The Online World

THE ONLINE WORLD

The Online World book's text on paper, disk and in any other electronic form is (C) copyrighted 1993 by Odd de Presno. All rights reserved worldwide.

xxxx SHAREWARE BOOK

********************* * THE ONLINE WORLD * *********************

Version 1.1 - September 1993

By Odd de Presno
4815 Saltrod, Norway (Europe)
Voice (registrations only): +47 370 31204
Internet mail: opresno@extern.uio.no
Data/BBS: +47 370 31204
FAX: +47 370 27111

PREFACE ======= This is the ASCII online distribution of the Online World. It deals with the practical aspects of using the rapidly growing global online information resource. The book is distributed in a form that is designed to be easily accessible with the maximum range of computers, printer types, and search programs. Also, it has been designed to be compatible with electronic reading devices for the blind. Therefore, many frills (such as fancy formatting, extraneous characters or tags) have been omitted. The main subject of the book is what you can get out of the online resource. Expect an outline, not a comprehensive list or directory of all available offerings. This book explores selected applications across network and service boundaries, to show how these needs may be satisfied. In the process, it gives access information for a large number of specific online offerings. The applications range from entertainment and the bizarre to databases and special services for professionals and organizations. You are not expected to live in the United States or in Norway. Emphasis is on major international offerings available through services and networks like the Internet, BITNET, CompuServe, Echo, FidoNet, Usenet, Dialcom, Dow Jones/News Retrieval, MCI, NewsNet and UUCP. These services can be accessed from almost anywhere. Talking about the Internet, we do not expect that it will be easy for you to get full access. We assume that most people can get access to this network by electronic mail only. I wrote The Online World for parents and youth, teachers, students, business people, social workers, psychologists, young, old, for anybody interested in knowing a bit more about our current "Global Village." You can read it like a novel, to get an idea of what is going on. It can be used as a practical guide book to online data bases and news sources, or as a book of reference. You need not be a computer expert or an experienced "onliner" to find it useful. While not being a textbook on data communications, it contains much information to help novices get started. For an introduction to telecommunications, check out appendix 2 and 3 before continuing with Chapter 1. Before you start, one word of warning. New online offerings are born each day, while others are being closed down. Chances are that most services in this book will still be around when you read it, but I will need to update the text regularly. Therefore, all feedback is welcomed with thanks. Please do also tell me what you like, what you don't, and what you feel I may have missed — or have gotten hopelessly wrong. Send by electronic mail to me at opresno@extern.uio.no .

This book is not free ——————————- The Online World book is NOT public domain. It is copyrighted work and may be distributed only pursuant to this license. You are granted a limited read and use license of the book to see if it is for you. Any unregistered use other than to determine if the book meets your needs is a violation of this license and is forbidden. If you like the book, please become a registered reader. Your contribution will support further research and development of the text. The important benefit of registering is that you will receive the latest version of the book on diskette (MS-DOS only). This will allow you to have current information on your hard disk that you can search whenever you want to. The online world is dynamic. Services and offerings come and go. So read appendix 8 to find out how to stay updated.

The registered shareware version of The Online World including shipping and handling is

NOK 105.00 for payment by credit card
(around US$ 15.00)
US$ 20.00 for all other types of payment
(check or SWIFT bank transfer)

As an alternative, you can also register for six updates of the book during one year. The updates will be mailed you on computer diskette:

US$60.00 for all types of payment

The special rates for organizations to make the text available to employees etc. over a network are explained in appendix 8. Please note: As I do not receive any renumeration from vendors of shareware disks, you must register your copy to have a legal license for use of the book beyond an evaluation period.

Please give to others
——————————-
Permission is with this granted to reproduce and distribute the
Online World book so long as:

(1) No remuneration of any kind is received in exchange.
A distribution fee may be charged for the cost of a
diskette, shipping and handling, as long as the total
(per disk) does not exceed US$8.00.
(2) Distribution is without ANY modification to the contents
of all accompanying text files, including the copyright
notice and this license. All of the files in this package
are to be distributed together.
(3) No publication of the book or individual articles from the
book in print is permitted, in any language, without the
express written consent of the author.

If archiving this book for BBS use or library use, please include all files and use the name ONLINE10, for example, ONLINE10.ZIP, or ONLINE10.LZH. This will provide consistency for future updates.

No copy of this book may be distributed without including a copy of this license. Any other use, including bundling of any of the book's chapters or appendixes for your own distribution, is prohibited without express, written permission in advance from the author.

The Online World book is regularly being updated. Information about where to get the latest version of the book can be retrieved from TOW, a mailing list set up to support the project. For information, send electronic mail to LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu (LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 on BITNET) containing the command "GET TOW MASTER".

How to read the book —————————— You may read the book using any ASCII viewing or text searching program. My private favorites are:

LIST - Shareware MS-DOS file viewing program,

LOOKFOR - Shareware boolean text search program.

Print versions of The Online World ————————————————— The Online World does not cover any specific area of the world. Local versions will be printed and published in several countries through joint venture partners. These versions of the book will be adapted to local conditions, and contain many local examples and references.

The following local version of the book is available:

"Ut i verden fra egen skjerm," Norwegian text, Dataforlaget A/S, 1992. 220 pages. Phone: +47 22 63 61 62. Fax: +47 22 63 60 09. Price: NOK 245,-. ISBN: 82-90628-67-6.

Local language versions of the book are due be published soon by partners in Denmark and Germany. For information, please contact:

Claus Berg (Denmark) at Claus_Berg@SKOLE-KOM.UNI-C.DK
Publisher: Teknisk Forlag A/S, Skelbaekgade 4, 1780 Kbh.V.,
Denmark. Fax: +45 31 21 09 83.

Dr. Karl Sarnow (Germany) at karl@dadoka.h.ni.schule.de
Publisher: Verlag Heintz Heise GmbH & Co KB, Helstorfer
Strasse 7, D-3000 Hannover 61, Germany.
Fax: +49-511-53 52-129.

Do you want to be a partner? —————————————— If you are interested in becoming the author of a local language version of the book in your country, please write me at opresno@extern.uio.no to discuss the possibility of a joint- venture.

Saltrod (Norway), September 1, 1993

Yours,

Odd de Presno

——————————————————————————————- The Online World book's text on paper, disk and in any other electronic form is (C) copyrighted 1993 by Odd de Presno. All rights reserved worldwide. ——————————————————————————————-

INDEX =====

PREFACE

1. Going online will make me rich, right? Knowledge is Power. A larger personal network gives you a stronger punch. The value of information, and of having a great time. . .

2. The online world
The structure and content of the online offerings. About
Bulletin Board systems, discussion lists, conferencing systems,
and online data bases. About packet data services, and network
services like FidoNet, i-Com, Infonet, Internet, and others.
A constantly changing environment.

3. How to use online services
Short introduction. How to use menus, and how to navigate like
an expert. Tailoring online services to your interests and needs.

4. Hobbies, games, and fun
About computer programs, online adventure games, threatening viruses,
planning holidays, collecting coins and stamps, genealogy, music,
shopping and other leisure activities.

5. Home, education, and work
Tips for house owners, for those more concerned about money, about
education and the exchange of knowledge, electronic conferences.
Building a personal network. Job hunting by modem, and about
working from home.

6. Your personal healthnet
About support for diseases like AIDS, cancer, and kidney diseases.
Forums for people with physical or mental disabilities, like
hearing impairments, learning disabilities, vision impairment,
mobility problems.

7. Electronic mail, telex, and fax
How to communicate globally at a ridiculously low cost, with
notes about how to address your global electronic mail.

8. Free expert assistance
How to get free advice about your computer, software and
other things.

9. Your electronic daily news Read national and global news before getting it through the traditional media. Get those interesting background facts. Read special interest news that the media never bother to print.

10. Looking for a needle in a bottle of hay Notes about searching data bases. How to locate interesting books and articles.

11. Getting an edge over your competitor Using the networks to manage projects. Monitor competitors, prospects, suppliers, markets, technologies, and trends. Marketing and sales by modem.

12. Practical tips How to get more out of the time spent online.

13. Cheaper and better communications
Using packet data services or competing data
transport services like Tymnet Outdial, Infonet,
Internet, PC Pursuit, and others.

14. Keep what you find.
Build your local personal data base. Strategies for
locating interesting information. What separates good
from bad information.

15. You pay little for a lot!
How to figure out costs.

16. Automatic communication Get a lead on your competitors. Avoid duplication of effort. Reduce costs. Reduce boring repetitive work. No need to remember all the "tricks" of communications anymore.

17. Gazing into the future.
Thoughts about things to come.

—————————————- Appendices:

1. List of selected online services 2. How to get started About your personal computer, modem and communications program. 3. Your first online trip Getting started. Typical pitfalls and simple solutions. Down- and uploading. 4. Explanation of some frequently used terms 5. Books and articles for further reading 6. International standard country codes 7. About the author 8. How to register —————————————-

Chapter 1: Going online will make me rich, right? =================================================

The number of services is enormous. It takes time to find the
truly interesting stuff.
- Knowledge is power.
- A large personal network gives you a punch.
- The value of information, and of having a good time.

Knowledge is Power ————————— My wife has a rare and dangerous kidney disease. One day her doctor joined us on an online research session to look for experiences and advice in other countries. We sat down in my office in Norway. I turned on my personal computer and started a communications program. After some keypresses, we could hear the attached modem dial the number of CompuServe, a North American information utility. (A modem is a piece of equipment that converts computer signals to and from sound codes, so that data can be sent by phone.) It took just a few seconds to make the connection. Soon, a greeting scrolled over our screen, followed by a menu of available choices.

For an introduction to practical telecommunications, check out appendix 2 and 3. Appendix 1 lists major services mentioned in this book.

We selected "Health" and the "Data Base for Rare diseases." This gave the address of an American foundation for "cysts in kidneys," which is the name of her disease. My wife made contact, and has since received regular reports of research results and experiences gained in the field. We sent an open request for help to an electronic forum for doctors. The result was several useful responses. We searched a magazine data base for medical articles containing the key word "kidney." Paper copies of the most interesting finds arrived by mail after a few days. My wife gave them to her hospital doctor as background reading. Kenya Saikawa is paralyzed. He communicates with his PC and modem using light key strokes and Morse code. Online communications allows Kenya to be in regular contact with people outside the walls of his Tokyo hospital. We met online in a "Handicap Club" on a computer center called TWICS in Tokyo. He was there to exchange experiences with others with disabilities. The club is a personal support group for those in need of help. CompuServe's Cancer Forum has a similar function. "It's a blessing that I can visit here 24 hours a day," one visitor said. "When I'm unable to sleep at night, I often sit down by the PC to read and write messages to others." The forum is like a family. The file library is full of information about cancer. Members can just go in there and pick up whatever they want to read. Dave Hughes from Old Colorado Springs, Colorado in the United States has had a long career as a professional soldier. He has fought in places like the Yalue river in Korea and Vietnam's jungle. When he retired, he became a political online force. "I'm using the new tools of the individual mind to change the world," he says. Native American Indians are among those, who have benefited from Dave's energy and knowledge. He has helped them show their culture to the outside world in a graphical form. Vladimir Makarenkov from the Crimea in the Ukraine is manager in a company called VINKO. In early 1993, he distributed an offer of partnership with foreign companies through the mailing list E- EUROPE. VINKO is into aluminium processing. He wrote: "From our own production we can offer some one metals and aniline dye for cotton, viscose, wool, silk, leather. We are interested in deliveries of chemical production (gamma acid, H- acid) and not quickly deteriorating foods (food concentrates, canned food etc)." George Pavlov is Planning and Reporting manager at an American computer manufacturer. Daily, he logs on to online services to monitor industry product announcements and daily news from several electronic sources. It helps him stay ahead of rapid technological developments. Semafor A/S in Arendal, Norway, produces modems and other types of telecommunications equipment. They operate an electronic bulletin board for customers, users and prospects. Anybody can call in to get information about products and offerings. If they need help, they can leave a message to Semafor A/S day and night. A response will be waiting for them, when they call back. Eduardo Salom heads Software Plus SA in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He discovered the online world in 1988, and uses it to find information that can help his company develop industrial applications. The Norwegian civil engineer Kai Oestreng regularly calls specialized online computer clubs to discuss his computational needs, fetch programs and monitor developments. Mary Lou Rebelo was born in southern Brazil. Today, she is married to a Japanese and lives in Tokyo. She teaches Portuguese and works as a translator. The modem enables her to keep in touch with others around the world interested in Portuguese and Spanish language and culture. Mike Wright teaches at St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown, South Africa. He integrates the online world in his teaching to motivate his students. His classes are involved in international projects with schools all over the globe. In August 1991, the "Old Stalinists" made a coup d'etat in the Soviet Union. The news media were silenced, but they forgot the country's many bulletin boards. Early one morning, a foreign caller picked up the following messages from a Moscow BBS:

From: Valery Koulkov
To: All Msg #560, 00:42am
20-Aug-91
Subject: Moscow, August 19, 23:00

Some news from the square news RSFSR white building, 23:00. Local inhabitants are very welcome for the people guarding 'white building', they carry food and some garments to the square. Approx. 8 tanks stand by the house under the RSFSR flags! There is an information that 'white house' is surrounded by the soldiers from Vysshee Desantnoye uchilische from Ryazan. The people are not so desperate than some hours ago. There are more and more people.

From: Stas Stas
To: Alexey Zabrodin Msg #562, 02:53pm
20-Aug-91
Subject: Russia In Agency news

I have sent two files RIA4.txt & ria5.txt
It's msgs of Russia Information Agency
Spread it as much as you can!!!

From: Andrew Brown
To: All Msg #563, 06:31pm
20-Aug-91
Subject: What's happening?

I am a journalist on the London Daily newspaper *The Independent*,
and I am trying to discover whether this technology, like fax
machines, is being used for independent communication now that the
censors have clamped down on everything else.

Can people describe what is happening, and what they see?
Something similar was done on Compuserve during the Gulf War, by
subscribers who where in Israel and were able to describe Scud
missile attacks without censorship.

