Part Two nn Commands =========== To mark a specific article for reading, type the letter next to it (in lower case). To mark a specific article and all of its responses, type the letter and an asterisk, for example: a* To un-select an article, type the letter next to it (again, in lower case). `C' Cancels an article (around the world) that you wrote. Every article posted on Usenet has a unique ID number. Hitting a capital `C' sends out a new message that tells host systems that receive it to find earlier message and delete it. `F' To post a public response, or follow-up. If selected while still on a newsgroup "page", asks you which article to follow up. If selected while in a specific article, will follow up that article. In either case, you'll be asked if you want to include the original article in yours. Caution: puts you in whatever text editor is your default. `N' Goes to the next subscribed newsgroup with unread articles. `P' Goes to the previous subscribed newsgroup with unread articles. `G news.group' Goes to a specific newsgroup. Can be used to subscribe to new newsgroups. Hitting `G' brings up a sub-menu: `u' Goes to the group and shows only un-read articles. `a' Goes to the group and shows all articles, even ones you've already read. `s' Will show you only articles with a specific subject. `n' Will show you only articles from a specific person. `M' Mails a copy of the current article to somebody. You'll be asked for the recipient's e-mail address and whether you want to add any comments to the article before sending it off. As with `F', puts you in the default editor. `:post' Post an article. You'll be asked for the name of the group. `Q' Quit, or exit, nn. `U' Un-subscribe from the current newsgroup. `R' Responds to an article via e-mail. `space' Hitting the space bar brings up the next page of articles. `X' If you have selected articles, this will show them to you and then take you to the next subscribed newsgroup with unread articles. If you don't have any selected articles, it marks all articles as read and takes you to the next unread subscribed newsgroup. `=word' Finds and marks all articles in the newsgroup with a specific word in the "Subject:" line, for example: `=modem' `Z' Shows you selected articles immediately and then returns you to the current newsgroup. `?' Brings up a help screen. `<' Goes to the previous page in the newsgroup. `>' Goes to the next page in the newsgroup. `$' Goes to the last page in an article. `^' Goes to the first page in an article. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/USING RN Using rn ======== Some folks prefer this older newsreader. It's a little easier to do this in rn, so let's try that out, and as long as where there, see how it works. If you type rn news.announce.newusers at your host system's command line, you'll see something like this: ******** 21 unread articles in news.announce.newusers--read now? [ynq] If you hit your Y key, the first article will appear on your screen. If you want to see what articles are available first, though, hit your computer's `=' key and you'll get something like this: 152 Introduction to news.announce 153 A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community 154 What is Usenet? 155 Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 156 Hints on writing style for Usenet 158 Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part I 159 Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part II 160 Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette 161 USENET Software: History and Sources 162 A Guide to Social Newsgroups and Mailing Lists 163 How to Get Information about Networks 164 How to Create a New Newsgroup 169 List of Active Newsgroups 170 List of Moderators 171 Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists, Part I 172 Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists, Part II 173 Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists, Part III 174 How to become a USENET site 175 List of Periodic Informational Postings, Part I 176 List of Periodic Informational Postings, Part II 177 List of Periodic Informational Postings, Part III End of article 158 (of 178)--what next? [npq] Notice how the messages are in numerical order this time, and don't tell you who sent them. Article 154 looks interesting. To read it, type in 154 and hit enter. You'll see something like this: Article 154 (20 more) in news.announce.newusers (moderated): From: spaf@s.purdue.EDU (Gene Spafford) Newsgroups: news.announce.newusers,news.admin,news.answers Subject: What is Usenet? Date: 20 Sep 92 04:17:26 GMT Followup-To: news.newusers.questions Organization: Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue Univ. Lines: 353 Supersedes: Archive-name: what-is-usenet/part1 Original from: chip@ct.com (Chip Salzenberg) Last-change: 19 July 1992 by spaf@s.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford) The first thing to understand about Usenet is that it is widely misunderstood. Every day on Usenet, the ``blind men and the elephant'' phenomenon is evident, in spades. In my opinion, more flame wars arise because of a lack of understanding of the nature of Usenet than from any other source. And consider that such flame wars arise, of necessity, among people who are on Usenet. Imagine, then, how poorly understood Usenet must be by those outside! --MORE--(7%) This time, the header looks much more like the gobbledygook you get in e-mail messages. To keep reading, hit your space bar. If you hit your n key (lower case), you'll go to the next message in the numerical order. To escape rn, just keep hitting your q key (in lower case), until you get back to the command line. Now let's set up your reading list. Because rn uses the same `.newsrc' file as nn, you can use one of the search-and-replace methods described above. Or you can do this: Type rn and hit enter. When the first newsgroup comes up on your screen, hit your u key (in lower case). Hit it again, and again, and again. Or just keep it pressed down (if your computer starts beeping, let up for a couple of seconds). Eventually, you'll be told you're at the end of the newsgroups, and asked what you want to do next. Here's where you begin entering newsgroups. Type g newsgroup (for example, `g comp.sys.mac.announce') and hit enter. You'll be asked if you want to "subscribe." Hit your y key. Then type g next newsgroup (for example, `g comp.announce.newusers') and hit enter. Repeat until done. This process will also set up your reading list for nn, if you prefer that newsreader. But how do you know which newsgroups to subscribe? Typing a lowercase l and then hitting enter will show you a list of all available newsgroups. Again, since there could be more than 2,000 newsgroups on your system, this might not be something you want to do. Fortunately, you can search for groups with particular words in their names, using the l command. Typing l mac followed by enter, will bring up a list of newsgroups with those letters in them (and as in nn, you will also see groups dealing with emacs and the like, in addition to groups related to Macintosh computers). Because of the vast amount of messages transmitted over Usenet, most systems carry messages for only a few days or weeks. So if there's a message you want to keep, you should either turn on your computer's screen capture or save it to a file which you can later download). To save a message as a file in rn, type s filename where filename is what you want to call the file. Hit enter. You'll be asked if you want to save it in "mailbox format." In most cases, you can answer with an n (which will strip off the header). The message will now be saved to a file in your News directory (which you can access by typing `cd News' and then hitting enter). Also, some newsgroups fill up particularly quickly - go away for a couple of days and you'll come back to find hundreds of articles! One way to deal with that is to mark them as "read" so that they no longer appear on your screen. In nn, hit a capital J; in rn, a small c. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/RN COMMANDS rn Commands =========== Different commands are available to you in rn depending on whether you are already in a newsgroup or reading a specific article. At any point, typing a lowercase `h' will bring up a list of available commands and some terse instructions for using them. Here are some of them: After you've just called up rn, or within a newsgroup: `c' Marks every article in a newsgroup as read (or "caught up") so that you don't have to see them again. The system will ask you if you are sure. Can be done either when asked if you want to read a particular newsgroup or once in the newsgroup. `g' Goes to a newsgroup, in this form: `g news.group' Use this both for going to groups to which you're already subscribed and subscribing to new groups. `h' Provides a list of available commands with terse instructions. `l' Gives a list of all available newsgroups. `p' Goes to the first previous subscribed newsgroup with un-read articles. `q' Quits, or exits, rn if you have not yet gone into a newsgroup. If you are in a newsgroup, it quits that one and brings you to the next subscribed newsgroup. Only within a newsgroup: `=' Gives a list of all available articles in the newsgroup. `m' Marks a specific article or series of articles as "un-read" again so that you can come back to them later. Typing `1700m' and hitting enter would mark just that article as un-read. Typing `1700-1800m' and hitting enter would mark all of those articles as un-read. `s file' Copies the current article to a file in your News directory, where "file" is the name of the file you want to save it to. You'll be asked if you want to use "mailbox" format when saving. If you answer by hitting your `N' key, most of the header will not be saved. `space' Brings up the next page of article listings. If already on the last page, displays the first article in the newsgroup. `u' Un-subscribe from the newsgroup. `/text/' Searches through the newsgroup for articles with a specific word or phrase in the "Subject:" line, from the current article to the end of the newsgroup. For example, `/EFF/' would bring you to the first article with "EFF" in the "Subject:" line. `?text?' The same as `/text/' except it searches in reverse order from the current article. Only within a specific article: `C' If you post an article and then decide it was a mistake, call it up on your host system and hit this. The message will soon begin disappearing on systems around the world. `F' Post a public response in the newsgroup to the current article. Includes a copy of her posting, which you can then edit down using your host system's text editor. `f' The same as above except it does not include a copy of the original message in yours. `m' Marks the current article as "un-read" so that you can come back to it later. You do not have to type the article number. `Control-N' Brings up the first response to the article. If there is no follow-up article, this returns you to the first unread article in the newsgroup). `Control-P' Goes to the message to which the current article is a reply. `n' Goes to the next unread article in the newsgroup. `N' Takes you to the next article in the newsgroup even if you've already read it. `q' Quits, or exits, the current article. Leaves you in the current newsgroup. `R' Reply, via e-mail only, to the author of the current article. Includes a copy of his message in yours. `r' The same as above, except it does not include a copy of his article. `s |mail user' Mails a copy of the article to somebody. For "user" substitute an e-mail address. Does not let you add comments to the message first, however. `space' Hitting the space bar shows the next page of the article, or, if at the end, goes to the next un-read article. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/ESSENTIAL NEWSGROUPS Essential Newsgroups ==================== With so much to choose from, everybody will likely have their own unique Usenet reading list. But there are a few newsgroups that are particularly of interest to newcomers. Among them: `news.announce.newusers' This group consists of a series of articles that explain various facets of Usenet. `news.newusers.questions' This is where you can ask questions (we'll see how in a bit) about how Usenet works. `news.announce.newsgroups' Look here for information about new or proposed newsgroups. `news.answers' Contains lists of "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) and their answers from many different newsgroups. Learn how to fight jet lag in the FAQ from `rec.travel.air'; look up answers to common questions about Microsoft Windows in an FAQ from `comp.os.ms-windows'; etc. `alt.internet.services' Looking for something in particular on the Internet? Ask here. `alt.infosystems.announce' People adding new information services to the Internet will post details here. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/SPEAKING UP Speaking up =========== "Threads" are an integral part of Usenet. When somebody posts a message, often somebody else will respond. Soon, a thread of conversation begins. Following these threads is relatively easy. In nn, related messages are grouped together. In rn, when you're done with a message, you can hit control-N to read the next related message, or followup. As you explore Usenet, it's probably a good idea to read discussions for a while before you jump in. This way, you can get a feel for the particular newsgroup - each has its own rhythms. Eventually, though, you'll want to speak up. There are two main ways to do this. You join an existing conversation, or you can start a whole new thread. If you want to join a discussion, you have to decide if you want to include portions of the message you are responding to in your message. The reason to do this is so people can see what you're responding to, just in case the original message has disappeared from their system (remember that most Usenet messages have a short life span on the average host system) or they can't find it. If you're using a Unix host system, joining an existing conversation is similar in both nn and rn: hit your F key when done with a given article in the thread. In rn, type a small f if you don't want to include portions of the message you're responding to; an uppercase F if you do. In nn, type a capital F. You'll then be asked if you want to include portions of the original message. And here's where you hit another Unix wall. When you hit your F key, your host system calls up its basic Unix text editor. If you're lucky, that'll be Pico, a very easy system. More likely, however, you'll get dumped into emacs (or possibly vi), which you've already met in the chapter on e-mail. The single most important emacs command is control-x control-c This means, depress your control key and hit x. Then depress the control key and hit c. Memorize this. In fact, it's so important, it bears repeating: control-x control-c These keystrokes are how you get out of emacs. If they work well, you'll be asked if you want to send, edit, abort or list the message you were working on. If they don't work well (say you accidentally hit some other weird key combination that means something special to emacs) and nothing seems to happen, or you just get more weird-looking emacs prompts on the bottom of your screen, try hitting control-g. This should stop whatever emacs was trying to do (you should see the word "quit" on the bottom of your screen), after which you can hit control-x control-c. But if this still doesn't work, remember that you can always disconnect and dial back in! If you have told your newsreader you do want to include portions of the original message in yours, it will automatically put the entire thing at the top of your message. Use the arrow keys to move down to the lines you want to delete and hit control-K, which will delete one line at a time. You can then write your message. Remember that you have to hit enter before your cursor gets to the end of the line, because emacs does not have word wrapping. When done, hit control-X control-C. You'll be asked the question about sending, editing, aborting, etc. Chose one. If you hit Y, your host system will start the