce file. | Popular choices on CompuServe are strategy games like The Island of Kesmai and Megawars. One game can last for weeks at a time. On CIX (England), many prefer the multi-user dungeon game DiscWorld. If you prefer sport fantasies in the armchair, try GEnie's Rotisserie League Baseball. Decide what team player to be, and join in a match of American baseball. GemStone used to be most popular game on GEnie. Nintendo offers online games through the Famicom Networks in Japan and the U.S. Your PC must have a special graphics card to play games like GO and Shogi, a Japanese game of chess. Chat ---- Chat, or "keyboard talking," is a popular attraction, and in particular on the large online services. Your first attempt will probably be a strange experience. Your monitor will look like an unfolding screenplay, with you speaking one of the several parts. When many people talk simultaneously in chat, incoherent sentences seem to fly over your computer screen. It takes some training to be able to read what each of them is saying. CompuServe's Citizen Band Simulator (GO CB) is an electronic version of the hams' short-wave radio. It has 72 CB Simulator channels. You can chat with anonymous members, have fun and find new keypals. On EXEC-PC's Chat and Entertainment System, up to 64 users can talk simultaneously. GEnie calls their chat service Livewire CB. On BIX, look for CBIX. Some users are serious about chatting. Several large companies are heavy users, and it also has educational applications. Although this kind of talking is a slow process, it has advantages. It is easy to document the discussion. People from places geographically far apart can meet and talk at a low cost. Some online services charge less for chats than for other services. My hobby -------- There are online forums for most hobbies: collection of stamps and coins, genealogy, music, holiday travels, skiing, purchase of consumer electronics, video, filming, and more. The people you meet in these "clubs" share your interests. They come there to exchange information and experiences, to listen, swap stamps or coins, participate in club auctions, and exploit favorable group discounts when buying things for their hobby. The main attraction is the open messages that people write to each other. Many clubs also have libraries filled with special software, like database programs for collectors, and information files. Coins (on Coins@rocky.er.usgs.gov) is a where you can discuss Numismatics, the study of coins, American and International. Paper currency is also a welcome topic, but trading is not allowed. To subscribe, send a message to robert@whiplash.er.usgs.gov . The SKI-L mailing list on LISTPROC@YUKON.CREN.ORG is about all topics relating to skiing except water skiing. Topics may include alpine and/or Nordic skiing, competitions, etc. Music ----- ILINK, an international exchange of conferences between bulletin boards, has a forum for country music lovers. It presents itself in these words: COUNTRY MUSIC Country & Western music including bluegrass and other related forms. Discussion of artists, techniques, instruments & musicians. Host: John Stewart Usenet has rec.music.country.western, rec.music.indian.classic, rec.music.indian.misc, alt.music.enya, and over forty other music groups (1993). FidoNet has 60S_70S_PROGROCK "about the progressive rock music of the 60's and 70's," gospel music (in CHR_GSPL_MUSIC), a club for selling and buying between musicians (MUSICIAN'S_SERVICES), and the MUSIC_COMP_101 echo for aspiring composers. CompuServe has a bunch of forums. Check out the Music/MIDI sections in the Amiga and Atari ST Arts forums. The latter is a full Music/MIDI forum. MIDI is discussed on several bulletin boards, including in conferences distributed by RelayNet. CompuServe's Coin/Stamp/Collectibles Forum has sections for collectors of stamps and covers, coins and currency, sports cards, books and media, autographs, sports memorabilia, music, dolls and figurines, and more. CompuServe's RockNet forum has this structure: Available message sections: Available file libraries: 0 General/Misc. 0 General Misc 1 Rock Music 1 Rock Music 2 Rock Radio 2 Rock Radio 3 Reviews/LK 3 Reviews 4 Q&A/Help 4 Q&A/Help 5 Rock Film & Video 5 Rock Film & Video 6 RockLetters 6 RockLetters 7 Trends 7 Trends 8 Heavy Metal 8 Heavy Metal 9 Old Wave 9 Old Wave 10 New Music 10 New Music 11 CD Hotline 11 Compact Discs 12 Green, Village 12 Graphics/Programs You can tailor your RockNet visits to your personal interests. If you are into Heavy Metal, limit your readings of messages to those in section 8, and possibly 3 and 7. The Music and Performing Arts Forum (GO MUSICARTS) is another interesting place on CompuServe. Converse with fellow music fans about on topics like classical, jazz/blues, Big Band, country/folk and religious music, ballet, dance, drama and more. Classical music forums can be found on most larger services. Try CLASSM-L on LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET. For jazz, try the ILINK conference JAZZ, rec.music.bluenote on Usenet, MILES on LISTSERV@HEARN.NIC.SURFNET.NL (about Miles Davis), or BLUES-L at LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU . Another jazz oriented list, SATURN on LISTSERV@HEARN.BITNET, is for discussing the free-jazz big band leader, Sun Ra. Write morel@phoenix.imag.fr for subscription to a David Bowie mailing list. Put 'Bowie Subscription' in your subject. Subscribe to the Elton John mailing list by email to elton-john-request@uiuc.edu . Network-Audio-Bits is an electronic magazine with reviews and information about rock, pop, new age, jazz, funk, folk music and other genres. (Write Murph@Maine.BITNET to receive.) The Music Newsletter offers reviews and interviews. Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@VM.MARIST.EDU using the command "SUBSCRIBE UPNEWS Your-full-name". | On BITNET mailing lists, you subscribe by using the command | | "SUB Your-full-name" in the body of your | | email. Replace "Your-full-name" with your real name. | | | | There are also mailing lists on Unix workstations, PCs, and | | microVaxen. These may require that you write the subscribe | | command in full (SUBSCRIBE), or use other commands. | To get the "Musical List of Lists," an overview of music oriented mailing lists, send email to mlol-request@wariat.org . If interested in Australian Top Singles & Albums Charts, write to pearson_r@maths.su.oz.au . Write to kiwimusic-request@athena.mit.edu if interested in New Zealand bands. Medieval & Renaissance Music is available from mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk. To subscribe, send "join med-and-ren-music [your name]". For Middle-Eastern Music, send to middle-eastern-music-request@nic.funet.fi . ETHMUS-L is a closed, moderated list for folks with a professional interest in ethnomusicology. Send your subscription request to ETHMUS-L@UMDD.UMD.EDU or to ETHMUS-L@UMDD . GRIND (write grind-request@unh.edu) focuses on discussions about grindcore, death metal, and heavy thrash music. PRIMUS is about the funk/rock band Primus (write to primus-request@unh.edu). SOCO-L on LISTSERV@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU is about topics related to Southern Rock Music. Write to undercover-request@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca to join the Rolling Stones mailing list. KLARINET (on LISTSERV@VCCSCENT.BITNET) is a network for news, information, research and teaching items of interest, and other related information for clarinet players, teachers, students, and enthusiasts. HARP-L (on LISTSERV@WKUVX1.BITNET) is for Harmonica playing and theory. "Backstreets" on UUCP is for those who love the music of Bruce Springsteen (backstreets-request@virginia.edu). For Pink Floyd and his music, check out "Eclipse" (eclipse-request@beach.cis.ufl.edu). If a fan of Jimi Hendrix, join "hey-joe" (hey-joe-request@ms.uky.edu). Write to brass-request@geomag.gly.fsu.edu to join a discussion on brass band music. "J-Pop" (jpop-request@wystan.bsd.uchicago.edu via UUCP) has discussions about Japanese pop/rock of today. Paul Harris invites to the RMUSIC-L mailing list using these words: RMUSIC-L is on the air...Join us for exciting and intelligent discussions on the music industry...Concert and AlbumReviews...Trivia... Lyrics and Artists from 1935 to the present (earlier if the discussion warrants it)... All types of Music for all types of People. It is ouRMUSIC-L.> To join this mailing list, send the command: SUB RMUSIC-L Your-Full-Name to LISTSERV@GITVM1.BITNET . Next, you want to buy music, preferably at a low price. "The Compact Disc Connection" is one option. This online store offers more than 80,000 CD records (1993) at attractive prices, have an easy-to-search database, accepts Mastercard/VISA, and ships all over the world. Access by telnet cdconnection.com (or 199.35.15.2). Search for artist "Bjork" to order the Icelandic artist's "Debut" CD, or "Venus as a boy", and charge it to your VISA or MasterCard. My wife bought Albinoni, Vivaldi, and Pachelbel classical music played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Send mail to Used-Music-Server@cs.ucsb.edu with 'help' in the Subject. Information about how to join a mailing list for those wanting to buy, sell, and trade CDs, LPs, and tapes will be returned to you. Ftp ftp.nevada.edu (or ftp 131.216.1.11) for tablature/chords for guitar in /pub/guitar. You may also use ftp.uu.net . There is a Lyric/Music Server at ftp ftp.uwp.edu or ftp ftp.iastate.edu (in /pub/lyrics and /pub/music). Wine and food ------------- Some people would rather fill their stomachs than their ears. They call up CompuServe for the Cooks Online forum (for gourmets), and the Wine and Beer Forum (for their throats). The latter even has its own "smoking" section, called "Cigars/Pipes." BITNET has the mailing list "Eat" (EAT-L@VTVM2), a club for FoodLore/Recipe Exchange. On J-FOOD-L (J-FOOD-L@JPNKNU10 on BITNET) the topic is Japanese food and culture. The anonymous ftp sites gatekeeper.dec.com (cd pub/recipes) and mthvax.cs.miami.edu (cd pub/recipes) have an abundance of recipes. If your interest is more academic, subscribe to FOODWINE (on LISTSERV@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU) - "For those seriously interested in the academic study of food and its accompaniments in the 1990's, including a variety of disciplines, such as marketing, communications, hospitality, consumer affairs, hotel and catering management." Usenet has rec.food.cooking, rec.food.recipes, rec.food.restaurants, rec.food.drink, and rec.food.veg for vegetarians. On FidoNet, pursue INTERCOOK for words of wisdom on International Cooking. On ILINK and RelayNet, join CUISINE. That is where we found the following recipe for Mexican Meatloaf: 2 lb Ground Beef 1 ea Bell Pepper, Diced 10 1/2 oz Cream Chicken Soup 10 oz Cheddar Cheese 4 oz Green Chilies, Diced 1 ea Onion, Chopped 8 oz Taco Sauce 1 pk Tortillas 4 oz Mushrooms (fresh optional) 2 ea Jalapen�'s (to taste) 1. Brown ground beef and drain. 2. Mix onions, green peppers, mushrooms, green CHILIES, taco sauce, jalapen�'s and cream chicken soup into skillet with ground beef. 3. Simmer until vegetables are soft. 4. Shred cheddar cheese. 5. In crock pot or dish, layer meat mixture, cheese, and tortillas; heat until cheese melts. Bon apetit! Outdoor life ------------ CompuServe's Great Outdoors SIG is for those preferring nature for the computer screen. Its sections are called: General/Photography, Scouting, Power Boating, TROUT UNLIMITED, Fishing, Hunting, Cycling, AUDUBON/Birding, Canoe/Kayak/Raft, Camp/Hike/Walk/RV, Snow Sports/Climb, OWAA, CIS/Computers, Firearms, NRA, Environmnt/Wildlife, OUTDOOR LIFE mag. If you dream of visiting Alaska to hunt, fish and explore the wilderness by canoe, then this is the place. Add the Outdoor Cooking section of the Cooks Online Forum to make it perfect. Scandinavian bulletin boards on the MIX network exchange the "JAKT_FRILUFT" conference. ILINK offers OUTDOORS, which focuses on outdoor hobbies. As usual, Usenet has a lot. These are some examples: rec.aviation Aviation rules, means, and methods. rec.backcountry Activities in the Great Outdoors. rec.bicycles Bicycles, related products and laws. rec.birds Hobbyists interested in bird watching. rec.boats Hobbyists interested in boating. rec.boats.paddle Talk about any boats with oars, paddles, etc. rec.climbing Climbing techniques, competition announcements, etc. Scouts participate in SCOUTER on FidoNet (International SCOUTING Conference) and SCOUTS-L (SCOUTS-L@NDSUVM1) on BITNET. Golfers meet in GOLF-L (on LISTSERV@ubvm.bitnet). Photo enthusiasts track down PHOTO-L. To join, send your subscription request to LISTPROC@CSUOHIO.EDU (SUB PHOTO-L Your-Full-Name). CompuServe has a Photography Forum, and its SCUBA Forum has a section for underwater photography. There's "Photography" on EXEC-PC and The Well, PHOTO on RelayNet, PHOTOSIG on ILINK and rec.photo on Usenet. If you are into 3-d (stereo) photography, enroll in "3d" on UUCP: Contact: 3d-request@bfmny0.bfm.com (Tom Neff) Purpose: Discussion of 3-D (stereo) photography. General info, hints, experiences, equipment, techniques, and stereo "happenings." Anyone interested is welcome to join. There are clubs for all popular outdoor hobbies. | "Contact 3d-request@bfmny0.bfm.com" above means that you must | | write a message to this Internet email address with a | | subscription request, or to receive further information | | about how to join. This mailing list does not have automatic | | subscriptions. | Roots ----- With networking capabilities, researchers can exchange information, tips and family records - something that hasn't always been so easy. In the days before personal computers and data networking, performing the necessary records research in far-flung libraries, courthouses and cemeteries could take a lifetime. Sometimes logistical barriers prevented the proper research from ever being carried out. Now a genealogy buff in Toronto or Wien can ask a favor of a comrade in Buenos Aires or Sidney to look up a record or two, check out a graveyard or provide some missing bit of information about local history and family names. Sometimes these networking hobbyists discover that they are related! ROOTS-L@NDSUVM1.BITNET and soc.roots on Usenet are all about genealogy. Here, you will get tips about tools and techniques. You can exchange information about ancestors, and find new friends and partners for joint research. CompuServe has The Genealogy Forum. One message section is called Overseas Ancestry. Remember to check out the Family History Library, a newsletter bringing news from the library for genealogical research in Salt Lake City, U.S.A. (stored in Library 10.) The North American bulletin boards ROOTS-BBS (San Francisco) and THE FAMILY ROOTS (Oklahoma) are connected to FidoNet. GEnie has the Genealogy Knowledgebase. FidoNet has GENDATA Genealogy Database GENEALOGY:_WGW Who's Got What (WGW) Database GENSOFT Genealogy software SE_GENEALOGY South Eastern US Genealogy Conference Since FidoNet has links all over the world, these conferences can give contacts in countries that you might otherwise have problems in reaching. On most of these services, you'll find interesting genealogy programs and files with practical hints about how to write a book about your family. Him and Her ----------- Members of the female sex have their favorite meeting places, like Cleopatra on Bergen By Byte. Men do not have admission. Usenet has alt.feminism and soc.feminism. Those with limited access to Usenet, may subscribe to "feminism-digest". Send email to feminism- digest@ncar.ucar.edu to get on the mailing list. To join the mailing list "feminists," write Patricia Collins on collins@hplabs.hp.com . She presents the forum's purpose in this way: The feminist mailing list is intended to provide a forum for discussion of issues of interest to women, in a friendly atmosphere. The basic tenets of feminism and the day-to-day experiences of women do not have to be explained or defended. Men and women can join, but everyone requesting to be added to the mailing list MUST provide the moderator with: (1) a full name; (2) a complete UUCP path to a well-known host or a fully specified Internet address; (3) the correspondent's gender (for records and statistics only). NO exceptions. ILINK has Women and Feminism. Mailing lists include FEMISA@mach1.wlu.ca, and FIST@hamp.hampshire.edu (feminism and science and technology). Meet the "other side" on MAIL-MEN@usl.com (mail-men-request@ATTUNIX.ATT.COM). While we're at it, let's move on to other topics associated with the term sex: Bisexuals have "sappho" on UUCP. Contact sappho-request@mc.lcs.mit.edu. On BITNET, there are BIFEM-L (BIFEM-L@BROWNVM), BISEXU-L (BISEXU-L@BROWNVM) and others. Spanish speaking users can subscribe to ARENAL (Lista de discussion para hispanos/as que desean acabar con la homofobia). Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@LUT.FI . Usenet has lots of it: soc.motss, alt.politics.homosexuality, alt.sex, alt.sex.bestiality, alt.sex.bondage, alt.sex.pictures.d, alt.sex.motss, clari.news.group.gays, alt.sex.pictures, clari.feature.kinsey (Sex Q&A and Advice from Kinsey Institute), clari.news.law.crime.sex and clari.news.sex. Conferences called "SEXUALITY" are alive on FidoNet and The Well. CompuServe has a Human Sexuality Adult Forum and a Human Sexuality Open Forum. STOPRAPE@BROWNVM.BITNET is a Sexual Assault Activist List. Finally, there are a large number of pictures of nudes in all possible and impossible positions. Most of them are childish, some are decidedly pornographic, a few are beautiful and erotic. The online services' policies vary about what kind of pictures and picture programs to make available. The larger the service, the more conservative they tend to be. Programs for hobbyists ---------------------- It is no rule that a service need to have a conference about a hobby, to have interesting programs available for downloading. Programs float around from service to service much easier than conference items. Still, the best programs for a given hobby are normally found on services where hobbyists meet to discuss. You will find: Chess and bridge programs, Morse code training programs for ham amateurs, Astrology programs, Database systems for keeping track of music cassettes or records, video cassettes, books, stamps, coins, etc. Information systems for wine lovers, Recipe programs (tell me what you've got, and I'll tell you what you can make), and much more. Online shopping --------------- You can buy almost anything online: video cameras, books, music, Bonsai plants, golf equipment, canned cakes from Gimmee Jimmy's Cookies, Levi's trousers, computer equipment, a four-door Nissan Pathfinder SE-V6 car, and air tickets for Mexico. Shoppers who let their modem do the "walking" are already a few steps ahead of people still stuck shopping the old-fashioned way. Experienced online shoppers know that you can tap a world of stores without ever leaving your keyboard, and that you can browse and buy with very little effort. Some services present their wares "for your information only." It is like reading newspaper ads. You must contact the seller to buy. Other services have large online supermarkets with many stores, and you can by while you visit. CompuServe subscribers get a monthly magazine by mail. "Go Mall Shoppers' Guide" is a regular insert with color photos and descriptions of selected products. Type GO MALL, order a product, enter your credit card number, and have it sent you by mail. What if used goods are good enough? ILINK, the international conference exchange system, has GARAGESALE. Here, you can buy and sell for hobby or home: Photo, video, audio, sound/music and midi equipment, and all kinds of other domestic items. ILINK also has a BUY-SELL conference. HAM-SALE on the FidoNet is for ham amateurs wanting to swap, by or sell. The American computer magazine PC Week is operating a Buyer's Forum on CompuServe. UUCP's "muscle-cars" is where "muscle car" enthusiasts offer advice, share problems and solutions, discuss technical issues, racing, buying or selling parts, cars, or services, or just discuss cars and swap stories with each other. (Contact: muscle-cars-request@sorinc.PacBell.COM). Other options include "BMW" (Write: bmw-request@sol.crd.ge.com), "british- cars" (Write: british-cars-request@encore.com), "italian-cars" (Write: italian-cars-request@sol.crd.ge.com), and "Z-cars" (the topic is Z-cars from Datsun/Nissan. Write: rsiatl!z-car-request). Vintage VW (at VintageVW@rocky.er.usgs.gov) is about Vintage Volkswagens. This includes the Beetle, Bus (Types II and II/IV), Ghia, Squareback, Kubelwagen (Thing), bajas, buggies, Schwimmwagen, rails and any VW (air- cooled) powered vehicle including aircraft. Beginners, gurus, mechanics and non-mechanics, restorers and daily drivers are welcomed. The discussion is about how-to stuff, parts availability, mechanical questions, show dates, swap meets, club addresses, favorite stories, etc. To subscribe, send a message to robert@whiplash.er.usgs.gov . Porsche lovers meet at porschephiles. Email porschephiles-requests@tta.com for information, or to join. Lincoln-Mercury has a 24-hour "Electronic Car Showroom" on the Electronic Newsstand, an electronic magazine subscription service. It is available by gopher or telnet to gopher.netsys.com . The Worldwide Car Network forum, which has a searchable database of cars for sale, is also on CompuServe. The NEWSBYTES newsletter brings regular reports of used computers prices from The Boston Computer Exchange (BOCO). The newsletter is available through GEnie, ZiffNet on CompuServe, NewsNet, Dialog, and others. ZiffNet offers the Computer Directory, an online encyclopedia with data on more than 75,000 hardware and software products sold in North America (1993). The database is updated monthly. Planning your vacation ---------------------- So get ready for your vacation. The more planning, the more fun and value. A simple equation. Normally, your first step will be to decide on the destination, be it next door, or in a remote country. You may want to start with an idea about how far your money can take you. Several international services, including CompuServe and Dow Jones News/Retrieval, offer OAG (The Official Airline Guide) and Eaasy Sabre (the American Airlines reservation system). Worldscan/Travel shopper is on CompuServe and Delphi. CompuServe's Travel Forum administers a member travel discount program. Download HOTEL.SAV in Library 0 for information about lower rates on hotel room and car-rental rates. Some services let you book hotel rooms and rent cars online. Travelshopper has a built-in hotel guide, searchable by city around the world. OAG has a database of over 40,000 hotels worldwide (1992). It includes the AA Rated European Hotels & Restaurants menu, which covers trips from Andorra to Yugoslavia. Accu-Weather provides three-day weather forecasts for 450 cities worldwide, updated hourly. Travel agents are also operative through the Internet. One of them is at TRAVEL@delphi.com . Televerket's Datatorg in Norway offers air tickets and hotel reservations through SMART LINK, a self-serve system operated by the Norwegian travel agencies. Entertainment and travel are also popular on Prestel. Most British tour operators have an "office" there. Search for additional background information using CompuServe's Magazine Database Plus, if you do not mind paying a wee surcharge. Look up places to stay in the ABC Worldwide Hotel Listing. On America Online, you can research National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler Magazines online. You can look up your destination in the electronic Compton's Encyclopedia. If you are responsible for your company's business travels, check out these two newsletters on NewsNet: BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS, and TOUR & TRAVEL NEWS. (You can search NewsNet's newsletters through CompuServe's IQuest, Dialog, and others). NewsNet has searchable newsletters focusing on the conditions in particular countries or parts of the world (news, travel and political risk analysis, political stability, etc.). There is a Travel Information Library at ftp ccu.umanitoba.ca (or ftp 130.179.16.8). It offers travelogues, guides, FAQs. Cd to the directory: /pub/rec-travel . (FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions) The Central Intelligence Agency-produced World Factbook provides facts on geography, people, government, economy, communications and defense of countries around the world. The full text of the book is available by gopher wiretap.spies.com / electronic books / cia world factbook . Also available by telnet to lib.dartmouth.edu. But there is more. Have you ever arrived home feeling as though you had been on a whirlwind tour of too-touristy sites? A tour bus approach may be the only way to get it "all in" during a couple of day's time, but who said you had to see it all anyway? The best way to learn about the place you want to visit is to have a local guide or a fellow traveler familiar with the territory. Someone who can direct you to the sights that bus passes and tourbooks overlook. Therefore, check out the online conferences and their file libraries also. The TRAVEL-L forum (TRAVEL-L@TREARN.BITNET) is for those interested in tourism. ILINK and The Well have conferences under the name TRAVEL. If you want to learn more about indigenous, native, or aboriginal people, culture, and issues, check out the conferences and pointers in the file pub/amcgee/indigenous/my_indigenous_related_lists . It is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.netcom.com . For African, African-American, African-Caribbean or African-Latin people, culture, and issues, ftp to the same host, and request the file pub/amcgee/african/my_african_related_lists . Consult the Travel Forum on CompuServe for information about SERVAS, a global guest/host network linking people in 99 countries who want to share their homes and lives. No money is exchanged, and the average stay is two days for SERVAS guests. Many conferences and information sources concentrate on particular parts of the world. Let's take a look at some of them. Africa ------ ALGNEWS (on LISTSERV@gwuvm.gwu.edu) is the French language Algeria News List. TUNISNET (on LISTSERV@psuvm.psu.edu) is The Tunisia Network. For EGYPT-NET, the Egypt Discussion and News forum, write egypt-net- request@das.harvard.edu. AFRICA-L@BRUFPB.BITNET is about Africa. Send mail to mcgee@epsilon.eecs.nwu.edu to get a list of Internet/Bitnet mailing lists that focus on African, African-American, African-Caribbean or African-Latin issues, and a list of African information sites. On Usenet, check out soc.culture.african . CompuServe's Travel Forum has an Africa/Middle East section. Asia and The Pacific -------------------- Sushi, geishas, green tea, bullet trains, and sumo wrestlers. If this is your first visit to Japan, consider learning about the territory through TWICS in Tokyo. It presents itself like this: "Japan is an island nation, full of communities in villages, towns, and cities squeezed in between the mountains and the sea, with ports of various sizes and shapes through which communication flows between communities. Our own online community is organized in the same terms, an island community "BEEJIMA" (Bee Island), with our village ("MURA"), a port ("MINATO"), and our very own volcanic mountain ("YAMA"). In the village, there is a village office ("YAKUBA"), a community meeting place ("YORIAI"), a high-tech corner ("AKIHABARA") named after the famous electronics district in Tokyo, a health center ("EMEDICA"), a place to hang around and read things ("HON YA"), a school ("GAKKOU"), and a market ("ICHIBA"). The port has holding areas and leads to other parts of Japan ("NIPPON") and the world ("SEKAI"). The mountain has a hot springs ("ONSEN") recreational area, and a lively outdoor bath ("IN THE OFURO") which has become the social center of our island. Add to this soc.culture.japan on Usenet, the BITNET discussion list JAPAN@NDSUVM1, the Japan Forum on CompuServe, "JAPAN" on RelayNet, GEnie's Japan RoundTable and a visity by gopher to gan.ncc.go.jp. If you are really determined, try NIHONGO@MITVMA.MIT.EDU, a forum for discussion of the Japanese language. (The mailing list is crossposted to the sci.lang.japan newsgroup on Usenet.) In the soc.culture hierarchy on Usenet, there are area codes like asian, arabic, asean, australian, bangladesh, china, filipino, hongkong, indian, iranian, jewish, korean, lebanon, nepal, new-zealand, pakistan, sri-lanka, taiwan, thai, turkish, and vietnamese. If your destination in in the Middle East, you may find the quarterly MIDDLE EAST RESOURCES newsletter interesting. It is published by the Arab World And Islamic Resources and School Services (AWAIR) for Social Studies Educators. Write awair@igc.apc.org for information. CompuServe's Travel Forum has the Oceania, and Asia sections. Central and South America ------------------------- In "argentina," you can learn how to make empanadas while sharpening up your Spanish before an upcoming visit to Buenos Aires. (Contact: argentina- request@ois.db.toronto.edu). Then there is CHILE-L (at LISTSERV@USACHVM1.BITNET), or FOLLAC, a mailing list about 'Folklore Latino, Latinoamericano y Caribeno'. To join, write Emily Socolov at owner-follac@ccwf.cc.texas.edu . To brush up your Portuguese, consider joining BRAS-NET, a Brazilian mailing list/network. Send the subscription request to bras-net-request@cs.ucla.edu For general information about other Brazilian interest groups, write LISTSERV@FAPQ.FAPESP.BR . On Usenet, check out soc.culture.latin-american. CompuServe's Travel Forum has sections called Mexico/Central America, Caribbean, and South America. Europe ------ The soc.culture hierarchy on Usenet has area codes like british, celtic, europe, french, german, greek, italian, magyar, nordic, polish, soviet, spain, and yugoslavia. If you are off to London, check out the UK Travel section in CompuServe's UK Computing Forum. Its library contains files with tips about affordable hotels, British road signs, and a list of London theatre shows with ticket- buying tips. Enter GO AF for Air France flight, hotel room and car rental information. Also, visit Travel Britain Online, a database of festivals, concerts, theater and sporting events, London-only events, a listing of London pubs and clubs, and the latest news from the British Tourist Authority. GEnie has a Deutschland RoundTable providing for interaction with users from this country. CompuServe has a Europe forum, and its Travel Forum has a Europe section. If your destination is Germany, practice Deutsch in the Deutsches Forum (GO GERNET). For information of how to learn French over the Internet, write Bruno Oudet at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., USA (bao@access.digex.net). BALT-L@UBVM.BITNET is focusing on the Baltic states. North America ------------- CompuServe let you read reviews of theater performances, books, movies and restaurants, opera, symphonies, ballets, dance, museums and art galleries. They have information about airline schedules and prices, hotels and the latest ski weather forecast. The soc.culture hierarchy on Usenet has numerous interesting newsgroups, including soc.culture.canada. CompuServe's Travel Forum has sections called United States, Canada, and Hawaii. There are also a California Forum, a Florida Forum, West Coast Travel, and the Zagat Restaurant Guide. Politics -------- Many of these conferences and forums are filled to the brim with political discussions. For information about the United Nations, subscribe to UN (on LISTSERV@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU). Chapter 5: Home, education and work =================================== House, garden and finances -------------------------- FidoNet has a long list of interesting conferences: HOME-N-GRDN Home and Garden Questions HOMEAUT Home Automation HOMESCHL Homeschooling support HOME_IMP Improvements around the house. HOME_OFFICE Home Office HOME_REPAIR Home Repair and Remodelling ZYMURGY Beer Homebrewing The EXEC-PC BBS has "Home Repair." The FUTUREHOME TECHNOLOGY NEWS newsletter is available through NewsNet. On ILINK, you will find the HOMEGARDEN conference. Usenet has misc.consumers.house . Here they discuss anything related to owning and maintaining a house. On the Well, check out "Homeowners." In Ziff-Davis' Magazine Database Plus you can search and read articles from the Good Housekeeping Magazine. This full-text article database is available from CompuServe and other services. Through UUCP you can get to the conference "Antiques" (Contact: antiques-request@swbatl.sbc.com). CompuServe also has the Gardening Forum. It is operated by the National Gardening Association, which publishes National Gardening magazine. The various services' software libraries contain many great shareware and public domain programs. You can download software that will help you prepare tax return forms, plan next year's taxes, calculate interests and down-payments on your loans. You'll find double-entry money-managing systems for non-accountants that will help you with personal bookkeeping and checkbook balancing. Other programs will help you plan and maintain your house. There are personal inventory programs (to help you keep track of belongings), and programs that can help you plan allocation of the space in your home. . . To be successful, the experts say, investors must have a strategy that is appropriate to their unique circumstances, resources for keeping up to date on investment options, and tools for managing the process of investing. It is an information-intensive activity and a constant learning process. You will need up-to-date, exhaustive, and anecdotal information that online services are perfectly suited to meet. Join CompuServe's Investors Forum to learn how to play the stock and money markets, and other moneymaking 'instruments'. Discuss investment techniques with others, read reports about economical trends, and retrieve useful programs for your personal computer. RelayNet offers an international conference called INVESTOR. Usenet has misc.invest . Dow Jones News/Retrieval has a LOT, and be sure to check out the Investext service, for example on NewsNet. If you want to adopt a child, check out ADOPTION on FidoNet, or subscribe to a UUCP conference of the same name. For access, write adoption- request@think.com . The National Issues Forum on CompuServe has a message section called "Adoption Today." Addicted TV-viewers may be interested in alt.tv.twin-peaks or alt.tv.muppets on Usenet. "Mystery" on FidoNet and UUCP is for those preferring mystery novels by the fire place in the living room. There are even offerings for "the perfect house wife." I can think of no better pastime than origami, the traditional Japanese art of folding paper. (Contact: origami-request@cs.utexas.edu on UUCP). Oh, I almost forgot: The BONSAI conference is on LISTSERV@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU. This is where to discuss the art and craft of Bonsai and related art forms. Bonsai is the Oriental Art of miniaturizing trees and plants into forms that mimic nature. On Usenet, try rec.arts.bonsai . A FAQ is also available. Education, teaching and the exchange of knowledge ------------------------------------------------- The list of conferences, forums, clubs, and other services focusing on education - in its broadest meaning of the word - is long. You are offered online courses, workshops, and seminars for students of all ages, databases to help you select a school for yourself or your kids, and all kinds of discussion forums for educators. Usenet, BITNET, Internet, and UUCP have long traditions in education. You'll find offerings for teachers within all subject areas, from finance and accounting, through history, languages and geography to technical subjects on all levels. Two guides listing forums of interest to Educators can be retrieved by anonymous FTP from the pub/ednet directory at nic.umass.edu . Use the following commands (see "FTP by email" at the end of Chapter 12): get educatrs.lst get edusenet.gde KIDSPHERE (subscribe through JOINKIDS@vms.cis.pitt.edu) is a discussion forum for teachers of students from the age of kindergarten through high school and higher. This is a selection of other BITNET discussion lists to suggest the span of topics: CHEMED-L (CHEMED-L@UWF) Chemistry Education Discussion CHRONICL (CHRONICL@USCVM) On-Line Chronicle of Higher Ed CIVIL-L (CIVIL-L@UNBVM1) Civil Engineering Research & Ed. COMLAW-L (COMLAW-L@UALTAVM) Computers and Legal Education DRUGABUS (DRUGABUS@UMAB) Drug Abuse Education Information JOURNET (JOURNET@QUCDN) Discussion List for Journalism Ed MEDIA-L (MEDIA-L@BINGVMB) Media in Education MULTI-L (MULTI-L@BARILVM) Language and Education in Multi- Lingual Settings MUSIC-ED (MUSIC-ED@UMINN1) MUSIC-ED Music Education PANET-L (PANET-L@YALEVM) Medical Education and Health Info TAG-L (TAG-L@NDSUVM1) TAG-L Talented and Gifted Ed WORLD-L (WORLD-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU) Non-Eurocentric World History Here are some Usenet conferences: comp.edu Computer science education sci.edu The science of education comp.ai.edu Applications of Artificial Intelligence to Education There are many similar offerings on the commercial services and free bulletin boards. K12Net is a decentralized network for schools available on FidoNet and Usenet. Write janet.murray@f23.n105.z1.fidonet.org for information. FidoNet also has A_THEIST A_Theism Education and Enlightenment HIGH_ED Education, Post Secondary HISTORY International History MAC_GAMES Macintosh Entertainment & Education CompuServe has 12 forums focusing on education. Among these you'll find the Disabilities Forum, Computer Training Forum, Education Forum, Education Research forum, Science/Math Educational Forum, Foreign Language Forum, LOGO and Students Forum. The Foreign Language Forum has the sections Potpourri/Polyglot, Spanish/Portuguese, French, German/Germanic, Latin/Greek, Slavic/E. European, English, East Asian, Esperanto, Others, FL Education, Translators, Computers/CAI-CALL, The Directory, Jobs/Careers, New Uploads and Using the Forum. Ken and Carrie Loss-Cutler are coordinating the section for Home/Alternative Education in CompuServe's Education Forum. They educate their two children at home instead of sending them to a public school. The home-ed mailing list is for the discussion on all aspects of home education. Contact: home-ed-request@think.com . The University of Phoenix, U.S.A., offers accredited degrees, master's and bachelor's, in business and management through courses conducted online. (GO UP on CompuServe.) If you are into reading/writing the African language Kiswahili (Swahili), write kuntz@macc.wisc.edu to get onto the SWAHILI-L mailing list. The more occupational oriented forums include Communications Industry Forum, Environmental Forum, Firenet (for volunteer fire brigades), Industrial Hygiene Forum, AAMSI Medical Forum, ASCMD Forum, HealthNet, OP- Net Forum, the MICRO MD Network, Legal SIG, Aviation SIG, CB Society and CEMSIG (computers and electronics). Bergen By Byte has the Norwegian language conference Schools. This conference is for validated users only. | There are many private conferences in the online world. All | | conferences referred to in this book are open for anybody to | | join, unless explicitly told to be private. | RelayNet has EDUCATION. NewsNet offers the newsletters EDUCATION DAILY, and the HELLER REPORT ON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY. Many online services (including schools and universities) offer students accredited courses by modem. Connected Education at the New School for Social Research in the United States is one example, as is the University of Phoenix in Arizona. (Ask in CompuServe's Education Forum for more information.) The EDUPAGE newsletter is a twice-weekly summary of news items on information technology, provided by a consortium of colleges and universities "seeking to transform education through the use of information technology." Compact and informative. I like it. Subscribe by email to LISTPROC@EDUCOM.EDU . Use the following text: SUB EDUPAGE yourfirstname yourlastname. Back issues of Edupage are available by WAIS, Gopher, and anonymous ftp from educom.edu. For information about Spanish and Portuguese translations, write edunews@nc-rj.rnp.br . INFOBITS (at listserv@gibbs.oit.unc.edu) is a monthly service reporting from a number of information and instruction technology sources. The Internet Resource Directory for Educators is available by anonymous FTP from tcet.unt.edu in the pub/telecomputing-info/IRD subdirectory. File names include: IRD-telnet-sites.txt (226KB ASCII text) IRD-ftp-archives.txt ( 73KB) IRD-listservs.txt (201KB) IRD-infusion-ideas.txt (202KB) Example: KIDLINK ---------------- Many parents and teachers regard the online world as a learning opportunity for their kids. Some of them turn to KIDLINK, a global service for children between 10 - 15 years of age. The service is operated by a grassroots network of volunteers. The objective is to get as many children as possible involved in a global dialog. Participation is free. Before joining the discussion, however, each child must respond to the following four questions: 1. Who am I? 2. What do I want to be when I grow up? 3. How do I want the world to be better when I grow up? 4. What can I do Now to make this come true? The kids can write in any language. Most answers are sent through the Internet to a large online database in North America. Anyone with an email connection to the Internet can search this database at will. When they have submitted their responses, they are invited to 'meet' the others in several KIDCAFEs. The cafes are split up by language. Here, they can discuss anything from pop music to how it is to live in other countries. KIDLINK grew from an idea in 1990 to over 23,000 participating children in 60 countries by May 1993. Schools all over the globe are integrating KIDLINK with their classes in languages, geography, history, environment, art, etc. To the kid participant, KIDCAFE may be the beginning of a personal network of international friends. For more information, send mail to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU with the following command in the TEXT of your message: GET KIDLINK GENERAL Your personal network --------------------- Network is a word with many meanings. It can be a system set up to transport data from one computer to another. It can be an online service with many conferences, and a friendly connection between people (like in "old boys' network"). Here, we use it in the latter meaning of the word. We use our personal networks more than most of us think of. We have a chain of people that we call on to ask for advice, help, and who we invite to participate in projects or parties. When they ask us for assistance, we lend a hand. The online world has some interesting characteristics. One is that most participants in online conferences already have received so much help from others that they feel obliged to pay back. They do this by helping others. Those who help, know that helping others will be rewarded. The reward, however, may not come directly from the persons that they help. They contributions help maintain and develop the online world as one giant personal network. A typical example: I wanted to buy a 425 megabyte hard disk for my Toshiba 5100 personal computer. I discover the existence of such a drive, when a user told about his experiences in CompuServe's Toshiba Forum. Before placing an order, I wrote to check if he was still satisfied with the disk. The happy user did more than reply. He told about other sellers and offered to help out with return shipment of my computer when done. He made it clear that he had no financial interest in the companies selling the upgrade. We had no previous contact with each other. The online world is full of similar examples. The list of what people do to help others is very, very long. In most conferences and forums you get help, just like that. There is always someone prepared to help. Still, the best long range strategy to build chances of getting help when you need it, is to be visually present in conferences, that matter to you. 'Being visually present' means that you should contribute in the discussions and help others as much as you can. The p o s i t i v e contributors get a lot of friends and a disproportional amount of help from others. For example, you may contribute by telling others about what you find once you find it. Keep that up over a stream of weeks or months and you'll start to find people sending you things, quite new or interesting, and quite unprovoked. That is all it takes to build a personal network. One day you may need it. It will give you an incredible advantage. I have seen people get jobs, partners and clients through such contacts. The online world is full of opportunities. Watch your words ---------------- Written communications are deprived of the body language and tone of voice that convey so much in face-to-face meetings and even in telephone conversations. Therefore, it makes sense to work much harder to build in humor, sarcasm, or disagreement and avoid your words come across as stupidity, rudeness, or aggressiveness. One way of defusing misunderstanding is to include cues as to your emotional state. One popular technique is to use keyboard symbols like :-). We call these symbols emoticons (Emotional icons. Pictorial representations of the emotions of the moment). What :-) means? Tilt your head to the left and look again. Yes, it's a smiling face. Here are some other examples to challenge your imagination: ;-) (Winking Smiley), :-( (Sad), 8-) (User wears glasses), :-o (Shocked or surprised), and :-> (Hey hey). A bracketed is shorthand for grin, and means grinning, ducking, and running. Some people prefer to write their emotional state in full text, like in these two examples: *grin* and *smile*. Do not misunderstand. You still should not allow yourself to write the most appallingly insulting things to other people, and then try to shrug it off with a . Watch your words. They are so easy to store on a hard disk. Religion and philosophy ----------------------- CompuServe's Religion Forum (GO RELIGION) has many message sections with associated file libraries. You can get into serious discussion about topics ranging from Christianity, Judaism, Eastern Religions, Islam, Interfaith Dialog, Limbo, Pagan/Occult, to Religion and Science, Liturgical Churches, Mormonism, Ethics and Values, and more. You may also want to check out the New Age Forum. Usenet's offerings include these: soc.culture.jewish Jewish culture & religion. soc.religion.christian Christianity and related topics. soc.religion.eastern Discussions of Eastern religions. soc.religion.islam Discussions of the Islamic faith. talk.religion.misc Religious, ethical, & moral implications. talk.religion.newage Esoteric and minority religions & philosophies. alt.pagan Discussions about paganism & religion. alt.religion.computers People who believe computing is "real life." clari.news.religion Religion, religious leaders, televangelists. The BITNET/Internet arena has The Islamic Information & News Net on MUSLIMS (available through LISTSERV@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU). ISLAM-L (on LISTSERV@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU) is a non-sectarian forum for discussion, debate, and the exchange of information by students and scholars of the history of Islam. The Islamic Computer Resource Guide documents bulletin board systems, software, FTP archives, and network resources such as online academic conferences and newsgroups related to Islamic topics. It is available by ftp from cs.bu.edu . Change to the /amass/ directory and retrieve the file islam-guide.text. For a reading list on Judaism, telnet VMS.HUJI.AC.IL. Login as JEWISHNET. BUDDHA-L (on LISTSERV@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU) provides a means for those interested in Buddhist Studies to exchange information and views. BUDDHIST (on LISTSERV@JPNTUVM0.BITNET) is for non-academic discussions. BAPTIST (LISTSERV@UKCC.UKY.EDU) is the Open Baptist Discussion List. THEOLOGY (contact U16481%UICVM.BITNET@VM1.NODAK.EDU) is a mailing list dedicated to the intellectual discussion of religion. In its self- presentation, it says: Intellectual is stressed as opposed to the "personal," the inspirational, or evangelistic. This does not mean one cannot evangelize, but rather that participants should persuade rather than brow-beat or attack those they disagree with. Arguments are inevitable, but they ultimately should resolve into mutual understanding or at least a truce. Pagan (Contact: pagan-request@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu) is set up to discuss the religions and philosophies of paganism. BELIEF-L (on LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET) is designed to be a forum where personal ideologies can be discussed, examined, and analyzed. The discussion list PHILCOMM@RPITSVM.BITNET is where you debate the philosophy of communication. PHILOSOP@YORKVM1.BITNET is the Philosophy Discussion Forum. Several sacred texts and primary texts of religious interest are available by anonymous FTP or LISTSERV. The Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Koran (also spelled Quran) are available at many sites and in a variety of file formats. The Bible (King James Version) is available as bible10.zip and bible10.txt via FTP to mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (128.174.201.12) in the /etext/etext92/ directory. You can also get it from /pub/Library/Religion/Bible directory at ocf.berkeley.edu . M.H. Shakir's translation of the Koran is available as 114 individual ASCII text chapters via FTP to quake.think.com (192.31.181.1) in the /pub/etext/koran/ directory. A short file containing quotes from the Koran is available via LISTSERV from LISTSERV@asuacad as PAKISTAN AL_QURAN. A collection of Sanskrit texts is available via FTP to ftp.bcc.ac.uk in the /pub/users/ucgadkw/indology/ directory. You may use the Archie service (see Appendix 6) to find other religious texts that are also available through the Internet. On FidoNet, check out JVArcServ. Job-hunting by modem -------------------- Unemployment is a global problem, and losing a job is often a bad experience. If this ever should happen to you, consider checking out the BITNET discussion list LAIDOFF@ARIZVM1 - "So, you've been laidoff?" Maybe you already have a job, but are constantly searching for something better. There are many forums and conferences devoted to help you get a new job. FidoNet has the JOBS conference, for those not in a hurry, and JOBS-NOW (Job & Employment offerings/listings) for those who have no more time to wait. On Bergen By Byte, it is called 'Job_market', and on ILINK CAREER. In many countries there are local bulletin boards operated by public employment agencies. On Televerket's Datatorg (Norway), you can browse jobs from the following menu (translated): VACANT JOBS Select desired profession Number 01 Technical, natural sciences ( 182) 02 Education, etc. ( 601) 03 Media,art ( 58) 04 Medicine, health care, etc. ( 951) 05 Social care ( 307) 06 Adm.,management, organization ( 348) 07 Finance,computers ( 100) 08 Secretarial, office work ( 138) 09 Sale,purchasing, advertising ( 576) 10 Agriculture,forestry,fishing ( 56) 11 Oil and gas, mining ( 38) 12 Transport,communication ( 68) 13 Workshop,fine mechanics,electro( 126) 14 craft,building and construction( 93) 15 Industry,ware-house,mechan. ( 68) 16 Hotel,restaurant,domestic work ( 133) 17 Service,surveillance,safety ( 170) If your potential employers have an email address, you can send dozens of job resumes - while going for a cup of coffee! WORK-AT-HOME on FidoNet is for those planning to start their own business ("Take this job and shove it! I'll work at home!") GEnie has the Home Office Small Business forum (HOSB). CompuServe has the Working-From-Home Forum under the sysopship of online gurus Paul and Sarah Edwards. Home-based business people gather here informally to offer contacts and political clout. The file library contains back issues of the electronic magazine "Making It on Your Own." In Library 2, you'll find the IDEAS.BIZ file, a list of 101 home-based businesses you can operate with the aid of a computer. Home based business opportunities may exist within areas such as desktop publishing, desktop video, high-tech equipment repair, import and export management, and professional practice management. Learn from others in forums or conferences on related topics. For some, one of the biggest challenges of being out of work is that they have lost that day-to-day contact with the people in their industry. The online world is an excellent way to stay in touch. Whatever your industry, there are places online to hang out, learn the latest development and stay connected. Also, being a member of an online forum does not mean that you are overtly looking for a job - an activity that your current employer may not appreciate - but you have put yourself out there to be discovered. The discovered candidate is always more interesting than one who sends his resume out along with 300 other applicants' resumes. The good news is that many organizations are also having problems finding qualified candidates for their vacant positions, and that some of them are turning to the online world for help. One of them did it like this (from an online announcement): Because it is difficult to locate qualified candidates for positions in special libraries and information centers, and to assist special librarians and information specialists to locate positions, the student chapter of the Special Libraries Association at Indiana University has formed a LISTSERV, SLAJOB, in connection with the Indiana Center for Database Systems. The LISTSERV, which is available on both the Internet and Bitnet, will help special libraries and information centers in the sciences, industry, the arts and within public and academic libraries to have a central location for announcing special library and information science positions. The LISTSERV is available to individuals or organizations that have an Internet or Bitnet network connection. For those on the network, subscribe by sending an email message to: "LISTSERV@iubvm.bitnet" or "LISTSERV@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu". Leave the subject line blank and then type the following in the message of the text: subscribe SLAJOB [firstname] [lastname] The Israelis have the mailing list CJI, Computer Jobs in Israel. Send mail to LISTSERV@JERUSALEM1.DATASRV.CO.IL with the usual "SUB CJI Your-Full- Name" in the text of your message. This will give you monthly updated lists of open computer jobs. When you get tired of hunting for a job, lean back and relax with HUMOR at LISTSERV@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU. This mailing list distributes humor of all types, topics and tastes. To subscribe, send the following command to the LISTSERV: SUB HUMOR [firstname] [lastname] Enjoy! Chapter 6: Your personal HealthNet ================================== Health is a concern in most families. Where a family member or a friend is suffering from cancer, AIDS, a serious disability, or a rare disease, finding help is imperative. Fortunately, there are many sources of information for those who want to know more. There are clubs and forums, where you can meet others with the same disease or problem open 24 hours a day. Those who cannot sleep at night, can log in any time to "talk" with others. Another reward of participating in forums is that members begin to feel part of a community. And, as in communities everywhere, people share the good times as well as the not-so-good times. Many online communities have pulled together during crises, sharing the grief caused by the death of a fellow forum member, a loved one of a member or, occasionally, a celebrity. The social aspect of joining a club is important. However, it may be equally important to learn from other people's experiences with alternative treatment methods, doctors, medicines, and to get other practical advice. Here are some examples to illustrate the width of the offering: AIDS ---- You may start with "The Fog City Online Information Service" in San Francisco, the world's largest bulletin board of AIDS information. The cost of using this BBS from afar may be reduced considerably by using i-Com or similar data transport services (see chapter 13). CompuServe has a Human Sexuality Forum and a MEDSig with associated file libraries. It also has a surcharged ZiffNet database with full-text articles about health topics (Health Database Plus). On the Well, enter "g aids". NewsNet has the newsletters "AIDS Weekly" and "AIDS Therapies." The latter is a directory, updated monthly, with descriptions of standard and experimental treatments for AIDS, along with a guide to treatments for the opportunistic infections (OI) of AIDS. It incorporates all existing and potential new AIDS treatments in one place. On BITNET, check out "AIDS/HIV News" (AIDSNEWS@EB0UB011) and the mailing list on AIDS@EB0UB011. Usenet has sci.med.aids (AIDS: treatment, pathology/biology of HIV, prevention), bionet.molbio.hiv, clari.tw.health.aids (AIDS stories, research, political issues), and bit.listserv.aidsnews. If you do not have access to Usenet, send a message to aids- request@cs.ucla.edu for articles from AIDSNEWS, statistics and news summaries. Aids-stat-request@wubios.wustl.edu is another source of current AIDS statistics. Send a request to info-aids@rainbow.UUCP. It is a clearinghouse of information, and discussion about alternative treatment methods, political implications, and more. HIVNET is a network for HIV and AIDS information and discussion primarily based in Europe. They cooperate with AEGIS (U.S.A.), which reaches to other continents. Gopher to gopher.hivnet.org , or ftp to ftp.hivnet.org for information. To subscribe to a mailing list for new files, send mail to hiv-newfiles-request@hivnet.org. Their conferences are on FidoNet, but email delivery to individuals is also available: Fido area List name Source Description --------- --------- ------ ----------- AIDS.DATA AEGIS Read-only - data postings AIDS.DIALOGUE hiv-aids-dialogue AEGIS Discussion area AIDS.DRUGS AEGIS Read-only - NLM Drug desc. AIDS.SPIRITUAL hiv-aids-spiritual AEGIS Spiritual discussion AIDS.TRIALS AEGIS Read-only - NLM Drug trials AIDS.WOMEN hiv-aids-women AEGIS Discussion of women's issues AIDS.NL hiv-aids-nl HIVNET Dutch language discussion and data AIDS.FR hiv-aids-fr HIVNET French language discussion and data HIVNET.GER hiv-aids-de HIVNET German language discussion and data HIVNEWS.GER hiv-aids-denews HIVNET Read-only - German language data AIDS/ARC hiv-aids-arc FIDONET Discussion - from Fidonet backbone AIDS-HIV hiv-aids-hiv FIDONET Discussion - from Fidonet backbone INTERNET hiv-internet HIVNET Discussion and announcements about the lists and gateway Send subscription requests to hiv-aids-dialogue-request@hivnet.org. Send questions to info@hivnet.org . Telnet to debra.dgbt.doc.ca (or telnet 142.92.36.15) for interactive AIDS documentation (simulated conversation). Login: chat . There is also a FAQ document about AIDS (see appendix 6). Example: Kidney disease ----------------------- In chapter 1, I told you that my wife has a rare disease called Polycystic Kidneys. Here are more details about what happened during the "online health trip" to CompuServe with her doctor: The command "GO HEALTH" gave the following menu: 1 HealthNet 2 Human Sexuality 3 Consumer Health 4 NORD Services/Rare Disease Database 5 PaperChase (MEDLINE) 6 Information USA/Health 7 Handicapped User's Database 8 Disabilities Forum 9 Aids Information 10 Cancer Forum Another menu, which listed available "PROFESSIONAL FORUMS," had choices like AAMSI Medical Forum and Health Forum. Besides visiting these, we searched several medical databases. Menu selection five gave us The National Library of Medicine's database (MEDLINE), which is full of references to biomedical literature. This database had more than five million references to articles from 4.000 magazines from 1966 and up to date, when we searched it in 1991. It increases by some 25.000 new references per month. Easy navigation by menus. Easy to search. If you have no medical training, however, you could find it difficult to understand the information you retrieve from MEDLINE. Instead, consider using a database offering consumer health information, such as HealthNet or Health Database Plus on CompuServe. The AAMSI Medical Forum (MedSIG) is sponsored by The American Association for Medical Systems and Informatics (AAMSI). It is a forum for professionals within health care, people within associated technical fields, and ordinary CompuServe users. The members meet to find, develop and swap information. MedSIG has a library full of programs and information files. This is an example of what you can find there: ATLAS.ARC 21-Sep-88 30161 Keywords: STEREOTAXIC STEREOTACTIC STEREOTAXIS ATLAS THALAMOTOMY MAP FUNCTIONAL GIF This contains several of the most useful stereotaxic maps from the Schaltenbrand and Wahren Atlas in GIF format. If you can get GIF into your CAD or drawing program, you can scale the maps to fit your individualized patient's AC-PC distance, thereby generating a customized map for your patient. CompuServe has many programs for reading GIF files, and converting GIF files to other graphical formats. Through IQuest, we searched medical databases. Simple menus helped define relevant search terms. When done, IQuest searched selected databases for us, and presented the selected articles on our local computer screen. We used the search mode "SmartScan" in the area "Medical research." IQuest searched several databases with a minimum of manual intervention. First, it told us that the following databases would be included in the search: BRS databases: Ageline - Contains references to and abstracts of materials on aging and the elderly. Covers psychological, medical, economic, and political concerns. AIDS Database - Includes critically selected articles covering all aspects of AIDS, (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and AIDS-related research. AIDS Knowledge Base - Provides an online textbook of the most current information on AIDS available from San Francisco General Hospital. Combined Health Information Database - For professionals, patients, and the general public, CHID contains references to a variety of materials on arthritis, diabetes, health education, digestive diseases, and high blood pressure. Provides abstracts. Embase - Includes extensive abstracts of articles related to biomedicine from medical journals worldwide. About 40% of the references are online only. Rehabdata - Covers articles, books, reports, and audiovisual materials dealing with the rehabilitation of the physically and mentally handicapped. References only. Sport Database - Indexes publications dealing with sports, including training, medicine, education, and history. Drawn mostly from English and French with technical articles from other languages. Dialog databases: BioBusiness - Deals with the business aspects of biotechnology and biomedical research. Draws from BIOSIS and MANAGEMENT CONTENTS. BIOSIS Previews - Provides international coverage of all aspects of biological science. Cancerlit - Monitors articles from journals and other technical publications dealing with all aspects of cancer research throughout the world. Includes abstracts. Clinical Abstracts - Covers human clinical study articles of major importance selected from leading medical journals. Includes all aspects of clinical medicine. Corresponds to Abstracts in Internal Medicine. Abstracts available. Life Sciences Collection - Abstracts technical literature in the life sciences from journals and other scientific publications worldwide. Medline (1966 - to date) - Indexes articles from medical journals published worldwide. Corresponds to Index Medicus, International Nursing Index and Index to Dental Literature. Includes abstracts in roughly 40% of the records. SciSearch - Monitors worldwide literature across a wide range of scientific and technological disciplines. Produced by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). Then we entered our search term: "LIVER AND CYST/". The search word "CYST/" signified that "cyst" should match any words starting with these four characters. While searching, IQuest gave the following progress report: Scanning BRS databases. Accessing Network...........Completed. Accessing Database Host.....Completed. Logging on..................Completed. Logging on (second step)....Completed. Selecting Databases.........Completed. Each period equals one line of scanned data. This may take several minutes................................ It continued in the same way with a "Scanning Dialog databases." When the search results were presented, we glanced quickly at the article abstracts, ordered two articles to be sent us by mail and typed BYE. CompuServe reported "Off at 09:12 EST 17-Nov-88 Connect time = 0:35." The two articles arrived Norway by mail a few weeks later. The whole trip, including visits in medical forums, took 35 minutes. The cost, including local telephone and network charges, was US$95. Of this total cost, the extra cost of searching through IQuest amounted to US$54.00 (1988). We all felt that the costs were well justified. | A note about the costs: The online tour was done manually, | | using full menus. We discussed our search strategy while | | connected, which is more expensive than logging off to plan | | the next moves. Also, note that the extra cost of searching | | IQuest ($54) was not time dependent. | Right now? I have promised to donate one kidney to my wife when the time comes. This has prompted me (1993) to join a mailing list for "Organ transplant recipients and anyone else interested in the issues" (TRNSPLNT@WUVMD.BITNET). Cancer ------ FidoNet has the forum CARCINOMA (Cancer Survivors). BITNET has the discussion lists CANCER-L@WVNVM and CLAN (Cancer Liaison and Action Network on CLAN@FRMOP11). CompuServe has a Cancer Forum. NewsNet offers the newsletter CANCER RESEARCHER WEEKLY. In September 1992, the following message was posted on CANCER-L by a member from Brazil: "A close friend was just diagnosed with acute leukemia of a type called calapositive pre-B linphoplastic. It is supposedly an early diagnosis since he is not anemic. We are very shocked but he is reacting quite bravely and all he wants is to have access to literature on his condition. Are there any new genetic engineering developments effectively clinically available? What is the present state of knowledge regarding this specific form of leukemia? He was diagnosed three hours ago, is 48 yrs old, and will start chemotherapy tomorrow. He was informed that chemotherapy is quite effective in this type of leukemia. But we wonder if there isn't a possibility to use gene therapy. Any help will be greatly appreciated. - Dora." There were several helpful replies. This came from a member in the United States: "In response to the request for information on treatment for leukemia, I recommend that you access CancerNet, the National Cancer Institute's mail server on the Internet which provides current information on treatment for leukemia. To request the Contents List and Instructions, send a mail message to cancernet@icicb.nci.nih.gov (Internet address) cancernet%icicb.nci.nih.gov@nihcu ( BITNET) Leave the subject line blank, and in the body of the mail message, enter "HELP." When you receive the Contents list, request the statement for Adult Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (cn-101024). There are also News and General Information items, under the Heading PDQ Database Information in the Contents List which provide information on centers which have access to Physician Data Query, NCI's database of cancer treatment information which includes clinical trials information for leukemia. - Cheryl." CancerNet is the U.S. National Cancer Institute's international information center. It is a quick and easy way to obtain, through electronic mail, recommended treatment guidelines from the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query system. To access CancerNet, send email to: cancernet@icicb.nci.nih.gov Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the mail message, enter HELP to receive instructions and the current contents list. Replace 'help' with 'spanish' for Spanish language help text. The files are also available from biomed.nus.sg (Singapore), and by email from mailgopher@biomed.nus.sg . For information about how to use the mailgopher, send the word 'help'. The CancerNet information can also be accessed by gopher gopher.nih.gov and gopher biomed.nus.sg . The National Cancer Center in Tokyo Japan has a gopher service at gopher.ncc.go.jp. The World Health Organization (WHO) has one at gopher.who.ch. In the CompuServe Cancer Forum's Library 1, retrieve the book "Fighting Cancer" by Annette and Richard Bloch (File name: FCBOOK.EXE). Disabilities ------------ Bulletin boards and online conferences give equal access to all persons. Everybody is treated the same way, regardless if they sit in a wheel chair, have a hearing impairment, stutter, cannot speak clearly, have difficulties in thinking or acting quickly, or just have a different looks. You need not worry about typing errors. Those who read them will never know whether it's because you never learned how to write on a computer, or if it is because you have difficulties in controlling your movements. You alone decide if others are to know about your personal disability. If you want it to be a secret, then it will remain a secret. Nobody can possibly know that you are mute and lame from the neck and down, that computer communication is your main gate into the outer world, and that you are writing messages with a stick attached to your forehead. Therefore, the online world has changed the lives of many people with disabilities. Computer communications have opened a new world for those who are forced to stay at home, or thinks that it is too difficult to travel. Those who can easily drive their car to the library, often have difficulties in understanding the significance of this. Usenet has alt.education.disabled and misc.handicap. It covers all areas of disabilities, technical, medical, educational, legal, etc. UUCP has handicap. It is presented in the following words: Contact: wtm@bunker.shel.isc-br.com Purpose: The Handicap Digest provides an information/discussion exchange for issues dealing with the physically/mentally handicapped. Topics include, but are not limited to: medical, education, legal, technological aids and the handicapped in society. CompuServe's Disabilities Forum has the following sections: General Interest, Develop. Disabilities, Emotional Disturbances, Hearing Impairments, Learning Disabilities, Vision Impairments, Mobility Impaired, Rights/Legislation, Education/Employment and Family Life/Leisure. AUTISM@SJUVM.BITNET is devoted to the developmentally disabled, their teachers, and those interested in this area. The list BLIND- L@UAFSYSB.BITNET focuses on "Computer Use by and for the Blind." COMMDIS@RPITSVM.BITNET is a mailing list discussing "Speech disorders." DEAF-L@SIUCVMB.BITNET is the "Deaf Discussion List," and DEAFBLND@UKCC.UKY.EDU the "Deaf-Blind Discussion List." STUT-HLP (LISTSERV@BGU.EDU) is a support forum for people who stutter and their families. On L-HCAP@NDSUVM1.BITNET, the focus is on Technology for the handicapped. BACKS-L@UVMVM.BITNET discusses research on low back pain disability. The Handicap Digest is an electronic mail only digest of articles relating to all types of issues affecting the handicapped. The articles are taken from the Usenet newsgroup, the Handicap News. (misc.handicap) and various FidoNet conferences such as ABLED, BlinkTalk SilentTalk, Chronic Pain, Spinal Injury, Rare Conditions, and several others. Subscribe by email to wtm@bunker.shel.isc-br.com Handicap.shel.isc-br.com (129.189.4.184) is the email address of an anonymous ftp site that has disability-related files and programs. The disk has some 40 directories with 500 or so files covering all types of disabilities. (This service can be used through FTPMail. See chapter 12 about how to do this.) Getting old ----------- BITNET has the "BIOSCI Ageing Bulletin Board" on AGEING@IRLEARN . Usenet has bionet.molbio.ageing, while CompuServe's Issues Forum has a message section called "Seniors." Ageline on Dialog is a database produced by the American Association of Retired Persons. It does an excellent job covering research about older persons, particularly on consumer issues and health care, by summarizing journal articles and the contents of other published reports. While our "face-to-face" world sometimes makes it difficult for older people to participate in discussions between young people, this is not so in the Online World. All people are treated the same way. It is impossible for others to know your age, unless someone tells them. Holistic Healing and Health --------------------------- HOLISTIC on LISTSERV@SIUCVMB.SIU.EDU is dedicated to "providing information and discussion on holistic concepts and methods of living which provide a natural way of dealing with the challenges of life." Here are some topics dealt with in this forum: Various Dimensions of Holistic Healing and Health States of Consciousness Meditation and the role it plays in spiritual/physical health The impact of a healthy diet - including Herbs and Vitamins Bodywork - such as Rolfing, Trager bodywork, Reichian, etc. Acupuncture/pressure Hypnosis and Biofeedback Visualizations and Affirmations Spiritual Healing - Psychic healing methods Bioenergetics The holistic connection between mind and body Honest discussion of topics relevant to personal/spiritual growth - And anything else within context for the betterment of the world. The following message is typical: From: Helen Subject: Re: Asthma and Sinus Problems To: Multiple recipients of list HOLISTIC My condolences to fellow people allergic to cats. Cats and strawberries are two of the most allergenic substances. Behavorial changes have proven to be EVERYTHING to me. The techniques I've employed have helped many others. First, try sleeping at a 45 degree angle. This usually requires piling up pillows. The elevation of the head facilitates drainage from the sinuses. When the situation gets really bad, I've slept sitting up on a couch or arm chair propped up by numerous pillows and cushions. This technique can take some getting used to, but, it works like a charm and is kinder to your system than drug therapy. Second, try "ephedra" tea. This is an herb found in Chinese herb shops. Ask the herbalist how to prepare it. I highly recommend the book "Natural Health, Natural Medicine" by Andrew Weil, M.D. of U of A Med School in Tucson. See pages 253-256 for more information on asthma. Fourth, stay hydrated. This means not only drinking PLENTY of fluids, but humidifying the house (that is if you are not also allergic to molds). Basic behavorial techniques are important....diet, exercise, etc. etc, ...but this is the holistic network...I'm preaching to the choir... Finally, take heart! Being allergic to cats is not well received by cat lovers...often we're cat lovers ourselves. Depending on the breed of cat, there is a good chance you will eventually habituate to those you are around over the long term. Good luck, the advice about sleeping with your head significantly elevated is the best I have ever given out to fellow sinus problem sufferers. It really works!! Helen. HomeoNet, a service of the Institute of Global Communications (IGC), is for those interested in homeopathic medicine. List of health science resources -------------------------------- The Bitnet/Internet online list of health science resources is available by email from: LISTSERV@TEMPLEVM.BITNET . Send the following command: GET MEDICAL RSCRS This will give a long list of BITNET, Internet, and Usenet forums, data archives, electronic newsletters and journals devoted to health science. Here are some examples from the list that may be of interest to people not working in the health profession: * ALCOHOL@LMUACAD.BITNET - a discussion list for Alcohol and Drug Studies, * BEHAVIOR@ASUACAD.BITNET - Behavioral and Emotional Disorders in Children, * DIABETIC@PCCVM.BITNET is the "Open Discussion forum for DIABETIC patient counseling," * DIARRHOE@SEARN.BITNET (or DIARRHOE@SEARN.SUNET.SE through the Internet) is a forum for information exchange and discussions on all aspects related to diseases, disorders, and chemicals that cause diarrhoea in humans and animals, * DIET@INDYCMS.BITNET - Support and Discussion of Weight Loss * DRUGABUS@UMAB.BITNET - Drug Abuse Education Information and Research, * FAMCOMM@RPITSVM.BITNET - Marital/family & relational communication. * FIT-L@ETSUADMN.BITNET - Wellness, Exercise, Diet, for exchanging ideas, tips and any type of information about wellness, exercise, and diet. * GRANOLA@BROWNVM.BITNET - Vegetarian Discussion. * HERB at LISTSERV@VM3090.EGE.EDU.TR - Medicinal and Aromatic Plants discussion. You can search earlier messages using standard LISTSERV methods (see Chapter 7). This database of previous messages contains a wealth of interesting information. * MSLIST-L@NCSUVM.BITNET - Multiple Sclerosis Discussion and Support. * RZAMAL-L@DKAUNI11.BITNET - Dental Amalgam Fillings and chronic mercury poisoning. * SPORTPSY@TEMPLEVM.BITNET - Exercise and Sports Psychology. * talk.abortion on Usenet. These mailing lists usually let you search old messages for topics of interest. They are both living discussion forums and interesting searchable databases! Mednews is a weekly electronic newsletter. Its columns bring regular medical news summaries from USA Today, Center for Disease Control MMWR, weekly AIDS Statistics from CDC, and more. Send the following command to LISTSERV@ASUACAD.BITNET to subscribe: SUB MEDNEWS Your-first-name Your-last-name The World Health Organization provides access to world health statistics, WHO press releases, full text of selected WHO publications and more through gopher gopher.who.ch . Smoking ------- The SMOKE-FREE mailing list is a support forum for people recovering from addiction to cigarettes. It is for anybody with an interest in quitting smoking or in helping others quit. To subscribe, send email mail to LISTSERV@RA.MSSTATE.EDU . Command: "subscribe smoke-free your name". The RIME network (RelayNet) has a NO-SMOKING conference. (Stay away from Usenet's alt.smokers - about "Puffing on tobacco." The same applies to "pipes," at pipes-request@paul.rutgers.edu.) Computers and health -------------------- Oh, yes! Almost forgot. The Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) Network Newsletter is for people who suffer from keyboard related injuries. It comes out every two months, direct to your email address. Just send a mail message to majordomo@world.std.com . Put the command "subscribe rsi" in the text of your message. If you have even the slightest pain in your arm or shoulder that could be related to your use of a computer, get on that list. I lingered too long, and it took me over nine months to be reasonably well again. Be warned! Chapter 7: Electronic mail, telex, and fax ========================================== Electronic mail is one of the most popular online services. People living thousands of miles apart can exchange messages and documents very quickly. The Boardwatch Magazine (U.S.A.) believes that new callers are coming online for their first time at a rate of close to 10,000 per day (January 1993). Others believe that you can reach around 200 million mailboxes through the Internet (January 1994). The annual rate of increase in the number of messages is over 30% and increasing. If a given email service charges you US$30 per hour, it will cost you a meager US$0.075 to send one typewritten letter (size A-4, or around 2,200 characters). See chapter 15 for a breakdown of this cost. If you live in Norway, and send the letter by ordinary mail to a recipient in Norway, postage alone is US$0.53 (1992). The cost is seven times higher than using email. To send the same letter from Norway to the United States by ordinary mail will cost 11 times more. This letter takes several days to reach the destination, while email messages arrive almost instantly. Often, you can send email messages to several recipients in one operation - without paying extra for the pleasure. Compare this to sending to several parties by fax! You do not have to buy envelopes and stamps, fold the sheet, put it into the envelope, and bring it to a mailbox. Just let the computer call your favorite email service to send the letter. The recipient does not have to sit by the computer waiting for your mail. Upon receipt, it will be automatically stored in his mailbox. He can read it when he has time. The recipient can print it locally, and it will be a perfect document, no different to one typed in locally. He can also make corrections or comments, and email onwards to a third party. In this way several people can work jointly on a report, and no time is it re-typed from scratch. When you receive several messages in the morning, you can very quickly create replies to them one at the time at your keyboard, and then send them in one go. No need to feed five different pieces of paper into a fax machine or envelopes for five different people. Where you can find a telephone, you can also read mail. In most countries, communicating through email is easy and economical. By the way, the simple but miraculous thing about email is that you can quote easily and exactly the point to which you are replying. This is a revolution in communication, no? | Some online services have a limit on the size of your mailbox. | | If you receive a lot of mail, you must regularly read and make | | room for new. If your mailbox is full, new mail may be rejected | | without warning. You may never know that a person tried to | | reach you. Select a service that has room for all your mail! | How to send email? ------------------- This is what it normally takes for a CompuServe user to send me a message: Type GO MAIL to get to the "post office," and then type COMPOSE. "Start writing," says CompuServe. Type your message manually, or send a file (text or binary). Type /EXIT when done. "To whom?" asks CompuServe. You enter: "Odd de Presno 75755,1327," or just my mailbox number (75755,1327). CompuServe asks you to enter Subject. You type: "Hello, my friend!" Your message has been sent. A few seconds later, the message will arrive in my mailbox. If I am online to CompuServe at the moment, I will probably read it right away. If not, it will stay there until I get around to fetch it. Above, we used the term "normally takes to send." Please note that many users never ever TYPE these commands! They use various types of automatic software to handle the mechanics of sending and receiving mail (see Chapter 16). Other systems require different commands to send email. Ulrik at the University of Oslo (Norway) is a Unix system. So is The Well in San Francisco. On such systems, mail is normally sent using these commands: Type "mail opresno@extern.uio.no". When the computer asks for "Subject:," enter "Hello, my friend!" Type your message or send it. When done, enter a period (.) in the beginning of a line. Ulrik will reply with "Cc:" to allow you to 'carbon copy' the message to other people. If you do not want that, press ENTER and the message is on its way. While I wrote this book, I had to go to Japan. A simple command allowed me to redirect all incoming mail to CompuServe. As a result I could read and send mail by calling a local CompuServe number in several Japanese cities. Though the commands for sending email differ between systems, the principle is the same. All systems will ask you for an address and the text of your message. On some, the address is a code, on others a name (like ODD DE PRESNO). Most systems will ask for a Subject title. Many will allow you to send copies of the message to other recipients (Cc:). Some services allow you to send binary files as email. Binary files contain codes based on the binary numeration system. Such codes are used in computer programs, graphics pictures, compressed spreadsheets and text files, and sound files. Email to Fax and back --------------------- Many online services let you send messages as fax (to over 15 million fax machines), telex (to over 1.8 million telex machines), and as ordinary paper mail. We have tested this successfully on CompuServe, MCI Mail and other services. On CompuServe, replace "Odd de Presno 75755,1327" with "FAX: 4737027111". My fax number is +47 370 27111. On MCI Mail type "CREATE:". MCI asks for "To:," and you type "Odd de Presno (Fax)." MCI asks for "Country:". You enter "Norway". By "RECIPIENT FAX NO" enter "37027111" (the code for international calls). The country code for Norway, 01147, is added automatically. By "Options?," press ENTER. When MCI Mail asks for more recipients, press ENTER. Type your message and have it sent. Several commercial services let you send faxes worldwide from the Internet, including FAXiNET (Email: info@awa.com . Also handles inbound addresses), Liberty Net (Email: info@liberty.wmeonlin.sacbbx.com . Has a Two-way FAX gateway), and InterFax (Email: faxmaster@pan.com). The FAQ "How can I send a fax from the Internet?" is posted regularly to the Usenet newsgroups alt.internet.services, alt.online-service, alt.bbs.internet, alt.answers and news.answers. To get the most recent version of this document, send an email to savetz@rahul.net with the following command in your Subject line: send fax-faq . There is also an experiment in "remote printing" in which many sites cooperatively provide "remote printing" access to the international telephone network. For information, send mail to tpc-faq@town.hall.org . The service also has a mailing list. To join, send your request to tpc- rp-request@aarnet.edu.au . Email to Telex -------------- To send a telex, you'll need the recipient's telex number, an answerback code, and the code of the recipient's country. If the message is meant for telex number 871161147, answerback ZETO, and country Russia (country code SU), enter "TLX:871161147 ZETO SU" when sending from CompuServe. Postal delivery of email ------------------------ By entering "POSTAL," CompuServe will send your mail to a business associate in California or Brazil as a professional laser-printed letter. It will take you through the process of filling out the various address lines. The letter may well arrive faster than through ordinary mail. You can also send for paper delivery through MCI Mail. When the recipient is using another mailbox system -------------------------------------------------- When the recipient is using your mailbox service, writing addresses is simple. Not so when your email has to be forwarded to mailboxes on other online services. The inter-system email address consists of a user name, a mailbox system code, and sometimes also routing information. The problem is that there is no universal addressing format. Finding out how to write a given address may be surprisingly difficult. Some services are not set up for exchange of email with other services. This is the case with my bulletin board, the Saltrod Horror Show. To send mail to a user of this system, you'll have to call it directly and enter it there. This bulletin board is not connected to the outside world for exchange of mail. If your favorite system lets you send mail to other services, make a note about the following: * You need to know the exact address of your recipient, and whether he's using this mailbox regularly. Many users have mailboxes that they use rarely or never. For example, do not try to send mail to my mailbox on Dow Jones/News Retrieval. I only use this service sporadically. Think of the easiest way for a recipient to respond before sending a message to him or her. * You need to know how to rewrite the recipient's address to fit your system. For example, you may have to use a domain address to send through Internet, and a different form when sending through an X.400 network. (More about this later.) * The recipient's mailbox system may be connected to a network that does not have a mail exchange agreement with your system's network(s). Sometimes, you can use a commercial mail relay service to get your message across (see chapter 9). Users of the Internet can send messages to recipients on the Dialcom network through the DASnet relay service. * Sometimes, you need to know how to route a message through other systems to arrive at its destination. For example, a message sent from the Ulrik computer in Oslo must be routed through a center in London to get to Dominique Christian on the Difer system in Paris (France), * While it may be possible to enclose binary files when sending to someone on your system, this may be impossible when sending across mailbox system boundaries. * While it may be possible to send text containing embedded control codes and special language characters to users of your system, they may disappear when sent by email to people elsewhere. Your safest bet is to send your text as standard 7-bit ASCII text (see appendix 4). It is the lowest common denominator between computers, software, networks, and users. Example: A user in Norway tried to send the Norwegian language line: "Jeg bor p� Karls썌 i Troms, Norge." The text was stored using Windows Latin1. The receiver got: "Jeg bor pe Kalsxy i Troms, Norge." The word "p�" came out as "p=E5" from another user. If you are using WordPerfect or Word for Windows on an MS-DOS computer, consider storing your text as DOS text before sending. Internet -------- is the name of a computer network (here called "INTERNET"), and a term used of a global web of systems and networks that can exchange mail with each other (here called "Internet"). INTERNET is a very large network that has grown out of ARPANET, MILNET, and other American networks for research and education. This core network has many gateways to other systems, and it's when we include these systems and their connections that we call it the Internet. Others call it WorldNet or the Matrix. Internet users can exchange mail with users on networks like EUnet, JANET, Uninett, BITNET, UUCP, CompuServe, MCI Mail, EcoNet, PeaceNet, ConflicNet, GreenNet, Web, Pegasus, AppleLink, Alternex, Nicarao, FredsNaetet, UUNET, PSI, Usenet, FidoNet and many others. We therefore say that these networks are also "on the Internet." If you have access to the Internet, you can send email to users of online services all over the world. You can send to people using Bergen By Byte and Telemax in Norway, TWICS in Tokyo, and Colnet in Buenos Aires. Now is the time to take a closer look at the art of addressing mail through the Internet. Domain name addressing ---------------------- On the Internet, the general form of a person's email address is: user-name@somewhere.domain My main, international Internet mailbox address is: opresno@extern.uio.no You read the address from left to right. First, the local name of the mailbox (my name abbreviated). Next, the name of the mailbox system or another identification code (in this case EXTERN, to show that I have no affiliation with the University), the name of the institution or company (here UIO or "Universitetet i Oslo"), and finally the country (NO for Norway). People have sent mail to my mailbox from New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Guatemala, Peru, India, China, Greece, Iceland, and Armenia using this address. Some users must send their messages through a gateway to the Internet. In these cases, the address may have to be changed to reflect this: Users of AppleLink use opresno@extern.uio.no@INTERNET# . Those on JANET use opresno%extern.uio.no@eanrelay.ac.uk. On SprintMail, use ("RFC-822": , SITE:INTERNET) . CompuServe subscribers use INTERNET:opresno@extern.uio.no . The core of these address formats is "opresno@extern.uio.no," in one way or the other. We call this basic addressing format a Domain Naming System. "EXTERN.UIO.NO" is a domain. The domain may also contain reference to the name of a company or an organization, like in twics.co.jp, compuserve.com, or IGC.ORG. The CO, COM, and ORG codes identify TWICS, CompuServe and IGC as companies/organizations. To send mail from the Internet to my CompuServe mailbox, use: 75755.1327@compuserve.com Normally (except on AppleLink), a domain address can only contain one @- character. When an address has to be extended with gateway routing information, replace all @-characters to the LEFT in the address by %- characters. Here is an example: BITNET uses a different addressing method (USER@SYSTEM). Let's assume that you are subscribed to the club for lovers of Japanese food (J-FOOD- L@JPNKNU10.BITNET, see chapter 6). You have a mailbox on INTERNET, and want to send a recipe to the other members using the address J-FOOD-L. On some Internet systems, you can simply use the address: J-FOOD- L@JPNKNU10.BITNET , and your mailbox system will take care of the routing for you. If this addressing method doesn't work, you can use different gateways into BITNET depending on where you live. The preferred method is to route through a gateway near to you. If living in North America, you may route CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU using the following address: J-FOOD-L%JPNKNU10.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU The rightmost @ in this address is maintained. The one to the LEFT has been replaced with a %. The term ".BITNET" tells the gateway machine where to forward the message. The following will happen: First, the message will be sent to system CUNYVM at the EDUcation site CUNY. CUNYVM investigates the address, and discovers that the message is for BITNET. It cuts off all text to the right of "JPNKNU10," and replaces the % with an @. The message is forwarded to the mailbox J-FOOD-L on the BITNET system JPNKNU10 at the Kinki University in Japan. Bang addressing --------------- "Bang" is American for "exclamation point" (!). The UUCP network uses this variation of the domain addressing scheme. Example: User Jill Small on Econet in San Francisco used to have the address pyramid!cdp!jsmall . Read this address from right to left. The name of her mailbox is to the right. The name of the organization is in the middle. "Pyramid" is the name of the network. Some email systems can use bang addresses directly. (Note that the ! character has a special function on Unix computers. Here, you may have to type the address as pyramid\!cdp\!jsmall to avoid unwanted error messages. The \ character tells Unix to regard the next character as a character, and not as a system command. This character may also have to precede other special characters.) Other systems do not accept bang addresses directly. Here, the users must send such messages through a gateway. The American host UUNET is a frequently used gateway. If routing through UUNET, you may write the address like this: pyramid!cdp!jsmall@uunet.uu.net If your system absolutely refuses to accept exclamation points in addresses, try to turn the address into a typical Internet address. Write the address elements in the Internet sequence (left to right). Replace the exclamation points with %-s, like this: jsmall%cdp%pyramid@uunet.uu.net This method works most of the time. When it works, use this addressing form. Bang paths may fail if an intermediate site in the path happens to be down. (There is a trend for UUCP sites to register Internet domain names. This helps alleviate the problem of path failures.) Some messages must be routed through many gateways to reach their destination. This is the longest address that I have used, and it did work: hpda!hplabs!hpscdc!hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!oldcolo!dave@uunet.uu.net It used to be the Internet address of a user in Colorado, U.S.A.. Today, he can be reached using a much shorter address. If you are on UUCP/EUnet, you may use the following address to send email to Odd de Presno: extern.uio.no!opresno. Addressing international electronic mail sometimes looks like black magic. To learn more, read some of the books listed in appendix 5. We have found "The Matrix" by John S. Quarterman to be particularly useful. The conference INFONETS (General network forum) is another source. Here, the INTERNET postmasters discuss their addressing problems. Activity is high, and you will learn a lot about the noble art of addressing. (This is not the place to ask for Olav Janssen's Norwegian email address, though. This question should be sent to a Norwegian postmaster.) You can subscribe to Infonets by sending the following mail: To: LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET Subject: (You can write anything here. It will be ignored.) TEXT: SUB INFONETS Your-first-name Your-last-name If your mailbox is on another network, alter the address to route your subscription correctly to this LISTSERV. | Hint: You can search the database of old INFONETS messages by | | email to LISTSERV@DEARN.BITNET. See "Directories of services | | and subscribers" below for information about how to search | | LISTSERV databases. | While the global matrix of networks grows rapidly, it is still behind in some lesser-developed nations and poorer parts of developed nations. If interested in these parts of the world, check out GNET, a library and a journal for documents about the efforts to bring the net to lesser- developed nations. Archived documents are available by anonymous ftp from the directory global_net at dhvx20.csudh.edu (155.135.1.1). Chapter 12 has information on how to use FTP if you only have mail access to the Internet. To subscribe to a conference discussing these documents, send a request to gnet_request@dhvx20.csudh.edu. cc:Mail gateways ---------------- Many Local Area Networks have been connected to the global Matrix of networks. CompuServe offers a cc:Mail gateway. Lotus cc:Mail is a PC Lan based email system used in corporate, government and other organizations. When sending from CompuServe Mail to a cc:Mail user through this gateway, a typical address may look like this: >mhs:pt-support@performa To send to this user from the Internet through CompuServe's MHS gateway, write the address like this: pt-support@performa.mhs.compuserve.com Other vendors of LAN gateways use other addressing methods. X.400 addressing ---------------- X.400 is a standard for electronic mail developed by ITU-TSS. It is used on large networks like AT&T Mail, MCI Mail, Sprintnet, GE Information System, Dialcom, and Western Union, and on other public and private networks throughout the world. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) uses X.400 as a transport mechanism for coordination of electronic part ordering, stock control and payment. X.400 is used to connect EDI systems between companies and suppliers. The X.400 addressing syntax is very different from domain addressing. To send a message from an X.400 mailbox to my address (opresno@extern.uio.no), you may have to write it like this: (C:NO,ADMD:uninett,PRMD:uninett,O:uio,OU:extern,S:opresno) Alas, it's not so standard as the domain addressing schemes. On other X.400 networks, the address must be written in one of the following formats - or in yet other ways: (C:US,A:Telemail,P:Internet,"RFC-822":) ("RFC-822": , SITE:INTERNET) '(C:USA,A:TELEMAIL,P:INTERNET,"RFC-822":extern.uio.no>) DEL' (site: INTERNET,ID: extern.uio.no>) "RFC-822=opresno(a)extern.uio.no @ GATEWAY]INTERNET/TELEMAIL/US" S=opresno/OU=extern/ORG=UIO/P=uninett/C=no To send an Internet message to a mailbox I once had on the X.400 host Telemax in Norway, I had to use the following address: /I=D/G=ODD/S=PRESNO/O=KUD.DATASEKR/@PCMAX.telemax.no To send from Internet to Telemail in the US, I have used this address: /PN=TELEMAIL.T.SUPPORT/O=TELENET.MAIL/ADMD=TELEMAIL/C=US/@sprint.com If you need to route your message through gateways, then complexity increases. One Norwegian UUCP user had to use the following address to get through: nuug!extern.uio.no!"pcmax.telemax.no!/I=D/G=ODD/S=PRESNO/O=KUD.DATASEKR/" To send a message from an X.400 system to my CompuServe mailbox, I have used the following address elements: Country = US ADMD = CompuServe PRMD = CSMail DDA = 75755.1327 The addressing methods used on X.400 systems vary. Another example: Some use the code C:USA rather than the ISO country code C:US. MCI Mail uses C:NORWAY, C:USA, and C:SWEDEN. Here are some important X.400 codes: C the ISO country code (on most services) ADMD domain code for public system (abbreviation A) PRMD domain code for connected private system (abbreviation P) O organization name OU organization unit S surname (last name) G given name (first name) I initials (in the name) DDA domain-defined attributes, keywords defined and used by the individual systems to specify mailboxes (user name, list, station, user code, etc.), direct delivery devices (attention name, telex addresses, facsimile, etc.) PN personal name (a) the character @ cannot be used when routing messages from X.400 to Internet. Try (a) instead. (p) the character % cannot be used when routing messages from X.400 to Internet. Try (p) instead. (b) the character ! (used in "bang" addresses). (q) the character " used in email addresses. RFC-822 this code tells X.400 that an Internet domain address follows. Does not work on all X.400 systems. Returned mail ------------- When an email address is incorrect in some way (the system's name is wrong, the domain doesn't exist, whatever), the mail system will bounce the message back to the sender. This will also happen if the receiver's mailbox is full (some online services have an upper limit on unread messages). The returned message will include the reason for the bounce. A common error is addressing mail to an account name that doesn't exist. Let's make an error when sending to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu. Enter "pistserv@vm1.nodak.edu" instead of "LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu." This address is wrong. Below, we've printed the complete bounced message. It contains a lot of technical information. Most lines have no interest. Also, the message is much larger than the original message, which contained three lines only. When browsing the bounced message, note that it has three distinct parts: (1) The mail header of the bounced message itself (here, the 13 first lines), (2) The text of the error report (from line 14 until the line "Original message follows:"), and (3) the mailer header and text of your original message (as received by computer reporting the error): From MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU Fri Dec 18 12:54:03 1992 Return-Path: Received: from vm1.NoDak.edu by pat.uio.no with SMTP (PP) id <07610-0@pat.uio.no>; Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:54 +0100 Received: from NDSUVM1.BITNET by VM1.NoDak.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 9295; Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:27 CST Received: from NDSUVM1.BITNET by NDSUVM1.BITNET (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 3309; Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:26 CST Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:26 CST From: Network Mailer To: opresno@extern.uio.no Subject: mail delivery error Status: R Batch SMTP transaction log follows: 220 NDSUVM1.BITNET Columbia MAILER R2.07 BSMTP service ready. 050 HELO NDSUVM1 250 NDSUVM1.BITNET Hello NDSUVM1 050 MAIL FROM: 250 ... sender OK. 050 RCPT TO: 250 ... recipient OK. 050 DATA 354 Start mail input. End with . 554-Mail not delivered to some or all recipients: 554 No such local user: PISTSERV 050 QUIT 221 NDSUVM1.BITNET Columbia MAILER BSMTP service done. Original message follows: Received: from NDSUVM1 by NDSUVM1.BITNET (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 3308; Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:25 CST Received: from pat.uio.no by VM1.NoDak.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Fri, 18 Dec 92 05:53:23 CST Received: from ulrik.uio.no by pat.uio.no with local-SMTP (PP) id <07590-0@pat.uio.no>; Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:24 +0100 Received: by ulrik.uio.no ; Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:18 +0100 Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:53:18 +0100 From: opresno@extern.uio.no Message-Id: <9212181153.AAulrik20516@ulrik.uio.no> To: pistserv@vm1.nodak.edu Subject: test index kidlink The first part of the bounced message is usually of no interest. Hidden in the second part you'll find the following interesting line: 554 No such local user: PISTSERV Ah, a typo! If your original message was long, you are likely to be pleased by having the complete text returned in the third part of the bounced message. Now, you may get away with a quick cut and paste, before resending it to the corrected address. The text and codes used in bounced messages vary depending on what type of mailbox system you are using, and the type of system that is bouncing your mail. Above, MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU returned the full text of my bounced mail. Some systems just send the beginning of your original text, while others (in particular some X.400 systems) send nothing but a note telling you the reason for the bounce. | Note: When you fail to understand why a message is being | | bounced, contact your local postmaster for help. Send him | | a copy of the complete text of the bounced message up to | | and including the line "Subject:" at the bottom. | | You do not have to send him the text of your original | | message! | Replying to an Internet message ------------------------------- On the Internet, electronic messages have a common structure that is common across the network. On some systems, you can reply by using a reply command. If this feature is not available, use the sender's address as given in the mail header. The bounced message contained two mail headers: the header of my original message (in part three), and the header of the bounced message (in part one). The 'good' reply address is laid out in the 'From:' header. Thus, this message contains the following two 'good' addresses: From: Network Mailer From: opresno@extern.uio.no The Network Mailer located the second address line above in my original message, and used this address when sending the bounced message. (Note: there is no point in sending a message back to MAILER@VM1.NoDak.EDU since this is the address of an automatic mail handling program. Write to Postmaster@VM1.NoDak.EDU to talk to a "real person" at this computer center.) The exact order of a message's header may vary from system to system, but it will always contain the vital 'From:' line. | Note: Exercise caution when replying to a message sent by | | a mailing list. If you wish to respond to the author only, | | make sure that the only address you are replying to is that | | person's. Don't send it to the entire list! | Directories of services and subscribers --------------------------------------- There is no complete global directory of available electronic addresses. On many systems, however, you can search lists of local users. | Normally, you'd be better off by calling the recipient for | | his or her email address. | Sometimes, the information given you by the recipient is not enough. Maybe the address needs an extension for the message to be routed through gateways to the destination. Another typical problem is that the syntax of the address is wrong. Perhaps you made a mistake, when you wrote it down (KIDCAFE became KIDSCAFE). The return address in the received messages' mailer headers may be wrong. It may use a syntax that is illegal on you email system, or it may suggest a routing that is unknown to your system. When trying to send mail to this address, the Mailer-Daemon complains: "This is a non-existent address." Again, the first person to contact for help is your local postmaster. On most Internet hosts this is simple. If you have a mailbox on the ULRIK computer at the University of Oslo, send a request for help to postmaster@ulrik.uio.no . If you are on COLNET in Buenos Aires, send to postmaster@colnetr.edu.ar . POSTMASTER is also the address to turn to on BITNET. Users of FidoNet or RelayNet, should write to SYSOP. It may not be that simple to locate the postmaster on UUCP. The postmaster ID may exist on some systems, but often he's just a name or a user code. You can get the email address of known Internet systems by sending a message to MAILSERV@INTERNIC.NET . In the subject of the message, write the command WHOIS host-machine-name. Do not write anything in the text (will be ignored). You will get a report of the desired mailbox computer, and the address of the local postmaster. Example: To: MAILSERV@INTERNIC.NET Subject: WHOIS AERO.ORG Text: Sometimes, you just do not know the name of a recipient's mailbox computer. When this is the case, start at the "top of the pyramid." Say your desired recipient lives in Germany. The ISO country code for Germany is DE (see appendix 6). Send the message To: MAILSERV@INTERNIC.NET Subject: WHOIS DOMAIN DE Text: This will give you the email addresses of the main postmasters for this country. Most postmasters are willing to help, but please note that most of them are very busy people. It may take days before they get around to respond to your inquiry. There are over 100 other "whois-servers" in more than 15 countries. The systems whois.nic.ad.jp and whois.ripe.net cover Japan and Europe. The rest of them provide information about local users. (A list is available via anonymous FTP from sipb.mit.edu in the file /pub/whois/whois-servers.list . Chapter 12 has information about how to get this list by email). If your recipient is on UUCP, try netdir@mcsun.eu.net . To locate the postmaster of the mailbox system "amanpt1," use the following format (write nothing in the text): To: netdir@mcsun.eu.net Subject: amanpt1 Text: BITNET provides information about connected systems through many sources. Scandinavian users use LISTSERV@FINHUTC.BITNET in Finland. Try a LISTSERV on a host closer to where you live. For example, North American users may use LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET, which is a host in North Dakota. Japanese users should write to the host LISTSERV@JPNKNU10.BITNET. When retrieving for BITNET host information mail, your search will have to be done in two steps. Here, your commands are NOT to be entered on the Subject line. Enter all commands in the TEXT field (text on the Subject line will be ignored). Example: You want information about the BITNET computer FINHUTC (called a "node in the network"). Your first message should have the following text: // job echo=no database search dd=rules //rules dd * search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC index LISTSERV sends you the following report: > search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC --> Database BITEARN, 1 hit. > index Ref# Conn Nodeid Site name ---- ---- ------ --------- 0910 85/11 FINHUTC Helsinki University of Technology, Finland Send a new search message to the LISTSERV containing the same commands as above. Add one line in which you ask for database record number 0910 (given in the column Ref#). Like this: // job echo=no database search dd=rules //rules dd * search * in bitearn where node = FINHUTC index print 0910 LISTSERV will return a report with a lot of information. Here is part of it: Node: FINHUTC Country: FI Internet: FINHUTC.hut.fi Net: EARN Nodedesc: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland P_hsalmine: Harri Salminen;LK-HS@FINHUTC;+358 0 4514318 P_pautio: Petri Autio;POSTMAST@FINHUTC;+358 0 4514318 P_vvoutila: Vuokko Voutilainen;OPR@FINHUTC;+358 0 4514342 Routtab: RSCS (NETSERV,POSTMAST@FINHUTC) For more information about searching BITNET databases, send this message to your favorite LISTSERV, or use the address below: To: LISTSERV@FINHUTC.BITNET Subject: nothing TEXT: GET LISTDB MEMO X.400 systems are developing an address directory according to ITU-TSS standard X.500. The plan is to connect several directories. The developers hope that routing of X.400 messages may eventually be done automatically without the user needing to know the identity of the recipient's mailbox computer. The X.500 type of address directories will certainly help X.400 users. The problem is that most email is still carried by other types of systems, and that X.500 has no concern for mail transported through "foreign systems." For example, do not expect an X.500 directory to help you with email addresses to CompuServe users. Dialcom ------- is a commercial, global online service, which have many nodes in Africa and Latin America. To send mail from Dialcom to the Internet you must use commercial gateway-services like DASnet (see appendix 1). To send mail from one Dialcom system to another, use the syntax 6007:EWP002. This address points to mailbox EWP002 on system number 6007. To send mail from Internet to Dialcom user YNP079 on system 10001, use the following address when sending through DASnet: 10001_ynp079@dcdial.das.net Note: Only registered users with DASnet can use this method. FidoNet ------- Users of this global network can send and receive mail to/from the Internet. For example, a FidoNet user may use the following method to send to my Internet address: Send the message to user UUCP at 1:105/42. The first line of the TEXT of the message should contain: To: opresno@extern.uio.no Add a blank line after the address before entering the text of your message. FidoNet addresses are composed by three or four numbers; zone:net/node or zone:net/node.point The FidoNet address 1:105/42 has three elements. "1:" tells that the recipient lives in Zone number 1 (North America). "105/42" refers to Node number 42, which receives mail through Net number 105. This node has an automatic gateway to the Internet. Another example: Jan Stozek is sysop of "Home of PCQ" in Warsaw, Poland. The Node number of his BBS is 10. He receives mail through Net number 480. Poland is a country in Europe, Zone number 2. The address to his system is: 2:480/10. His user name is Jan Stozek. You can send an Internet message to anyone in FidoNet by using the following template: .@p.f.n.z.fidonet.org Where is the person's first name is the person's last name To send a message from the Internet to Jan, use this address: Jan.Stozek@f10.n480.z2.fidonet.org One final example: Ola Garstad in Oslo has the FidoNet address 2:502/15. Use the address Ola.Garstad@f15.n502.z2.fidonet.org , when sending mail to him through the Internet. An updated list of global FidoNet nodes can be retrieved from most connected BBS systems. (More in appendix 1.) For more information -------------------- If you have access to BITNET or Internet mail, get "The Inter-Network Mail Guide." It describes how to send mail between electronic mail systems like AppleLink, BITNET, BIX, CompuServe, Connect-USA, EasyNet, Envoy, FidoNet, GeoNet, Internet, MCI, MFENET, NasaMail, PeaceNet, Sinet, Span, SprintMail, and more. Send a message to LISTSERV@UNMVMA.UNM.EDU (or LISTSERV@UNMVMA.BITNET). In the TEXT of the message enter: GET NETWORK GUIDE This list is posted monthly to the Usenet newsgroups comp.mail.misc and news.newusers.questions. It is also available by anonymous ftp to csd4.csd.uwm.edu . Enter "cd /pub," and "get internetwork-mail-guide" . The document "FAQ: How to find people's E-mail addresses" is regularly posted to the Usenet group news.answers. It is also available by email from mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu . To get a copy, put the command "send usenet/news.answers/finding-addresses" in the body of your message. Chapter 8: Free expert assistance ================================= This may sound too good to be true. Many computer experts are ready to help YOU without asking a dollar in return. The same is the case with experts in other areas. You have an impossible decision to make. A lawyer has a dotted line that requires your signature, or a surgeon has a dotted line in mind for your upper abdomen. You're not comfortable with the fine print or the diagnosis and wonder if a second opinion is in order. Just ask, and get help. If you have problems with your communications program, post a message on a bulletin board. Do the same thing if you want to sell equipment. Learn from other people's experiences with computers or software that you plan to buy. You will get a reply - if the subject or you attract interest. In the process, you'll get new friends, and be able to follow the development in a dynamic marketplace. The following message from CompuServe is typical: 16-Nov-91 15:16:14 Sb: Back & Forth software Fm: Joan Healy To: John Nelson Changed my mind about GrandView: 1. Learning curve like Mt. Everest. Give me intuitive or give me death. 2. Lack of patience with " ". 3. Lack of time. 4. It may be unsuited for what I wanted (outlining a book). Since becoming a born-again Galaxian, I've started using that for the outline, and I'm happy. There's nothing like a decision and a permanent bonding and lifelong commitment to make a woman happy. Remember that, you louts. :-) Many users prefer open conference messages to private email for their technical discussions. This gives "the group" a chance to read, comment, provide additional facts, and return with new questions. The reactions to one simple question may be overwhelming, but most of the time the contributions are useful and educational. Since the discussion is public, regard it as your personal online university. Offer opinions when you have something to contribute, or keep silent. In most conferences, some members are critical to "lurkers." A "lurker" is someone who read without ever contributing. Don't let them get to you. Do not feel bad about being silent. Most other members are there only to watch and learn as well. If you consider buying a newly released computer program, tune in to the section of your favorite online service that deals with products from this manufacturer. Count messages with complaints of the new program before buying. When you have received your new program, return to read other users' experiences and to pick up practical advice. It will never hurt to offer your own two cents' worth in the process. | Visit online services that have many users who know more than | | most. There, you will usually get faster and better replies to | | your questions. It is far cheaper to ask than to search. | Start with bulletin boards. If you have never visited a BBS, call one in your neighborhood to get a feel for what this is. Most of them can be accessed free. Usually, their only requirement is that you answer some self-presentation questions before being granted full access to their system. Most bulletin boards offer conferencing and archives filled with shareware and public domain software. Many also have files or bulletins listing telephone numbers of other boards in your country or area. The trick is to find know-how. The larger the online service, the more skilled people are likely to "meet" there regularly. Therefore, if local bulletin boards fail to satisfy your needs, visit the large commercial services. CompuServe and EXEC-PC are two services in the top league. BIX is another good source of information for professional computer specialists. One exception: When you need contact with ONE particular person, who knows YOUR problem in detail, go where he uses to go. Examples: If you need top advice about the communications program GALINK, call Mike's BBS in Oslo (at +472 -416588). If you buy modems from Semafor A/S, the best place for expert advice is Semaforum BBS (tel. +4741-370- 11710). If you have a Novell local area network, visit the Novell forums on CompuServe. For users of MS-DOS computers ----------------------------- I visit the following CompuServe forums regularly: IBM Communication - about communication software for MS-DOS computers. IBM Hardware - about new IBM compatibles, expansion cards, displays, hard disks, IBM PS/2, software for performance evaluation, printers, etc. IBM Systems/Utilities - about DOS, utilities, shells, file utilities, and much more. A large software library. IBM Applications - about all kind of applications. The forum has a large file library full of shareware and public domain software. Many CompuServe forums are operated or sponsored by software and hardware vendors, like: Adobe Systems Inc., Aldus Corp., Ashton-Tate Corp., Autodesk Inc., Borland International, Broderbund Software Inc., Buttonware Inc., Cadkey Inc., Crosstalk Communications, Customs Technologies, Enable Software, Datastorm Technologies Inc., Microsoft Systems, Nantucket Corp., Lotus Development Corp., Novell Inc., Peter Norton Computing, Quarterdeck Office Systems, Quicksoft, Sun Microsystems (TOPS Division), Symantec Corp., Toshiba, Turbopower Software, and WordPerfect Corp. CompuServe has hundreds of other forums with associated libraries of files and programs. FidoNet has the PC_TECH and PCUG conferences, and a long list of product specific echos like QUICKBBS, PCTOOLS, ZMODEM, DESQVIEW and WINDOWS.SHAREW . BITNET has CLIPPER (CLIPPER@BRUFPB), I-IBMPC (I-IBMPC@UIUCVMD), PC-L (PC- L@UFRJ), and the abstract service INFO-IBMPC (IBMPC-L@BNANDP11). On EXEC- PC, look under MS-DOS systems. Usenet has many offerings including the following: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc Discussion about IBM personal computers. comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest The IBM PC, PC-XT, and PC-AT. (Moderated) comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware XT/AT/EISA hardware, any vendor. comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt Topics related to IBM's RT computer. comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware Microchannel hardware, any vendor. For help with Lotus 1-2-3, there are two CompuServe forums. There is a LOTUS conference on RelayNet. For Ami Pro support, visit CompuServe's LDC Word Processing Forum. WordPerfect Corp. has a support forum on CompuServe. WORDPERF is the offering on RelayNet. On ILINK, visit WORDPERFECT. On the Internet, your email questions to support@wordperfect.com . They also have a BBS Internet connection at ftp.wordperfect.com . For owners of Amiga computers ----------------------------- FidoNet has a long list of conferences for Amiga users: AMIGA Amiga International Echo AMIGAGAMES Amiga Gaming AMIGA_COMMS Amiga Communications Software and Hardware AMIGA_DESKTOP Amiga Desktop Publishing AMIGA_INFO AMIGA_INFO AMIGA_LC Amiga Lattice/SASC C Echo AMIGA_NET_DEV Amiga Network Developers. AMIGA_PDREVIEW Amiga PD Reviews & Requests AMIGA_PERFECT Amiga Word Perfect & Word Processing AMIGA_PROG Amiga Programmer's International Conference AMIGA_SYSOP Amiga SysOp's Discussion/ADS Echo AMIGA_UG Amiga User's Groups AMIGA_VIDEO Amiga Video and Animation EXEC-PC has the Amiga Hardware and Amiga Software conferences, and a large library with shareware and public domain files. ILINK has the AMIGA conference. Usenet's com.sys.amiga hierarchy has entries like advocacy, announce applications, audio, datacomm, emulations, games, graphics, hardware, introduction, marketplace, multimedia, misc, programmer, reviews and more. Abstracts of comp.sys.amiga conferences are available through several BITNET mailing lists, like AMIGAHAR@DEARN, AMIGA-D@NDSUVM1, and AMIGA- S@NDSUVM1. Most online services have "Find this File" commands. The most powerful ones are often found on free bulletin boards. On CompuServe, type GO AMIGA to get to CBMNET and get the following welcome menu: Amiga Forums 1 Amiga Arts Forum 2 Amiga Tech Forum 3 Amiga User's Forum 4 Amiga Vendor Forum 5 Amiga File Finder Commodore Forums 6 Commodore Arts and Games 7 Commodore Applications Forum 8 Commodore Service Forum 9 Commodore Newsletter A while ago, we visited CBMNET to find a communications program. From the menu above, selection five took us to The Amiga File Finder service, and this menu: File Finder AMIGA 1 About File Finder 2 Instructions For Searching 3 How to Locate Keywords 4 Access File Finder 5 Your Comments About File Finder Choice four lets us search for files using keywords, file creation dates, forum names, file types, file name extension, file name or author. Our choice was searching by keywords. The result was a long list of alternatives: Enter Search Term: comm Amiga File Finder 1 AMIGATECH/C Programming COMSRC.ARC 2 AMIGATECH/C Programming PMDSRC.LZH 3 AMIGATECH/C Programming PNTSRC.LZH 4 AMIGAUSER/Communications BBSIND.LZH 5 AMIGAUSER/Communications INTOUC.ARC etc. By entering numbers, we asked for short descriptions of file number 4 through 13. Here is one of them: Filename : INTOUC.ARC Forum: AMIGAUSER Lib: Communications Lib #: 5 Submitter: [76702,337] 24-Mar-89 Size: 51200 Accesses: 157 This is a modified Comm1.34. It supports both VT100 and ANSI. The VT100 emulation is based on Dave Wecker's VT100 program. There is automatic dialer, split screen that is configurable, phone book, and other nice features. This is what we were looking for. First, enter GO AMIGAUSER to get to the forum. Enter "DL 5" to get to Downloading Library number 5. INTOUCH.ARC was retrieved using the CompuServe Quick B transfer protocol. This protocol is usually the most efficient choice on this service. | CompuServe has several File Finder services. These includes | | IBMFF (MS-DOS computers), MACFF (Macintosh), GRAPHFF (for | | Graphics), ATARIFF (Atari computers), AMIGAFF. Use the GO | | command to access, as in GO IBMFF . | There are also active Amiga forums on BIX, GEnie, and CIX (England). Apple users ----------- FidoNet has an APPLE conference. BITNET has APPLE2-L (APPLE2-L@BROWNVM). CompuServe has Apple II Programmers Forum, Apple II Users Forum, Apple II Vendor Forum, Mac Community Clubhouse Forum, Mac Developers Forum, Mac Fun/Entertainment Forum, Mac Hypertext Forum, Mac New Users/Help Forum, Mac System 7.0 Forum, Mac System Software Forum, MacUser Forum and MacWEEK Forum. Similar services are found on many other online services. You will also find conferences devoted to support of popular commercial software for Apple computers. Other computers --------------- There are so many types of computers: Atari computers, the TRS-80 series and others from Tandy, DEC computers, mainframes from IBM, Hewlett-Packard computers, CP/M machines, users of LDOS/TRSDOS or OS9, Apricot, Z88, Timex/Sinclair, Archimedes, Psion, and Armstrad. Even so, there is a high probability that you can find online support for almost all of them. This is so even if the vendor is out of business long ago. CompuServe is a good place to start. Chapter 9: Your electronic daily news ===================================== Read national and global news before they are announced by the traditional media. Get those interesting background facts. Read special interest news stories that seldom appear in print. Sure, you read newspapers, watch TV, and listen to radio. But did you know how limited their stories are? Traditional news media just give you a small part of the news. Their editors are not concerned about YOUR particular interests. They serve a large group of readers, viewers or listeners with different interests in mind. Go online to discover the difference. The online news has an enormous width and depth. Besides "popular" news, you will find stories that few editors bother to print. This may give you better insight in current developments, and in as much details as you can take. Most commercial online services offer news. Most of their stories come from large news agencies and newspapers. You can also read and search articles from magazines, newsletters and other special publications. The online users' ability to search today and yesterday's news makes these offerings particularly useful. The cost of reading a given news item varies by online service. What will set you back 20 cents on one service, will cost you two dollars on another. It may be many times more expensive (or cheap) to read the same article from the same news provider on another online service. So, professional online users compare prices. National news ------------- In Norway, we have long been able to read local language news from print media like Aftenposten, Dagens Naeringsliv, Kapital, and news wires from NTB and other local sources. Similarly, local language news is available online in most countries. The cost of reading local news on national online services tends to be more expensive than on major global online services. As competition among global news providers increases, however, this is bound to change. International news ------------------ "The Global Village" is an old idea in the online world. News from most parts of the world has long been globally available. A while ago, a well-known Norwegian industrialist visited my office. I showed off online searching in NewsNet newsletters and stumbled over a story about his company. "Incredible!" he said. "We haven't even told our Norwegian employees about this yet." Often, American online services give news from other countries earlier you can get it on online services from these countries. Besides, the stories will be in English. | In 1991, the United States had 56 percent of the world's online | | databases (Source: the research company IQ, September 1991). | Sure, most Norwegians prefer to read news in Norwegian. The Japanese want news in their language, and the French in French. If they can get the news earlier than their competitors, however, most are willing to read English. Few master many languages. Unless you live in a country where they talk Arabic, Chinese or French, chances are that you cannot read news in these languages. English, however, is a popular second choice in many countries, and it has become the unofficial language of the online world. Another thing is that reading local language news is risky. Translators often make mistakes. One reason is time pressure, another poor knowledge of the source language. The risk of inaccuracies increases when a story, for example initially translated from Spanish into English, then are being translated into a third language. Avoid news that has been translated more than once. If not, you may experience something like this: On September 19, 1991, Norwegian TV brought news from Moscow. They told that Russian president Boris Yeltsin had a heart attack. The online report from Associated Press, which arrived 7.5 hours earlier, talked about "a minor heart attack" with the following additional explanation: "In Russian, the phrase 'heart attack' has a broader meaning than in English. It is commonly used to refer to a range of ailments from chest pains to actual heart failure." Your "personal online daily newspaper" will often give you the news faster and more correctly than traditional print media. Some news is only made available in electronic form. Seven minutes in 1991 --------------------- On September 19, I called CompuServe to read news and gather information about online news sources. According to my log, I connected through Infonet in Oslo (see Chapter 13). The total cost for seven minutes was US$6.00, which included the cost of a long distance call to Oslo. (Today, using CompuServe's Standard Pricing Plan, it would have set me back much less.) I read some stories, while they scrolled over the screen. All was captured to a file on my hard disk for later study. The size of this file grew to 32.000 characters, or almost 15 single-spaced typewritten pages (A-4 size). If I had spent less time reviewing the lists of available stories, seven minutes would have given a larger file. When I had entered my user ID and password, a menu of stories came up on my screen. The headline read "News from CompuServe." The two first items caught my attention, and I requested the text. One had 20 lines about an easier method of finding files in the forum libraries. The other had ten lines about how to write addresses for international fax messages. The command GO APV brought me directly to Associated Press News Wires. You'll find such tricks by reading the online services' user manuals. This command produced the following menu: AP Online APV-1 1 Latest News-Updated Hourly 2 Weather 3 Sports 4 National 5 Washington 6 World 7 Political 8 Entertainment 9 Business News 10 Wall Street 11 Dow Jones Average 12 Feature News 13 Today in History I entered "9" for business news, and got a new list of stories: AP Online 1 Women, Minority Businesses Lag 2 Child World Accuses Toys R Us 3 UPI May Cancel Worker Benefits 4 Drilling Plan Worries Florida 5 UK Stocks Dip, Tokyo's Higher 6 Dollar Higher, Gold Up 7 Farm Exports Seen Declining 8 Supermarket Coupons Big Bucks 9 Cattlemen Tout Supply, Prices 0 Tokyo Stocks, Dollar Higher MORE ! The screen stopped scrolling by "MORE !" Pressing ENTER gave a new list. None of them were of any interest. Pressing M (for previous menu) returned me to the APV-1 menu (the videotext page number is given in the upper right corner of each menu display). I selected "World" for global news, which gave me this list: AP Online 6 Two Killed In Nagorno Karabakh 7 Yugoslavia Fighting Rages On 8 Storm Kills Five In Japan 9 Afghan Rebels Going To Moscow? 0 19 Killed in Guatemala Quakes MORE !8 Oh, a storm in Japan! Interesting. I was due to leave for Japan in a couple of weeks, and entered 8 at the MORE ! prompt to read. A screenful of text was transferred in a few seconds. "This is for later study," I said, pressed M to return to the menu, and then ENTER to get the next listing: AP Online 1 Bomblets Kill American Troops? 2 No Movement On Hostage Release 3 Baker Plans Return To Syria 4 Baker, King Hussein To Confer 5 Madame Chiang Leaving Taiwan? 6 Baker Leaves Syria for Jordan 7 Klaus Barbie Hospitalized 8 Iraq Denounces U.S. Threat 9 Yelstin Said Resting At Home 0 SS Auschwitz Guard Found Dead MORE ! Here, I used another trick from the user manual. Entering "5,6,9" gave three stories in one batch with no pauses between them. Five screens with text. If I had read the menu more carefully, I might probably also have selected story 0. It looked like an interesting item. "This is enough of the Associated Press," I thought, and typed G NEWS. This gave me an overview of all available news sources ("G NEWS" is an abbreviation for "GO NEWS," or "GO to the main NEWS menu"): News/Weather/Sports NEWS 1 Executive News Service ($) 2 NewsGrid 3 Associated Press Online 4 Weather 5 Sports 6 The Business Wire 7 Newspaper Library 8 UK News/Sports 9 Entertainment News/Info 10 Online Today Daily Edition 11 Soviet Crisis First, a quick glance at 6. The service presented itself in these words: "Throughout the day The Business Wire makes available press releases, news stories, and other information from the world of business. Information on hundreds of different companies is transmitted daily to The Business Wire's subscribers." Then #7: "This database contains selected full-text stories from 48 newspapers from across the United States. Classified ads are NOT included in the full-text of each paper." The list of newspapers included Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle (known for many interesting inside stories from Silicon Valley). Choice 8 gave news from England. There, I selected UK News Clips, which gave the following options: U.K. News Clips 93 stories selected 1 RTw 09/19 0818 YUGOSLAV AIR FORCE HITS CROATIAN COMMUNICATIONS 2 RTw 09/19 0755 CROATIA BATTLES CONTINUE AS EC PONDERS PEACE FORCE 3 RTw 09/19 0753 ARAB PAPERS SAY MOSCOW WANTS MIDEAST PARLEY DELAYED 4 RTw 09/19 0749 DOLLAR STANDS STILL, SHARES DRIFT LOWER IN ... 5 RTw 09/19 0729 EARNINGS GLOOM REVERSES LONDON STOCKS' EARLY GAINS 6 RTw 09/19 0716 SOVIETS NEED 14.7 BILLION DOLLARS FOOD AID, EC SAYS 7 RTw 09/19 0707 IRA SAYS IT KILLED TIMBER YARD WORKER IN BELFAST DOCKS 8 RTw 09/19 0706 BRITISH CONSERVATIVE CHIEF PLAYS DOWN TALK OF ... 9 RTw 09/19 0630 FINANCE RATES 10 RTw 09/19 0603 REUTER WORLD NEWS SCHEDULE AT 1000 GMT THURSDAY ... The numbers in column four are the release times of the stories. They flow in from the wires in a continuous stream. Next stop was the UK Newspaper Library. Here, you can search in full-text stories from The Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Financial Times, The Guardian, UK News (with selected stories from The Daily & Sunday Telegraph, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times/Sunday Times, Today, The Independent, Lloyd's List and The Observer). The rate for searching the UK Newspaper Library at that time was US$6.00 for up to ten hits. For another US$6.00, I could get a selection menu with an additional ten stories. The rate was US$6.00 to read the full text of selected stories. These rates were added to CompuServe's normal access rates. The news service Soviet Crisis was my final destination. This was just a few weeks after the attempted coup in Moscow, and I was eager for reports. I found the following interesting story from OTC NewsAlert: OTC 09/19 0750 FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE SOVDATA DAILINE IS LAUNCHED This selection gave me three screens with information about a new online service. Briefly, this is what it said: "The SovData DiaLine service includes an on-line library of more than 250 Soviet newspapers, business and economic periodicals, profiles of more than 2,500 Soviet firms and key executives that do business with the West, legislative reports and other information." It also said that part of the database was available through Mead Data Central (Nexis/Lexis), and that it would be made available through like Data-Star, FT Profile, Reuters, Westlaw, and GBI. Undoubtedly, the name has changed by the time you read this. Finally, a fresh story about the fate of KGB. I read another fifty lines, entered OFF (for "goodbye CompuServe"), and received the following verdict: Thank you for using CompuServe! Off at 09:03 EDT 19-Sep-91 Connect time = 0:07 Seven minutes. Fifteen typed pages of text. US$6.00. Not bad! An overwhelming choice ---------------------- I am confident that your "daily online newspaper" will contain other stories. If you are into computers, you may want to start with Online Today, CompuServe's daily newspaper. It brings short, informative news stories about the computer industry. NewsBytes is another interesting source for computer news. It offers global headline news from its bureaus around the world. The articles are sorted in sections called APPLE, BUSINESS, GENERAL, GOVERNMENT, IBM, REVIEW, TELECOM, TRENDS and UNIX. A favorite! Newsnet is also available through Genie, ZiffNet on CompuServe, America Online, Applelink, Prodigy, BIX, NewsNet, Dialog, in the newsgroup clari.nb on Usenet, and various BBS systems around the world. For general news, start with major newswires, like Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Xinhua, Reuters, and the like. You will find them on many commercial services including NewsNet, CompuServe, and Dialog. FROGNET - The French Way ------------------------ If you know French, check out FROGNET. This French language service brings daily news from Agence France Press, and often has added excerpts from the French dailies. FROG is distributed by the services of the French embassy in Washington. It covers world affairs, European and French items, assembled, naturally, from a French point of view. The service is free. To subscribe, send a message through the Internet to FROG@GUVAX.GEORGETOWN.EDU . It should contain your answers to the following electronic application form. Replace the %s with your inputs (This is French, right?): NOM: % PRENOM: % NAISSANCE:../../..% ARRIVEE:../../..% DEPART:../../..