Andrew Brown

Select: 564
From: Valery Koulkov
To: All Msg #564, 00:52am
21-Aug-91
Subject: Moscow events

There is shooting near the American embassy and RSFSR state building. Informer said (by phone) that he saw several victims (shot and killed under the tanks. there is fire near the RSFSR building. Moscow, August 21, 1:15 am

Telecommunications played a role in this historic event. While CNN televised the coup, it was not the images, but the words of men like Yeltsin that held sway for Russian citizens. Within hours of Yeltsin's statement in defiance of the coup leaders, handbills reproducing his statement papered the walls of the Moscow metro and Leningrad houses.

You can! ———— Online communication is not just for the privileged or those with a special interest in computers. It is for you, me, everybody. There is much to learn in the "online land," and the medium is fascinating. It makes learning fun. You can learn about how to use your computer, about your profession, other people's views about whatever, and more. Often, you will find reports about experiences and know-how that it is hard or impractical to get in other ways. Some users go online to learn how to do things better. Teachers want to give their students a better and more motivating learning environment. Architects, engineers and companies want increased competitiveness and sales. They seek timely information about competitors, technologies and tools, partners and trends. You can take a Masters Degree in Business Administration while sitting in front of your computer at home. You can join online seminars arranged by local or foreign educational institutes. You can even study at night, when the rest of your family has calmed down. Some build their own educational programs supported by data bases, online forums and associations of various kinds. You may feel helpless when in hospital, or when visiting your doctor. Knowledge about your disease will make you better equipped to handle the situation. The online resource is just keypresses away, and knowledge is power. To get this power, you'll need to know what you can get from the online world. This book is filled with examples of what is available, and practical tips about how to use the offerings.

A large personal network gives strength ———————————————————- Most of us belong to one or several networks. They consist of persons that you can call on whenever you need help. Your network may be private, like in your family. You may be member of various associations, or be part of a group of people with common interests within a company or organization. The modem allows you to be part of more personal networks than you can possibly cope with in the "real world." Besides, it's much easier to develop personal networks in the online world. We have used words like "clubs" and "associations." By this we mean groups of people interested in helping You and in participating in what You happen to be interested in. Today's communications technology lets us participate in networks in other countries at a very low cost. Many describe it as participation "beyond time and space." Write a message and send it to a person in your network. It arrives in his/her "mailbox" within minutes (sometimes seconds) and stays there until the recipient wants to read it. This built-in ability to send messages to other people's electronic mailboxes reduces the power that time and geographical distances have over our lives. A friend in a remote country gets out of bed nine hours after you, but keeps going well into what, for you, is the next morning. No problem. You can send letters when you're awake and receive replies when you're asleep. You can pick up and read your friend's messages the next day or whenever you feel like doing it. That is how two people as far apart as Arendal, Norway and Beijing, China could be involved in the development of this book. Sometimes "real time" discussions are important. Consider the following example. CompuServe has a Diabetes Forum. You can call there any time, day or night, seven days a week. Whenever you feel like it. You will always find someone to chat with who understands and shares your problems. Real-time chatting may become expensive, but you are free to decide your level of involvement. If you think that $10 spent is enough, then just stop there.

What is the point? ————————- Thousands of commercial and noncommercial online services offer over 5,000 online databases. These infobases are repositories of electronic information. They contain full-text and reference books, magazines, newspapers, radio and TV shows, reports, and more. In 1992, BiblioData (USA) found that around 4,000 titles (i.e., magazines, newspapers, etc.) were available online in full-text. You will find facts and figures about almost anything in the online world. The world has over 100,000 public bulletin board systems (1993). Most are small information centers, running on personal computers using a simple computer program and modems. People call in to read messages and information, retrieve free software, or just to have a good time. Most BBSes are free. Some charge a small annual fee. The largest board has 213 telephone lines, seven gigabytes of storage for letters, conferences, computer programs, and more (1993). Mind you, 7 gigabytes is a lot. It is equivalent to more than 7,000,000,000 characters, or a whopping 12,000 copies of this book! The entrepreneur sees the online world as a new, profitable playground. Many of them have made it their profession to search for information for others, and they earn a good living doing so. Others advertise and sell products and services by modem. Some set up their own online services to sell knowledge and know- how, be it of aqua culture, wine production, marketing, or about the petroleum offshore market. In business, it pays to be one step ahead of the competition. Early warnings of customers' needs, competitors' moves, and emerging opportunities can be turned into fortunes. It can reduce potential losses and help develop businesses in more profitable directions. Turn this to your advantage. Build your own early warning system that monitors online information sources and networks.

Have fun ———— The online world has an abundance of joke clubs, dramatic adventure games with multiple players, and large archives filled with computer game software. You can transfer these programs to your personal computer and be ready to play in minutes. Others may feel more entertained when things get "interesting." Surely, those calling Moscow in August 1991 for news about the coup must have had a strange sensation in the stomach. Some online users react quickly when dramatic events occur. They go online to read the news directly from the wires, from Associated Press, TASS, Reuters, Xinhua Press, Kyodo News and others. Usually, the online news is coming directly to you from the journalists' keyboards. Often, you heard it here first. Other people prefer to socialize. They meet in online "meeting places" to debate everything from Africa and the administration of kindergartens to poetry, LISP programming and compressed video for multimedia applications. It has been claimed that increased use of online networking in a country can effect social changes within politics, economics, communication and science. It can support democratic tendencies, the transition to a market economy, the formation and support of businesses, the spreading of interpersonal and mass communication, the forging of invisible colleges among scientists, and breaking-up of traditional and closed information systems developed in some societies. No matter whether your application is useful or just a pastime, online services queue up to help give your life a better content. Some people fear that language might be a problem, and in particular if English is not their first language. Don't worry. You are in the driver's seat. If something is hard to understand, just log off to study the difficult text. Take your time. Nobody is watching. Will you being member of the online world make you rich? Probably not. On the other hand, it most certainly provides the opportunities to help you achieve such a goal, no matter how you define the word "rich."

Chapter 2: The online world ===========================

This chapter is about the structure and contents of the online world. You will read about Bulletin Board systems, discussion lists, conferencing systems, online data bases, packet data services, and network services like FidoNet, i-Com, Infonet, and the Internet.

From papyrus to bits and bytes ——————————————— Around 1500 B.C., the world's first library was established in Tell el Amaran, Egypt. Eight hundred years later, the first public library opened in Athens, Greece. It took another two thousand years for the computer to be invented. The first known mention of a possible future online information service was printed in the Atlantic Monthly magazine in 1945. Nine years later, the Naval Ordinance Test Station opened their online search service in California (U.S.A.) The first full-text database came six years later. MEDLARS was a bibliographic database containing references to medical literature. From now on, things started to roll at a faster pace:

* In 1972, DIALOG (U.S.A.) opened their Educational Resources
Information Center and National Technical Information Service
databases for online searching. (Appendix 1 contains infor-
mation about the major online services referred to in this
book.)
* In 1974, Dow Jones News/Retrieval (U.S.A.) launched a
financial information service for stock brokers.
* In 1978, the first bulletin board was put into operation in
Chicago (U.S.A.).
* CompuServe (U.S.A.) launched a service for home users in
1979.

The online world was born in the United States. Little happened in the rest of the world until the late 1980s. American companies and users still dominate, but they are no longer alone. Today, we can access over 5,000 public databases. They are available from more than 500,000 online systems ("host computers") all over the world. With so many online services, it is difficult to find our way through the maze of offerings. This book therefore starts with a map of the online world.

The structure and contents of the online world ——————————————————————— The online world can be described as a cake with multiple layers, where the information sources are the bottom layer. You - the user - are the marzipan figure on the top. The online world contains the following tiers:

(1) Database producers and information providers (2) Online service companies (3) Gateways and networks (4) The services (5) The user interface (6) The data transport services (7) The User.

1. Database producers and information providers. ———————————————————————— I have a bulletin board system in Norway (at +47 370 31378). My BBS is running on a small personal computer, and offers shareware and public domain software. Anybody can call my board to have programs transferred to their personal computers by modem (see appendix 2 for how to do this). When you call this BBS to "download" a free program for to your computer's hard disk, don't expect to find one made by me. I don't write programs. All available programs have been written by others. When you call Data-Star in Switzerland, or CompuServe in the U.S. to read news, you may find some stories authored by these companies. Most of their news, however, are written by others. InfoPro Technologies delivers Russian scientific and technical articles from "Referativnyi Zurnal" through online services like Orbit, Pergamon and BRS. InfoPro is not the originator. The text has been prepared by VINITI (the Institute for scientific and technical information of the xUSSR). My BBS (the "Saltrod Horror Show"), Data-Star, NIFTY-Serve, Orbit, Pergamon, BRS, and CompuServe are online services. We call those who have provided the news and information on these services for information providers or database producers. The American news agency Associated Press is an information provider. They write the news, and sell them to online services like Dialog, CompuServe, Nexis and NewsNet. These online services let you read the news by modem. The information providers sell the right to distribute their news. Your news reading charges may be imbedded in the online service's standard access rates. Some services will ask you to pay a surcharge when reading news. Most subscribers pay US$12.80 per hour (1993) to use CompuServe at 2400 bits per second (bps). At this speed, you typically receive around 240 characters of news per second. If you access at higher speeds, you will have to pay more. CompuServe pays Associated Press part of what they earn each time you read their news. There is no surcharge for reading AP news on this service. Others charge more. To read Mid-East Business Digest through NewsNet, you pay a surcharge of US$72.00 per hour at 2400 bps (1993). Scanning newsletter headlines and conducting keyword searches are cheaper. You pay the the basic connect charge, which is US$90.00 per hour at this speed. Thus, your total cost for reading Mid-East Business Digest amounts to US$2.70 per minute. CompuServe's database service IQuest lets you search NewsNet through a gateway to find and read the same articles. Here, reading will only set you back US$21.50/hour (provided the articles are among the first hits in your search). Many information providers also distribute information through grassroots bulletin boards. The Newsbytes News Network and the USA Today newsletter services (also in full text on Dialog and Nexis) are two examples. The rates for reading the same article may therefore differ considerably depending on what online service you are using. If you are a regular reader, shop around for the best price. Information providers may have subcontractors. The Ziff-Davis service Computer Database Plus, a database with full-text articles from magazines like Datamation and Wall Street Computer Review, depends on them. Datamation pays journalists to write the articles. Ziff-Davis pays Datamation for the right to distribute the articles to CompuServe's subscribers. CompuServe pays Ziff-Davis part of what you pay when reading the text.

2. Online services ————————— The term "online services" refers to information services provided by computer systems, large or small, to owners of personal computers with modems. What is offered, differ by system. It may include access to libraries of programs and data, electronic mail, online shopping malls, discussion forums, hardware and software vendor support, games and entertainment, financial data, stock market quotes, and research capabilities. You do not always need a phone and a modem when "dialing up." Some services can be accessed through leased phone lines, amateur radio, or other methods. Check out appendix 1 for a list of major services mentioned in this book, with addresses, phone numbers, and a short description. CompuServe (U.S.A.), Twics (Japan), and Orbit (England) are commercial. They charge you for using their services. Some online services are priced like magazines and newspapers with a flat subscription rate for basic services. You can use this part of a service as much as you like within a given period. GEnie, CompuServe, BIX, America Online, and Delphi are among those offering such pricing options. Other online services charge for 'connect time'. They have a rate per hour or minute. MCI Mail uses "no cure, no pay." You only pay to send or read mail. To check for unread letters in your mailbox is free. There are all kinds of creative pricing schemes. Some services have different rates for access during the day, night and weekends. Others have different rates for users living far away. Sometimes the remote subscriber pays more, in other cases less than ordinary subscribers. Still, most online services are free. This is particularly true for the over hundred thousand bulletin board systems around the world. The owners of these services often regard them as a hobby, a public service, a necessary marketing expense, or do it for other reasons. The cost of setting up and operating a bulletin board system is low. Consequently, the BBS systems are as varied as the people who run them. Each BBS has its own character. My BBS is also free. I consider it an online appendix to this book and the articles I write. National Geographic BBS in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. (tel.: +1- 202-775-6738) is run by the magazine of the same name. This board is also free. They regard it as a part of their marketing strategy. It provides them with input to the editors, and it is an easy way of maintaining contacts with schools. Semaforum BBS in Norway is run by a company. Its purpose is customer support and to give information to prospective customers. The cost is a marketing expense. Some large, international online services on the Internet, BITNET, and UUCP are almost free. They address research and educational institutions and are financed by public funds. These services are now being made available to other users at very moderate rates. Some users fear that using online services will increase their telephone costs dramatically, and especially when using services in other countries. This is often unjustified. Read chapter 13 and 15 for tips about how to keep your communications costs down.