process to sending your message across the Net. The nn and rn programs work differently when it comes to posting entirely new messages. In nn, type :post and hit enter in any newsgroup. You'll be asked which newsgroup to post a message to. Type in its name and hit enter. Then you'll be asked for "keywords." These are words you'd use to attract somebody scanning a newsgroup. Say you're selling your car. You might type the type of car here. Next comes a "summary" line, which is somewhat similar. Finally, you'll be asked for the message's "distribution." This is where you put how widely you want your message disseminated. Think about this one for a second. If you are selling your car, it makes little sense to send a message about it all over the world. But if you want to talk about the environment, it might make a lot of sense. Each host system has its own set of distribution classifications, but there's generally a local one (just for users of that system), one for the city, state or region it's in, another for the country (for example, usa), one for the continent (for Americans and Canadians, na) and finally, one for the entire world (usually: world). Which one to use? Generally, a couple of seconds' thought will help you decide. If you're selling your car, use your city or regional distribution - people in Australia won't much care and may even get annoyed. If you want to discuss presidential politics, using a USA distribution makes more sense. If you want to talk about events in the Middle East, sending your message to the entire world is perfectly acceptable. Then you can type your message. If you've composed your message offline (generally a good idea if you and emacs don't get along), you can upload it now. You may see a lot of weird looking characters as it uploads into emacs, but those will disappear when you hit control-X and then control-C. Alternately: "save" the message (for example, by hitting m in rn), log out, compose your message offline, log back on and upload your message into a file on your host system. Then call up Usenet, find the article you "saved." Start a reply, and you'll be asked if you want to include a prepared message. Type in the name of the file you just created and hit enter. In rn, you have to wait until you get to the end of a newsgroup to hit F, which will bring up a message-composing system. Alternately, at your host system's command line, you can type Pnews and hit enter. You'll be prompted somewhat similarly to the nn system, except that you'll be given a list of possible distributions. If you chose "world," you'll get this message: This program posts news to thousands of machines throughout the entire civilized world. Your message will cost the net hundreds if not thousands of dollars to send everywhere. Please be sure you know what you are doing. *Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this? [ny]* Don't worry - your message won't really cost the Net untold amounts, although, again, it's a good idea to think for a second whether your message really should go everywhere. If you want to respond to a given post through e-mail, instead of publicly, hit R in nn or r or R in rn. In rn, as with follow-up articles, the uppercase key includes the original message in yours. Most newsgroups are unmoderated, which means that every message you post will eventually wind up on every host system within the geographic region you specified that carries that newsgroup. Some newsgroups, however, are moderated, as you saw earlier with `comp.risks'. In these groups, messages are shipped to a single location where a moderator, acting much like a magazine editor, decides what actually gets posted. In some cases, groups are moderated like scholarly journals. In other cases, it's to try to cut down on the massive number of messages that might otherwise be posted. You'll notice that many articles in Usenet end with a fancy "signature" that often contains some witty saying, a clever drawing and, almost incidentally, the poster's name and e-mail address. You too can have your own "signature" automatically appended to everything you post. On your own computer, create a signature file. Try to keep it to four lines or less, lest you annoy others on the Net. Then, while connected to your host system, type cat >.signature and hit enter (note the period before the s). Upload your signature file into this using your communications software's ASCII upload protocol. When done, hit control-D, the Unix command for closing a file. Now, every time you post a message, this will be appended to it. There are a few caveats to posting. Usenet is no different from a Town Meeting or publication: you're not supposed to break the law, whether that's posting copyrighted material or engaging in illegal activities. It is also not a place to try to sell products (except in certain `biz.*' and explicit for-sale newsgroups). * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CROSS-POSTING Cross-posting ============= Sometimes, you'll have an issue you think should be discussed in more than one newsgroup. Rather than posting individual messages in each group, you can post the same message in several groups at once, through a process known as cross-posting. Say you want to start a discussion about the political ramifications of importing rare tropical fish from Brazil. People who read `rec.aquaria' might have something to say. So might people who read `alt.politics.animals' and `talk.politics.misc'. Cross-posting is easy. It also should mean that people on other systems who subscribe to several newsgroups will see your message only once, rather than several times - news-reading software can cancel out the other copies once a person has read the message. When you get ready to post a message (whether through Pnews for rn or the `:post' command in nn), you'll be asked in which newsgroups. Type the names of the various groups, separated by a comma, but no space, for example: rec.aquaria,alt.politics.animals,talk.politics.misc and hit enter. After answering the other questions (geographic distribution, etc.), the message will be posted in the various groups (unless one of the groups is moderated, in which case the message goes to the moderator, who decides whether to make it public). It's considered bad form to post to an excessive number of newsgroups, or inappropriate newsgroups. Probably, you don't really have to post something in 20 different places. And while you may think your particular political issue is vitally important to the fate of the world, chances are the readers of `rec.arts.comics' will not, or at least not important enough to impose on them. You'll get a lot of nasty e-mail messages demanding you restrict your messages to the "appropriate" newsgroups. -- ___________________ * _-_ \==============_=_/ ____.---'---`---.____ * \_ \ \----._________.----/ * \ \ / / `-_-' * * __,--`.`-'..'-_ /____ || * `--.____,-' ...to boldly go where no man has gone before! -- Disclaimer - These opiini^H^H damn! ^H^H ^Q ^[ .... :w :q :wq :wq! ^d X ^? exit X Q ^C ^? :quitbye CtrlAltDel ~~q :~q logout save/quit :!QUIT ^[zz ^[ZZZZZZ ^H man vi ^ ^L ^[c ^# ^E ^X ^I ^T ? help helpquit ^D ^d man help ^C ^c help exit ?Quit ?q CtrlShftDel"Hey, what does this button d..." -- .signature(s) * EEGTTI.GUIDE/FLAME WARS TO KILLFILES Usenet: from Flame Wars to Killfiles ************************************ FLAME AND BLATHER AND SPEW What's an asbestos suit? KILLFILES The Cure for what ails you. SOME USENET HINTS Things you shouldn't do. BRAIN-TUMOR BOY AND MODEM TAX Two very old evergreens. BIG SIG Not for ASCII artists, only. LOCAL ORDINANCE How to keep your feet on the floor. USENET HISTORY Short look in the back mirror. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG III Third part of the serial. USENET FYI Suggested further reading. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/FLAME AND BLATHER AND SPEW Flame, Blather and Spew ======================= Something about online communications seems to make some people particularly irritable. Perhaps it's the immediacy and semi-anonymity of it all. Whatever it is, there are whole classes of people you will soon think seem to exist to make you miserable. Rather than pausing and reflecting on a message as one might do with a letter received on paper, it's just so easy to hit your R key and tell somebody you don't really know what you really think of them. Even otherwise calm people sometimes find themselves turning into raving lunatics. When this happens, flames erupt. A flame is a particularly nasty, personal attack on somebody for something he or she has written. Periodically, an exchange of flames erupts into a flame war that begin to take up all the space in a given newsgroup (and sometimes several; flamers like cross-posting to let the world know how they feel). These can go on for weeks (sometimes they go on for years, in which case they become "holy wars," usually on such topics as the relative merits of Macintoshes and IBMs). Often, just when they're dying down, somebody new to the flame war reads all the messages, gets upset and issues an urgent plea that the flame war be taken to e-mail so everybody else can get back to whatever the newsgroup's business is. All this usually does, though, is start a brand new flame war, in which this poor person comes under attack for daring to question the First Amendment, prompting others to jump on the attackers for impugning this poor soul... You get the idea. Every so often, a discussion gets so out of hand that somebody predicts that either the government will catch on and shut the whole thing down or somebody will sue to close down the network, or maybe even the wrath of God will smote everybody involved. This brings what has become an inevitable rejoinder from others who realize that the network is, in fact, a resilient creature that will not die easily: *"Imminent death of Usenet predicted. Film at 11."* Flame wars can be tremendously fun to watch at first. They quickly grow boring, though. And wait until the first time you're attacked! *Flamers* are not the only Net.characters to watch out for. *Spewers* assume that whatever they are particularly concerned about either really is of universal interest or should be rammed down the throats of people who don't seem to care - as frequently as possible. You can usually tell a spewer's work by the number of articles he posts in a day on the same subject and the number of newsgroups to which he then sends these articles - both can reach well into double digits. Often, these messages relate to various ethnic conflicts around the world. Frequently, there is no conceivable connection between the issue at hand and most of the newsgroups to which he posts. No matter. If you try to point this out in a response to one of these messages, you will be inundated with angry messages that either accuse you of being an insensitive racist/American/whatever or ignore your point entirely to bring up several hundred more lines of commentary on the perfidy of whoever it is the spewer thinks is out to destroy his people. Closely related to these folks are the Holocaust revisionists, who periodically inundate certain groups (such as `soc.history') with long rants about how the Holocaust never really happened. Some people attempt to refute these people with facts, but others realize this only encourages them. *Blatherers* tend to be more benign. Their problem is that they just can't get to the point - they can wring three or four screenfuls out of a thought that others might sum up in a sentence or two. A related condition is excessive quoting. People afflicted with this will include an entire message in their reply rather than excising the portions not relevant to whatever point they're trying to make. The worst quote a long message and then add a single line: "I agree!" or some such, often followed by a monster .signature (see BIG SIG). There are a number of other Usenet denizens you'll soon come to recognize. Among them: Net.weenies These are the kind of people who enjoy Insulting others, the kind of people who post nasty messages in a sewing newsgroup just for the hell of it. Net.geeks People to whom the Net is Life, who worry about what happens when they graduate and they lose their free, 24-hour access. Net.gods The old-timers; the true titans of the Net and the keepers of its collective history. They were around when the Net consisted of a couple of computers tied together with baling wire. Lurkers Actually, you can't tell these people are there, but they are. They're the folks who read a newsgroup but never post or respond. Wizards People who know a particular Net-related topic inside and out. Unix wizards can perform amazing tricks with that operating system, for example. Net.saints Always willing to help a newcomer, eager to share their knowledge with those not born with an innate ability to navigate the Net, they are not as rare as you might think. Post a question about something and you'll often be surprised how many responses you get. The last group brings us back to the Net's oral tradition. With few written guides, people have traditionally learned their way around the Net by asking somebody, whether at the terminal next to them or on the Net itself. That tradition continues: if you have a question, ask. Today, one of the places you can look for help is in the `news.newusers.questions' newsgroup, which, as its name suggests, is a place to learn more about Usenet. But be careful what you post. Some of the Usenet wizards there get cranky sometimes when they have to answer the same question over and over again. Oh, they'll eventually answer your question, but not before they tell you should have asked your host system administrator first or looked at the postings in `news.announce.newusers'. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/KILLFILES Killfiles - The cure for all that ails you ========================================== As you keep reading Usenet, you are going to run across things or people that really drive you nuts - or that you just get tired of seeing. Killfiles are just the thing for you. When you start your newsreader, it checks to see if you have any lists of words, phrases or names you don't want to see. If you do, then it blanks out any messages containing those words. Such as cascades. As you saw earlier, when you post a reply to a message and include parts of that message, the original lines show up with a > in front of them. Well, what if you reply to a reply? Then you get a >> in front of the line. And if you reply to that reply? You get >>>. Keep this up, and soon you get a triangle of >'s building up in your message. There are people who like building up these triangles, or cascades. They'll "respond" to your message by deleting everything you've said, leaving only the "In message 123435, you said:" part and the last line of your message, to which they add a nonsensical retort. On and on they go until the triangle has reached the right end of the page. Then they try to expand the triangle by deleting one with each new line. Whoever gets to finish this mega-triangle wins. There is even a newsgroup just for such folks: alt.cascade. Unfortunately, cascaders would generally rather cascade in other newsgroups. Because it takes a lot of messages to build up a completed cascade, the targeted newsgroup soon fills up with these messages. Of course, if you complain, you'll be bombarded with messages about the First Amendment and artistic expression - or worse, with another cascade. The only thing you can do is ignore them, by setting up a killfile. There are also certain newsgroups where killfiles will come in handy because of the way the newsgroups are organized. For example, readers of `rec.arts.tv.soaps' always use an acronym in their "Subject:" line for the show they're writing about (AMC, for example, for "All My Children"). This way, people who only want to read about "One Life to Live" can blank out all the messages about "The Young and the Restless" and all the others (to keep people from accidentally screening out messages that might contain the letters "gh" in them, "General Hospital" viewers always use "gh:" in their subject lines). Both nn and rn let you create killfiles, but in different ways. To create a killfile in nn, go into the newsgroup with the offending messages and type a capital `K'. You'll see this at the bottom of your screen: AUTO (k)ill or (s)elect (CR => Kill subject 30 days) If you hit return, nn will ask you which article's subject you're tired of. Chose one and the article and any follow-ups will disappear, and you won't see them again for 30 days. If you type a lower-case `k' instead, you'll get this: AUTO KILL on (s)ubject or (n)ame (s) If you hit your `S' key or just enter, you'll see this: KILL Subject: (=/) Type in the name of the offending word or phrase and hit enter. You'll then be prompted: KILL in (g)roup 'eff.test' or in (a)ll groups (g) except that the name of the group you see will be the one you're actually in at the moment. Because cascaders and other annoying people often cross-post their messages to a wide range of newsgroups, you might consider hitting `a' instead of `g'. Next comes: Lifetime of entry in days (p)ermanent (30) The P key will screen out the offending articles forever, while hitting enter will do it for 30 days. You can also type in a number of days for the blocking. Creating killfiles in rn works differently - its default killfile generator only works for messages in specific groups, rather than globally for your entire newsgroup list. To create a global killfile, you'll have to write one yourself. To create a killfile in rn, go into the newsgroup where the offending messages are and type in its number so you get it on your screen. Type a capital `K'. From now on, any message with that subject line will disappear before you read the group. You should probably choose a reply, rather than the original message, so that you will get all of the followups (the original message won't have a "Re: " in its subject line). The next time you call up that newsgroup, rn will tell you it's killing messages. When it's done, hit the space bar to go back into reading mode. To create a "global" kill file that will automatically wipe out articles in all groups you read, start rn and type control-K. This will start your whatever text editor you have as your default on your host system and create a file (called `KILL', in your `News' subdirectory). On the first line, you'll type in the word, phrase or name you don't want to see, followed by commands that tell rn whether to search an entire message for the word or name and then what to do when it finds it. Each line must be in this form /pattern/modifier:j "Pattern" is the word or phrase you want rn to look for. It's case-insensitive: both "test" and "Test" will be knocked out. The modifier tells rn whether to limit its search to message headers (which can be useful when the object is to never see messages from a particular person): `a:' Looks through an entire message `h:' Looks just at the header You can leave out the modifier command, in which case rn will only look at the subject line of messages. The `j' at the end tells rn to screen out all articles with the offending word. So if you never want to see the word "foo" in any header, ever again, type this: /foo/h:j This is particularly useful for getting rid of articles from people who post in more than one newsgroup, such as cascaders, since an article's newsgroup name is always in the header. If you just want to block messages with a subject line about cascades, you could try: /foo/:j To kill anything that is a followup to any article, use this pattern: /Subject: *Re:/:j When done writing lines for each phrase to screen, exit the text editor as you normally would, and you'll be put back in rn. One word of caution: go easy on the global killfile. An extensive global killfile, or one that makes frequent use of the `a:' modifier can dramatically slow down rn, since the system will now have to look at every single word in every single message in all the newsgroups you want to read. If there's a particular person whose posts you never want to see again, first find his or address (which will be in the "from:" line of his postings) and then write a line in your killfile like this: /From: *name@ddress\.all/h:j * EEGTTI.GUIDE/SOME USENET HINTS Some Usenet hints ================= Case counts in Unix - most of the time. Many Unix commands, including many of those used for reading Usenet articles, are case sensitive. Hit a `d' when you meant a `D' and either nothing will happen, or something completely different from what you expected will happen. So watch that case! In nn, you can get help most of the time by typing a question mark (the exception is when you are writing your own message, because then you are inside the text-processing program). In rn, type a lower-case `h' at any prompt to get some online help. When you're searching for a particular newsgroup, whether through the l command in rn or with nngrep for nn, you sometimes may have to try several keywords. For example, there is a newsgroup dedicated to the GRATEFUL DEAD, but you'd never find it if you tried, say, `l grateful dead', because the name is `rec.music.gdead'. In general, try the smallest possible part of the word or discussion you're looking for, for example, use "trek" to find newsgroups about "Star Trek." If one word doesn't produce anything, try another. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/BRAIN-TUMOR BOY AND MODEM TAX The Brain-tumor Boy and the Modem Tax an the Chain Letter ========================================================= CRAIG SHERGOLD THE MODEM TAX THE CHAIN LETTER Net users sometimes like to think they are smarter or somehow better than everybody else. They're not. If they were, nobody on the Net would ever have heard of Craig Shergold, the Brain-Tumor Boy, or the evil FCC's plan to tax your modem. And you wouldn't keep seeing the same dumb chain letter. Alas, all of these are here to stay. Just when they seem to have died off, somebody posts a message about one or the other, starting a whole new round of flame wars on the subject. For the record, here are the stories then: * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CRAIG SHERGOLD Craig Shergold -------------- There once was a seven-year-old boy in England named Craig Shergold who was diagnosed with a seemingly incurable brain tumor. As he lay dying, he wished only to have friends send him postcards. The local newspapers got a hold of the tear-jerking story. Soon, the boy's wish had changed: he now wanted to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest postcard collection. Word spread around the world. People by the millions sent him postcards. Miraculously, the boy lived. An American billionaire even flew him to the U.S. for surgery to remove what remained of the tumor. And his wish succeeded beyond his wildest dreams - he made the Guinness Book of World Records. But with Craig now well into his teens, his dream has turned into a nightmare for the post office in the small town outside London where he lives. Like Craig himself, his request for cards just refuses to die, inundating the post office with millions of cards every year. Just when it seems like the flow is slowing, along comes somebody else who starts up a whole new slew of requests for people to send Craig post cards (or greeting cards or business cards - Craig letters have truly taken on a life of their own and begun to mutate). Even Dear Abby has asked people to stop! What does any of this have to do with the Net? The Craig letter seems to pop up on Usenet as often as it does on cork boards at major corporations. No matter how many times somebody like Gene Spafford posts periodic messages to ignore them or spend your money on something more sensible (a donation to the local Red Cross, say), somebody manages to post a letter asking readers to send cards to poor little Craig. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/THE MODEM TAX The Modem Tax ------------- In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission considered removing a tax break it had granted CompuServe and other large commercial computer networks for use of the national phone system. The FCC quickly reconsidered after alarmed users of bulletin-board systems bombarded it with complaints about this "modem tax." Now, every couple of months, somebody posts an "urgent" message warning Net users that the FCC is about to impose a modem tax. This is NOT true. The way you can tell if you're dealing with the hoax story is simple: it ALWAYS mentions an incident in which a talk-show host on KGO radio in San Francisco becomes outraged on the air when he reads a story about the tax in the New York Times. Another way to tell it's not true is that it never mentions a specific FCC docket number or closing date for comments. Save that letter to your congressman for something else. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/THE CHAIN LETTER The Chain Letter ---------------- Sooner or later, you're going to run into a message titled "Make Money Fast." It's your basic chain letter. The Usenet version is always about some guy named Dave Rhodes who was on the verge of death, or something, when he discovered a perfectly legal way to make tons of money - by posting a chain letter on computer systems around the world. Yeah, right. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/BIG SIG Big Sig ======= There are .sigs and there are .sigs. Many people put only bare-bones information in their .sig files - their names and e-mail addresses, perhaps their phone numbers. Others add a quotation they think is funny or profound and a disclaimer that their views are not those of their employer. Still others add some ASCII-art graphics. And then there are those who go totally berserk, posting huge creations with multiple quotes, hideous ASCII "barfics" and more e-mail addresses than anybody could humanly need. College freshmen unleashed on the Net seem to excel at these. You can see the best of the worst in the `alt.fan.warlord' newsgroup, which exists solely to critique .sigs that go too far, such as: ___________________________________________________________________________ |#########################################################################| |#| |#| |#| ***** * * ***** * * ***** ***** ***** |#| |#| * * * * ** ** * * * * |#| |#| * ****** *** * * * *** * ** ***** ***** |#| |#| * * * * * * * * * * * |#| |#| * * * ***** * * ***** ***** * * |#| |#| |#| |#| **** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** |#| |#| * ** * * * * * * * * |#| |#| **** * * ** ***** * * ** * * * |#| |#| * ** * * * ** * * * * * * * |#| |#| **** ***** ***** ** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** |#| |#| |#| |#| T-H-E M-E-G-A B-I-G .S-I-G C-O-M-P-A-N-Y |#| |#| ~-----------------------------~ |#| |#| "Annoying people with huge net.signatures for over 20 years..." |#| |#| |#| |#|---------------------------------------------------------------------|#| |#| "The difference between a net.idiot and a bucket of shit is that at |#| |#| least a bucket can be emptied. Let me further illustrate my point |#| |#| by comparing these charts here. (pulls out charts) Here we have a |#| |#| user who not only flames people who don't agree with his narrow- |#| |#| minded drivel, but he has this huge signature that takes up many |#| |#| pages with useless quotes. This also makes reading his frequented |#| |#| newsgroups a torture akin to having at 300 baud modem on a VAX. I |#| |#| might also add that his contribution to society rivals only toxic |#| |#| dump sites." |#| |#| -- Robert A. Dumpstik, Jr |#| |#| President of The Mega Big Sig Company |#| |#| September 13th, 1990 at 4:15pm |#| |#| During his speech at the "Net.abusers |#| |#| Society Luncheon" during the |#| |#| "1990 Net.idiots Annual Convention" |#| |#|_____________________________________________________________________|#| |#| |#| |#| Thomas Babbit, III: 5th Assistant to the Vice President of Sales |#| |#| __ |#| |#| ========== ______ Digital Widget Manufacturing Co. |#| |#| \\ / 1147 Complex Incorporated Drive |#| |#| )-======= Suite 215 |#| |#| Nostromo, VA 22550-1147 |#| |#| #NC-17 Enterpoop Ship :) Phone # 804-844-2525 |#| |#| ---------------- Fax # 804-411-1115 |#| |#| "Shut up, Wesley!" Online Service # 804-411-1100 |#| |#| -- Me at 300-2400, and now 9600 baud! |#| |#| PUNet: tbabb!digwig!nostromo |#| |#| Home address: InterNet: dvader@mperial.emp.com |#| |#| Thomas Babbit, III Prodigy: Still awaiting author- |#| |#| 104 Luzyer Way ization |#| |#| Sulaco, VA 22545 "Manufacturing educational widget |#| |#| Phone # 804-555-1524 design for over 3 years..." |#| |#|=====================================================================|#| |#| |#| |#| Introducing: |#| |#| ______ |#| |#| The |\ /| / |#| |#| | \/ | / |#| |#| | | / |#| |#| | | / |#| |#| | | ETELHED /_____ ONE |#| |#|'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'|#| |#| 50Megs Online! The k00l BBS for rad teens! Lots of games and many |#| |#| bases for kul topix! Call now and be validated to the Metelhed Zone|#| |#| -- 804-555-8500 -- |#| |#|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\V/////////////////////////////////////|#| |#| "This is the end, my friend..." -- The Doors |#| |#########################################################################| --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hit ``b'' to continue Hahahha... fooled u! * EEGTTI.GUIDE/LOCAL ORDINANCE The First Amendment as Local Ordinance ====================================== Usenet's international reach raises interesting legal questions that have yet to be fully resolved. Can a discussion or posting that is legal in one country be transmitted to a country where it is against the law? Does the posting even become illegal when it reaches the border? And what if that country is the only path to a third country where the message is legal as well? Several foreign colleges and other institutions have cut off feeds of certain newsgroups where Americans post what is, in the U.S., perfectly legal discussions of drugs or alternative sexual practices. Even in the U.S., some universities have discontinued certain newsgroups their administrators find offensive, again, usually in the `alt.*' hierarchy. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/USENET HISTORY Usenet History ============== In the late 1970s, Unix developers came up with a new feature: a system to allow Unix computers to exchange data over phone lines. In 1979, two graduate students at Duke University in North Carolina, TOM TRUSCOTT and JIM ELLIS, came up with the idea of using this system, known as UUCP (for Unix-to-Unix CoPy), to distribute information of interest to people in the Unix community. Along with STEVE BELLOVIN, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina and STEVE DANIEL, they wrote conferencing software and linked together computers at Duke and UNC. Word quickly spread and by 1981, a graduate student at Berkeley, MARK HORTON and a nearby high school student, MATT GLICKMAN, had released a new version that added more features and was able to handle larger volumes of postings - the original North Carolina program was meant for only a few articles in a newsgroup each day. Today, Usenet connects tens of thousands of sites around the world, from mainframes to Amigas. With more than 3,000 newsgroups and untold thousands of readers, it is perhaps the world's largest computer network. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/WHEN THINGS GO WRONG III When things go wrong: ===================== * When you start up rn, you get a "warning" that "bogus newsgroups" are present. Within a couple of minutes, you'll be asked whether to keep these or delete them. Delete them. Bogus newsgroups are newsgroups that your system administrator or somebody else has determined are no longer needed. * While in a newsgroup in rn, you get a message: "skipping unavailable article." This is usually an article that somebody posted and then decided to cancel. * You upload a text file to your Unix host system for use in a Usenet message or e-mail, and when you or your recipient reads the file, every line ends with a `^M'. This happens because Unix handles line endings differently than MS- DOS or Macintosh computers. Most Unix systems have programs to convert incoming files from other computers. To use it, upload your file and then, at your command line, type dos2unix filename filename or mac2unix filename filename depending on which kind of computer you are using and where filename is the name of the file you've just uploaded. A similar program can prepare text files for downloading to your computer, for example: unix2dos filename filename or unix2mac filename filename will ensure that a text file you are about to get will not come out looking odd on your computer. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/USENET FYI FYI: ==== Leanne Phillips periodically posts a list of frequently asked questions (and answers) about use of the rn killfile function in the `news.newusers.questions' and `news.answers' newsgroups on Usenet. Bill Wohler posts a guide to using the nn newsreader in the `news.answers' and `news.software' newsgroups. Look in the `news.announce.newusers' and `news.groups' newsgroups on Usenet for "A Guide to Social Newsgroups and Mailing Lists", which gives brief summaries of the various `soc.*' newsgroups. "Managing UUCP and Usenet" by Tim O'Reilly and Grace Todino (O'Reilly & Associates, 1992) is a good guide for setting up your own Usenet system. *"Somehow, that News fails to disquiet me."* -- Cyrano de Bergerac *"Welcome, to the watering hole, to the death of objectivity, and the killing fields of the wide boys, where are we now..."* -- Marillion, "The Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra)" Used in concerts as spoken intro by Fish to the 2nd part of "Misplaced Childhood" * EEGTTI.GUIDE/MAILING LISTS Mailing Lists and Bitnet ************************ INTERNET MAILING LISTS BITNET LISTS * EEGTTI.GUIDE/INTERNET MAILING LISTS Internet Mailing Lists ====================== Usenet is not the only forum on the Net. Scores of "mailing lists" represent another way to interact with other Net users. Unlike Usenet messages, which are stored in one central location on your host system's computer, mailing-list messages are delivered right to your e-mail box, unlike Usenet messages. You have to ask for permission to join a mailing list. Unlike Usenet, where your message is distributed to the world, on a mailing list, you send your messages to a central moderator, who either re-mails it to the other people on the list or uses it to compile a periodic "digest" mailed to subscribers. Given the number of newsgroups, why would anybody bother with a mailing list? Even on Usenet, there are some topics that just might not generate enough interest for a newsgroup; for example, the Queen list, which is all about the late FREDDIE MERCURY's band; or the Marillion & Fish list called "Freaks." And because a moderator decides who can participate, a mailing list can offer a degree of freedom to speak one's mind (or not worry about net.weenies) that is not necessarily possible on Usenet. Several groups offer anonymous postings - only the moderator knows the real names of people who contribute. Examples include 12Step, where people enrolled in such programs as Alcoholics Anonymous can discuss their experiences, and sappho, a list limited to gay and bisexual women. You can find mailing addresses and descriptions of these lists in the `news.announce.newusers' newsgroup with the subject of "Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists." Mailing lists now number in the hundreds, so this posting is divided into three parts. If you find a list to which you want to subscribe, send an e-mail message to list-request@ddress where "list" is the name of the mailing list and "address" is the moderator's e-mail address, asking to be added to the list. Include your full e-mail address just in case something happens to your message's header along the way, and ask, if you're accepted, for the address to mail messages to the list. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/BITNET LISTS Bitnet Lists ============ As if Usenet and mailing lists were not enough, there are Bitnet "discussion groups" or "lists." Bitnet is an international network linking colleges and universities, but it uses a different set of technical protocols for distributing information than the Internet or Usenet. It offers hundreds of discussion groups, comparable in scope to Usenet newsgroups. One of the major differences is the way messages are distributed. Bitnet messages are sent to your mailbox, just as with a mailing list. However, where mailing lists are often maintained by a person, all Bitnet discussion groups are automated - you subscribe to them through messages to a "listserver" computer. This is a kind of robot moderator that controls distribution of messages on the list. In many cases, it also maintains indexes and archives of past postings in a given discussion group, which can be handy if you want to get up to speed with a discussion or just search for some information related to it. Many Bitnet discussion groups are now "translated" into Usenet form and carried through Usenet in the `bit.listserv.*' hierarchy. In general, it's probably better to read messages through Usenet if you can. It saves some storage space on your host system's hard drives. If 50 people subscribe to the same Bitnet list, that means 50 copies of each message get stored on the system; whereas if 50 people read a Usenet message, that's still only one message that needs storage on the system. It can also save your sanity if the discussion group generates large numbers of messages. Think of opening your e-mailbox one day to find 200 messages in it - 199 of them from a discussion group and one of them a "real" e-mail message that's important to you. Subscribing and canceling subscriptions is done through an e-mail message to the listserver computer. For addressing, all listservers are known as "listserv" (yep) at some Bitnet address. This means you will have to add `.bitnet' to the end of the address, if it's in a form like this: `listserv@iamiu'. For example, if you have an interest in environmental issues, you might want to subscribe to the Econet discussion group. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to listserv@iamiu.bitnet Some Bitnet listservers are also connected to the Internet, so if you see a listserver address ending in `.edu', you can e-mail the listserver without adding `.bitnet' to the end. Always leave the "Subject:" line blank in a message to a listserver. Inside the message, you tell the listserver what you want, with a series of simple commands: `subscribe group *Your Name*' To subscribe to a list, where group is the list name and *Your Name* is your full name, for example: `subscribe econet Henry Fielding' `unsubscribe group *Your Name*' To discontinue a group, for example: `unsubscribe econet Henry Fielding' `list global' This sends you a list of all available Bitnet discussion groups. But be careful - the list is VERY long! `get refcard' Sends you a list of other commands you can use with a listserver, such as commands for retrieving past postings from a discussion group. Each of these commands goes on a separate line in your message (and you can use one or all of them). If you want to get a list of all Bitnet discussion groups, send e-mail to listserv@itnic.educom.edu Leave the "Subject:" line blank and use the list global command. When you subscribe to a Bitnet group, there are two important differences from Usenet. First, when you want to post a message for others to read in the discussion group, you send a message to the group name at its Bitnet address. Using Econet as an example, you would mail the message to: econet@iamiu.bitnet Note that this is different from the listserv address you used to subscribe to the group to begin with. Use the listserv address ONLY to subscribe to or unsubscribe from a discussion group. If you use the discussion-group address to try to subscribe or unsubscribe, your message will go out to every other subscriber, many of whom will think unkind thoughts, which they may share with you in an e-mail message). The second difference relates to sending an e-mail message to the author of a particular posting. Usenet newsreaders such as rn and nn let you do this with one key. But if you hit your `R' key to respond to a discussion-group message, your message will go to the listserver, and from there to everybody else on the list! This can prove embarrassing to you and annoying to others. To make sure your message goes just to the person who wrote the posting, take down his e-mail address from the posting and then compose a brand-new message. Remember, also, that if you see an e-mail address like , it's a Bitnet address. Two Bitnet lists will prove helpful for delving further into the network. NEW-LIST tells you the names of new discussion groups. To subscribe, send a message to : sub NEW-LIST Your Name INFONETS is the place to go when you have questions about Bitnet. It is also first rate for help on questions about all major computer networks and how to reach them. To subscribe, send e-mail to : sub INFONETS Your Name Both of these lists are also available on Usenet, the former as `bit.listserv.new-list'; the latter as `bit.listserv.infonets' (sometimes `bit.listserv.info-nets'). *"It wasn't long before the invention of the mailing-list, an ARPANET broadcasting technique in which an identical message could be sent automatically to large number of network subscribers. Interestingly, one of the first really big mailing-list was "SF-LOVERS", for Science Fiction fans. Disscussing science fiction on the network was not work-related and was frowned upon by many ARPANET computer administrators, but this didn't stop it from happening."* -- Bruce Sterling, F&SF Science Column #5 "Internet" * EEGTTI.GUIDE/TELNET Telnet (Mining the Net, part I) ******************************* MINING THE NET The Internet miner's guide. LIBRARY CATALOGS Playing the electronic librarian. SOME INTERESTING TELNET SITES Services to access by `telnet'. TELNET BULLETIN-BOARD SYSTEMS BBSs by `telnet'. PUTTING THE FINGER ON SOMEONE How to finger at somebody. FINDING SOMEONE ON THE NET How to find somebody's address? WHEN THINGS GO WRONG IV Another part of the serial. TELNET FYI Suggested further reading. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/MINING THE NET Mining the Net ============== Like any large community, cyberspace has its libraries, places you can go to look up information or take out a good book. Telnet is one of your keys to these libraries. *Telnet* is a program that lets you use the power of the Internet to connect you to databases, library catalogs, and other information resources around the world. Want to see what the weather's like in Vermont? Check on crop conditions in Azerbaijan? Get more information about somebody whose name you've seen online? Telnet lets you do this, and more. Alas, there's a big "but!" Unlike the phone system, Internet is not yet universal; not everybody can use all of its services. Almost all colleges and universities on the Internet provide telnet access. So do all of the for-fee public-access systems listed in READY - SET. But the Free-Net systems do not give you access to every telnet system. And if you are using a public-access UUCP or Usenet site, you will not have access to telnet. The main reason for this is cost. Connecting to the Internet can easily cost $1,000 or more for a leased, high-speed phone line. Some databases and file libraries can be queried by e-mail, however; we'll show you how to do that later on. In the meantime, the rest of this chapter assumes you are connected to a site with at least partial Internet access. Most telnet sites are fairly easy to use and have online help systems. Most also work best (and in some cases, only) with VT100 emulation. Let's dive right in and try one. At your host system's command line, type telnet access.usask.ca and hit enter. That's all you have to do to connect to a telnet site! In this case, you'll be connecting to a service known as Hytelnet, which is a database of computerized library catalogs and other databases available through telnet. You should see something like this: Trying 128.233.3.1 ... Connected to access.usask.ca. Escape character is '^]'. Ultrix UNIX (access.usask.ca) login: Every telnet site has two addresses - one composed of words that are easier for people to remember; the other a numerical address better suited for computers. The "escape character" is good to remember. When all else fails, hitting your control key and the `]' key at the same time will disconnect you and return you to your host system. At the login prompt, type hytelnet and hit enter. You'll see something like this: Welcome to HYTELNET version 6.2 ................... What is HYTELNET? . Up/Down arrows MOVE Library catalogs . Left/Right arrows SELECT Other resources . ? for HELP anytime Help files for catalogs . Catalog interfaces . m returns here Internet Glossary . q quits Telnet tips . Telnet/TN3270 escape keys . Key-stroke commands . ........................ HYTELNET 6.2 was written by Peter Scott, U of Saskatchewan Libraries, Saskatoon, Sask, Canada. 1992 Unix and VMS software by Earl Fogel, Computing Services, U of S 1992 The first choice, "" will be highlighted. Use your down and up arrows to move the cursor among the choices. Hit enter when you decide on one. You'll get another menu, which in turn will bring up text files telling you how to connect to sites and giving any special commands or instructions you might need. Hytelnet does have one quirk. To move back to where you started (for example, from a sub-menu to a main menu), hit the left-arrow key on your computer. Play with the system. You might want to turn on your computer's screen-capture, or at the very least, get out a pen and paper. You're bound to run across some interesting telnet services that you'll want to try - and you'll need their telnet "addresses." As you move around Hytelnet, it may seem as if you haven't left your host system - telnet can work that quickly. Occasionally, when network loads are heavy, however, you will notice a delay between the time you type a command or enter a request and the time the remote service responds. To disconnect from Hytelnet and return to your system, hit your q key and enter. Some telnet computers are set up so that you can only access them through a specific "port." In those cases, you'll always see a number after their name, for example: `india.colorado.edu 13'. It's important to include that number, because otherwise, you may not get in. In fact, try the above address. Type telnet india.colorado.edu 13 and hit enter. You should see something like this: Trying 128.138.140.44 ... Followed very quickly by this: telnet india.colorado.edu 13 Escape character is '^]'. Sun Jan 17 14:11:41 1994 Connection closed by foreign host. What we want is the middle line, which tells you the exact Mountain Standard Time, as determined by a government-run atomic clock in Boulder, Colo. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/LIBRARY CATALOGS Library Catalogs ================ Several hundred libraries around the world, from the Snohomish Public Library in Washington State to the Library of Congress are now available to you through telnet. You can use Hytelnet to find their names, telnet addresses and use instructions. Why would you want to browse a library you can't physically get to? Many libraries share books, so if yours doesn't have what you're looking for, you can tell the librarian where he or she can get it. Or if you live in an area where the libraries are not yet online, you can use telnet to do some basic bibliographic research before you head down to the local branch. There are several different database programs in use by online libraries. Harvard's is one of the easier ones to use, so let's try it. Telnet to `hollis.harvard.edu'. When you connect, you'll see: ***************** H A R V A R D U N I V E R S I T Y ***************** OFFICE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY *** *** *** *** VE *** RI *** *** *** *** HOLLIS (Harvard OnLine LIbrary System) ***** ***** **** TAS **** HUBS (Harvard University Basic Services) *** *** ***** IU (Information Utility) *** CMS (VM/CMS Timesharing Service) ** HOLLIS IS AVAILABLE WITHOUT ACCESS RESTRICTIONS ** Access to other applications is limited to individuals who have been granted specific permission by an authorized person. To select one of the applications above, type its name on the command line followed by your user ID, and press RETURN. ** HOLLIS DOES NOT REQUIRE A USERID ** EXAMPLES: HOLLIS (press RETURN) or HUBS userid (press RETURN) ===> Type hollis and hit enter. You'll see several screens flash by quickly until finally the system stops and you'll get this: WELCOME TO HOLLIS (Harvard OnLine Library Information System) To begin, type one of the 2-character database codes listed below: HU Union Catalog of the Harvard libraries OW Catalog of Older Widener materials LG Guide to Harvard Libraries and Computing Resources AI Expanded Academic Index (selective 1987-1988, full 1989- ) LR Legal Resource Index (1980- ) PA PAIS International (1985- ) To change databases from any place in HOLLIS, type CHOOSE followed by a 2-character database code, as in: CHOOSE HU For general help in using HOLLIS, type HELP. For HOLLIS news, type HELP NEWS. For HOLLIS hours of operation, type HELP HOURS. ALWAYS PRESS THE ENTER OR RETURN KEY AFTER TYPING YOUR COMMAND The first thing to notice is the name of the system: Hollis. Librarians around the world seem to be inordinately found of cutesy, anthropomorphized acronyms for their machines (not far from Harvard, the librarians at Brandeis University came up with Library On-Line User Information Service, or Louis; MIT has Barton). If you want to do some general browsing, probably the best bet on the Harvard system is to choose HU, which gets you access to their main holdings, including those of its medical libraries. Chose that, and you'll see this: THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNION CATALOG To begin a search, select a search option from the list below and type its code on the command line. Use either upper or lower case. AU Author search TI Title search SU Subject search ME Medical subject search KEYWORD Keyword search options CALL Call number search options OTHER Other search options For information on the contents of the Union Catalog, type HELP. To exit the Union Catalog, type QUIT. A search can be entered on the COMMAND line of any screen. ALWAYS PRESS THE ENTER OR RETURN KEY AFTER TYPING YOUR COMMAND. Say you want to see if Harvard has shed the starchy legacy of the Puritans, who founded the school. Why not see if they have "The Joy of Sex" somewhere in their stacks? Type TI Joy of Sex and hit enter. This comes up: HU: YOUR SEARCH RETRIEVED NO ITEMS. Enter new command or HELP. You typed: TI JOY OF SEX *************************************************************************** ALWAYS PRESS THE ENTER OR RETURN KEY AFTER TYPING YOUR COMMAND. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPTIONS: FIND START - search options HELP QUIT - exit database COMMAND? Oh, well! Do they have anything that mentions "sex" in the title? Try another TI search, but this time just: `TI sex'. You get: HU GUIDE: SUMMARY OF SEARCH RESULTS 2086 items retrieved by your search: FIND TI SEX --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 SEX 2 SEX A 823 SEXA 827 SEXBO 831 SEXCE 833 SEXDR 834 SEXE 879 SEXIE 928 SEXJA 929 SEXLE 930 SEXO 965 SEXPI 968 SEXT 1280 SEXUA 2084 SEXWA 2085 SEXY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPTIONS: INDEX (or I 5 etc) to see list of items HELP START - search options REDO - edit search QUIT - exit database COMMAND? If you want to get more information on the first line, type 1 and hit enter: HU INDEX: LIST OF ITEMS RETRIEVED 2086 items retrieved by your search: FIND TI SEX --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEX 1 geddes patrick sir 1854 1932/ 1914 bks SEX A Z 2 goldenson robert m/ 1987 bks SEX ABUSE HYSTERIA SALEM WITCH TRIALS REVISITED 3 gardner richard a/ 1991 bks SEX AETATES MUNDI ENGLISH AND IRISH 4 irish sex aetates mundi/ 1983 bks SEX AFTER SIXTY A GUIDE FOR MEN AND WOMEN FOR THEIR LATER YEARS 5 butler robert n 1927/ 1976 bks ------------------------------------------------------ (CONTINUES) -------- OPTIONS: DISPLAY 1 (or D 5 etc) to see a record HELP GUIDE MORE - next page START - search options REDO - edit search QUIT - exit database COMMAND? Most library systems give you a way to log off and return to your host system. On Hollis, hit escape followed by xx One particularly interesting system is the one run by the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, which maintains databases for libraries throughout Colorado, the West and even in Boston. Telnet `pac.carl.org' Follow the simple log-in instructions. When you get a menu, type `72' (even though that is not listed), which takes you to the Pikes Peak Library District, which serves the city of Colorado Springs. Several years ago, its librarians realized they could use their database program not just for books but for cataloging city records and community information, as well. Today, if you want to look up municipal ordinances or city records, you only have to type in the word you're looking for and you'll get back cites of the relevant laws or decisions. Carl will also connect you to the University of Hawaii library, which, like the one in Colorado Springs, has more than just bibliographic material online. One of its features is an online Hawaiian almanac that can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Hawaiians, including the number injured in boogie-board accidents each year (seven). * EEGTTI.GUIDE/SOME INTERESTING TELNET SITES Some Interesting Telnet Sites ============================= AGRICULTURE AIDS AMATEUR RADIO ANIMALS CALCULATORS CHEMISTRY CONGRESS CONVERSATION COPYRIGHT LAW CURRENT EVENTS DICTIONARY ENVIRONMENT GEOGRAPHY GOVERNMENT HEALTH HIRING AND COLLEGE PROGRAM INFORMATION HISTORY MEXICO QUOTATIONS RELIGION SKI REPORTS SPACE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS TELNET ADDRESSES THESAURUS TIME TRANSPORTATION WEATHER * EEGTTI.GUIDE/AGRICULTURE Agriculture ----------- PENPages, run by Pennsylvania State University's College of Agricultural Sciences, provides weekly world weather and crop reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These reports detail everything from the effect of the weather on palm trees in Malaysia to the state of the Ukrainian wheat crop. Reports from Pennsylvania country extension officers offer tips for improving farm life. One database lists Pennsylvania hay distributors by county - and rates the quality of their hay! The service lets you search for information two different ways. A menu system gives you quick access to reports that change frequently, such as the weekly crop/weather reports. An index system lets you search through several thousand online documents by keyword. At the main menu, you can either browse through an online manual or choose "PENPages," which puts you into the agriculture system. Telnet: `psupen.psu.edu' User name: Your 2-letter state code or WORLD California State University's Advanced Technology Information Network provides similar information as PENPages, only focusing on California crops. It also maintains lists of upcoming California trade shows and carries updates on biotechnology. Telnet: `caticsuf.cati.csufresno.edu' Log in: public You will then be asked to register and will be given a user name and password. Hit `a' at the main menu for agricultural information. Hit `d' to call up a menu that includes a biweekly biotechnology report. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/AIDS AIDS ---- The University of Miami maintains a database of AIDS health providers in southern Florida. Telnet: `callcat.med.miami.edu' Log in: library At the main menu, select `P' (for "AIDS providers") and you'll be able to search for doctors, hospitals and other providers that care for patients with AIDS. You can also search by speciality. See also under Conversation CONVERSATION and Health HEALTH. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/AMATEUR RADIO Amateur Radio ------------- The National Ham Radio Call-Sign Callbook lets you search for American amateur operators by callsign, city, last name or Zip code. A successful search will give you the ham's name, address, callsign, age, type of license and when he or she got it. Telnet: `callsign.cs.buffalo.edu 2000' or `ham.njit.edu 2000'. When you connect, you tell the system how you want to search and what you're looking for. For example, if you want to search for hams by city, you would type city city-name and hit enter (for example: `city Kankakee'). Other search choices are "call" (after which you would type a ham's call sign), "name," and "zip" (which you would follow with a Zip code). Be careful when searching for hams in a large city; there doesn't seem to be anyway to shut off the list once it starts except by using control-]. Otherwise, when done, type quit and hit enter to disconnect. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/ANIMALS Animals ------- See under Health HEALTH. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CALCULATORS Calculators ----------- Hewlett-Packard maintains a free service on which you can seek advice about their line of calculators. Telnet: `hpcvbbs.cv.hp.com' No log-in is needed. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CHEMISTRY Chemistry --------- The Electronic Periodic Table of the Elements draws the table on your screen and then lets you look up various properties of individual elements. Telnet: `camms2.caos.kun.nl' No password needed. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CONGRESS Congress -------- The Library of Congress Information Service lets you search current and past legislation (dating to 1982). Telnet: `locis.loc.gov' Password: none needed. When you connect, you'll get a main menu that lets you select from several databases, including the Library of Congress card catalog (with book entries dating to 1978) and a database of information on copyright laws. For the congressional database, select the number next to its entry and hit enter. You'll then be asked to choose which legislative year to search. After that, a menu similar to this will come up: ***C103- THE LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION FILE FOR THE 103RD CONGRESS, which was updated on 05/10/93 and contains 4,044 records, is now available for your search. CURRENCY: All information is NOT current through the above date, which is machine generated when ANY information is added to the file. Bill numbers, official titles, sponsors, and status (STEP) added within 48 hours. Indexing terms and digests added later, in some cases several weeks after the bill is added to the file. TO START RETRIEVE to find: EXAMPLES: SEARCH: member name --------------> retrieve rep gingrich retrieve sen kennedy bill number --------------> retrieve h.r. 1 subject keywords ---------> retrieve day care FOR HELP: Type the word HELP and press the ENTER key. READY FOR NEW COMMAND: * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CONVERSATION Conversation ------------ Communications Canada, a Canadian government agency is developing Conversational Hypertext Access Technology (CHAT), a system to provide easy database access to people with little or no computer experience, using what are known as hypertext links. Instead of cryptic computer commands, users type questions in English. Telnet: `debra.doc.ca' Log in: chat You choose one of the three databases now online, one on AIDS, and then ask questions in English. Ask the AIDS database, "When was AIDS first discovered?" and it answers: "The first case of AIDS in North America was diagnosed in 1979. Before that, it existed in Africa, probably beginning in the 1950's. AIDS was discovered in North America when a number of young men with a history of homosexuality developed a rare type of cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma." Sometimes, you do have to rephrase your question. For example, when asked "What is the link between AIDS and drug use?" the computer responds: "I know two things about drugs: the drugs that are used to treat people with AIDS, and the risks that drug users have in getting AIDS. Please ask about treatments or drug users." * EEGTTI.GUIDE/COPYRIGHT LAW Copyright Law ------------- See under Congress CONGRESS. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CURRENT EVENTS Current Events -------------- Every year, the CIA publishes a Fact Book that is essentially an almanac of all the world's countries and international organizations, including such information as major products, type of government and names of its leaders. It's available for searching through the University of Maryland Info Database. Telnet: `info.umd.edu' Chose a terminal type and hit enter (or just hit enter if you are using VT100). At the Gopher menu, choose the number next to "Educational Resources" and hit enter. Then do the same in the next menu for "International". One of your options will then be for "Factbook." Chose that one, and you can then search by country or agency. This site also maintains copies of the U.S. budget, documents related to the North American Free Trade Agreement and other government initiatives. At the "Educational Resources" menu, select the number next to "United States" and then the one next to "Government." The Access Legislative Information Service lets you browse through and look up bills before the Hawaiian legislature. Telnet: `access.uhcc.hawaii.edu' * EEGTTI.GUIDE/DICTIONARY Dictionary ---------- Rutgers University's Campus-Wide Information Service has an online dictionary, thesaurus and database of familiar quotations, as well as online copies of the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon and the U.S. Constitution. Telnet: `info.rutgers.edu' No log-in name is needed. At the main menu, type reference and hit enter. You'll see a menu like this: Online reference material Menu Commands... Command Purpose ------- ------- Dictionary Concise Oxford Dictionary, 8th Ed. Thesaurus Oxford Thesaurus Familiar Oxford Dictionary of Familiar Quotations (and Modern Q.) World CIA World Factbook US US government: Constitution, etc. Religion Bible, Book of Mormon, Koran For more information you may look under Libraries in the main menu Previous Return to previous menu Find Search for information Source Age and provider of information. Where to go for more. Quit Go back to main menu Online reference material Menu> To access any of them, type its name (dictionary, for example) and hit enter. You'll then be asked for the word to look for. If, instead, you type religion and hit enter, you'll be able to search for a word or passage from the Bible, the Koran or the Book of Mormon. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/ENVIRONMENT Environment ----------- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintains online databases of materials related to hazardous waste, the Clean Lakes program and cleanup efforts in New England. The agency plans to eventually include cleanup work in other regions, as well. The database is actually a computerized card catalog of EPA documents - you can look the documents up, but you'll still have to visit your regional EPA office to see them. Telnet: `epaibm.rtpnc.epa.gov' No password or user name is needed. At the main menu, type public and hit enter (there are other listed choices, but they are only for use by EPA employees). You'll then see a one-line menu. Type ols and hit enter, and you'll see something like this: NET-106 Logon to TSO04 in progress. DATABASES: N NATIONAL CATALOG CH CHEMICAL COLL. SYSTEM H HAZARDOUS WASTE 1 REGION I L CLEAN LAKES OTHER OPTIONS: ? HELP Q QUIT ENTER SELECTION --> Choose one and you'll get a menu that lets you search by document title, keyword, year of publication or corporation. After you enter the search word and hit enter, you'll be told how many matches were found. Hit 1 and then enter to see a list of the entries. To view the bibliographic record for a specific entry, hit V and enter and then type the number of the record. The University of Michigan maintains a database of newspaper and magazine articles related to the environment, with the emphasis on Michigan, dating back to 1980. Telnet: `hermes.merit.edu' Host: mirlyn Log in: meem Envirolink is a large database and conference system about the environment, based in Pittsburgh. Telnet: `envirolink.org' Log on: gopher See under Current Events CURRENT EVENTS and Congress CONGRESS. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/GEOGRAPHY Geography --------- The University of Michigan Geographic Name Server can provide basic information, such as population, latitude and longitude of U.S. cities and many mountains, rivers and other geographic features. Telnet: `martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000' No password or user name is needed. Type in the name of a city, a Zip code or a geographic feature and hit enter. The system doesn't like names with abbreviations in them (for example, Mt. McKinley), so spell them out (for example, Mount McKinley). By typing in a town's name or zip code, you can find out a community's county, Zip code and longitude and latitude. Not all geographic features are yet included in the database. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/GOVERNMENT Government ---------- The National Technical Information Service runs a system that not only provides huge numbers of federal documents of all sorts - from environmental factsheets to patent abstract - but serves as a gateway to dozens of other federal information systems. Telnet: `fedworld.gov' Log on as: new See also under Congress CONGRESS and Current Events CURRENT EVENTS. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/HEALTH Health ------ The U.S. Food and Drug Administration runs a database of health-information. Telnet: `fdabbs.fda.gov' Log in: bbs You'll then be asked for your name and a password you want to use in the future. After that, type topics and hit enter. You'll see this: TOPICS DESCRIPTION * NEWS News releases * ENFORCE Enforcement Report * APPROVALS Drug and Device Product Approvals list * CDRH Centers for Devices and Radiological Health Bulletins * BULLETIN Text from Drug Bulletin * AIDS Current Information on AIDS * CONSUMER FDA Consumer magazine index and selected articles * SUBJ-REG FDA Federal Register Summaries by Subject * ANSWERS Summaries of FDA information * INDEX Index of News Releases and Answers * DATE-REG FDA Federal Register Summaries by Publication Date * CONGRESS Text of Testimony at FDA Congressional Hearings * SPEECH Speeches Given by FDA Commissioner and Deputy * VETNEWS Veterinary Medicine News * MEETINGS Upcoming FDA Meetings * IMPORT Import Alerts * MANUAL On-Line User's Manual You'll be able to search these topics by key word or chronologically. It's probably a good idea, however, to capture a copy of the manual, first, because the way searching works on the system is a little odd. To capture a copy, type manual and hit enter. Then type scan and hit enter. You'll see this: FOR LIST OF AVAILABLE TOPICS TYPE TOPICS OR ENTER THE TOPIC YOU DESIRE ==> MANUAL BBSUSER 08-OCT-91 1 BBS User Manual At this point, turn on your own computer's screen-capture or logging function and hit your 1 key and then enter. The manual will begin to scroll on your screen, pausing every 24 lines. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/HIRING AND COLLEGE PROGRAM INFORMATION Hiring and College Program Information -------------------------------------- The Federal Information Exchange in Gaithersburg, MD, runs two systems at the same address: FEDIX and MOLIS. FEDIX offers research, scholarship and service information for several federal agencies, including NASA, the Department of Energy and the Federal Aviation Administration. Several more federal agencies provide minority hiring and scholarship information. MOLIS provides information about minority colleges, their programs and professors. Telnet: `fedix.fie.com' User name: fedix (for the federal hiring database) or "molis" (for the minority-college system). Both use easy menus to get you to information. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/HISTORY History ------- Stanford University maintains a database of documents related to Martin Luthor King. Telnet: `forsythetn.stanford.edu' Account: socrates At the main menu, type `select mlk' and hit enter. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/MEXICO Mexico ------ Jaguar. Run by the Universidad de las Americas, Mexico, this system has Spanish conferences, but English commands, as you can see from this menu of available conferences: List of Boards Name Title Jaguar BBS Anuncios y comentarios del servicio Jaguar BBS Debates Discusion de Temas Peliagudos Internet Preguntas y respuestas sobre el universo Internet CINEscope Comentarios sobre peliculas y videos Libros Todo lo referente a Libros de cualquier genero Politica Politica Inspiracion Un espacio para ti: expresate! BBSports La pagina deportiva del Jaguar Computadoras Computadoras Sound Board Musica English I wanna I wanna ... Play/Read/wriTe in ENGLISH ISC Ingenieria en Sistemas Computacionales Pensamientos Citas, pensamientos, refranes y dichos! Board Talk Discusiones y comentarios sobre los boards General Informacion general UDLA UDLA Cantina Para desahogar sus penas Guys Solo para mujeres Sexualidad Sexualidad Querido BBS Psicologia Chistes Chistes sanos sin malas palabras Heavy Chistes Chistes de todos colores, lenguaje peligroso Games Juegos de computadora Misterios Ovnis, Misterios y similares Otros Mundos Universos distintos a la realidad Full Contact FullContact... Ataque directo a otro usuario... Ask for an account! Send an e-mail message to with: 1) userid, 2) real name, 3) address, 4) phone number and 5) e-mail. Telnet: `jaguar.pue.udlap.mx' At the "userid:" prompt, type 'bbs' and hit enter. 24 hours a day. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/QUOTATIONS Quotations ---------- See under Dictionary DICTIONARY. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/RELIGION Religion -------- See under Dictionary DICTIONARY. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/SKI REPORTS Ski Reports ----------- See under Weather WEATHER. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/SPACE Space ----- NASA Spacelink in Huntsville, Ala., provides all sorts of reports and data about NASA, its history and its various missions, past and present. You'll find detailed reports on every single probe, satellite and mission NASA has ever launched along with daily updates and lesson plans for teachers. The system maintains a large file library of GIF-format space graphics, but you can't download these through telnet. If you want them, you have to dial the system directly, at (205) 895-0028. Telnet: `spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov' When you connect, you'll be given an overview of the system and asked to register and choose a password. The NED-NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database lists data on more than 100,000 galaxies, quasars and other objects outside the Milky Way. Telnet: `ipac.caltech.edu' Log in: ned You can learn more than you ever wanted to about quasars, novae and related objects on a system run by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass. Telnet: `cfa204.harvard.edu' Log in: einline The physics department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst runs a bulletin-board system that provides extensive conferences and document libraries related to space. Telnet: `spacemet.phast.umass.edu' Log on with your name and a password. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/SUPREME COURT DECISIONS Supreme Court Decisions ----------------------- The University of Maryland Info Database maintains U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1991 on. Telnet: `info.umd.edu' User name: info Chose a terminal type and hit enter (or just hit enter if you are using VT100). At the main menu, choose the number next to "Educational Resources" and hit enter. One of your options will then be for "United States." Select that number and then, at the next menu, choose the one next to "Supreme Court." * EEGTTI.GUIDE/TELNET ADDRESSES Telnet Addresses ---------------- Hytelnet, at the University of Saskatchewan, is an online guide to hundreds of telnet sites around the world. Telnet: `access.usask.ca' Log in: hytelnet * EEGTTI.GUIDE/THESAURUS Thesaurus --------- See under Dictionary DICTIONARY. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/TIME Time ---- To find out the exact time: Telnet: `india.colorado.edu 13' You'll see something like this: Escape character is '^]'. Sun Apr 5 14:11:41 1992 Connection closed by foreign host. The middle line tells you the date and exact Mountain Standard Time, as determined by a federal atomic clock. If you want a more philosophical approach to your time, the U.S. Naval Observatory's Automated Data Service has copies of detailed papers on such things as "the nature of time." It also carries information on how to buy a clock, along with arcana on such things as "leap seconds." UNFORTUNATELY THE UNRESTRICTED TELNET "ADS" ACCOUNT THAT HAS BEEN INTRODUCED AT THIS PLACE IN PREVIOUS RELEASE OF THIS GUIDE HAS BEEN RESTRICTED FOR PRIVILEDGED USERS. BUT AN ALTERNATIVE WAY HAS ALSO BEEN SET UP. NOW, ONE HAS TO USE AN E-MAIL QUERY TO GET THE INFORMATION, SO THE FOLLOWING INFO WOULD HAVE BETTER GONE INTO ANOTHER (SEE ADVANCED E-MAIL) SECTION, BUT FOR THE "SAKE OF HISTORY..." There is a new experimental mail server called "adsmail" on tycho. It will send by return mail any of the ADS data files. You can obtain a list of available files by sending e-mail to with subject: `anything'. For example: mail -s anything adsmail@ycho.usno.navy.mil To obtain any pariticular ADS file, just send e-mail with the name of the command associated withe the file: mail -s gpssy adsmail@ycho.usno.navy.mil and in 10 minutes or less you will receive the requested file. This service extends ADS access to people who normally cannot telnet to tycho. Note that no password is required for e-mail service. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/TRANSPORTATION Transportation -------------- The Subway Navigator in Paris can help you learn how long it will take to get from point A to point B on subway systems around the world. Telnet: `metro.jussieu.fr 10000' No log-in is needed. When you connect, you'll be asked to choose a language in which to search (you can choose English or French) and then a city to search. You'll be asked for the station you plan to leave from and the station you want to get to. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/WEATHER Weather ------- The University of Michigan's Department of Atmospheric, Oceanographic and Space Sciences supplies weather forecasts for U.S. and foreign cities, along with skiing and hurricane reports. Telnet: `madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000' (note the 3000) No log-in name is needed. See WEATHER (FTP) in the FTP list for information on downloading satellite and radar weather images. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/TELNET BULLETIN-BOARD SYSTEMS Telnet Bulletin-Board Systems ============================= CIMARRON CLEVELAND FREE-NET DIALOG DUBBS ISCA BBS WHOLE EARTH LECTRONIC LINK (WELL) YOUNGSTOWN FREE-NET You might think that Usenet, with its hundreds of newsgroups, would be enough to satisfy the most dedicated of online communicators. But there are a number of "bulletin-board" and other systems that provide even more conferences or other services, many not found directly on the Net. Some are free; others charge for access. They include: * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CIMARRON Cimarron -------- Run by the Instituto Technical in Monterey, Mexico, this system has Spanish conferences, but English commands, as you can see from this menu of available conferences: List of Boards Name Title General Board general Dudas Dudas de Cimarron Comentarios Comentarios al SYSOP Musica Para los afinados........ Libros El sano arte de leer..... Sistemas Sistemas Operativos en General. Virus Su peor enemigo...... Cultural Espacio Cultural de Cimarron NeXT El Mundo de NeXT Ciencias Solo apto para Nerds. Inspiracion Para los Romanticos e Inspirados. Deportes Discusiones Deportivas To be able to write messages and gain access to files, you have to leave a note to SYSOP with your name, address, occupation and phone number. To do this, at any prompt, hit your M key and then enter, which will bring up the mail system. Hitting H brings up a list of commands and how to use them. Telnet: `bugs.mty.itesm.mx' (8 p.m. to 10 a.m., Eastern time, only). At the "login:" prompt, type `bbs' and hit enter. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CLEVELAND FREE-NET Cleveland Free-Net ------------------ The first of a series of Free-nets, this represents an ambitious attempt to bring the Net to the public. Originally an in-hospital help network, it is now sponsored by Case Western Reserve University, the city of Cleveland, the state of Ohio and IBM. It uses simple menus, similar to those found on CompuServe, but organized like a city: <<< CLEVELAND FREE-NET DIRECTORY >>> 1 The Administration Building 2 The Post Office 3 Public Square 4 The Courthouse & Government Center 5 The Arts Building 6 Science and Technology Center 7 The Medical Arts Building 8 The Schoolhouse (Academy One) 9 The Community Center & Recreation Area 10 The Business and Industrial Park 11 The Library 12 University Circle 13 The Teleport 14 The Communications Center 15 NPTN/USA TODAY HEADLINE NEWS ------------------------------------------------ h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help Your Choice ==> The system has a vast and growing collection of public documents, from copies of U.S. and Ohio Supreme Court decisions to the Magna Carta and the U.S. Constitution. It links residents to various government agencies and has daily stories from USA Today. Beyond Usenet (found in the Teleport area), it has a large collection of local conferences on everything from pets to politics. And yes, it's free! Telnet: `freenet-in-a.cwru.edu', `freenet-in-b.cwru.edu' or `freenet-in-c.cwru.edu' When you connect to Free-Net, you can look around the system. However, if you want to be able to post messages in its conferences or use e-mail, you will have to apply in writing for an account. Information on this is available when you connect. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/DIALOG Dialog ------ This commercial service offers access to a large variety of databases - for a fairly sizable fee. You need a Dialog account to use the system through the Net. Telnet: `dialog.com' * EEGTTI.GUIDE/DUBBS DUBBS ----- This is a bulletin-board system in Delft in the Netherlands. The conferences and files are mostly in Dutch, but the help files and the system commands themselves are in English. Telnet: `tudrwa.tudelft.nl' * EEGTTI.GUIDE/ISCA BBS ISCA BBS -------- Run by the Iowa Student Computer Association, it has more than 100 conferences, including several in foreign languages. After you register, hit `K' for a list of available conferences and then `J' to join a particular conference (you have to type in the name of the conference, not the number next to it). Hitting H brings up information about commands. Telnet `bbs.isca.uiowa.edu' At the "login:" prompt, type `bbs' and hit enter. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/WHOLE EARTH LECTRONIC LINK (WELL) Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL) ---------------------------------- Itself a major Net access point in the San Francisco area, the WELL is also a unique online community that maintains dozens of conferences on every imaginable topic (seven devoted just to the Grateful Dead). WELL users are intelligent and opinionated; discussions are often fast and furious. The Electronic Frontier Foundation was basically started in a series of online conversations on the WELL. Although it has a serious San Francisco flavor, it has users from across the country (enough to support both East Coast and Midwest conferences). For its conferences, the WELL uses PicoSpan software, which presents messages differently than rn or nn. When you enter a conference, you can call up a list of "topics." Enter a topic number, and all of the messages start scrolling down the screen, sort of like the music on an old-fashioned player-piano. There is some online help, but new users are sent a written manual. See ELECTRONIC MAIL for information on access charges (one advantage to connecting to the WELL through telnet is that unless you live in the Bay Area, it is likely to be much cheaper than other access methods). Telnet: `well.sf.ca.us' See THE WELL if you're interested in an intimate look on The WELL. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/YOUNGSTOWN FREE-NET Youngstown Free-Net ------------------- The people who created Cleveland Free-Net sell their software for $1 to anybody willing to set up a similar system. A number of cities now have their own Free-Nets, including Youngstown, Ohio. Telnet: `yfn.ysu.edu' At the "login:" prompt, type `visitor' and hit enter. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/PUTTING THE FINGER ON SOMEONE Putting the Finger on Someone ============================= Finger is a handy little program which lets you find out more about people on the Net - and lets you tell others on the Net more about yourself. Finger uses the same concept as telnet or ftp. But it works with only one file, called .plan (yes, with a period in front). This is a text file an Internet user creates with a text editor in his home directory. You can put your phone number in there, tell a little bit about yourself, or write almost anything at all. To finger somebody else's `.plan' file, type this at the command line: finger email-address where email-address is the person's e-mail address. You'll get back a display that shows the last time the person was online, whether they've gotten any new mail since that time and what, if anything, is in their `.plan' file. Some people and institutions have come up with creative uses for these `.plan' files, letting you do everything from checking the weather in Massachusetts to getting the latest baseball standings. Try fingering these e-mail addresses: See how many cans of each type of soda are left in a particular soda machine in the computer-science department of Carnegie-Mellon University. Latest National Weather Service weather forecasts for regions in Massachusetts. Locations and magnitudes of recent earthquakes around the world. Current major-league baseball standings and results of the previous day's games. The day's events at NASA. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/FINDING SOMEONE ON THE NET Finding Someone on the Net ========================== So you have a friend and you want to find out if he has an Internet account to which you can write? The quickest way may be to just pick up the phone, call him and ask him. Although there are a variety of "white pages" services available on the Internet, they are far from complete - college students, users of commercial services such as CompuServe and many Internet public-access sites, and many others simply won't be listed. Major e-mail providers are working on a universal directory system, but that could be some time away. In the meantime, a couple of "white pages" services might give you some leads, or even just entertain you as you look up famous people or long-lost acquaintances. The whois directory provides names, e-mail and postal mail address and often phone numbers for people listed in it. To use it, telnet to `internic.net'. No log-on is needed. The quickest way to use it is to type whois name at the prompt, where "name" is the last name or organization name you're looking for. Another service worth trying, especially since it seems to give beginners fewer problems, is the Knowbot Information Service reachable by telnet at `info.cnri.reston.va. us 185'. Again, no log-on is needed. This service actually searches through a variety of other "white pages" systems, including the user directory for MCIMail. To look for somebody, type query name `name' is the last name of the person you're looking for. You can get details of other commands by hitting a question mark at the prompt. You can also use the knowbot system by e-mail. Either send a message to or try Leave the "subject:" line blank. As your message, write `query name' for the simplest type of search. If you want details on more complex searches, add another line: `man' Apart from the previously mentioned methods, there exists a periodical posting on Usenet entitled "How to find people's E-mail addresses" that is edited and maintained by JONATHAN I. KAMENS. It lists several alternatives in order of success probability, to enable everybody to find everyone. Just get `/pub/usenet/news.answers/finding-addresses' from `rtfm.mit.edu'. See FTP to find out how to access this server. It's cross-posted each month to `comp.mail.misc', `soc.net-people', `news.newusers.questions', and the respective `*.answers' newsgroups. The most interesting way described therein is a way to search via the Usenet name server. This is a system at MIT that keeps track of the e-mail addresses of everybody who posts a Usenet message that appears at MIT. It works by e-mail. Send a message to . You can leave the `Subject:' line blank. As your message, write `send usenet-addresses/lastname' where "lastname" is the last name of the person you're looking for. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/WHEN THINGS GO WRONG IV When things go wrong: ===================== * Nothing happens when you try to connect to a telnet site. The site could be down for maintenance or problems. * You get a "host unavailable" message. The telnet site is down for some reason. Try again later. * You get a "host unknown" message. Check your spelling of the site name. * You type in a password on a telnet site that requires one, and you get a "login incorrect" message. Try logging in again. If you get the message again, hit your control and `]' keys at the same time to disengage and return to your host system. * You can't seem to disconnect from a telnet site. Use control-] to disengage and return to your host system. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/TELNET FYI FYI: ==== The Usenet newsgroups `alt.internet.services' and `alt.bbs.internet' can provide pointers to new telnet systems. Scott Yanoff periodically posts his "Updated Internet Services List" in the former; The `alt.bbs.internet' newsgroup is also where you'll find Aydin Edguer's compendium of FAQs related to Internet bulletin-board systems. Peter Scott, who maintains the Hytelnet database, runs a mailing list about new telnet services and changes in existing ones. To get on the list, send him a note at . Gleason Sackman is a veteran net.surfer who maintains another mailing list dedicated to new Internet services and news about the new uses to which the Net is being put. To subscribe, send a message to . Leave the "Subject:" line blank, and as your message, write: `Sub net-happenings Your Name'. *"Good literature is about Love and War. Trash fiction is about Sex and Violence."* -- Author Unknown *"The world's as ugly as sin, and almost as delightful."* -- Frederick Locker-Lampson * EEGTTI.GUIDE/FTP FTP (Mining the Net, part II) ***************************** TONS OF FILES Just use it! YOUR FRIEND ARCHIE Helps you to find what is where. GETTING THE FILES And then you proceed as follows. ODD LETTERS Decoding File Endings. THE KEYBOARD CABAL A word on FTP administrators. SOME INTERESTING FTP SITES List of `ftpable' stuff from A-Z. NCFTP Better than ftp. PROJECT GUTENBERG The online library. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG V Another part of the series. FTP FYI Suggested further reading. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/TONS OF FILES Tons of Files ============= Hundreds of systems connected to Internet have file libraries, or archives, accessible to the public. Much of this consists of free or low- cost shareware programs for virtually every make of computer. If you want a different communications program for your IBM, or feel like playing a new game on your Amiga, you'll be able to get it from the Net. But there are also libraries of documents as well. If you want a copy of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, you can find it on the Net. Copies of historical documents, from the Magna Carta to the Declaration of Independence are also yours for the asking, along with a translation of a telegram from Lenin ordering the execution of rebellious peasants. You can also find song lyrics, poems, even summaries of every "Lost in Space" episode ever made. You can also find extensive files detailing everything you could ever possibly want to know about the Net itself. First you'll see how to get these files; then we'll show you where they're kept. The commonest way to get these files is through the file transfer protocol, or ftp. As with telnet, not all systems that connect to the Net have access to ftp. However, if your system is one of these, you'll be able to get many of these files through e-mail (see ADVANCED E-MAIL). Starting ftp is as easy as using telnet. At your host system's command line, type ftp site.name and hit enter, where "site.name" is the address of the ftp site you want to reach. One major difference between telnet and ftp is that it is considered bad form to connect to most ftp sites during their business hours (generally 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time). This is because transferring files across the network takes up considerable computing power, which during the day is likely to be needed for whatever the computer's main function is. There are some ftp sites that are accessible to the public 24 hours a day, though. You'll find these noted in the list of ftp sites (see SOME INTERESTING FTP SITES). How do you find a file you want, though? * EEGTTI.GUIDE/YOUR FRIEND ARCHIE Your Friend Archie ================== Until a few years ago, this could be quite the pain - there was no master directory to tell you where a given file might be stored on the Net. Who'd want to slog through hundreds of file libraries looking for something? ALAN EMTAGE, BILL HEELAN and PETER DEUTSCH, students at McGill University in Montreal, asked the same question. Unlike the weather, though, they did something about it. They created a database system, called archie, that would periodically call up file libraries and basically find out what they had available. In turn, anybody could dial into archie, type in a file name, and see where on the Net it was available. Archie currently catalogs close to 1,000 file libraries around the world. Today, there are three ways to ask archie to find a file for you: through telnet, a "client" Archie program on your own host system or e-mail. All three methods let you type in a full or partial file name and will tell you where on the Net it's stored. If you have access to telnet, you can telnet to one of the following addresses: `archie.mcgill.ca'; `archie.sura.net'; `archie.unl.edu'; `archie.ans.net'; or `archie.rutgers.edu'. If asked for a log-in name, type archie and hit enter. When you connect, the key command is prog, which you use in this form: prog filename followed by enter, where "filename" is the program or file you're looking for. If you're unsure of a file's complete name, try typing in part of the name. For example, `PKZIP' will work as well as `PKZIP204.EXE'. The system does not support DOS or Unix wildcards. If you ask archie to look for `PKZIP*', it will tell you it couldn't find anything by that name. One thing to keep in mind is that a file is not necessarily the same as a program - it could also be a document. This means you can use archie to search for, say, everything online related to the Beatles, as well as computer programs and graphics files. A number of Net sites now have their own archie programs that take your request for information and pass it onto the nearest archie database - ask your system administrator if s/he has it online. These "client" programs seem to provide information a lot more quickly than the actual archie itself! If it is available, at your host system's command line, type archie -s filename where filename is the program or document you're looking for, and hit enter. The `-s' tells the program to ignore case in a file name and lets you search for partial matches. You might actually want to type it this way: archie -s filename |more which will stop the output every screen (handy if there are many sites that carry the file you want). Or you could open a file on your computer with your text-logging function. The third way, for people without access to either of the above, is e-mail. Send a message to . You can leave the subject line blank. Inside the message, type prog filename where filename is the file you're looking for. You can ask archie to look up several programs by putting their names on the same "prog" line, like this: prog file1 file2 file3 Within a few hours, archie will write back with a list of the appropriate sites. In all three cases, if there is a system that has your file, you'll get a response that looks something like this: Host sumex-aim.stanford.edu Location: /info-mac/comm FILE -rw-r--r-- 258256 Feb 15 17:07 zterm-09.hqx Location: /info-mac/misc FILE -rw-r--r-- 7490 Sep 12 1991 zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx Chances are, you will get a number of similar looking responses for each program. The "Host" is the system that has the file. The "Location" tells you which directory to look in when you connect to that system. Ignore the funny-looking collections of r's and hyphens for now. After them come the size of the file or directory listing in bytes, the date it was uploaded, and the name of the file. Now you want to get that file. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/GETTING THE FILES Getting the Files ================= Assuming your host site does have ftp, you connect in a similar fashion to telnet, by typing: ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu (or the name of whichever site you want to reach). Hit enter. If the connection works, you'll see this: Connected to sumex-aim.stanford.edu. 220 SUMEX-AIM FTP server (Version 4.196 Mon Jan 13 13:52:23 PST 1992) ready. Name (sumex-aim.stanford.edu:adamg): If nothing happens after a minute or so, hit control-C to return to your host system's command line. But if it has worked, type anonymous and hit enter. You'll see a lot of references on the Net to "anonymous ftp." This is how it gets its name - you don't really have to tell the library site what your name is. The reason is that these sites are set up so that anybody can gain access to certain public files, while letting people with accounts on the sites to log on and access their own personal files. Next, you'll be asked for your password. As a password, use your e-mail address. This will then come up: 230 Guest connection accepted. Restrictions apply. Remote system type is UNIX. Using binary mode to transfer files. ftp> Now type ls -l and hit enter. You'll see something awful like this: 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls. total 2636 -rw-rw-r-- 1 0 31 4444 Mar 3 11:34 README.POSTING dr-xr-xr-x 2 0 1 512 Nov 8 11:06 bin -rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 11030960 Apr 2 14:06 core dr--r--r-- 2 0 1 512 Nov 8 11:06 etc drwxrwsr-x 5 13 22 512 Mar 19 12:27 imap drwxr-xr-x 25 1016 31 512 Apr 4 02:15 info-mac drwxr-x--- 2 0 31 1024 Apr 5 15:38 pid drwxrwsr-x 13 0 20 1024 Mar 27 14:03 pub drwxr-xr-x 2 1077 20 512 Feb 6 1989 tmycin 226 Transfer complete. ftp> Ack! Let's decipher this Rosetta Stone. First, ls is the ftp command for displaying a directory (you can actually use dir as well, but if you're used to MS-DOS, this could lead to confusion when you try to use dir on your host system, where it won't work, so it's probably better to just remember to always use ls for a directory while online). The very first letter on each line tells you whether the listing is for a directory or a file. If the first letter is a `d', or an `l', it's a directory. Otherwise, it's a file. The rest of that weird set of letters and dashes consist of "flags" that tell the ftp site who can look at, change or delete the file. You can safely ignore it. You can also ignore the rest of the line until you get to the second number, the one just before the date. This tells you how large the file is, in bytes. If the line is for a directory, the number gives you a rough indication of how many items are in that directory - a directory listing of 512 bytes is relatively small. Next comes the date the file or directory was uploaded, followed (finally!) by its name. Notice the `README.POSTING' file up at the top of the directory. Most archive sites have a "read me" document, which usually contains some basic information about the site, its resources and how to use them. Let's get this file, both for the information in it and to see how to transfer files from there to here. At the `ftp>' prompt, type get README.POSTING and hit enter. Note that ftp sites are no different from Unix sites in general: they are case-sensitive. You'll see something like this: 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for README.POSTING (4444 bytes). 