% EMAIL: % ECOLE D'ORIGINE: % QUALITE: % ADRESSE DE RECHERCHE: % PAYS: % STATE: % UNIVERSITE: % RECHERCHE: % MOTSCLES: % DOMAINE: % Complicated? OK, here's some instructions in "French ASCII": * Pour les dates veuillez utiliser le format Francais (DD/MM/YY). Arrivee: c'est la date d'arrivee dans le pays ou vous etes actuellement. * QUALITE: Etes vous VSN, PHD, MASTER, INGENIEUR, POST-DOC ...? * ECOLE D'ORIGINE: Diplome obtenu en France * PAYS: US, Australie .... * STATE: pour les US en 2 lettres (NY, TX, CA) * UNIVERSITE: actuelle ou societe * RECHERCHE: Soyez explicite ! * MOTSCLES: (ex: Neuronaux, polymeres, TVHD...) * DOMAINE: En 3 lettres confere nomenclature ci-dessous Nomenclature de la National Science Foundation. AGR AGRICULTURE BIO BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES HES HEALTH SCIENCES ENG ENGINEERING CIS COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SC. MAT MATHEMATICS PHY PHYSICAL SCIENCES AST Astronomy ATM Atmospheric & Meteorological Sciences CHE Chemistry GEO Geological Sciences PHS Physics OPH Other Physical Sciences PSY PSYCHOLOGY SOS SOCIAL SCIENCES HUM HUMANITIES HIS History LET Letters FLL Foreign Languages & Literature OHU Other Humanities EDU EDUCATION EDG Education General TED Teacher Education TEF Teaching fields PRF PROFESSIONAL FIELDS BUS Business & Management COM Communications PFO Other Professional Fields OTH OTHER FIELDS News is more than news ---------------------- After some time, your definition of the notion "news" may change. Since so many conferences are interesting sources, they should also be a part of your news gathering strategy. Check in regularly to read what members report about what they have seen, done, heard, or discovered. By the way, professional news hunters have also discovered this. Online conferences are popular hunting grounds for reporters of the traditional press. FidoNet has many conferences with specialized news contents: ANEWS News of the US and World BBNS BBS News Service BIONEWS Environmental News EL_SALVADOR Analysis and News About El Salvador NICANET Analysis and News About Nicaragua PACIFIC_NEWS Pacific News PANAMA Analysis and News About Panama BITNET has mailing lists like: CHINA-NN CHINA-NN@ASUACAD China News Digest (Global News) INDIA-L INDIA-L@TEMPLEVM The India News Network PAKISTAN PAKISTAN@ASUACAD Pakistan News Service SEDSNEWS SEDSNEWS@TAMVM1 News about Space from SEDS TSSNEWS TSSNEWS@PSUVM Tunisian Scientific Society News RFERL-L (on LISTSERV@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU) distributes the RFE/RL Research Institute Daily Report. It is a digest of the latest developments in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The report is published Monday through Friday by the RFE/RL Research Institute, a division of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc. in Germany. Some mailing lists bring a steady flow of news from various sources. SEASIA-L@MSU - The Southeast Asia Discussion List - is one example. The list is "designed to facilitate communication between researchers, scholars, students, teachers, and others interested in Southeast Asian studies with an emphasis on current events." SEASIA-L defines Southeast Asia loosely as Burma/Myanmar across to Hong Kong and down through Australia and New Zealand. Regularly, it brings full- text news stories from Inter Press Service, regional news agencies, and newspapers/radio. Some examples: On Jul. 30, 1992, a full-text story from IPS: "PHILIPPINES: RAMOS URGES REPEAL OF ANTI-COMMUNIST LAW." On Aug. 13, 1992, full-text story from The New Straits Times (Singapore): "Schoolgirls involved in flesh trade, says Farid." On Aug. 31, "ANTI-VIETNAMESE FORCE TURNS UP IN CAMBODIA" (Reuter). SEASIA-L also brings "underground" reports like "The Burma Focus," a bimonthly newsletter published by the All Burma Students' Democratic Front. ECUADOR brings news from Ecuador. Daily news bulletins from "Diario Hoy" are posted to the list. Send rone@skat.usc.edu your subscription request. Many CompuServe forums have news sections. If you are into Hot News and Rumors about Amiga Computers, read messages in section 3 of the Amiga Tech Forum. Consumer Electronics Forum has the section "New Products/News." The Journalist Forum has "Fast Breaking News!" The Motor Sports Forum has "Racing News/Notes." The Online Today Forum has "In the News." NewsNet's list of newsletters that you can read or search online is long, and back issues are also available. For example: Africa News, Agence France-Presse International News, Applied Genetics News, Asian Economic News, Asian Political News, Business Travel News, Catholic News Service, CD Computing News, Computer Reseller News, Electronic Materials Technology News, Electronic Trade & Transport News, Electronic World News, High Tech Ceramics News, Inter Press Service International News, International Businessman News Report, News From France, Northern Ireland News Service, Online Product News, Sourcemex -- economic news on Mexico, and XINHUA English language news service (China). The Inter Press Service's newsletter International News focuses on Third World countries, and news from Europe/North America of interest to these countries (also available through Impress on Nexis). Usenet brings news from Bangladesh, India and Nepal in misc.news.southasia. Clarinet is an electronic publishing network service on the Internet that provides commercial news and information, including live UPI wire service news. On Usenet, the ClariNet hierarchy gateways newsgroups from sources, like: biz.commodity Commodity news and price reports. feature Feature columns and products canada.briefs Regular updates of Canadian News in Brief. biz.economy Economic news and indicators biz.top Top business news books Books & publishing. briefs Regular news summaries. bulletin Major breaking stories of the week. consumer Consumer news, car reviews etc. demonstration Demonstrations around the world. disaster Major problems, accidents & natural disasters. economy General economic news. entertain Entertainment industry news & features. europe News related to Europe. fighting Clashes around the world. hot.east_europe News from Eastern Europe. hot.iraq The Gulf Crisis hot.panama Panama and General Noriega. news.top Top US news stories. news.top.world Top international news stories. news.trends Surveys and trends. news.urgent Major breaking stories of the day. A feed of ClariNet news is available for a fee and execution of a license. (Write info@clarinet.com for information.) UUCP has which brings regular news bulletins from Poland (Contact: przemek@ndcvx.cc.nd.edu). Behind the news --------------- In an effort to garner new subscribers and retain current readers, magazine publishers turn to online services to create an ancillary electronic version of their print product. Their readers are being transformed from passive recipients of information into active participants in publishing. You can "talk" to BYTE's writers on BIX, and with PC Magazine's writers through ZiffNet on CompuServe. Their forums function as expert sources. Here, you will often learn about products and trends sometimes before the magazines hit the newsstand. InfoWorld, an American computer magazine, runs the InfoWorld OnLine service on CompuServe. Enter GO INF to get to the following menu: InfoWorld On-Line INFOWORLD WELCOME TO INFOWORLD 1 About InfoWorld Online 2 Read Current Week's News - 1/13/92 3 Read Prior Week's News - 1/06/92 4 Download Current Week's Reviews, Comparisons and Test Drives ($) 5 Download Prior Week's Reviews, Comparisons and Test Drives ($) 6 Searching Help 7 Search Review/Comparisons/ Impressions/Test Drives 8 Comments to InfoWorld InfoWorld highlights comprehensive computer product comparisons and reports. You can browse this or previous weeks' comparisons and reviews, or search the entire collection. You can search by company name, product, software and hardware category. Britain's two best-selling PC magazines share the PC Plus/PC Answers Online forum on CompuServe (GO PCPLUS). PC Magazine, another American magazine, has several forums on CompuServe. They also operate a bulletin board. People from AI Expert Magazine can be encountered in the AI Expert Forum. Dr. Dobb's Journal is in the Dr. Dobb's Journal Forum. The Entrepreneur's Small Business Forum (CompuServe) is managed by representatives from the magazine. Live Sound!, a magazine devoted to the MIDI sound field, occupies section and library 9 of the MIDI B Vendor Forum. Time magazine has a forum on America Online. There, readers can discuss with magazine reporters and editors, and even read the text of entire issues of Time electronically before it is available on newsstands. Time Warner's book authors and editors are available on CompuServe. The Online World shareware book, the one you are reading just now, also has a forum. For information about how to join, send email to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu (or LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 on BITNET). In the text of your message, write the command "GET TOW MASTER". Chapter 10: Looking for a needle in a bottle of hay =================================================== There is little doubt that the databases of the online world contain nearly everything needed to complete a major research project, fuel an information-needy business, or just help get the school homework done. Online research is faster, provides more depth and is cross-referenced to help researchers locate obscure resources. It makes you an "instant expert" on a subject matter. The main problem is learning how to get a confident grip on the searching process. Prepare by clipping ------------------- Experienced users regularly clip news from online services, and store selected parts of it on their personal computers' hard disks. They use powerful tools to search their data, and know how to use the information in other applications. Regular clipping of news is highly recommended. It is often quicker and easier to search your own databases than to do it online. Since your data is a subset of previous searches, your stories are likely to have a high degree of relevancy. There are many powerful programs for personal computers that let you search your personal data for information. Read Chapter 14 for more on this. While secondary research can never replace primary information gathering, it often satisfies most information needs related to any task or project. Besides, it points in the direction of primary sources from where more in- depth information may be elicited. When your personal database fails to deliver -------------------------------------------- Regular "clipping" can indeed help you build a powerful personal database, but it will never satisfy all your information needs. Occasionally, you must go online for additional facts. When this happens, you may feel like Don Quixote, as he was looking "for a needle in a bottle of hay." The large number of online offerings is bewildering. To be successful, you must have a sound search strategy. Your first task is to locate useful SOURCES of information. The next, to decide how best to find that specific piece of information online. You must PLAN your search. Although one source of information, like an online database, is supposed to cover your area of interest, it may still be unable to give you what you want. Let me explain with an example: You're tracking a company called IBM (International Business Machines). Your first inclination is to visit forums and clubs concerned with products delivered by this company. There, you plan to search message bases and file libraries. What is likely to happen, is that the search term IBM gives so many hits that you almost drown. To find anything of interest in these forums, your search terms must be very specific. General news providers, like Associated Press, may be a better alternative. Usually, they just publish one or two stories on IBM per week. Don't expect to learn about details that are not of interest to the general public. AP's stories may be too general for you. Maybe you'll be more content with industry insiders' expert views, as provided by the NewsNet newsletters OUTLOOK ON IBM, or THE REPORT ON IBM. The level of details in a given story depends in part on the news providers' readers, and the nature of the source. The amount of "noise" (the level of irrelevancy) also varies. In most public forums, expect to wade through many uninteresting messages before finding things of interest. We suggest the following strategy: Step 1: Locate sources that provide relevant information, Step 2: Check if the information from these sources is at a satisfactory level of details, and that the volume is acceptable (not too much, neither too little). Step 3: Study the service's search commands and procedures, PLAN, and then SEARCH. Start by asking others! ----------------------- Step 1 is not an easy one. Start by asking other online people for advice. This may be the fastest way to interesting sources. If looking for information about agriculture and fisheries, visit conferences about related topics. Ask members there what they are using. If you want information about computers or electronics, ask in such conferences. | When you do not know where to start your search, ask others! | | Their know-how is usually the quickest way to the sources. | If this doesn't help, check out GEnie's Home Office/Small Business RoundTable, a hangout of online searchers. Visit CompuServe's Working From Home Forum, which has a section for information professionals (#4), and the section for new librarians in the Journalism Forum. Patent searchers are a very specialized group. They discuss common problems on Dialog's DialMail. Their bulletin board is named PIUG. Buy user manuals ---------------- Some online services send free user information manuals to their users. Others charge extra for them. If they do, buy! They're worth their weight in gold. The user manuals from Dialog, Dow Jones News/Retrieval and CompuServe make good reading. The last two also publish monthly magazines full of search tips, information about new sources, user experiences, and more. Dialog distributes the monthly newsletter Chronolog. NewsNet customers periodically receive a printed listing of available newsletters by subject area, and a presentation of their information providers. The NewsNet Action Letter (monthly) is also distributed by mail. On some services, you can retrieve the help texts in electronic form. Doing that is not a bad idea. It is often quicker to search a help file on your disk, than to browse through a book. Monitor the offerings --------------------- Professional information searchers monitor the activity in the online world. They search databases for information about new sources of information, and regularly read about new services. On most online services, you can search databases of available offerings, and a section with advertisements about their own 'superiorities'. Keep an eye on what is being posted there. NewsNet lets you read and search the following newsletters: Worldwide Videotex Update, Worldwide Databases (#PB44), Online Newsletter, The Online Newsletter, the Information and Database Publishing Report, and The Online Libraries and Microcomputers. The last two are also available as a database from Information Intelligence, Inc., (P.O. Box 31098, Phoenix, AZ 85046, U.S.A. Tel.: +1- 602-996-2283). You can read the text on NewsNet about one week before it appears in print. These two newsletters can also be read and searched on Dialog and Data- Star, as part of the Information Access PTS Newsletter Database. Information Access is a full-text database with many specialized newsletters for business and industry. On CompuServe, you can get to Information Access through the IQuest gateway to NewsNet. It is also available on NEXIS. Subscribe to THE ONLINE NEWSLETTER at US$50.00 per year (10 issues) for companies, and US$35.00 for personal use (1991). For both newsletters, the price is US$75.00. These newsletters are also available on CD-ROM. The disk contains four databases: the Online Newsletter, Online Hotline, Online Libraries and Microcomputers, Major Online Vendors and *Joblines* with more than eight thousand full-text articles from January 1980 until today. The CD-ROM version is delivered with a menu-driven searching program. Each word in every article and headline has been indexed and can be located in all databases. The price for subscriptions of the printed version is US$99.95. Price for nonsubscribers: US$199.95. The September 1991 issue of The Online Newsletter had the following index (partial): ***************************** *NEW & FORTHCOMING DATABASES* ***************************** 10) MULTIMEDIA CIA WORLD FACT BOOK (CD-ROM) [REVIEW] 11) NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS ON CD-ROM (CD-ROM) [REVIEW] 12) WORLD CERAMICS ABSTRACTS (ORBIT) 13) GENE-TOX (TOXNET/NLM) 14) UK TRADEMARKS (ORBIT) [RENAMED] 15) BRS ADDS DATABASES TO ITS OFFERINGS 16) CURRENT PATENTS (ORBIT) 17) NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE ON CD-ROM (CD-ROM) 18) ALUMINUM STANDARDS DATABASE [AAASD] (STN 19) PLASNEWS (STN INTERNATIONAL) 20) EPIC ANNOUNCES NEW DATABASES 21) DISCLIT: AMERICAN AUTHORS (CD-ROM - OCLC) 22) CROSS-CULTURAL: CRIME AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS (CD-ROM) 23) INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL ABSTRACTS (CD-ROM) 24) RINGDOC (CD-ROM - SILVERPLATTER) 25) CODUS (ESA-IRS) 26) MOODY'S COMPANY DATA (CD-ROM) 27) FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE (DIALOG) 28) INPADOC DATABASE TO BE MADE AVAILABLE IN JAPAN (DIALOG) 29) SOFTWARE CD: DESCRIPTIONS & REVIEWS (CD-ROM) 30) MONARCH NOTES ON CD-ROM (CD-ROM) An earlier issue of the newsletter reviewed The Encyclopedia of Information Systems and Services (EISS), a three-volume "bible" for online users and producers (9th edition): EISS covers more than 30,000 organizations, systems, services, more than five thousand databases, publications, software products, etc. Their international listing covers 1,350 information organizations in 70 countries, and has 535 pages. Topics: online host services, videotex/teletext information services, PC oriented services, data collection and analysis services, abstracting and indexing services, computerized searching services, software producers, magnetic tape/diskette providers, micrographic applications and services, library and information networks, library management systems, information on demand services, transactional services (new category), document delivery services, SDI/current awareness services, consultants, associations, research and research projects, and electronic mail applications. Contact: Gale Research Company, 645 Griswold, Detroit, MI 48226, U.S.A. Tel.: +1-313-961-2242. Price per set: US$ 420.00. The European Common Market -------------------------- Many services bring news and information from the European Common Market. The Common Market's free database service, I'M-GUIDE, is a good place to start. I'M-GUIDE is available through ECHO in Luxembourg by telnet to echo.lu . At the question "PLEASE ENTER YOUR CODE," enter ECHO and press RETURN. You can search I'M-GUIDE for information sources, send email inquiries to ECHO, and more. Searches can be done in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, and Portuguese. If you have problems using I'M-GUIDE, call the ECHO Help Desk in Luxembourg at +352-34 98 11. More sources about sources -------------------------- The "Internet-Accessible Library Catalogs and Databases" report is available from LISTSERV@UNMVMA.UNM.EDU (or LISTSERV@UNMVMA.BITNET). Put the following command in the TEXT of your message to retrieve: GET LIBRARY PACKAGE The Online Access Publishing Group Inc. (Chicago) sells "The Online Access Guide." Annual subscription for this printed manual costs US$18.95 (six issues - 1992). The LINK-UP magazine is another interesting source. If living in North America, contact Learned Information Inc., 143 Old Mariton Pike, Medford, NJ 08055-8707, U.S.A.. If living elsewhere, contact Learned Information (Europe) Ltd., Woodside, Hinskey Hill, Oxford OX1 5AU, England, if you live outside North America. Tel.: +44 865 730 275. Price: US$25.00 for six issues/year (1993). An online version is available through ZiffNet's Business Database Plus on CompuServe. Two monthly magazines, Information World Review (price: GBP 30/year) and FULLTEXT SOURCES ONLINE from BiblioData Inc. in the United States, is also available through Learned Information. (BiblioData, P.O. Box 61, Needham Heights, MA 02194, U.S.A.) Check out Learned Information's Learned InfoNet on gopher info.learned.co.uk, and http://info.learned.co.uk/ on WWW. FULLTEXT SOURCES ONLINE publishes their listing of full-text databases twice per year. The price is GBP 50 GBP per booklet or GBP 90 per year. The newsletter SCANNET TODAY (c/o Helsinki University of Techn. Library, Otnaesvaegen 9, SF-02150 ESBO, Finland) presents news of Scandinavian databases by country. Subscription is free. The Gale Directory of Databases from Gale Research is available both in print and online through Dialog, and others. It contains information about 5183 online databases, 2204 information producers, and 818 database hosts or information services (1993). Write to Gale Research Company, 645 Griswold, Detroit, MI 48226, U.S.A., or Gale Research Int. Ltd, P.O. Box 699, North Way, Andover, Hampshire, England SP10 5YE. The 120 pages English language Directory of Information Services in China lists over 325 online databases, information networks and sources of publications in the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong (Sep. 93). It has been prepared by The China Co-operative Library and Information Science Linkage Project (CINFOLINK) in Canada. Email: MHe@idrc.ca (for inquiry). The mailing list NET-RESOURCES@IS.INTERNIC.NET serves network information service providers and end users with announcements of new tools and resources available over the Internet. Send your subscription to LISTSERV@IS.INTERNIC.NET . Many electronic journals and newsletters are available through the Internet, covering fields from literature to molecular biology. For a complete list, send a message to LISTSERV@ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA with the following commands in the BODY of your text: GET EJOURNL1 DIRECTRY GET EJOURNL2 DIRECTRY Practical hints about online searching -------------------------------------- We cannot give a simple, universal recipe valid for all online services. What is the best approach on one service, may be useless on others. Most services offer full online documentation of their search commands. You can read the help text on screen while connected, or retrieve it for later study. Make a note about the following general tricks: In conferences and forums: -------------------------- Many services have commands for selective reading of messages. For example, on CompuServe you can limit your search to given sections. You can also select messages to be read based on text strings in the subject titles. The command rs;s;CIS Access from Japan;62928 displays all messages with the text "CIS Access from Japan" in their subject titles starting with message number 62928. Online searching often starts by selecting databases. The next step is to enter search words (or text strings), and a valid time frame (as in "between 1/1/90 and 1/1/91"). The following sample search terms are used on NewsNet: VIDEO* search for all words starting with VIDEO. "*" is a wild-card character referring to any ending of the word. VIDEO* matches words like VIDEOTEXT and VIDEOCONFERENCE. SONY AND VIDEO The word SONY and the word VIDEO. Both words must be present in the document to give a match. SONY WITHIN/10 VIDEO Both words must be present in the text, but they must not be farther apart than ten words. (Proximity operators) IBM OR APPLE Either one word OR the other. Many services let you reuse your search terms in new search commands. This can save you time and money, if there are too many hits. For example: if IBM OR APPLE gives 1,000 hits, limit the search by adding "FROM JANUARY 1st.," or by adding the search word "NOTEBOOK*". In file libraries ----------------- The commands used to find files are similar to those used in traditional databases. Often, you can limit the search by library, date, file name, or file extension. You can search for text strings in the description of the contents of a file, or use key words. Example: You're visiting a bulletin board based on the BBS program RBBS-PC. You want a program that can show GIF graphics picture files. Such files are typically described like this: VUIMG31.EXE 103105 07-15-91 GIF*/TIFF/PCX Picture Viewer/Printer From left to right: file name, size in bytes, date available, and a 40 character description. You can search the file descriptions for the string "gif". You do this by entering the term "s gif all". This will probably give you a list of files. Some will have the letters GIF in the file name. Others will have them in the description field. Using ANDs and ORs ------------------ Boolean searching may seem confusing at first, unless you already understand the logic. There are three Boolean operators that searchers use to combine search terms: AND, OR, and NOT. Use the Boolean operator AND to retrieve smaller amounts of information. Use AND when multiple words must be present in your search results (MERCEDES AND VOLVO AND CITROEN AND PRICES). Use OR to express related concepts or synonyms for your search term (FRUIT OR APPLES OR PEARS OR BANANAS OR PEACHES). Be careful when using the NOT operator. It gets rid of any record in a database that contains the word that you've "notted" out. For example, searching for "IBM NOT APPLE" drops records containing the sentence, "IBM and Apple are computer giants." The record will be dropped, even if this is the only mention of Apple in an article, and though it is solely about IBM. Use NOT to drop sets of hits that you have already seen. Use NOT to exclude records with multiple meanings, like "CHIPS Not POTATO" (if you are looking for chips rather than snack foods). Often, it pays to start with a "quick-and-dirty" search by throwing in words you think will do the trick. Then look at the first five or 10 records, but look only at the headline and the indexing. This will show you what terms are used by indexers to describe your idea and the potential for confusion with other ideas. Use proximity operators to search multiword terms. If searching for "market share," you want the two words within so many words of another. The order of the words, however, doesn't matter. You can accept both "market share" and "share of the market." Searching by email ------------------ MCI Mail and MCI Fax have a program called Information Advantage, under which online services and newsletters can deliver search results and other information over the online services. Dialog, Dun & Bradstreet, NewsNet, and Individual Inc. have signed up for the program. You can request a search by direct email to say Dialog. The search results will be returned to you via MCI Mail or MCI Fax. With Dun and Bradstreet, you call them for a credit report and they send it to you. With History Associates, you send them a message via MCI Mail, and they report to you. Using BITNET discussion lists through Internet ---------------------------------------------- To get a directory of Internet/BITNET mailing lists, send the following email message: To: LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU Subject: (keep this blank) Text: LIST GLOBAL You will receive a LONG list of available sources of information. A recent copy had over two thousand lines of text. Each mailing list is described with one line. All these mailing lists can be used by email through the Internet. Here is a random selection: Network-wide ID Full address List title --------------- ------------ ---------- AESRG-L AESRG-L@UMCVMB Applied Expert Systems Research Group List AGRIC-L AGRIC-L@UGA Agriculture Discussion AIDSNEWS AIDSNEWS@EB0UB011 AIDS/HIV News ANIME-L ANIME-L@VTVM1 Japanese animedia and other animation news. BANYAN BANYAN-L@AKRONVM Banyan Networks Discussion List BRIDGE BRIDGE@NDSUVM1 Bridge Communication products CHEM-L CHEM-L@UOGUELPH Chemistry discussion EJCREC EJCREC@RPITSVM Electronic Journal of Communication FAMCOMM FAMCOMM@RPITSVM Marital/family & relational communication SOVNET-L SOVNET-L@INDYCMS USSR electronic communication list The column "Network-wide ID" contains the names of the mailing lists. "Full address" contains their BITNET email addresses. "List title" is a short textual description of each conference. Keep the list on your hard disk. This makes it easier to find sources of information, when you need them. Subscribing to mailing lists ---------------------------- Each line in the list above refers to a mailing list, also often called 'discussion list'. They work like online conferences or message sections on bulletin boards, but technically they are different. (Read about KIDLINK in Chapter 2 for background information.) All BITNET mailing lists are controlled by a program called LISTSERV on the host computer given in column two above (for example @UMCVMB). They offer "conferencing" with the following important functions: * All "discussion items" (i.e., electronic messages sent to the lists' email address) are distributed to all subscribers. * All messages are automatically stored in notebook archives. You can search these log files, and you can have them sent to you as electronic mail. * Files can be stored in the lists' associated file libraries for distribution to subscribers on demand. Where to send a subscription request, depends on where you are communicating from relative to the host running the LISTSERV. If this host is your nearest BITNET LISTSERV, then send the request to the address in column two by replacing the list name by LISTSERV. Example: AESRG-L@UMCVMB is administered by LISTSERV@UMCVMB. Subscribe (or signoff) by email to LISTSERV@UMCVMB.BITNET . If there is a LISTSERV closer to where you live, then you should subscribe to the nearby system rather than to the remote. This helps keep the total costs of the international network down. Example: You live in Norway. The nearest LISTSERV is at FINHUTC. To subscribe to AESRG-L@UMCVMB, send to LISTSERV@FINHUTC.BITNET . Use the addresses in column two when sending messages to the other members of the discussion lists, but do NOT send your subscription requests to this address!! If you do, it will be forwarded to all members of the mailing list. Chances are that nothing will happen, and everybody will see how sloppy you are. So, you subscribe by sending a command to a LISTSERV. The method is similar to what we did when subscribing to Infonets in Chapter 7. If your name is Jens Jensen, and you want to subscribe to SOVNET-L, send this message through the Internet (assuming that NDSUM1 is your nearest LISTSERV host): To: LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET Subject: (You can write anything here. Will be ignored.) Text: SUB SOVNET-L Jens Jensen When your subscription has been registered, you will receive a confirmation. From this date, all messages sent to the list will be forwarded to your mailbox. (Send "SIGNOFF SOVNET-L" to this address, when you have had enough.) Some lists will forward each message to you upon receipt. Others will send a periodic digest (weekly, monthly, etc.). To send a message to SOVNET-L, send to the BITNET address in column two above. Send to SOVNET-L@INDYCMS.BITNET Review the following example. Most BITNET lists will accept these commands. Example: Subscription to the China list --------------------------------------- CHINA-NN is listed like this in the List of Lists: CHINA-NN CHINA-NN@ASUACAD China News Digest (Global News) Scandinavians may subscribe to CHINA-NN by Internet mail to LISTSERV@FINHUTC.BITNET . North American users may send their mail to LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET . If your name is Winston Hansen, write the following command in the TEXT of the message SUB CHINA-NN Winston Hansen When you want to leave CHINA-NN, send a cancellation message like this: To: LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET Subject: (nothing here) SIGNOFF CHINA-NN NOTE: Send the cancellation command to the address you used, when subscribing! If you subscribed through LISTSERV@FINHUTC, sending the SIGNOFF command to LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 will get you nowhere. Send to LISTSERV@FINHUTC. Never send the SIGNOFF command to the discussion list itself! Always send to the LISTSERV. Monitoring the action --------------------- THINKNET is an online magazine forum dedicated to "thoughtfulness in the cybertime environment." It brings reviews of significant and thought- provoking exchanges within our new electronic nation. This electronic publication is free. If you are interested in philosophy, subscribe by sending a message through Internet to thinknet@world.std.com . Write the following in the TEXT of the message: SEND THINKNET TO Your-Full-Name AT UserId@Your-Internet-Email-Address Example: If your email address is opresno@extern.uio.no and your name Odd de Presno, use the following command: SEND THINKNET TO Odd de Presno AT OPRESNO@EXTERN.UIO.NO THINKNET is also available through the Philosophy conference on The Well, and on GEnie in the Philosophy category under the Religion and Ethics Bulletin Board. (Hard copy versions can be bought through THINKNET, PO BOX 8383, Orange CA 92664-8383, U.S.A.). If you are on The Well, read the topic "News from Around Well Conferences" to learn about new developments. These are some mailing lists that may help you locate sources of interest: NETSCOUT (NETSCOUT@VMTECMEX) The BITnet/Internet scouts. Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@VMTECMEX.BITNET with the following in the TEXT of your message SUB NETSCOUT yourfirstname yourlastname This is where you can discuss and exchange information about servers, FTP sites, Filelists, lists, tools, and any related aspects. HELP-NET (HELP-NET@TEMPLEVM) BITNET/CREN/INTERNET Help Resource. Send email to LISTSERV@TEMPLEVM.BITNET with the text SUB HELP-NET yourfirstname yourlastname The list's main purpose is to help solve user problems with utilities and software related to the Internet and BITNET networks. The library contains several good help files for novice networkers. A great place for new Internet users! Other sources available through the Internet -------------------------------------------- The Interest Groups List of Lists is available by electronic mail. See under 'List of Lists' in appendix 6 for retrieval instructions. You can search the List of Lists by email. Say you are looking for a mailing list related to Robotics. To find out, send a message to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU containing the following commands: //ListSrch JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules //Rules DD * search robotics in lists index search robotics in intgroup index search robotics in new-list index Replace the search word 'robotics' with whatever else you may be looking for. A directory of scholarly electronic conferences is maintained by Diane K. Kovacs (DKOVACS@KENTVM.BITNET). instructions are available by sending the message get acadlist readme to LISTSERV@KENTVM.KENT.EDU (or LISTSERV@KENTVM.BITNET). The Usenet list of newsgroups and mailing lists is available on hosts that run Usenet News or NetNews servers and/or clients in the newsgroups news.announce.newusers and news.lists. The members of news.newusers.questions, alt.internet.help, alt.internet.access.wanted, and alt.internet.new-users readily accept your help requests. Alt.internet.services focuses on information about services available on the Internet. It is for people with Internet accounts who want to explore beyond their local computers, to take advantage of the wealth of information and services on the net. Services for discussion include: * things you can telnet to (weather, library catalogs, databases, and more), * things you can FTP (like pictures, sounds, programs, data) * clients/servers (like MUDs, IRC, Archie) Every second week, a list of Internet services called the "Special Internet Connections list" is posted to this newsgroup. It includes everything from where to FTP pictures from space, how to find agricultural information, public UNIX, online directories and books, you name it. Dartmouth maintains a merged list of the LISTSERV lists on BITNET and the Interest Group lists on the Internet. Each mailing list is represented by one line. To obtain this list, send a message to LISTSERV@DARTCMS1.BITNET . Enter the following command in the text of the message: INDEX SIGLISTS InterNIC Information Service maintains an announcement-only service at LISTSERV@INTERNIC.NET called net-happenings. It distributes announcements about tools, conferences, calls for papers, news items, new mailing lists, electronic newsletters like EDUPAGE, and more. The InterNIC Scout Report is at majordomo@is.internic.net . It is a weekly summary of highlights of new resource announcements and other news which occurred on the Internet during the previous week. To subscribe, send email to the majordomo containing the command "subscribe scout-report". To access the hypertext version, point your WWW client to: http://www.internic.net . Gopher users can point to: is.internic.net and choose Information Services from the top directory. InterNIC's automated mail service is at MAILSERV@INTERNIC.NET. It allows access to documents and files via email. To use it, send email to the Mailserv with the word "HELP" in the subject field of your mail. Scott Yanoff publishes a selected list of interesting Internet resources. It is available by anonymous ftp from csd4.csd.uwm.edu in the /pub directory. Enter "get inet.services.txt" to retrieve the file, which is updated twice a month. You can also get it on gopher csd4.csd.uwm.edu . Select Remote Information Servers / Special Internet Connections. Finally, you can get it by email from mail bbslist@aug3.augsburg.edu . The Global Network Navigator (GNN) is a "news service" about the resources and people on the Internet. The ULR is http://nearnet.gnn.com/GNN-ORA.html To access GNN with this URL, you need a direct Internet connection and a World Wide Web (WWW) browser. For information, send email to info@gnn.com . On the Internet, the number of public network information (NIR) and access catalogue services (OPAC) is increasing rapidly. For example, in November 1993, new registered Gopher Servers were about 100 per month. There is also a substantial number of new WWW, WAIS and CWIS services. The NewNIR-L mailing list is a place where full descriptions of such new services are posted. Send your subscription commands to LISTSERV@itocsivm.csi.it . | Free vs. commercial sources: On a commercial online service, | | profit motive provides continuous pressure to keep data | | plentiful and approachable. On the Internet, the information | | you find is there often only because of someone's good will. | | Therefore, beware of outdated information. | How to get more out of your magazine subscriptions -------------------------------------------------- PC Magazine (U.S.A.) is one of those magazines that arrives here by mail. We butcher them, whenever we find something of interest. The "corpses" are dumped in a high pile on the floor. To retrieve a story in this pile is difficult and time consuming, unless the title is printed on the cover. Luckily, there are shortcuts. Logon to PC MagNet on CompuServe. Type GO PCMAG to get the following menu: PC MagNet 1 Download a PC Magazine Utility 2 PC Magazine Utilities/Tips Forum 3 PC Magazine Editorial Forum 4 PC Magazine Programming Forum 5 PC Magazine After Hours Forum 6 PC Magazine Product Reviews Index 7 Free! - Take a Survey 8 Submissions to PC Magazine 9 Letters to the Editor 10 Subscribe to PC Magazine Choice six lets you search for stories. Once you have a list with page/issue references, turning the pages gets much easier. PC Magazine is owned by the media giant Ziff-Davis. PC MagNet is a part of ZiffNet on CompuServe. So is Computer Database Plus, which lets you search through more than 250,000 articles from over 200 popular newspapers and magazines. The oldest articles are from early 1987. The database is also available on CD-ROM, but the discs cover only one year at a time. CDP contains full-text from around 50 magazines, like Personal Computing, Electronic News, MacWeek and Electronic Business. Stories from the other magazines are available in abstracted form only. To search the database, CDP, you pay an extra US$24.00 per hour. In addition, you pay US$1.00 per abstract and US$1.50 per full-text article (1992). These fees are added to your normal CompuServe access rates. ZiffNet also offers Magazine Database Plus, a database with stories from over 130 magazines (1994) covering science, business, sport, people, personal finance, family, art and handicraft, cooking, education, environment, travel, politics, consumer opinions, and reviews of books and films. The magazines include: Administrative Management, Aging, Changing Times, The Atlantic, Canadian Business, Datamation, Cosmopolitan, Dun's Business Month, The Economist, The Futurist, High Technology Business, Journal of Small Business Management, Management Today, The Nation, The New Republic, Online, Playboy, Inc., Popular Science, Research & Development, Sales & Marketing Management, Scientific American, Technology Review, UN Chronicle, UNESCO Courier, U.S. News & World Report, and World Press Review. In the next chapter, we will present another ZiffNet magazine database: the Business Database Plus. Magazine Index (MI), from Information Access Company (U.S.A.), is another source worth looking at. It covers over 500 consumer and general-interest periodicals as diverse as Special Libraries and Sky & Telescope, Motor Trend and Modern Maturity, Reader's Digest and Rolling Stone. Many titles go as far back as 1959. Although most of the database consists of brief citations, MI also contains the complete text of selected stories from a long list of periodicals. It is available through Dialog, CompuServe, BRS, Data-Star, Dow Jones News/Retrieval, Nexis, and others. What to do if you have so many references to a given magazine that you want to check it out? Try the Electronic Newsstand. It is available by gopher or telnet to gopher.netsys.com . You can read a magazine's table of contents as well as one article for free. If you like, you can subscribe by sending a computer message. Failing access to the gopher or telnet command, try an email to staff@enews.com. Finding that book ----------------- Over 270 libraries around the world are accessible by the Internet telnet command. Some of them can also be accessed by Internet mail. This is the case with BIBSYS, a database operated by the Norwegian universities' libraries. I am into transcendental meditation. I'm therefore constantly looking for books on narrow topics like "mantra." To search BIBSYS for titles of interest, I sent mail to genserv@pollux.bibsys.no . The search word was entered in the subject title of the message. By return email, I got the following report: Date: Fri, 21 Jul 93 13:54:18 NOR From: GENSERV@POLLUX.BIBSYS.NO Subject: Searching BIBSYS Search request : MANTRA Database-id : BIBSYS Search result : 5 hits. The following is one of the references that I forwarded to my local library for processing: Forfatter : Gonda, J. Tittel : Mantra interpretation in the Satapatha-Brahmana / by J. Gonda. Trykt : Leiden : E.J. Brill, 1988. Sidetall : X, 285 s. I serie : (Orientalia Rheno-traiectina ; 32) ISBN : 90-04-08776-1 1 - UHF 90ka03324 - UHF/INDO Rh III b Gon On CompuServe, there is a section for book collectors in the Coin/Stamp/Collectibles Forum, and a Weekly Book Chat section in the ScienceFiction & Fantasy Forum. In the Electronic Mall, you can buy books directly from Ballantine Books, Penguin Books, Small Computer Book Club, The McGraw-Hill Book Company, Time-Life Books and Walden Computer Books. On the Internet, Roswell Computer Books Ltd.'s online book store (Canada) has a database of over 7,000 titles (1993). Gopher to nstn.ns.ca, select "Other Gophers in Nova Scotia," "Roswell Electronic Computer Bookstore." Email requests can be sent to roswell@fox.nstn.ns.ca . Book Stacks Unlimited, Inc. (U.S.A.) has an online catalog with over 260,000 titles (1993). Internet access: telnet books.com . Search books by title or author, select from a menu, order, enter your credit card number, and have it sent to you by mail. There's another collection of book catalogs from a number of publishers on gopher gopher.infor.com . Quanta is the electronically distributed journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Request to be added to the mailing list by email to quanta+requests-ascii@andrew.cmu.edu . For more on science fiction, check out the SFLOVERS@RUTVM1.BITNET mailing list. Also, a public copy of William Gibson's self-destructing electronic book "Agrippa" can be retrieved by anonymous ftp from the /pub/misc/erich directory at bush.cs.tamu.edu . File name: agrippa . A copy of a parody, "agr1ppa," can be found in the same directory. The Book Review Digest (GO BOOKREVIEW) is CompuServe's database of bibliographical references and abstracts of reviews (since 1983). You can search by title, author, and keywords found in the text of book reviews. CompuServe also offers book reviews through Magazine Database Plus. "Books in print" is a North American bibliographic reference database. It is available on BRS and CompuServe. South African Bibliographic and Information Network has a gopher service at info2.sabinet.co.za. FidoNet has COMICS (The Comic Book Echo), BITNET the list Rare Book and Special Collections Catalogers (NOTRBCAT@INDYCMS). NewsNet has the COMPUTER BOOK REVIEW newsletter and on The Well you'll find the "Computer Books" conference. OCLC's WorldCat is a reference database covering books and materials in libraries worldwide. Bookworms may appreciate the BITNET discussion list DOROTHYL (LISTSERV@KENTVM.KENT.EDU), and especially if they like Agatha Christie, Josephine Tey and Dorothy L. Sayers. Then there is the Mark Twain forum (at TWAIN-L@YORKVM1.BITNET), the J.R.R. Tolkien books, readers list (at TOLKIEN@JHUVM.BITNET), and the mailing list for Bizarre, disturbing, and offensive short stories (at WEIRD-L@BROWNVM.BITNET). On Usenet, they have alt.books.reviews, k12.library, alt.books.technical, rec.arts.books, and misc. books.technical, and more. On the Internet, there are a rapidly growing number of library online public-access catalogs (OPACs) from all over the world. Some provide users with access to additional resources, such as periodical indexes of specialized databases. More than 270 library catalogs are now online (1992). An up-to-date directory of libraries that are interactively accessible through Internet can be had by anonymous ftp from ftp.unt.edu (then: cd library). File name: LIBRARIES.TXT. Check out the end of Chapter 12 for how to get the file by email (ftpmail). You will also find full electronic versions of books. This book is one example. Many texts are courtesy of Project Gutenberg, an organization whose goal is to develop a library of 10,000 public domain electronic texts by the year 2000. Since books are often quite large, they are somewhat bulky for email transfer. If you have direct Internet access, use anonymous ftp instead. Many books are available through the /pub/almanac/etext directory at oes.orst.edu. For more about how to use the Almanac information server, send Almanac@oes.orst.edu the following email command: send guide For a list of books, add the line send gutenberg catalog Among the offerings, you'll find The Complete Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee, Tarzan, Frankenstein, The Unabridged Works of Shakespeare, Aesop's Fables, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Holy Bible, The Love Teachings of Kama Sutra, The Holy Koran, The Oedipus Trilogy (Sophocles), Peter Pan, Roget's Thesaurus (1911), and The World Factbook (CIA). If quite impossible to locate a given book, try the Rare Books and Special Collections Forum at EXLIBRIS@RUTVM1.BITNET. The ANTIQUARIA mailing list "is expressly for rare book dealers to exchange information and books amongst each other and to meet with individuals and institutions looking for specific books." To subscribe, send email to listserv@aol.com containing the command: SUBSCRIBE ANTIQUARIA firstname lastname . Non-Chinese speaking people will probably classify Chinese poems as 'rare'. Many of them are impossible to read, unless your computer can handle the special characters, and you know their meaning. Still interested? If yes, subscribe to CHPOEM-L@UBVM.BITNET . Be prepared to use your Big5 and GuoBiao utilities. Searching dictionaries and encyclopedias ---------------------------------------- On the Internet, search The Webster Dictionary by entering telnet 132.239.68.1 This is what happened to me: Trying 132.239.68.1 ... Connected to 132.239.68.1. Escape character is '^]'. Accel UNIX (chem.ucsd.edu) login: webster Last login: Fri Oct 29 09:29:24 from selene.cstp.umkc Word: modem mo-dem \'mo--,dem\ n [modulator + demodulator] (ca. 1952) :a device that converts signals from one form to a form compatible with another kind of equipment The dictionary is also available by telnet cs.indiana.edu 2627 (or 129.79.254.191 2627). Project Gutenberg has an old (but relatively good) English language thesaurus available on-line (see above). Commercial services, like CompuServe, GEnie, and Dow Jones News/Retrieval, let you search and read encyclopedias like Grolier's Academic American in full text. These works are regularly updated, and can therefore be a good choice if you are looking for more current information than available in printed versions, or if you use an encyclopedia infrequently. On the Internet, these works are generally only available for closed groups, or for those willing to pay. For some time, though, the "information-for-free" enthusiasts have been working on an alternative, the Internet Encyclopedia, or Interpedia. The idea is for volunteers to cooperatively write the new encyclopedia, put it in the public domain, and make it available on the Internet. Unlike any printed encyclopedia, the Interpedia could be kept completely up-to-date. Indeed, it could include hypertext links to ongoing discussions, and perhaps evolve into a general interface to all resources and activities on the Internet. For more information, subscribe to the Interpedia mailing list by sending a message to interpedia-request@telerama.lm.com . The body of your message must contain the word 'subscribe' and your e-mail address, as follows: subscribe your_username@your.host.domain Chapter 11: Getting an edge over your competitor ================================================ We must be willing to risk change to keep apace with rapid change. The key is moderation and balance, supported by sufficient information to allow meaningful feedback. Going online requires adaption by management and staff in developing the necessary skills and vision. This chapter starts with how to use the networks to manage projects. Next, we will show you how to monitor competitors, prospects, suppliers, markets, technologies, and trends. It winds down with marketing and sales by modem. Project coordination -------------------- Several services offer rental of private online conference areas to businesses. Corporations are discovering that such conferencing is efficient when coordinating a group of people, who are geographically far apart from each other. Online conferences are also useful when team members are constantly on the move and hard together face-to-face. Many claim that people are more candid and meetings more efficient when people communicate online. They favor online discussions for certain brainstorming and productivity tasks, even when individuals and facilities are available for face-to-face meetings. Many international companies use such services regularly. The applications range from tight coordination with suppliers and subcontractors, to development of company strategies, and new organizational structures. Renting an online conference room has advantages over doing it in-house: The company does not have to buy software, hardware, expensive communications equipment. It does not need to hire people to operate and maintain the conferencing system. The more international the business, the better is the external alternative. For ideas about how to set up and operate a coordination conference, study how volunteer organizations do it. One place to check out is KIDPLAN, one of several coordination conferences used by KIDLINK (see Chapters 2 and 5). KIDPLAN is usually most active during April and May each year. This is when their annual projects are being closed down, and new projects are started. Read the dialog between coordinators to get an idea of how the medium is being used. Old conference messages are stored in notebook files. You can have the full coordination dialog for a given month sent you by email. Send all requests for notebook files to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU Getting notebook files is a two-step process. In your first message to the LISTSERV, ask for a list of available files. Do this by using the following command in your email: INDEX KIDPLAN The LISTSERV will return a list. The following part is of particular interest: 101/2/ KIDPLAN LOG9105B ALL OWN V 80 2397 91/05/14 23:40:22 Started on Wed, 8 May 91 00:11:09 CDT 102/2/ KIDPLAN LOG9105C ALL OWN V 80 3141 91/05/21 20:44:16 Started on Wed, 15 May 91 01:24:51 CDT 104/2/ KIDPLAN LOG9105D ALL OWN V 80 2685 91/05/28 22:34:31 Started on Wed, 22 May 91 17:01:21 +0200 Do not worry about the details. You are only interested in file names, and dates. The file LOG9105B contains all messages from 8 May 1991 until 15 May. If you want all these three files, send a message to the LISTSERV with the following commands: GET KIDPLAN LOG9105B GET KIDPLAN LOG9105C GET KIDPLAN LOG9105D The notebook files will be forwarded to your mailbox. Note: Some mailbox services have restrictions on the size of incoming mail. This may prevent you from receiving large notebook files. If this happens, contact your local postmaster for help. Some email systems are unable to forward your return-address correctly to LISTSERV. If you suspect that this is the reason for lack of success, try the following commands: GIVE KIDPLAN LOG9105B TO Your-Correct-Return-Address GIVE KIDPLAN LOG9105C TO Your-Correct-Return-Address GIVE KIDPLAN LOG9105D TO Your-Correct-Return-Address Making it work -------------- Making online conferences and task force meetings work, can be a challenge. Most of the dialog is based on the written word. The flow of information can be substantial, and this may cause an information overload for some participants. To overcome this, consider appointing a moderator-organizer for your online conference. This person: Adds value by setting agendas; summarizing points; getting the discussion(s) back on track; moving on to the next point; mediating debate; maintaining address and member lists; acting as general sparkplug/motivator to keep things flowing by making sure that contributions are acknowledged, relevant points are noted, new members are welcomed, silent "Read-Only Members" are encouraged to participate, and the general atmosphere is kept appropriate to the goals of the conference/task force meeting. Great online conferences do not just happen. It takes a lot of work by those responsible for getting the meeting fired up and for keeping the discussion rolling. The meeting's organization may depend on the number of participants, where they come from, the exclusivity of the forum, and the goal of the meeting. In large meetings, with free access for outsiders, the best strategy may be to appoint a Moderator-Editor. This person filters contributions, gathers new information, summarizes scattered contributions, does background research. Filtering may be desirable when conferences are open to customers and media. Its main purpose, however, is to help participants cope with the absolute flow of information. A conference can have an educational purpose. You can bring in someone who can add value by bringing experience and expertise to the group. You also need someone to do the dirty jobs everyone expects to be done - but never notices until they are not. This person keeps the show running by serving as a benevolent tyrant, sheriff, judge, mediator, general scapegoat, and by playing a role in setting the general policy and atmosphere of the meeting. Now, back to the 'normal' applications of the online resource. Monitoring what others do ------------------------- How would cosmetics sell in Japan? What about sneakers in Mexico? In the age of the global business community, more and more questions about expanding product services beyond national borders abound. It is safe to claim that the best business opportunities are outside your company, in the external world. Companies need to monitor customers and markets, find technologies to help develop and build products, research new business actions, find new subcontractors and suppliers, people to hire, and persons to influence in order to boost sales. In this marketing age, where sales calls cost hundreds of dollars and business-to-business marketers use the telephone or the mails to reach prospects, maintaining complete and accurate market lists is important. There are many other questions: What are our most important customers and their key people doing? What new products are they promoting? Who are their partners? What else may influence their willingness to buy from us? What prices are our major suppliers offering other buyers? Should we get other sources for supplies? What major contracts have they received recently? Will these influence their ability to serve our needs? What new technologies are available now and how are they being used by others? Threats are the reverse side of opportunities. What are our competitors doing? What products and services have they launched recently? Are they successful? What are our competitors' weaknesses and strengths? What relationships do they maintain with our most important customers? How is their customer support functioning, and what methods are they using in their quality assurance? Are new trade regulations being introduced in important foreign markets? Each company has its own priorities when it comes to watching the external environment. The information needs differ depending on what products and services are being offered, the technological level of the company, the markets that it addresses, and more. Needs and priorities also differ by department and person, for example depending on whether a user is the president, a marketing manager, product manager, sales man, or has a position in finance or production. Remember your priorities when online. You cannot possibly capture and digest all information that is out there. Your basic problem is to find the right information in the right form at the right time. Companies should consider appointing an online manager. Select and empower a central manager to oversee the process for going online. A "make-things- happen" person, who can also be a contact point for upper management. Monitoring your own business ---------------------------- What kind of news about your company is being published? What do others say about your products and services? What kind of exposure do your new product announcements get in the media? Build your own, local 'database' -------------------------------- It does not take much effort to check one hundred different topics from multiple online sources on a daily basis. The computer will do it for you. You do not have to read all stories as carefully as you would with printed material. Most experienced users just read what is important now, and save selected parts of the retrieved texts on local disks for later reference. We handle printed material differently. Most of us make notes in the margins, underline, use colors, cut out pages and put into folders. These tricks are important, as it is so hard to find information in a pile of papers. Not so with electronic information. With the right tools, you can locate information on your computer's disk in seconds. In seven seconds, I just searched the equivalent of 2000 pages of printed text for all occurrences of the combined search words 'SONY' and 'CD-ROM'! The search tool was a simple shareware program called LOOKFOR (see Chapter 14). It searched through 4.2 megabytes on an 80486-based notebook computer. If you use an indexing program, the search may be completed even faster. During a typical work day, my personal "databases" usually give me more direct value than what I have on paper, or can get online. My disks contain megabytes of texts retrieved from various online services, - but only what I have decided to keep. Consequently, my personal databases contain more relevant information per kilobyte than the online databases that I am using. Searching the data on my disk often gives enough good hits to keep me from going online for more. | You will often get better results when searching your own subset | | of selected online databases, than when you go online to find | | information. It is usually easier and faster. | On the other hand, your in-house database will never be fully up-to-date. Too many things happen all the time. Also, the search terms used for your daily intake of news will never cover all future needs. Occasionally, you have to go online to get additional information for a project, a report, a plan. Updating your database means going online regularly to find supplementary information. | Regular monitoring gives the highest returns, and is required | | to get an edge over your competitors. | For beginners, the best strategy is often to start with the general, and gradually dig deeper into industry specific details. Let us review some good hunting grounds for information, and explain how to use them. Clipping the news ----------------- Several online services offer 'clipping services'. They select the news that you want - 24 hours a day - from a continuous stream of stories from newspapers, magazines, news agencies and newsletters. Several services make news available immediately, as soon as they have been received by satellite. The delay previously used to protect the interests of print media is disappearing. Online services usually deliver news sooner than print media, radio and television. You select stories by giving the online service a set of search terms. The hits are sent to your electronic mailbox, for you to read at will. 'Clipping' gives an enormous advantage. Few important details escape your attention, even if you are unable to go online daily. The stories will stay in your mailbox until you have read them. 'Clipping' on CompuServe ------------------------ CompuServe's Executive News Service (ENS) monitors more than 8,000 stories daily. They use sources like Deutsche Press-Agentur (Germany), Kyodo News Service (Japan), ITAR/TASS (Russia), Xinhua News Agency (China), Pacific Rim News Service, The Washington Post, OTC News-Alert, Reuters Financial News Wire, Associated Press, UPI, Reuters World Report, IDG PR Service, Inter Press Service (IPS), Middle East News Network, and European Community Report. One of them, Reuters, has 1,200 journalists in 120 bureaus all over the world. They write company news reports about revenues, profits, dividends, purchases of other companies, changes in management, and other important items for judging a company's results. They write regular opinions about Industry, Governments, Economics, Leading indicators, and Commerce. Reuters also offers full-text stories from Financial Times and other leading European newspapers. Its Textline is a database with news from some 1,500 publications in over 40 countries. It includes Reuters' own news services, and translated abstracts of stories from some 17 languages. The database reaches back more than 10 years and is updated at around one million articles per year. (Textline is also available on Nexis, Data-Star, Clarinet, and Dialog.) The IDG PR Service distributes high-tech related news gathered by the staffs of IDG's magazines. The InterPress Service covers Third World countries. The Middle East News Network integrates the contents of 28 information sources covering this region of Asia. The Executive News Service lets you define up to three 'clipping folders'. Supply up to seven 'key phrases' that define your interests. These key phrases will be used for searching stories as they are sent. Hits will be 'clipped' and held in a folder for you to review at your convenience. Each folder can hold 500 stories. When creating a clipping folder, you set an expiration date and specify how many days a clipped story is to be held (maximum 14 days). To browse the contents of a folder, select it from the menu. Stories can be listed by headlines or leads. Select those you want to read, forward to others as email, or copy to another folder. Delete those that you do not need. Defining key phrases is simple. The important thing is not to get too much, nor too little. General phrases will give many unwanted stories while too narrow phrases will cause you to miss pertinent stories. Let me illustrate with an example: The phrase APPLE COMPUTERS will only clip stories that have the words APPLE and COMPUTERS next to each other. This may be too narrow. Specifying just APPLE or just COMPUTERS would be too broad. Entering APPLE + COMPUTERS is a better phrase since the words can appear anywhere in the story, and not necessarily next to each other. ENS carries an hourly surcharge of US$15/hour over base connect rates. Clipping on NewsNet ------------------- NewsNet greets users with this opening screen: ----------------- - N E W S N E T - ----------------- W O R K I N G K N O W L E D G E ***New--Electromagnetic Field Litigation Reporter (EY86) tracks developments in every important legal action involving electromagnetic radiation from power lines, cellular phones, VTDs, and radar and microwave equipment. ***The title of HH15 has been changed to Cancer Researcher Weekly. This service was formerly entitled Cancer Weekly. ***Important work in the blood field throughout the world is covered by Blood Week (HH44), including research, literature, and upcoming events. ***TB Weekly (HH45) is an internationally-focused newsletter that concentrates on tuberculosis-related news and research, including business developments. New Services on NewsNet: TB Weekly (HH45) Blood Weekly (HH44) Electromagnetic Field Litigation Reporter (EY86) Chapter 11 Update (FI82) Tobacco Industry Litigation Reporter (HH48) Trade and Development Opportunities (GT50) For details on new services, enter READ PB99# or HELP followed by the service code. NewsFlash, NewsNet's clipping service, will automatically search all new editions of newsletters selected for monitoring. The hits are sent to your mailbox. They are retained there for up to ten weeks besides the current week. Your selection of newsletters can be extended to include news stories from United Press International (UPI), Reuters News Reports, Associated Press, Business Wire, PR Newswire, and others. For some time, I clipped newsletters in the telecommunications group using the keywords 'Victoria' (an American communication project) and 'KDD' (the Japanese telecom giant). When I called NewsFlash to check, it typically reported: NEWSFLASH NOTIFICATION **************************************************************** 4 Total Newsflash hits. Use STOP to stop and delete all. New Hits = 4 Saved Items = 0 TE01 7/17/89 == VICTORIA == Headline #1 COOKE SELLS CABLE HOLDINGS TO 6-MEMBER GROUP FOR NEARLY $1.6 BILLION Jack Cooke's cable systems will be sold to 6-member consortium TE11 7/17/89 == VICTORIA == Headline #2 BOCs' PROGRESS TOWARD INTELLIGENT NETWORK ARCHITECTURE INTERTWINED WITH DIFFICULT INTERNETWORKING NEGOTIATIONS, PENDING DECREE COURT EC89 7/18/89 == KDD == Headline #3 KDD OPENS NY/LONDON OFFICES TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 JUL 14 (NB) -- Kokusai Denshin Denwa (KDD), EC89 8/22/89 == KDD == Headline #4 FOREIGNERS CAN BUY INTO KDD TOKYO, JAPAN, 1989 AUG 17 -- The Japanese government is planning Enter Headline numbers or ALL to read, MORE, AGAIN, SAVE, STOP, or HELP --> NewsNet's databases grow by more than 400 stories per day. Your search profiles may contain an almost unlimited number of subjects. Delivery of hits is concurrent. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Sprintmail's clipping service (U.S.A.) scans stories from more than 15 international newswires. FT Profile's E-mail Alert searches daily on that particular day's issue of the Financial Times. Dow Jones News/Retrieval has NewsScan (//CLIP). It can deliver by fax or email to a mailbox on another online service. Financial Times' thirty international business reports - grouped within four primary industry segments - are available through //CLIP. So is Intelligence Reports, which cover more than 100 countries. They monitor news stories from these countries' own media. GEnie's QuikNews Express is a personalized news clipping service that is integrated with the Quik-Comm System email service. The Stanford Netnews Filtering Service is a personalized netnews delivery service (Usenet). You subscribe by submitting keywords that describe your interests. Netnews articles (from newsgroups available to the Stanford news host) that match your profiles (based on content, regardless of which newsgroups they fall into) will be sent you periodically via email. The following top level newsgroups are covered (1994): DU, ca, general, ont, trial, air, can, gnu, out.going, triangle, alt, ieee, rec, tx, atl, comp, in.coming, sci, ucb, aus, control, info, scruz, uk, ba, csd, junk, soc, vmsnet, bionet, ee, misc, su, za, bit, fj, ne, talk, biz, fl, news, test. You can access the service from Mosaic: http://woodstock.stanford.edu:2000 For instructions on the email interface, send a message with the word "help" in the message body to netnews@db.stanford.edu . The search profiles are like queries in WAIS, i.e., plain English text (no boolean AND, OR, NOTs). After you receive useful articles, you can feed them back to the service to improve your profile. You can also adjust the frequency of delivery, the volume of articles, and the length of subscription. Clarinet, a commercial news service available through Usenet, also has a clipping program, and you will find clipping on Prodigy, and a host of other services. When clipping is impossible --------------------------- Many services do not offer clipping. Here, your alternative is various methods of selective reading on a regular basis. Many conferencing systems let you select messages to read by keywords. BIX Keyword Indexer lets you search public conferences after a key word or phrase and reports hits. Then it offers you to review (or retrieve) messages of interest. CompuServe's forums have efficient 'read selective' and 'quick scan' commands. Another trick is to limit your reading to specific message sections. The high forum message volume is a special problem on this service. Old messages are regularly deleted to make room for new ones. (Often called "scroll rate.") Some popular forums do not keep messages for more than a couple of days before letting them go. You must visit often to get all new information. Many bulletin boards can be told to store unread messages about given topics in a compressed transportation file. This file can then be retrieved at high speed. Special communication programs (often called offline readers) and commands are available to automate this completely. Powerful scripts and offline reader programs (see Chapter 12) can do automatic selection of news stories based on the occurrence of keywords (e.g., a company name) in headlines or the messages' text. Subscription services --------------------- It is useful to dig, dig, and dig for occurrences of the same search words, but digging is not enough. Unless you periodically scan "the horizon," you risk missing new trends, viewpoints and other important information. It can be difficult to find good sources of information that suits your needs. One trick is to watch the reports from your clipping services. Over time, you may discover that some sources bring more interesting stories than others. Take a closer look at these. Consider browsing their full index of stories regularly. If your company plans exportation to countries in Asia, check out MARKET: ASIA PACIFIC on NewsNet. The newsletter is published monthly by W-Two Publications, Ltd., 202 The Commons, Suite 401, Ithaca, NY 14850, U.S.A. (phone: +1-607-277-0934). Annual print subscription rate: US$279. The index itself may be a barometer of what goes on. Here is an example. Note the number of Words/Lines. Do these numbers tell a story? July 1, 1993 Head # Headline Words /Lines ------ ---------------------------------------------------- ------------ 1) THE PHILIPPINES IS AT A TURG POINT 616/78 2) CHINA AND KOREA WILL LEAD REGIONAL ECONOMIC BOOM 315/41 3) ASIAN COMPENSATION IS STILL LOW, BUT RISING QUICKLY 303/38 4) CONSUMER GOODS WON'T BE ALL THE CHINESE BUY 221/29 5) WOMEN BEAR THE BRUNT OF CAMBODIA'S TROUBLES 284/34 6) TAIWAN MAKES A MOVE TOWARD THE CASHLESS SOCIETY 243/29 7) TIPS ON MANAGING CULTURAL HARMONY IN ASIA 264/37 8) TAIWANESE BECOME MORE DISCERNING, HARDER TO REACH 217/27 9) DIRECT MARKETING HEADED FOR GROWTH IN SINGAPORE 205/27 10) TOURISM IN MALAYSIA WILL GROW 610/76 11) CHONGQING: FUTURE POWERHOUSE 2708/342 It is a good idea to visit NewsNet to gather intelligence. Review indexes of potentially interesting newsletters. Save them on your hard disk for future references. You never know when they may be of use. The newsletters within computers and electronics bring forecasts of market trends, evaluation of hardware and software, prices, information about IBM and other leading companies. You will find stories about technological developments of modems, robots, lasers, video players, graphics, and communications software. The Management section contains experts' evaluation of the economic climate with forecasts, information about foreign producers for importers, tips and experiences on personal efficiency, management of smaller companies, and office automation. Other sections are Advertising and Marketing, Aerospace and Aviation, Automotive, Biotechnology, Building and Construction, Chemical, Corporate Communications, Defense, Entertainment and Leisure, Education, Environment, Energy, Finance and Accounting, Food and Beverage, General Business, Insurance, Investment, Health and Hospitals, Law, Management, Manufacturing, Medicine, Office, Publishing and Broadcasting, Real Estate, Research and Development, Social Sciences, Telecommunications, Travel and Tourism, Transport and Shipping. Several newsletters focus on specific geographical areas, like: * THE EXPORTER (Published by Trade Data Reports. Monthly reports on the business of exporting. Functionally divided into operations, markets, training resources, and world trade information.) * SALES PROSPECTOR (Monthly prospect research reports for sales representatives and business people interested in commercial, and institutional expansion and relocation activity. Grouped by geographic area in the United States and Canada.) Other newsletters focus on technology intelligence: Advanced Manufacturing Technology --------------------------------- Reports on desktop manufacturing, computer graphics, flexible automation, computer-integrated manufacturing, and other technological advances that help increase productivity. High Tech Materials Alert ------------------------- Reports on significant developments in high-performance materials, including alloys, metallic whiskers, ceramic and graphite fibers, and more. Concentrates on their fabrication, industrial applications, and potential markets. Futuretech ---------- Provides briefings on focused, strategic technologies that have been judged capable of making an impact on broad industrial fronts. Includes forecasts of marketable products and services resulting from the uncovered technology and its potential impact on industry segments. Advanced Coating & Surface Technology, Electronic Materials Technology News, Flame Retardancy News, High Tech Ceramics News, Innovator's Digest, Technology Access Report, Inside R&D, Japan Science Scan, New Technology Week, Optical Materials & Engineering News, Performance Materials, Surface Modification Technology News, Genetic Technology News, Battery & Ev Technology, and much more. Newsletters on CompuServe ------------------------- Many newsletters are being made available through forums' file libraries on CompuServe. Consequently, they are a little harder to locate. Some examples (1993): Abacus Online - Quarterly newsletter on executive computing. (In the Lotus Spreadsheet forum, Library 3.) Communique - The quarterly newsletter of the International Association of Business Communicators U.K. Chapter. (PR and Marketing Forum, Library 8.) Hint: To find newsletters in the IBM PC oriented forums, enter GO IBMFF to search. Select "Keyword" as search criteria, and enter "newsletter". Add further keywords to narrow the search to your areas of interest. CompuServe also has other file find services. Databases and forums with an international orientation ------------------------------------------------------ Information Access provides reference databases to businesses. You can search 10 databases with full-text stories, abstracts, and indexes from international magazines. PROMPT (Overview of Markets and Technology) is the largest of them. It provides international coverage of companies, markets and technologies in all industries. The other databases cover areas like Aerospace and Defense, Advertising and Marketing, New Product Announcements, Industry Forecasts and Time Series. The Information Access' databases are available through online services like Dialog, Data Star, Financial Times Profile (England), Nikkei in Japan and on the Thomson Financial Networks. They are regularly published on CD- ROM. ZiffNet offers the Business Database Plus through CompuServe. You can search in full-text stories from around 550 North American and international publications for industry and commerce (1993). The articles are about sales and marketing ideas, product news, industry trends and analyses, and provide company profiles in areas such as agriculture, manufacturing, retailing, telecommunications, and trade. This is a partial list of the database's magazines: Agribusiness Worldwide, Air Cargo World, Beverage World, Beverage World Periscope Edition, Business Perspectives, CCI-Canmaking & Canning International, CD-ROM Librarian, Chain Store Age - General Merchandise Trends, Coal & Synfuels Technology, Communication World, Communications Daily, Communications International, Consultant, Cosmetic World News, Dairy Industries International, Direct Marketing, Financial Market Trends, Financial World, Food Engineering International, Forest Industries, Gas World, Graphic Arts Monthly, The Printing Industry, High Technology Business, International Trade Forum, Investment International, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Marketing Research, Medical World News, OECD Economic Outlook, The Oil and Gas Journal, Oilweek, Petroleum Economist, Plastics World, Purchasing World, Restaurant-Hotel Design International, Seafood International, Supermarket Business Magazine, Training: the Magazine of Human Resources Development, World Economic Outlook, World Oil. The International Reports financial newsletter may be read and searched on NewsNet, Information Access, and Mead Data Central. NewsNet also has the Weekly International Market Alert. Use CompuServe's Consumer Report to spot trends in the consumer markets for appliances, automobiles, electronics/cameras, home. EventLine (IQuest, CompuServe) monitors international conferences, exhibitions, and congresses. The Boomer Report concentrates on the habits of the "the baby- boom generation." CompuServe's Global Crisis Forum has message sections covering the xUUSR, The Balkans, Baltic Republics, The Old East Bloc, The Middle East, Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq, and Worldwide Business. The IPE mailing list is for the discussion of international political economy. Topics include NAFTA, regional trading blocs, trade regimes, international debt, long cycles, historical world systems, EEC, currency and market crises, democracy and governance in Latin and South America, Africa and Asia, commodity negotiations. To subscribe, send the command "Sub IPE" to: mailserv@csf.colorado.edu . CitiBank Global Report on CompuServe provides detailed information on worldwide economic issues, real-time foreign-exchange, fixed-income rates, country profiles, company profiles, and activity on the international bond markets. The Business Dateline contains news from more than 150 regional business publications in the United States and Canada. If you have a niche market, chances are that the Predicast newsletters cover it (Dow Jones). The ABI/Inform business database (UMI/Data Courier) contains abstracts and full-text articles from 800 business magazines and trade journals. Includes the World Bank Research Observer. Market research reports from Frost & Sullivan are available through Data- Star. It produces over 250 market reports each year, in 20 industrial sectors. These reports cover results of face-to-face interviews with manufacturers, buyers and trade association executives, supplemented by a search and summary of secondary sources. Internet users can access hundreds of sources of current government information from around the world -- Census data, Supreme Court decisions, world health statistics, company financial reports, weather forecasts, United Nations information, daily U.S. White House press briefings and much more. A list is available by anonymous ftp to una.hh.lib.umich.edu . Change to the inetdirsstacks directory and get government:gumprecht . You can also get it by gopher to una.hh.lib.umich.edu . Select: inetdirs / guides on the social sciences / government... "Business Sources on the Net" (BSN) is an information guide organized by subject. Each section is a separate file, available via anonymous ftp to KSUVXA.KENT.EDU in the Library Directory. BSN is also available via gopher to refmac.kent.edu 70 under its full name. It offers pointers to sources for economics, national statistics, economic trends, corporate finance and banking, human resources and personnel management, management science, accounting, and more. InterBEX (Business Exchange) provides Internet users with free, selective business information related to various industries, products, professional services, and financial markets. Access is free to all Internet users and information consumers. Delivery by email. Information providers can have product and informational e-text distributed through InterBEX on individually negotiated terms. Email: feedback@intnet.bc.ca . The Research Libraries Group, Inc. (U.S.A.) offers access to a large bibliographic database with over 22 million titles. The special-interest databases in this collection includes the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, History of Science and Technology, and World Law Index: Index to Hispanic Legislation. For more information, write Brian Keyes (bl.sal@rlg.stanford.edu). The Company Corporation is an on-line incorporation service. Gopher to server1.service.com . On Usenet, check out the biz and clari.biz hierarchies of newsgroups for leads (biz = business postings). International Business Practices is full text of a U.S. Department of Commerce reference work that provides overviews of import regulations, free trade zones, foreign investment policy, intellectual property rights, tax laws and more in 117 countries. Gopher to umslvma.umsl.edu . Select: the library / government information. "The Legal List" is a consolidated list of all of the law-related resources available on the Internet and elsewhere. It is available by anonymous FTP from ftp.midnight.com as pub/LegalList/legallist.txt . United Nations (UN) has a gopher at gopher.undp.org . It carries UN DPI Press Releases, General Assembly, Security Council and ECOSOC resolutions, and more. People with access to Internet email only can use United Nation's gophermail gateway. Send a message to gopher@undp.org (subject and contents irrelevant) for instructions. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a gopher at gopher.who.ch . For more information on international organizations, point your gopher at consultant.micro.umn.edu . Select Information about Gopher / Other gophers and Information Servers / International Organizations. The UNICEF gopher is at hqfaus01.unicef.org . Africa ------ NewsNet has several interesting newsletters Africa Intelligence Report Africa News On-Line Country Risk Guides: Sub-Saharan Africa Country Risk Guides: Mid-East & North Africa Investext: African Region Monthly Regional Bulletin - Southern Africa, PRS-Forecasts: Mid-East & North Africa PRS-Forecasts: Sub-Saharan Africa Usenet has soc.culture.african Discussions about Africa & things African. clari.world.africa Translated reports from Africa. soc.culture.maghreb North African society and culture. clari.news.hot.somalia News from Somalia. bit.tech.africana Information Technology and Africa. The bit.tech.africana newsgroup is also on the AFRICANA mailing list. Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@WMVM1.CC.WM.EDU . The SUDAN-L mailing list (on LISTSERV@emuvm1.cc.emory.edu) is the place to find information and sources of information about Sudan. PeaceNet's World News Service offers an Africa digest with coverage from the Inter Press Service (IPS). Write to pwn-info@igc.apc.org for more information. You may also want to check out the Fourth World Documentation Project at gopher fir.cic.net . Select: Politics / Fourth.World . African Census data is available from the gopher at lexis.pop.upenn.edu . CompuServe's International Trade Forum has the Africa/Middle East message section. For more sources on Africa, gopher consultant.micro.umn.edu . Select Information about Gopher / Other gophers and Information Servers / Africa. Japan ----- The JAPAN mailing list (on LISTSERV@PUCC) is a forum for the discussion of Japanese business, industry, and economic systems. The AJBS-L mailing list (at the same LISTSERV) is for people interested in the Japanese economy and business systems. The QUALITY mailing list (on LISTSERV@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU) is for Total Quality Management (TQM) in Manufacturing & Service Industries. The topics for discussion include JIT, ISO 9000, Deming and JIS (the latter two are Japanese Quality Standards). Check out the mailing list's archive for files of interest. Orbit has an English language database of Japanese technology. It contains abstracts of articles, patents and standards from more than 500 Japanese magazines. Reuters offers the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's best-selling daily newspaper. Tradstat (Data-Star/Dialog) offers Japanese import and export statistics. Dow Jones News/Retrieval brings full-text stories from the Japan Economic Newswire (Kyodo News International), which covers Japanese company, industry and financial markets; government, defence and science news. Dow Jones also brings full-text stories from over 70 other international publications including New Era Japan, New Food Products in Japan, New Materials Japan, and PDS's Japan Auto Industry Survey, Power Asia. Business Database Plus (CompuServe) has IDC Japan Report, Inc., Japan Economic Newswire, and Kyodo. CompuServe's Japan Forum has a Business & Industry section, and more. You may also find information about Japan in the International Forum. NewsNet has the following newsletters and services: Comline Japan Daily: Biotechnology Comline Japan Daily: Computers Comline Japan Daily: Electronics Comline Japan Daily: Industry Automation Comline Japan Daily: Telecommunications Comline Japan Daily: Transportation Daily Japan Digest (business briefings) Japan Computer Industry Scan Japan Consumer Electronics Scan Japan Economic Institute (JEI) Report Japan Energy Scan Japan Policy and Politics Japan Semiconductor Scan Japan Science Scan Japan Transportation Scan Japan Weekly Monitor Japanese Telecommunications Scan Jiji Press Ticker Service Kyodo News Service New Era: Japan Tokyo Financial Wire The Investext database has English language profiles of thousands of Japanese companies sourced from Teikou, Japan's largest business credit agency. Usenet has comp.research.japan The nature of research in Japan. (Moderated) Kompass Online (Mead International Company) has information about Japanese companies. NEXIS, Dialog, NiftyServe, PC-VAN, and G-Search have the Teikoku Databank, which contains directory and income information about over one million Japanese firms (1994). Also, see CERN's WWW Virtual Library, PeaceNet's World News Service below, and gopher gan.ncc.go.jp Middle East ----------- The Middle East News Network publishes daily news, analysis and comments from 19 countries in the Middle East produced by Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish and Persian press. You can read these news through Reuters (e.g., on NewsGrid/CompuServe), Down Jones News/Retrieval, and Information Access. The Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence provides a monthly newsletter with research of the Arab press. It has unedited quotes from around the Arab world. Write LISTSERV@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il to subscribe (Command: sub arab-press Firstname Lastname). Here is one example: SAUDI ARABIA Al-Sherook, United Arab Emirates, 25 March 1993; Al-Iqtisa'adia, London, 16 March 1993. Summary of two reports on Saudi oil resources. Saudi Arabia's oil revenues grew from $24 billion in 1989 to $40 billion in 1992. They are expected to rise further in 1993. Saudi economic growth appears to be assured for the next few years. Saudi authorities reported a discovery of oil in the area of Medin, west of Tabuk. The extent and quality of this oil field will be investigated. Note: This area is relatively close to the Red Sea and much closer to Israel than the main oil deposits of the Gulf. A major oil discovery here could lead to the transfer of additional military forces to this area. Usenet has soc.culture.afghanistan Discussion of the Afghan society. soc.culture.arabic Technological & cultural issues, *not* politics. soc.culture.iranian Discussions about Iran and things Iranian/Persian. soc.culture.lebanon Discussion about things Lebanese. soc.culture.israel Israel and Israelis. Business Database Plus (CompuServe) has Israel Business, MEED Middle East Economic Digest, Middle East Agribusiness. NewsNet has the following newsletters and services: Mid-East Business Digest Middle East Intelligence Report Kompass Online has information about companies in Israel. Telnet to vms.huji.ac.il and login as mop for access to WAIS information about Israeli companies' R&D projects. Write LISTSERV@MATIMOP.ORG.IL to subscribe to the MOP-flash mailing list. It brings announcements from MOP - Israel Industry R&D Information System. The announcements include new items added to MOP's gopher; new mailing lists established; updates on descriptions of R&D Projects (Advanced Technologies from Israel); new bilateral projects being carried out by MATIMOP (The Israeli Industry Center for Research and Development). The Israeli Industry Center for Research and Development has a gopher at gopher.matimop.org.il 70 . The Israel Information Service gopher is at gopher israel-info.gov.il (some documents are in French and Spanish). You can also get information about Israel by email to ask@israel-info.gov.il CompuServe's International Trade Forum has an Africa/Middle East section. Other countries in Asia and the Pacific --------------------------------------- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute Daily Report: Full text of a daily digest of the latest developments in Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Gopher to gopher.lib.umich.edu. Select: news services . Dialog's ASIA-PACIFIC DATABASE covers business and economics in Asia and the Pacific. It contains over 80,000 references from newspapers, magazines and other sources in North America and international. The Asia-Pacific Dun's Market Identifiers on Dialog is a directory listing of about 250,000 business establishments in 40 Asian and Pacific Rim countries. CHINA IMPORT/EXPORT NEWS is a weekly newsletter of international business information regarding import/export to/from China and the Pacific Rim. The newsletter is distributed by the mailing list CHINA-LINK. Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@IFCSS.ORG . A WWW service for the Chinese community exists at http://www.edu.tw/ . Most of the local texts support Chinese BIG5 only. You can also telnet to WWW.edu.tw and login as www . After login, if you do not know how to read Chinese BIG5, select 'READ THIS DOCUMENT' to browse. NewsNet has the following newsletters and services: Asian Aviation News Asian Economic News Asian Political News AsiaPacific Space Report China Intelligence Report Country Risk Guide: Asia & The Pacific Investext: Asian Region PRS Forecasts: Asia & The Pacific Telenews Asia Xinhua English Language News Service Inter Press Service International (IPS) provides regular updates on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and ASEAN. The ELC file on LEXIS/NEXIS contains financial and marketing information on some 9,000 Southeast Asian corporations (1993). Kompass Online (Mead International Company) has information about companies in Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, India, Singapore, and Taiwan. To join CORMOSEA (Committee on Research Materials on Southeast Asia), send a subscription request to Kent Mulliner . PeaceNet's World News Service offers a Southeast Asia digest. It includes coverage from the Inter Press Service (IPS) on Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Cambodia, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, The People's Republic of China, Malaysia and the region as a whole. For information, send email to pwn-info@igc.apc.org . The TIBET-L mailing list is for discussion on issues relating to Tibet and the Tibetan people. Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@IUBVM.BITNET . The BERITA-L list (on LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU) carries news (only) about Malaysia, Singapore, Islam, and also of other ASEAN countries when of interest to Malaysians or Singaporeans. Since the topics are somewhat unrelated, MY, SG and IS topics have been set up so that subscribers can avoid uninteresting postings (selective reading). The ABI/Inform business database (UMI/Data Courier) contains abstracts and full-text articles from the Asia Pacific Journal of Management, and Business Korea. Usenet has misc.news.southasia News from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, etc. soc.culture.bangladesh Issues & discussion about Bangladesh. alt.culture.karnataka Culture and language of the Indian state of Karnataka. alt.india.progressive Progressive politics in the Indian sub-continent. bit.listserv.india-d India Interest Group. soc.culture.indian Group for discussion about India & things Indian. soc.culture.indian.info Info group for soc.culture.indian, etc. soc.culture.indian.telugu The culture of the Telugu people of India. soc.culture.nepal Discussion of people and things in & from Nepal. soc.culture.sri-lanka Things & people from Sri Lanka. bit.listserv.pakistan Pakistan News Service. bit.listserv.pns-l Pakistan News Service Discussions. soc.culture.pakistan Topics of discussion about Pakistan. soc.culture.china About China and Chinese culture. talk.politics.china Discussion of political issues related to China. soc.culture.hongkong Discussions pertaining to Hong Kong. alt.taiwan.republic Like soc.culture.taiwan, only different. soc.culture.taiwan Discussion about things Taiwanese. alt.culture.indonesia Indonesian culture, news, etc. soc.culture.indonesia All about the Indonesian nation. soc.culture.malaysia All about Malaysian society. soc.culture.singapore The past, present and future of Singapore. soc.culture.vietnamese Issues and discussions of Vietnamese culture. bit.listserv.seasia-l Southeast Asia Discussion List. misc.news.southasia News from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, etc. soc.culture.korean Discussions about Korea & things Korean. soc.culture.laos Cultural and Social Aspects of Laos. soc.culture.australian Australian culture and society. soc.culture.new-zealand Discussion of topics related to New Zealand. A list of Australian mailing lists is available on gopher.gu.edu.au . Select: Directory Services \ Ozlists . CompuServe has the Australian/New Zealand Company Library, the Japan/Asia message section of the International Forum, the Asia/OZ/NZ and the Africa/Middle East sections of the International Trade Forum. Also, check out the Pacific Forum. Textile Asia and Bisnis Indonesia are two sources among many available through the Globalbase database, which offers around 350 trade journals, newspapers, and business magazines spanning 40 countries (1993). On Data- Star (Label EBUS), Dialog (File 583), FT Profile (Label INF), and others. Tradstat has import and export statistics on Hong Kong and Taiwan. For more sources on Asia, gopher consultant.micro.umn.edu . Select Information about Gopher / Other gophers and Information Servers / Asia. Other selections include Middle East, and Pacific. The Asian Studies area of the CERN's international directory of networked research and educational resources (WWW Virtual Library) can be accessed via the following URL: http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-AsianStudies.html . It tracks information and research resources (ftp, gopher, wais, www) for Burma, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam. Central and South America ------------------------- NewsNet has these newsletters Brazil Service Country Risk Guide: THE AMERICAS Environment Watch: Latin America Investext: Latin American Region Latin America Intelligence Report Latin America Opportunity Report Latin American Telecom Report Mexico Service. Mexico Trade and Law Reporter PRS Forecasts: South America Dow Jones has Mexico Service, InterAmerican Opportunities, and Latin America Opportunity Report. For South American census data, gopher to lexis.pop.upenn.edu . Tradstat has import and export data on Brazil and Argentina. The Latin American Data Base (LADB) has SourceMex (weekly about Mexico's changing economic environment), Chronicle of Latin American Affairs (weekly reports on trade policy, privatization, monetary policy, and macro-economic figures), and NOTISUR - Latin American Political Affairs (Weekly). This database is available by telnet to ladb.unm.edu (user name and password required), and through Dialog, NewsNet, Dow Jones News/Retrieval, and BRS. PeaceNet's World News Service offers a Latin America and the Caribbean digest with coverage from the Inter Press Service (IPS). The America Latina digest is the Spanish language equivalent. The digests feature regular news from sources like La Agencia Latinoamericana de Informacio'n (ALAI), Third World Network's Revista del Sur, and Tercer Mundo Econo'mico. For information, send email to pwn-info@igc.apc.org . There is a Caribbean Economy mailing list on CARECON@VM1.YORKU.CA . Usenet has clari.world.americas News on the Americas, usually outside the USA and Canada soc.culture.latin-america Topics about Latin-America. soc.culture.argentina All about life in Argentina. soc.culture.brazil Talking about the people and country of Brazil. soc.culture.chile All about Chile and its people. soc.culture.mexican Discussion of Mexico's society. soc.culture.peru All about the people of Peru. soc.culture.uruguay Discussions of Uruguay for those at home and abroad. soc.culture.venezuela Discussion of topics related to Venezuela. RNP - Rede Nacional de Pesquisa (National Research Network) in Brazil has a WWW server at http://www.rnp.br/ with links to most ftp, gopher and WWW servers in Brazil. The Peruvian Scientist Network (Red Cientifica Peruana) has a gopher at gopher.rcp.net.pe . CompuServe's International Trade Forum has a South & Central America message section. For more sources on South America, gopher consultant.micro.umn.edu . Select Information about Gopher / Other gophers and Information Servers / South America. The European Common Market and Central Europe --------------------------------------------- The full text of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union is available through gopher gopher.sunet.se / subject tree / politics . This gopher acts in some sense as a European root gopher server, and keeps a list of all gopher servers in Europe. NewsNet, and others, offer Dun & Bradstreet European Marketing Online. It contains company profiles of around two million European companies. NewsNet also has the following newsletters and services Agence France-Presse International news Aviation Europe Country Risk Guide: Europe Environment Watch: Western Europe European Community: Business Forecast European Media Business & Finance European Venture Capital Journal German Business Scope INVESTEXT/European Region Market: Europe News From France Northern Ireland News Service Opportunities Briefing: Central Europe PRS Forecasts: Western Europe The Week In Germany West Europe Intelligence Report For news from France, you can also gopher to gopher.tc.umn.edu . Look in the "News" directory: "French Language Press Review." The UK Company Library on CompuServe has financial information about more than 1.2 million British companies from sources like Extel Cards, ICC British Co. Directory and Kompass UK. ZiffNet's Business Database Plus has Market Research Europe. The ELC file on LEXIS/NEXIS contains financial and marketing information on some from 45,000 European corporations (1993). NEXIS also has La Vie Francaise, a French-language weekly magazine on business and investments. La Stampa, the third largest newspaper in Italy, is available in full text. While the language is Italian, indexing by subject and type is provided in English as well. Tradstat (on Data-Star/Dialog) has import and export trade statistics on all major European countries collected by European national statistical agencies and international bodies. For economics, check out the gopher at netec.mcc.ac.uk. Select Economics to get access to BibEc (bibliography of working research papers), and WoPEc (a collection of working papers). Dow Jones News/Retrieval offers full text from Wall Street Journal Europe, Agence France-Presse, the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, the Guardian, and others from the United Kingdom. Data-Star offers Tenders Electronic Daily, a database of European Community contract offers. Its Textline is an excellent source of information about European companies. Investext offers a series of bulletins authored by Europe Information Service (EIS): European Report (biweekly), Tech Report (Monthly), Transport Europe (monthly), Europe Environment (bimonthly), European Energy (bimonthly), European Social Policy (monthly), and Multinational Service (monthly). Investext is available through Data-Star, Lexis/Nexis, Dialog, Dow Jones News/Retrieval, NewsNet, and others. It has compiled more than 500,000 analyses of 21,000 companies in 54 industries, developed by nearly 300 of the world's leading brokerage houses, investment banks, and consulting firms. The German Company Library (on CompuServe) offers information about some 48,000 German companies from databases like Credit Reform and Hoppenstedt's Directory of German Companies. Its European Company Library contains information about over two million companies in the area. Nexis (Mead Data Central International) brings news and background information about companies and the different countries in Europe. Their Worldwide Companies database contains company profiles, balance sheets, income statements, and other financial data on the largest companies in 40 countries. Nexis also has Hoppenstedt German Trade Associations directory, four more newsletters from the Europe Information Service: Europe Energy, Europe Environment, Transport Europe and European Insight, a weekly brief on European Community-related happenings. Need newspapers not published in English? Nexis carries Le Monde (in French), Suddeutsche Zeitung (in German), and La Stampa (in Italian). They have The Agence France Presse wire service in French. Data-Star has Il Sole 24 Ore, L'Impresa, and Il Mundo Economica in Italian, and the Belgian newspaper De Financieel Ekonomische Tijd (in Flemish). In its Swiss News Agency wire service, you have a choice of French or German. The Dutch language Internet newspaper InterNetKrant brings news from the Netherlands at gopher ohrid.cca.vu.nl . News about Flanders and Belgium in Dutch is available from Rijksuniversiteit Gent. For information about how to subscribe, send a empty mail message to msr@elis.rug.ac.be, with the word HELP in the subject line. The IR-POL mailing list on LISTSERV@IRLEARN.UCD.IE is for discussion of current Irish politics. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute Daily Report offers full text of a daily digest of the latest developments in Central Europe. Gopher to gopher.lib.umich.edu and select: news services. LEXIS (also Mead) has databases with information about English and French law, and other law material from Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland and North America. Their Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory has information on over 700,000 lawyers and law firms worldwide. The directory can be used for referrals, selection of associate counsel, and evaluation of competitive counsel. Check out KOMPASS EUROPE when planning exports to the EEC. Its database contains details about companies in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Norway. (On Dialog) Try GENIOS for more on Germany. ILINK has the EEC-I conference (Discussion about the European Common Market). Profile offers full-text searches (and a clipping service) in stories from Financial Times. The database is being updated daily at 00:01. Those exporting to the EEC need to master German, French, Italian, and Spanish besides having a working knowledge of English. Conversation is the easy part. The problem is writing, and especially when the task is to translate technical expressions to the languages used within the Common Market. For help, check out the Eurodicautom online dictionary through ECHO (and others.) Start by selecting a source language (like English), and up to seven languages for simultaneous translation. The translation is word-for- word, but may be put in the correct context if required. ECHO also offers the European Commission's CORDIS database (Community Research and Development Information Service) containing information about research results within scientific and technical fields. Keywords: Race, Esprit, Delta, Aim, Fast, Brite, Comett, Climat, Eclair and Tedis. CONCISE (COsine Network's Central Information Service for Europe) is a pan- European information service to the COSINE scientific and industrial research community. COSINE (Cooperation for Open Systems Interconnection Networking in Europe) is part of the European Common Market's Eureka project. CONCISE brings information about the COSINE project, networks, conferences, networking products, special interest groups, projects databases, directories, email services and other networked services in Europe. It is intended for researchers in all fields, from astronomers through linguists and market researchers to zoologists. CONCISE is accessible by email through the Internet, by FTP, and interactively (telnet) over the European academic and research networks, over public data networks and over telephone links. (See ECHO in appendix 1 for more information.) The mailing list EC@INDYCMS.BITNET is dedicated to discussion of the European Community, and is open to all interested persons. Subscribe by email to a LISTSERV close to where you live, or to LISTSERV@INDYCMS.BITNET. Business Database Plus has Agra Europe, Belgium: Economic and Commercial Information, British Plastics & Rubber, British Telecom World, The Economist, Erdol und Kohle, Erdgas, Petrochemie: Hydrocarbon Technology, EuroBusiness, Euromoney, Europe 2000, European Cosmetic Markets, European Rubber Journal, Report on the Austrian Economy, Royal Bank of Scotland Review, swissBusiness. Data from the Vienna Stock market (Austria) is available by telnet to fiivs01.tu-graz.ac.at (login as "BOURSE"). The language is German. Usenet has alt.culture.austrian You'll find more Austrians in soc.culture.austria. soc.culture.austria Austria and its people. soc.culture.french French culture, history, and related discussions. soc.culture.netherlands People from the Netherlands and Belgium. soc.culture.portuguese Discussion of the people of Portugal. soc.culture.spain Spain and the Spanish. CompuServe has a European Forum. Its message sections include the European Question, the Italian Section, the French Section, and the Spanish Section. The International Forum has the Europe/UK/EEC message Section, and the International Trade Forum has a European Community section. Globalbase has Nouvel Economiste among its many offerings. Questel offers access to 250,000 logos and images of French trademarks (1993), and patent information from several European countries. Dialog, Orbit, and STN are also great sources for patents data. For more sources on Europe, gopher gopher.sunet.se . Select "#Information about gopher/," and get directly connected to Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Scandinavia ----------- Most countries have several local language news services. In Norway, Statens Datasentral lets you search stories from the NTB news agency. Aftenposten, a major newspaper, offers full-text stories from their A-TEKST database, from Dagens Naeringsliv (DNX), and the Kapital magazine. The NORWAVES mailing list distributes digested news from Norway (in English). Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@NKI.NO using the command "SUBSCRIBE NORWAVES Your Name". Before meeting with people from Norsk Hydro, go online to get recent news about these companies. It will only take a couple of minutes. What you find may be important for the success of your meeting. If you know the names of your most important competitors, use their names as keywords for information about recent contracts, joint venture agreements, products (and their features), and other important information. KOMPASS ONLINE offers information about over 180,000 companies and 34,000 products in Scandinavia, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, and Great Britain. The information is presented in the local language of the different countries. KOMPASS is used by easy menus. You can search by * company name * product or service (optionally using an industry classification code for companies or products) * number of employees, type of business, postal number, telephone area code, export area, year of incorporation, bank affiliation. The database is available through Affaersdata (Sweden). New users pay a one time fee of around US$85. Searching costs around US$3.00 per minute. Affaersdata in Sweden also offers the Swedish-language service "Export- Nytt," which brings short news stories about export/import from all over the world. Information providers are the Swedish Export Council, the Norwegian Export Council, and the Suomen Ulkomaankauppaliitto in Finland. The TYR database on the Finnish service VIEXPO (tel.: +358 67 235100) offers information about 2,500 companies in the Vaasa and Oulu regions with addresses, phone numbers, contact persons, main products, revenues, and SIC industry classification codes. CompuServe's European Forum has a Nordic message section. The International Trade Forum has the NonEEC Europe & CIS section. Business Database Plus has The Finnish Trade Review. Data-Star has trademarks and applications for Denmark, Norway and Finland in their Imsmarq database. For more on Scandinavia, gopher gopher.sunet.se . Select "#Information about gopher/," and browse the entries for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. North America ------------- There are so many sources focusing on North America, and we have already mentioned several. This section is therefore kept intentionally short. Usenet has clari.canada.biz Canadian Business Summaries. clari.canada.general Short items on Canadian News stories. clari.canada.gov Government related news (all levels). clari.canada.law Crimes, the courts and the law. clari.canada.newscast Regular newscast for Canadians. clari.canada.politics Political and election items. clari.canada.trouble Mishaps, accidents and serious problems. clari.news.canada News related to Canada. misc.invest.canada Investing in Canadian financial markets. soc.culture.canada Discussions of Canada and its people. clari.biz.market.amex American Stock Exchange reports & news. As of February 1994, there were more than 100 selections in the listing of publicly accessible U.S. Government Gophers and U.S. Government supported or related gophers. Gopher to peg.cwis.uci.edu port 7000 , and select peg / gophers/ gov . The National Technical Information Service provides access to more than 100 U.S. Government operated bulletin boards and online systems. Access: telnet fedworld.gov . Information is also available by anonymous ftp to ftp.fedworld.gov (or 192.239.92.205). Free listings of patents are available from patents-request@world.std.com . Statistics Canada is the country's national statistical agency. Its Gopher is at talon.statcan.ca port=70 (142.206.64.2). The Commercial.RealEstate@data-base.com mailing list is for commercial real estate professionals involved in sales, acquisitions, management and development of commercial property. Receive and send property for sale, ask/answer questions, send Press Releases, receive editorial material and do general "networking." To subscribe, send email and your Internet address to Commercial.RealEstate@data-base.com . Information on NAFTA is available from numerous sites, including gopher wiretap.spies.com (under North American Free Trade Agreement). For more sources on North America, gopher consultant.micro.umn.edu . Select Information about Gopher / Other gophers and Information Servers / North America. xUSSR ----- Glasnost in the former Soviet Union produced a long list of new online information sources, including: The Soviet Press Digest (stories from over 100 newspapers), The BizEkon Reports (financial news from 150 business and financial magazines), SovLegisLine (law), BizEdon Directory (detailed information about over 2,500 companies that want to do business with foreign companies), Who's Who in the Soviet Union and The Soviet Public Association Directory. Some of these may have changed their names now. Contact Mead Data Central (Nexis/Lexis), Data-Star, FT Profile and Reuters for more information. DJNR offers full text from Soviet Press Digest, BizEkon News, Moscow News, and others. E-EUROPE is an electronic communications network for doing business in Eastern Europe countries, including CIS. Its purpose is to help these countries in their transition to market economies. It links business persons in Western Europe-Asia-North America with those in Eastern Europe. Subscription is free and for anyone. To subscribe to E-EUROPE, send email LISTSERV@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU (or a LISTSERV closer to you) with the body the message containing this line SUB E-EUROPE YourFirstName YourLastName E-EUROPE has a service offering distribution of faxes by anonymous ftp. It also offers International Marketing Insights (IMI) for several countries in this region, including Russia, Hungary, Czech, Germany, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Lithuania. The IMI reports important developments that have implications for traders and investors. Typically brief and to-the-point, they are prepared by American Embassies and Consulates. The reports cover a wide range of subjects, such as new laws, policies and procedures, new trade regulations, changing dynamics in the marketplace, recent statements by influential parties and emerging trade opportunities. For a list of E-EUROPE IMI offerings, send the following commands to LISTSERV@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU: GET E-EUROPE IMI IMI update notices are not posted to E-EUROPE, but you can subscribe to updates to these files. Telnet to ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu and login as ex-ussr to access a database of xUSSR-related files. There is a Russia-American World Wide Web Server at the URL locator: http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/friends/home.html . If you do not have a WWW browser, telnet to solar.rtd.utk.edu . At the login: prompt, enter friends. Send a subscription request to LISTPROC@SOLAR.RTD.UTK.EDU to join a related moderated mailing list called FRIENDS. The EKONOMIKA mailing list on LISTSERVER@PUB.VSE.CZ is about Czech economy. The language is primarily Czech, but English is accepted too. PeaceNet's World News Service offers an Eastern Europe (including Russia and the CIS) digest with coverage from the Inter Press Service (IPS). For information, contact pwn-info@igc.apc.org . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute Daily Report offers full text of a daily digest of the latest developments in Russia, and Eastern Europe. Gopher to gopher.lib.umich.edu . Select: news services. The Financial Izvestia weekly, the joint publication of London Financial Times and Moscow-based Izvestia, is available by email. The complete feed includes the full text of all articles published in the Russian language newspaper, and financial and statistical tables on the commodities and financial markets. Write Legpromsyrie at root@sollo.soleg.msk.su for information. Several Russian newspapers, including Commersant Daily, Nega, and press services like Postfactum and Interfax, have digests or complete editions available for Relcom network subscribers, usually for a nominal fee. NewsNet has the following newsletters: Baltic Business Report Czech Republic Business & Investment News East Europe Intelligence Report East Europe & Former Soviet Telecom Report Eastern Europe Finance Eastern European Energy Report Federal News Service Kremlin Transcripts PRS Forecasts: Eastern Europe Russia Express Executive Briefing Russia Express Contracts Russia/CIS Intelligence Report Business Database Plus has Soviet Aerospace & Technology. Usenet has soc.culture.bulgaria Discussing Bulgarian society. alt.current-events.bosnia The strife of Bosnia-Herzegovina. soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna The independent state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. soc.culture.czecho-slovak Bohemian, Slovak, Moravian and Silesian life. soc.culture.croatia The lives of people of Croatia. clari.local.georgia Local news. clari.local.georgia.briefs Local news Briefs. alt.news.macedonia News concerning Macedonia in the Balkan Region. soc.culture.romanian Discussion of Romanian and Moldavian people. relcom.bbs.list Lists of Russian-language BBSes. soc.culture.soviet Topics relating to Russian or Soviet culture. clari.news.hot.ussr News from the Soviet Union. talk.politics.soviet Discussion of Soviet politics, domestic and foreign. alt.culture.tuva Topics related to the Republic of Tuva, South Siberia. alt.current-events.ukraine Current and fast paced Ukrainian events. soc.culture.yugoslavia Discussions of Yugoslavia and its people. CompuServe's International Trade Forum has a NonEEC Europe & CIS message section. For more information on this area, gopher gopher.sunet.se . Select "#Information about gopher/," and browse the entries for Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. How to monitor your competitors ------------------------------- Sales managers need to know what competitors are doing. Lacking this knowledge, it is risky to maneuver in the market. Start by making a strategy for online market intelligence. Here are some practical hints: (1) Select online services that offer clipping of stories and information based on your search words or phrases. Examples: NewsFlash on NewsNet, //TRACK on Dow Jones News/Retrieval, The Executive News Service on CompuServe. Use these services for automatic monitoring of stock quotes and business news. (2) Read what investment analysts and advisors write about your competitors. Most markets are well covered by databases and other sources of information. (3) Read what competitors write about themselves. Their press releases are available from online databases in several countries. (4) Compare your competitors with your own company and industry. Items: stock prices, profits, revenue, etc. (5) Regularly monitor companies and their particular products. (6) Watch trend reports about your industry. Search for patterns and possible niches. (7) Save what you find on your hard disk for future references. Can you get everything through the online media? Of course not! Do not expect to find production data, production formulas, detailed outlines of a company's pension plan, or the number of personal computers in a company. Such information rarely finds its way to public databases. Intelligence by fax ------------------- Financial Times' Profile has Fax Alert. Predefine your interests using search words. Stories will be cut and sent to your personal fax number whenever they appear. Price depends on the number of characters transmitted. Other online services offer similar services. The Bulletin Board as a sales tool ---------------------------------- Many companies - large and small - use bulletin board systems as a marketing instrument. Here is an example: The San Francisco-based Compact Disk Exchange (Tel.: +1-415-824-7603) offers a database of used CD records. Members can call in to buy at very low prices. They can sell old CDs through the board or buy from other members. (1992) Many companies set up bulletin board systems to provide technical support to customers. McAfee Associates, Inc. in California is one example. They offer technical information, help, upgrade software, list of agents, technical bulletins with lists of products, and new products through agents' support BBSes all over the world. For example, when in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago call the Opus Networx BBS at (819) 628-4023. Setting up a professional BBS is not very expensive. You can easily have 32 people online to the same conference simultaneously on a standard 80386- based PC, running Xenix and Caucus conferencing software. This is what the Washington Information Service Corp. in U.S.A. did. There's an abundance of software to choose from. To keep in touch with customers all over the world, Microsoft, Toshiba, Quarterdeck, Digital Research, Tandy, Novell and hundreds of others rent public support forum space on CompuServe. Others run their own BBSes or rent space on regional bulletin boards. Marketing and sales by modem ---------------------------- The Americans have a gift for this. You meet them in online forums all over the world, in person or through agents, and especially in computer oriented conferences and clubs. Their main strategy is reference selling. Make key customers happy, and make sure they tell others. In Chapter 5, I told you what happened when a member wrote about his upgrade to a 425 megabytes hard disk in CompuServe's Toshiba forum. It made me place my order with his preferred seller. One common sales strategy is to be constantly present in relevant conferences, and spend a generous amount of time helping others. This takes time. By proving competence and willingness to help, you build a positive personal profile. This profile is the key to business, information about competitors and other benefits. To drop quickly into a conference to post an "advertisement," is a waste of time. The message may be read by some, but chances are that you will be criticized (in public) for having "polluted their environment" with a commercial message. On the Internet, it is considered inappropriate to send out unsolicited information. Besides, the volume of information in the best conferences for your marketing effort is probably too great to make traditional advertisements worthwhile. When you send out commercial information, preface it with a concise summary, which can be followed-up with more detail if requested. Also, make sure that the information provided is of significant value. Where to send press releases in a global economy? Subscribe to the media list service to get updates to those sacred email addresses . Send email to majordomo@world.std.com containing the text "subscribe medialist". International trade ------------------- Check out the International Trade Forum on CompuServe. Message areas and libraries are divided into geographical parts of the world, as well as topic of general interest. Separate message sections are set up for traders to network among themselves and make contacts that may lead to deals. The International Trade Network is on the IntlTrade mailing list. It is for advertisements of exports, imports, services, and direct investments. Trade advertisements may be posted gratis by anyone, and are relayed worldwide by email to subscribers in a daily digest. For information, send email to majordomo@world.std.com with the following in the body of the text (leave the subject blank): INFO INTLTRADE Management ---------- The Management Archive is a free electronic forum for business management ideas and information of all kinds. Complete details are available by e- mail message to "ma-request@chimera.sph.umn.edu," with "Subject: archive" and a one-line message: GET MA-INFO Electronic mail --------------- Here is a list of other useful applications of electronic mail: * to quickly distribute lists of important prospects to your sales force, * to avoid lengthy telephone conversations, * to receive order information faster and more efficiently than by traditional mail or fax (and from a larger geographical area), * to distribute quickly reports and memos to key people all over the world, * to send new prices and product announcements to customers, * to exchange spread sheets and analyses between users of personal computers. If this isn't enough, ask for information from the International Business Network at 70724.311@compuserve.com (70724,311 on CompuServe). PART 3: WORKING SMARTER In some countries, the costs of communication is outrageously high, in others almost free. In some places, it is rare to experience noise on the telephone line, while it may be almost impossible even to connect at 2400 bits/s in other countries. Whatever your local situation, I hope that you will benefit from the hints given in this part of the book. Chapter 12: Practical tips ========================== - Quick transfers with a minimum of errors - Rescuing lost files - Copyright and other legal matters - Unwritten laws about personal conduct - Privacy - Fax services weigh less than your printer - File transfers through the Internet - Using email gateways to Internet resources Speed and safety ---------------- Read about MNP, ITU-TSS V.42, and V.42bis in appendix 2. These are popular methods for automatic error correction and compression of data. Compression gives faster transfers of data. To use them, your modem must have these features built-in. They must also be enabled in the modem of the service that you are calling. Compression is particularly helpful when sending or receiving text, for example news stories and messages in conferences. They ensure faster transfers. They are not of much help when transferring precompressed texts and programs. They may even make file transfers with protocols like ZMODEM, Kermit, and XMODEM impossible. If this happens, temporarily turn off the MNP and V.24/V42bis settings in your modem (more about this in appendix 2). Some online services let users retrieve conference messages using a special get or grab function. This function often comes in two versions: * Grab to display: New messages and conference items are received in an uninterrupted stream without stops between items. Retrieval of text can happen at maximum speed. * Grab to compressed file: New messages and conference items are selected, automatically compressed and stored in a file. This file is then transferred using ZMODEM or similar protocols. Some services offer unattended online work with a variation of the "get compressed file" method. Read about 'offline readers' in chapter 16 for more about this. The more advanced your software is, the more time it will take to learn how to use it. The rewards are lower telephone costs, faster transfers, and less time spent doing technical online work. Recommended. Different needs, different solutions ------------------------------------ Frank Burns of the American online service MetaNet is spokesperson for the strategy SCAN - FOCUS - ACT. On your first visits to a new online service, you SCAN. The goal is to get an overview of what is being offered and find out how to use it most efficiently. Notes are made of interesting bulletins, databases, conferences, messages, news services, public domain and shareware programs, games, and more. Capture all of it to disk. Don't study it until disconnected from the service. Evaluate the material to prepare for your next moves: FOCUS and ACT. As you learn about offerings, users and applications, your use of the service changes. What was interesting on your first visits, lose out to new discoveries. Some applications may stay as 'regular online functions', like when you decide to read a given news report on Monday mornings. Here are some other hints: * Find out what you do NOT have to know and have enough self- confidence immediately to discard irrelevant material. Walk quickly through the information. Select what you need now, store other interesting items on your hard disk, clip references, and drop the remainder of your capture file. * Learn when and how to use people, computers, libraries and other resources. Prepare well before going online. Note that the online resource may not necessarily be the quickest way to the goal. If you want the name of Michael Jackson's latest album, you may get a faster answer by calling a local music shop. . . . * Make an outline of how to search the service before going online. If required, start by going online to collect help menus and lists of search commands (unless you already have the printed user information manual). Study the instructions carefully, plan your visit, and then call back. Often, it may be useful to do trial searches in online data, which you have previously captured to your hard disk. Do this to check if your use of search words is sensible. Who knows, you may even have what you are searching for right there. Besides, it is imperative that you use the correct search terms to find what you are looking for. Write your search strategy on a piece of paper. If you know how to write macros for your communications program, consider writing some for your planned search commands. - Few people can type 240 characters per second. Using macros may save you time, frustration and money. * It may be wise to do your search in two steps. On your first visit: Get a LIST of selected headlines or references, and then log off the service. Study your finds, and plan the next step. Then call back to get full-text of the most promising stories. This strategy is often better than just 'hanging online' while thinking. When you feel the pressure of the taximeter, it is easy to make costly mistakes. * Novices should always go the easiest way. Don't be shy. Ask SOS Assistance services for help, if available. Invest in special communication programs with built in automatic online searching features. They are designed to make your work easier. * Limit your search and avoid general and broad search terms. It is often wise to start with a search word that is so 'narrow' that it is unlikely to find articles outside your area of interest. Your goal is not to find many stories. You want the right ones. When everything fails --------------------- Data communications is simple - when you master it. Occasionally, however, you WILL lose data. You may even experience the worst of all: losing unread private email on your hard disk. A while ago, this happened to a friend. She logged on to her mailbox service using the communications program Procomm. After capturing all her mail, she tried to send a message. For some reason, the computer just froze. It was impossible to close the capture file. She had to switch the power OFF/ON to continue. All retrieved mail was obviously lost. The other day, I had a similar experience. After having written a long and difficult letter, something went wrong. The outfile was inexplicably closed. The resulting file size was 0 bytes. Both problems were solved by the MS-DOS program CHKDSK run with the /F option. If you ever get this problem, and have an MS-DOS computer, try it. It may save your day. Copyright notices and legal stuff --------------------------------- Most commercial online services protect their offerings with copyright notices. This is especially so for database information and news. Some vendors make you accept in writing not to store captured data on a local media (like diskettes or hard disks). Others (like Prodigy in the U.S.) force clients to use communication software that makes it impossible to store incoming data to disk. The reason is simple. Information providers want to protect their income. In most countries, you can quote from what others have written. You can cut pieces out of a whole and use in your own writing. What you cannot do, however, is copy news raw to resell to others. If an online service discovers you doing that, expect a law suit. Read copyright notices to learn about the limitations on your usage of data that you receive. Unwritten laws about personal conduct ------------------------------------- Some services let their users be anonymous. This is the case on many chat services. If you want to pose as Donald Duck or Jack the Ripper, just do that. Many free BBS systems let you register for full access to the service during your first visit. It is possible to use any name. Don't do that. Use your true name, unless asked to do otherwise. It's impolite and unrespectful of the other members to participate in online discussions using a false identity. Being helpful is an important aspect of the online world. The people you meet 'there' use of their time to help you and others. Often free. The atmosphere is one of gratitude, and a positive attitude toward all members. If you use rude words in public, expect your mailbox to fill with angry messages from others. Those who respond carefully to personal attacks, will never regret it. Don't say things online that you would not have said in person. REMEMBER: Words written in a moment of anger or frustration can be stored on at least one hard disk. Your 'sins' may stay there for a long time - to resurface when you least want it to. Here are some guidelines (often called 'online netiquette'): * If mail to a person doesn't make it through, avoid posting the message to a conference. Keep private messages private. * It is considered extremely bad taste to post private mail from someone else on public conferences, unless they give you explicit permission to redistribute it. * Many users end their messages with some lines about how to get in touch with them (their email address, phone number, address, etc.). Limit your personal "signature" to maximum four lines. Hint: Do not include a signature when sending commands to TRICKLE, or other email based services. It can confuse the servers. * Do not send test messages to a public conference, unless they are set up to serve this purpose. * If someone requests that readers reply by private email, do that. Do not send to the conference, where the request appeared. * When replying to a message in a public conference, many users 'quote' the original message prefixed by '>' or another special character, as in You wrote: >I strongly believe it was wrong to attack >Fidel Castro in this way! When you quote another person, edit out whatever isn't directly applicable to your reply. By including the entire message, you'll only annoy those reading it. * Note that if you USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, people will think you are shouting. Finally, smile with me about the following story: According to Time magazine (7/19/93, p. 58), three women who corresponded with Mr. X over the network discovered his duplicity and went public on the network. The incident sparked a lively debate over electronic etiquette (and ruined Mr. Casanova's chances for further romance). Fax services weigh less than your computer's printer ---------------------------------------------------- Many online services let you send electronic mail as fax messages. This is an interesting feature when in that far away place without a printer. Send the draft contract or other texts to your hotel's fax machine or to your client's office to get a printout on paper. Privacy ------- The level of online privacy differs by network, service, and application. Whatever these services may claim, always expect that someone, somewhere, is able to watch, even record. All mailbox services have at least one person authorized to access your personal mail box in case of an emergency. Most of the time they not have a right to read it without your permission, but they can. In some countries, mailbox services may let outsiders (like the police) routinely read your private email to check for 'illegal' contents. In this respect, email is not safer than ordinary mail. The good news is that most 'inspectors' and 'sysops' are good, honest people. On the other hand, it is useful to know your situation. It is not safe to send sensitive information (like credit card details) by private electronic mail. True, the probability that an outsider should get hold of and take advantage of such information is small, but it definitely is not 100 percent safe. Encrypt your email to protect sensitive information. Encryption also establishes the identity of the sender of a message, a most useful attribute when financial transactions are involved. Always assume that someone is recording all that is being said in online conferences, chats, and other interactive social gatherings. In chats, anyone using a personal computer as a terminal can log the conversation, or use screen dump just to capture 'interesting parts'. Many PC users can scroll back the screen. They can wait and decide whether to save the conversation in a file until after the conversation has taken place. With these capabilities widely available, users of chats and talk should always assume that their conversations are being recorded. Do not say indiscreet things in small, informal discussions. It may be recorded and reposted under embarrassing circumstances. The program PGP has become the de facto international Internet standard for public key encryption. For more on privacy, check out ETHICS-L@MARIST.BITNET. The files RFC 1113 through 1115 are about 'Privacy enhancements for Internet electronic mail' (see appendix 1 for how to get them). Usenet has alt.privacy (Privacy issues in cyberspace), alt.security.pgp, and comp.society.privacy (Effects of technology on privacy). ILINK has the ENCRYPT conference. The mailing list rsaref-users@rsa.com is about RSA public-key cryptography for use in Internet Privacy-Enhanced Mail (PEM). (Write to rsaref-users- request@rsa.com) File transfers through the Internet ----------------------------------- The Internet is a term used of a network interconnecting hundreds of thousands of computer centers around the world. These centers use different types of hardware and software, and different methods of file transfer. What method to use for file transfers depends on the source host and the type of mailbox computer that you are using. The transfer usually takes place in two steps: 1. Transferring files from a remote data center to your local mailbox host. 2. Transfer from your local mailbox host to your personal computer. Transfer to your local mailbox host ----------------------------------- We will explain the most commonly used method for those who only have access to file transfer by email. This method can be used by everybody. Transferring plain text files is easy. Files with imbedded word processor control codes will often have to be treated as binary files. More about this later. To transfer a text to another user, just send it as an ordinary electronic message. Getting text files from a library on a remote computer is a special case. Often, they can be had by sending a retrieval command (like GET) by email to the remote center. After a while, the file will be sent to your mailbox by email. You can read it like you read other mail. Example: The file MSDOS1 can be retrieved from the KIDART directory on a computer center in North Dakota, U.S.A. It explains how to retrieve binary art files from the KIDLINK project's file libraries. To get the file, send a message to the center's mail forwarding 'agent' at LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU. Use the following command syntax in your text: GET To get the MSDOS1 file, write the following command in the TEXT of your message: GET KIDART MSDOS1 Note that the command has to be put in the body of the mail and not in the subject field. The file will arrive in your mailbox after a while. Also, note that lists of available files are usually available by using an "INDEX " command. To get a list of files in the KIDART directory, add the command "INDEX KIDART" in your message above. Non-LISTSERV libraries may use other retrieval commands. Often, you can get information of what commands to use by sending the word HELP to a mailing service (in the Subject area or in the body of the text). Transferring binary files ------------------------- Users with a direct connection to the Internet usually have access to the FTP command (File Transfer Protocol). If they do, they often prefer FTP for transfers of binary files like computer programs, pictures, sound, and compressed text files. The bad news is that the FTP command is not available to all users of Internet mail. These will have to use "FTP by mail," or other tricks to transfer such files. More about this in a moment. The FTP command gives access to a special file transfer service. It works in the following way: 1. Logon to your local email host and enter 'FTP remote-center-code'. Example: 'ftp 134.129.111.1'. This command will connect you to the center in North Dakota mentioned above. Here, you will be prompted for user name and password. Enter 'anonymous' as user name, and use your real name or email address as password. This way of logging on to retrieve files is called "transfers by anonymous ftp." You can use this method on many hosts on the Internet. 2. When connected to the remote center, you can request transfer of the desired file to your mailbox. Before doing that, you may have to navigate to a given file catalog (cd directory), and tell the host that the transfer is to be binary (bin). Finally, initiate the transfer by entering a "GET file name" command. 3. The file will be transferred to your local mailbox computer at high speed. When the transfer is done, you logoff from the remote center to "get back" to your mailbox computer's prompt line. Now, you can transfer the file to your personal computer using communications protocols like Kermit, XMODEM, ZMODEM or whatever else is available. Binary files transferred as text codes -------------------------------------- If you do not have access to FTP, you must use ordinary email for your binary transfers. Usually, email through the Internet can only contain legal character codes (ASCII characters between number 32 - 126). Most systems cannot transfer graphics or program files directly, since these files normally contain binary codes (which are outside this ASCII character range). The solution is to convert binary files to text codes using a utility program called UUENCODE. The encoded file can be sent by ordinary email, as in this example: From TRICKLE@VM1.NoDak.EDU Fri Aug 16 16:32:37 1991 Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1991 09:31:34 CDT To: opresno@EXTERN.UIO.NO Subject: Part 1/1 SIMTEL20.INF PD: The file PD:SIMTEL20.INF has been uuencoded before being sent. After combining the 1 parts with the mail headers removed, you must run the file through a decode program. ------------ Part 1 of 1 ------------ begin 600 SIMTEL20.INF M6T9I;&4Z(%-)351%3#(P+DE.1B`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("!,87-T(')E M=FES960Z($IU;F4@,C@L(#$Y.3%=#0H-"B`@(%M.;W1E.B!$=64@=&\@9&ES M:6P-"AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH: M&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH: 6&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&AH:&@(Z ` end -------- End of part 1 of 1 --------- When you receive a message with uuencoded text, download it to your personal computer's hard disk. Use an editor to cut out the codes and paste them to an empty work file. Using the example above, the first line in your work file should contain: begin 600 SIMTEL20.INF and the last line should contain end Now, use a utility program called UUDECODE to convert the file back to its binary form (or whatever). More information about uuencoding and uudecoding is given in the MSDOS1 file mentioned above (for MS-DOS computers). It has a detailed explanation, BASIC source code for making the program UUDECODE.COM, and a DEBUG script for those preferring that. Versions of UUDECODE are also available for other types of computers. Transfer of pictures -------------------- Denis Pchelkin in Protvino (Russia) is 11 years old, has two cats and one dog, and has contributed beautiful computer graphics art to the KIDLINK project (1992). The file ART019 in the KIDART catalog of the North Dakota center contains one of his creations. It is a UUENCODEd picture in GIF graphics format. You can retrieve Denis' creation by sending a GET command to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU . Put the following command in the TEXT of your message: GET KIDART ART019 The LISTSERVer will return a message filled with strange uu-codes. We assume that you have already retrieved the MSDOS1 file, and that you have a version of the conversion program. Your next step is uudecoding: Read the message into an editor or a viewing program. Cut and paste the codes to a work file. Keep the original as backup. Use the UUDECODE.COM program to convert ART019 into a GIF formatted file. Now, view the picture with your favorite graphics program. (Or use shareware GIF-viewers like PICEM, VUIMG, and VPIC for MS-DOS computers. These programs are available from CompuServe's IBM forums and other services.) Sending binary files in uuencoded form has weaknesses. One is the lack of automatic error correction when sending/receiving e-mail. Noise on the line can easily distort the picture. File size is another problem. UUENCODEing typically increases file sizes by almost one third. Some mailbox systems restrict the length of individual messages that you can receive, and the file may just be too big. If the uuencoded file gets too big, some services can (or will by default) split it up in parts and then sent separately. Tons of uuencoded public domain and shareware programs are available for retrieval by ordinary email. FTP by email ------------- While some services accept commands like GET KIDART ART019 by email, this is not so with the many so-called FTP libraries. Many of them can only be accessed by FTP. Services exist that will do FTP transfers by email for those not having access to the FTP command. The most popular is at DEC Corporate Research in the U.S. For more information, write a message to one of the following addresses: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com (U.S.A.) ...!decwrl!ftpmail (for UUCP sites) ftpmail@sunsite.unc.edu BITFTP@PUCC (BITNET only) ftpmail@cs.uow.edu.au (Australia) ftpmail@grasp.insa-lyon.fr (European users only) BITFTP@DEARN.BITNET, or BITFTP@vm.gmd.de ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de ftpmail@src.doc.ic.ac.uk bitftp@plearn.bitnet In the TEXT of your message, put the word "HELP" for information. These services will fetch the desired file from the FTP library, uuencode it for email transfer and possibly split large files into several messages, thus helping you around local restrictions on the size of incoming mail messages. Using email gateways to Internet resources ------------------------------------------ Some people use FTPMAIL because it is the only way that they can get these files. Another good reason is to save time. For most users, time is an important consideration. There is connect time (may cost you money), the number of minutes it will take to get a task done (calendar time), and the number of minutes and hours that you must "work" to complete a desired task. If you need to have the task completed by 11:55, then a direct connection to the remote source may be the answer. You may use anonymous ftp, gopher, WWW, telnet, or other interactive methods. Alas, as the number of people using the Internet grows, response time tends to slow down. If you are unlucky, the important file from somewhere may snail towards you at a speed less than 1200 bits per second. Just signing on to a remote telnet site may take minutes. You may have to wait what seems like a small eternity for the next gopher menu to show up. If calendar time is of no concern, look into how to batch process your work. It can save you a lot of waiting time. Above, we mentioned FTPmail, the batch alternative to ftp transfers of files. Archie can be used by email. GopherMail lets you browse Gopher menus by email (see appendix 6). Sure, it may take days to get the desired information, but you will not waste time waiting in front of your display. Being able to batch search what people say on specialized matters is an exciting possibility. Searching LISTSERV log files, and archives of other mailing list systems, has already been discussed (Chapter 7 and 10). How then can you search Usenet newsgroups? Many newsgroups are connected to mailing lists. In some cases, the articles are stored in log files that can be searched. In other cases, you can have selected newsgroup articles sent to you by email. | Some mailing lists will not let you search unless you are a | | subscriber to the given list. However, you may not have the | | capacity to, nor be interested in, reading all the postings.| | You just want those items containing your specific keywords.