3. Gateways and networks ———————————— CompuServe users select the Computer Database Plus from a menu. This prompts CompuServe to dial another online service and lets you use this, as if you were still using CompuServe. You hardly notice the difference. You are using Computer Database Plus through a gateway. CompuServe users searching the IQuest databases get the following welcome message:

One moment please…

Connected to 19EASYN

Welcome to IQuest

(c) 1991 Telebase Systems, Inc. U.S. Patent No. 4,774,655

Through another gateway, CompuServe connects you to the online service Telebase Systems, Inc. Telebase lets you go through other gateways to search in databases on online services like BRS, MEDLINE and NewsNet. While searching, you may get similar progress reports:

Dialing BRS
Connect BRS
Scanning …. Please wait
Dialing Medline
Connect Medline
Scanning …. Please wait

All the time, your modem is connected to CompuServe. You are mentally using IQuest and not other online services. Technically, you are going through various gateways to reach the information libraries. You pay CompuServe for the privilege. In turn, they pay a fee to Telebase, and others. You can read The New York Times on Down Jones News/Retrieval through gateways from MCI Mail and GEnie. Accessing information through a gateway is often simpler than logging on to several online systems. Calling several systems often costs more, and it certainly takes time. Users of BBSes connected to RelayNet or FidoNet can join in global discussions. Participants in other countries also call their favorite local systems. To the individual user, it looks as if they all use the same bulletin board system. The networks that tie these boards together regularly send new discussion items to the other participating boards. Write "This is not correct!" in a distributed conference on a Norwegian FidoNet BBS, and others may soon read your line on San Bernardino BBS in Colton (Canada), Wonderland Board in Macau or the HighTech BBS in Sidney (Australia). SciLink (Canada) administers a network for distribution of conferences between systems using the Caucus software system. Participants in Tokyo, Toronto and San Francisco can discuss as if they were all logged on to the same online service. The main purpose may not be to make it simpler or cheaper for the user. One typical motive is to reduce an online service's own communications costs. KIDLINK is a global project for children between 10 - 15 years of age. It allows kids to discuss through a system of electronic mail. Part of the dialog takes place by the children sending email to a recipient called KIDCAFE. A message to 'the cafe' goes through the international networks to a host computer in North Dakota (U.S.A.). There, a computer program called LISTSERV distributes copies of the message to names on an electronic address list. (Conferences administered by a LISTSERV are called 'discussion lists'.) SciLink in Toronto is one recipient. Messages forwarded from North Dakota are made available for users as entries in a 'local' conference called KIDCAFE. A user in Tokyo can read a message, as if it had been entered locally. If she wants to reply, her answer is sent back to the LISTSERV for redistribution to the world. Western Michigan University (U.S.A.) is also a recipient. Here, another LISTSERV program is in charge of forwarding the mail to yet another list of (local) addresses. We call it a 'mail exploder'. This mailing list has been set up by local administrators to reduce costs. The individual user is not allowed to receive copies of messages all the way from North Dakota. One Michigan recipient may be a local area network. You will find many smart technical solutions in the online world. Actually, this is how the online world got started. Two systems were interconnected for exchange of electronic mail. Then, another system was added, and another. One day it was a global network of computer systems. Some network systems are connected by leased telephone lines. Other networks, like FidoNet, depend mainly on dial-up using regular voice-grade telephone service. Each BBS dial regularly to other computers in the network to send or receive mail and files. They may do it once per day, twice per day or whatever. Then someone got the idea of interconnecting networks. FidoNet was connected to the UUCP network, which was connected to the Internet, which in turn was connected to the Bergen By Byte BBS in Norway, CompuServe, SciLink, MCI Mail, and various local area networks. Today, the online world is a global web of networks. The world is 'cabled'. You, me and all the other modem users stand to benefit enormously.

4. The services ———————- The most popular online services are electronic mail, chat, file transfers, conferences and discussion forums, news, reading of online journals and grassroots publications, database searching, entertainment. The online world has an infinite number of niches, things that people are interested in and have fun doing.

Electronic mail ———————- is not just like paper mail. Email is faster, easier to edit and use in other applications. Your mail may be private, or public. It can be 'broadcasted' to many by a mailing list. The principle is the same on all systems. Typically, an email message is sent to your mailbox in the following form:

To: Odd de Presno
Subject: Happy Birthday
Text: I wish you well on your birthday. -Ole

The mailbox systems automatically add your name (i.e., the sender's return email address), the creation date, and forward it to the recipient. If the recipient's mailbox is on another system, the message is routed through one or several networks to reach its destination. Several email services offer forwarding to fax, telex or ordinary postal service delivery. Some offer forwarding to paging services. When new mail arrives in your mailbox, messages with text like 'MAIL from opresno@extern.uio.no' will be displayed on your beeper's small screen. Soon, you can send electronic mail to anyone. By the turn of the century, it probably will be difficult to tell the difference between fax messages and email. The services will automatically convert incoming faxes to computer-readable text and pictures, so that you can use them in word processing and other computer applications. Automatic language translation is another trend. You will soon be able to send a message in English, and have it automatically translated into Spanish for Spanish-reading recipients, or into other languages. Conference systems with automatic translation are already being used in Japan (English to/from Japanese). One day we may also have a global email address directory. "What is the address of Nobuo Hasumi in Japan." Press ENTER, and there it is. Today, the largest commercial players email vendors are MCI, Dialcom, Telemail, AT&T Mail and CompuServe. The fight for dominance goes on.

'Chat' ——— Email has one important disadvantage. It may take time for it to be picked up and read by the recipient. The alternative is real-time conferencing, a form of direct keyboard-to-keyboard dialog between users. We call it 'chat'. Most large systems let you chat with many users simultaneously. Even small bulletin boards usually have a chat feature. Chat is set up in several ways. On some systems, you see each character on the screen once it is entered by your dialog partners. Other systems send entries line by line, that is, whenever you press ENTER or Return. Here, it may be difficult to know whether the other person is waiting for you to type, or if he is actively entering new words. You will find regular chat conferences in CompuServe's forums. Often, they invite a person to give a keynote speech before opening 'the floor' for questions and answers. John Sculley of Apple Computers and various politicians have been featured in such 'meetings'. In May 1991, the KIDLINK project arranged a full-day chat between kids from all over the world. Line, a 12-year old Norwegian girl, started the day talking with Japanese kids at the Nishimachi and Kanto International School in Tokyo. When her computer was switched off late at night, she was having an intense exchange with children in North America. The chats took place on various online services and networks, including Internet Relay Chat (IRC), BITNET's Relay Chat, Cleveland Free-Net (U.S.A.), TWICS in Tokyo, the global network Tymnet, and the Education Forum on CompuServe. The discussions had no moderator. This made the encounters chaotic at times. The kids enjoyed it, though! One-line messages shot back and forth over the continents conveying intense simultaneous conversations, occasionally disrupted by exclamations and requests for technical help. Speed is a problem when chatting. It takes a lot of time since most users are slow typists. If individual Messages span more than one line, there is always a risk that it will be split up by lines coming from others. It takes time to understand what goes on. Users of SciLink (Canada) use a method they call 'semi-sync chat'. The trick is to use ordinary batch-mode conferences for chatting. Instead of calling up, reading and sending mail and then log out, they stay online waiting for new messages to arrive. This approach allows you to enter multiple-line messages without risking that it to broken up by other messages. The flow of the discussion is often better, and each person's entries easier to understand.

File transfers ——————— The availability of free software on bulletin boards brought the online world out of the closet. Today, you can also retrieve books and articles, technical reports, graphics pictures, files of digitized music, weather reports, and much more. Millions of files are transferred to and from the online services each day. File transfers typically represent over 75 percent of the bulletin boards' utilization time. Downloading free software is still the most popular service. In June 1991, users of my BBS (which has only one phone line) downloaded 86 megabytes' worth of public domain and shareware programs. (86MB equals around 86,000,000 bytes.) In May 1993, users downloaded 108 megabytes distributed over 1,446 files. Add to this the megabytes being downloaded from hundreds of thousands of other bulletin boards. The number is staggering.

If you want to download free software: read in appendix 3 about how to do it.

Downloading is simple. Just dial an online service, order transfer of a given file, select a file transfer protocol (like XMODEM), and the file comes crawling to you through the phone line. Services on the Internet offer file transfer through gateways using a command called FTP (File Transfer Protocol). It works like this:

Say you're logging on to the ULRIK service at the University of
Oslo in Norway. Your objective is to download free programs
from a large library in Oakland, U.S.A.
After having connected to Ulrik, you enter the command
'ftp OAK.Oakland.Edu' to connect to the computer in California.
A few seconds later, the remote host asks for your logon
id. You enter 'anonymous', and supply your email address as
password. This will give you access.
You use the cd command (change directory) to navigate to
the desired library catalog on the remote hard disk. You locate
the desired file, and use a GET command to transfer the file
to your file area on Ulrik.
When done, you logout from the remote computer to be
returned to Ulrik's services. Your final job is to transfer
the file from Ulrik to your personal computer using traditional
methods.

Being able to send Internet mail does not guarantee access to the ftp command. If ftp is unavailable, you may transfer the file by email using a technique called UUENCODEing. Here, the file is converted before transfer into a format that can be sent as ordinary mail (into a seven bits, even character code). When the file arrives in your mailbox, you 'read' it as an ordinary message and store the codes in a work file on your disk. Finally, you decode the file using a special utility program (often called UUDECODE). Read more about this in Chapter 12.

Conferences and discussions —————————————- Online conferences have many things in common with traditional face- to-face conferences and discussions, except that participants don't physically meet in the same room. They 'come' by modem and discuss using electronic messages (sometimes also through "Chat"). There are discussions about any conceivable topic, from How to start your own company, Brainstorming, Architectural design, The Future of Education and Investments, to AIDS, The Baltic States, Psychology, and Cartoons. Instead of calling these discussions "online conferences," some services use terms like echos, discussion or mailing lists, clubs, newsgroups, round tables, SIGs (Special Interest Groups), and forums. They use other terms in an attempt to make their offerings more attractive and exclusive. Others refer to "conferences" by using the name of the software used to administer the discussions, like LISTSERV, PortaCom, News, Usenet, Caucus, or PARTIcipate. On the bottom line, we're still talking email. However, while private mail is usually read by one recipient only, 'conference mail' may be read by thousands of people from the whole world. All of them can talk and discuss SIMULTANEOUSLY. It is almost impossible for one single individual to dominate. The number of active participants can therefore be far larger than in 'face-to- face' conferences. The conferencing software automatically records all that is said. Every character. Each participant can decide what to read and when. He may even use the messages in other applications later on. Opinions and information can easily be selected and pasted into reports or new responses. Some conferences are public and open for anybody. Others are for a closed group (of registered) participants. They are normally structured by topic and the structure is influenced by the participants' behavior. If the topic is limited, like in "The football match between Mexico and Uruguay," it may start with an introduction followed by comments, questions, and answers like pearls on a thread. After some time the conference is 'finished'. Conferences called 'IBM PC' or 'MS-DOS' often contain so many different sub-topics that they seem chaotic to the outsider. The message subject headings typically have references to computer equipment (like in 'Wyse 050 or TVI 925'), requests for help (like in 'Need Xywrite help!'), experience reports, equipment for sale, news reports, etc. The sequence of messages are often illogical.

The contents and the quality of the discussion are what separates one online conference from others.

How a conference grows into something useful, depends in part on the features of the software used by the online service. But this is much less important than the kind of people you meet there and their willingness to contribute. Messages in the IBM Hardware Forum on CompuServe are divided into 11 sections. Section 2 is called Printers' utilities. If you have problems with an old Epson FX-80 printer, send requests for help to "All" (=to everybody) and store it in this section. CompuServe has over one million subscribers (1993). They call in from all over the place to join the IBM Hardware forum. Some are there to show off competence (read: to sell their expertise). Others visit to find solutions to a problem, or simply to learn. A conference with many users increases your chances of meeting others with relevant know-how. As always, the quality of the people is the first requirement of a good conference. Professional 'Sysops' moderate the discussion in IBMHW. They get up to 15 percent of what you pay CompuServe for using their forum. To them, being a sysop is a profession. They use a fair amount of time trying to make the forum a lively and interesting place. The Printers/utilities section is not just about Epson FX-80. Its members have hundreds of different printers, each with their own set of user problems. Let's use this to explain differences between some conferencing systems. Each message in CompuServe's forums contains the sender's name (his local email address), subject, date, and the text itself. We call this the 'bulletin board model'. Here, a message typically looks like this:

#: 24988 S10/Portable Desktops
22-Jul-91 10:05:38
Sb: #T5200 425meg HDD
Fm: Gordon Norman 72356,370
To: Menno Aartsen 72611,2066 (X)

Menno-

Can you share the HD specs on that 425'er…random access time, transfer rate, MTBF, etc.?

Gordon

This message may not be of interest to you. Each day, hundreds of messages OUTSIDE your area of interest are being posted. You do NOT want to read these messages. CompuServe allows selective reading of messages. You can select all messages containing a given word or text string in the subject title ('Sb:' above). You can read threads of messages from a given message number (replies, and replies to replies). You can read all messages to/from a given person, from a given message number, and from a given date. There are many options. The PARTIcipate conferencing software functions diametrically different from CompuServe's forum software. PARTI is used on TWICS (Japan), Unison (U.S.A.), NWI (U.S.A.), and The Point (can be accessed through a gateway from CompuServe). PARTI lets the user log on using an alias. For example, he can use the identity 'BATMAN'. You may never get to know the true name of the other person. On the other hand, this allows people to talk about controversial topics, which they would otherwise not want to have their names associated with. Anyone can start a conference. It can be public, private or a combination. Combination conferences allow public review of the messages in the conference, but restrict the number of people who can contribute to the discussion. Enter 'write', and PARTI will prompt you with "Enter the text of your note, then type .send or .open to transmit." Enter the welcome text for your new conference, like in this example:

"This conference is based on a series of articles about shareware and public domain programs for MSDOS computers, which I wrote for publication in England. Since the editor cheated me and they never reached the printing press, I've decided to make them available online instead of letting them rot on my hard disk. Join to read, discuss or (hopefully) enjoy! "

When done, I entered ".open odd de presno", added the name of the conference ("MSDOS TIPS") and a short description ("GOOD PD AND SHAREWARE PROGRAMS").

The conference was presented to the other PARTI users on TWICS like this:

"MSDOS TIPS" by ODD DE PRESNO, Feb. 23, 1990 at 11:57 about
GOOD PD AND SHAREWARE PROGRAMS (7 notes)

Few systems of the bulletin board model let users start their own conferences at will. All new topics must be stored in a given structure. The administrators (sysops) of the service manage the evolution of the 'conference room'. After a while, old messages may even be deleted to make room for new. In PARTI, conference messages are organized under a topic, or any sub-topics that can be derived from the main topic. Conferences are modeled after their counterparts in the face- to-face world. They start with an introduction followed by a discussion about a narrow topic, like here:

"SMART PEOPLE" by MACBETH on Jan. 4, 1992 at 12:27, about WHO ARE
THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST (504 characters and 17 notes).

In this example above, the welcome message is 504 characters long. Following that, there are 17 other messages (called notes). Notes are stored without individual subject headers and the name of a recipient. Everything is posted to 'the group'. If CompuServe message above had been posted on PARTI, then the first five lines might have been reduced to:

12 (of 12) SHABBY DOG Jul. 22, 1991 at 10:05 (119 characters)

On PARTI, all participants read all notes. Selective reading must be done in other ways (by searching conference contents). These two conferencing models seem to attract different types of discussions. PARTI has given birth to more discussions on topics like these (from PARTI on The Point, January 1992):

"HELLO BEEP" by THE SHADOW on Sept. 17, 1991 at 19:20, about
BEEP'S ADVENTURES IN JAPAN, AND THE LIKE (840 characters and 22
notes).