226 Transfer complete. 4444 bytes received in 1.177 seconds (3.8 Kbytes/s) And that's it! The file is now located in your home directory on your host system, from which you can now download it to your own computer. The simple `get' command is the key to transferring a file from an archive site to your host system. If you want to download more than one file at a time (say a series of documents), use `mget' instead of `get'; for example: mget *.txt This will transfer copies of every file ending with `.txt' in the given directory. Before each file is copied, you'll be asked if you're sure you want it. Despite this, mget could still save you considerable time - you won't have to type in every single file name. If you want to save even more time, and are sure you really want *all* of the given files, type `prompt' before you do the mget command. This will turn off the prompt, and all the files will be zapped right into your home directory. There is one other command to keep in mind. If you want to get a copy of a computer program, type bin and hit enter. This tells the ftp site and your host site that you are sending a binary file, i.e., a program. Most ftp sites now use binary format as a default, but it's a good idea to do this in case you've connected to one of the few that doesn't. To switch to a directory, type cd directory-name (substituting the name of the directory you want to access) and hit enter. Type ls and hit enter to get the file listing for that particular directory. To move back up the directory tree, type cd .. (note the space between the d and the first period) and hit enter. Or you could type cdup and hit enter. Keep doing this until you get to the directory of interest. Alternately, if you already know the directory path of the file you want (from our friend archie), after you connect, you could simply type get directory/subdirectory/filename On many sites, files meant for public consumption are in the pub or public directory; sometimes you'll see an info directory. Almost every site has a bin directory, which at first glance sounds like a bin in which interesting stuff might be dumped. But it actually stands for "binary" and is simply a place for the system administrator to store the programs that run the ftp system. Lost+found is another directory that looks interesting but actually never has anything of public interest in them. Before, you saw how to use archie. From our example, you can see that some system administrators go a little berserk when naming files. Fortunately, there's a way for you to rename the file as it's being transferred. Using our archie example, you'd type get zterm-sys7-color-icons.hqx zterm.hqx and hit enter. Instead of having to deal constantly with a file called `zterm-sys7-color-icons. hqx', you'll now have one called, simply, `zterm.hqx'. Those last three letters bring up something else: Many program files are compressed to save on space and transmission time. In order to actually use them, you'll have to use an un-compress program on them first. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/ODD LETTERS Odd Letters - Decoding File Endings =================================== There are a wide variety of compression methods in use. You can tell which method was used by the last one to three letters at the end of a file. Here are some of the more common ones and what you'll need to un- compress the files they create (most of these decompression programs can all be located through archie). `.txt' `.TXT' By itself, this means the file is a document, rather than a program. `.ps' `.PS' A PostScript document (in Adobe's page description language). You can print this file on any PostScript capable printer, or use a previewer, like GNU project's GhostScript. `.doc' `.DOC' Is another common suffix for documents. No de-compression is needed, unless it is followed by `.z' A file compressed by the Unix `pack' utility. It uses Huffman coding (which minimizes redundancy) on each byte. Type `unpack filename.z' or `gunzip filename.z' to decompress it. This suffix was also briefly used to indicate gzip'ed files before `.gz' was adopted. However, some sites *still* use this suffix for gzip'ed files, e.g. the EFF's FTP-server, due to local set-ups. `.Z' This is a Unix compression method. To uncompress the file, type `uncompress filename.Z' or `gunzip filename.Z' and hit enter at your host system's command prompt. If it's a text file, you can read it online by typing `zcat file.txt.Z |more' at your host system's command line. There is a Macintosh `u16.zip' is an MS-DOS program that will let you download such a file and uncompress it on your own computer. The Macintosh equivalent program is called MacCompress (use archie to find these). `.zip' `.ZIP' These indicate the file has been compressed with a common MS-DOS compression program, known as PKZIP (use archie to find `PKZIP204.EXE'). Many Unix systems will let you un-ZIP a file with a program called, well, unzip. `.gz' The GNU project's compression format. A variant of the PKZIP format. Use `gunzip filename.gz' to uncompress. `.zoo' `.ZOO' A Unix, VAX and MS-DOS format. Requires the use of a program called zoo to uncompress. `.Hqx' `.hqx' A Macintosh format that needs BinHex for de-coding. `.shar' `.Shar' A Unix format. Use unshar. `.tar' Another Unix format, often used to glue several related files and/or complete directory trees into one big file. Use the `tar' command. Often, a "tarred" file will also be compressed with the `.Z'/`.gz' method, so you first have to use `uncompress'/`gunzip' and then `tar'. `.TAZ' `.TGZ' Sometimes used for compressed tar archives `.tar.Z', that are stored on "3 letter suffix only systems" (aka MS-DOS). `.sit' `.Sit' A Macintosh format, requires StuffIt. `.ARC' A DOS format that requires the use of ARC or ARCE. `.LZH' Another DOS compression format; requires the use of LHARC. `.lz' `.lha' The Amiga variant of LHARC. It's the most common Amiga archiving method, and made with the program `lha' or `lz'. A few last words of caution: Check the size of a file before you get it. The Net moves data at phenomenal rates of speed. But that 500,000-byte file that gets transferred to your host system in a few seconds could take more than an hour or two to download to your computer if you're using a 2400-baud modem. Your host system may also have limits on the amount of bytes you can store online at any one time. Also, although it is really extremely unlikely you will ever get a file infected with a virus, if you plan to do much downloading over the Net, you'd be wise to invest in a good anti-viral program, just in case. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/THE KEYBOARD CABAL The Keyboard Cabal ================== System administrators are like everybody else - they try to make things easier for themselves. And when you sit in front of a keyboard all day, that can mean trying everything possible to reduce the number of keys you actually have to hit each day. Unfortunately, that can make it difficult for the rest of us. You've already read about `bin' and `lost+found' directories, `etc' is another seemingly interesting directory that turns out to be another place to store files used by the ftp site itself. Again, nothing of any real interest. Then, once you get into the actual file libraries, you'll find that in many cases, files will have such non-descriptive names as `V1.1-AK.TXT'. The best known example is probably a set of several hundred files known as RFCs, which provide the basic technical and organizational information on which much of the Internet is built. These files can be found on many ftp sites, but always in a form such as `RFC101.TXT', `RFC102.TXT' and so on, with no clue whatsoever as to what information they contain. Fortunately, almost all ftp sites have a "Rosetta Stone" to help you decipher these names. Most will have a file named `README' (or some variant) that gives basic information about the system. Then, most directories will either have a similar `README' file or will have an index that does give brief descriptions of each file. These are usually the first file in a directory and often are in the form `00INDEX.TXT'. Use the ftp command to get this file. You can then scan it online or download it to see which files you might be interested in. Another file you will frequently see is called `ls-lgR.Z'. This contains a listing of every file on the system, but without any descriptions (the name comes from the Unix command `ls -lgR', which gives you a listing of all the files in all your directories). The `.Z' at the end means the file has been compressed, which means you will have to use a Unix un-compress command before you can read the file. And finally, we have those system administrators who almost seem to delight in making things difficult - the ones who take full advantage of Unix's ability to create absurdly long file names. On some FTP sites, you will see file names as long as 80 characters or so, full of capital letters, underscores and every other orthographic device that will make it almost impossible for you to type the file name correctly when you try to get it. Your secret weapon here is the mget command. Just type mget, a space, and the first five or six letters of the file name, followed by an asterisk, for example: mget This_F* The FTP site will ask you if you want to get the file that begins with that name. If there are several files that start that way, you might have to answer `n' a few times, but it's still easier than trying to recreate a ludicrously long file name. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/SOME INTERESTING FTP SITES Some Interesting FTP Sites ========================== AMIGA ATARI BOOKS COMPUTER ETHICS CONSUMER COOKING ECONOMICS ESPERANTO EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION FTP ADDRESSES GOVERNMENT (FTP) HISTORY (FTP) HONG KONG INTERNET LAW LIBRARIES LITERATURE MACINTOSH MOVIE REVIEWS MS-DOS MUSIC NATIVE AMERICANS PETS PICTURES PHOTOGRAPHY RELIGION (FTP) SCIENCE FICTION SEX SHAKESPEARE SPACE (FTP) TEX TV TRAVEL USENET VIRUSES WEATHER (FTP) X WINDOWS What follows is a list of some interesting ftp sites, arranged by category. With hundreds of ftp sites now on the Net, however, this list barely scratches the surface of what is available. Liberal use of archie will help you find specific files. The times listed for each site are in Eastern time and represent the periods during which it is considered acceptable to connect. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/AMIGA Amiga ----- `ftp.uu.net' Has Amiga programs in the `systems/amiga' directory. Available 24 hours. `wuarchive.wustl.edu' Look in the `pub/aminet' directory. Available 24 hours. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/ATARI Atari ----- `atari.archive.umich.edu' Find almost all the Atari files you'll ever need, in the `atari' directory. 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/BOOKS Books ----- `rtfm.mit.edu' The `pub/usenet/rec.arts.books' directory has reading lists for various authors as well as lists of recommended bookstores in different cities. Unfortunately, this site uses incredibly long file names - so long they may scroll off the end of your screen if you are using an MS-DOS or certain other computers. Even if you want just one of the files, it probably makes more sense to use mget than get. This way, you will be asked on each file whether you want to get it; otherwise you may wind up frustrated because the system will keep telling you the file you want doesn't exist (since you may miss the end of its name due to the scrolling problem). 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/COMPUTER ETHICS Computer Ethics --------------- `ftp.eff.org' The home of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Use cd to get to the pub directory and then look in the EFF, SJG and CPSR directories for documents on the EFF itself and various issues related to the Net, ethics and the law. Available 24 hours. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/CONSUMER Consumer -------- `rtfm.mit.edu' The `pub/usenet/misc.consumers' directory has documents related to credit. The `pub/usenet/rec.travel.air' directory will tell you how to deal with airline reservation clerks, find the best prices on seats, etc. See under Books for a caveat in using this ftp site. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/COOKING Cooking ------- `wuarchive.wustl.edu' Look for recipes and recipe directories in the `usenet/rec.food.cooking/ recipes' directory. `gatekeeper.dec.com' Recipes are in the `pub/recipes' directory. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/ECONOMICS Economics --------- `neeedc.umesbs.maine.edu' The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston uses this site (yes, there are three 'e's in "neeedc") to house all sorts of data on the New England economy. Many files contain 20 years or more of information, usually in forms that are easily adaptable to spreadsheet or database files. Look in the `frbb' directory. `town.hall.org' Look in the edgar directory for the beginnings of a system to distribute annual reports and other data publicly held companies are required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The `other/fed' directory holds various statistical files from the Federal Reserve Board. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/ESPERANTO Esperanto --------- `ftp.stack.urc.tue.nl' You'll find text files about the Esperanto artificial language in the `pub/ esperanto' directory. 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION Evolutionary Computation ------------------------ `lumpi.informatik.uni-dortmund.de' If you're interested in one possible future of computation, and also are interested in global optimization problems, evolutionary biology and genetics, you might want to take a look at this server. For an overview on the field, you should get the file `pub/EA/docs/hhgtec-*.ps.gz', aka "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to Evolutionary Computation". Available 24 hours. `alife.santafe.edu' Look at ENCORE, the EvolutioNary COmputation REpository network. It's the most comprehensive collection of the field, and has more online than you ever wanted to know on EC. Get `/pub/USER-AREA/EC/CONTENTS' for the complete contents of this location. "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to Evolutionary Computation" is available as `pub/USER-AREA/EC/FAQ/hhgtec.ps.gz'. An introduction to ENCORE entitled "The Navigator's Guide to ENCORE" is available in `/pub/USER-AREA/EC/handbook'. Mirrors (so-called EClairs) exist in the USA at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) `ftp.krl.caltech.edu' `/pub/EC'; in Asia at the Chinese University of Hong Kong `ftp.cs.cuhk.hk' `/pub/EC'; and Europe at the University of Warwick, UK `ftp.dcs.warwick.ac.uk' `/pub/mirrors/EC' and `ftp.germany.eu.net' `/pub/research/softcomp/EC' Available 24 hours. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/FTP ADDRESSES FTP Addresses ------------- `iraun1.ira.uka.de' Run by the computer-science department of the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, this site offers lists of anonymous-FTP sites both internationally (in the `anon.ftp.sites' directory) and in Germany (in `anon.ftp.sites.de'). 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. `ftp.netcom.com' The `pub/profiles' directory has lists of ftp sites. * EEGTTI.GUIDE/GOVERNMENT (FTP) End Of Part Two