@2{TIPS FROM A NET SURFER
      @3
      }by Chris Evans
      @4
      
      Wondering  what's  on the Internet for you?  Here are some tips you
      might  like  to  have.   First, the term Internet usually refers to
      more than just e-mail service, but access to the World Wide Web ...
      addresses  that start with things like HTTP and FTP.  This is where
      the  high  rollers have their Home Pages describing their services.
      @1
      The  BBSs  that  offer  WWW  are usually expensive, over here about
      150/year,  like  Compuserve,  BIX,  GeNIE,  and Prodigy.  But we've
      found  you  don't  need  access to the WWW to do OK because there's
      lots  of  info and interaction on the User Group conferences.  Some
      of  these  user  groups  are  UseNet,  NaNet,  UniNet, Intelec, and
      Garnet.   BBSs that offer these along with e-mail are about 60/year
      here.   There are about 15000 conferences now (my BBS carries about
      8000),  and  if  you  want  one that your BBS doesn't carry they'll
      usually add it for you, takes a few days.
      @5
      Right  now  I'm  trying  to  track  down  the  location  of an AMOS
      conference  called AMOS 01 that used to be on the XPressNet, but it
      looks  like it's moved Nets or else is dead. 
      @4I'll let AZ know when I find out, and if you find out then let Andy
      Smith  know and he can e-mail that to me.    @3(Yes, Steve, there are
      conferences  on  poofs  ...   yes,  I'm  sure  some  of  them  wear
      pony-tails.)
      @1
      The  best  Amiga  Internet browser (software) is AMosaic, the Amiga
      version  of  PC  Mosaic,  but  it  needs WB 2 to run and a bunch of
      tweaking and extra files to get it working.  An AMosaic revision is
      coming,  and  will  require OS3.  But non-graphical term progs like
      even  old  JR COMM work OK, you just can't see screen graphics, but
      you can still see all the info, download files and do messages.
      @5
      BBSs  are always crashing, almost as often as Windoze, and you need
      thick  skin  and  lots  of patience waiting for the sysop to get it
      working  again,  usually  takes  a  few hours after they detect the
      problem.   But the result can be lost messages, and the piss-off is
      that you have no way of knowing whether there were messages waiting
      for you to collect.
      @3
      So  if  you  were expecting something you have to e-mail the person
      and  tell them to re-send anything they sent just before the crash.
      Some people rely heavily on e-mail and just can't live this way, so
      they pay more for a more secure board that won't crash as much.
      @4
      There's  usually  a free trial period for you to try a BBS, often a
      week  or 2, and during that time you can post a message to the BBSs
      bulletin  board  or user message board and ask how stable the board
      is  if  that  matters  to you.  And you can also ask the users what
      they  think  of  the board.  The sysops usually let people give any
      opinions  they  want,  nothing  is  really  censored  (just obscene
      language  ...   like  IBM)  so  you  can  expect to get some honest
      feedback.
      @1
      Some  boards  do all their messages through the old Fidonet system,
      which  is  slower  than the Internet system and much less reliable.
      And  you  may  not know it's Fido unless you ask the sysop, because
      the  boards  have  a  way  now  to  send mail to the usual internet
      addresses  through  a Fido node, so the same internet addresses are
      used.  This is a cheaper way than using a true Internet node.  Mail
      sent  openly  through the Fido system with a Fido type address look
      like this:  Person's Name x:xxx/xxx.x and the 2 shown below are for
      the same board, being sent each way.
      
      @5
      Chris, for the moment at:
      Internet:  ChrisEvans@cubic.mbcc.com
      Fidonet: Chris Evans 1:2401/302
      
      @3
      P.S.   Homebase,  the e-address I've put on some previous AZ stuff,
             is  in  the  process of being taken over by a large board, a
             real  good one, so don't use that address for now, and it'll
             have a new address after the takeover we think.