"MEMORIES" by LOU on Dec. 21, 1991 at 12:31, about …….I
REMEMBER WHEN…… (423 characters and 1 notes).

"AMENDMENT II 1991" by PASSIN THRU on Dec. 25, 1991 at 20:55,
about OUR RIGHTS TO OWN AND POSSESS FIREARMS, AND THE MYTH
REGARDING ASSAULT WEAPONS. (3036 characters and 38 notes).

"TV SHOWS" by THE SHADOW on Nov. 16, 1990 at 18:00, about
DISCUSSION OF TELEVISION SHOWS (105 characters and 37 notes).

"PHILOSOPHY FOR AMATEURS" by MACBETH on April 13, 1990 at 10:08,
about TALKING ABOUT THINKING (187 characters and 97 notes).

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOTO" by PONDER on Jan. 2, 1992 at 14:34, about
AND I BET HE THOUGHT I FORGOT. (86 characters and 15 notes).

"ONLINE LOTTERY" by DEEDUB on Jan. 3, 1992 at 07:40, about
MULTIPLYING OUR CHANCES TO WIN THE LOTTERY (1238 characters and
62 notes).

"WHO SHOT KENNEDY" by MATT on Jan. 3, 1992 at 22:29, about THE
ASSASINATION OF JOHN F. KENNEDY; THOUGHTS, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS
AND THEORIES! (529 characters and 83 notes).

"THE ECONOMY" by LOU on Jan. 5, 1992 at 16:40, about THE ECONOMY,
AS IT AFFECTS US ALL. (167 characters and 49 notes).

"PUERTO RICO" by PACKER on Jan. 18, 1992 at 20:47, about PARA
DISCUTIR ASUNTOS PUERTORIQUENA (166 characters and 9 notes).

Systems using the bulletin board model rarely have conferences like "MEMORIES." In PARTI, one-note conferences are allowed to stay. In the bulletin board environment, they soon disappear. You can probably still join MEMORIES on the Point to add your own feelings or point-of-views. In larger PARTI conferences, the notes can be read like a book. Often, side discussions appear like 'branches' on a 'tree'. Join and read them, if you want to. Or just pass. The bulletin board systems (including CompuServe's forums) and PARTIcipate are at two extremes of the spectrum of conference systems. Toward the BBS model, there are systems like FidoNet Echo, RBBS-PC, and PortaCom. Toward the PARTI side, there are systems like Caucus.

Many companies set up bulletin board systems to provide technical support to customers. McAfee Associates, Inc. in California is one example. They offer technical information, help, upgrade software, list of agents, technical bulletins with lists of products, and new products through agents' support BBSes all over the world. For example, when in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago call the Opus Networx BBS at (819) 628-4023. Setting up a professional BBS is not very expensive. You can easily have 32 people online to the same conference simultaneously on a standard 80386-based PC, running Xenix and Caucus conferencing software. This is what the Washington Information Service Corp. in U.S.A. did. There's an abundance of software to choose from. Many companies rent private 'conference rooms' on commercial online services rather than doing it in-house. The advantage is easier access to an established multi-user system and user base. Microsoft, Toshiba, Quarterdeck, Digital Research, Tandy, Novell and hundreds of others rent public support forum space on CompuServe to keep in touch with customers all over the world. Others rent space on regional bulletin boards. Other corporate applications of such services include internal organizational development and communications, and coordination of projects. On Norwegian bulletin boards the main language is Norwegian. In France, expect French. Local systems usually depend on messages in the local language. Services catering to a larger geographical area often have a different policy. English is the most common language for international discussions. Spanish possibly number two. Example: TWICS in Japan is an English language system. Its Spanish language conference ESPANOL has participants from Japan, Mexico and Norway. On MetaNet (Arlington, U.S.A.) the conferences are divided into conference areas. One area was called The Salon. The welcome message said: 'All conferences and responses posted here may freely be ported to other conferencing systems'. MetaNet regularly 'ports' (exchanges) conference notes with systems in Europe, Asia and North America. Exchanging conferences have long traditions in the bulletin board world. To some, it is routine to call Thunderball Cave BBS in Oslo to discuss photography with people in California. New messages are exchanged daily across country boundaries. The global web of connections between computers enables us to discuss with people living in other parts of the world, as if they were living next door.

Things Take Time! ————————- How long does it take a message to get from Hyougo in Japan to Saltrod in Norway? Or to Dominique Christian in Paris? Sometimes, mail travels from mailbox service to mailbox service in seconds. That is usually the case with messages from my mailbox in Norway to KIDLINK's LISTSERV in North Dakota, U.S.A. Messages that must go through many gateways may take more time. How long it takes, depends on the degree of automation in the mail systems involved, and how these systems have been connected to the global matrix of networks. Speed is high if the computers are interconnected with fixed, high-capacity lines. This is not so for mail from Oslo to Dominique in Paris. His mail is routed through a system in London and is forwarded once per day through a dial-up connection. It usually takes at least one day to reach the destination.

News —— Most large news agencies have online counterparts. You can often read their news online before it appears in print. This is the case with news from sources like NTB, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Kyodo News Report (Japan), Reuters, Xinhua English Language News Service (China) and TASS. Some news is only made available in electronic form. News may be read in several ways, depending on what online service you use: * From a list of headlines. Enter a story's number to receive its full text. The news may be split up into groups, like Sports, International news, Business, and Entertainment. * Some services let you hook directly into a news agency's 'feed line' to get news as it is being made available. At 11.02, 11.04, 11.15, etc. * News may be 'clipped' and stored in your mailbox twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Clipping services search articles for occurrences of your personal keyword phrases while you're offline. In this way, you can monitor new products, companies, people, and countries, even when you're not online. NewsFlash is NewsNet's electronic clipping service, a powerful resource that lets you monitor NewsNet's newsletters for topics of interest. On the Executive News Service (CompuServe), you can search for words in story headlines. You can also search for first three lines of text from 8,000 stories/day from Washington Post, OTC NewsAlert, Associated Press, United Press International and Reuters Financial News Wire. Newspapers used to receive news through the wires before the online user. This built-in delay has now been removed on many services. Industry and professional news is usually available online long before it appears in print.

Databases ————- Some years ago, most databases just contained references to articles, books and other written or electronic sources of information. The typical search result looked like this:

0019201 02-88-68
TRIMETHOPRIM-SULFAMETHOXAZOLE in CYST Fluid from Autosomal
Dominant POLYCYSTIC KIDNEYS.
Elzinga L.W.; et al. W.M. Bennett, Dept. of Med., Oregon Hlth.
Sci. Univ., 3101 Southwest Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland,
OR 97201.

Kid. Int. 32: 884-888. Dec. 1987

Subfile: Internal Medicine; Family Practice; Nephrology;
Infectious Disease; Clinical Pharmacology; Highlights of General
Medicine

You had to take the reference to a library to get a print copy of the article. Some services let you to order a copy while online, to be sent you by mail from a copying service. Full-text searching is now the rule. When you find an article of interest, you can have the full text displayed on your screen at once (normally without accompanying pictures and tables, though). The search commands are simpler and more powerful.

Just for fun —————— Many online services focus on your leisure time. They offer reviews and news about movies, video, music, and sport. There are forums for stamp and coin collectors, travel maniacs, passionate cooks, wine tasters, and other special interest groups. Besides, many services are entertaining in themselves. Large, complex adventure games, where hundreds of users can play simultaneously, are popular choices. People sit glued to the computer screen for hours. 'Chat', this keyboard-to-keyboard contact-phone type of simultaneous conversation between from two and up to hundreds of persons, is also popular. It works like a combination of a social activity and a role-playing/strategy/fantasy/skill-improving game. Shopping is the online equivalent of traditional mail order business. The difference is that you can buy while browsing. Some commercial services distribute colorful catalogues to users to support sales. Some distribute pictures of the merchandise by modem. You can buy anything from racer fitness equipment and diamonds to cars. Enter your credit card number and the Chevrolet is yours. The online mail order business is becoming increasingly global.

Level 5: The user interface —————————————- This term describes how the online service is presented to you, that is, in what form text, pictures and sound appear on your personal communications computer. Most online services offer the first three of these four levels. Some offer more:

1. Menus for novices. The user can select (navigate) by
pressing a figure or a letter.
2. Short menus or lists of commands for the intermediate user.
The user knows some about how the service works, and just
wants a short reminder to help navigate.
3. A short prompt (often just a character, like a "!"), which
tells the expert user where he is in the system right now.
Those knowing the service inside out, don't need reminders
about what word or command to enter at this point.
4. Some services offer automatic access without any menus or
visible prompts at all. Everything happens in a two-way
stream of unintelligent data. The only menus that the user
sees, are those belonging to the program running on his
personal computer.

Some services emphasize colors, graphics and sound. They may require that users have certain hardware or special add-on cards in their communications computer. Often, a special communications program is also needed. Other services use methods for presenting colors and graphics already built into their users' computers (and programs). Colors, graphics and sound are highly desirable in some applications, like online games and weather forecasts. But even where it is not important, there will always be many wanting it. To the professional on a fact-gathering mission, these features may give slower data transfer and problems when saving text to disk for later use. Therefore, many prefer ASCII text with no extras. Sports cars are nice, but for delivering furniture they're seldom any good. The same applies to the user interfaces. No one is perfect for all applications.

Level 6: The data transporters ——————————————— When the online service's host computer is far away, the user often faces the challenges of:

1. Noise on the line, which may result in unreadable text or
errors in the received material.
2. Expensive long distance calls

There are many alternatives to direct long distance calling. Some offers better quality data transfers and lower costs. The regional packet data services used to be a popular option. In Scandinavia, the offerings of the local PTTs are called Datapak. Similar services are offered in most countries, often by a national telephone monopoly. Competitively priced alternatives are appearing in many countries as national telecom monopolies are brought to an end. For example, Infonet, TRI-P, and i-Com compete successfully with former monopolies for transport of data to and from North America. The Internet is a global network serving millions of mailboxes. It provides very cost-efficient mail exchange with private and public networks throughout the world. IXI is a packet data network operated by European Research centers. DASnet offers transport of mail between mail systems that have no direct connection with each others. (More about this in Chapter 13.)

Level 7: The user ————————- This is you and me. Turn the page to the next chapter and read about how to use the online services.

Chapter 3: How to use the online services =========================================

The user interface refers to what you get on your computer screen and how, when you call an online service. It includes menus and help screens, and various options to tailor the service to your personal preferences.

Navigating by menus is simpler ——————————————— Most online services have menus to make them easier for novices to use. A typical menu looks like this:

R)ead messages
Q)uick search available messages
W)rite messages
C)omments to Sysop
D)ownload programs
?) for help
G)oodbye. This is enough!

Enter a letter (or ?) to select a function. Enter R to read
messages. There is hardly any need to read the documentation to
use this service.
CompuServe greets European users with this menu:

CompuServe Europe EUROPE

COMPUSERVE EUROPE MAIN MENU

1 About CompuServe 2 What's New 3 Member Assistance 4 Electronic Mail 5 Personal Computer Support 6 Company Information 7 Logon Instructions (Europe) 8 CompuServe Information Service (U.S.)

Enter '8' to get another menu:

CompuServe TOP

1 Member Assistance (FREE)
2 Find a Topic (FREE)
3 Communications/Bulletin Bds.
4 News/Weather/Sports
5 Travel
6 The Electronic MALL/Shopping
7 Money Matters/Markets
8 Entertainment/Games
9 Hobbies/Lifestyles/Education
10 Reference
11 Computers/Technology
12 Business/Other Interests

You can "go" to Associated Press' newswires or the section for home-schooling in the Education Forum by entering numbers listed in menus. The service is like a tree with menus by every set of branches. A code in the upper right-hand corner of each screen tells you exactly where you are. The last menu has the code 'TOP' meaning that this menu is at the 'top of the tree'. By each CompuServe system prompt, the command GO followed by a destination code will take you directly to a desired location. Enter GO IBMHW to go directly to the IBM Hardware Forum. The GO command will save you time and money. Similar codes and commands are used on several other online services. On many systems, the first menu encountered when logging on is a list of announcements and new offerings. The following is from GEnie, General Electric's Consumer Information Service (U.S.A.):

GEnie Announcements (FREE)

1. July 1991 GEnie Billing Completed. To review yours, type:….*BILL
2. Hot Summer Nights continues to SIZZLE…………………….*HSN
3. NEW…Quality Product and Amazing Value in………………..SOFTCLUB
4. LAST CHANCE—-Blue GEnie Sweatshirts……………………..*ORDER
5. Color hypermedia in Apple II world. HyperStudio RTC in……..A2
6. Meet the Product Manager, FREE RTC……………………….SFRT
7. "Future of Online Gaming" RTC with GEnie Game Designers in….MPGRT
8. A Revolutionary Credit Service - TRW CREDENTIALS…………..TRWCREDIT
9. 900 Numbers: Ripoff or Good Business Sense - RTC 8/11 9PM…..RADIO
10. Air Warrior Convention set for Sept.26-29. in Washington……AIR
11. SEARS Fall/Winter Catalog On-line NOW…………………….SEARS
12. How to Sell your CRAFTS for Profit……………………….HOSB
13. Stellar Warrior Campaign starts with a FREE weekend………..WARRIOR
14. Followup Investment RTC with Mickey Friedman in……………REAL ESTATE
15. Federation II, the adult space fantasy……………………FED

Enter #, elp, or to continue?