| | For example, I want to track references to this book. | | The search term "Online World" is likely to give too many | | false hits. Regular searches for the word "Presno" is a | | better search strategy. | | The trick is to adjust your subscription, so that you | | will receive no mail. You can achieve this by sending an | | to the LISTSERV in question containing this command: | | SET NOMAIL | | Now, search whenever you like. | For a list of these newsgroups and their associated mailing lists, send mail to LISTSERV@AMERICAN.EDU containing the line: GET NETGATE GATELIST Another option is LISTSERV@BLEKUL11.BITNET . Send a message containing the command "//NNHELP" for instructions. Add "//NEWSGROUPS" for a current list of available newsgroups. Many of the documents which appear periodically in newsgroups are available by e-mail from mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu. For instructions, send a message with the subject HELP . Several gophers (like gopher.vub.ac.be) offers UseNet news article search. By editing a template GopherMail message, batch searching becomes easy and efficient. The Stanford Netnews Filtering Service (see Chapter 11 for more details) lets you search for recent Usenet articles that are already in the local database on this host. For example, to search for articles related to "information filtering," send an email message to netnews@db.stanford.edu containing the following command in the TEXT of your mail: search information filtering There's a companion service at elib@cs.stanford.edu for filtering computer science technical reports. A search server is also available at URL http://elib.stanford.edu:1082. You can also use WAIS by email. Several newsgroups are available. See appendix 6 for usage details. Chapter 13: Cheaper and better communication ============================================ Packet data services and data transportation services like Tymnet Outdial, Infonet, Internet, and PC Pursuit may help keep costs down. About reducing the cost of using mailing lists. Many users access online services by calling them directly. A lot pay extra for long distance calls to other cities and countries, even when this means inferior transmission quality (like when noise characters degrade the data). Others investigate other routings for their data. One option is the packet data networks. Most countries have Public Data Networks (PDNs) operated by local telecommunications authorities. These services are often cheaper than direct calls for some applications, but more expensive for others. Before using a packet data network, you'll need to establish a "Network User Identification" (NUI) with the PDN carrier. You must also know the Network User Address (NUA) of the hosts that you want to access. In Scandinavia, the local PDNs are called Datapak. In China, it is called CNPAC (or CHINAPAC). They can be accessed by direct local calls or through leased lines. To personal users, direct calls are least expensive. A leased line may be cost efficient when the daily volume is high, like in a company. When you communicate with online services through a PDN, the latter will split your data and bundle it in standard envelopes or 'packets'. Each packet is marked with a code and sent out into the data stream. Based on this code, the packet is routed from computer center to computer center until it reaches its final destination. There, the information will be reassembled into its original form before being handed over to a user or online service. It is almost like traveling by train. The price per packet or traveler is lower than what it costs to rent the whole train for your trip. National telecommunications monopolies were the first to offer packet data services. Their rates were moderately lower than for long distance calls, but it was hard to find the relationship between real costs and prices. This is still the situation in many countries. Throughout the world, efforts to privatize nationwide phone networks continue. In many countries, this has given us some interesting competitors offering attractive rates for similar services. Their rates differ considerably from country to country, as does the quality of transmissions. The advantage of using packet data also varies considerably, by application and by country. The best routing for retrieval of online news may be impossibly expensive for chats or complex online jobs. We can offer no hard rules of thumb, except this: Compare rates regularly! What is cheapest? ----------------- Some networks charge by the hour, while others charge by volume (number of characters transferred per minute). When volume is low, your best bet is to use network services with a low price per minute and high prices for volume. When volume is high, you may be better off using those charging by the minute. To estimate costs reliably, you'll need statistics. Since your usage probably differs from what others do, start accumulating experience data now. Like this: On services only charging for connect time ------------------------------------------ Capture trip information to a log file. Register the following information: * number of minutes connected * modem speed * number of characters transmitted. Some communication programs can do this automatically for you. On services charging for time and volume ---------------------------------------- Log the following information: * number of minutes connected * modem speed * number of segments or packets (measurements of volume) You need this to estimate the average volume of data transferred by minute. Here are some general experiences and hints: Long streams of data without stops are cheaper through services that only charge by the minute. Retrieving software is a typical high volume application. Trips that include navigation from conference to conference, with a little bit of up- and downloading here and there, make the average transfer speed fall dramatically. It's like driving through a big city at 150 kilometers per hour. Red lights will reduce the average speed considerably. The actual transferred volume of text per minute will differ from place to place (geographically), and often also from call to call. It depends on factors like: * How fast you can enter commands and how much time you spend staring at the display before pressing keys, * How long it takes for an online service to react to your commands. For example, the response time on CompuServe at 04:00 GMT on a Friday morning (it is evening in the U.S.) is much worse than at 10:30 GMT on a Sunday morning. Then, most users are asleep. * The load on your packet data network while you use the service (or the amount of noise and retransmission, when calling direct), * The type of modem you are using (speed, level of MNP), * The number of commands you (or your scripts) have to enter during your online visit. An increase in the number of commands, reduces the average transfer speed. * The amount of transfer overhead for color and screen handling (like, VT-100 codes) that is transferred with your text. * Your use of menus and help texts while online, or whether you come as "expert" with a minimum of prompts. It's impossible to calculate the practical effects of these items. You will just have to bear them in mind when estimating typical jobs, measuring speeds, calculating costs, and comparing networks. Finding the optimal network for our needs, will take time, but is well worth the effort. I think the figures may surprise you. The network services in this chapter will often give you better quality transfers than a direct call. On the other hand, calling direct may give more characters transferred per minute. The average speed tends to drop dramatically when using a packet data service. Using national packet data services ----------------------------------- Most commercial online services can be reached through national PDNs, but you may have problems finding the correct NUA (Network User Address) to get there. Few PDNs have a directory of available "electronic telephone numbers" for you to consult. The Norwegian PDN, Datapak, used to be my only alternative for access to foreign online services, and I thought that the cost was acceptable. Not so anymore. My applications require that data be pumped back and forth at maximum speed. On network services charging by a combination of volume and time, 80 percent of my costs are typically for volume, while 20 percent is for connect time. When I log out after a successful visit to CompuServe through Datapak, the two services give me similar reports: Thank you for using CompuServe! Off at 10:11 EST 24-Nov-87 Connect time = 0:15 CLR PAD (00) 00:00:14:55 537 75 The last line comes from Datapak. It tells that I have received 537 segments and sent 75. The "Segment" is Datapak's volume measure. A segment contains up to sixty- four characters and/or carriage returns. The price is calculated accordingly. At today's prices, however, Datapak is no longer my cheapest alternative calling CompuServe for chats. It is cheaper to use telnet. I use Datapak when connecting to TWICS in Tokyo, as the only alternative today is direct calls at a prohibitive cost. Once i-Com (see below) starts offering outdial to Japan, I expect this service to be substantially cheaper. The slower your modem speed, the more attractive is Datapak compared with direct calls. To get access to a national PDN, you must have a user identification and a password. (Getting temporary access to PDN services while traveling abroad is often hard and expensive.) | Note: If you have access to a national PDN, but need | | information about PDNs in other countries, try Hostess, the | | Global Network Service's information service from British | | Telecom in England. The NUA is 02342 1920101013 (02342 is | | the Data Network Identifier Code section of the address.) | | User name or password is not required to use this service. | Outdial through PC Pursuit -------------------------- Sprintnet (formerly GTE Telenet) lets American users call bulletin boards in North America at lower rates through their PC Pursuit service. They pay a modest subscription to call a local number for access to PC Pursuit. Once connected, they can enter an electronic phone-number to connect to a so-called 'outdial modem' in another city. Once connected to the outdial modem, they can give it dialing commands and have it call any local number. This way, they can use PC Pursuit to call an online service in the area, or the private modem of a friend. We call PC Pursuit an Outdial service. Such services normally offer lower rates for access to remote bulletin boards than what it costs to call by long distance. Besides, they reduce the chances for noise on the line. Outdial through i-Com --------------------- i-Com offers outdial to North American online services by reselling capacity from Tymnet's network (owned by British Telecommunications PLC). In the United States, Galaxy Telecomm Corp. offers a similar service under the name Starlink. Outdial to numbers in Japan and Europe is planned. i-Com markets its services to users in Europe and Japan, and have local access in Brussels, Paris, Lyon, Milano, the Hague, Eindhoven, Zurich, Geneva, London, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds, Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich, Madrid, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and more. The basic fee for access to the service is US$25.00 per hour (1992). You do not pay volume charges. The monthly subscription fee is US$8.00. You can pay using VISA or MasterCard/Eurocard. In Norway, I have used i-Com to connect to The Well in San Francisco, MetaNet in Virginia, EXEC-PC in Wisconsin, and SciLink in Toronto, Canada. At the time, i-Com was cheaper than direct calls and Datapak for access to these services. While an ID on your local PDN is only valid in your area or country, your i-Com ID can be used all over the world including several cities in North America. Once your plane has landed in Milano, you can dial the local i-Com node to connect to your favorite service. i-Com also has a bulletin board (US$13.00/hour). These are some of its services: * Search a database to find BBS numbers in a given area of interest, or to locate outdial numbers in a given city or area code. * Conferences about how to use North American bulletin boards. * Retrieval of shareware and public domain software. * Online shopping of American goods at American prices. Cheaper access to CompuServe ---------------------------- Wherever CompuServe has local access points, you will probably be better off using these. You do not have to sign any special agreements. Your CompuServe ID is all you need. Payment for using these services will appear on your CompuServe bill. If you have access to Internet's telnet command, then this is an option well worth checking out. CompuServe has special deals with a list of network services, like InfoNet Europe (formerly Computer Sciences Corp.), Istel, FALNET, FENICS, CompuPass, LATA Networks, Tymnet/Sprintnet. Enter the command GO LOG on CompuServe to get access information, and GO RATES for rates. I have been using CompuPass from Japan, CompuServe's own network in the United States, Istel, InfoNet, and PDN services in Europe. When at home, I usually use the InfoNet's 14,400 bps node in Oslo, Norway. Datapak is never considered. It is too expensive. CompuServe's Stockholm node is my backup. | Whenever CompuServe opens a new node in your vicinity, or | | upgrades the modem speed on one of their nodes, look at the | | effects on your total costs. | | | | Use software for automatic access and navigation (like TAPCIS,| | OzCIS, or ATO). They give higher volume per minute and make | | your accesses even more cost efficient. | Before leaving for a business trip, visit CompuServe to find local access numbers in your destination cities. The list of countries includes Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Holland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and England. You can also access CompuServe through i-Com and other outdial services. IXI - a European alternative to PDN ----------------------------------- IXI is an X.25 data network for European academic, industrial and governmental research centers. It is sponsored by the EEC under the ESRIN project, and is operated by the Dutch PTT. IXI interconnects national research networks, many national public data networks and several specialized international networks. It works like a national PDN service, but uses its own Network User Addresses. Echo, STN, DIMDI, Data-Star and other database vendors can be accessed through IXI. The service is not available to most users having email access through the Internet. Using DASnet to cross network boundaries ---------------------------------------- DA Systems forwards electronic mail and files (also binary files) across mailbox system boundaries for customers. They can send your mail to several large in-house systems, information networks, and over 60 commercial mailbox systems in 30 countries. These are some systems on their list (1993): ABA/net, Alternex (Brazil), ATT Mail, BIX, BITNET, CESAC (Italy), CIGnet, ComNet (Switzerland), CONNECT, Dialcom, Deutsche Mailbox, Dialcom, Envoy 100, EIES, EasyLink, Euromail (Germany), FredsNaetet (Sweden), Galaxy, GeoNet (hosts in Germany, England, U.S.A.), GreenNet, INET, INFOTAP (Luxembourg), Mailbox Benelux, MCI Mail, MercanMail (Asia), MBK Mediabox (Germany), MetaNet, Nicarao (Nicaragua), NWI, OTC PeaceNet/EcoNet, Pegasus (Australia), PINET, Portal, PsychNet, San Francisco/Moscow Teleport, Telexphone (France), TeleRede (Portugal), Telehaus Nordhorn (Germany), Telemail, TEXTEL (the Caribbean), TWICS (Japan), UNISON, UUCP, Web (Canada), The WELL, Internet. This list may suggest lack of connectivity between networks that do indeed have connections. For example, Internet email may easily be sent to ATT Mail, Alternex, BIX, BITNET, FredsNaetet, GeoNet, GreenNet, and many others on this list. Connectivity changes constantly. Check to see if you really need it, as this service is far from free. DASnet also lets you send email as telex, fax and by ordinary mail. They charge you by the number of characters transferred, and the destination address. (Contact Anna B. Lange, DA Systems, Inc., U.S.A. Tel.: +1-408-559- 7434, or write her at AnnaB@11.DAS.NET). FidoNet - grassroots playground ------------------------------- FidoNet is an amateur network consisting of tens of thousands of bulletin boards all over the world. The network is "loosely coupled," meaning that most of the participating boards are not always connected. They call each others at regular intervals to exchange mail, often in the middle of the night when the rates are low. (See appendix 1) RelayNet -------- is another global network of bulletin boards. It offers exchange of email between systems. Messages and conference items entered on one system will automatically be copied to other participating boards. Your costs for "talking" with others in other parts of the world are very small. Other grassroots networks ------------------------- It doesn't take much to set up a bulletin board service, and it is as easy to connect BBS systems to each other in a dial-up network for regular exchanges of email, files and conferences. All over the world, grassroots networks keep popping up with names like ILINK, AmNet, Suedd MB-Verbund, Starmail, MagicNet, A-NET, MausNet, Zerberus-Netz, SMBX-NET, BASA-NETZ, you name it. Many boards offer access to more than one grassroots network, as well as to the Internet. Thus, the ability to send global email is extended to new users every day. Other services -------------- The PDN Connect-USA competes with Starlink in North America. (Connect-USA Communications, Inc., 2625 Pennsylvania NE Suite 225, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 505-881-6988 (voice), 505-881-2756 (FAX), 505-881-6964 (BBS). ) Global Access is a similar service reselling time on the Sprintnet network in North America. Reducing the cost of using mailing lists ---------------------------------------- The problem of subscribing to mailing lists is that all discussion items come to you in individual messages. Each message comes with its own mailer header, and this information is generally completely useless. (Read "Returned mail" in Chapter 7 for details.) Newer versions of the BITNET LISTSERV software provide commands that solve this problem: SET DIGEST ---------------------- This command is sent to a LISTSERV to make all daily messages come to you in one, single message. Example: Say you've joined KIDCAFE@vm1.nodak.edu, which usually has a large number of messages each day. Send the following command to the LISTSERV: SET KIDCAFE DIGEST It will typically reduce the number of lines received from this mailing list by around 50 percent. SET INDEX --------------------- This command is sent to a LISTSERV to get a daily list of messages, like in this example from KIDCAFE: Index Date Size Poster and subject ----- ---- ---- ------------------ 22839 06/22 26 From: David Chalmers Subject: Conor Dublin Ireland Based on this list, you can use the LISTSERV's search commands to retrieve individual messages of interest. These commands are similar to those used for searching in chapter 7. For more about searching mailing lists' message bases, send a message to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu with the following command in the text of your mail: GET KIDLINK TIPS Some LISTSERVs offers simplified search commands and macros to make retrieval of individual messages simpler. Chapter 14: Keep what you find ============================== Little is gained by being skillful at locating and accumulating information, and then becoming drowned in an avalanche of data that one cannot manage - or use. This chapter starts with how to build a personal database on your own hard disk. We continue by investigating strategies for finding interesting information on your disk, before winding down with some words about what separates good information from bad. Search and throw away --------------------- To novices, everything is difficult. During the first online trips, they may feel as if moving to the other side of the globe to start over: They need new newspapers, magazines, information sources, and services. Trial and error are required to find online gold mines. As you get more experience, focus tends to shift from getting information to digesting. Getting the data gets 'into your fingers', and doesn't bother much anymore. The number of retrieved lines increases. The only bad news is that your reading speed remains at the same old level. In our time, people tend to talk more than they listen, and you usually find more information than knowledge. Therefore, say NO to irrelevant information. It is seldom worth keeping. There is generally no good reason to learn things that you really do not need to know. Practice "selective ignorance." Regularly evaluate your online sources critically, and discard those costing you more than they are worth. Concentrate on those giving the best returns. Adjust the frequency with which you visit selected services to match their usefulness. What used to be daily visits, may have to be downgraded to once per week or month. Consider replacing daily news monitoring by clipping services. Plan 'overview' and 'details' with different frequencies. 'Overview' refers to online trips to get an impression of what generally goes on. An example: My script system is set for automatic visits to the CompuServe Toshiba forum. Whenever I visit, it 'digs out' unread messages based on key words on the item's subject line. During 1991, it searched for these strings: '5100', T2000', and '425'. Once, This gave the following message to read: #: 29550 S6/Hi-Power Notebooks 05-Oct-91 17:27:30 Sb: #T2000SX Recharger Fm: Steve Kitahata 75166,1741 To: All I tried to order the battery recharger for my T2000SX from Jade Computer last weekend. The sales rep said it would take about a week, so I called today to check up on it. He told me that I could only buy the recharger with the car adapter as a bundled set for $260. They had both advertised in their flyer as separate items, which they should be. Has anyone heard of this? Does anyone know of any sources that have the battery recharger available? Any help would be appreciated. Thanx. -- Steve My script found the search word "T2000" in the subject line's text (Sb: #T2000SX Recharger), and subsequently selected the message. Once per month, the same system "scans the horizon" to give me an idea of what is going on. This is done by requesting a list of subjects being discussed. Here is part of one such list: 29555: DOS 5 Upgrade 6 replies 29540: TDOS Upgrade questions 3 replies 29585: Toshiba DOS 5.0 ships! 1 reply 29586: DOS 5.0 Upgrade Solution 29580: ToshibaDOS=bad business 8 replies 29581: DOS 5 / Stacker 1 reply Reading the list, allows me to see if new and interesting topics are up for discussion. If I use Stacker and want contact with other users, I can request message number 29581 and the subsequent reply (1 reply). That should give me some email addresses. | Several advanced communication programs and offline readers | | have built-in quick scan features. For example, TAPCIS does | | this just fine in CompuServe forums. | | | | When retrieving conference messages from bulletin boards using | | 1stReader at high speed, like 9600 bps or above, then the cost | | of downloading all new items may be insignificant. Therefore, | | you might just as well do it. | | | | Later, when reading the captured mail, 1stReader lets you | | select messages to read from a list of subjects. You can save | | what you want to keep, and delete the rest. | By regular scanning subject headers you reduce the risk of missing important trends, for example because authors were using other terms on the subject line than expected. Scanning also lets us discover if the discussion is heading off in other, interesting directions. After a while, you'll have a set of sources, persons, and tools that will provide you with what you need. This is your personal infrastructure of electronic information. Now, you must maintain and cultivate it. Store incoming information -------------------------- Chances are that you will retrieve more information than you can read. Sometimes it takes weeks for me to get up to date with my own readings. If you visit several online services, consider storing the data in files with different names. Use part of the file name to show the source of this information. If visiting a service regularly, consider using the date as part of the file names. This will make it easier to select, read and search them in a useful sequence. | Example: Say you are regularly visiting TWICS in Tokyo. What | | you download on November 10, you may store in a file named | | | | TW1110.TMP | | | | My scripts do this automatically. On some services, they also | | split retrieved data into URGENT and MAY BE READ LATER files. | | Private mail from TWICS is stored in NB1110.TMP. By storing | | private mail separately, it is easier to see if somebody wants | | a quick reply. | All file names in this example have the extension .TMP (temporary). This signifies that these files are unread. When I read them, and select parts for permanent storage on my hard disk, I use different names. Often, I use the year, or a month/year code in the file name extension. For example, the file DIALOG.93 contains information from DIALOG collected during 1993. Post-processing the data ------------------------- The data capture is completed, and the retrieved data is stored on the hard disk in more or several files. Your next task is to * Read the received texts, * Cut and paste selected parts to archive or work files, * Prepare responses to your electronic mail. This may include quoting part of the incoming messages in your replies. * Finally, delete all temporary files. Many advanced programs have these features built in. If not, you may use your favorite word processor, or something else. There are many alternatives. LIST is my favorite MS-DOS shareware file viewer program. It can be downloaded from most bulletin boards. Using LIST, it is difficult to destroy your precious retrieved data while reading, cutting and pasting. | MORE ABOUT LIST: | | Assume that all input data is stored in the disk catalog C:\IN | | and that you are using the file name convention suggested above.| | Type LIST and press ENTER. A list of file names will appear on | | your screen. Press S to sort the list, and then D to have them | | sorted by creation date. The newest files are at the bottom of | | the list. | | Move the cursor (using the Arrow keys) to the input file | | that you want to read and press ENTER. Scroll up and down in | | the file by pressing the PgUp/PgDn or the arrow keys. | | Let's assume that you are reading TW1110.TMP right now. | | On your screen is a piece of information that you want to | | keep for future reference. Mark the text with ALT-M commands | | (keep the ALT key pressed down, while pressing M), and then | | ALT-D. LIST will ask you for a file name. You enter TWICS.93, | | and the text is appended to what is already there. | | This method allows you quickly to mark and append parts | | of your input file to various archive files. Press ESC to | | return to the file list when through, then press D. LIST asks | | if you really want to delete the file. Press Y, and TW1110.TMP | | is gone. | | LIST lets you find information stored in your archives | | (string search). What you find can be marked and copied to a | | work file. It can also be set to invoke an editor or a word | | processor for the selected file. | Reuse of data on your hard disk ------------------------------- Over time your personal archives will grow in size. You begin to experience the benefits of having all this information on your hard disk. Yesterday's news is today's history, and may be used in many interesting ways. One business executive regularly monitors key technologies, customers, competitors, and suppliers. He does it by tapping sources like KOMPASS, Associated Press, and Reuters. Interesting bits of information are regularly stored on his disk. Tomorrow, there is an important meeting with a major customer. First, a quick search through the personal customer database to be reminded of important events since the last meeting. An unfamiliar person is also going to be present. Maybe there is some background information, for example about a recent promotion. Then, a quick check on major competitors. Maybe they are up to something that he needs to know about. With efficient tools for searching your hard disk, finding information takes only a few seconds. If you are still left with open questions, go online to complement. On MS-DOS computers, you can search the files with WordPerfect, LIST, the DOS utility FIND, and a long list of other programs. I prefer programs that let me search for more than one word at the time, like in HYDRO AND PETROCHEMICAL AND CONTRACT, or EXXON OR MOBIL. | MY FAVORITE: My favorite search utility is LOOKFOR. It can | | be downloaded from many bulletin boards. The MS-DOS program | | is small, fast, and is superior for searches in DOS text files.| | Store your finds in work files, or print them out on paper. | | LOOKFOR is not an indexing program. It is ready to search | | anywhere, anytime. | Discipline and organization is required to get the most out of your file archives. You must decide what to do with each piece of information: Should it be printed out and be read in front of the fireplace this evening, or should it be circulated? Should it be stored on your hard disk, or be refined before storage? Use standard file names that are easy to remember. If you don't, risk having to view files to find out what they contain. It may take longer to find a piece of information in a casual file on a large disk, than look up a piece of information on paper in your inbox. Therefore, finish handling your capture file while you read it on your screen: Send the pieces to their final destination. Make immediate transfers to your TO-DO files. Give the original file a name that makes it easier to move later. Have a procedure that prevents duplication of effort. Desinformation, deception and errors ------------------------------------ Always use several sources of information. Some people write to lead you astray. The online world exposed some interesting incidents that came out of the former Soviet Union before the attempted coup in 1991. Desinformation hurts everybody and comes from all sides. Even professional news agencies, like Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse, regularly stumble. Most news is written by journalists reporting what they have seen, read or heard. Their interpretation of the situation may be wrong. Supplement online news with what knowledgeable people say (by email or in conferences), when knowing the facts is important. Another point: Errors will occasionally be discovered and reported by the news sources, but always after the fact. Always store these reports in your archives, and make it a rule to search to the end when looking for something. Otherwise, you may never discover these corrections. Chapter 15: You pay little for a lot! ===================================== Calculating costs ----------------- Those living in Norway may read up to twenty-six pages of news from Associated Press in the United States and Financial Times (England) for less than US$0.38. The trick is to dial long distance to a 9600 bps node in Sweden when the telephone company and CompuServe's non-prime time rates are in effect. At 9600 bps, you may transfer text at up to 960 characters per second. One page of text (size A-4) holds around 2200 characters. A typical news story is one to two pages of text. | Users watching the 'taximeter' can use online services at a | | very low cost. For many, global communication is almost free.| Reading exactly the same news through another network or service, may cost you 300 percent more. Through yet another online service, the cost may double again. A full issue of the NewsBytes newsletter is around 150,000 characters, or 68 pages of text. Retrieving it from a local BBS typically costs me around 29 cents. Retrieving the full text from CompuServe would cost me over 500 percent more. Using NewsNet for the job, at 2400 bps through Datapak, would increase my current cost by more than US$30.00. The time of day may be important. Some services have different rates for access during the day, the evening, and the weekend. Use your calculator often. When you pay by the minute -------------------------- When using bulletin boards, phone charges are often the only cost items. Some boards require a subscription fee for full access to the system. Still, it is easy to calculate the costs of your calls. Divide the subscription fee by an estimated number of calls, and add to the cost of using the phone. The same applies to users of CompuServe. Their total cost is simply the sum of all connect charges, any network charges (to CompuServe and others), part of the basic subscription fee, and local phone rates (for direct dialing to the service, or to reach the network's node). Where a service uses a monthly subscription rate, add part of this to the time charges. Distribute the rate using an estimated number of online hours per month. Example: You pay US$30/hour to access a service during prime time. Your modem speed is 240 cps. Theoretically, if the data flows without pauses at system prompts, you can transfer 392 pages of text in one hour. Even when you deduct some characters due to stops in the transfer, the resulting transferred volume remains respectable. To transfer one page of text takes around nine seconds (2200 characters divided by the speed, which is 2400 bps, or about 240 characters per second). The cost is nine cents. A given binary file (a program) is 23552 bytes large. Using the XMODEM protocol, you can transfer it in about four minutes and thirteen seconds. The cost is US$2.10. To find the cost when paying by the minute is simple. Just calculate the cost per minute or second, and multiply by the estimated connect time. On many services, it will take a minute or two before you can start to receive text or files. Disconnecting also takes a few seconds. Add this to the connect time when calculating costs. Pauses and delays in the transfer can be caused by you or others, and may have a dramatic impact. It is particularly important to take this into account when comparing alternatives using different networks. Example: Transfers to TWICS via Datapak at 9600 bps rarely gave me higher effective speeds than 100 cps. The reason was that the connection between the Japanese telcom network and TWICS went through a 1200 bps gateway. A high speed connection to your data transporter's network does not guarantee a high speed connection to the remote computer. I used to go through Datapak at 9600 bps to a computer center in Oslo. There, I was connected through a local area network to the host computer. The effective speed was rarely higher than 4800 bps. Calling direct gave twice the speed. Try to measure the effective transfer speed before selecting a routing for your data. Transfer the same amount of text through various networks. If future transfers are likely to take place at a given time of day, test at that time. If your planned application is retrieval of programs, retrieve programs. If you want to read news, then read news from the services that you want to compare. When a network service charging for volume (like Datapak) will also be part of a comparison, measuring volume is particularly important. Do not assume that you know the answer in advance. | NOTE: Always calculate the cost based on a fixed volume, like | | for the transfer of 1000 characters. This is particularly | | important when you need to use different transfer speeds to | | access competing services. | Network load varies considerably throughout the day depending on the number of simultaneous users, and their applications. This also applies to online services. The load is normally lowest, when the bulk of the users are asleep, and during weekends. When the load is low, you get more done per minute. Planning and self-discipline pays off ------------------------------------- The actual cost of using a given set of services depends a lot on your self-discipline, the tools you use, and on how well prepared you are: * If accessing manually, use "quick" commands rather than menus to move at maximum speed to desired sources of information. * Do not set your services to be used with colors, sound, or special methods for displaying graphics, unless you have no choice, or are willing to pay the extra cost. They increase the volume of transferred text, and lower effective speed. * Get the information and disconnect. It is expensive - and usually unnecessary - to read captured text while online. Log off to read. Call back for more to read, disconnect, and then call back again. * Learn how to write your mail offline, and send the letters "in a batch" to your mailbox. Your messages will often have fewer typing errors, be better thought out, and the cost will be considerably lower. * Consider automating your communication (see Chapter 16). I use Bergen By Byte this way. A while ago, it gave me the following progress report: "Time on: 17 hrs 43 min, today 0 hrs 0 min, total 827 times." In average, I spend around 1.3 minutes per call. Yesterday, I was connected for 2:48 minutes. The result was 106 kilobytes' worth of conference mail. Modem speed and cost -------------------- 2400 bps is a sensible modem speed for some applications, and used to be a good starting point for new onliners. The benefits of using a faster modem may be marginal under the following conditions: * When navigating the online service considerably reduces the effective speed, and you access the service manually. * When you pay considerably more for access at higher speed. (CompuServe charges extra for 9600 bps access, but not much.) * When your networks do not offer higher speeds. * When the relative price of a faster modem in your country is prohibitive. On the other hand, a modem doing 9600 bps or more, does give you considerably faster communication. If doing things faster is more important than keeping costs down, then it is a wise investment. This is the case for me. Besides, often it is definitely cheaper. Your applications have a considerable impact on your costs. If you mainly use your modem for retrieval of programs and large data files from bulletin boards - and do not have to pay extra for volume - then higher modem speeds will immediately give reduced costs. A slower speed modem may also stop you from getting what you want. For example, there are several shareware programs on my board that users of 2400 bps modems are unable to download within their allotted 30 minutes per day. When you pay for volume ----------------------- Some network services, like Datapak in Norway, have high rates for volume, and very low rates for connect time. When using such services, automatic communication becomes less useful. Rather than connecting, getting a piece of information, disconnecting, and then going back for more, you may find it cost efficient to review menus and results while online. When paying for volume, the online service's menus become luxury items. Using quick commands for navigating is cheaper. Your comparisons will never be accurate when comparing with services charging for connect time. It is particularly difficult when the measure of volume is 'packets' rather than 'number of characters transferred'. Datapak and many other PDN services reports your sessions like this: CLR PAD (00) 00:00:14:55 537 75 These numbers say that you have been connected to a service for 14 minutes and 55 seconds, that 537 data 'packets' have been received, and that 75 have been sent. Use these figures to calculate the cost of the call. | One data 'packet' or segment contains up to 64 characters. | | Think of it as a measure of the number of lines. Each line can | | have a maximum of 64 characters. If you send the character A | | and a carriage return, then this also counts as a segment. | | | | Consequently, it is hard to use the Datapak record to estimate | | the real number of characters transferred. All we know is that | | 537 + 75 segments were transferred, and that 612 segments may | | contain up to 39,168 characters. | When calculating the cost of a direct call, just the number of minutes counts. Use the time reported by the online service, and not your stop watch. CompuServe gives this type of report: Thank you for using CompuServe! Off at 10:11 EST 24-Nov-92 Connect time = 0:15 If the size of your log file was 15 KB after the first test, and 11 KB after the second, then just adjust the latter to compare (Actual Cost/11*15). It is easy to compare services that only charge by the minute. More practical hints -------------------- It is more expensive to call a service daily "to check the news," than to call it once per week to retrieve the same stories. Navigating by menus is more expensive than going directly to a source, or going there by stacking commands (i.e., combining quick commands into one). Many services let you read selective items in conferences by entering a search string. On my BBS, the following command r extended 100+ c lets you read all messages containing the search string 'extended' in the text starting with message number 100. If you forget the "c" parameter, the flow will stop after each message. This will reduce the average effective speed. Always use "nonstop" commands when reading stories, conference items, and other texts. Now, read the next chapter. Chapter 16: Automatic communication =================================== Automatic data communication as a development strategy. To get a lead on your competitors. To avoid duplication of effort. To reduce costs. To reduce boring and repetitive work. To avoid having to remember technical details. Automatic communication is both for professionals and amateurs. First, because it keeps the costs down. Second, because it lets you do the job faster and safer. We all have different needs --------------------------- Automation will never be the same for everybody. Our needs are too different. Some get excited when a program can dial a bulletin board, retrieve a program, and then disconnect without them having to touch the keyboard. Some want an "answering machine" that can respond to and forward email when he or she is away from the office. Others want a communications system that can tap selected news sources, search databases, and do post-processing on the retrieved material. For most professionals, doing things manually takes too much time. Time is better spent reading, digesting, and using, rather than on stupid technical retrieval work. Computers can do that. To others again, automation is a question of being able to use the online resource at all. If it takes 60 seconds to get a piece of information, it may be possible to get before running for the next meeting. If it takes 15 minutes, however, there may not be enough time. If you also need to read a help text to find out how to do it, you may not even consider it. The mind is full of other things right now. | When using a system for automatic communication, you do not | | have to learn and remember online commands. The system will | | do it for you. | The minimum solution -------------------- Automatic data communication in its simplest form entails the following: * One keystroke to get the communications program to dial a number, and send user name/password when the online service requests this information. * Macro commands (like in a word processor) for navigating through an online service, searching, and to send complex commands by pressing one key. Most communication programs have a macro language or a script language. You will probably never regret time spent on learning how to use these features. At a minimum, you should be able to have your system log on to a service automatically. Autologon spares you the task of remembering your user name and password. Besides, most people are only able to use the keyboard at a low speed. They easily get frustrated by having to correct typing errors. Auto-logon with Procomm ----------------------- Procomm is one of many popular communications programs. It has not been selected here because we think it is the best of its kind. It is just convenient. Many other programs have similar script systems. A Procomm script file is a text file, which can contain a list of commands for dialing and navigating on an online service. When writing a script for auto-logon, your first step is to list the commands that you believe required. Enter them in a text file (as DOS or ASCII text). In such scripts, you can test for the occurrence of a small piece of information that the online service is supposed to send at a given time (like the question "Password?"). When this information is found, Procomm can be set to send the proper response or command (here, your secret password). Scripts can be tied to your favorite online services through Procomm's dialing directory. Press a key to start the appropriate script file for access to a service. The following is a simple PROCOMM script file. It can be used to access my bulletin board in Norway. It assumes that your name is Jens Mikkelsen, and that the secret password is FOXCROOK4. You'll have to change this before testing. ; ;Script file for auto-logon to SHS ; WAITFOR "our FIRST Name? " PAUSE 1 TRANSMIT "Jens^M" WAITFOR "our LAST Name? " PAUSE 1 TRANSMIT "Mikkelsen^M" WAITFOR "ots will echo)? " PAUSE 1 TRANSMIT "foxcrook4^M" WAITFOR "^JMore (Y),N,NS? " PAUSE 1 TRANSMIT "n^M" WAITFOR "^JMore (Y),N,NS? " PAUSE 1 TRANSMIT "n^M" WAITFOR "R] to Continue? " PAUSE 1 TRANSMIT "^M" It is not difficult. You probably understand a lot already. Here is the explanation: * the ";" character at the beginning of a line identifies it as a comment line. Procomm is to ignore it. We use such lines for notes. * WAITFOR "our FIRST Name? " has Procomm wait for the text string "our FIRST NAME?" from my BBS. It is a part of the question "What is your first name?" * PAUSE 1 halts the execution of the script file for one second. * TRANSMIT "Jens^M" sends the name "Jens" followed by a RETURN (the code ^M in Procomm). * WAITFOR "our LAST Name? " makes Procomm wait for the question "What is your LAST Name?" The script continues like this. In WAITFOR commands, we use part of the text that is displayed on our screen once the scrolling stops. Make sure that the search term is unique. It must not appear elsewhere in the text coming from the host computer. If it does, your name and password may be sent too early. You can call the script HORROR.CMD, and attach it to the entry for my board in your Procomm phone directory. When you call it the next time, Procomm will execute the commands in the file and "turn the keyboard over to you" when done. Macros ------ Above, we used a script to log on automatically to a service. When Procomm gives us access to the keyboard again, we must continue manually. What we want to do online varies. Sometimes, we want to read new messages in conferences. In other cases, the purpose is to check new programs in the file library. If we find programs of interest, we may want to download them. Shorthand macros can help you do this faster and safer. For example, one macro can take you quickly to a conference for new messages. You can make Procomm start this macro whenever you press ALT-0 (keep the ALT key down, then press 0). You can have the macro key ALT-1 send other commands when in the file archives. When I started using MS-DOS computers for data communications, PC-TALK became my favorite program. It has many of the same macro capabilities that Procomm has. With PC-TALK, I did autologon to NewsNet. Macro number one sent commands that gave me the contents of various newsletters. Macro #2 picked up the contents in another group. Macro #3 picked up stories from my mailbox, and macro #4 logged me off the service. My mission was completed by pressing four or five keys. Automating the full task ------------------------ It's a long way from automated logon scripts and the use of macros to automating the whole task. The major difference is that with full automation, you do not have to look at the screen while the script is working. You can do other things. Sometimes, you may not even be present when the job is being done. On a typical morning, I go directly from bed to my office to switch my communications computer on. While I visit the bathroom, my communications program calls three online services, retrieve and send information. When the script has disconnected from the first service, which is my bulletin board, it analyzes the received data. I want an alphabetic list of visitors since my last visit, a sorted list of downloaded programs, and names of those calling in at 9600 bps or higher. Sometimes, the unexpected happen. There may be noise on the line, or a sudden disconnect. Usually, my script can solve this without manual intervention. It is therefore allowed to work unattended most of the time. When I get to my office after breakfast, it is all done. My communications program is set for reading and responding to today's email. I can sit down, and immediately get to work. After having written all my replies, I say "send" to my system. For me, it's time for another cup of coffee. I am not needed by the keyboard while my mail is being sent. This is what an automatic communications system can do. My scripts also help plan and prepare online visits, and ease my work by postprocessing results. | When your communication is fully automated, you need not | | read incoming data while it scrolls over your screen, and | | then again after logging off the service. You do it only | | once. | How to get it? Here are some alternatives: Alternative 1: Write your own system ------------------------------------ You can write procedures for powerful script-driven programs like ProYam (from Omen Technology) and Crosstalk MK IV. I started writing scripts for ProYam over seven years ago. The system is constantly expanded to include new services, refined to include more functions, and enhanced to become more robust. The scripts make my system work like an autopilot. It calls online services, navigates, retrieves and sends data. Postprocessing includes automatic reformatting of retrieved data, transfers to various internal databases, statistics, usage logs, and calculation of transfer costs. Such scripts can do quite complex operations online. For example, it can - Buy and sell stock when today's quotes are over/under given limits, - Select news stories and other types of information based on information found in menus or titles. Script writing is not for everybody. It is complicated, and takes a lot of time. Therefore, it is only for the specially interested. On the other hand, those going for it seldom regret. Tailor-made communication scripts give a wonderful flexibility. The software does not cost much, but again, it takes a lot of time! | Do not use large and complex script files before you know the | | online service well. The scripts let you do things quicker and | | safer, but there is always a possibility for unexpected | | problems. | | | | Test your scripts for a long time to make them robust by | | "training" them to handle the unexpected. Leave them to work | | unattended when you are reasonably certain that they can do | | the job. - It may take months to get to that point. | | | | Build a timeout feature into your scripts, so that they do not | | just hang there waiting for you after an encounter with fate. | Alternative 2: Use scripts made by others ----------------------------------------- Some script authors generously let others use their creations. Earle Robinson of CompuServe's IBM Europe Forum, share his ProYam scripts for automatic usage of CompuServe with others. They are available from the IBM Communication Forum library. Enter GO XTALK on CompuServe to find advanced script files for Crosstalk Mk.4. ZCOMM and ProYam scripts for visiting my board automatically can be freely downloaded there. They split access up into these three phases: Phase 1: Menu driven offline preparation. Phase 2: Automatic logon, navigation through the system, and automatic disconnection. Phase 3: Automatic offline postprocessing. You will find scripts for other programs on many online services. Alternative 3: Special software ------------------------------- Several online services sell communication programs with built-in functions that provides you with automation. They can have offline functions for reading and responding to mail. The degree of automation varies. There are also many programs written by third parties. Most programs assume that you use 'expert' as your default operating mode on the online service. TapCIS, Autosig (ATO), OzCIS, CISOP, CompuServe Navigator (for Macintosh), CSNav/Win, AutoPilot (for Amiga), ARCTIC (for Acorn Archimedes), and QuickCIS (for Atari) are popular choices on CompuServe. TapCIS is my personal favorite. (CIM does not offer much automation!) Journalist is an interesting program that creates a personalized newspaper view of CompuServe for Windows users. It automatically logs on to retrieve the information necessary to fill the frames in your document, and formats it according to your specifications. (Email: 71333.2163@compuserve.com) Aladdin is for GEnie. It automates your use of RoundTables (conferences), file areas, and mail. Dialog users turn to Dialog-Link. Nexis News Plus (for Nexis, US$50) has pull-down menus and detailed selection of commands. This MS-DOS program helps users set up detailed search commands before logging on to the Mead Data Central. Your search results will be downloaded automatically. Personal Bibliographics Software, Inc. (Ann Arbor, Mich, U.S.A. Tel.: +1- 313-996-1580) sells Pro-Search to Dialog and BRS users (for Macintosh and MS-DOS). Pro-Search will lead you through menus to find information on both services. It translates your plain English search commands into the cryptic search language used by the services. It logs on automatically, connects to these services, finds your information, and shows you the hits. Alternative 4: Offline readers ------------------------------ The alternatives above have one important weakness. Noise on the line can prevent the "robot" from doing the job. All it takes is for noise to give a prompt another content than is expected by your program or script (as in "En@er a number:" instead of "Enter a number:"). You can avoid noise problems by using grab or get commands (see Chapter 12), and by making the online service use its minimum prompts ('expert mode') . Still, this does not give full protection. The best is to let the online service do the navigation. Think of it as logging on to run a batch file on the remote computer. Combine this with automatic transfers of your commands, transmitted in of one stream of data with automatic error correction (in the software and in the modem), and you have a very robust system. The program logs on to the service. Then the service takes over. It registers your user identity, checks your user profile for personal interests, retrieves and packs all messages, news and files into one compressed file, and sends it to you at high speed. Your outgoing messages, search commands, commands to join or leave conferences, and more, are transferred to the remote computer in a similar packet (compressed file). When received by the remote computer, it unpacks the transfer file and distributes messages and commands to various services following your instructions. Your "physical" contact with the service is when your modem is disconnected. The help menus that you read belong to your program, and not the online service. You read and respond to mail in a reading module (ref. the term "offline reader"). Some offline readers give the caller access to more tools than is available on the online service itself. They may have spelling checkers, multimedia support, let you use your favorite editor or word processor, and offer various storage, search, and printing options. They may let you sort incoming conference mail by "threads," and permit you to place obnoxious writers on a "kill" list. Using offline readers is probably the easiest, cheapest, and safest way of using online services. You even risk writing more concise and thoughtful messages. The "readers" are popular among bulletin board users, and some commercial services are also starting to accommodate them. There are many offline reader programs. The most advanced take over completely upon logon, and manage transfers of commands and compressed information files to and from the host. (Example: Binkley Term on FidoNet) Global Link is an offline reader for EcoNet. Bergen By Byte offers the BBS/CS Mail Grabber/Reader, a script system used with the communications program Telix and the service's "auto-get" function. NUPOP (MS-DOS), Eudora for Windows (Windows and Macintosh), and WinQVT/Net (Windows) are offline readers for use when calling Unix hosts. The most popular systems on the PCBoard based Thunderball Cave BBS are Offline Express, Megareader, Session Manager, Rose Reader and EZReader. Freddie is a reader for Macintosh. These readers are used with scripts written for various communication programs. Some of them have built in communications (and script) modules. EZReader from Thumper Technologies (P.O. Box 471346, Tulsa, OK 74147-1346, U.S.A.) lets users retrieve mail from several online systems using transfer formats such as QWK, PCBoard capture files, ProDoor ZIPM files, XRS, MCI Mail, and others. Cost: US$49 (1992). 1stReader from Sparkware (Post Office Box 386, Hendersonville, Tennessee 37077, U.S.A.) is my personal favorite for accessing Qmail based online systems. | Note: Some offline readers contain all the features required | | for fully automated communications. Some bulletin boards allow | | up- and downloading to start right after CONNECT. | | Off-Line Xpress, an offline mail reader for QWK (Qwikmail) | | packets, does not contain a communications module. It just does | | pre- and postprocessing of mail packets. | | You can use the Off-Line Xpress as one element in a larger | | automated system. For example, a system for access to PCBoard | | bulletin boards may consist of Off-Line Xpress software, PKZIP | | and PKUNZIP (popular shareware programs to compress/decompress | | mail packets), the QMODEM communications program, and a script | | to navigate to/from the QWK packet send and receive area on the | | BBS. | | 1stReader (version 1.11) contains a powerful script based | | communications module. It lets you compose replies, set search | | commands, subscriptions to services, add and drop conferences, | | and enter download commands offline. | | I am using 1stReader when communicating with a PCBoard BBS | | with hundreds of conferences from Usenet, Internet, BITNET, and | | various other networks. By having 1stReader upload a list of | | keywords through the service's QMail door, all new messages | | containing these words or phrases will be retrieved, compressed,| | and downloaded. A very powerful feature. | Automatic automation -------------------- We have explained how to write scripts with Procomm. However, there are simpler and quicker ways. Many communication programs can make scripts automatically using a learning function. It goes like this: Start the learning function before calling the online service. Then log on, navigate to the desired services, do what you want to automate, and disconnect. The learning feature analyzes the received data and builds a script file for automatic communication. If you call again with the new script, it will "drive the same route one more time." ZCOMM and ProYam have a learning feature. This is how I made a script for accessing Semaforum BBS using ZCOMM: ZCOMM asked for a phone number. I entered +47-370-11710. It asked for speed, and I entered 2400 bps. Next, I had to choose one of the following: (1) System uses IBM PC (ANSI) line drawing (2) 7 bits even parity (3) 8 bits no parity My choice was 1. ZCOMM dialed the number. When the connection was established, I entered my name and password, navigated to the message section, read new messages, browsed new files in the library, and entered G for Goodbye. This was the "tour" that I wanted to automate. When disconnected, I pressed the F1 key. This prompted the learning process based on a record of the online tour. The log described everything that had happened in detail, including my pauses to think. Now I was prompted by the following question: 'newscr.t' exists. Append/replace/quit? I selected append. Then: Do you want this script file as a new entry in your telephone directory (y/n)? I entered "y," and named it "semaforum." After a few seconds, my new script was ready: Your new script is in the file 'newscr.t' !! You can append the file to your current script file (for example PHODIR.T) or have the commands executed by entering: call semaforum.newscr.t It was time to test the new wonder. I entered call semaforum.newscr.t at the ZCOMM command line, hit the ENTER key, and off it went. ZCOMM called the BBS and repeated everything - at far higher speed than I had done it manually. It went on-hook as planned when done. Limitations ----------- Auto-learn programs can create a script file that let you "drive the same route." For some applications this is enough. For others, it's just part of the way. You have to refine the script manually to get what you want. Example: If you call my bulletin board with an auto-learned script made yesterday, chances are that everything works well. If you call twice on the same day, however, you are in for a surprise. The board greets you differently on your second visit. You will not get the menu of available bulletins. It will take you directly to the system's main menu. Your script must take this into account. On most online services, many things can happen at each "junction of your road." At one point in one of my scripts, up to twenty things may happen. Each event needs its own "routing." Twenty possible events are an extreme, but three to four possibilities at each system prompt is not unusual. All of them need to be handled by your script, if you want it to visit online services unattended while asleep. It is quicker and simpler to use other people's scripts and programs, although this might force you to use a different program for each service. Personally, I prefer offline readers on services where such are able to do the job. On other services, I usually depend on my own tailor-made scripts. Chapter 17: Gazing into the future ================================== Thoughts about things to come. Newspaper of the future --------------------------- Some years ago, Nicholas Negroponte of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that today's newspapers are old-fashioned and soon to be replaced by electronic "ultra personal" newspapers. "If the purpose is to sell news," he said, then it must be completely wrong to sell newspapers. Personally, I think that it is a dreadful way of receiving the news." MIT's Media Laboratory developed a new type of electronic newspaper. Daily, it delivered personalized news to each researcher. The newspaper was "written" by a computer that searched through the news services' cables and other news sources according to each person's interest profile. The system could present the stories on paper or on screen. It could convert them to speech, so that the "reader" could listen to the news in the car or the shower. In a tailor-made electronic newspaper, personal news makes big headlines. If you are off for San Francisco tomorrow, the weather forecasts for this city is front page news. Email from your son will also get a prominent place. "What counts in my newspaper is what I consider newsworthy," said Negroponte. He claimed that the personal newspaper is a way of getting a grip on the information explosion. "We cannot do it the old way anymore. We need other agents that can do prereading for us. In this case, the computer happens to be our agent." The technology is already here. Anyone can design similar papers using powerful communication programs with extensive script features. I have tried. My test edition of The Saltrod Daily News did not convert news to sound. It did not look like a newspaper page on my screen. Not because it was impossible. I simply did not feel these 'extras' worth the effort. My personal interest profile was taken care of by my scripts. If I wanted news, the "news processor" went to work and "printed" a new edition. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, I got an "extended edition." This is a section from my first edition: "Front page," Thursday, November 21. Under the headline News From Tokyo, the following items: TOSHIBA TO MARKET INEXPENSIVE PORTABLE WORD PROCESSOR TOHOKU UNIVERSITY CONSTRUCTING SEMICONDUCTOR RESEARCH LAB MEITEC, U.S. FIRM TO JOINTLY MARKET COMPUTER PRINTER INFO TOSHIBA TO SUPPLY OFFICE EQUIPMENT TO OLIVETTI NISSAN DEVELOPS PAINT INSPECTION ROBOT MADE-TO-ORDER POCKET COMPUTER FROM CASIO These articles were captured from Kyoto News Service through Down Jones/News Retrieval. The column with news from the United States had stories from NEWSBYTES newsletters: * DAY ONE COMDEX. * IBM'S PRE ANNOUNCEMENT OF "CLAMSHELL" * AT&T TO JUMP IN SOONER WITH LAPTOP COMPUTER * COMMODORE THIRD CONSECUTIVE QUARTERLY LOSS * 2 ZENITH UNVEILS TOUCH-SCREEN * HP's EARNINGS DROP Hot News From England came from several sources, including Financial Times, and Reuters (in CompuServe's UK News). Headlines read: * THE CHRISTMAS SELLING WAR * BIG MACS GOING CHEAP TO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS "Page 2" was dedicated to technology intelligence. "Page 3" had stories about telecommunications, mainly collected from NewsNet's newsletters. "Page 4" had stories about personal computer applications. As the cost of communicating and using online services continues to decrease, many people will be able to do the same. Is this where we are heading? The other side of the coin is the newspapers themselves trying to deliver upgraded products in the online world. To see what they are up to, join the ONLINE-NEWS mailing list. Write Majordomo@marketplace.com . Put the following command in your email: subscribe online-news Some people say it is too difficult to read news on a computer screen. Maybe so, but pay attention to what is happening in notebook computers. This paragraph was written on a small PC by the fireplace in my living room. The computer is hardly any larger or heavier than a book. (Sources for monitoring notebook trends: NEWSBYTES' IBM and Apple reports, CompuServe's Online Today, and IBM Hardware Forum.) Electronic news by radio ------------------------ If costs were of no concern, then your applications of the online world would probably change considerably. Pay attention, as we are moving fast in that direction. Radio is one of the supporting technologies. It is used to deliver Usenet newsgroup to bulletin boards (example: PageSat Inc. of Palo Alto, U.S.A.) Also, consider this: Businesses need a constant flow of news to remain competitive. Desktop Data Inc. (tel. +1-617-890-0042) markets a real-time news service called NewsEDGE in the United States and Europe. They call it "live news processing." Annual subscriptions start at US$20,000 for ten users (1993). NewsEDGE continuously collects news from more than 100 news wires, including sources like PR Newswire, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, Dow Jones News Service, Dow Jones Professional Investor Report and Reuters Financial News. The stories are "packaged" and immediately feed to customers' personal computers and workstations by FM, satellite, or X.25 broadcast: * All news stories are integrated in a live news stream all day long, * The NewsEdge software manages the simultaneous receipt of news from multiple services, and alerts users to stories that match their individual interest profiles. It also maintains a full-text database of the most recent 250,000 stories on the user's server for quick searching. In the meantime, traditional newspapers are searching for new ways to keep readers. For example, The Washington Post (U.S.A.) plans an electronic version with interactive ads, allowing subscribers to check mortgage rates at a bank, make restaurant reservations or buy tickets for sports events. It also plans to reproduce the Post's front page, "complete with graphics that move and photographs that come alive as a videotape excerpt with sound." (October 1993) Packet radio ------------ A global amateur radio network allows users to modem around the world, and even in outer space. Its users never get a telephone bill. There are over 700 packet radio based bulletin boards (PBBS). They are interconnected by short wave radio, VHF, UHF, and satellite links. Technology aside, they look and feel just like standard bulletin boards. Once you have the equipment, can afford the electricity to power it up, and the time it takes to get a radio amateur license, communication itself is free. Packet radio equipment sells in the United States for less than US$ 750. This will give you a radio (VHR tranceiver), antenna, cable for connecting the antenna to the radio, and a controller (TNC - Terminal Node Controller). Most PBBS systems are connected to a network of packet radio based boards. Many amateurs use 1200 bps, but speeds of up to 56,000 bps are being used on higher frequencies (the 420-450 MHz band in the United States). Hams are working on real-time digitized voice communications, still-frame (and even moving) graphics, and live multiplayer games. In some countries, there are also gateways available to terrestrial public and commercial networks, such as CompuServe, and Usenet. Packet radio is demonstrated as a feasible technology for wireless extension of the Internet. Radio and satellites are being used to help countries in the Third World. Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA), a private, nonprofit organization, is one of those concerned with technology transfers in humanitarian assistance to these countries. VITA's portable packet radio system was used for global email after a volcanic eruption in the Philippines in 1991. Today, the emphasis is on Africa. VITA's "space mailbox" passes over each single point of the earth twice every 25 hours at an altitude of 800 kilometers. When the satellite is over a ground station, the station sends files and messages for storage in the satellite's computer memory and receives incoming mail. The cost of ground station operation is based on solar energy batteries, and therefore relatively cheap. To learn more about VITA's projects, subscribe to their mailing list by email to LISTSERV@AUVM.BITNET. Use the command SUB DEVEL-L . For more general information about packet radio, check out HamNet on CompuServe, and especially its library 9. Retrieve the file 'packet_radio' (Packet radio in earth and space environments for relief and development) from GNET's archive (see chapter 7). ILINK has an HAMRADIO conference. There is a packet radio mailing list at PACKET-RADIO@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (write PACKET-RADIO-REQUEST@@WSMR- SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL to subscribe). Usenet has rec.radio.amateur.packet (Discussion about packet radio setups), and various other rec.radio conferences. There is HAM_TECH on FidoNet, and Ham Radio under Science on EXEC-PC. The American Radio Relay League (AARL) operates an Internet information service called the ARRL Information Server. To learn how to use it, send email to info@arrl.org with the word HELP in the body of the text. Cable TV -------- Expect Cable TV networks to grow in importance as electronic high-ways, to offer gateways into the Internet and others, and to get interconnected not unlike the Internet itself. Example: Continental Cablevision Inc. (U.S.A.) lets customers plug PCs and a special modem directly into its cable lines to link up with the Internet. The cable link bypasses local phone hookups and provide the capability to download whole books and other information at speeds up to 10 million bits per second. The Global Telephone -------------------- Watch the American company Motorola closely. Their Iridium project aims at covering the world with telephone services provided from a large number of satellites. Expect them to compete aggressively with local telephone services. The new system will allow people to communicate by telephone anywhere on earth - whether on land, at sea or in the air - via portable cellular radio telephones operating as part of a satellite-based system. Callers using the new system will not need to know the location of the person (or online service) being called. They will simply dial the number to be connected. Current plans (1993) estimate that the Iridium system will be operational by 1998. Microsoft is planning a network of 840 low-orbit satellites covering 95 percent of the earth's surface by the year 2001. The idea is that we will be able to access information from almost anywhere - provided we have software and services from Microsoft, of course. Electronic mail on the move --------------------------- For some time, we have been witnessing a battle between giants. On one side, the national telephone companies have been pushing X.400 backed by ITU-TSS, and software companies like Lotus, Novell, and Microsoft. On the other side, CompuServe, Dialcom, MCI Mail, GEISCO, Sprint, and others have been fighting their wars. Nobody really thought much about the Internet, until suddenly, it was there for everybody. The incident has changed the global email scene fundamentally. One thing seems reasonably certain: that the Internet will grow. In late 1992, the president of the Internet Society (Reston, Va., U.S.A.) made the following prediction: ".. by the year 2000 the Internet will consist of some 100 million hosts, 3 million networks, and 1 billion users (close to the current population of the People's Republic of China). Much of this growth will certainly come from commercial traffic." We, the users, are the winners. Most online services now understand that global exchange of email is a requirement, and that they must connect to the Internet. Meanwhile, wild things are taking place in the grassroots arena: * Thousands of new bulletin boards are being connected to grassroots networks like FidoNet (which in turn is connected to the Internet for exchange of mail). * Thousands of bulletin boards are being hooked directly into the Internet (and Usenet) offering such access to users at stunning rates. * The BBSes are bringing email up to a new level by letting us use offline readers, and other types of powerful mail handling software. Email will never be the same. Add to this new services under development at BellSouth (USA), which will include the capability to retrieve email messages by telephone for networkers who find themselves on the road without a laptop and modem. The email will be electronically read to them by a computer. (1993) Cheaper and better communications --------------------------------- During Christmas 1987, a guru said that once the 9600 bps V.32 modems fell below the US$1,200 level, they would create a new standard. Today, such modems can be bought at prices lower than US$200. In many countries, 14,400 bits/s modems are already the preferred choice. Also, expect new developments within data compression to have a further impact on the costs of global communications. CD-ROM supported communications ------------------------------- CompuServe is planning to let users with CD-ROM-equipped computers receive regularly updated online information enhanced by audio and video components held on disc (September 1993). Expect new and innovative ways of presenting offerings in the electronic shopping area. CompuServe is also talking about an interactive magazine, and multimedia extensions to some databases and forums. Wild dreams get real -------------------- In the future, we will be able to do several things simultaneously on the same telephone line. This is what the promised land of ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Networks) is supposed to give us. Some users already have this capability. They write and talk on the same line using pictures, music, video, fax, voice and data. ISDN is supposed to let us use services that are not generally available today. Here are some key words: * Chats, with the option of having pictures of the people we are talking to up on our local screen (for example in a window, each time he or she is saying something). Eventually, we may get the pictures in 3-D. Accidentally, a program called Internet VoiceChat was released in May 1994. It allows users to conduct live voice conversations over the Internet using their PC's. . . (Email: ahrens26@wharton.upenn.edu for information.) * Database searches in text and pictures, with displays of both. * Electronic transfers of video/movies over a telephone line (fractal image compression technology may give us another online revolution). Imagine dances filmed by ethnologists at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., or an educational film about the laps in northern Norway from an information provider called the Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. The "Internet Talk Radio" is already delivering programs by anonymous ftp (e.g., through ftp.nau.edu in the directory /talk-radio). * Online amusement parks with group plays, creative offerings (drawing, painting, building of 3-D electronic sculptures), shopping (with "live" people presenting merchandise and good pictures of the offerings, test drives, etc.), casino (with real prizes), theater with live performance, online "dressing rooms" (submit a 2-D picture of yourself, and play with your looks), online car driving schools (drive a car through Tokyo or New York, or go on safari). The ImagiNation Network has been playing around with these ideas for quite some time. * Your favorite books, old as new, available for on-screen reading or searching in full text. Remember, many libraries have no room to store all the new books that they receive. Also, wear and tear tend to destroy books after some time. Many books are already available online, including this one. * Instant access to hundreds of thousands of 'data cottages'. These are computers in private homes of people around the world set up for remote access. With the technical advances in the art of transferring pictures, some of these may grow to become tiny online "television stations." These wild ideas are already here, but it will take time before they are generally available. New networks need to be in place. New and more powerful communications equipment has to be provided. Farther down the road, we can see the contours of speech-based electronic conferences with automatic translation to and from the participants' languages. Entries will be stored as text in a form that allows for advanced online searching. We may have a choice between the following: * To use voice when entering messages, rather than entering them through the keyboard. The ability to mix speech, text, sound and pictures (single frames or live pictures). * Messages are delivered to you by voice, as text or as a combination of these (like in a lecture with visual aids). * Text and voice can be converted to a basic text, which then may be converted to other languages, and forwarded to its destination as text or voice. One world --------- Within the Internet, the idea of "the network as one, large computer" has already given birth to many special services, like gopher and WAIS. Potentially, we will be able to find and retrieve information from anywhere on the global grid of connected systems. Bulletin boards have commenced to offer grassroots features modeled after telnet and ftp. These alternatives may even end up being better and more productive than the interactive commands offered "inside" the Internet. The global integration of online services will continue at full speed, and in different ways. Rates ----- There is a trend away from charging by the minute or hour. Many services convert to subscription prices, a fixed price by the month, quarter or year. Other services, among them some major database services, move toward a scheme where users only pay for what they get (no cure, no pay). MCI Mail was one of the first. There, you only pay when you send or read mail. On CompuServe's IQuest, you pay a fixed price for a fixed set of search results. The Internet is a special case, as anyone who buys Internet can likewise sell Internet. Many services are still writing goofy and generally unenforceable contracts, making irrational pricing and service decisions. Expect this to change, and the cost of getting an Internet connection to dive toward cost. Cheaper transfers of data ------------------------- Privatization of the national telephone monopolies has given us more alternatives. This will continue. Possible scenarios: * Major companies selling extra capacity from their own internal networks, * Telecommunications companies exporting their services at extra low prices, * Other pricing schemes (like a fixed amount per month with unlimited usage), * New technology (direct transmitting satellites, FM, etc.) So far, data transporters have been receiving a disproportionate share of the total costs. For example, the rate for accessing CompuServe from Norway through InfoNet is US$8.00, while using the service itself costs US$12.80 at 2400 bps (the Alternative Pricing Plan, 3/1994). Increased global competition in data transportation is quickly changing this picture, supported by general access to the Internet. Prices will most likely continue their dramatic way toward zero. Powerful new search tools ------------------------- As the sheer quantity of information expands, the development of adequate finding tools is gaining momentum. Our major problem is how to find and use what we have access to. This is especially true on the Internet. Expect future personal information agents, called "knowbots," which will scan databases all over the online world for specific information at a user's bidding. This will make personal knowledge of where you need to go redundant. Some "knowbots" will be built into your local communications software, while others will be external service offerings. Some will exploit the hypertext concept, universal data linking, massive cross-indexing of information, dynamic customization of your interactions to the various services, and more. Artificial intelligence will increase the value of searches, as they can be based on your personal searching history since your first day as a user. Your personal information agents will make automatic decisions about what is important and what is not in a query. When you get information back, it will not just be in the normal chronological order. It will be ranked by what seems to be closest to your query. Sources for future studies -------------------------- It seems appropriate to end this chapter with some online services focusing on the future: Newsbytes has a section called Trends. The topic is computers and communications. ECHO has the free database Trend, the online edition of the Trend Monitor magazine. It contains short stories about the development within electronics and computers (log on to ECHO using the password TREND). Usenet has the newsgroup clari.news.trends (Surveys and trends). Why not complement what you find here by monitoring trends in associated areas (like music), to follow the development from different perspectives? The music forum RockNet on CompuServe has a section called Trends. CompuServe's Education Forum has the section Future Talk. What educators think about the future of online services (and education) is always interesting. The Well, based just outside Silicon Valley in the United States, has The Future conference. UUCP has info-futures. Its purpose is "to provide a speculative forum for analyzing current and likely events in technology as they will affect our near future in computing and related areas." (Contact: info-futures- request@cs.bu.edu for subscription.) Usenet has comp.society.futures about "Events in technology affecting future computing." It is tempting to add a list of conferences dedicated to science fiction, but I'll leave that pleasure to you. Have a nice trip! Appendix 1: List of selected online services ============================================ To make a list of online services is difficult. Services come and go. Addresses and access numbers are constantly changed. Only one thing is certain. Some of the details below will be outdated, when you read this. Advantis -------- A communications industry joint venture between Sears Roebuck and Co and IBM initially focusing on network design, transmission and support services (including X.25, SNA, ISDN, TCP/IP, and EDI). Established in December 1992, Advantis inherited over one million customers from Sears' Technology Services and IBM's Information Network. The IBM Information Network was IBM's commercial value-added data network offering worldwide email and data transfer services. It was one of the largest networks in the world, with operator-owned nodes in over 36 countries. To send mail from the Internet to a user of Advantis IBMmail (also called IMX or Mail Exchange), address your message to their userid at ibmmail.com. The email address contains a two letter country code (like FR for France), and a three letter user identity. You need to know their userid (IEA in IBMmail terminology) in advance. An IBMmail user can find how to address to Internet by sending mail to INFORM at IBMmail with /GET INET in the body of the text. The IBM Mail Exchange Directory has address book details of subscribers. For information, send email to WHOIS@IBMMAIL.COM with the word HELP in the text. Also, try the gopher at gopher.advantis.com . Affaersdata i Stockholm AB ------------------------- P.O. Box 3188, S-103 63 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel.: + 46 8 736 59 19. America Online -------------- has the CNN Newsroom (Turner Educational Services), The Washington Post, the National Geographic magazine, PC World and Macworld. AOL has tailor- made graphical user interfaces for Apple, Macintosh, and PC compatible computers. It had 712,000 users in April 1994. Sending and receiving Internet mail is possible. Contact: America Online, 8619 Westwood Center Dr., Vienna, VA 22182-2285, USA. Phone: +1-703-448-8700. Email: info@aol.com APC --- The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is a worldwide partnership of member networks for peace and environmental users with host computers in several countries: Alternex (Brazil). Email: support@ax.apc.org Chasque (Uruguay). Email: apoyo@chasque.apc.org ComLink e.V (Germany). Email: support@oln.comlink.apc.org Ecuanex (Ecuador). Email: intercom@ecuanex.apc.org GlasNet (Russia). Email: support@glas.apc.org GreenNet (England). Email: support@gn.apc.org Institute for Global Communications (U.S.A.), includes EcoNet, PeaceNet, ConflictNet, LaborNet. Email: support@igc.apc.org Nicarao - CRIES (Nicaragua). Email: ayuda@nicarao.apc.org NordNet (Sweden). Email: support@pns.apc.org Pegasus (Australia). Email: support@peg.apc.org Web (Canada). Email: support@web.apc.org The APC nets have full Internet access (except FTP). While all these services are fee based, they bring a wealth of information on environmental preservation, peace (including Greenpeace Press Releases), human rights, grant-making foundations, Third World Resources, United Nations Information Service, Pesticide Information Service, and more. For information about APC, write to apcadmin@igc.apc.org , or APC International Secretariat, Rua Vincente de Souza, 29, 22251-070 Rio de Janeiro, BRASIL. Fax: +55-21-286-0541. For information about the PeaceNet World News Service, which delivers news digests directly to your email box, send a request to pwn@igc.apc.org. ASCII Net --------- Japanese PC network for hobbyists. This online service has around 85,000 users (1993). Phone: +81-3-3797-6506. Fax: +81-3-3486-0488. Full Internet connectivity being planned (1993). AT&T Mail --------- AT&T Mail Customer Assistance Center, 5000 Hadley Road, South Plainsfield, NJ 07080, U.S.A. Email: postmaster@attmail.com . Bergen By Byte -------------- Norwegian online service with conferences and many files. Modem tel.: +47 05 323781. PDN (Datapak) address: 0 2422 450134. Telnet: oscar.bbb.no (192.124.156.38). English-language interface available. Annual subscription rates. You can register online. Limited free usage. BIBSYS ------ Book database operated by the Norwegian universities' libraries. Send Internet mail to genserv@pollux.bibsys.no with your search word in the subject title of the message. Big Sky Telegraph ----------------- is an online community for educators, business people etc. living in rural areas in North America. Address: 710 South Atlantic, Dillon, Montana 59725, U.S.A. Email: jrobin@csn.org BITNET ------ "Because It's Time NETwork" started in 1981 as a small network for IBM computers in New York, U.S.A. Today, BITNET encompasses 3,284 host computers by academic and research institutions all over the world. It has around 243,016 users (source: Matrix News 1993) All connected hosts form a worldwide network using the NJE (Network Job Entry) protocols and with a single list of nodes. There is no single worldwide BITNET administration. Several national or regional bodies administer the network. The European part of BITNET is called EARN (European Academic Research Network), while the Canadian is called NetNorth. In Japan the name is AsiaNet. BITNET also has connections to South America. Other parts of the network have names like CAREN, ANSP, SCARNET, CEARN, GULFNET, HARNET, ECUANET, and RUNCOL. Normally, a BITNET email address looks like this: NOTRBCAT@INDYCMS The part to the left of the @-character is the users' mailbox code. The part to the right is the code of the mailbox computer. It is common for Internet users to refer to BITNET addresses like this: NOTRBCAT@INDYCMS.BITNET . To send email from the Internet to BITNET, it has to be sent through special gateway computers. On many systems, this is taken care of automatically. You type NOTRBCAT@INDYCMS.BITNET, and your mailbox system does the rest. On some systems, the user must give routing information in the BITNET address. For example, North American mail to BITNET can be sent through the gateway center CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU . To make mail to NOTRBCAT go through this gateway, its mail address must be changed as follows: NOTRBCAT%INDYCMS.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU Explanation: The @ in the initial address is replaced with % . Then add the gateway routing: ".BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU". If you must use a gateway in your address, always select one close to where you live. Ask your local postmaster for the correct addressing in your case. BITNET has many conferences. We call them discussion lists or mailing lists. The lists are usually administered by a computer program called LISTSERV. The dialog is based on redistribution of ordinary email by mailing lists. Consequently, it is simple for users of other networks to participate in BITNET conferences. A list of discussion lists (at present around 1,600 one-line descriptions) is available by email from LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET. Write the following command in the TEXT of your message: LIST GLOBAL NEW-LIST@NDSUVM1.BITNET and NETMONTH (from BITLIB@YALEVM.BITNET) distribute regular notices about new discussion lists. Subscribe to NEW-LIST by email to LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET. Use the following command: SUB NEW-LIST Your-first-name Your-last-name This is how we usually subscribe to discussion lists. Send your subscription commands to a LISTSERV close to where you live. The command "SENDME BITNET OVERVIEW" tells LISTSERV to send more information about the services. BIX --- is operated as a joint venture between General Videotex Corp. and the North American computer magazine BYTE (McGraw-Hill). To some extent, it mirrors what you can read on paper. BIX offers global Internet email, telnet and ftp, multiple conferences. In 1992, the service had about 50,000 members. The NUA address is 0310600157878. On Internet, telnet x25.bix.com . At the Username: prompt, enter BIX as a user name. At the second Username: prompt, enter NEW if you do not already have an account on the service. Send email to BIX members as user@bix.com. You can sign up for the service, and play during your first visit to the service. Read BYTE for more information, or write to General Videotex Corporation, 1030 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Phone: +1- 617-354-4137. Email: TJL@mhis.bix.com BRS --- Bibliographic Retrieval Services is owned by CD Plus. BRS/After Dark is a service for PC users. It can be accessed during evenings and weekends at attractive rates. BRS contains about 120 databases within research, business, news, and science. The service's strengths are medicine and health. Membership in BRS costs US$80 per year, plus hourly database usage charges. It is also available through CompuServe (at a different price). Contact in Europe: BRS Information Technologies, Achilles House, Western Avenue, London W3 OUA, England. Tel. +44 81 993 9962. CGNET ----- is a network interconnecting a group of international research organizations. Besides email, CGNET provides news clipping services, airline reservation information, and database search. (See Dialcom) Contact: CGNET Services International, 1024 Hamilton Court, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA. Telephone: +1-415-325-3061. Fax: 1-415-325-2313 Telex: 4900005788 (CGN UI) . CIX (England) ------------- British online-service available by telnet, through PDN services and by direct dial. Telnet cix.compulink.co.uk. Compulink Information eXchange Ltd. claims to be Europe's largest conferencing system. Sign-up fee (1993): GBP 25.00. Monthly minimum: GBP 6.25. Off-peak connect rate GBP 2.40. Peak rate is 3.60 per hour. The service has full Internet access, and email exchange with CompuServe and Dialcom. CIX has many conferences, ISDN access, Usenet News, telnet and ftp. Contact: The Compulink Information Exchange Ltd., The Sanctuary Oakhill Grove, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6DU, England. Tel.: +44-81-390-8446. Fax: +44- 81-390-6561. NUA: 2342 1330 0310. Data: +44-81-390-1255/+44-81-390-1244. Email: cixadmin@cix.compulink.co.uk . CIX (USA) --------- The Commercial Internet eXchange is a North American association of commercial Internet providers in which they agree to carry each others' packets of mail, and more. Clarinet -------- A commercial network publishing service providing information and news in over 200 newsgroups by subject matter on Usenet (1993). Read Chapter 9 for more information. Single-user (individual) prices available. Associated Press, Reuters, and other sources. Clarinet Communications Corp., 124 King St. North, Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2X8, Canada. Email: info@clarinet.com . Commercial Mail Relay Service (CMR) ----------------------------------- This service is not available anymore. They used to be available on this address: Intermail-Request@Intermail.ISI.EDU CompuServe ---------- has about 1.7 million users (March 94) all over the world, over 1,500 databases, 600 forums, 500 newspapers, online shopping from more than 100 shops and entertainment. It's like a large electronic supermarket. You can access the service though local access numbers in over 100 countries, through Packet Switching Services, and outdial services. The international NUA address is 0313299999997. A list of available forums can be retrieved from the IBM Communication Forum. Participation in forums is normally free (no extra charge). The IQuest database service gives access to more than 800 publications, databases, and indexes within business, public affairs, research, news, etc. Bibliographic and full-text searches. Some IQuest databases are physically residing on other online services, like NewsNet, Dialog, BRS, and Vu/Text (U.S.A.), Data-Star (Switzerland), DataSolve (England. It has TASS in the World Reporter database), and Questel (France). Sometimes, it is cheaper to use these services on CompuServe, than by a call to these services directly. Knowledge Index offers over 120 of Dialog's more popular full-text and bibliographic databases, the full text of 33 major newspapers, scientific abstracts, reference sources, and more within 27 subject sections (1993). The connect charge for CompuServe's Alternative Pricing Plan is US$12.80/hour at 1200 and 2400 bps. 9600 bps costs US$22.80/hour. Monthly subscription US$2.50. Using the Executive News Service (clipping service) costs an extra US$15/hour. An optional flat-rate pricing plan (the Standard Pricing plan) is available for US$8.95 per month. It gives unlimited access to over 30 basic services, including CompuServe mail, The Electronic Mall, news, weather and sports, member support services, reference and travel services. Hourly rates for Standard Pricing Plan members using extended services go from US$6/hour for 300 bits/s to US$16/hour for 9600 bits/s access. (Feb. 93) In addition, there are network charges. These differ a lot by country. For example, access through European CompuServe nodes has no communication surcharges during non-prime time (19:00-8:00 local time). CompuServe can be accessed by telnet telnet compuserve.com . There are no communications surcharges for accessing CompuServe via the Internet (March, 1994). CompuServe Information Services Inc., POB 20212, 5000 Arlington Centre Blvd., Columbus, Ohio 43220, U.S.A. Voice: +1-614-457-0802. Email: postmaster@csi.compuserve.com In Europe, call voice: +49-89-66550-111, fax: +49-89-66 550-255 or write to CompuServe, Jahnstrasse 2, D-8025 Unterhaching b., Munich, Germany. To contact CompuServe Africa, call (012) 841-2530 in South Africa, or (+27)(12) 841-2530 for everywhere else. Cosine ------ COSINE (Cooperation for Open Systems Interconnection Networking in Europe) is a European Common Market "Eureka" project. It works to establish a communications network infrastructure for scientific and industrial research institutes all over Europe. IXI is the international packet data network on which the COSINE project is based. It is available Europe-wide providing links of up to 64 Kbit/s, carries non commercial traffic for the research communities, and provides links to several public data networks. The CONCISE online information service is a focal point for information of interest to European researchers. It has lists of sources of information. Internet users can access CONCISE through Telnet. Connect either to concise.ixi.ch (130.59.2.16) or concise.funet.fi (128.214.6.181). Login: concise, password: concise. For help, send email to helpdesk@concise.level-7.co.uk with the following command in the body of the text: start help cug-email This will give you the `CONCISE User Guide - Email Access'. CRS Online (Canada Remote Systems) ---------------------------------- With a network of just over 200 computers, CRS Online is one of the largest BBSs in North America (1994). It has a software library of more than 30 gigabytes of programs and files, and over 6000 public forums and discussion areas. CRS Online provides several news and information services, including the United Press International and Reuters news wires, North American stock exchange results, the twice-weekly edition of Newsbytes, and other publications. Tel.: (416)-213 6000 (Toronto), 1-800-563-2529 (in Canada), (416)-213-6038 (FAX), and (416) 213-6003 (Modem) CRS Online, 12 Steinway Blvd. Unit 24, Etobicoke, ON M9W 6M5. DASnet ------ forwards mail between systems that do not have any email exchange agreements. See description in Chapter 13. Contact: DA Systems, Inc., 1503 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell, CA 95008, U.S.A. DataArkiv --------- Major Scandinavian online service based in Sweden. Contact: DataArkiv, Box 1502, 171 29 Solna, Sweden. Fax: +46 8 828 296. Tel.: +46 8 705 13 11. Data-Star --------- Formerly owned by Radio-Suisse in Switzerland, and now owned by Knight- Ridder (U.S.A.), Data-Star is a leading European-based online service. It offers around 300 databases (1993) within business, science and medicine, and is strong on European information. SciSearch is a database with references to over nine million stories from 4500 newspapers and magazines. Data-Star is strong on pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, and automotive industries. Other databases: Current Patents Fast Alert, Flightline (with stories about air transport), The Turing Institute Database on artificial intelligence, Information Access (international market data), parts of SovData, Who Owns Whom, Telefirm - Directory of French Companies, etc.. Access through Internet: telnet to rserve.rs.ch [192.82.124.4] and login as rserve , and follow standard login procedure. Contact in North America: D-S Marketing, Inc., Suite 110, 485 Devon Park Drive, Wayne, PA 19087, Tel.: +1-215-687-6777. Contact in Europe: Data-Star Dialog Europe, Haymarket House, 1 Oxendon street, London SW1Y 4EE, England. Voice: +44 71 930 7646. Fax: +44 71 930 2581. Delphi ------ offers full access to Internet. Write to: General Videotex Corp., 1030 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Around 110.000 subscribers (1993). Email: walthowe@delphi.com . The service was purchased by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Ltd. (September 1993), and will be renamed Delphi Internet Services. Dialcom ------- is owned by British Telecom and is a network of data centers in many countries. Dialcom is selling its services through many agents (like EsiStreet for the music industry, and CGNet for agricultural research). Some selected services: The Official Airline Guide, news (Financial Times Profile, Newsbytes, AP, UPI, and Reuters), mail (Dialcom400), fax services and several conference type offerings (like Campus 2000 for the education market). Today, most Dialcom users are unable to exchange mail with the Internet (DASnet is a commercial alternative), but mail can be sent to users of SprintMail, IBM Mail, AT&Ts Easylink, MCI Mail, Compania Telefonica Nacional de Espana, and other X.400 systems. Contact: Dialcom, 6120 Executive Blvd., Rockville, MD 20852, U.S.A. The British service Telecom-Gold is a subsidiary of Dialcom UK. In North America, contact BT North America at tel.: +1-408-922-7543. In Europe, contact British Telecom. CGNET can be reached through the Internet. Send a message to postmaster@cgnet.com for more information. Dialog Information Services --------------------------- is owned by Knight Ridder and has more than 400 databases online. They offer a long list of newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle in full- text, Newsbytes, Information Access, the Japan Technology database, most major global news wires, Trademarkscan, USA Today, Teikoku Databank from Japan. Dialog has gateways to other services, like CompuServe and iNet, making the databases available to a larger market. Many databases are also available on CD-ROM. In Europe, contact Data-Star Dialog Europe, Haymarket House, 1 Oxendon street, London SW1Y 4EE, Engand. Voice: +44 71 930 7646. Fax: +44 71 930 2581. In the US, contact Dialog, 3460 Hillview Ave., Palo Alto, Calif. 94304. You can telnet to DIALOG.COM (192.132.3.254, US$ 3/hour in 1992). DIMDI ----- Postfach 42 05 80, D-5000 Koeln 41, Germany. Tel: +49 221 47 24 270. Dow Jones News/Retrieval ------------------------ DJN/R covers more than 1400 key business and financial information sources (1994). This includes a mix of newspapers, newswires, market reports, and company financials. It is the sole online distributor of The Wall Street Journal (with articles from the international editions), Barron's, Dow Jones and Telerate's newswires in full-text. Further, it has PR Newswire, many other newspapers in full-text, clipping service, online charting for investors, and gateways to other services like MCI Mail, Info Globe (Globe and Mail in Canada). The gem of the service is the Dow Jones Text Library, a vast searchable database that includes all of Dow Jones's publications plus 1,400 general and trade publications, major newspapers (like Washington Post), and magazines (such as Fortune and U.S. News & World Report). Use //GUIDE for names of all publications and newswires, description of databases and general services. Address: Dow Jones & Cor., P.O. Box 300, Princeton, N.J. 08543-0300, U.S.A. Voice: +1-609-452-1511. Fax: +1-609-520-4775. DJN/R is also accessible through a gateway from MCI Mail. You can telnet to djnr.dowjones.com . At the WHAT SERVICE PLEASE prompt, enter DJNR and press ENTER. An ENTER PASSWORD prompt will appear. Here, enter your normal DJNS account password. ECHO ---- European Commission Host Organization is accessible via CONCISE. Telnet either to concise.ixi.ch (130.59.2.16) or concise.funet.fi (128.214.6.181). Login: concise, password: concise. The NUA address is 0270448112. You can also telnet to echo.lu . Login as echotest or echo. ECHO's I'M GUIDE is a free database providing information about online services within the European Common Market. It includes CD-ROMs, databases and databanks, database producers, gateways, host organizations, PTT contact points, and information brokers in Europe. ECHO's other databases are classified under the headings Research and development, Language industry, Industry and economy. For information contact: ECHO Customer Service, BP 2373, L-1023 Luxembourg. Tel.: +352 34 98 1200. Fax: +352 34 98 1234. Eunet Deutschland GmbH ---------------------- Address: 44227 Dortmund, Germany. Email: postmaster@Germany.EU.net . Phone: +49-231-972-2222. Internet access provider. Exec-PC Network BBS ------------------- is based in Milwaukee (Wisconsin, U.S.A.). In August 1991, it had 238 incoming phone lines, 9 gigabytes of disk capacity, more than 100 new programs/day, 300,000 programs available for downloading (including the complete selection from PC-SIG California) and more than 130,000 active messages in its conferences. More than 3,300 persons called EXEC-PC each day. The service focuses on owners of IBM compatible computers (MS/PC-DOS, Windows, OS/2, Windows, Unix), Apple Macintosh, Amiga and Atari ST through over 200 conferences. You can access EXEC-PC through i-Com's outdial service, Global Access, PC- Pursuit, Connect-USA, and by direct dialing. Annual subscription costs US$75.00 (1993). You can sign on while online. Unregistered users get thirty minutes per day free. Contact: Exec-PC, PO Box 57, Elm Grove, WI 53122, USA. FidoNet ------- was founded in 1984 for automatic transfers of files from one place to the other at night, when the telephone rates are low. FidoNet is one of the most widespread networks in the world. It consists mainly of personal computers (IBM/Amiga/Macintosh...). FidoNet systems exchange documents by using a modem and calling another FidoNet system. Communication can be either direct to the destination system (calling long distance) or by routing a message to a local system. Each computer connected to FidoNet is called a node. There are nodes in around 70 countries. In June 1993, the net had 24,800 nodes throughout the world (source: FidoNet nodelist). The number of nodes is growing at about 40 percent per year. Most nodes are operated by volunteers, and access is free. FidoNet is believed to have over 1.56 million users (1992). Conferences (called ECHOs or Echomail) are exchanged between interested nodes, and may thus have thousands of readers. The selection of echomail conferences on a given FidoNet board can be as unique as the rest of the system. A typical FidoNet Echomail conference gets 50 to 100 messages each day. Any connected BBS may carry 50, 100, or more echomail conferences. NetMail is the term for storing and delivering mail. FidoNet users can send and receive mail through the Internet. The list of member bulletin boards is called the Nodelist. It can be retrieved from most boards. Each node has one line on this list, like in this example: ,10,Home_of_PCQ,Warszawa,Jan_Stozek,48-22-410374,9600,V32,MNP,XA The commas are field separators. The first field (empty in this example) starts a zone, region, local net, Host, or denotes a private space (with the keyword Pvt). The second field (10) is the node number, and the third field (Home_of_PCQ) is the name for the node. The fourth field (Warszawa) is a geographical notation, and the fifth field (Jan_Stozek) is the name of the owner. The sixth field is a telephone contact number, and the other fields contain various technical information used in making connections. FidoNet has six major geographical zones: (1) North America, (2) Europe, etc., (3) Oceania, (4) America Latina, (5) Africa, (6) Asia. For information, contact the International FidoNet Association (IFNA), P.O. Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141, U.S.A., or postmaster@fidonet.fidonet.org . The FIDO subdirectory in the MSDOS directory on SimTel (on the Internet) contains extensive information, including explanation of FidoNet, guide for its nodes, gateways between FidoNet and Internet, and various programs and utilities. (See TRICKLE in Chapter 4 for how to get these files.) You may also gopher to cosn.org . Select Networking Information/Reference/The BIG DUMMY'S GUIDE TO FIDONET. Fog City Online Information Service ----------------------------------- is the world's largest bulletin board with AIDS information. Based in San Francisco (U.S.A.) it offers free and anonymous access for everybody. Call +1-415-863-9697. Enter "AIDS" by the question "First name?" and "INFO" by the question "Last Name?" FT Profile ---------- has full-text articles from Financial Times in London, from several European databases (like the Hoppenstedt database with more than 46,000 German companies), and the Japanese database Nikkei. Profile is available through Telecom-Gold, and can also be accessed through other online services. Clipping service. CD-ROM. Contact FT Profile at tel.: +44-932 761444. GEnie ----- General Electric Network for Information Exchange is owned by a joint venture between GE and Ameritech . GEnie gives access to many databases and other information services. It has gateways to Dialog, Dow Jones, and has around 400,000 users (1993). The basic rate is US$4.95/month plus connect charges. The surcharge is US$18/hour between 08:00 and 18:00, and US$6.00/hour for some services, like email, downloading of software, "chat," conferences, and multi-user games. Access to Internet email is available as a surcharged add-on service. (Addressing format: userid@GEnie.GEis.com) For information call +1-301-251-6415. Fax: +1-301-251-6421. Mail: GE Information Services, 401 N. Washington St., Rockville, MD 20850, U.S.A. GE Information Service Co. (GEIS) --------------------------------- Online service operated by General Electric. Available in over 32 countries. GEIS' QUIK-COMM service integrates multinational business communications for public and private mail systems. Its services include Telex Access; and QUIK-COMM to FAX, which allows users to send messages from their workstations to fax machines throughout the world. Contact: tel. +1-301-340-4485 GENIOS ------ German online service (tel.: +49 69 920 19 101). Offers information from Novosti (Moscow), data about companies in the former DDR, the Hoppenstedt business directories, and more. GlasNet ------- is an international computer network that provides low-cost telecommunications to nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union. Email, fax, telex, public conferences. For nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations, basic GlasNet service fees are 350 rubles/month after a one-time registration fee of 1000 rubles. This does not include faxes or telexes. (1992) Write to: GlasNet, Ulitsa Sadovaya-Chernograizskaya, dom 4, Komnata 16, Third Floor, 107078 Moscow, Russia. Tel: +7 (095) 207-0704. Email: support@glas.apc.org . Gopher at glas.apc.org . Global Access ------------- is a North American outdial service (see Chapter 13) owned by G-A Technologies, Inc. It has an information BBS at +1-704-334-9030. IASNET ------ The Institute for Automated Systems Network was the first public switched network in the xUSSR. Its main goal is to provide a wide range of network services to the scientific community in the xUSSR, including access to online databases, a catalog of foreign databases, and conferencing (ADONIS). IBM Information Network ----------------------- See Advantis. i-Com ----- offers outdial services to North America (ref. Chapter 13). Contact: i-Com, 4 Rue de Geneve B33, 1140 Brussels, Belgium. Tel.: +32 2215 7130. Fax: +32 2215 8999. Modem: +32 2215 8785. ILINK (Interlink) ----------------- is a network for exchange of conferences between bulletin boards in U.S.A., Canada, Scotland, England, Norway, France, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and other countries. Infonet ------- is a privately owned vendor of packet data services with local operations in over 50 countries, and access from more than 135 countries. Contact: Infonet Services Corp., 2100 East Grand Ave., El Segundo, CA 90245, U.S.A. INTERNET -------- It may not be as awe-inspiring as the great pyramids of Egypt, but the Internet stands as one of the seven wonders of the online world. It started as ARPANET, but is now a large group of more than 23,000 interconnected networks (1994) in over 69 countries all over the world supporting mail, news, remote login, file transfer, and many other services. All participating hosts are using the protocol TCP/IP. In February 1994, there were email and other gateways to 146 countries. There are around 1.776 million host computers with IP addresses (in July 1993. 1.3 million in March 1992. Ref. RFC1296 and RFC 1181). The number of users is estimated to more than ten million people. Some one million people are said to exchange email messages daily. As of August, 1991, more than half the registered networks on Internet were commercial. In addition, private enterprise networks have an estimated 1,000,000 hosts using TCP/IP (Source: Matrix News August 1993.) These offer mail exchange with the Internet, but not services such as Telnet or FTP to most parts of the Internet, and are estimated to have some 7.5 million users. Some claim that these figures are low. They believe it is possible to reach around 200 million mailboxes by email through the Internet (1993). Many commercial companies now offer full Internet services. Among these are Alternet (operated by UUNET. Email: alternet-info@uunet.uu.net) and PCI (operated by Performance Systems, Inc.). The UK Internet Consortium offers similar services in Great Britain. INTERNET gives users access to the ftp and telnet commands. Ftp gives them interactive access to remote computers for transferring files. Telnet gives access to a remote service for interactive dialog. (Read in appendix 6 about important Internet tools etc.) You can telnet several bulletin boards through Internet. Here is a sample: Name Login as Description ---- ---------- ----------- CONRAD.APPSTATE.EDU info World news collected by monitoring short wave broadcasts from BBS and other global sources. ISCA.ICAEN.UIOWA.EDU ISCABBS A large amount of public domain programs ATL.CALSTATE.EDU LEWISNTS Electronic newspapers and the Art World. TOLSUN.OULU.FI BOX Finnish service. English available as an option. Internet -------- is a term used on something many call "WorldNet" or "The Matrix." It includes the networks in INTERNET, and a long list of networks that can send electronic mail to each other (though they may not be based on the TCP/IP protocol). The Internet includes INTERNET, BITNET, DECnet, Usenet, UUCP, PeaceNet, IGC, EARN, Uninett, FidoNet, CompuServe, Alternex (Brazil), ATT Mail, FredsNaetet (Sweden), AppleLink, GeoNet (hosts in Germany, England, U.S.A.), GreenNet, MCI Mail, MetaNet, Nicarao (Nicaragua), OTC PeaceNet/EcoNet, Pegasus (Australia), BIX, Portal, PsychNet, Telemail, TWICS (Japan), Web (Canada), The WELL, CARINET, DASnet, Janet (England) One important feature of the Internet is that no one is in charge. Much of its direction comes from a group of volunteers called the Internet Society, which is run more like a council of elders than a business (Email: isoc@isoc@org). The Internet is essentially a voluntary association. Somehow it all works. Similarly, no one organization collects fees from Internet users or networks. Each individual user and service pays its own way. There are rarely any additional charges for sending and receiving electronic mail (even when sending to other networks), retrieving files, or reading Usenet Newsgroups. . . Intermail --------- See Commercial Mail Relay Service. Istel ----- A privately owned vendor of packet data services, who has operator-owned nodes in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Holland, Spain, Sweden, England. Contact: AT&T Istel. Tel.: 0527-64295 (in England). Kompass Online and Kompass Europe -------------------------------- These databases are available through many services, including Affaersdata in Sweden and Dialog. Contact: (voice) +47 22 64 05 75. InfoPro Technologies -------------------- Previously Maxwell Online. InfoPro's services include BRS Online and Orbit Online. BRS owns BRS Online, BRS Colleague, BRS After Dark, and BRS Morning Search, which focus on medical information. Orbit focuses on patent and patent-related searches. Orbit carries an annual membership fee of US$50 (1992), and hourly fees that differ according to database. Contact: InfoPro Technologies, 8000 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102, U.S.A. Tel.: +1-703-442-0900. In Europe: InfoPro Technologies, Achilles House, Western Avenue, London W3 0UA, England. Maxwell Online -------------- See InfoPro Technologies. MCI Mail -------- MCI Mail, Box 1001, 1900 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20036, U.S.A. Email: 2671163@mcimail.com Mead Data Central ----------------- operates the Nexis and Lexis services. Contact: Mead Data Central International, International House, 1, St. Katharine's Way, London E1 9UN, England. In the US, contact Mead Data Central Inc., P.O. Box 933, Dayton, Ohio 45401. TELNET lexis.meaddata.com or 192.73.216.20 or 192.73.216.21 . Terminal type = vt100a. Note: If characters do not echo back, set your terminal to "local" echo. MetaNet ------- Contact: Metasystems Design Group, 2000 North 15th Street, Suite 103, Arlington, VA 22201, U.S.A. Tel.: +1-703-243-6622. Telnet or gopher to tmn.com . MIX --- A Scandinavian bulletin board network exchanging conferences. For information, call Mike's BBS in Norway at the following numbers: +47-22- 416588, +47-22-410403 and +47-22-337320. Minitel ------- French videotex service, which is being marketed all over the world. It is based on a special graphics display format (Teletel), has over 13,000 services, and appears like a large French online hypermarche with more than seven million users (1992). Access to the French Minitel network is available via the Infonet international packet data network on a host-paid and chargeable account basis. Mnematics --------- Mnematics, 722 Main Street Sparkill, NY 10976-0019, U.S.A. Tel.: +1-914- 359-4546. NEC PC-VAN ---------- is Japan's largest online service. It has about 660,000 registered users (February 1994). Your communications system must be able to display Japanese characters to use the service. PC-VAN has gateways to GEnie, Dialog and Internet. Netnews ------- See Usenet. NewsNet ------- The world's online leading vendor of full-text business and professional newsletters. Offers access to over 700 industry-specific newsletters and trade publications within 35 industry classification groups (1994). It has over 20 worldwide newswires, and live gateway access to Dun & Bradstreet business reports, TRW Business Profiles, and more. You can read individual newsletter issues, and search back issues or individual newsletters or publications within an industry classification. NewsNet's clipping service is called NewsFlash. Enter PRICES at the main command prompt for an alphabetic listing of all available services. Contact: NewsNet, 945 Haverford Rd., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, U.S.A. Access in 97 countries is possible through CompuServe's network. NIFTY-Serve ----------- is Japan's number 2 online service. It had 560,000 subscribers in November 1993. Access is possible via a gateway from CompuServe. Your communications system must be able to display Japanese characters to use the service. Internet mail is available as of February 1, 1994. Nifty-Serve is jointly operated by Fujitsu and Nissho Iwai Trading in a licensing agreement with CompuServe. NWI --- Networking and World Information, Inc. One time subscription fee: US$20 (US$5 is given to charity. US$15 is returned to the user as free time). Non-prime time access costs US$10.70/hour at 300 to 2400 bps. Otherwise, the rate is US$23.50. The service is available through PDN and outdial services. (1992) Contact: NWI, 333 East River Drive, Commerce Center One, East Hartford, CT 06108, U.S.A. Tel.: +1-203-289-6585. CompuServe users can access NWI's PARTICIPATE conferences through a gateway. OCLC ---- Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is a nonprofit computer library service and research organization whose computer network and products link more than 15,000 libraries in 47 countries and territories. It serves all types of libraries, including public, academic, special, corporate, law, and medical libraries. Contact: OCLC, 6565 Fratz Rd., Dublin, OH, U.S.A. Tel.: +1-614-764-6000. Orbit ----- is owned by Questel. It offers more than 100 science, technical and patent research, and company information databases. Contact: ORBIT Search Service, Achilles House, Western Avenue, London W3 0UA, England. Tel.: +44 81 332 7888. Telnet orbit.com (US$6/hr in 1992). In USA: Questel, Inc., 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 1111, Arlington, VA 22201, USA. Voice: +1-703-527-7501. Pergamon Financial Data Services -------------------------------- See Orbit. Polarnet -------- A Scandinavian distributed conferencing system available through many boards, including Mike's BBS (see above). Prestel ------- is owned by British Telecom. It is a videotex service based on a special graphics display format. The service is also available as "TTY Teletype." NUA address: 02341 10020020. Prodigy ------- is a North American videotex service owned by IBM and Sears. You must have a special communications program to use the service, which claimed 2.1 million subscribers in early 1993. Rates: US$12.50 per family per month for up to six family members and up to 30 email messages. Annual subscription: US$ 119.95. The packet sent new users contains a communication program and a Hayes-compatible 2400 bps modem. Price: US$ 180. (early 1992) Email from the Internet to Prodigy users: send to "XXXX@prodigy.com," where "XXXX" is the user's Prodigy service ID. Contact: Prodigy Services Co., 445 Hamilton Ave., White Plains, NY 10601, U.S.A. Tel.: +1-914-992-8000. Email (through Internet): admin@prodigy.com . Questel ------- is owned by ORBIT Online. Address: Le Capitole 55, avenue des Champs Pierreux, F-92029 Nanterre, France. RelayNet -------- Also called PcRelay-Net. An international network for exchange of email and conferences between more than 8,500 bulletin boards. The Relaynet International Message Exchange (RIME) consists of some 1,000 systems (1992). Relcom ------ means 'Russian Electronic Communications.' This company provides email, other network services, a gateway to Internet, and access to Usenet. In early 1992, RELCOM had regional nodes in 25 cities of the xUSSR connecting over 1,000 organizations or 30,000 users. It now has 200,000 users (2/1994). RELCOM has a gateway to IASNET. Saltrod Horror Show ------------------- Odd de Presno's BBS system. Tel.: +47 370 31378. The ImagiNation Network ----------------------- (formerly The Sierra Network, or TSN) is one of the best things out there for online games. The service claimed more than 20,000 subscribers in 1993. Contact: The Sierra Network, P.O. Box 485, Coarsegold, CA 93614, U.S.A. SIGnet ------ Global BBS network with over 2500 nodes around the world (1993). SprintMail ---------- is a large, commercial vendor of email services. It has local nodes serving customers in 108 countries through its SprintNet network (1991). Internet mail to the SprintMail user identity 'T.Germain' can be sent to T.Germain@sprint.sprint.com . For information, contact SprintMail, 12490 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston, VA 22096, U.S.A. STN International ----------------- Postfach 2465, D-7500 Karlsruhe 1, Germany. SuperNET -------- is an international network for exchange of conferences and mail between SuperBBS bulletin board systems. Contact: SuperNet World Host through FidoNet at 2:203/310 (+46-300-41377) Lennart Odeberg. TCN --- is a Dialcom network. Internet email to TCN is only possible if either the sender or recipient has registered with DASnet. The email address would be: TCNxxx@das.net (where xxx is the TCN number). Thunderball Cave ---------------- Norwegian bulletin board connected to RelayNet. Call +47-22-299441 or +47- 22-299442. Offers Usenet News and Internet mail. Tocolo BBS ---------- Bulletin board for people with disabilities in Japan, or with "shintaishougaisha," which is the Japanese term. Call: +81-3-205-9315. 1200 bps, 8,N,1. Your communications system must be able to display Japanese characters to use the service. TRI-P ----- International outdial service. Contact: INTEC America, Inc., 1270 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 2315, New York, NY 10020, U.S.A. In Japan, contact Intec at 2-6-10 Sarugaku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101. Fax: +81-3-3292-2929. TWICS BeeLINE ------------- English-language Japanese online service with PARTIcipate, Caucus and Usenet netnews. Half the users are Japanese. Others connect from U.S.A., England, Canada, Germany, France, South Africa, and Scandinavia. The NUA address is: 4406 20000524. Direct call to +81 3 3351 7905 (14,4KB/s), or +81-3-3351-8244 (9600 bps). At CONNECT, press ENTER a few times. Wait about a second between keystrokes to get to the registration prompt. New users can sign on as GUEST for information. You can also write postmaster@twics.co.jp, or send mail to TWICS/IEC, 1-21 Yotsuya, Shinjuku- ku, Tokyo 160, JAPAN. Foreign users have free access (1992). UMI/Data Courier ---------------- 620 South Street, Louisville, KY 40202, U.S.A. Uninett ------- delivers networking services to Norwegian research and educational services. Unison ------ North American conferencing service using PARTIcipate software. NUA address: 031105130023000. Password: US$35.00. Monthly subscription: US$6.25. Non-prime time access: US$12.00/hour. Prime time access: US$19.00/hour. Enter SIGNUP when online the first time and follow the prompts. (1991) UUCP ---- UUCP (UNIX to UNIX Copy) is a protocol, a set of files and a set of commands to copy files from one UNIX computer to another. This copying procedure is the core of the UUCP network, a loose association of systems all communicating with the UUCP protocol. UNIX computers can participate in the UUCP network (using leased line or dial-up) through any other UNIX host. The network now also has many MS-DOS and other hosts, and consisted of 16,300 hosts in January 1993 (source: UUCP map) serving more than 489,000 users. The UUCP network is based on two systems connecting to each other at specific intervals, and executing any work scheduled for either of them. For example, the system Oregano calls the system Basil once every two hours. If there's mail waiting for Oregano, Basil will send it at that time. Likewise, Oregano will at that time send any mail waiting for Basil. There are databases with connectivity information (UUCP maps), and programs (pathalias) that will help you decide the correct routing of messages. However, many UUCP hosts are not registered in the UUCP map. EUNET is a UUCP based network in Europe. JUNET is an equivalent network in Japan. There are many gateway machines that exchange mail between UUCP and the Internet. Among these, UUNET.UU.NET is among the most frequently used (Email: info@uunet.uu.net). Usenet ------ Usenet, Netnews, or just "News" are common terms for a large many-to-many conferencing (only) system distributed through UUCP, Internet, FidoNet, and BITNET. The European portion of Usenet is called EUNET (European Unix NET). This grassroots driven "network" has grown out of the global university and research domains. It is a service rather than a real network. It is not an organization, and has no central authority. Usenet's newsgroups are carried by over 69,000 host computers in five continents, and has over 1,991,000 users (source: Brian Reid, 1993). Many of these hosts have access to the Internet. Many bulletin board systems import newsgroups, and make them available to their users. It is therefore estimated that Usenet reaches 6 million people worldwide (1993). The local administrator of each individual node in the network decides what newsgroups to receive and make available to its users. Few systems offer access to all of them. NetNews is organized in groups of 'conferences'. Each of these classifications is organized into groups and subgroups according to topic. As of June 1, 1993, there were 4500 newsgroups and 2500 regional newsgroups. Several sites are carrying over 2600 topics. On a typical day in February, 1993, 350,000 Usenet articles were posted. The groups distributed worldwide are divided into seven broad classifications: "comp" Topics of interest to both computer professionals and hobbyists, including topics in computer science, software source, and information on hardware and software systems. "sci" Discussions marked by special and usually practical knowledge, relating to research in or application of the established sciences. "misc" Groups addressing themes not easily classified under any of the other headings or which incorporate themes from multiple categories. "soc" Groups primarily addressing social issues and socializing. "talk" Groups largely debate-oriented and tending to feature long discussions without resolution and without appreciable amounts of generally useful information. "news" Groups concerned with the news network and software themselves. "rec" Groups oriented towards hobbies and recreational activities. Also available are many "alternative" hierarchies, like: "alt" True anarchy; anything and everything can and does appear. Subjects include sex, and privacy. "biz" Business-related groups "clari" Newsgroups gatewayed from commercial news services and other 'official' sources. (Requires payment of a fee and execution of a licence. More information by email to info@clarinet.com). Most Netnews hosts offer both global and local conferences. Many newsgroups can be read through bulletin boards, commercial online services, or through gateways from connected hosts (like from some BITNET hosts). A full list of available groups and conferences are normally available from hosts offering Netnews, and on NETNEWS servers. All users should subscribe to news.announce.important . A News Mail Server allows users to post to Usenet news via email. Send your mail to [newsgroup]@cs.utexas.edu . Replace [newsgroup] with the name of the newsgroup, as in mail comp-sys-misc@cs.utexas.edu . Mail oracle@cs.indiana.edu with 'help' in your subject for information about how to make The Usenet Oracle answer *all* your questions. [Mind you, this is a cooperative effort for creative humor!] Vu/Text ------- 325 Chestnut St., Suite 1300, Philadelphia, PA 19106, U.S.A. The Well -------- The Whole Earth Lectronic Link is a commercial online service based in Sausalito (U.S.A.). It has its own conferencing culture, and is an interesting starting point for those wanting to "study" what makes the area around Silicon Valley so dynamic. The Well has 200 hosted conferences, public and private, about 8,000 members (January 1994), and is available in a variety of ways. The service has full Internet access, and can be reached by telnet to well.sf.ca.us (or 192.132.30.2). Modem tel.: +1-415-332-6106 at 1200 bps or +1-415-332-7398 at 2400 bps. You can subscribe online. Rates: US$ 20/month plus US$ 2/hour (invoiced by the minute online - 1992). Email: info@well.sf.ca.us ZiffNet ------- markets its services through CompuServe (ZiffNet and ZiffNet/Mac), Prodigy, and its own online service in the U.S.A. Their offerings include the Ziff Buyer's Market, the ZiffNet/Mac Buyer's Guide, Computer Database Plus, Magazine Database Plus, NewsBytes, and the Cobb Group Online. Contact: Ziff Communications Company, 25 First Street, Cambridge, MA 02141, U.S.A. Tel.: +1-617-252-5000. Appendix 2: Short takes about how to get started ==================================== * a computer * modem and a communications program You must have a computer ------------------------ It is not important what kind of computer you have, though you may find out that it is an advantage to have a popular one. The most common type of microcomputer today is called MS-DOS computers (or IBM PC compatibles or IBM clones). Your computer should have enough memory for communication. This is rarely a problem. Your computer does not have to be very powerful and super fast, unless you want ultra fast transfers, use a slow communications program, or a complex system of script files. If this is the case, you'll know to appreciate speed and power. You do not need a hard disk. Many do without. Not having one, however, means more work, and less room for storage of all the nice things that you may want to retrieve by modem. Personally, I want as much hard disk space as I can possibly get. When you have read the book, I guess you'll understand why. Others may want to delay the purchase of a hard disk until they can spare the money. If you can afford it, however, do it! It is a decision that you'll never regret. You must have a modem --------------------- Some computers are always connected to a network. If this is your situation, then you probably have what you need already. The rest of us need a modem. A modem is a small piece of equipment that is translating the internal, electrical signals of the computer to sound codes. These codes can be sent over an ordinary telephone line. You may think of it as a type of Morse alphabet. The recipient of data also needs a modem. In his case, the sound codes will have to be translated back into their original form as digital codes. When this is done, he can view text and pictures on the screen, and use the received data in other applications. You can buy modems on an expansion card for installation in your computer, or in a separate box. Often, a modem has already been built into the computer, when you buy it. Whether to buy an internal or an external modem is a question of needs: A portable computer with an internal modem is easier to bring on travels than an external modem with a modem cable and a power adapter. An external modem can serve several computers. Some of them are so compact that they fit besides your toothbrush in the toilet bag. An internal modem blocks one of your serial ports. External modems --------------- The options are many. The modems differ on speed, features, prices - and whether they are approved for usage in your country. Some of them are connected to the phone line by cable. Others are connected to the handset (to the talk and listen part) by two rubber cups. We call such modems acoustic modems (or acoustic couplers). Acoustic modems are useful where connecting other modems to the telephone is difficult. The bad news is that you'll get more noise on the line. Acoustic modems can therefore not be recommended for use in other cases. Asynchronous or synchronous modems? ----------------------------------- Formerly, data communication was done by sending job commands to a mainframe computer, and having the result returned in one batch. The modems were called synchronous. Such modems (and computers) are still in use in some large corporations. Most of today's online services are based on an interactive dialog between the user and the remote computer. The user enters a command, for example a letter or a number in a menu, and the result is returned almost immediately. The modems used for such work are called asynchronous (See "Explanation of some words and terms" in appendix 4). Unless you know that you must have a synchronous modem, buy an asynchronous one. Choice of speed --------------- Speed is measured in many ways. One method is to use baud. Another is to use characters per second (cps) or bits per second (bps). Bps is a measure of how many data bits that can be transferred over a data channel in one second. (Each byte is split up into bits before transfer during serial communication.) The relationship between baud and bits per second is complex, and often misused. Bits per second is unambiguous. In this book, we will use it as bps. We can estimate the number of characters per second by dividing the number of bps by ten. For example. 1200 bps is roughly 120 cps. In 1987, 300, 1200 and 2400 bps asynchronous modems were the standard in many countries. Around 1990, the growth in 9600 bps modems and modem with faster speeds gained momentum. Modem user manuals often give transfer speed by referring to some international classification codes. Here are some ITU-TSS codes with explanation: V.21 0-300 bps Still used by a small group. Cannot full duplex communicate with the American Bell 103 standard. V.22 1200 bps Partly compatible with the American full duplex Bell 212a standard. Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails. V.22bis 2400 bps Used all over the world. Very full duplex common. V.23 600 & 1200 Rare protocol. Used mainly in Europe. bps w/75 Half duplex. bps return ch. V.26ter 2400 bps Used mainly in France full duplex V.27ter 2400/4800 bps Used in Group III fax half duplex V.29 4800, 7200 and Used in gr. III fax and in some (Ame- 9600 bps rican) modems. Do not buy V.29 if you half duplex want a 9600 bps modem. V.32 4800/9600 bps Current standard for 9600 bps modems full duplex V.32bis 4800/7200/9600, Full duplex with faster interrogation. 