At the 'Enter #' prompt, enter '7' to go directly to the "Future of Online Gaming" conference (RTC=Round Table Conference). Enter H for Help, or press Return to get to the systems' main menu. You can "go" to selected services by entering a videotext page number code or a number (selected from the menu). Type 'mail' to get to your mailbox, 'backgammon' to play, or 'SEARS' to visit the online version of this North American shoppers' paradise. 'Mail' has page number 200. Enter 'm 200' to go there directly. To go to NewsBytes' technical news reports by subject, select "5" from menu page number 316. GEnie even has a faster way. Like some other services, it let you stack commands. Instead of issuing one command, and then wait for the system to respond before issuing the next command, stacking allows you to put all commands on one line. The command "m 316;5" will take you directly to choice 5 from the menu on page 316 without displaying intermediate menus. Many online services use the same template. They have commands like GO SERVICE-NAME, JOIN SERVICE-NAME (or just J), DELTA SERVICE- NAME, or just the code or name of the offering as in 'mail' and 'sears' above. Entering H or ? (for help) usually give you assistance. Few services are fussy about whether you use lower or capital letters in commands. On some services, and especially if a selection requires just a letter or a number, you don't even have to press return to make it happen. This method is used on many bulletin boards. Some codes are standard. This is particularly the case with "?", H, or Help for more information.

Test drive ————— Several commercial systems let you try the service for free or at lower rates. You can check what's out there without paying for the exploratory connect time, and get some free training in how to use the service. CompuServe's Practice Forum (GO PRACTICE) does not carry any connect charges, but applicable communication surcharges are still in effect. They also have a free 'Guided Tour'. Free trials are particularly useful before a search in an expensive database. Use DialIndex on Dialog. Orbit has DBIN (The database Index), and Data-Star has CROS. They are master indexes to the databases on the system. First, select a general subject area, then enter your search terms. The systems will respond with lists of databases and hit counts. Note: You must go to the 'real' databases for results. You cannot retrieve actual information during a test drive.

Selecting an expert level ————————————- Most services regard all new users as novices. The software designers assume that users don't want (or are unable) to read lengthy explanations. They think that most users prefer navigation by going from menu to menu. Commercial services may support this view for financial reasons, and especially when charging for access by the minute. (Some of them let you read their help screens for free, though.) Menus are important when browsing new offerings, or accessing services that we seldom use. Frequent users of a service, however, quickly learn how to do things. Menus may soon begin to annoy rather than please. Reading them costs money, and it slows our communications down. We do not need menus when accessing online services in fully automated mode. Your communications program remembers exactly what to do, and does all the typing for you. There is no point in paying extra for having menus. You'll not read them anyway. The objective is to access the service at maximum speed and the lowest possible cost. Most online services can be tailored to your personal needs and preferences. Many let you choose between:

* Full menus
* Short menus
* A prompt line with a list of the most often used
commands,
* a prompt character or word (see "prompt" in appendix 4
for examples). Prompts can be used by automatic
communication script files to trigger the next action.

If concerned about costs, note that you can use expert mode without being a true expert. Just print the menus, and keep them by your keyboard while moving around. Some users draw 'road maps' of the services to navigate more quickly. Others automate the process using automatic communications scripts.

Tailoring your services ———————————- The need to tailor the online service's prompts and menus differs considerably from user to user, as they use all kinds of computers for communication. Some screens are large. Other screens can only display a few lines of text at a time. One user of my BBS even used a Hewlett Packard pocket calculator with a tiny, tiny screen. Many online services allow you to tailor the way information is sent to you. If you are satisfied with how things are, skip the next couple of pages and read from "Connecting the first time." If curious of your options, read on for a somewhat brief and technical overview. Besides a selection of various types of menus, you can usually also set the following preferences:

* What menu is to be the first, when you access the service?
* The first menu is to be a tailored menu containing your
favorite offerings, and nothing else.
* Colors, graphics, or no colors/graphics.
* Preferred file transfer protocol (to avoid a question each
time you want to transfer a file).
* Desired terminal emulator, like TTY, VT-100 or VT-52.
* CAPITAL LETTERS or Mixed Case.
* What ASCII character code to use for the DELETE function.
* How many spaces to insert when expanding TABs in your mail.
* Number of lines per screen (for example, 24 on an IBM PC, or
eight on a TRS-80 Model 100. Whether scrolling is to pause
after each screenful or not.)
* Number of characters per line (for example, 80 lines on a PC,
or 40 on a TRS-80 Model 100.
* If the linefeed character is to be sent or not.
* If blank lines are to be sent.
* Whether the service is to check when you log on to see if
you're using special software (as in 'Inquire for VIDTEX' on
CompuServe).
* The use of 'echo'. Is the service to return the characters
that you enter on your keyboard?
* Use of delay when sending linefeeds. (Useful if capturing
text to a dumb printing terminal. If text scrolls too fast
for the printer, you risk losing some of it.)
* Choice of prompt character, or prompt text string. This is
useful when communicating by script files. On CompuServe, I
have asked the system to add the BackSpace character (ASCII
character number 8) to the end of all forum prompts. Since
this character is rarely found in messages or other texts,
I can safely let scripts depend on this prompt character for
unattended communication.

Displaying information on the screen —————————————————— An 'A' is not an 'A' no matter what service you use. If you call Tocolo BBS in Japan (Tel.: +81-3-205-9315. 1200 bps, 8,N,1.) with a non-Japanese MS-DOS computer, chances are that the welcome text will look like this:

*———————————————————————————————* * D0:[ BBS (<^/9] 7.8) * * 62>] =3 —-> 3 (@^2K.3 03-205-9315) * * 3]V3 <^6] —-> 24 <^6] 6D^3 C=D A-3 * * (Wed 9:00-17:00 J R]C I @R 5T=P C^=) * *———————————————————————————————*

You'll need a Japanese ROM (Read-Only Memory) in your computer, a special graphics program, or a Japanese language operating system to have the Kanji characters displayed properly on your screen. The characters that you see on your computer's screen are based on a code. The computer finds the characters to display from a table built into your system's hardware or software. Most personal computers can be preset to use various tables depending on your needs. When communicating in English, you may want it to show Latin characters. When writing in Japanese, you may want it to display Kanji characters. Those writing in Norwegian, often want to use the special Scandinavian characters . If the first two of these Nordic characters read like the symbols for Yen and Cent, you're not set up for Scandinavian characters. If your system is set up correctly, they should look like an 'o' and an 'O' overwritten by a '/'. The code telling your computer what to display, may also contain information about where to put characters and what colors to use. Thus, an online service may order your computer to display a given character in column 10 on line 2, and to print it in blinking red color. If you're not set up correctly, these codes may show as garbage on your screen rather than as a colorful character in a given position. If you call a service set to display text in VT-52 format, and your communications program is set accordingly, then you should be OK. VT-52 is a setup that makes a program or a service 'behave' like a DEC VT-52 terminal. Being able to view VT-52 coded text on your screen, does not guarantee that you can capture this 'picture' to a file on your disk. Your communications program may need special features to do that. If these features are missing, you are in for a surprise. The text in your capture file may look like in this example (it came on a single, long line on my computer):

—————————————————————————————————— *H*J*Y"4 Innhold*Y%> *Y&4Emneoversikt 1 Brukerprofil 6*Y)4Stikkord A-] 2 Bruker- *Y*4 veiledning 7*Y,4Informasjons- *Y- 4leverand|rer A-] 3 Teledatanytt*Y.W 8*Y04Personlig indeks 4*Y2H *Y34Meldingstjenesten 5 Avslutte 9*Y64 ]pningsside *00# *Y 4TELEDATA 880823-1538*Y74 NTA01-00a*Y74 *Y74*Y74

——————————————————————————————————

The character '*' in this example refers to the ESCape character (ASCII number 27). ESC is used to tell your computer that what follows is a VT-52 display command. The codes following the ESC say where text is to be printed on your screen (from line number x and column number y). If your communications program cannot save VT-52 coded text in a readable way, you'll need auxiliary programs to remove or convert the codes. Some communication programs let you take snapshots of the screen, and store the result in a file. This usually gives good results, but it may be a cumbersome approach. Prestel (British Telecom, England) belongs to a group of online services called videotex (or viewdata). Minitel (in France and the U.S.), Alex (Canada), and Prodigy (U.S.A.) are also in this group. They believe that beautiful color graphics, large characters, and menus give them a competitive advantage. CompuServe is often called a videotex service because of its emphasis on menus. However, most call it 'ASCII videotex' as it is not depending on special display formats. Their philosophy is that 'plain text' is required to attract many users across hardware platforms. The viewdata services use graphical display standards with names like Prestel, CEPT, Captain (Character and Pattern Telephone Access Information Network System, in Japan), Telidon (Canada), Minitel, Teletel (France), GIF (the Graphics Interchange Format), Viewdata, and NAPLPS (The North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax). You often need special terminal machines to use some viewdata services. On other services, you must use special software plus an emulator card in your computer. Users of the communications program Procomm Plus can buy a Viewdata module for conversion of Prestel videotex text to plain ASCII, i.e., plain text without imbedded special codes. Many MS-DOS based bulletin boards let you set access defaults to colors and graphics. Most of them use ANSI graphics in welcome texts and menus. Users of Procomm must set their program to ANSI BBS to take advantage. Capture these welcome texts and menus to a file on your hard disk, and view them with an editor. They are filled with ANSI escape codes, and thus hard to read (and search). The good news is that conference and forum mail only rarely contains such codes. Many users routinely keep captured online information on their hard disks for later reference. If this is your intention, make sure that text is sent to you in plain ASCII, or TTY mode.

TTY sends one line at a time, and only uses the codes TAB,
BackSpace, Carriage Return and LineFeed during the transfer.
The rest is 'plain text'.

Most online services offer TTY format. You can use the setting almost everywhere. Even the videotex service Prestel offers an option called 'TTY Teletype'. If 'TTY' or 'ASCII' is not on your online services' list of options, try 'Others' or 'Other computers'. These settings usually identify your computer as unable to handle 'standard' colors, sound and graphics. Viewdata pages may provide "selling pictures," but the screens often have a low contents of information compared with TTY-based services. They are therefore not my favorite services for news in full-text. In other applications, like games, colorful graphics are a definite advantage.

Connecting the first time ————————————- If you have unlimited financial resources, go ahead and call up services all over the world. Learning by doing is exciting. If resources are limited, start by reading user information manual. Or, go online to capture key menus and help texts. Print them out on paper for further study before going online again for a 'real' visit. I always hurry slowly during my first visits to a new online service. I call up, capture information about how to use it, and disconnect. It may take me days to study the material. My objective is to find what the service has to offer in order to plan how to use it most efficiently. The first important command to look up is the logoff command. There is nothing more frustrating than entering "bye" only to get an error message. If lost, try "quit", "exit", "logoff", "off" and "G", in the hope of finding the correct command. These are the most usual variations. You should also try HELP or "?". If you really can't figure out how to get off a system, just hang up on it. Be careful, though. Some systems will continue to charge for a period, even after you have disconnected by hanging up. One of the first things that I do, is set my options to expert status, though I am obviously an amateur at this stage. Often, I also start automating the process during my first visits. I write script files for automatic access and quick navigation to key offerings. Another good strategy is to look for automated offline readers or systems (see Chapter 16 for details). Others prefer paper and pencil. They write a list of required commands on a piece of paper, like this:

Call 0165
At CONNECT: ENTER @SP ENTER
At the NUI prompt: Nxxxxxppppp-a170041
At Enter 'dix' and : dix
At — More —: ENTER
At Your name: Odd de Presno
At Password: hemmelig
At What do you want to do:
- when no unread mail goodbye
- when mail to read ENTER

Put the list by your keyboard before calling the service. Follow it carefully. After a while you may remember the procedure, and can throw away your notes.

Good luck!

Chapter 4: Hobby, games and fun ===============================

* Programs, game and fun
Online adventure games. The virus threat.
* Hobbies. Holiday travels. Collecting stamps or coins.
Roots, music, and online shopping.

Online services have one thing in common with newspapers, magazines and books. What they offer, varies from provider to provider. The next chapters will focus on the contents of the offerings. Appendix 1 has details about how to access the major service providers. Small online services often have interesting offerings in specialized areas, and especially when they are based on local phenomena or events. They tend to be more personal. They often present their 'wares' in a local language, and offer very large collections of free software. The large online services have hundreds of thousands of users. The activity is often high. They usually attract interesting (and competent) participants to their conferences and forums, have more programs available for download and more news sources and databases to search. They generally give you a wider choice. We will focus on the large international services. These are available from anywhere without too much effort, and using them comes surprisingly cheap. Therefore, please remember that this book just covers the top of the iceberg. Cheaper services may be found elsewhere, and they may even be better tuned to your particular areas of interest.

Locating game software ——————————— The fastest, easiest and cheapest is to call an online service to download game programs. You'll find an overwhelming number of programs for all types of microcomputers. Many games are free. We call them "Public Domain" or "Freeware" programs. Others are distributed free. You do not have to pay to get them and try them out. If you want to use them, however, the copyright owner expects you to pay a fee. We call them "shareware" or "user supported" programs. When the game has been transferred to your personal computer, you can play without worries about communications costs, or the busy signal on your phone line. My favorite game is shareware. The name is Arachnid. It is an MS Windows solitaire game (patience) made by SP Services, P.O. Box 456, Southampton, SO9 7XG, England. The desired registration fee is UKP 15.00 (English pounds). You can download the program from my board as WINCARD.EXE. The file is 106 kilobytes large. WINCARD.EXE is a special distribution file, which contains three games and all supporting files. The EXE extension may fool you into thinking that it is a program, and in a way it is. The file is a self-extract file, meaning that you just enter "WINCARD" on an MS-DOS computer to extract the game files from the "package." Games are usually distributed in such distribution files. All files used by a game (or several games) is put into one file by special software, and compressed in size. This makes retrieval of programs easier and cheaper. You do not have to download many related files individually. The transfer takes less time. (Read about how to extract programs from distribution files in appendix 3). You will find some of the largest collections of games on the North American services CompuServe and EXEC-PC BBS. You will also find many throughout the Internet.

| TRICKLE is a large collection of public domain and shareware | | programs for MS-DOS, CPM, and other computers. For information | | about how to use TRICKLE, send a message through Internet to | | | | LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU | | | | In the TEXT of the message write | | | | /pdget pd:simtel20.inf | | | | An information file will be sent to your electronic mailbox. | | (Read the chapter about electronic mail and appendix 1 for | | more information.) | | | | If TRICKLE is not enough, try Archie. It is the Internet | | archive server listing service. The Archie database maintains | | a list of roughly 1.5 million files containing 100 Giga- | | bytes (that is, 100,000,000,000 bytes) of information | | available from over 800 anonymous FTP archive sites. | | You can search this database by email to find where files | | are located. Some Archie systems maintain a list of libraries | | all over the world, while others concentrate on a more limited | | geographical area. | | Once Archie has told you where desired programs and files | | are located, you can retrieve them by telnet, anonymous FTP, | | of FTPmail. Read "File transfers through the Internet" in | | chapter 12 for details. | | For information about using Archie, send mail to one of the| | following addresses (see appendix 4 for more options): | | | | archie@cs.mcgill.ca (Canada) | | archie@nic.funet.fi (Finland) | | archie@plaza.aarnet.edu.au (Australia) | | | | Put the word HELP in the body of the mail | | | | Getting programs by email is a three-step process: | | (1) Use Archie to find file names and where they are stored, | | (2) Send a message to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com to have them | | retrieved and forwarded to you by email, and | | (3) Use a utility program to convert the file to a useful | | format. (See chapter 12.) | | | | Check out JVArcServ for an Archie-alike service on FidoNet. |

Chances are that online services in your area also have many programs to offer. Most free bulletin boards have more software than you'll ever get around to try. Usually, there is a natural specialization between boards. Those using the Unix operating system, have the largest number of programs for such machines. Those running on MS-DOS computers, have more programs for such computers. Some games are trite and bad. Others are brilliant. There are ladder games, games challenging your responses (racer car driving, flight control, war games, subsea games), electronic versions of traditional games like Backgammon, Yatzy, chess and bridge, educational games (geography, mathematics and history), puzzles, fractal programs (drawing beautiful pictures on your screen), psychological tests, text-based adventure games, and other strange and funny creations. Here is something for any taste or belief. If you want to get rich in a hurry, pick programs that increase chances of winning horse race bets, or other "real world" money winning games. If you're into beautiful girls, fill your hard disk with picture files in GIF, PCX or other graphics formats. (Sorry ladies, there are not many pictures of naked boys around.) You'll also find software that will display the pictures that you just retrieved. Keen users of the more popular games often want to swap tricks and discuss experiences: Super Nintendo players regularly meet on the SNES mailing list (on SNES@spcvxa.spc.edu). To join, send your subscription request to: SNES-Request@spcvxa.spc.edu . For chess, try the Chess Discussion List (CHESS- L@GREARN.BITNET) unless Chinese Chess (on XIANGQI@INDYCMS.BITNET) is what you're looking for. CompuServe has a Chess forum (GO CHESSFORUM) with message sections called: Chess Basics, Theory & Analysis, News Wire, Hardware/Software, Casual Games, Electronic Knights, Oriental/Variants, Tourneys (Open), USCF Rated Games, Team Play, and Time Out. Usenet excels when it comes to games:

rec.gambling Articles on games of chance & betting. rec.games.board Discussion and hints on board games. rec.games.board.ce The Cosmic Encounter board game. rec.games.bridge Hobbyists interested in bridge. rec.games.chess Chess & computer chess. rec.games.design Discussion of game design related issues. rec.games.empire Discussion and hints about Empire. rec.games.frp Discussion about Role Playing games. rec.games.go Discussion about Go. rec.games.hack Discussion, hints, etc. about the Hack game. rec.games.misc Games and computer games. rec.games.moria Comments, hints, and info about the Moria game. rec.games.mud Various aspects of multi-users computer games. rec.games.pbm Discussion about Play by Mail games. rec.games.pinball Discussing pinball-related issues. rec.games.programmer Discussion of adventure game programming. rec.games.rogue Discussion and hints about Rogue. rec.games.trivia Discussion about trivia. rec.games.video Discussion about video games. rec.games.video.arcade Discussions about coin-operated video games.

With so many games and programs around, it is difficult to stay current about new programs and new versions of old ones. Consider subscribing to the MS-DOS Archive Additions (one-way) information service. Internet MS-DOS archive managers use it to announce new additions to their collections. To subscribe, send a message to LISTSERV@TACOM-EMH1.Army.Mil with this command in the body of the message:

subscribe msdos-ann

These announcements are also posted to the Usenet newsgroup called comp.archives.msdos.announce .

| It is probably easier for you to relate to references like | | "rec.games.video on Usenet," than to XIANGQI@INDYCMS.BITNET. | | References to BITNET mailing lists are made in various ways | | throughout the book, just as it is online. This is the basic | | rule: | | | | All BITNET mailing lists are 'managed' by a LISTSERV program, | | which handles all subscription requests. When you read a | | reference like XIANGQI@INDYCMS.BITNET, then that means that | | a subscription request must be set to the LISTSERV at the | | INDYCMS computer on BITNET. Mail to the forum, however, must | | be sent to XIANGQI@INDYCMS.BITNET to be forwarded to the | | other members. | | | | For more information about these strange address codes, and | | how to use them, read about BITNET in appendix 1. You may | | find it useful to read about email addresses in Chapter 7. | | | | All BITNET mailing lists can be used by email through the | | Internet. Several BITNET hosts also have Internet addresses. | | Example: LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET can also be reached as | | LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu . When dual addresses are given, | | Internet users should use the Internet address, while BITNET | | users should use the BITNET address. | | | | Note: In cases where a BITNET mailing list has dual addresses, | | we have usually given the Internet address. If you are on | | BITNET, and using these addresses are difficult or impossible, | | ask your local postmaster for help. |

Computer viruses ———————— Few online users ever live to see or experience a computer virus, but they do exist. So, read this: A virus is a small, hidden computer program that can cause the loss or alteration of programs or data, and can compromise their confidentiality. It can spread from program to program, and from system to system, without direct human intervention.

The chance of your computer being infected is small, but you're never safe. Therefore, download a program for virus detection and identification, like VIRUSSCAN from McAffee Associates, 4423 Cheeney Street, Santa Clara, CA 95054-0253, U.S.A. They also have virus disinfection programs (for MS-DOS computers). For more about viruses, subscribe to VIRUS-L@LEHIGH.EDU. CompuServe has the Mac New Users Forum (with a a Virus Clinic section), the McAfee Virus Help Forum, the Symantec AntiVirus Forum, and more. FidoNet has a VIRUS echo. ILINK has VIRUS-I. Usenet has bit.listserv.valert-l (Virus Alert List), and comp.virus .

Online games —————— If you're into games, why not investigate online adventure games? There are many alternatives. Prestel (England) offers TRASH, an environmental multi-user game with a futuristic theme and full of humor. Up to 64 persons can play simultaneously. " …Callers play out the role of pandimensional refuse disposal officers, whose primary aim in life is to clean up the multiverse, as the Trash environment is called." "With a diverse range of 'psionic powers', which vary from the nasty (pyrokinesis) to the gentle (faith healing), at their command, Trash players roam across dimensions and universes, completing various tasks." Bulletin boards throughout the world invite you to role playing games. Some have graphics, music and sound effects. Dungeons & Dragons is a popular choice. On EXEC-PC, play Startrek. Select an identity and "play it out" according to its character. If you're a real afficionado, check out rec.arts.startrek.info on Usenet or the list RASI-L@ncc1701e.uucp (write LISTSERV@ncc1701e.uucp to subscribe). Advanced players swap tricks on STARGAME@PCCVM.BITNET. On many BBSes, MUD is a most popular game.

| Multi-User Dungeons (MUD) is a structured and user-modifiable | | online environment, which allows users not only to interact | | with each other, but to do role-playing, build and furnish | | living areas and interaction areas, extend and create the | | interactive "space" and the rules for using that space. |

Popular choices on CompuServe are strategy games like The Island of
Kesmai and Megawars. One game can last for weeks at a time. On CIX
(England), many prefer the multi-user dungeon game DiscWorld.
If you prefer sport fantasies in the armchair, check out GEnie.
They offer Rotisserie League Baseball. Decide what team player to
be, and join in a match of American baseball.
Nintendo offers online games through the Famicom Networks in
Japan and the U.S. Your PC must have a special graphics card to
play games like GO and Shogi, a Japanese game of chess.

Chat —— Chat, or "keyboard talking," is a popular attraction, and in particular on the large online services. Your first attempt will probably be a strange experience. When may people talk simultaneously in chat mode, incoherent sentences seem to fly over your computer screen. It takes some training to be able to read what each of them is saying. CompuServe's Citizen Band Simulator (GO CB) is an electronic version of the hams' short-wave radio. It has 72 CB Simulator channels. You can chat with anonymous members, have fun and find new keypals. On EXEC-PC's Chat and Entertainment System up to 64 users can talk simultaneously. GEnie calls their service Livewire CB. On BIX, look for CBIX. Some users are serious about chatting. Several large companies are heavy users. Although this kind of talking is a slow process, it has advantages. It is easy to document the discussion. People from places geographically far apart can meet at a low cost to discuss. Some online services charge less for chats than for other services.

My hobby ———— There are online forums for most hobbies: collection of stamps and coins, genealogy, music, holiday travels, skiing, purchase of consumer electronics, video, filming, and more. Those you meet in the clubs share your interests. They come to exchange information and experiences, to listen, swap stamps or coins, participate in club auctions, and exploit favorable group discounts when buying things for their hobby. In these clubs, the main attraction is the open messages that people write to each other. Many clubs also have libraries filled with special software (like data base programs for collectors) and information files. Coins (on Coins@rocky.er.usgs.gov) is a forum for discussion of Numismatics, the study of coins, American and International. Paper currency is also a welcome topic, but trading is not allowed. To subscribe, send a message to robert@whiplash.er.usgs.gov .

Music ——- ILINK, an international exchange of conferences between bulletin boards, has a forum for country music lovers. It presents itself in these words:

COUNTRY MUSIC
Country & Western music including bluegrass and other related
forms. Discussion of artists, techniques, instruments &
musicians. Host: John Stewart

One oasis of civility in the BBS maelstrom is the 150-board ILINK network — recently renamed from InterLink. Unlike most BBS networks, ILINK carefully evaluates each board before permitting membership. "We are very selective — some say overly selective," says ILINK's international host Andy Keeves. Choosiness keeps ILINK small but upholds the decorum of its message bases.

Usenet has rec.music.country.western . FidoNet has 60S_70S_PROGROCK about the progressive rock music of the 60's and 70's, gospel music in CHR_GSPL_MUSIC, a club for selling and buying between musicians (MUSICIAN'S_SERVICES), and (MUSIC_COMP_101) for aspiring composers. CompuServe has a bunch of forums. Check out the Music/MIDI sections in the Amiga and Atari ST Arts forums. The latter is a full Music/MIDI forum. The Coin/Stamp/Collectibles Forum has a section for music collectors. CompuServe's RockNet forum has the following structure:

Available message sections: Available file libraries:
0 General/Misc. 0 General Misc
1 Rock Music 1 Rock Music
2 Rock Radio 2 Rock Radio
3 Reviews/LK 3 Reviews
4 Q&A/Help 4 Q&A/Help
5 Rock Film & Video 5 Rock Film & Video
6 RockLetters 6 RockLetters
7 Trends 7 Trends
8 Heavy Metal 8 Heavy Metal
9 Old Wave 9 Old Wave
10 New Music 10 New Music
11 CD Hotline 11 Compact Discs
12 Green, Village 12 Graphics/Programs

You can tailor your visits to RockNet to your personal interests. If you're into Heavy Metal, limit your readings of messages to those in section 8, and possibly 3 and 7. The Music and Performing Arts Forum (GO MUSICARTS) is another interesting place on CompuServe. Converse with fellow music fans about on topics like classical, jazz/blues, Big Band, country/folk and religious music, ballet/dance, drama and more. MIDI is discussed on several bulletin boards, including in conferences distributed by RelayNet. Classical music forums can be found on most larger services. Try CLASSM-L on LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET. For jazz, try the ILINK conference JAZZ, rec.music.bluenote on Usenet, MILES on LISTSERV@HEARN.NIC.SURFNET.NL (about Miles Davis), or BLUES-L at LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU . Another jazz oriented list, SATURN on LISTSERV@HEARN.BITNET, is for discussing the free-jazz big band leader, Sun Ra. Network-Audio-Bits is an electronic magazine bringing reviews and information about rock, pop, new age, jazz, funk, folk music and other genres. (Write Murph@Maine.BITNET to join.) The Music Newsletter offers reviews and interviews. Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@VM.MARIST.EDU using the command "SUBSCRIBE UPNEWS Your-full-name."

| On BITNET mailing lists, you subscribe by using the command | | "SUB Your-full-name" in the body of your | | email. | | | | There are also mailing lists on Unix workstations, PCs, and | | microVaxen. These may require that you write the subscribe | | command in full ('SUBSCRIBE'), or use other commands. |

To get the "Music List of Lists," an overview of music oriented mailing lists, send email to mlol-request@wariat.org . GRIND (write grind-request@unh.edu) focuses on discussions about grindcore/death metal/heavy thrash music. PRIMUS is about the funk/rock band Primus (write to primus-request@unh.edu). KLARINET (on LISTSERV@VCCSCENT.BITNET) is a network bringing news, information, research and teaching items of interest, and other related information for clarinet players, teachers, students, and enthusiasts. "Backstreets" on UUCP is for those who love the music of Bruce Springsteen (backstreets-request@virginia.edu). "Eclipse" (eclipse- request@beach.cis.ufl.edu) focuses on Pink Floyd and his music. If a fan of Jimi Hendrix, join "hey-joe" (hey-joe-request@ms.uky.edu). In "brass," the topic is brass band music (write to brass- request@geomag.gly.fsu.edu for access). "J-Pop" (jpop-request@wystan.bsd.uchicago.edu via UUCP) has discussions about Japanese pop/rock of today.