12000/14400 bps V.Fast Proprietary protocols supporting speeds also known as to 28,800 bps for uncompressed (raw) data V.32terbo 28800 bps transmission rates over regular dial- V.FC up, voice-grade lines. Using V.42bis data compression, up to 86,400 bps may be achievable. Some claim throughput of up to 115.2 kbps with V.42bis compression. Incompatibility between brands. V.34 28800 bps The proposed standard high speed protocol (ITU-TSS). V.34bis 32 Kbit/sec Possible future standard. V.42 Error correction protocol (an appendix yields compatibility w/MNP gr. 2,3 and 4 (see MNP below). For V.22, V.22bis, V.26ter and V.32. V.42bis Data compression for V.42 modems. Meant to replace MNP and LAP. Text can be transferred three times faster than with MNP, i.e., in up to 38400 bps using a 9600 bps modem. Very common. When you consider buying a modem with higher speed, remember that going from 1200 bps to 2400 is a 50 percent increase, while going from 1200 to 9600 bps gives 800 percent! On the other hand, if you currently have 9600 bits/s, going to 14.400 will only give you 50 percent. MNP error correction and compression ------------------------------------ The Microcom Networking Protocol (MNP) is a U.S. industry standard for modem-to-modem communication with automatic error correction and compression. Automatic error correction is useful when there is noise on the telephone line. MNP splits the stream of data up into blocks before transmission. They are checked by the other modem upon receipt. If the contents are correct, an acknowledge message is sent back to the sending modem. If there has been an error in the transmission, the sending modem is asked to retransmit. When using compression, files are being preprocessed before transmission to decrease their size. The result is that the modem has to send fewer bytes, and the effect is higher speed. MNP Level 3 and up send data between two modems synchronously rather than asynchronously. Since sending a start and stop bit with each transferred byte is no longer required, the effect is higher speed. MNP-4 or higher have automatic adjustment of block length when there is noise on the line. If the line is good, longer blocks are sent. The block size is decreased if the line is bad causing many retransmissions. MNP-5 has data compression. This gives a further increase in transfer speed by from 10 to 80 percent depending on the type of data sent. MNP-7 is capable of a three-to-one compression ratio. Both users must have their modems set for MNP to use it. The speed of the computer's COMM port ------------------------------------- Installing a super fast modem does not guarantee an increase in the effective transfer speed. The serial port of your computer may be a limiting factor. Owners of older MS-DOS computers often have UARTs (serial port processors) in the Intel 8250 or National 16450 series. With these in the computer, it is difficult to achieve speeds above 9600 bps without losing data. Take this into account when investing in a modem. MNP and efficiency ------------------ I call my bulletin board daily. My personal computer is set to communicate with a V.32 modem at 19,000 bps. The modem sends data to the telephone line at 9600 bps, which is this modem's maximum line speed. Data is received by the remote computer's V.32 modem at 9600 bps, and forwarded to bulletin board at 19200 bps. Why these differences in speed? MNP level 5 compresses data in the modem before transfer, and gives error- free transfer to and from the bulletin board at higher speed than by using 9600 bps all the way through. The compression effectiveness differs by the type of data. When sending text, the effective transfer speed may double. Speed will increase further if the text contains long sequences of similar characters. Text is typically compressed by up to 63 percent. This means that a 2400 bps modem using MNP-5 may obtain an effective speed of around the double when transferring such data. File transfers using MNP ------------------------ Files are often compressed and stored in libraries before transfer. Online services do this because compressed files take less space on their hard disks. Also, it is easier for users to keep track of files sent in a library file. You rarely get speed advantages when transferring precompressed files using MNP or V.42bis. With some modems, you must turn MNP and V.42bis compression off before retrieval of compressed files. Dumb or intelligent modem? -------------------------- Some modems are operated with switches or buttons on a panel. They do not react to commands from your computer. We call them dumb. You must dial numbers manually, and press a key on the modem, when you hear the tone from a remote modem. Only when the modem is connected to the remote modem, can you ask your communications program to take over. We call those modems 'intelligent' that can react to commands from your computer. Most of them react to commands according to the Hayes standard. Buy intelligent, Hayes-compatible modems - even when other standards may seem better. Most of today's communication programs are designed to be used by such modems. Note: Buy modems that use the Hayes extended command set. When a popular communications program, like Crosstalk, tells the modem to "dial a number" or "go on hook," then the Hayes-compatible modem will do just that. When you press ALT-H in Procomm, the modem will disconnect from the remote modem. If you press ALT-D followed by the number "2," the program will locate the number to an online service in your telephone directory, and dial that number. When the connection with the remote modem has been established, your modem will report back to you with a message like CONNECT 2400. This tells that a connection has been set up at 2400 bps. If I select "k" from a menu provided by my communications program's command scripts, then my system will retrieve today's business news from Tokyo and put them up on my screen. In the process, my system tells the modem to do several things, including "call a number," "speed 2400 bps," "redial if busy," "go on-hook when done". The only thing that I have to do, is press "k". The communications program and the modem will do the rest. Automatic communication is impossible without an intelligent modem. The Hayes standard ------------------ The U.S. company Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. pioneered command- driven modems. Their Smartmodem became a success, and "Hayes compatibility" a standard for intelligent modems. Today, it is as unimportant to buy a Hayes modem to get access to Hayes commands, as to buy an IBM PC to run PC software. Automatic dialing (autodial) was one of Smartmodem's important features. The modem could call a number and prepare for data communication, once a connection had been set up. If the line was busy, it could wait a while and then redial. The operator could work with other things while waiting for the equipment to be ready for communication. The modem had automatic answer (autoanswer), i.e., when someone called in, the modem could take the phone off hook and set up a connection with a remote modem. The modem enabled a connected PC to act as an electronic answering machine. Hayes-compatible modems can report call progress to the local screen using short numeric codes or words like CONNECT, CONNECT 1200, CONNECT 2400, NO CARRIER, NO DIALTONE, BUSY, NO ANSWER, RING etc. There can be small differences between such modems. The message DIALTONE on one modem may be DIAL TONE on another. Most of the main progress messages, however, are the same across brands. The old Smartmodem had switches used to configure the modem. Most modern Hayes-compatible modems come without switches and have more commands than their ancestor. Today's Hayes-compatible modems have a core of common commands, the "real" Hayes-commands, and several unstandardized additional commands. Here is an example: A standard on the move ---------------------- On the Quattro SB2422 modem, 2400 bps speed without automatic speed detection is set by the command "AT&I1". The equivalent command on Semafor's UniMod 4161 is "AT+C0". Automatic detection of speed is a feature that lets the modem discover the speed of the remote modem to set its own speed at the same level. (Other modems may use different commands to set this.) When I want Procomm to call a bulletin board, it first sends a sequence of Hayes commands to the Semafor modem. The purpose is to "configure" the modem before calling. It sends the following: AT S0=0 +C0 S7=40 S9=4 &D2 The cryptic codes have the following meaning: AT "Attention modem. Commands following.." S0=0 No automatic answer +C0 No automatic speed detection (fixed speed) S7=40 Wait 40 seconds for an answer tone from the remote modem. S9=4 Wait 4/10 seconds for detection of carrier &D2 Go on-hook if the DTR signal is being changed. If this command is sent to the Quattro modem, it will reply with "ERROR." The code "+C0" must be replaced with an "&I1". The rest of the commands are the same. (Note: when a modem responds with "ERROR," it has usually rejected all commands sent to it!) This setup is held in the modem's memory when Procomm sends its dialing command: ATDT4737031378. AT stands for ATtention, as above. DT stands for Dial Tone. Here, it is used to dial the number 4737031378 using tone signaling (rather than pulse dialing). The modem cable --------------- If you have an external modem, you must connect your computer to the modem with a cable. Some modems are sold without a cable. This cable may be called a serial cable, a modem cable, a RS232C cable, or something else. Make sure that you buy the correct cable for your system. Make sure that the connectors at each end of the cable are correct. If a male connector (with pins) is required in one end and a female (with holes) in the other, do not buy a cable with two male connectors. Some connectors have 9 pins/holes, while others have 25 or 8-pin round plugs (Apple computers). Use a shielded cable to ensure minimal interference with radio and television reception. At this point, some discover that there is no place on the PC to attach the cable. Look for a serial port at the rear of your machine, labeled MODEM, COMMUNICATIONS, SERIAL, or with a phone symbol. If you find no suitable connector, you may have to install an asynchronous communication port in the box. Connecting your equipment to earth ---------------------------------- Secure your computer and modem against thunderstorms and other electrical problems. Securing the electric outlet in the wall is not enough. Problems can also enter through the telephone line. Thunderstorms have sent electrical pulses through the telephone line destroying four modems, three PC-fax cards, one mother board, and at least one asynchronous communication port. To prevent this from happening to you, disconnect electrical and telephone cables from your equipment during thunderstorms. The communications program -------------------------- A powerful communications program is half the job. In my case it's the whole job. Most of my work is done automatically. The communications program will help you with the mechanical transportation of data in both directions. It lets you store incoming information for later use and reduces the risks of errors. Here are some items to consider when shopping communications program: * Seriously consider buying automatic programs ('robots') for access to individual online services, even if that means having to use several programs for different applications. (Read chapter 16 for more details.) * Menus and help texts are important for novices, and in environments with "less motivated personnel." Advanced users may find it boring. * Ability to transfer data without errors. The program should have transfer protocols like XMODEM, Kermit, XMODEM/CRC, YMODEM and ZMODEM. The XMODEM protocol is the most commonly used. You need these protocols if you want to transfer compiled computer programs (e.g., .COM and .EXE files). They are also used when transferring compressed files, graphics and music files. * Does it let you tailor it to your taste/needs? Some programs let you attach batches of commands to function keys and keystroke combinations. For example, by having your computer call your favorite online service by pressing the F1 key. * Does it let you "scroll back" information having disappeared out of your screen? This may be useful when you want to respond while online to an electronic mail message. The sender's address and name, which you need to respond, have scrolled off the screen. If you cannot review the "lost" information, you may have to disconnect and call back later to send your mail. Connecting to the online service -------------------------------- The first couple of times, most people think that it is very difficult. Soon it becomes a simple routine. On some computers, you just press a key, and that's it. On others, you have to call and press, and watch, while things are happening. Cheap is often a synonym for more work. If you have a dumb modem connected to your personal computer, these are the typical steps that you must take: (1) Start your communications program and set it up, e.g., with 2400 bps, 8 bits word length, 1 stop bit, no parity. (This is the most common setup.) Then set the program to "online." (2) Call the number (e.g., +47 370 31378) (3) When you hear the tone from the remote modem in the phone, press DATA to get the modems to connect to each other (i.e., to start to "handshake"). (4) A front panel indicator may tell you when the connection has been set up. You can start transferring data. With an MS-DOS computer, an automatic modem and a powerful program preset for the job, the steps may be as follows: (1) Start the program and display the telephone directory. Select a service from the list by pressing a number. (2) The modem will call automatically to the service. When CONNECT has been established, your user identification and password are sent at the prompts for such information. When this is done, you are free to take control. With an MS-DOS computer, TAPCIS, and an intelligent modem, you start by selecting forums and services to access on CompuServe. Enter 'o' to upload and download programs, or 'n' to have it fetch new message headers and messages. TAPCIS will dial the number, do the job, and tell you when it's done. Meanwhile, you can go out to look at the moon, or sing a song. Getting started with Procomm ---------------------------- Procomm is cheap and a popular communications program for MS-DOS computers. We will use it here, though there are many better and cheaper alternatives. The program is simple for novices, can automate the work for advanced users and be run on almost any MS-DOS computer. Here is some of the features: Press ALT-F10 for a pull-down window text listing features and commands. Press ALT+D to call a number, update the telephone directory, or select a script file for autologon to a service. Procomm can emulate (pretend to be) different terminal types, like IBM 3101 and DEC VT-100/VT-52. Most services covered in this book may be well served with the setting ANSI.BBS. It let you use both dumb and intelligent Hayes-compatible modems. If you have the latter, select numbers from the telephone directory for autologon. If the number is busy, Procomm can call back until you can get through. You can define macros to automate your work. You can have one keystroke send your user identification, another for your password, and a third key to send a sequence of commands. Macros make your communication faster and safer. You can write script files to automate the online work further. You can transfer text files and binary files using automatic error detection/correction protocols, like XMODEM, YMODEM, Telink and Kermit, at speeds from 300 to 19200 bps. Adding external protocols like ZMODEM is relatively simple. Appendix 3: Online with the world ===================== - Practical data communication - Your first trip online - Typical pitfalls and simple solutions - Receiving (downloading) letters, text and programs - Sending (uploading) letters, text and programs Practical data communication ---------------------------- The first thing novices want to know is how to set up the modem and computer for communication. This may take more time than expected and often seems complex for the uninitiated. You can save yourself much sweat and frustration by asking others for help. To set up your equipment for communication is a one time job. Once done, you can almost forget what you did and why. There are so many different modems, computers and programs out there. We just cannot give practical advice on the use of all of them in one short appendix. Instead, we will use one example. Your job is to "translate" the text into a terminology that fits your tools. Once your system is set up for communication, your first job will be to find what keys to press to get the job done. How you use your communications program may vary considerably from our example. In general, however, it will be the same for most people doing manual communication. Once online, the environment is the same for all users. If you plan to use automatic communications as explained in chapter 16, this chapter may not be that important. Your program will do the job for you. Still, take a few minutes and browse through the text. It may enable you to handle unexpected problems better. Our example assumes that you have an MS-DOS computer. Not because this is the best microcomputer in the world, but because there are more of them than anything else. We assume that you have an external, intelligent Hayes- compatible modem and the communications program Procomm (version 2.4.2). In this example, your modem is tested by calling my bulletin board at +47 370 31378. Not because this is the best board in the world, but because I have full control over how it looks and feels for those using it. Assembling the equipment ------------------------ You have the modem, the cable (to connect your modem with the computer), a phone cable (to connect your modem with the phone or the wall jack), and a communications program. Check that the modem's power switch is off. Place the modem by the computer, and plug the power supply cord (or the power adapter cord) into the AC wall socket. Switch on the modem. Do NOT use 115-volt equipment in 250-volt sockets! Connect modem and computer using the modem cable. There may be several optional sockets on the computer. These are usually marked RS-232, COMMS, MODEM, or just nothing. The connector may be of a flat 25-pins, 9 pins, or a round 8-pins type. Use communication port number 1, 2, or whatever else is available for this purpose. If you have several options, and the socket for communication port number 1 seems free, use this. If not, try one of the others. Next, connect the modem to the telephone line. If in luck, the modem came with a phone cable that works with your setup. If so, it is simple: 1. Disconnect the phone cable from the telephone. Insert the modular plug into the right jack on the modem. This jack is often marked with the word LINE, with a drawing of a modular wall jack, or another understandable icon. 2. You may be able to connect the phone to the modem using the phone cord that came with the modem. This may allow you to use the phone for voice, when the line is not busy with communication. (You may have to make changes in this cord to make it work with the connected phone.) This concludes the technical assembly of your equipment. Next step is to install the communications program. When this is done, we will check it out. Installing the program ---------------------- Let us assume that you have received Procomm on a diskette, and that it is set up with its default configuration. PROCOMM.EXE is the program. The other files have no importance here. Enter Procomm and press ENTER. Our first task is to prepare it for communication: If you are using a monochrome display, use the command PROCOMM /B The program will greet you by a welcome text. At the bottom of the screen, the message "CREATING SYSTEM FILES" may appear (if these have not been created yet), followed by a message from the creators of the program. Press ENTER when you have read the text. The screen will be blanked, and a text line will appear at the bottom. Now is the time to test if the technical installation has been successful. The dial tone ------------- Lift the receiver from the phone and check if you can hear the dial tone. If you can, turn the pages to "Does the computer have contact with the modem?" If you hear nothing, there are several possible causes: * The phone is not working. This is easily checked. Disconnect it from the modem, and connect it to the wall (using the original cable!). If you get a dial tone now, then the phone is in order. * The cable between the modem and the wall jack may be broken, or wrongly configured. To check this, we must first check the connection between the modem and the computer. Once we know that the connection between the modem and the computer is in order, we can use the modem to check our phone cable. * The cable between the modem and the phone may be in disorder. For example, the modular phone connector may have a cabling that differs from what is assumed in your country. If there is no dial tone, then the cable between the modem and the telephone must be repaired, or replaced. Does your computer have contact with the modem? ----------------------------------------------- When you first use Procomm, it is preset for communication at 300 bps, use of port 1 and ANSI-BBS. (The control line at the bottom of your screen should read: ALT-F10 HELP, ANSI-BBS, HDX, 300 N81, LOG CLOSED, PRT OFF, CR and CR.) * If your modem is unable to communicate at 300 bps, you must change the setup. Press ALT-P (keep the ALT key down while pressing P) to get the menu LINE SETTINGS. Choice 9 gives 2400 bps with 8 bits word length, no parity and one stop bit. This is a common setting. Select 24 "Save changes" to make the setting permanent. * If you know that your modem is not connected to the computer's port number 1, then change this from the same menu. Choice 21 gives COM2, and choice 22 gives COM3. If you do not know what communication port the modem has been connected to, you have to find out by testing. Do this by entering (i.e., sending to the modem) the characters AT. Now, the modem is supposed to respond with an OK (or with the number "0," if the modem is set to reply with numeric codes). If you get an "OK" or a "0" on your display, continue reading from "Does the modem have contact with the phone line?" If you can see "AT" on your screen while you enter it, you have contact with the modem. This is true even if it does not send any confirmation. The modem may have been instructed not to confirm. If you see the AT characters, read from "Does the modem have contact with the phone line?" If there is no contact between the modem and the computer, the screen will remain blank at all times. Your problem may be the cable, your choice of modem port, or the modem setup. First, check if the modem is switched on (the power switch), and that the plugs are firmly in the jacks. Then let's check the modem. It may have been set not to respond to your commands. Let's try to change that. Enter the following command, and press ENTER: ATQ0E1V1 This should make your modem: give result codes on your screen (Q0), show the characters that you enter (E1), and use OK instead of the numerical result code 0 (V1). If you still get no OK, the reason may still be in the modem. I have seen modems get "indigestion problems" when too many commands are given to them. Try give a command to return it to its factory setting. This command is not the same on all Hayes-compatible modems. On most of them, you can use one of the following: AT&F, ATF or ATZ (on some modems ATZ is used to reset to the stored configuration). Locate the correct command to use in the modem's user manual. Then, try ATQ0E1V1 again. If you are still without success, check your choice of modem port. If there are several communication connectors at the back of your computer, test these. If this doesn't help, connect the modem cable to the most probable jack. Now, test the communication port for a response from the modem using another communications program setting. Press ALT-P, select another port (choice 20 - 23), press ESC and try "AT" again (or ATQ0E1V1). If there is still no reaction, test the computer's other communications connectors. If you have a mouse connected to your computers, make sure that it is not using the same port as your communications program. Problems with the communications port are often caused by other equipment. Remove all extra equipment (like a PC-fax card or a mouse), and all associated software (often represented by a line starting with "DRIVER=" in CONFIG.SYS, or a resident program driving a mouse). Remove all resident programs from memory before testing. If you are still at the same unfortunate stage, chances are that the problem is either in the cable or the modem. If you know others who are into data communication, visit them for help. Bring your cable and your modem to have them tested in an environment where things work. It is easier to isolate a problem by testing your units in sequence on your helper's system. First, the cable. Connect it between his computer and his modem. Test the connection to his modem with your cable as the only foreign element. If the test is successful, your cable is OK. Next, the modem. If the test is successful, your modem is in order. The most probable cause of your problems is your computer's communications port. In communications, many parts have to work together. You may have problems with more than one of them at the same time. The rule is to test step by step to eliminate possible problems. If you get no reply from your modem, when it is connected to your friend's computer, chances are that it needs to be repaired. Call the seller for help. A last refuge is to buy an extra communications card for your computer . . Does your modem have contact with the phone line? ------------------------------------------------- You have contact between your computer and modem. The modem answers "OK" as assumed. We now have to test if there is contact with the phone line. That is easy. Enter the following command and press ENTER: ATQ0E1V1 When the modem answers OK, enter the dialing command: ATDT37031378 The modem will try to call 37031378, the number to my BBS. (You may have to prefix the number with an international code, and the country code for Norway. If international calls require the prefix 009, enter ATDT009-47- 37031378). Your modem will wait for CONNECT a preset number of seconds (rarely longer than 60 seconds). If your modem does not detect the dial tone (within the preset waiting time), it will give you the following error message NO DIALTONE All other messages (except ERROR) declare that the modem did detect the dial tone. If it did, continue reading from "Configuring your program." NO DIALTONE ----------- The most probable causes of NO DIALTONE are that your phone cable is not connected, that it has been damaged, or that it is the wrong cable for the job. The latter cause is common in many countries. For example, a cable made for a telephone network in the United States, may not work in Norway. A cable made for connection to a switchboard, may not work when connected to a domestic phone line. A standard, domestic American phone cable contains four lines. Two of these (line number 1 and 4) carry sounds. The others are not being used. A standard Norwegian domestic cable is set up in the same way, but here line number 1 and 3 carry sound. Changing the configuration of such cables is often simple. Just cut the cable in two, and put the lines together correctly. This is typically required when your modem assumes that you use it in North America, while you are in a country with different cabling. Configuring your program ------------------------ The modem answers. The dial tone is being detected. Procomm is installed on your hard disk. Now, check if the program has been correctly configured. Press ALT-S to get the Setup Menu. Select 1, Modem setup, from this menu. Choice 1, Modem init string, is a general setup command. This command will be sent to the modem each time you start Procomm. You are free to make is as long and powerful as you want. Our purpose now, however, is to check if it works. Most modems do not react if one element in your setup command is wrong. They respond with ERROR (or the numeric code), and disregard the rest. Procomm's standard Modem init string has the following commands: ATE0 S7=60 S11=55 V1 X1 S0=0! These work well with most modems, provided the speed is legal. Go back to the blank screen (using ESC). Test the init command by entering it manually. (Do not enter the "!" character. This is Procomm's code for ENTER.) If the modem reacts with ERROR, check with the modem manual to find out what is wrong. (Check if the values S7=60 and S11=55 are not too high.) If you have to change the init command, go back to the Modem init string menu choice. Enter the correct commands. Remember to add the "!" at the end. Press ESC to get to the main configuration menu and select 2, TERMINAL SETUP. Check if Terminal emulation is ANSI-BBS. Change choice 2, Duplex, to FULL. The other factory settings are NONE, CR, CR, DEST, BS, OFF, ON, 350, OFF. Return to the SETUP MENU (press ESC). Press "s" to save the setup to disk. Your setting has now been stored, and Procomm is ready to be used. Dialing ------- Now, test your setup by calling your favorite online service. We will show how to log on to my bulletin board. You can call manually by entering ATDT followed by the phone number. The most practical method, however, is to use the built-in phone directory. Press ALT-D to get to the phone directory. Press "R" to revise the list, and enter Saltrod Horror Show somewhere on the list. I have it as number 2. Answer the questions like this: Name: Saltrod Horror Show Number: 009-47-370-31378 Baud: 9600 Parity: N Databits: 8 Stop Bits: 1 Echo On? N Command file: (press ENTER, meaning that you do not want to use a script file at this point) Baud can be anything from 300 bps to 9600 bps. It's up to you, and depends on your modem's capabilities. When done, enter "2" and press ENTER. The modem will dial the number (that you have as item 2 on the list), and try to connect. If the number is busy, you will get a warning. You can now leave Procomm (ALT+X), or set it for redialing (ALT+R). When set for redialing, Procomm will call back until a connection has been made. When CONNECT is received from your modem, Procomm announces the fact with a beep in the computer's loudspeaker. Text will start scrolling over your screen. First, a short welcome text pops up. Your interactive dialog with the bulletin board can start. The first question is "What is your First Name?" Enter your first name. Then, "What is your Last Name?" Enter your last name. Your dialog with the remote computer will continue like this. The board will ask you questions, and you will enter your answers. What may go wrong? ------------------ A setting that works beautifully when calling one bulletin board, may be a disaster when calling another service. Here are some typical problems: When dialing through a switchboard (PBX). ----------------------------------------- Remember to add 9 or 0 for a city line, when dialing out from a PBX. If you forget, you'll get nowhere. Use the following command (assuming that you must enter 0 to get a city line, and use tone signaling): ATDT0W4737031378 If you must use 9 for a city line and pulse dialing, use the following command ATDP9W4737031378 Register your standard dialing command in Procomm's MODEM SETUP. Enter ALT+S and then select 1, Modem Setup. Choice 2, Dialing command. The default entry is ATDT. Replace this with ATDT0W, ATDP9W or whatever makes dialing work for you. No answer from the remote computer ---------------------------------- Your computer has to "talk the same language" as the remote host. If the parameters of your communications program have been set incorrectly, it may be impossible to set up a connection with the service. Sometimes, you get CONNECT, but your screen only gives you strange, unintelligible 'noise' characters. The reason may be CONNECT at an incompatible speed, a service's use of special codes for displaying text (including special language characters), or that the service requires use of a special communications program or method (as when a service starts by interrogating for the use of an offline reader). Many online services require that you use certain settings. Most services, however, may be reached when using the following: Speed: 2400 bps 8 bits word length, no parity, one stop bit Some services (notably some Unix hosts) demand 7 bits, even parity, one stop bit. Sorry, no luck! --------------- Try again, just in case. The remote computer may have had a temporary problem, when you called. The PTT may have given you a particularly noisy telephone line on this attempt. If this doesn't help, recheck each point in the communications process. It is so easy to do something wrong. If nothing helps, read the service's user information manuals. Only rarely will you be able to blame the communications program (unless you have made it yourself), or the equipment. Most errors are caused by finger trouble and misunderstandings. Testing the Saltrod Horror Show ------------------------------- First time visitors often experience problems, and in particular if this is their first time online using a Hayes-compatible modem. Here are some typical problems with suggested solutions: * Disable Guard Tones from the modem when dialing. If it has this feature, you can often turn it off. Put the required command in your Modem init string. * Don't press ENTER to "wake" my system. The software will automatically detect your speed and adjust accordingly. The same applies for many services. On some, you are just asking for problems by not waiting patiently (often the case when the remote software starts by checking if you use an offline reader). * My BBS accepts from 300 to 9600 bps asynchronous, full duplex communication. You may not succeed with 1200 bps half duplex, Bell 300 bps or 1200 bps. * Start with your communications program set for 8 bits word length, no parity and one stop bit. Try 7 bits, even parity if there is too much noise on the line (you cannot retrieve programs using this setting, though). * When your modem is set at a low transfer speed, it may not wait long enough for carrier from my modem. Most modems let you set this waiting time longer by giving a value to a S-register. (Read in your modem's manual about how to do this). Partial success --------------- Some bulletin boards offer colors and music. If your equipment is set up correctly, you can receive the welcome text in full color graphics accompanied by a melody in your computer's speaker. If it is not, chances are that you will get many strange codes on your screen, and an ugly feeling that something is wrong. There are two ways out of this problem: 1. Ask the bulletin board to send text only (select U for Utilities, and then G for Graphics to change setting), 2. Set your computer for colors and graphics. This feature is only available for callers with an MS-DOS computers. You may need to add the line DEVICE=ANSI.SYS in your CONFIG.SYS. Finally, you must have a communications program that allows you to display colors on your screen. Procomm set with ANSI-BBS does that. Downloading programs -------------------- We call the transfer of programs and files from a remote computer for downloading. It means "transfer of data to your computer AND storage of the data (down) on YOUR local disk." You are downloading, when you call my board to retrieve a program. When you, overwhelmed by gratitude, send one of your favorite programs TO my bulletin board, then we call it uploading. Data can be many things. It may be news from the Washington Post, a digital picture, an executable program, a pile of invoices, a piece of music, a voice file, an animated sequence of pictures and music, or compressed library files. Downloading "plain text" (also called "plain ASCII" or "DOS text" on MS-DOS machines) is relatively easy. Such text usually only contains characters between number 32 (space character) and 126 (the ~ character) in the ASCII table. Characters with lower numbers have special functions (like the control characters ESCape and CTRL+C). These may not even be displayed on your screen. Characters with higher numbers are used for graphics, special national characters, and other applications. Special transfer methods are often required, when your data contains text with characters outside ASCII number 32 through 126. Read under "Protocol transfers" below for more information about how to do this. Downloading text ---------------- Most communication programs require that you begin by opening a file. They ask you to enter a file name. From this point and onwards all incoming text will be stored in this file until you say stop. Communication programs do this in different ways. Some let incoming data flow through a temporary storage area using the principle first in, first out. When you open a file, it starts storing data from the beginning of the temporary storage area, though this text may have scrolled off your screen some time ago. Most communication programs start storing data from NOW. Procomm works this way. You start downloading of text by pressing the PgDn key. A window will appear on your screen giving you a choice between various methods. Select ASCII. In another window, you are asked to enter a file name. When done, storage of incoming data starts. You stop the process by pressing the ESC key. Procomm has another method called "file logging." You start this by pressing ALT-F1. Procomm requests the file name, and the storage process starts. (Read under "Strip" about the difference between these methods.) If you forget to tell Procomm to store incoming data, then you will most probably lose this data for ever. Do not waste time and money by forgetting to store what you receive! The term "append" ----------------- When downloading text - or anything - it is important to know whether you are appending information to an existing file, or overwriting it (i.e., destroying the old text). Most communication programs complain with an audible signal, when you try to overwrite an existing file. They will ask you if you really want to delete it, or append the current data. The term "strip" ---------------- The purpose of 'strip' is to remove something from incoming data or to change it on the fly. When you use ASCII downloading with Procomm, ALL incoming data are being stored. This includes so-called ESCape sequences. If you use File Logging, all control characters (except the line feed and new page characters) are being removed (filtered). If you download text from a computer that uses other ASCII characters for linefeed and return, save time by having the communications program convert them on the fly to their correct form for your computer. You define strip procedures through Procomm's SetUp menu (ALT-S). You can also request automatic conversion of characters to graphics values, or local language variants. National characters ------------------- Special national characters cause problems in many countries. One reason is that they are represented by different internal codes on various hardware platforms, and that some networks are unable to transmit 8-bits data. Some systems represent these special characters by a 7-bit code, others by an 8-bit code. Some depend on the computer having an internal national language ROM, or that it uses a special (resident) conversion program. What gives good results on an MS-DOS computer, may give rubbish on a Macintosh, Amiga, Atari, or a PC using MS Windows. Many communication programs have features that can help you solve at least some these problems. They let you make translation tables for automatic conversion of special incoming and outgoing characters. If you call a Scandinavian online service using 7 bits even parity, many transfer the national special characters using the ASCII code equivalents of number 91, 92, 93, 123, 124, and 125. Similar, more or less formal standards are in place in other countries. Protocol transfers ------------------ If your purpose is to transfer digitized pictures, a computer program, a batch of invoices, a piece of music or an animated sequence of pictures, it's important that each character (bit) arrives correctly. We achieve this by using protocol transfers. These files often contain control or binary characters. You cannot transfer binary files without the use of special methods. It is easy to understand why we need protocol transfers when retrieving plain text as tables of numbers, statistics, and financial reports. Transfer errors may have fatal consequences. Protocol transfers are also required when transferring word processor text files having imbedded control codes (like text made with WordPerfect), and compressed files. Here is an example: Downloading public domain software ---------------------------------- First, you need the names and features of the programs that can be downloaded from a service. On most bulletin boards, you must enter a command to navigate to the File Library. Here, they normally greet you with a menu listing available commands. Try H (for Help!) or ? when you are stuck. Public domain and shareware programs are stored in subdirectories on my bulletin board. The directories have numerical names. Utility programs for MS-DOS computers are stored in directory 10. Games are stored in directory 17. Enter L for a list of available directories (other bulletin boards may use different commands). Enter "L 17" to list the files in directory 17. This will give file names, lengths in characters (to help you estimate download time), creation dates, and a short description of each file. You can search for files of interest. When looking for programs that can help you get more out of a printer, you may search using keywords like "printer." Some programs are made available in text form. This is the case with older BASIC programs. (The file name extensions .BAS, .ASC or .TXT suggest that the files contain plain text.) You can download these files using ASCII. Most programs are stored in their executable form, or as one executable file among several in a compressed transfer file (a library of files). On my board, most of these files have the file name extension .EXE or .COM. What transfer protocol to use, depends on what is available in your communications program. The protocol transfer method explained -------------------------------------- The protocol transfer algorithms use methods to check the transfer with automatic error correction. In principle, they work like this: The sending program calculates a check sum based on the contents of the file. The receiving program does the same calculation and compares the result with the senders' check sum. If the figures match, the transfer was successful. If not, all or part of the file will be retransmitted. These are some popular protocols: XMODEM ------ has automatic error detection and correction. Most modern programs have this feature. XMODEM exists in programs for MS-DOS computers, CP/M computers, Apple, TRS-80 Model 100, etc. It is the most commonly used transfer protocol. XMODEM assumes 8-bit settings in your communications program. The file to be sent is split up into 128 bit sized blocks (or "packets") before transfer. The sender calculates the check sum and adds a check sum bit at the end of each packet. (Packing, sending and checking is done automatically by the software.) The receiving program calculates its own check sum and compares with the sender's. If an error is detected, XMODEM will request retransmission of the last block. XMODEM is reasonably good when there is little noise on the telephone line is low. When the line is bad, however, there is always a chance that the transfer will stop. You cannot use XMODEM on computer networks that use ASCII flow control or ESCape codes. The transfer commands must be given to both computers. You can only transfer one file per command. XMODEM's "packet size" (block length) is short. This has an impact on transfer speed, and especially when downloading from timesharing systems, packet switched networks, via satellites, and when using buffered (error correcting) modems. The control method (8-bit check sum) and unprotected transactions give a low level of safety against errors in the transmission. The transferred file may contain 127 bytes with noise characters (at the end). The creation date of the file is lost in the transfer. These weaknesses have given us better methods. Here are some of them: XMODEM/CRC ---------- CRC is an abbreviation for Cyclical Redundancy Check. The method guarantees 99.9969 percent free transfer. It still has the other weaknesses of ordinary XMODEM transfers. YMODEM Batch ------------ is faster than XMODEM and gives a high level of safety in the transfers. When used with some programs, YMODEM can transfer the files' creation time/date. You can transfer updated documents. This will replace documents with an older creation date. Only one party must enter the file name. YMODEM takes care of the rest. Kermit ------ is used on many computer platforms, and especially where they use a terminal emulation mode (like VT-100) which makes the use of XMODEM impossible. Kermit is one of the few asynchronous error correction protocols that functions well when exchanging files having half duplex IBM front-end machines. Kermit can transfer more than one file at the time. Super-Kermit ------------ is also called Kermit with Sliding Windows. It can transfer many packets before stopping to check the transfer. The protocol is much faster than XMODEM. ZMODEM ------ is currently the fastest transfer protocol for many applications. All transactions are protected with a 16-bit or 32-bit CRC. ZMODEM is immune against most error conditions that prevent traditional protocols to achieve correct transfer. ZMODEM transfers the creation date of the file and its exact contents. The file name is read once, and all transfer commands may be given by the sending program. Decompression of files ---------------------- If a file has name extensions like ZIP, LZH, ARC, PAK, LQR, LBR, ZOO, ARJ, or QQQ, you are facing a compressed file. We use such files to achieve faster transfers. Files having the extension .EXE or .COM may be compressed files that have been converted into a self-extract format. To retrieve the files from a self-extract compressed file, just enter the file's name. To decompress files that have not been made self-extract, you need a utility program. These programs have many names and are available through most bulletin boards, and widely through the Internet. Most, if not all, decompression files may be found by anonymous ftp to ftp.cso.uiuc.edu . Check out the directories pc and exec-pc . The ftp site Oak.Oakland.Edu also have many. Transfer problems ----------------- Most transfer problems are caused by the communication programs and their (lack of) features. Some Procomm users have problems with the Kermit protocol. Tip: use 8 bit world length and no parity in your program setup. 7 bits and even parity does not always work (on version 2.4.2). Uploading --------- The transfer of data "the other way," i.e., from your disk to a remote computer, requires that you start by making some decisions. Is the file to be sent as plain ASCII? Should I compress it in a distribution file to reduce transfer time, and make it easier to handle for the recipient? If you are transferring a text file containing special national characters, then these may have to be converted to another format. If your text contains blank lines (like blank lines between paragraphs), you may have to insert a space character at the start of all such lines. Some systems interpret a blank line as a signal telling that transmission is done. The invisible space character prevents this. Some hosts have limitations on line length. They may require that lines be shorter than 80 characters. If you send lines that are too long, the result may be fatal. Sending electronic mail ----------------------- If you send your mail too fast, some online services tend to get digestion problems. You must be very accurate with the format of your message. It has to agree with the host machine's rules about line length, and maximum number of lines per message. Let's assume that you want to send the following message to an electronic mailbox: To: Datatid cc: Anne-Tove Vestfossen Sj: Merry Christmas! Text: Thanks for the box with herring. The taste was formidable. etc .. etc... etc... Greetings, Odd If this is all you have to say, doing it manually may be as fast as doing it automatically. However, if the line containing "etc .. etc .." is two full pages of text, you may feel differently. Then, the best may be to upload a prewritten letter. Many Procomm users prefer to split the job in two. They enter the first four lines manually, and upload the body of the text (when the remote computer is ready to receive). Press PgUp to get a menu of various uploading protocols. Select ASCII for transfer of plain text. Procomm will ask for the name of the file, which contains your letter. Enter the name, and the file will be sent. Slow down with "pacing" ----------------------- Sometimes, the PgUp method is just what you need. On other days, strange things may stop you in the middle of your transfer. One typical reason is that Procomm is sending it too fast for the recipient. "Pacing" is a method used to slow the speed of the transfer to a level that the recipient can handle. Procomm lets you set a tiny pause after each line sent. Another technique is to ask the program to wait for a given character (a "Go-character"), before allowing it to send the next line. For example: the character ":" is often used in the prompts for the next line on bulletin boards. Protocol transfers may be easier -------------------------------- You may find it easier to use a transfer protocol. With Procomm, press the PgUp key, and the program will ask for a protocol. Select Kermit or something else. The program will ask for a file name, you enter it, and off it goes. You will have no problems with blank lines, or lines that are too long. At times, even this will fail. The most common reasons are: * The recipient requires that Procomm be set for 8-bits word length, no parity, 1 stop bit, when using this protocol, but you have it set differently. * You think that the recipient's version of YMODEM is the same that you have. Wrong! Total failure. Do the following to upload the file TEST.TXT to my bulletin board using XMODEM: 1. Navigate to the file area. Tell SHS what you want by using the following command: u;test.txt;x 2. Press PgUp, select XMODEM, enter a file name (TEST.TXT), and the transfer will start. (If you are too slow, SHS may be tired of waiting for your commands . . .) 3. When the transfer is completed, my board will ask for a short description of the file. Enter it, and you are done. Enter G (for Goodbye), and disconnect. Appendix 4: Explanation of some frequently used terms ========================================= We have included some terms that are commonly used in the online world. Acronym ------- A worded formed from the initial letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term. Examples: BTW (by the way), FYI (for your information), IMHO (in my humble opinion). Address ------- The string of characters that you must give an electronic mail program to direct a message to a particular person. The term "Internet address" often refers to an assigned number, which identifies a host on this network. aftp ---- Abbreviation for Anonymous FTP. See appendix 6. ANON-FTP -------- See Anonymous FTP. ANSI ---- (1) ANSI is an organization that sets standards. (2) 'ANSI graphics' (ref. the term ANSI-BBS) is a set of cursor control codes that originated on the VT100 terminal. Many online services use these codes to help improve the sending of characters to communication programs. It uses the escape character, followed by other characters, to move the cursor on the screen, change color, and more. ASCII ----- The American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard seven- bit code created to achieve compatibility between various types of data processing equipment. ASCII, pronounced "ask-key," is the common code for microcomputer equipment. The Standard ASCII Character Set consists of 128 decimal numbers ranging from zero through 127 assigned to letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and the most common special characters. The Extended ASCII Character Set also consists of 128 decimal numbers and ranges from 128 through 255 representing additional special, mathematical, graphic, and foreign characters. ASCII download -------------- Retrieval of plain ASCII text (without special codes). Normally, it takes place without automatic error correction, but it is typically managed by XON/XOFF flow control. Asynchronous transfer --------------------- Serial communication between two computers. When signals are sent to a computer at irregular intervals, they are described as asynchronous. Data is sent at irregular intervals by preceding each character with a start bit and following it with a stop bit. Asynchronous transmission allows a character to be sent at random after the preceding character has been sent, without regard to any timing device. Consequently, in case of line noise, the modem can find out right away where the next byte should start. Autodial -------- When a modem dials a telephone number automatically. Autodial may be started by the user entering the number manually, or the number may be sent automatically by the communications program (for example after having been selected from a phone register). Baud ---- A unit of measurement that shows the number of discrete signal elements, such as bits, that can be sent per second. Bits per second (bps) is the number of binary digits sent in one second. There is a difference between bps and baud rate, and the two are often confused. For example, a device such as a modem said to send at 2400 baud is not correct. It actually sends 2400 bits per second. Both baud rate and bps refer to the rate at which the bits within a single frame are sent. The gaps between the frames can be of variable length. Accordingly, neither baud rate nor bps refer accurately to the rate at which information is actually being transferred. Backbone -------- Internet's data flows on high-speed lines called backbone lines. BBS --- Bulletin Board or Bulletin Board System. See Bulletin Board. Bell ---- Standard frequencies used in older modems made in the United States. The standard for 300 bps is called Bell 103. The standard for 1200 bps full duplex is called Bell 212A. Modems using these standards are normally unable to communicate with ITU-TSS standard modems at these speeds. Big5 ---- Coding scheme developed in Taiwan for using Chinese on computers. There are different varieties of Big5 codes, the most common being ET Big5 (the code used by the Taiwanese program ETen, pronounced Yi3tian1) and HKU Big5 (the code used for programs developed at Hong Kong University). ET Big5 files must be read with the ETen operating system. Check out the Archie server at telnet archie.TWNIC.NET , login: archie ,to locate software and get more information. Binary ------ The base 2 number system in which only the digits 1 and 0 are used is called the binary system. The binary system lets us express any number, if we have enough bits, as a combination of 1's and 0's. Also used to express conditions like on/off, true/false, yes/no. Binhex ------ Macintosh software and documents (other than text files) are often "encoded" into text files for transmission over the network. A common standard for such encoding is referred to as BinHex. You can usually tell that a file contains a BinHex encoded Mac file by the fact that the file name ends in ".hqx". BinHex5.0 format is a MacBinary format, while BinHex 4.0 files are Macintosh ASCII format. To keep transmission times short, the BinHexed files are often "compressed" using a utility like StuffIt. To reconstitute the Mac application or document you may need to "un-StuffIt." The freeware program, StuffIt Expander, will BinHex and unstuff most Mac files. Uncompression programs are available from archives on the Internet. Examples: xbin23.zip (DOS), mcvert (Unix), and binhex (VM/CMS). Bits ---- Bit is an abbreviation for Binary digIT. Computer words and data are made- up of bits, the smallest unit of information. A bit can be either zero or one, represented in a circuit by an off or on state, respectively. The bits are set on or off to store data, or to form a code that in turn sends instructions to the computer's central processing unit. Bits per second (bps) --------------------- Bits per second (bps) is the number of binary digits sent in one second. It refers to the rate at which the bits within a single frame are sent ('frame' is another term for 'packet'). The gaps between frames can be of variable length. Accordingly, bps does not refer to the rate at which information is actually being transferred. We usually estimate the amount of characters transferred per second (cps) by dividing the number of bps by 10. Example: 2400 bps transfers around 240 characters per second. Boolean ------- Search algorithm built on the algebraic theories of the English mathematician George Booles. Boolean algorithms are used in online databases to help narrow down the number of hits using the words AND, OR, and NOT. Bounce ------ The return of a piece of mail because of an error in its delivery. Bps --- Abbreviation for bits per second. See above. Browse ------ To view and possibly edit a file of data on screen similar to handling text in a word processing document. Bulletin board -------------- A computer, often a microcomputer, set up to receive calls and work as an online service. The BBSes let users communicate with each other through message bases, and exchange files. They and may also offer other services (like news, database searches, and online shopping). Carrier ------- The tone that the modem sends over a phone line before any data is sent on it. This tone has a fixed frequency and a fixed amplitude. It is then modified to indicate data. Character --------- Here used about a letter, a number or another typographical symbol or code. CCITT ----- The Consultative Committee for International Telephony and Telegraphy. Was an international consultative committee, organized by the United Nations. Now replaced by ITU-TSS. See ITU (below). COM port -------- A COM port (or communication port) is a communications channel or pathway over which data is transferred between remote computing devices. MS-DOS computers may have as many as four COM ports, COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4. These are serial ports most often used with a modem to set up a communications channel over telephone lines. They can also be used to send data to a serial printer, or to connect a serial mouse. Compress -------- (1) To compact data to save space. (2) Compression function common on the Internet. COMPRESS files are generally, but not always, noted with the file extension .Z. Data archive and compression processes can be combined to form files like filename.tar.z. Conference ---------- Also called SIG (Special Interest Group), Forum, RoundTable, Echo. A conference is an area on a bulletin board or online service set up as a mini board. Most conferences have separate message bases and often also file libraries and bulletins. Conferences are focused on topics, like politics, games, multimedia and product support. Connect time ------------ A term used for the hours, minutes, and seconds that a user is connected to an online service. On several commercial services, users have to pay for connect time. CPS --- Characters per second. See Bits per second. Data ---- Information of any kind, including binary, decimal or hexadecimal numbers, integer numbers, text strings, etc. Database -------- A database is a highly structured file (or set of files) that tries to provide all the information assigned to a particular subject and to allow programs to access only items they need. Online services offer databases that users can search to find full-text or bibliographic references to desired topics. DCE/DTE ------- Data Communications Equipment/Data Terminal Equipment. Equipment connected to an RS232 connector must be either a DCE (like a modem or a printer) or a DTE (computer or terminal). The term defines the types of equipment that will "talk" and "listen." Default ------- When a value, parameter, attribute, or option is assigned by a communications program, modem, or online system unless something else is specified, it is called the default. For example, communication programs often have prespecified values for baud rate, bit size and parity that are used unless alternative values are given. These prespecified values are called the defaults. Some services give users a choice between two or more options. If a selection is not made by the user, then a selection is automatically assigned, by default. Demos ----- are entertaining data versions of music videos. They are short graphic animations set to music that typically run for five or six minutes. Also known as Intros. Samples are available by anonymous ftp to ftp.uwp.edu (in the /SimTel/msdos/demos directory), and ftp.sun.ac.za (/u/msdos/demos). Also, check out the Usenet newsgroup comp.sys.ibm.pc.demos. Discussion list --------------- See Mailing list. Domain Name System (DNS) ------------------------ Email addressing system used in networks such as Internet and BITNET. The Internet DNS consists of a hierarchical sequence of names, from the most specific to the most general (left to right), separated by dots, for example nic.ddn.mil. Doors ----- A service offered by many bulletin boards to allow the user to leave the (remote) main software system to use one or several independent programs, like games and databases. Downloading ----------- The transfer of data from an online service and "down" to your computers' disk. DTR --- Data Terminal Ready is a circuit which, when ON, tells the modem that your computer is ready to communicate. Most modems are unable to tell your computer that a connection has been set up with a remote computer before this circuit has been switched off. If your computer turns this signal OFF, while it is in a dialog with a remote computer, the modem will normally disconnect. Duplex ------ Describes how you see text entered by the keyboard. When the setting is HALF DUPLEX, all characters entered on your computer for transfer to an online service (or your modem) will be displayed. In addition, you will normally receive an echo from the online service (or modem). The result will often 'bbee lliikkee tthhiiss'. When using the setting FULL DUPLEX, typed characters will not be shown. What you see, are characters echoed back to you from the online service and/or your modem. ECHO ---- (1) When data is being sent, the receiving device often resends the information back so the sending device can be sure it was received correctly. (2) Term used on FidoNet for this network's system of exchanging conferences (parallel conferencing). Email ----- Abbreviation for Electronic Mail. File server ----------- A file server is a device that "serves" files to everyone on a network. It allows everyone on the network to get files in a single place, on one computer. Typically, it is a combination computer, data management software, and large capacity hard disk drive. File transfer ------------- The copying of a file from one computer to another over a computer network. Flame ----- A "flame" is a conference message sent by someone who generally disagrees so violently that they are willing to sink to personal attacks. Flames can be extremely annoying, and can get the writer banished from several conference networks. Fractal -------- A mathematical algorithm from which an image can be created. A fractal formula generates a fractal picture composed of an image based on a basic pattern. An outgrowth of chaos mathematics, it is being used for compressing and decompressing high quality images. Generally, a fractally compressed image has an extremely small file size. Freeware -------- A program, text, or file in which the author still holds the copyright but allows the item to be used and distributed free of charge. Full duplex ----------- The term full-duplex means the transmission of data in two directions simultaneously as from a terminal to a computer or from the computer to the terminal. Full-duplex is simultaneous two-way communication. Full-text database ------------------ A database containing the full text of an article, a chapter in a book, or a book. The contents are not limited to abstracted information (indexes, bibliographic information). Gateway ------- Here, we use the term gateway about an interconnection between two (or more) online services, set up to allow a user of one service to use the other service's offerings through the first service's user interface. The term also has other meanings: A gateway provides an interconnection between two networks with different communications protocols. Gateways operate at the 4th through 7th layer of the OSI model. For example, a PAD (a packet assembler/disassembler) is a device used to interface non-X.25 devices to an X.25 network. The PAD serves as a gateway. Protocol converters are gateways between networks. The gateway, provided by an adapter card in a workstation, enables the network to perform as if it were a mainframe terminal connected directly to the mainframe. GuoBiao ------- Coding scheme for using Chinese on computers developed in mainland China. For more information, send email to LISTSERV@UGA.BITNET with one of the following commands in the text of your mail: GET PC HELP (for PC users) GET MAC HELP (Macintosh users) GET CXTERM HELP (X Windows users) Half duplex ----------- The term half-duplex means the transmission of data in either direction but only one direction at a time. Ham --- Amateur radio. Handle ------ An alias used on a bulletin board or online service instead of your real name. Often used in chats. Header ------ (1) In an email message, the part that precedes the body of a message and contains, among other things, the message originator, date and time. (2) On a packet switched network, the portion of a package, preceding the actual data, containing source and destination addresses, and error checking and other fields. Host ---- A term for host computer, remote computer or online service. Here, we use it about a timesharing computer, a BBS system, or a central computer that controls a network and delivers online services. HTTP ---- Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Hypertext is a term used of linking related information. Many information providers on the Internet run programs that you can obtain hypertext from. Examples: WWW, Mosaic. You use a special HTTP browser program to access the information. Example: Xmosaic. Hypermedia ---------- is a medium with pointers to other media (a superset of hypertext). Often used in connection with the World Wide Web on Internet. Here, the term means that browsers might not display a text file, but might display images or sound or animations. Information utility ------------------- A term often used about online services (not unlike the term power utility). Internet -------- See appendix 1. Internet number --------------- See IP Address IP (Internet Protocol) ---------------------- The Internet standard protocol that provides a common layer over dissimilar networks, used to move packets between host computers and through gateways if necessary. For more information, send a message to service@nic.ddn.mil with the following text in the subject title: RFC 791 . IP Address ---------- Every machine on the Internet has a unique address, called its Internet number or IP address. Usually, this address is represented by four numbers joined by periods ('.'), like 129.133.10.10. The first two or three pieces represent the network that the system is on, called its subnet. For example, all of the computers for Wesleyan University in the U.S.A. are in the subnet 129.133, while the number in the previous paragraph represents a full address to one of the university's computers. If you want the IP address of a site, send email to resolve@cs.widener.edu or dns@grasp.insa-lyon.fr . In the TEXT of your mail write 'help' for usage information. You can also use it to get a UUCP node's map entry. ISDN ---- An emerging technology being offered by many telephone carriers of the world. ISDN combines voice and digital network services in a single medium, making it possible to offer customers digital data services as well as voice connections through a single "wire." The standards that define ISDN are specified by ITU-TSS. ISO --- The International Organization for Standardization. A voluntary, nontreaty organization responsible for creating international standards in many areas, including computers and communications. Its members are the national standards organizations of the 89 member countries, including ANSI for the U.S. ISO is coordinator of the main Internet networking standards that are in use today. ISO@NIC.DDN.MIL is a mailing list focusing on the ISO protocol stack. ITU --- The International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations treaty organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. Membership includes Telephone, governmental Post, and Telegraph Authorities, scientific and trade associations, and private companies. ITU consists of three "sectors": the Radiocommunication Sector, the Telecommunication Standardization Sector (TSS), and the Development Sector. (The CCITT Plenary Assembly is now the World Telecommunication Standardization Conference.) ITU-TSS sets international communications recommendations. These are often adopted as standards. It also develops interface, modem, and data network recommendations. The X.25 protocol for access to packet-switched networks was originally a recommendation of CCITT. The CCITT recommendations are now formally known with an ITU designator; e.g., CCITT Rec. Q.931 will now be ITU-T-Q.931. A wide range of ITU documents is available through The Teledoc database of The International Telecommunication Union (ITU): * ITU documents * lists of contributions (substantive input/proposals) to ITU study groups * lists of ITU reports and Recommendations (i.e., standards) * summaries of ITU new or revised Recommendations * ITU meeting schedules and other information concerning Study Groups structures and activities. For information, write to helpdesk@itu.ch. The database is at teledoc@itu.arcom.ch . Gopher to info.itu.ch , or, write to ITU Information Services Dept., Place des Nations. CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. ITU-TSS ------- The Standards Sector of The International Telecommunication Union (see ITU above). JIS --- A Japanese industry standard code for presenting the Japanese character set Kanji on computers. JIS defines special ranges of user-defined characters. Only the most popular ones are included. The newer Shift JIS standard sets aside certain character codes to signal the start of a two-character sequence. Together, these define a single Kanji metacharacter. There are many oddities to be found in handling Kanji over the network. Sending JIS-encoded messages through the Internet is done using a 7-bit code, called "OLD JIS" (standardized on JUNET). Unfortunately, it incorporates the ESC character, which some systems will filter out. This problem can be overcome by using UUENCODing. Some services, like APICNET in Tokyo, converts outgoing Kanji messages automatically to 7-bit format. KIDLINK, the global project for children 10 - 15 years of age, operates two Japanese language mailing lists. KIDLEADJ is for teachers/coordinators, and KIDCAFEJ for children only. For a copy of their "How to send/receive Kanji text" help file, send a message to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu with the following command in the body of the mail: GET KIDLINK KANJI Also, check out "Electronic handling of Japanese text," by Ken Lunde (lunde@adobe.com). It is available by FTP from monu6.cc.monash.edu.au . File name: japan.inf. Directory: /pub/ninongo/ . JVArcServ --------- Archive server for FidoNet modelled after Archie for the Internet. It maintains file lists from FidoNet systems throughout its area and will do searches on these file lists based on netmail requests made to it by remote systems. JVArcServ lets you search through file listings for the program you are looking for. It will send you an email message back telling you the BBS name, phone number, and file section of all the systems in the network that match the given criteria. KB -- Kilobyte. A unit of data storage size which represents 1024 characters of information. Kbits ----- 1,000 bits. Kermit ------ Protocol designed for transferring files between microcomputers and mainframe computers developed by Catchings at Columbia University. There are both public domain, and copyrighted Kermit programs. Some of these programs are complete programs in themselves offering the communication functions needed for the particular machine on which they are running. The complete Kermit protocol manual and the source code for various versions are available from: Kermit Distribution, (212) 854-3703 Columbia University Center for Computing Activities 612 West 115 Street, New York, NY 10025 KOI-8 ----- Coding scheme for Russian (Cyrillic). Cyrillic fonts and keyboard maps are available from mailserv@kiae.su and by anonymous ftp from mcsun.eu.net . To learn more about KOI-8, Russian TeX and Cyrillic text processors, join the RUSTEX-L mailing list on LISTSERV@UBVM.BITNET . RFC 1489 is about "Registration of a Cyrillic Character Set." LAN --- Local Area Network. A data network intended to serve an area of only a few square kilometers or less. LAP-M ----- Link Access Procedure for Modems is a ITU-TSS standard for modem modulation and error control. It is the primary basis for the ITU-TSS V.42 protocol. Library ------- is used on online services about a collection of related databases (that you may search in) or files (that may be retrieved). List ---- File-viewing program for MS-DOS computers (see chapter 14). Registration: US$37 to Buerg Software, 139 White Oak Circle, Petaluma, CA 94952, U.S.A. (1993). LISTPROC -------- is an automated mailing list distribution system similar to the LISTSERV program (see below). To subscribe to a LISTPROC list, send an email containing the following type of command in the body of your mail SUBSCRIBE Your name LISTSERV -------- An automated mailing list distribution system enabling online discussions of technical and nontechnical issues conducted by electronic mail throughout the Internet. The LISTSERV program was originally designed for the BITNET/EARN networks. Similar lists are available on the Internet. Some of them are using the Unix readnews or rn facility, and Anastasios Kotsikonas's list server. LOOKFOR ------- Fast and flexible shareware program for boolean searches in text files. Registration: US$15 plus postage to David L. Trafton, 6309 Stoneham Rd., Bethesda, Md. 20817, U.S.A. Lurking ------- No active participation by a subscriber to a mailing list, a conference, or Usenet newsgroup. A person who is lurking is just listening to the discussion. Mail Gateway ------------ A machine that connects to two or more electronic mail systems (including dissimilar mail systems) and transfers messages among them. Mailing list ------------ A possibly moderated discussion group on the Internet, distributed via email from a central computer maintaining the list of people involved in the discussion. Anyone can send a message to a single mailing list address. The message is "reflected" to everyone on the list of addresses. The members of that list can respond, and the responses are reflected, forming a discussion group. (See LISTSERVers) Think of mailing lists as magazines - you subscribe and unsubscribe as your needs and interests change. Mail path --------- A series of machine names used to direct electronic mail from one user to the other. Mail server ----------- A software program that distributes files or information in response to requests sent by email. MHS --- (1) Message handling Service. Electronic mail software from Action Technologies licensed by Novell for its Netware operating systems. Provides message routing and store and forward capabilities. MHS has gateways into PROFS, and X.400 message systems. It has been augmented with a directory naming service and binary attachments. (2) Message Handling System. The standard defined by ITU-TSS as X.400 and by ISO as Message-Oriented Text Interchange Standard (MOTIS). MHS is the X.400 family of services and protocols that provides the functions for global email transfer among local mail systems. MNP --- Microcom Networking Protocol. A proprietary standard of error control and data compression. Modem ----- An acronym for MOdulator-DEModulator. It is a device that converts digital data from a computer or terminal into analog data that can be sent over telephone lines. On the receiving end, it converts the analog data back to digital data. Most modern modems can handle the dialing and answering of a telephone call and generate the speed of the data transmission, measured in bits per second, or baud rates. The telephone industry sometimes refers to a modem as a dataset. Moderator --------- A person, or a small group of people, who manage moderated mailing lists and newsgroups. Moderators are responsible for deciding which email submissions are passed on to list. MUD --- Multi-User Dungeon. A multi-user, text based, virtual reality game. For information, retrieve the MUD FAQs from ftp.math.okstate.edu as /pub/muds/misc/mud-faq/* . No>m ---- The No>m Standard Code for Information Interchange (NSCII) is a 16-bit character encoding standard used in Vietnam. No>m has been the writing system, based on ideographic (Chinese) characters, in use since the tenth century for the spoken Vietnamese language. A version of the NSCII code table in the form of a Macintosh HyperCard Stack is available by anonymous ftp from unicode.org . Look in the directory /pub/Mapping_Tables/EastAsia_maps . NAPLPS ------ North American Presentation-Level Protocol Syntax. A text and graphics data transmission format for sending large amounts of information between computers. It was designed for the encoding of alphanumeric, alpha-mosaic, alpha- geometric and alpha-photographic constructs. The standard is resolution independent and device independent, and can easily accommodate international character sets, bit-mapped images in color, animation and sound. NAPLPS was originally developed for videotext and teletext systems through the Canadian Standards Association (CSA-T500-1983. It was later enhanced by AT&T, and in 1983 became an ANSI standard (ANSI-X3.110-1983). Some videotext systems, including Prodigy (U.S.A.), are based on NAPLPS. On CompuServe, NAPLPS has been replaced with a newer protocol called GIF, Graphics Interchange Format. Netiquette ---------- A pun on "etiquette" referring to proper behavior on a network. Netnews ------- See: Usenet. Network ------- A data communications system which interconnects computer systems at various sites. NIC --- Network Information Center. An organization that provides users with information about services provided by the Internet network. NREN ---- The National Research and Education Network. A proposed computer network to be built in the U.S.A. NUA --- Network User Address. The network address in a packet data network. The electronic number that is sent to the network to connect to an online service. Also, called X.121 address. NUI --- Network User Identification. The user name/password that you use to get access to (and use) a commercial packet switched network. Offline ------- has the opposite meaning of "Online" (see below). It signifies that your computer is not in direct communication with a remote online service. Offline Reader -------------- A computer program making the handling of mail and files from online services easier (and cheaper). Some also provides automatic mail and file transfers. Typically, you first connect to an online service (often a BBS) to capture new mail in a compressed file (typically through a "QMail door program.") Many offline mail reader programs are idle while this goes on, while others can do communications as well. When disconnected from the service, the offline reader works as a combination message database and message editor. It gives you the feeling of still being connected to the online service, while actually being completely disconnected. When you have read and replied to all messages offline, the offline reader creates a compressed "packet" containing any replies entered. Some also let you prepare packets containing commands to join or leave conferences, subscribe to or signoff from special services, and download files. Then, you dial back to the BBS to upload (send) the packet, either using the offline reader's communications module, or another communications program. Readers are available for MS-DOS, MS-Windows, Macintosh, Amiga, Atari ST, Unix, and CP/M computers. The programs may be downloaded from many BBSes, and commercial services. Online ------ In this book, it signifies the act of being in direct communication with a remote computer's central processing unit. An online database is a file of information that can be directly accessed by the user. OSI --- Open System Interconnection. A set of protocols designed to be an international standard method for connecting unlike computers and networks. Outernet -------- Term used about a network that is not directly connected to the Internet, but can exchange email with networks directly linked to the Internet. Examples: CompuServe, Prodigy. OZCIS ----- DOS-based program that automates access to CompuServe using an elaborate array of menus. Free for personal use. Contact: Ozarks West Software, 14150 Gleneagle Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, U.S.A. Packet ------ (1) A group of bits sent by a modem that comprise a byte of information. (2) A group of bytes sent by a file transfer protocol. Packet data networks -------------------- Also called Packet Switching Networks (PDN). Value added networks offering long distance computer communications. They let users access a remote computer, by dialing a local node, or access point. The packet data networks use high speed digital links, which can be land lines or satellite communications, to transmit data from one computer to another using packets of data. They use synchronous communications, usually with the X.25 protocol. The routes are continually optimized, and successive packets of the same message need not necessarily follow the same path. Packet radio ------------ is a method of communications by radio in which digital information prepared on a computer is converted to short, swift audio bursts ("packets") by a "terminal node controller" or "packet controller," and transmitted through a radio to another location where a similar station delivers it error-free to the receiving computer. It can transmit text as well as binary files. Packet switching ---------------- Sending data in packets through a network to some remote location. The data to be sent is subdivided into individual packets of data, each having a unique identification and carrying its destination address. This allows each packet to go by a different route. The packet ID lets the data be reassembled in proper sequence. PC -- Personal computer. PDN --- See Packet data networks. Postmaster ---------- On the Internet, the person responsible for handling electronic mail problems, answering queries about users, and other related work at a site. Prompt ------ Several times during interactive dialogs with online services, the flow of data stops while the host computer waits for commands from the user. At this point, the service often presents the user with a reminder, a cue, a prompt. These are some typical prompts: ? ! WHAT NOW? (Read) next letter - ulrik 1> System News - 5000> Enter #, elp, or to continue? Action ==> (Inbox) Command: Enter command or --> Protocol -------- A formal description of message formats and the rules two computers must follow to exchange messages. Protocols can describe low-level details of machine-to-machine interface (e.g., the order in which bits and bytes are sent across the wire), or high-level exchanges between allocation programs (e.g., the way in which two programs transfer a file across the Internet). ProYam ------ Powerful script-driven communications program. US$139 + $5 for postage from Omen Technology Inc., 17505-V NW Sauvie Island Rd, Portland, Oregon 97231, U.S.A. (VISA and Eurocard - 1992) PSS --- British Telecom's Packet Switch Stream, an X.25 packet data network. PTT --- Postal Telegraph and Telephone. A telephone service provider, often a monopoly, in a particular country. Public domain ------------- Free from copyrights or patents, these programs, texts or files may be used by the public without compensation to the creators. Qalam ----- is an Arabic-Latin-Arabic transliteration system between Arabic script languages and the Latin script embodied in the ASCII character set. The Qalam system is designed to transliterate Arabic script languages for computer mediated communication by individuals literate in those languages. Available via FTP from cs.bu.edu in the directory /amass/ as qalam.text . QWK --- Qwikmail. A common offline message file format for bulletin boards offering mail through a QMail Door. The .QWK door and file format has been used to develop entire BBS networks (example: ILINK.) See "offline reader." RIP --- Remote Imaging Protocol. Also called RIPscrip. A graphics protocol for bulletin boards designed as an efficient way of delivering graphics to online services. Script files ------------ A set of commands that enable a communications program to execute a given set of tasks automatically (macro commands). Server ------ A provider of resources (e.g., file servers and name servers). Shareware --------- Copyrighted programs, texts, or other types of application files sold on a try-before-you-buy basis. If you continue using the item past a certain evaluation period, you must pay the author a designated "registration fee." Also often referred to as "user-supported." SIG --- Special Interest Group. SNA --- System Network Architecture. An IBM product. Snail mail ---------- A pejorative term referring to the national postal service in different countries. String search ------------- A method for searching a database. Works like the search function in a common word processor program. On online services, your commands will often search the full document (including the title, subtitles, keywords, and the full text). Sometimes, string searches just return a line or a few lines around the hit. In other cases, they return the full screen or the full document. CWIS ---- Campus Wide Information Services. Sysop ----- Common name used on bulletin boards for System Operator. This is the person in charge of maintenance and helping users. System ------ Generic name for a computer with connected equipment or for an online service or bulletin board. Talk ---- A command on the Internet, which may remind of IRC, but is a single link between two parties only. .TAR or .tar ------------ File name extension used by a Unix utility for archiving files, often used in conjunction with "compress." Resulting files can contain both files and directories, and generally includes the subdirectory structure needed to restore the files. Utilities to extract on DOS machines include ExTAR, and TAR4DOS. These utilities are available by ftp from ftp.uu.net in the systems/ibmpc/msdos/simtel20/filutl directory. TAPCIS ------ A program for automatic access to CompuServe. It lets callers read and respond to personal email and forum message threads offline, and download files. Contact: Support Group, Inc., Lake Technology Park, McHenry, MD 21541, U.S.A. Also: TAPCIS Forum. Internet mail: 74020.10@compuserve.com. On CompuServe: 74020,10. Registration: US$ 79.00. TCP/IP ------ Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. Communications protocols that internetwork dissimilar systems connected to the Internet. TCP/IP supports services such as remote login (telnet), file transfer (FTP), and mail (SMTP). Terminal emulator ----------------- A program that allows a computer to emulate a terminal. The workstation appears as a given type of terminal to the remote host. TTY --- Abbreviation for TELETYPE, a special type of writing terminal (electrical/mechanical). Also, known as 'dumb terminal'. TTY mode -------- This is when a communications program emulates a TTY machine, which only involves printing characters and recognizing the linefeed, carriage return and backspace characters. Unix ---- An operating system that supports multi-user and multitasking operations. Uploading --------- The act of transferring data from your computer's disk (up) to an online service and storage there. Usenet ------ A global bulletin board, of sorts, in which millions of people exchange public information on every conceivable topic. For more information, see appendix 1. UUCP ---- See appendix 1. Virus ----- A computer virus is a small computer program created by a computer-literate vandal with the purpose of destroying data or even applications programs in other people's computers. WAN --- Wide Area Network. The 'whatis' database --------------------- Archie (see appendix 6) also permits access to the whatis description database. It contains the names and brief synopses of over 3,500 public domain software packages, datasets and informational documents located on the Internet. WYSIWYG ------- What You See is What You Get. X.25 ---- A ITU-TSS standard communications protocol used internationally in packet data networks. It provides error-checked communication between packet data networks and their users or other networks. Rather than sending a stream of bits like a modem, an X.25 router sends packets of data. There are different packet sizes and types. Each packet contains data to be transmitted, information about the packet's origin, destination, size, and its place in the order of the packets sent. There are clear packets that perform the equivalent of hanging-up the phone. There are reset, restart, and diagnostic packets. On the receiving end, the packet assembler/ disassembler (PAD) in the router translates the packets back into a readable format. X.400 ----- The ITU-TSS and ISO standard for electronic mail. X.500 ----- The ITU-TSS and ISO standard for electronic directory services. .Z -- See Compress. More information ---------------- Irving Kind's Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms is available via Gopher at cronkite.ocis.temple.edu. (You may need to rummage around a bit to find it, though). The glossary is also available as babel94a.txt by anonymous ftp. Host name: ftp.temple.edu . Look in the pub/info/help-net directory. To get it by email, send to LISTSERV@VM.TEMPLE.EDU . In the body of the message, type SEND BABEL94A TXT Appendix 5: Books, articles, newsletters, etc. for further reading ====================================================== Internet - books published in 1994 ---------------------------------- "The Internet Connection: System Connectivity and Configuration" by John S. Quarterman and Carl-Mitchell Smoot. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994. 271 pp. ISBN 0-201-54237-4 . "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog," by Ed Krol. 1994. Published by O'Reilly and Associates, Inc., 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472, U.S.A.. 450 pages, US$24.95. ISBN: 1-56592-063-5. Email questions to nuts@ora.com or uunet!ora!nuts . "Zen and the Art of the Internet: A Beginner's Guide, Second Edition" by Brendan P. Kehoe, Prentice-Hall Series in Innovative Technology, 1994. ISBN 013-121492-6. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Internet," by by Peter Kent. Alpha Books [div. Prentice-Hall], 1994, 386pp. "The Internet Guide For New Users," Daniel P Dern, ISBN 0-07-016511-4, $27.95, 1994. McGraw-Hill, New York, USA. 1993. 570 pp. "Das Internet, -Weltweit vernetzt-" by Peter Klau. p. 320, IWT-Verlag GmbH, Vaterstetten, Germany, January 1994. DM 59.00, ISBN 3-88322-467-7. (German) "In acht Sekunden um die Welt," by Gunther Maier and Andreas Wildberger. Addison Wesley. (German) Email: wildberg@nestroy.wu.wien.ac.at . "The 1994 Internet White Pages" by Seth Goodin and James S. McBride. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 1994, 812pp. ISBN: 1-56884-300-3. "The Internet Yellow Pages," by Harley Hahn and Rick Stout. Osborne McGraw- Hill, 1994. 447pp. ISBN: 0-07-882023-5. "The Internet Directory" by Eric Braun. Fawcett Columbine, 1994, 704 pp. ISBN 0-449-90898-4. "The Online User's Encyclopedia: Bulletin Boards and Beyond" by Bernard Aboba (1994, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-62214-9). 832 pages. US$32.95. Information on the book, including sample chapters and reviews, on the WWW at ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/mailcom/internaut/index.html . "Canadian Internet Handbook," by Jim Carroll and Rick Broadhead. $16.95, paperback, 415 pages ISBN 0-13-304395-9 . Prentice Hall Canada, 416-293- 3621. 1994. "Using the Internet: Special Edition," by W. Tolhurst, Mary Ann Pike, Keith A. Blanco, and John R. Harris. Que Corp., 1994. 1188 pp. ISBN 1-56529- 353-6, $39.95. "The Internet Resource Quick Reference," by William A. Tolhurst. Que Quick Reference Series. Indianapolis, IN: Que Corp., 1994. "Hands-on Internet: A PC User's Guide." by David Sachs & Henry Stair. P T R Prentice Hall, 1994. 274 pp. ISBN 013-056392-7. "A DOS User's Guide to the Internet: Email, Netnews and File Transfer with UUCP." by James Gardner. Prentice Hall, 1994. 308 pp. ISBN 013-106873-3. "The Internet Unleashed." Sams Publishing. (ISBN 0-672-30466-X. 1994). $44.95 1,380 pp., 1 HD disk. "The PC Internet Tour Guide: Cruising the Internet the Easy Way," by Michael Fraase. Ventana Press, 1994. ISBN 1-56604-084-1, US$24.95. "The Windows Internet Tour Guide: Cruising the Internet the Easy Way," by Michael Fraase. Ventana Press, 1994. 344 pp. ISBN 1-56604-081-7, US$24.95. "The Internet Roadmap," by Bennet Falk, SYBEX, 1994. 263 pp. US$12.99. (ISBN 0-7821-1365-6) "The Internet Complete Reference" by Harley Hahn & Rick Stout. Osborne McGraw-Hill, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294-0701. ISBN 0-07-881980-6. 818 p., US$29.95. 1994. "The Instant Internet Guide," by Brent Heslop and David Angell. Addison- Wesley, 1994. 209 pp. ISBN 0-201-62707-8, US$14.95. "Internet: Instant Reference," by Paul E. Hoffman. SYBEX, 1994. 317 pp. ISBN 0-7821-1512-8, US$12.99. Internet - newsletters/magazines -------------------------------- "Matrix News," a newsletter about cross-network issues. Networks frequently mentioned include USENET, UUCP, FidoNet, BITNET, the Internet, and conferencing systems like the WELL and CompuServe. Matrix News is about all computer networks worldwide that exchange electronic mail. Online subscription: US$25 for twelve monthly issues, or US$15 for students. Paper subscriptions: US$30 for twelve monthly issues, or US$20 for students; for overseas postage, add US$10 (1992). Contact: Matrix News, Building 2 Suite 300, 1120 South Capitol of Texas Highway, Austin, TX 78746, U.S.A. Email: mids@tic.com . "Information Highways." Magazine. Annual subscription: $98.00CDN. Information Highways, 162 Joicey Blvd., Toronto, Ontario, M5M 2V2, Canada. Fax: +1-416-488-7078. "Internet World magazine," Meckler Corporation, 11 Ferry Lane West, Westport, CT 06880, U.S.A. (meckler@jvnc.net) "The Internet Business Journal," 1-60 Springfield Road, Ottawa, CANADA, K1M 1C7. Fax: +1-613-564-6641. Publisher: Michael Strangelove <72302.3062@compuserve.com>. "The Internet Magazine," 60 Springfield Road, Suite 1, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA, K1M 1C7. Tel: +1-613-747-6106. Publisher: Michael Strangelove <72302.3062@compuserve.com>. "Online Access," magazine, Chicago Fine Print. Subscription is US$19.80 for 8 issues. E-mail: 70324,343@compuserve.com . Internet Business Report. CMP Publications (Network Computing, Communications Week, etc.). Newsletter for corporate strategists interested in the Internet as a channel for information products and services, or as a means of extending support for current operations. Monthly in an 8-page hardcopy format. For a complimentary sample issue, send email to ibr@cmp.com . Specify "free copy" in the subject line. "Journal of Information Networking" (Great Britain). For info, send email to colin@salford.ac.uk . Wired. ISSN 1058-1028. 544 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, U.S.A. A trendy, glossy magazine frequently highlighting electronic networking. Internet - books published in 1993 or earlier --------------------------------------------- "Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier," by Katie Hafner and John Markoff. Simon & Schuster, 1991. "The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier," by Bruce Sterling. Bantam Books, 1992. "The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage," by Clifford Stoll. Doubleday, 1989. "Welcome To...Internet: From Mystery to Mastery," by Tom Badgett and Corey Sandler. MIS:Press, 1993. 324 pp. ISBN 1-55828-308-0. "The Internet Navigator," by Paul Gilster. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1993. 470 pp. ISBN 0-471-59782-1. "Internet Basics: Your Online Access to the Global Electronic Superhighway," by Steve Lambert and Walt Howe. Random House, 1993. 495 pp. ISBN 0-679- 75023-1. "Internet: Mailing Lists 1993," by Edward T.L. Hardie and Vivian Neou. (1993) SRI Internet Information Series PTR Prentice Hall ISBN 0-13-327941-3. $26.00 "Connecting to the Internet: A Buyer's Guide," by Susan Estrada. 188 pages. ISBN: 1-56592-061-9. O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472, U.S.A. Write to nuts@ora.com for information. 1993. "Crossing the Internet Threshold," by Roy Tennant, John Ober, and Anne G. Lipow, p. 134, Library Solutions Press, 1100 Industrial Rd., Suite 9, San Carlos, CA 94070, U.S.A. 1993. ISBN: 1-882208-01-3 . US$45.00 plus shipping and handling. "The Internet For Dummies," John R Levine & Carol Baroudi, ISBN 1-56884-024- 1, $19.95, 1993. "The Internet Navigator" by Paul Glister (1993, J Wiley, ISBN 0-471-59782- 1). "Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh," by A.C. Engst. (ISBN 056830-064-6. 1993.) "The Internet Message, closing the book with Electronic Mail," by M. Rose. (ISBN 013-092941-7. 1993.) "The Whole Earth Online Almanac" by Don Rittner. (ISBN 056686-090-3. 1993) "Riding the Internet Highway." by Sharon Fisher-Blankenhorn. (ISBN 056205- 192-X. 1993.) "Navigating the Internet" by Richard Smith and Mark Gibbs. SAMS Publishing, (ISBN 0672-30362-0. 1993.) "Doing business on the Internet: How the Electronic Highway is Transforming American Companies," by Mary J. Cronin. Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 0-442- 01770-7. US$29.95. Email: Cronin@BCVMS.BC.EDU . 1993. "The Mac Internet Tour Guide," by Michael Fraase. Ventana Press, 290pp., US$27.95, 1993. (ISBN: 1-56604-062-0.) E-mail: dilennox@aol.com . "An Internet Primer for Information Professionals: A Basic Guide to Networking Technology," by Elizabeth S. Lane, and Craig A. Summerhil, p. 200, Meckler Corp., Westport, CT, USA. US$37.50. ISBN 0-88736-831-X. 1993. "The Internet Passport: NorthWestNet's Guide to Our World Online" by Kochmer, Jonathan and NorthWestNet. 4th ed. 515p. Bellevue, WA, USA: NorthWestNet, 1993. ISBN: 0-9635281-0-6. Price: US$29.95. (US$19.95 nonprofit and educational). Fax: +1-206-562-4822. Email: info@clbooks.com. "Internet: Mailing Lists 1993 Edition." Franklin F. Kuo, SRI Internet Information Services. Published by PTR Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA. ISBN: 0-13-327941-3. Paperback, 356 pages. "Internet Connections: A Librarian's Guide to Dial-Up Access and Use" by Mary E. Engle, Marilyn Lutz, William W. Jones, Jr., and Genevieve Engel. Library and Information Technology Association's Monographs Series, #3, 1993. 166 pages. ISBN 0-8389-7677-0. "Netpower: Resource Guide to Online Computer Networks," by Eric Persson, Fox Chapel Publishing, Box 7948, Lancaster, PA 17604-7948, U.S.A. US$ 39.95. 1993. 800+ pages. Email: NetPower1@aol.com . "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog," by Ed Krol. 1994. Published by O'Reilly and Associates, Inc., 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472, U.S.A.. 450 pages, US$24.95. ISBN: 1-56592-063-5. Email questions to nuts@ora.com or uunet!ora!nuts . "Internet: Getting Started," April Marine, ed., PTR Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1993. 360 pp. ISBN 0-13-327933-2. "The Internet Companion: A Beginner's Guide to Global Networking" by Tracy LaQuey, with Jeanne C. Ryer. Addison-Wesley, 1993, $10.95, p. 196, ISBN 0- 201-62224-6. Order direct from Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., 1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA 01867, U.S.A. "The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide," John S. Quarterman, Digital Press, Bedford, MA, 719 pages, 1990. (Internet address: mids@tic.com. Gopher service at gopher.tic.com.) "!%@:: A Directory of Electronic Mail Addressing and Networks," by Donnalyn Frey and Rick Adams (O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 632 Petaluma Avenue, Sebastopol, CA 95472, U.S.A.). 408 pages, US26.95. Write to nuts@ora.com for ordering information. 1991. "The User's Directory of Computer Networks" by Tracy L. LaQuey (Ed.), University of Texas, Digital Press, 12 Crosby Drive, Bedford, MA 01730, U.S.A. 630 pages, 1990. "A Guide to Electronic Mail Networks and Addressing," by Donnalyn Frey and Rick Adams. 1989. O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472, U.S.A. Email address: nuts@ora.com . "Managing UUCP and the Internet." Published by O'Reilly and Associates, Inc., 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472, U.S.A. Email address: nuts@ora.com . "The Big Dummy's Guide to Internet" by the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.eff.org, directory /pub/Net_info/Big_Dummy, filename bigdummy.txt. "NET GUIDE." ISBN: 0-679-75106-8. Price: $19.00. Email for information: author@go-netguide.com . Bulletin Board systems and networks ----------------------------------- BoardWatch Magazine, 8500 West Bowles Ave. Suite 210 Littleton, CO 80123, USA. Fax: +1-303-973-3731. Email: jack.rickard@boardwatch.com . Telnet boardwatch.com for BBS. "Using Computer Bulletin Boards," by John V. Hedtke. 1990. MIS Press. "BMUG Guide to Bulletin Boards and Beyond," by Bernard Aboba (1992). Quantum Books, 4 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, U.S.A. Email: quanbook@world.std.com . (BMUG = Berkeley Macintosh User's Group) CompuServe ---------- "CompuServe Companion: Finding Newspapers and Magazines Online" by Glenn S. Orenstein and Ruth M. Orenstein, BiblioData, 1994, 198 pages. US$ 29.95. "CompuServe from A to Z," by Charles Bowen, Bantam Computer Books, 1991. US$24.95. Paperback, 520 pages. GEnie ----- "Glossbrenner's Master Guide to GEnie," Alfred Glossbrenner, Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 1991, US$39.95, paperback, 616 pages. General ------- "Get On-Line!: The Communications Software Companion," by Lamont Wood. John Wiley & Sons, 1993. 336 p, US$24.95. Various ------- "Exploring the World of Online Services," by Rosalind Resnick. Sybex, 1993. 321 pages. US$ 17.95, paperback. "EcoLinking: Everyone's Guide to Online Environmental Information," by Don Rittner. Peachpit Press, 1992, US$18.95, paperback, 352 pages, appendices, index. "Online Information Hunting," by Nahum Goldman, TAB Books, Inc., 1992, US$19.95, paperback, 236 pages. "SysLaw: The Legal Guide for Online Service Providers" by Lance Rose, Esq., and Jonathan Wallace, Esq. Sold by PC Information Group, 1126 East Broadway, Winona, MN 55987, U.S.A. US$34.95 plus $3.00 shipping. "The Information Broker's Handbook," by Sue Rugge and Alfred Glossbrenner, Windcrest/McGraw-Hill. "Dvorak's Guide to PC Telecommunications," John Dvorak and Nick Anis (1992, 1128 pages, US$39.95). Second edition. Windcrest/McGraw-Hill. Articles -------- The following articles are available by email from LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 (BITNET) or LISTSERV@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU (Internet). In the TEXT of your message, write the GET command shown after the article's citation below: Bailey, Charles W., Jr. "Electronic Publishing on Networks: A Selective Bibliography of Recent Works." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 3, no. 2 (1992): 13-20. GET BAILEY PRV3N2 F=MAIL. Harnad, Stevan. "Post-Gutenberg Galaxy: The Fourth Revolution in the Means of Production of Knowledge." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 2, no. 1 (1991): 39-53. GET HARNAD PRV2N1 F=MAIL. Halbert, Martin. "Public-Access Computer Systems and the Internet." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 1, no. 2 (1990): 71-80. GET HALBERT PRV1N2 F=MAIL. Arms, Caroline R. Review of Library Resources on the Internet: Strategies for Selection and Use, by Laine Farley, ed. In The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 3, no. 2 (1992): 29-34. GET ARMS PRV3N2 F=MAIL. Barron, Billy. Review of Zen and the Art of the Internet: A Beginner's Guide to the Internet, by Brendan P. Kehoe. In The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 3, no. 1 (1992): 57-59. GET BARRON PRV3N1 F=MAIL. Cook, Dave. Review of The User's Directory of Computer Networks, by Tracy L. LaQuey, ed. In The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 2, no. 1 (1991): 177-181. GET COOK PRV2N1 F=MAIL. Appendix 6: Important Internet tools & pointers =================================== Anonymous FTP ------------- The procedure of connecting to a remote computer, as an anonymous or guest user, to transfer files back to your computer. Usually, you are asked to logon using the identity "anonymous," and to use your email address as a password. (See FTP below for more information.) Archie ------ An electronic directory service for locating information throughout the Internet. You can use Archie to locate files on anonymous ftp archive sites, other online directories and resource listings. It is useful for finding free software, and in particular if looking for a specific file. Archie offers access to the "whatis" description database. This database contains descriptions that include the name and a brief synopsis of the large number of public domain software, datasets and informational documents located on the Internet. This book emphasizes email access to Archie. You can also reach archie servers by telnet to one of the following addresses: archie.au 139.130.4.6 (Australian server) archie.mcgill.ca 132.206.44.21 (Canada) archie.th-darmstadt 130.83.128.111 (Germany) archie.cs.huji.ac.il 132.65.6.15 (Israel server) archie.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp 130.54.20.1 (Japan) archie.sogang.ac.kr 163.239.1.11 (Korea) archie.nz 130.195.9.4 (New Zealand) archie.ncu.edu.tw 140.115.19.24 (Taiwan) archie.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.11.3 (UK/England server) archie.rutgers.edu 128.6.18.15 (U.S.A.) Archie server ------------- An email-based file transfer facility offered by some systems connected to the Internet. Bandwidth --------- means the amount of frequencies a device can handle. The amount of bandwidth a channel is capable of carrying tells you what kinds of communications can be carried on it. In computer-mediated communications, bandwidth is often used when talking about conference users' capacity for reading, digesting and responding to conference items. Cello ----- is a multipurpose WorldWideWeb (WWW) browser which permits you to retrieve information from the Internet in an easy-to-use, simplified hypermedia environment. Cello supports WWW, FTP, Gopher, CSO, Telnet and Usenet News, as well as WAIS and a variety of other protocols (eg. TechInfo, HyTelnet) through external gateways. Cello runs in the Microsoft Windows environment, and can be used over low- speed dialup SLIP and PPP connections. To run Cello, you also need to have a Winsock package installed. The system is available on ftp.law.cornell.edu, in the pub/LII/Cello directory. Take the file cello.zip and (optionally) one or more of the graphics/Postscript viewers/sound players to be found in that directory. FAQ --- "Frequently Asked Questions" are information files about services on the Internet, and a wide range of other topics. They are useful pointers to not only resources but also a fairly reliable source of answers that have been tested by real users. A list of FAQ documents is posted every four to six weeks to the Usenet newsgroup news.announce.newusers. If you do not have direct access to Usenet, retrieve a copy of the files ftplist and usenet-faq by anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu (or ftp 18.70.0.226). They are stored in the pub/usenet/news.answers directory. FAQs are also available by email. Send a message with the words "help" and "index" on separate lines to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu to get the necessary details. Many FAQs are also available via a Veronica search of gopher space. Unfortunately, some gopher maintainers do not update their collection of FAQs on a regular basis. All FAQs are also available by email from LISTSERV@CC1.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (or LISTSERV@BLEKUL11 on BITNET). For an index of available FAQs, put the command GET NETFAQS FILELIST in the body of your mail. A large number of FAQs are available at gopher otax.tky.hut.fi . Note: You may find The Stanford Netnews Filtering Service (Chapter 11) a clever way of keeping track of important Usenet FAQs. For example, you may try the search term "australia/oz-net-faq" to keep track of the "Network Access in Australia FAQ." Finger ------ A program that returns information about registered users on a host that is directly connected to the Internet via TCP/IP. Therefore, you cannot use finger to find out the addresses of anyone on BITNET or UUCP, or any of the other networks which are gatewayed to the TCP/IP Internet. Finger may be useful before initiating chats (known on the Internet as "talk"), to check your assumption of a person's email address, to learn more about a person, or to get other kinds of information. To use finger via telnet, enter the command telnet 79 Example: telnet csd4.csd.uwm.edu 79 (where is the place you are fingering. Once connected, type the username. There are some inventive applications, where finger is being used as a general information system. For example, finger normg@halcyon.halcyon.com to get weekly U.S. TV ratings according to the Nielsen rating system, or to solar@xi.uleth.ca for 24-hour solar x-ray flare activity reports. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) ---------------------------- A program on the Internet for sending and receiving files to and from a remote computer to your local host. FTP lets you connect to many remote computers, as an anonymous or guest user, to transfer files back to your computer. FTP only lets you list file directories on foreign systems, and get or retrieve files. You cannot browse menus, send email, or search databases. Usually, type ftp at your system prompt, login on the remote system, and ask for the file you want to receive. It transfers to your local host machine. (For more on this, read under "Internet" in appendix 1.) Unless your computer is directly connected to the Internet, the retrieved software will have to be transferred from your local host machine to your PC. Where ftp is not available, you may use FTPMAIL (see chapter 12). FSP --- File Service Protocol. FYI --- "For Your Information." On the Internet, a subseries of RFCs that are not technical standards or descriptions of protocols. Online FYI. copies are available via FTP from NIC.DDN.MIL as fyi/fyi##.txt or fyi/fyi##.ps (## is the FYI number without leading zeroes). FYIs may also be requested through electronic mail by sending a message to SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL with a subject line of "FYI ##" for text versions or a subject line of "FYI ##.PS" for PostScript versions. To obtain a list of available documents (the FYI index), the subject line of your message should read "FYI index." Also, check out the sites carrying RFCs (see below). Gopher ------ A world wide information service with many implementations. It works from a top-level subject-oriented menu system that accesses other information services across the Internet. You can be viewing a color photograph of an ancient Chinese vase stored on a computer in Taiwan, and, on a moment's notice, "be" in the UK, retrieving names and dates from a historical database. Gopher combines a finding and fetching capability in one tool. Gopher gets information from certain locations on the Internet to which it is connected, and brings the information to your computer. It can also get information via other Gophers at other locations connected to yet other hosts. The Telneting or file transfer protocols are transparent to the user. "Common Questions and Answers about the Internet Gopher" are posted to the following Usenet newsgroups comp.infosystems.gopher, comp.answers, and news.answers every two weeks. The most recent version of this FAQ is also available by anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu in the /pub/usenet/news.answers directory. The file is called gopher.faq. To get it by email, write mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the command "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources" in the body of the text. The Online World book's support forum's files are available on gopher.denet.dk . Select "Network information," and then "The Online World" from the next menu. On the Internet, you will often see pointers to Gopher sources given like this: Type=1 Name= United States GOVERNMENT Gophers Path=1/gopher.welcome/peg/GOPHERS/gov Host=peg.cwis.uci.edu Port=7000 URL: gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/11/gopher.welcome/peg/GOPHERS/gov If you are not using a communications program that can use this information directly, then try to retrieve the information from URL line. In this case, it translates into the command 'gopher peg.cwis.uci.edu 7000' , then select peg / gophers/ gov . If the gopher command is not available on your system, you can often telnet to the gopher site, and login as 'gopher' to get access. Check out the gopher at consultant.micro.umn.edu for more information. To keep up with gopher developments, send a subscription to gopher-news- request@boombox.micro.umn.edu (SUB Your-Full-Name). Gophermail ---------- A service for those without interactive access to the Internet. Send a message to one of the following addresses for more information: gophermail@ncc.go.jp (in Japan) gopher@nig.ac.jp (in Japan) gophermail@Calvin.Edu (in USA) gopher@dsv.su.se (in Sweden) gopher@ftp.technion.ac.il (Israel) Just send a blank message, and a help screen will be returned to you. Hytelnet -------- (1) An Internet service offering access to many other services, including university and library catalogues around the world. Prefers VT-100 emulation. (telnet herald.usask.ca. Login: hytelnet) The Hytelnet anonymous ftp archive is at ftp.usask.ca. Get the README file in the /pub/hytelnet directory. (2) A memory resident utility (MS-DOS) that provides instant information on Internet-accessible library catalogues, Free-Nets, Campus Wide Information Servers, Gophers, WAIS, and much more. The program is available by ftp from access.usask.ca in the /pub/hytelnet/pc/ directory. File name is hytelnxx.zip where xx is the number of the latest version. HYTEL-L@KENTVM.BITNET is a mailing list for announcements of new versions. International Standard Top-level Country codes ---------------------------------------------- Top-level country codes derived from the International Standards Organization's international standard ISO 3166. For a current list, retrieve the FAQ: International E-mail. It is regularly posted to these Usenet newsgroups: comp.mail.misc, comp.mail.uucp, news.newusers.questions alt.internet.services, alt.answers, comp.answers, and news.answers. You may also retrieve it via E-mail as follows: mail ftpmail@grasp.insa-lyon.fr Subject: anything open [mime] get pub/faq/mail/country-codes quit (where [ ] = optional) IRC --- Internet Relay Chat is a multi-user, multi-channel chatting network. It allows people all over the world to talk to one another in real-time. Each IRC user has a nickname they use. All communication with another user is either by nickname or by the channel that they or you are on. It requires that you use a service which has a direct connection to Internet. More information about IRC is available by anonymous FTP to cs.bu.edu. Retrieve the /irc/support/tutorial* files. A FAQ file, "IRC Frequently Asked Questions," is also available. Global IRC is available by telnet bradenville.andrew.cmu.edu (or telnet 128.2.54.2), and through many other hosts. Jughead ------- An interactive Internet service which gets menu information from various gopher servers. It is a database of Gopher links, and an acronym for Jonzy's Universal Gopher Hierarchy Excavation And Display. Jughead accepts word searches and the search result can be used to access menus on on many remote Gophers. More information is available by anonymous ftp to ftp.cc.utah.edu . Get the file jughead.ReadMe in the pub/gopher/GopherTools/jughead directory. Knowbot ------- Experimental directory services using intelligent computer programs that automate the search and gathering of data from distributed databases. The concept behind the Knowbot is that it is supposed to be a Knowledge Robot - - something that goes hunting for information on the Internet. To reach a Knowbot: telnet CNRI.Reston.va.us port 70 . Also, try email to kis@nri.reston.va.us . Send 'help' for instructions. List of Lists ------------- The Interest Groups List of Lists is a directory of conferences available by ftp from sri.com . Log in to this host as user "anonymous". Retrieve by using the following commands: cd netinfo ascii get interest-groups Note that as of March 1994, the file was around 1,400,000 bytes in size. It will be returned to you in moderately sized pieces. You can also get it by email from mail-server@sri.com . Write the following command in the TEXT of the message: Send netinfo/interest-groups Lynx ---- Text-only World Wide Web browser for any VT100 (ASCII) emulating terminal program using full screen, arrow keys, highlighting, etc. Fast naviagion of cross-linked hypertext documents (minus multimedia) over a low-speed dial- up connection. To obtain Lynx, ftp to: FTP2.cc.ukans.edu . The releases, including one for MS-DOS computers, are in the /pub/lynx directory. If you do not have a WWW browser, telnet to ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu . At the login: prompt, enter www and press return . This will give you access to Lynx. Online help is available. MAILBASE -------- A program functioning like a LISTSERV. For more information about the Mailbase at Newcastle University (England), send email to MAILBASE@MAILBASE.AC.UK containing the following commands: send mailbase overview (for a general guide to Mailbase) send mailbase userhelp (for a User Guide) lists (for a list of available forums) This mailbase managed 403 mailing lists in July 1993. Majordomo --------- is another program that organizes mailing lists. Commands for subscribing and unsubscribing are similar to those used with a LISTSERV except that the name is not given at the end of the subscription line. Further, rather than sending e-mail to listserv at the site that houses the list, it should be sent to majordomo@csn.org. For a list of mailing lists served by this Majordomo server, send the command 'lists' in the body of your email message. Add the command 'help' on the next line for a short help file. MIME ---- The Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions is a specification that offers a way to interchange text in languages with different character sets, and multi-media email among many different computer systems that use Internet mail standards. MIME lets you create and read email messages containing these things: - character sets other than ASCII - enriched text (text with markup commands like to make it more readable) - images - sounds - other messages (reliably encapsulated) - tar files - PostScript - FTPable file pointers - other stuff MIME supports several pre-defined types of non-textual message contents, such as 8-bit 8000Hz-sampled mu-LAW audio, GIF image files, and PostScript programs. It also permits you to define your own types of message parts. For details, check out FAQ 475, the newsgroup comp.mail.mime, and a RFC- 1341 and 1523. Note: When a MIME message is received by someone on a host without MIME installed, it may be encoded in a binary format (BASE64) and impossible to read. If you have this problem, try the small free utility that is available through the TOW archive. Send GET TOW MASTER (as explained in the preface of the book) for retrieval instructions and file name. NCSA Mosaic ----------- gives easy point-and-click graphical hypermedia access to the World Wide Web over a SLIP or TCP/IP connection to the Internet. Mosaic will not work through simple Internet gateways. A direct Internet connection, or a dedicated high-speed phone line is required. The system runs on X Windows, the Macintosh, and Microsoft Windows, and has integrated transparent access to other Internet services, ranging from FTP to WAIS to Gopher. Mosaic can display hypertext and hypermedia documents in a variety of fonts and styles. It has support for sounds, movies, international characters, Mosaic can be retrieved by anonymous ftp from ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu . The MS Windows version is in directory /PC/Mosaic . (Version 1.0 had the file name wmos1_0.zip.) The Macintosh version is in directory /Mac/Mosaic . Mosaic, the server codes, and other WWW clients, are also available via anonymous ftp from: SunSITE.unc.edu in pub/packages/infosystems/Mosaic. Netfind ------- Internet directory services that allow users to get information about individuals. Search by name and organization/location. For more information, send email to LISTSERV@brownvm.brown.edu with the following text in the body of your mail "GET NETFIND HELP". Ping ---- A program to test a network connection on the Internet. May be used to check if a connection to another host is available, when your email seems not to reach a receiver. Ping sends a message (an ICMP echo request packet) to a specified host, and waits for a response. It reports success or failure and statistics about its operation. To use ping by email, write with Subject: #ping . This command will ping the machine 10 times and send you the result. PPP --- Point-to-Point Protocol. A serial communications protocol for connecting to the Internet by direct or dial-up lines. PPP systems can receive and transfer files without having to use the intermediate host as a transfer and rest stop. RFC --- The Internet's Request for Comments document series. Working notes of the Internet research and development community. A document in this series may be on essentially any topic related to computer communication, and may be anything from a meeting report to the specification of a standard. Information about new RFCs are regularly sent to the RFC-DIST notification mailing list. Requests to be added to this list should be sent to RFC- REQUEST@NIC.DDN.MIL. Note: Once a document is assigned an RFC number and published, that RFC is never revised or re-issued with the same number. There is never a question of having the most recent version of a particular RFC. It is therefore important to verify that you have the most recent RFC on a given topic! Details on how to obtain RFCs via FTP or EMAIL may be obtained by sending an EMAIL message to rfc-info@ISI.EDU with the message body help: ways_to_get_rfcs. For example: To: rfc-info@ISI.EDU Subject: getting rfcs help: ways_to_get_rfcs SimTel Software Repository -------------------------- maintains a giant collection of public domain software, shareware, documentation and mail archives under the following top-level headings: Ada, CPM, CPMUG, HZ100, MACINTOSH, MISC, MSDOS, PC-BLUE, SIGM, UNIX-C, ZSYS. All files are accessible by anonymous ftp to OAK.Oakland.Edu (n Rochester, Michigan, U.S.A.), by gopher to Gopher.Oakland.Edu (just select from the gopher menu to retrieve), from several mirror sites around the world, or by e-mail through the BITNET/EARN file servers, and various FTP-mail servers (see Chapter 12). World Wide Web (WWW) and Mosaic users can connect to the URL http://www.acs.oakland.edu . For information by email, send a message to LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET with the command 'GET PDGET HELP' in the first line of your text. For a current list of available MS-DOS files, retrieve the file simlist.zip in the /SimTel/msdos/filedocs directory at Oak.Oakland.Edu . Also, consider subscribing to MSDOS-Ann (see Chapter 4). SLIP ---- Serial Line Internet Protocol. A method for connecting to the Internet. SLIP systems can receive and transfer IP packets over a serial link, such as a dial-up or private telephone line. Telnet ------ A program on the Internet that allows logins to another computer to run software there. Telnet allows a user at one site to interact with a remote system at another site as if the user's terminal was connected directly to the remote computer. With telnet, you can browse menus, read text files, use gopher services, and search online databases. Sometimes, you can join live, interactive games and chat with other callers. Usually, you cannot download files or list file directories. Telnet is not available to users who have email only access to the Internet. To telnet a remote computer, you must know its name. This can either be in words, like "vm1.nodak.edu," or a numeric address, like "134.129.111.1". Some services require that you connect to a specific "port" on the remote system. Enter the port number, if there is one, after the Internet address. To access the remote computer, you need a legal user name and password. A list of SPECIAL INTERNET CONNECTIONS, with public user names and passwords, is available by email to bbslist@aug3.augsburg.edu. You can also get it by ftp or gopher to csd4.csd.uwm.edu (cd /pub, and get inet.services.txt), and through alt.internet.services on Usenet. Note: If you get a return message saying that the host was unknown or unavailable, first check if your address syntax was correct. If it is, try later. Also, your telnet address may have changed. TRICKLE ------- Servers on the Internet offering the SimTel shareware and public domain files by email (uuencoded). These servers include: TRICKLE@TREARN.BITNET (Turkey) TRICKLE@TAUNIVM.BITNET (Israel) TRICKLE@IMIPOLI.BITNET (Italy) TRICKLE@DB0FUB11.BITNET (Germany) TRICKLE@AWIWUW11.BITNET (Austria) TRICKLE@UNALCOL.BITNET (Colombia) For more information and a current list of all TRICKLE servers, send a message to one of these addresses with the command "/HELP" in the body of your text. URL (Universal Resource Locater) -------------------------------- A standardized identification of network resources that is integrated into WWW pages. Uniform Resource Locators identify the type and location of network and local resources. Many users with interactive connection to the Internet, use remote network resources through local programs. These programs are called local clients, and there are such programs for anonymous ftp, irc, Mosaic, WWW, and more. The local clients programs often require a terse, machine readable resource addressing format, called "Universal Resource Locater" (URL). It is a draft standard for specifying an object on the Internet, such as a file or newsgroup. Example using WWW: The URL format resource address is http://web2.xerox.com/digitrad This tells us: the tool: http (see appendix 4) the host: web2.xerox.com the path: digitrad A Gopher example: URL uses the following gopher://nutmeg.ukc.ac.uk/archive/uunet/archive/doc/obi /USG/Health.Care.Security.Plan/report/forward.txt The URL tells us: the tool: gopher the host: nutmeg.ukc.ac.uk the path: archive/uunet/archive/doc/obi/USG /Health.Care.Security.Plan/report the file: forward.txt A ftp example, showing site, directory, and file name: ftp://ftp.rpi.edu/pub/communications/internet-cmc.html A telnet example: telnet://database.carl.org/ A newsgroup example: news:alt.bbs A file example, showing site, directory, and file name: file://localhost/mysub/mypage.html Veronica -------- A service on the Internet. Maintains an index of gopher items, and provides keyword searches of those titles. The result of a search is a set of gopher-type data items, which is returned to the user as a gopher menu. The user can access any of these data items by selecting from the returned menu. Example: gopher nysernet.org . Select 'Search the Internet' from the main menu. Select Veronica alternatives from the next. A FAQ is available from gopher veronica.scs.unr.edu, in the veronica directory. WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) ------------------------------------ is a distributed text-searching system. It is a kind of indexed online search tool to locate items based on what they contain - usually keyword text searches. It is a powerful tool for concurrent searches of large databases and/or newsgroups on the Internet. First, WAIS lets you search for appropriate databases, and then for information within them. Example: Telnet QUAKE.THINK.COM (or Telnet 192.31.181.1). Login as "wais". Telnet info.funet.fi (or 128.214.6.100). Login: info . Another option is telnet to sunsite.unc.edu and login as swais . FreeWAIS -------- allows uncapitalized Boolean searching with any combination of and/or/not, but no parenthesis. With freeWAIS, you _can_ search for "dogs and cats." It also adds truncation, using "*". This lets you easily search for plurals and root words, like "advertis*". For information on free WAIS software contact freewais@cnidr.org Mailing list: wais-discussion@wais.com To subscribe send a mail to wais-discussion-request@wais.com Usenet newsgroup: comp.infosystems.wais VMS --- Virtual Memory System. A multiuser, multitasking, virtual memory operating system for the VAX series from Digital Equipment. Whois ----- An Internet program that lets users query a database of people and other Internet entities, such as domains, networks, and hosts, kept at the NIC (see appendix 4). For example, Whois lets you scan through a registry of researchers in the network field to find an Internet address, if you have only the last name or part of it. It will give you the person's company name, address, phone number, and email address. It had around 70,000 listings in December 1992. You can access Whois by email to MAILSERV@INTERNIC.NET . Put the word HELP in the subject field of your mail for instruction. To access the WHOIS, telnet to rs.internic.net. When greeted by the host, type "WHOIS" and press RETURN. It also has a gopher service at the same address. Winsock ------- The Windows Socket standard. A method for providing TCP/IP network services to Windows applications (such as a gopher client). Requires a direct connection to the Internet, or access to a SLIP or PPP server. With Winsock, you can run several applications that make use of the Internet at the same time. For information, check out the newsgroup comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc and alt.winsock . Also, do an anonymous ftp to sunsite.unc.edu and check out the files in /pub/micro/pc-stuff/ms-windows/winsock . The FAQ "Windows and TCP/IP for Internet access" contains a list of some shareware and public domain software that can be used with Windows to access services on the Internet. This FAQ is regularly being posted to alt.winsock . WWW (World Wide Web) -------------------- is much like Gopher in that it provides top level access down to various documents, lists, and services on the Internet. Instead of menus, WWW uses a hypertext interface with cross links between things. You use highlighted words to jump off onto another track. Requires interactive access to the Internet. A Frequently Asked Questions file about WWW is available by sending the command GET WWW FAQ to LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU . Updates are regularly posted to the Usenet newsgroups news.answers, comp.infosystems.www, comp.infosystems.gopher, comp.infosystems.wais and alt.hypertext . Examples: telnet www.njit.edu or telnet 128.235.163.2 (U.S.A.), telnet info.cern.ch or telnet 128.141.201.74 (Switzerland), telnet vms.huji.ac.il or telnet 128.139.4.3 (Israel), and telnet ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu (USA). Login: www . The Digital Tradition folk song database is avaible through a WWW server that allows users to search for and display songs interactively using any of several freely available WWW clients. The server can even provide audio of the song tunes for some systems. This WWW server is located at: http://web2.xerox.com/digitrad. To find out about more, access the above WWW server or email digitrad@world.std.com (Dick Greenhaus). The Australian National University's WWW server at http://rubens.anu.edu.au offers Art-History-related images. In January 1994, it held 2,800 images with associated short records dealing with the history of printmaking from the 15th century to the end of the 19th century, and a few on the classical architecture of the Mediterranean. For information on WWW browsers, telnet to info.cern.ch . For more information -------------------- You may start with "Answers to Commonly Asked New Internet User Questions," which is available by email from SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL . Put the following command in your message's SUBJECT heading: RFC 1325 "FYI: Internet User's Glossary" can be retrieved by electronic mail from SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL . Put the following command in the Subject of your mail: RFC 1392 . The FAQ: "Internet Services Frequently Asked Questions and Answers" can be retrieved by email from mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu . Write the following command in the body of your message: send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/faq "FYI: What is the Internet?" is FTPable from nic.merit.edu as fyi_20.txt . The file is in the /documents/fyi directory. For "Internet Services Frequently Asked Questions and Answers," FTP to: rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/faq , or send an email message to "mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu" with a line in the body of the message reading "send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/faq". Appendix 7: LIST OF SERVICES OFFERING ACCESS TO INTERNET -------------------------------------------- This is a list of online services by country offering general access to the Internet. These services provide access to any individual, provided that he or she is willing to pay an (often) modest subscription fee. In many countries, there are organizations selling Internet access to the business community at high prices. The added value provided by these seldom justifies their higher price. They will therefore not be listed at all, if I can help it. The organizations listed deliver one of the following three levels of access: [1] Full interactive access. You can use all Internet commands including ftp, telnet, and gopher. [2] Exchange of electronic mail. Local access to selected Newsgroups, BITNET and Internet mailing lists. Limited or no access to interactive commands. [3] Exchange of electronic mail only. No access to interactive commands. Important: Several key Internet commands are available by email. Examples: ftp, archie, gopher, veronica. Level 2 and 3 access may therefore be good enough for many users. You may even find such access to be more productive for your applications, because of the waiting times often experienced when using the Internet interactively. Many countries are missing from this list. The objective is to gradually expand it with a handful services in all countries of the world. It is not intended to be complete. A few inexpensive, efficient and reliable offerings in each country will do. If you know of a service that should be listed, please send information to me for consideration (send to: opresno@extern.uio.no). The offerings are sorted by part of world: Africa Asia-Pacific Rim Former Soviet Republics Latin America North America Western and Central Europe Note: Unless "full access to the Internet" is given, a service will most likely only offer access level 2 or 3. AFRICA ****** Ethiopia -------- Addis Abeba: PADIS. Tel: +251(1)511 167. Email: sysop@padis.gn.apc.org. Kenya ----- Nairobi: ELCI. Tel: +254 2 562 015 or +254 2 562 022. Email: sysop@elci.gn.apc.org Senegal ------- Dakar: ENDA. Tel: +221 21 6027 or +221 22 4229. Email: sysop@endadak.gn.apc.org . South Africa ------------ Durban: Dataverters BBS - 3 lines +27-31-765-5534. Full Internet access. Email: michael.cookson@datavert.co.za Johannesburg: Digitec Online BBS - 10 lines +27-11-476-7136. Full Internet access. Email: anthony.gerada@digitec.co.za Johannesburg: Netline Flagship BBS - 6 lines +27-11-789-6084. Full Internet access. Email: ian.gerada@netline.co.za Johannesburg: SANGONet. Voice: +27-11-838-6944. Email: support@wn.apc.org . There is a list of South African BBSes on LISTSERV@netline.co.za . For monthly updates, send an email with the following command in the body of your mail: SUB ROBLIST Your-Name Uganda ------ Kampala: MUKLA. Tel: +256-41-532-479. Email: sysop@mukla.gn.apc.org Zambia ------ Lusaka: ZANGO. Tel: +260 1 252 507. Email: sysop@unza.gn.apc.org . Zimbabwe -------- Harare: MANGO. Tel: +263 4 303 211 EXT 1492. Email: sysop@mango.apc.org ASIA - PACIFIC RIM ****************** Australia --------- Queensland: Pegasus/PACTOK. Voice: +61(7) 257 1111. Email: support@peg.apc.org , or pactok@peg.apc.org. Email: leo@unv.ernet.in . A Network Access in Australia FAQ is regularly posted to various FTP sites which archive FAQs. Example: archie.au. File: Network_Access_in_Australia_FAQ Directory: /usenet/FAQs/alt.internet.access.wanted . Hong Kong --------- Hong Kong Supernet. Full Internet access. Email: info@hk.super.net. Hong Kong Internet and Gateway Services. Full Internet access. Email: helpdesk@hk.net. India ----- New Dehli: INDIALINK DELHI. Tel: 91-11-463-5096 or 461-1745 Bombay: INDIALINK BOMBAY. Tel: 91-22-262-2388 or 261-2185. Email: mki@inbb.gn.apc.org Japan ----- Tokyo: APICNET. Voice: 03-5423-0571. Fax: 03-5423-0576 . Email access to the Internet. Contact: kaneko@apic.or.jp (Yoko Kaneko) Tokyo: TWICS. Modem: 03-3351-8244 (8N1). Log in as guest for more information. Voice: 03-3351-5977. Email: burress@tanuki.twics.co.jp Others: CompuServe (nodes across the country). Philippines ----------- Quezon City: EMAIL CENTRE. Tel: +632 921 9976. Email: sysop@phil.gn.apc.org Thailand -------- Bangkok: CCAN, Tel: (66-2) 255-5552. Email: ccan@peg.apc.org . FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS *********************** Russia ------ Moscow: GlasNet. Voice: +7(095)207-0704; +7(095)207-0889. Email: support@glas.apc.org . Ukraine ------- Kiev: GLUK - GlasNet-Ukraine, Ltd. Tel: +7 (044) 266 9481. E-mail: support@gluk.apc.org . LATIN AMERICA ************* Argentina --------- Buenos Aires: SatLink Uucp/Internet Gateway offers V.32bis and Turbo-PEP access. Email: postmaster@satlink.net, or call +54-1-958-1041. Offline reader: Waffle. Buenos Aires: Wamani. Voice: +54 (1) 382-6842. Email: apoyo@wamani.apc.org . Brasil ------ Rio de Janeiro: Hot-Line BBS. 8 lines. For information, write Charles Miranda at charles.miranda%hlbbs@ibase.br. Voice +55 21 537-3162. Sao Paulo: Mandic BBS. Modem phone: +55-11-816-3911. Speeds from 300 to 16800 bits/s. 10 lines. Write to aleksandar.mandic@bbs816.mandic.onsp.br ( Aleksandar Mandic) for information. PCBoard BBS. Various offline readers. US$10/month. Rio de Janeiro: AlterNex. Write to Carlos Afonso for information. Voice: +55(21)286-0348. Others: CompuServe, Colombia -------- Santafe de Bogota: COLNODO. Tel: 57-2697181, 2444692, 2697202. Email: julian@colnodo.igc.apc.org Ecuador ------- Quito: Ecuanex. Voice: +593(2) 528-716. Email: intercom@ecuanex.apc.org . Mexico ------ LANETA, Tlalpan 1025, col. portales, Mexico, df. Mexico. Voice: (525) 2774791 Email: soporte@laneta.igc.apc.org Nicaragua --------- Managua: Nicarao - CRIES. Email: ayuda@nicarao.apc.org . Voice: +505(2)621312. Uruguay ------- Montevideo: Chasque. Email: apoyo@chasque.apc.org . Voice: +598(2)496192. Compuserve. NORTH AMERICA ************* Canada ------ Toronto: Web. Email: support@web.apc.org. Voice: +1(416)596-0212. United States ------------- Delphi. Full access. Write to: General Videotex Corp., 1030 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. CompuServe. Nodes in most large cities. Institute for Global Communications (includes EcoNet, PeaceNet, ConflictNet, LaborNet.) Contact by email: support@igc.apc.org . Voice: +1(415)442-0220. WESTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE ************************** Czech Republic -------------- Prague: ECONNECT, Tel:+42(02) 66710366. Email: sysop@ecn.gn.apc.org Finland ------- CLINET. Modem: 90-455 8331, 90-455 8778, 90-455 8688. Unix. login: new. InterNet 193.64.6.33 (clinet.fi) JYBOX, Modem: 941-211 562. Waffle. Internet email VAASA FREEPORT BBS. Modem: 961-324 8490, 961-317 0972, 961-317 0974. FreePort. Internet news and mail. Finland Free-Net. Voice: 358-0-4514007 France ------ CompuServe. Voice: 36-63-81-31 (Customer Service). Germany ------- Berlin: Grossraum Berlin. Voice: 030/834 68 90. Email: in-berlin- admin@in-berlin.de . DM 20/month (1993). Full Internet access. Hamburg: Grossraum Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. Voice: 040/2790975, Email: info@hanse.de . UUCP access (email only). Hannover: ComLink e.V. Voice: +49(511)350-1573. Email: support@oln.comlink.apc.org . Frankfurt am Main: Region Rhein/Main. Voice: 069/39048413, Email: oli@odb.rhein-main.de . DM 12/month for full Internet access. Munich: Grossraum M"unchen. Voice: 089/298934. Email: info@muc.de. Others: ComLink e.V (Email: support@oln.comlink.apc.org). CompuServe. Note: A longer list is available by email from LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu using the command GET TOW GERMANY . Ireland ------- Galway: Ireland On-Line. Tel: +353 91 92727. Email: postmaster@iol.ie . Cork: Access Technology Ireland. Voice: +353-21-303377. Email:access@access.ie Italy ----- Pisa: ITALYNET. Tel: 39-5-57-6343. Email: cesare@gn.apc.org The Netherlands --------------- Amsterdam: Hacktic. Email: felipe@hacktic.nl. From Dfl 25,-/Month for 15 hr access. Voice: +31-20-6200293. Modem: +31-20-6222175. Full Internet access. Amsterdam: Simplex. Modem: +31(20) 6653388. Email: simplex@simplex.nl Utrecht: KnoWare. Macintosh oriented, provides full internet access via Appletalk Remote Access. Tel. 030-802244, Email: knoware@knoware.nl . Nijmegen: Antenna. Tel: +31(80)235372. Email: support@antenna.nl. Norway ------ Bergen: Bergen By Byte. Voice: (+047) 55 57 01 57. Email: postmaster@bbb.no. Haugesund: Euronet. Voice: (+47) 52 71 71 70. Modem: (+47) 52 71 60 21 . News and various mailing lists. Email: john.nordbo@euronetis.no . Oslo: Oslonett A/S. Voice: (+47) 22 46 10 99. Email: oslonett@oslonett.no . Full access to Internet. Oslo: Thunderball Cave BBS. Modem: (+47) 22 56 70 18. News. Email: jon.orten@thave.no . Oslo: PowerTech Information Systems A/S. Voice: (+47) 2220 3330. Email: info@powertech.no . Full interactive access to Internet. Slovenia -------- Ljubljana: HISTRIA (ABM-BBS), Tel: + 38 61 211-553. Email: support@histria.apc.org . Sweden ------ Johanneshov: NordNet. Email: support@pns.apc.org . Voice: +46(8) 600-0331. United Kingdom -------------- Compulink Information eXchange Ltd. Sign-up fee (1993): GBP 25.00. Monthly minimum: GBP 6.25. Off-peak connect rate GBP 2.40. Peak rate is 3.60 per hour. full Internet access. Contact: The Compulink Information Exchange Ltd., The Sanctuary Oakhill Grove, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6DU, England. Voice: +44-81-390- 8446. Fax: +44-81-390-6561. NUA: 2342 1330 0310. Data: +44-81-390-1255/+44-81- 390-1244. Email: cixadmin@cix.compulink.co.uk . London: GreenNet. Email: support@gn.apc.org . Voice: +44(71)608-3040 . internet.demon.co.uk (voice: 081 349-0063). Offers FULL internet connection for Ten pounds per month (US$15), with $0 per hour connect charge. You'll get a permanent Internet node number assigned to you, and can make your PC an actual Internet node while dialed in, using Point to Point Protocol (PPP) and low-cost shareware TCP/IP software. This allows you to FTP directly to/from your hard disk, and run various types of GUI clients, etc. Others: CompuServe, Travelling in Europe -------------------- EUnet Traveller is for people travelling in European countries, who need to telnet their home computers. Offers access through local dial-up nodes in several countries, including Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, England, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Italy, and Holland. For information, ftp to ftp.EU.net and retrieve files from directory /EUnet/Traveller/ . You can gopher to gopher.EU.net and select Traveller from the services list, or access http://www.EU.net/Traveller/ via World Wide Web. You can sign up for the service by telnet to Traveller.EU.net . Log in as 'new' after having browsed the information. Keep the number of your credit card handy. EUnet Limited, Kruislaan 409, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, Holland. Voice: +31 20 592 5109 . Fax: +31 20 592 5163 . E-mail traveller@EU.net . --------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information: [1] Several lists of international BBSes are available through the Internet. Example: by anonymous ftp to aug3.augsburg.edu . Change to the /files/bbs_lists directory. We have found the nal*.* files interesting. [2] The FYI document "Network Service Providers Around the World" is a huge lists of Internet, email, and X.400 service providers around the world. The list is designed to help people and organizations FIND the providers. Each entry is confirmed by the service provider. Queries for updates are sent to each service provider quarterly. Gopher gopher.psg.com port 70 . Select Networking Computers \ Connectivity \ Providers of Networking Services around the World \ Network Service Providers Around the World. To get on an email distribution list, mail greenebr@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu . [3] "Network Service Providers in Latin America and Caribe" is a Spanish language text available on gopher.rcp.net.pe port 70 . Appendix 8: About the author ================ WHO IS ODD DE PRESNO? Odd de Presno (born 1944) lives in Arendal, a small town in southern Norway, with his computers and modems. He has written twelve books, and has participated in several book projects with other authors. Half of his books focus on various aspects of the Online World. The rest are about practical applications of MS-DOS based personal computers. Published in Norway and England. His book "The Online World" is distributed globally as shareware. Over 700 of his articles have been published in management and technical magazines in Scandinavia, England, Japan, and the U.S. Writer. International public speaker. Consultant. Operates an English- language BBS online service in Norway (since 1985). Area of special expertise: applications of the global sources of online information, computer conferencing, global electronic mail, automation of information retrieval, personal computer applications. Founder and Project Director of KIDLINK, an international non-profit organization promoting a global dialog among the youth of the world. Since its start in 1990, KIDLINK has involved over 23,000 kids between 10 - 15 years of age living in over 60 countries. (1) Educational background includes a Diploma Degree in Business from Bedriftsoekonomisk Institutt (Norway, 1968). He founded the software company Data Logic A/S (Norway) in 1967 and was president for five years. Sales manager Control Data Corp. seven years (in charge of CYBERNET/Norway, an international online service). Marketing manager IKO Software Service A/S, two years. Currently running his own business. Member of the Computer Press Association (U.S.A.) since 1983, and NFF (Norway). Listed in Marquis' "Who's Who in the World" from 1991. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) For information about KIDLINK, send email to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu (or LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 on BITNET). The text of your mail should contain the command "GET KIDLINK GENERAL". You can also read it through the KIDLINK Gopher. Access command: gopher kids.ccit.duq.edu 70 . --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 9: HOW TO REGISTER YOUR COPY OF THE ONLINE WORLD ============================================= The online world is dynamic. Services and offerings come and go. Your registration will support further research, and production of updates. You can register your current copy, or sign up for six updates of the book during one year. Details are given below. ============================================================================== Please send to: Odd de Presno 4815 Saltrod Norway (Europe) Please add me as a supporter of the Online World book: Name ______________________________________________________________ Company ______________________________________________________________ Address ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ City ________________________________State _______ Zip ____________ Country ________________________________ Email address ______________________________________________________ Please mark off your selections with (x) below: Basic Registration for individuals ---------------------------------- ( ) NOK 105.00 For payment by credit card. (around US$ 15.00) ( ) US$ 20.00 For all other methods of payment. (or, in Norwegian currency: NOK 140.00.) Option (for Basic Registration) ------------------------------- ( ) US$ 2.00 Add to have a copy of the most recent version of the book sent you on diskette. Only with registration! (In Norway, NOK 10.00) ( ) 5.25" MS-DOS disk ( ) 3.5" disk 720KB MS-DOS Registration of Six Updates - for individuals --------------------------------------------- ( ) US$ 80.00 For all methods of payment (includes shipping and handling). Six updates of the book will be sent you by mail during the next 12 months. ( ) US$ 76.00 For all methods of payment. (No shipping.) The reader retrieves all new updates by modem. Six updates. US$ 60.00 when renewing this option for another year. Registration for businesses --------------------------- All Corporate site licence options include six updates during the next 12 months. ( ) US$ 500 Distribution for up to 100 people on a single network ( ) US$ 3.000 Distribution for up to 2500 people on a single network ( ) US$ 10.000 Distribution for over 10000 people on a single network ( ) Deduct 5 percent if the company retrieves all new updates by modem. ( ) Deduct another 20 percent when renewing this option for another year. Discounts for schools and public libraries ------------------------------------------ Special rates available for schools and public libraries. For details, send a message to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu (BITNET users can send it to LISTSERV@NDSUVM1). In the text of the message, use the command: GET TOW SCHOOLS GET TOW LIBRARY ( ) Please identify what type of discount you are taking advantage of: Ref: ______________ Description: ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Amount ____________________ Date _______________ ( ) Check or money order payable to Odd de Presno in U.S. funds enclosed ( ) SWIFT transfer to 6311.05.27189 (Kredittkassen 4800 Arendal, Norway) ( ) VISA ( ) MasterCard ( ) American Express Credit card number __________________________________ Exp date _______ Note: You should not send your credit card number by email, unless the data is sent in PGP encrypted form. For information about how to do this, read the instruction at the end of this appendix. If PGP is not available, use fax, or ordinary mail. If you already have an evaluation copy of the book, where did you get it? ________________________________________________ Version number: ____ Comments or suggestions for improvement of The Online World __________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Date ___________________ Signature _________________________________ 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � T H A N K Y O U F O R S U P P O R T I N G S H A R E W A R E � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� How to send your registration using PGP encryption -------------------------------------------------- To use this method, you must have a copy of the freeware program PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) by Philip Zimmermann. It is available for MS-DOS, VAX/VMS, Unix, and other computers. Various versions of this program can be retrieved from online services all over the world. If you have access to the Internet, use Archie to locate a recent version. I am currently using version 2.3a. Version 2.3a is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.eunet.no . The file name is pgp23a.zip . You will find it in the /SimTel/msdos/misc directory. Follow these steps to encrypt your registration form (you may be able to do this _without_ reading the documentation): Step 1 ------ Store your completed registration form on your disk using the file name ORDER.FRM. Cut out the text below, and store it using the file name ONLINE.ASC. -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.3a mQBNAi0jCjcAAAECAKBK1u0JZHZSEh50P3TdgSApuZCEWQh2Nsxw1pYrC4bgy/md bAN3UFrkgwShtnpPIjm+GcXFBiKpZ5kDuT9T9x0ABRG0FW9wcmVzbm9AZXh0ZXJu LnVpby5ubw== =AXgT -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Step 2 ------ Add ONLINE.ASC to your public keyring using the command: pgp -ka online.asc Step 3 ------ Encrypt ORDER.FRM using the command pgp -ea order.frm opresno@extern.uio.no The resulting file will be called ORDER.ASC. Step 4 ------ Send ORDER.ASC by email to opresno@extern.uio.no . 940511op