Wine and food ——————- Some people would rather fill their stomachs than their ears. They call CompuServe for the Cooks Online forum (for gourmets) and the Bacchus Wine Forum (for their throats). BITNET has the mailing list "Eat" (EAT-L@VTVM2), a club for FoodLore/Recipe Exchange. In J-FOOD-L (J-FOOD-L@JPNKNU10 on BITNET) they discuss Japanese food and culture. If your interest is more academic, subscribe to FOODWINE (on LISTSERV@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU). It is for those seriously interested in the academic study of food and its accompaniments in the 1990's, including a variety of disciplines, such as marketing, communications, hospitality, consumer affairs, hotel and catering management. Usenet has rec.food.cooking, rec.food.recipes, rec.food.drink, rec.food.restaurants, and rec.food.veg for vegetarians. On FidoNet, check out INTERCOOK for words of wisdom on International Cooking. On ILINK and RelayNet, look for CUISINE. That is where we found the following recipe for Mexican Meatloaf:

2 lb Ground Beef
1 ea Bell Pepper, Diced
10 1/2 oz Cream Chicken Soup
10 oz Cheddar Cheese
4 oz Green Chilies, Diced
1 ea Onion, Chopped
8 oz Taco Sauce
1 pk Tortillas
4 oz Mushrooms (fresh optional)
2 ea Jalapen"'s (to taste)

1. Brown ground beef and drain.
2. Mix onions, green peppers, mushrooms, green CHILIES, taco
sauce, jalapen"'s and cream chicken soup into skillet with
ground beef.
3. Simmer until vegetables are soft.
4. Shred cheddar cheese.
5. In crock pot or dish, layer meat mixture, cheese, and
tortillas; heat until cheese melts.

Bon apetit!

Outdoor life
——————
CompuServe's Great Outdoors SIG is for those preferring nature for
the computer screen. Its sections are called:

General/Photography, Scouting, Power Boating, TROUT UNLIMITED,
Fishing, Hunting, Cycling, AUDUBON/Birding, Canoe/Kayak/Raft,
Camp/Hike/Walk/RV, Snow Sports/Climb, OWAA, CIS/Computers,
Firearms, NRA, Environmnt/Wildlife, OUTDOOR LIFE mag.

If you dream of visiting Alaska to hunt, fish and explore the wilderness by canoe, then this is the place. Add the Outdoor Cooking section of the Cooks Online Forum to make it perfect. Scandinavian bulletin boards exchange the "JAKT_FRILUFT" conference (Through MIX). ILINK offers OUTDOORS, which focuses on outdoor hobbies. As usual, Usenet has a lot. These are some examples:

rec.aviation Aviation rules, means, and methods.
rec.backcountry Activities in the Great Outdoors.
rec.bicycles Bicycles, related products and laws.
rec.birds Hobbyists interested in bird watching.
rec.boats Hobbyists interested in boating.
rec.boats.paddle Talk about any boats with oars, paddles,
etc.
rec.climbing Climbing techniques, competition
announcements, etc.

Scouts participate in SCOUTER on FidoNet (International SCOUTING Conference) and SCOUTS-L (SCOUTS-L@NDSUVM1) on BITNET. Golfers meet in GOLF-L (on LISTSERV@ubvm.bitnet). Photo enthusiasts will track down PHOTO-L@BUACCA.BITNET, CompuServe's Photography Forum and its SCUBA Forum's sections for underwater photography. For more, there's "Photography" on EXEC-PC and The Well, PHOTO on RelayNet, PHOTOSIG on ILINK and rec.photo on Usenet. If you're into 3-d (stereo) photography, enroll in "3d" on UUCP:

Contact: 3d-request@bfmny0.bfm.com (Tom Neff) Purpose: Discussion of 3-D (stereo) photography. General info, hints, experiences, equipment, techniques, and stereo "happenings." Anyone interested is welcome to join.

There are clubs for all popular outdoor hobbies.

Roots ——- On ROOTS-L@NDSUVM1.BITNET and soc.roots on Usenet, the emphasis is on genealogy. Here, you'll get tips about tools and techniques. You can exchange information about ancestors and find new friends and partners for joint research. On CompuServe, it is called The Genealogy Forum. One message section is called Overseas Ancestry. Remember to check out the Family History Library, a newsletter bringing news from the library for genealogical research in Salt Lake City, U.S.A. (stored in Library 10.) The North American bulletin boards ROOTS-BBS (San Francisco) and THE FAMILY ROOTS (Oklahoma) are connected to FidoNet. GEnie has the Genealogy Knowledgebase. FidoNet has

GENDATA Genealogy Database
GENEALOGY:_WGW Who's Got What (WGW) Data Base
GENSOFT Genealogy software
SE_GENEALOGY South Eastern US Genealogy Conference

Since FidoNet has links all over the world, these conferences can give contacts in countries that you might otherwise have problems in reaching. On most of these services, you'll find interesting genealogy programs and files with practical hints about how to write a book about your family.

Him and Her —————- Members of the female sex have their favorite meeting places, like Cleopatra on Bergen By Byte. Men do not have admission. Usenet has soc.feminism. Those with limited access to Usenet, may subscribe to "feminism-digest." Send email to feminism- digest@ncar.ucar.edu to get on the mailing list.

"Contact feminism-digest@ncar.ucar.edu" above means that you need to write a message to this Internet email address with a subscription request, or to receive further information about how to join. This mailing list does not have automatic subscriptions.

To join the mailing list "feminists," write Patricia Collins on collins@hplabs.hp.com . She presents the conference's purpose in this way:

The feminist mailing list is intended to provide a forum for discussion of issues of interest to women, in a friendly atmosphere. The basic tenets of feminism and the day-to-day experiences of women do not have to be explained or defended. Men and women can join, but everyone requesting to be added to the mailing list MUST provide the moderator with: (1) a full name; (2) a complete UUCP path to a well-known host or a fully specified Internet address; (3) the correspondent's gender (for records and statistics only). NO exceptions.

While we're at it, let's move on to other topics associated with the term sex: Bisexuals can participate in "sappho" on UUCP. Contact sappho-request@mc.lcs.mit.edu. On BITNET, you'll find BIFEM-L (BIFEM-L@BROWNVM), BISEXU-L (BISEXU-L@BROWNVM) and others. Spanish speaking users can subscribe to ARENAL (Lista de discussion para hispanos/as que desean acabar con la homofobia). Subscribe by email to LISTSERV@LUT.FI . Usenet has tons of it: soc.motss, alt.politics.homosexuality, alt.sex.bestiality, alt.sex, alt.sex.bondage, alt.sex.pictures.d, clari.news.group.gays, alt.sex.pictures, alt.sex.motss, clari.feature.kinsey (Sex Q&A and Advice from Kinsey Institute), clari.news.law.crime.sex and clari.news.sex. Conferences called "SEXUALITY" are alive on FidoNet and The Well. CompuServe has a Human Sexuality Adult Forum and a Human Sexuality Open Forum. STOPRAPE@BROWNVM.BITNET is a Sexual Assault Activist List. Finally, there are a large number of pictures of nudes in all possible and impossible positions. Most of them are childish, some are decidedly pornographic, a few are beautiful and erotic. The online services' policies vary about what kind of pictures and picture programs to make available. The larger the service, the more conservative they tend to be.

Programs for hobbyists ——————————— It's no rule that a service need to have a conference about a hobby, to have interesting programs available for downloading. Programs float around from service to service much easier than conference items. Still, the best programs for a given hobby are normally found on services where hobbyists meet to discuss. You will find:

Chess and bridge programs,
Morse code training programs for ham amateurs,
Astrology programs,
Data base systems for keeping track of music cassettes or
records, video cassettes, books, stamps, coins, etc.
Information systems for wine lovers,
Recipe programs (tell me what you've got, and I'll tell
you what you can make), and much more.

Online shopping ———————- You can buy almost anything online: video cameras, books, music, Bonsai plants, golf equipment, canned cakes from Gimmee Jimmy's Cookies, Levi's trousers for men, computer equipment, a four-door Nissan Pathfinder SE-V6 car, and air tickets for Mexico. Shoppers who let their modem do the "walking" are already a few steps ahead of people Still stuck shopping the old-fashioned way. Experienced online shoppers know that you can tap a world of stores without ever leaving your keyboard, and that you can browse and buy with very little effort. Some services present their wares "for your information only." It's like reading newspaper ads. You must contact the seller to buy. Other services have large online supermarkets with many stores, and you can by while you visit. Subscribers to CompuServe get a monthly magazine by mail. "Go Mall Shoppers' Guide" is a regular insert with color photos and descriptions of selected products. Type GO MALL, order a product, enter your credit card number, and have it sent you by mail. What if used goods are good enough? ILINK, the international conference exchange system, has GARAGESALE. Here you can buy and sell for hobby or home: Photo, video, audio, sound/music and midi equipment, and all kinds of other domestic items. ILINK also has a conference called BUY-SELL. HAM-SALE on the FidoNet is for ham amateurs wanting to swap, by or sell. The American computer magazine PC Week is operating a Buyer's Forum on CompuServe. UUCP's "muscle-cars" is where "muscle car" enthusiasts offer advice, share problems and solutions, discuss technical issues, racing, buying or selling parts, cars, or services, or just discuss cars and swap stories with others. (Contact: muscle-cars- request@sorinc.PacBell.COM). Similar experiences are waiting for you in "BMW" (Write: bmw- request@sol.crd.ge.com), "british-cars" (Write: british-cars- request@encore.com), "italian-cars" (Write: italian-cars- request@sol.crd.ge.com) and "Z-cars" (the topic is Z-cars from Datsun/Nissan. Write: rsiatl!z-car-request). Vintage VW (at VintageVW@rocky.er.usgs.gov) is about Vintage Volkswagens. This includes the Beetle, Bus (Types II and II/IV), Ghia, Squareback, Kubelwagen (Thing), bajas, buggies, Schwimmwagen, rails and any VW (air-cooled) powered vehicle including aircraft. Beginners, gurus, mechanics and non-mechanics, restorers and daily drivers are welcomed. This is where you can discuss how-to stuff, parts availability, answer mechanical questions, list show dates, swap meets, club addresses, favorite stories, etc. To subscribe, send a message to robert@whiplash.er.usgs.gov . The newsletter NEWSBYTES brings you regular reports about prices on used computers from The Boston Computer Exchange (BOCO). The newsletter is available through GEnie, ZiffNet on CompuServe, NewsNet, Dialog, and others. ZiffNet also offers the Computer Directory, an online encyclopedia with information about more than 75,000 hardware and software products sold in North America (1993). The data base is updated monthly.

Planning your holidays ——————————— CompuServe invites you to read reviews of theater performances, books, movies and restaurants, opera, symphonies, ballets, dance, museums and art galleries. They have information about airline schedules and prices, hotels and the latest ski weather forecast. Televerket's Datatorg in Norway offers air tickets and hotel reservations through SMART LINK, a self-serve system operated by the Norwegian travel agencies. Entertainment and travel are also popular on Prestel. Most British tour operators have an "office" there. Several international services, including CompuServe and Dow Jones News/Retrieval, offer OAG (The Official Airline Guide) and Eaasy Sabre (the American Airlines reservation system). Worldscan/Travel shopper is on CompuServe and Delphi. The Travel Forum on CompuServe administers a member travel discount program. Download HOTEL.SAV in Library 0 for information about lower rates on hotel room and car-rental rates. It's often possible to book hotel rooms and rent cars online. Travelshopper has a built-in hotel guide, searchable by city around the world. OAG has a database of over 40,000 hotels worldwide (1992). It has the AA Rated European Hotels & Restaurants menu, which covers trips from Andorra to Yugoslavia. Accu-Weather provides three-day weather forecasts for 450 cities worldwide, updated hourly. Travel agents are also operative through the Internet. One alternative is at TRAVEL@delphi.com . Telnet lib.dartmouth.edu for a World Factbook on countries. Is this your first visit to Japan? Why not prepare your visit through the online service TWICS in Tokyo. It presents itself like this:

"Japan is an island nation, full of communities in villages,
towns, and cities squeezed in between the mountains and the sea,
with ports of various sizes and shapes through which communication
flows between communities.

Our own online community is organized in the same terms, an
island community "BEEJIMA" (Bee Island), with our village
("MURA"), a port ("MINATO"), and our very own volcanic mountain
("YAMA").

In the village, there is a village office ("YAKUBA"), a community meeting place ("YORIAI"), a high-tech corner ("AKIHABARA") named after the famous electronics district in Tokyo, a health center ("EMEDICA"), a place to hang around and read things ("HON YA"), a school ("GAKKOU"), and a market ("ICHIBA"). The port has holding areas and leads to other parts of Japan ("NIPPON") and the world ("SEKAI"). The mountain has a hot springs ("ONSEN") recreational area, and a lively outdoor bath ("IN THE OFURO") which has become the social center of our island.

Add to this soc.culture.japan on Usenet, the BITNET discussion list
JAPAN@NDSUVM1, the Japan Forum on CompuServe, and "JAPAN" on
RelayNet.
Did you say the former "Soviet Union?" Here are phone numbers
to some "local" bulletin board systems:

Moscow Fair (Moscow): +7 095 366 5209
SUEARN NIC BBS (Moscow): +7 095 938 3618
Kreit BBS (Leningrad): +7 812 112 2611
Amber Way BBS (Vilnius, Lithuania): +7 012 222 7194
UFO BBS (Riga, Latvia): +7 013 232 3983
Post Square #1 (Kiev, Ukrain): +7 044 417 5700

BITNET club TRAVEL-L (TRAVEL-L@TREARN) for those interested in tourism. ILINK and The Well have conferences under the name TRAVEL. Many conferences in online land concentrate on particular parts of the world. BALT-L@UBVM.BITNET is focusing on the Baltic states. In AFRICA-L@BRUFPB.BITNET they discuss Africa. On Usenet, the news group is called soc.culture.african. To brush up your Portuguese, consider joining BRAS-NET, It is a Brazilian mailing list/network. Send your subscription request to bras-net-request@cs.ucla.edu . For general information about other Brazilian interest groups, write LISTSERV@FAPQ.FAPESP.BR . For those who are into Spanish, why not check out CHILE-L (at LISTSERV@USACHVM1.BITNET), or FOLLAC, a mailing list about 'Folklore Latino, Latinoamericano y Caribeno'. To join, write Emily Socolov at owner-follac@ccwf.cc.texas.edu . Here are some other African sources: the French language Algeria News List (ALGNEWS) is on LISTSERV@gwuvm.gwu.edu. TUNISNET (on LISTSERV@psuvm.psu.edu) is The Tunisia Network. EGYPT-NET (write: egypt-net-request@das.harvard.edu) is the Egypt Discussion and News forum. Send mail to mcgee@epsilon.eecs.nwu.edu to get a list of Internet/Bitnet mailing lists that focus on African, African- American, African-Caribbean or African-Latin issues, and a list of African information sites. In the soc.culture hierarchy on Usenet, you'll find area codes like asian, african, arabic, asean, australian, bangladesh, british, canada, china, celtic, europe, filipino, french, german, greek, hongkong, indian, iranian, italian, jewish, korean, latin- american, lebanon, magyar, nepal, new-zealand, nordic, pakistan, polish, soviet, spain, sri-lanka, taiwan, thai, turkish, vietnamese and yugoslavia. In "argentina," you can read about how to make empanadas while sharpening up your Spanish before visiting Buenos Aires. (Contact: argentina-request@ois.db.toronto.edu). CompuServe's Travel Forum has sections called United States, Canada, Mexico/Central America, Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Asia, Europe, Africa/Middle East and Hawaii. If you're off to London, check out the UK Travel section in CompuServe's UK Computing Forum. Its library contains files with tips about affordable hotels, British road signs, and a list of London theatre shows with ticket-buying tips. If your destination is Germany, practice Deutch in the Deutches Forum (GO GERNET). Search for additional background information using CompuServe's Magazine Database Plus, if you don't mind paying a wee surcharge. Look up places to stay in the ABC Worldwide Hotel Listing. On America Online, you can research National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler Magazines online. You can look up your destination in the electronic Comptons Encyclopedia. GEnie has a Japan RoundTable and a Deutchland RoundTable. Both provide for interaction with users from those respective countries. If you are responsible for your company's business travels, check out the following newsletters on NewsNet: BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS, and TOUR & TRAVEL NEWS. (You can also search NewsNet's newsletters through CompuServe's IQuest, Dialog, and others). NewsNet has searchable newsletters focusing on the conditions in particular countries or parts of the world (news, travel and political risk analysis, political stability, etc.).

Politics ———— Many of these conferences and forums are filled to the brim with political discussions. For information about the United Nations, subscribe to UN (on LISTSERV@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU).

Chapter 5: Home, education and work ===================================

House, garden and finances ————————————— FidoNet has a long list of interesting conferences:

HOME-N-GRDN Home and Garden Questions
HOMEAUT Home Automation
HOMESCHL Homeschooling support
HOME_IMP Improvements around the house.
HOME_OFFICE Home Office
HOME_REPAIR Home Repair and Remodelling
ZYMURGY Beer Homebrewing

The EXEC-PC BBS has "Home Repair." The FUTUREHOME TECHNOLOGY NEWS newsletter is available through NewsNet. On ILINK, you will find the HOMEGARDEN conference. Usenet has misc.consumers.house . Here they discuss anything related to owning and maintaining a house. On the Well, check out "Homeowners." In Ziff-Davis' Magazine Database Plus you can search and read articles from the Good Housekeeping Magazine. This full-text article database is available from CompuServe and other services. Through UUCP you can get to the conference "Antiques" (Contact: antiques-request@swbatl.sbc.com). CompuServe also has the Gardening Forum. It is operated by the National Gardening Association, which publishes National Gardening magazine. The various services' software libraries contain many great shareware and public domain programs. You can download software that will help you prepare tax return forms, plan next year's taxes, calculate interests and down-payments on your loans. You'll find double-entry money-managing systems for non-accountants that will help you with personal bookkeeping and checkbook balancing. Other programs will help you plan and maintain your house. There are personal inventory programs (to help you keep track of belongings), and programs that can help you plan allocation of the space in your home. . . Join CompuServe's Investors Forum to learn how to play the stock and money markets, and other moneymaking 'instruments'. Discuss investment techniques with others, read reports about economical trends, and retrieve useful programs for your personal computer. RelayNet offers the international conference INVESTOR. Usenet has misc.invest . If you want to adopt a child, check out ADOPTION on FidoNet, or subscribe to a UUCP conference of the same name. For access, write adoption-request@think.com . The National Issues Forum on CompuServe has a message section called "Adoption Today." Addicted TV-viewers may be interested in alt.tv.twin-peaks or alt.tv.muppets on Usenet. "Mystery" on FidoNet and UUCP is for those preferring mystery novels by the fire place in the living room. There are even offerings for "the perfect house wife." I can think of no better pastime than origami, the traditional Japanese art of folding paper. (Contact: origami-request@cs.utexas.edu on UUCP). Oh, I almost forgot: The BONSAI conference is essential (on LISTSERV@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU). This is where to discuss the art and craft of Bonsai and related art forms. Bonsai is the Oriental Art of miniaturizing trees and plants into forms that mimic nature.

Education, teaching and the exchange of knowledge ————————————————————————- The list of conferences, forums, clubs, and other services focusing on education - in its broadest meaning of the word - is long. You are offered online courses, workshops, and seminars for students of all ages, databases to help you select a school for yourself or your kids, and all kinds of discussion forums for educators. Usenet, BITNET, Internet, and UUCP have long traditions in education. You'll find offerings for teachers within all subject areas, from finance and accounting, through history, languages and geography to technical subjects on all levels. Two guides listing forums of interest to Educators can be retrieved by anonymous FTP from the pub/ednet directory at nic.umass.edu . Use the following commands (see "FTP by email" at the end of Chapter 12):

get educatrs.lst get edusenet.gde

KIDSPHERE (subscribe through JOINKIDS@vms.cis.pitt.edu) is a discussion forum for teachers of students from the age of kindergarten through high school and higher. This is a selection of other BITNET discussion lists to suggest the span of topics:

CHEMED-L (CHEMED-L@UWF) Chemistry Education Discussion
CHRONICL (CHRONICL@USCVM) On-Line Chronicle of Higher Ed
CIVIL-L (CIVIL-L@UNBVM1) Civil Engineering Research & Ed.
COMLAW-L (COMLAW-L@UALTAVM) Computers and Legal Education
DRUGABUS (DRUGABUS@UMAB) Drug Abuse Education Information
JOURNET (JOURNET@QUCDN) Discussion List for Journalism Ed
MEDIA-L (MEDIA-L@BINGVMB) Media in Education
MULTI-L (MULTI-L@BARILVM) Language and Education in Multi-
Lingual Settings
MUSIC-ED (MUSIC-ED@UMINN1) MUSIC-ED Music Education
PANET-L (PANET-L@YALEVM) Medical Education and Health Info
TAG-L (TAG-L@NDSUVM1) TAG-L Talented and Gifted Ed
WORLD-L (WORLD-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU)
Non-Eurocentric World History

Here are some Usenet conferences:

comp.edu Computer science education
sci.edu The science of education
comp.ai.edu Applications of Artificial Intelligence to
Education

There are many similar offerings on the commercial services and
free bulletin boards.
K12Net is a decentralized network for schools available on
FidoNet and Usenet. Write janet.murray@f23.n105.z1.fidonet.org for
information.
FidoNet also has

A_THEIST A_Theism Education and Enlightenment
HIGH_ED Education, Post Secondary
HISTORY International History
MAC_GAMES Macintosh Entertainment & Education

CompuServe has 12 forums focusing on education. Among these you'll
find the Disabilities Forum, Computer Training Forum, Education
Forum, Education Research forum, Science/Math Educational Forum,
Foreign Language Forum, LOGO and Students Forum.
Ken and Carrie Loss-Cutler are coordinating the section for
Home/Alternative Education in CompuServe's Education Forum. They
educate their two children at home instead of sending them to a
public school.
The Foreign Language Forum has the sections Potpourri/Polyglot,
Spanish/Portuguese, French, German/Germanic, Latin/Greek, Slavic/E.
European, English, East Asian, Esperanto, Others, FL Education,
Translators, Computers/CAI-CALL, The Directory, Jobs/Careers, New
Uploads and Using the Forum.
If you're into reading/writing the African language Kiswahili
(Swahili), write kuntz@macc.wisc.edu to get onto the SWAHILI-L
mailing list.
The more occupational oriented forums include Communications
Industry Forum, Environmental Forum, Firenet (for volunteer fire
brigades), Industrial Hygiene Forum, AAMSI Medical Forum, ASCMD
Forum, HealthNet, OP-Net Forum, the MICRO MD Network, Legal SIG,
Aviation SIG, CB Society and CEMSIG (computers and electronics).
Bergen By Byte has the Norwegian language conference Schools.
This conference is for validated users only.

| There are many private conferences in the online world. All | | conferences referred to in this book are open for anybody to | | join, unless explicitly told to be private. |

RelayNet has EDUCATION. NewsNet offers the newsletters EDUCATION DAILY, and the HELLER REPORT ON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY. Many online services (including schools and universities) offer students accredited courses by modem. Connected Education at the New School for Social Research in the United States is one example, as is the University of Phoenix in Arizona. (Ask in CompuServe's Education Forum for more information.) The EDUPAGE newsletter is a twice-weekly summary of news items on information technology, provided by a consortium of colleges and universities "seeking to transform education through the use of information technology." Compact and informative. I like it. To subscribe, send a note to edupage@educom.edu with your name, institution name and email address. (EDUPAGE is also available for Gopher, WAIS and anonymous FTP access on EDUCOM's host machine, educom.edu .) INFOBITS (at listserv@gibbs.oit.unc.edu) is a monthly service reporting from a number of information and instruction technology sources. The Internet Resource Directory for Educators is available by anonymous FTP from tcet.unt.edu in the pub/telecomputing-info/IRD subdirectory. File names include:

IRD-telnet-sites.txt (226KB ASCII text)
IRD-ftp-archives.txt ( 73KB)
IRD-listservs.txt (201KB)
IRD-infusion-ideas.txt (202KB)

Example: KIDLINK ———————— Many parents and teachers regard the online world as a learning opportunity for their kids. Some of them turn to KIDLINK, a global service for children between 10 - 15 years of age. The service is operated by a grassroots network of volunteers. The objective is to get as many children as possible involved in a global dialog. Participation is free. Before joining the discussion, however, each child must respond to the following four questions:

1. Who am I?
2. What do I want to be when I grow up?
3. How do I want the world to be better when I grow up?
4. What can I do Now to make this come true?

The kids can write in any language. Most answers are sent through the Internet to a large online database in North America. Anyone with an email connection to the Internet can search this database at will. When they have submitted their responses, they are invited to 'meet' the others in several KIDCAFEs. The cafes are split up by language. Here, they can discuss anything from pop music to how it is to live in other countries. KIDLINK grew from an idea in 1990 to over 10,000 participating children in 50 countries by May 1993. Schools all over the globe are integrating KIDLINK with their classes in languages, geography, history, environment, art, etc. To the kid participant, KIDCAFE may be the beginning of a personal network of international friends. For more information, send mail to LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU with the following command in the TEXT of your message:

GET KIDLINK GENERAL

Your personal network ——————————- Network is a word with many meanings. It can be a system set up to transport data from one computer to another. It can be an online service with many conferences, and a friendly connection between people (like in "old boys' network"). Here, we use it in the latter meaning of the word. We use our personal networks more than most of us think of. We have a chain of people that we call on to ask for advice, help, and who we invite to participate in projects or parties. When they ask us for assistance, we lend a hand. The online world has some interesting characteristics. One is that most participants in online conferences already have received so much help from others that they feel obliged to pay back. They do this by helping others. Those who help, know that helping others will be rewarded. The reward, however, may not come directly from the persons that they help. They contributions help maintain and develop the online world as one giant personal network. A typical example: I wanted to buy a 425 megabyte hard disk for my Toshiba 5100 personal computer. I discover the existence of such a drive, when a user told about his experiences in CompuServe's Toshiba Forum. Before placing an order, I wrote to check if he was still satisfied with the disk. The happy user did more than reply. He told about other sellers and offered to help out with return shipment of my computer when done. He made it clear that he had no financial interest in the companies selling the upgrade. We had no previous contact with each other. The online world is full of similar examples. The list of what people do to help others is very, very long. In most conferences and forums you get help, just like that. There is always someone prepared to help. Still, the best long range strategy to build chances of getting help when you need it, is to be visually present in conferences, that matter to you. 'Being visually present' means that you should contribute in the discussions and help others as much as you can. The p o s i t i v e contributors get a lot of friends and a disproportional amount of help from others. That is all it takes to build a personal network. One day you may need it. It will give you an incredible advantage. I have seen people get jobs, partners and clients through such contacts. The online world is full of opportunities.

Watch your words ———————— Written communications are deprived of the body language and tone of voice that convey so much in face-to-face meetings and even in telephone conversations. Therefore, it makes sense to work much harder to build in humor, sarcasm, or disagreement and avoid your words come across as stupidity, rudeness, or aggressiveness. One way of defusing misunderstanding is to include cues as to your emotional state. One popular technique is to use keyboard symbols like :-). We call these symbols emoticons. What :-) means? Tilt your head to the left and look again. Yes, it's a smiling face. Here are some other examples to challenge your imagination: ;-) (Winking Smiley), :-( (Sad), 8-) (User wears glasses), :-o (Shocked or surprised), and :-> (Hey hey). A bracketed is shorthand for grin, and means grinning, ducking, and running. Some people prefer to write their emotional state in full text, like in these two examples: *grin* and *smile*. Do not misunderstand. You still should not allow yourself to write the most appallingly insulting things to other people, and then try to shrug it off with a . Watch your words. They are so easy to store on a hard disk.

Religion and philosophy ———————————- CompuServe's Religion Forum (GO RELIGION) has many message sections with associated file libraries. You can get into serious discussion about topics ranging from Christianity, Judaism, Eastern Religions, Islam, Interfaith Dialog, Limbo, Pagan/Occult, to Religion and Science, Liturgical Churches, Mormonism, Ethics and Values, and more. You may also want to check out the New Age Forum. Usenet's offerings include these:

soc.culture.jewish Jewish culture & religion.
soc.religion.christian Christianity and related topics.
soc.religion.eastern Discussions of Eastern religions.
soc.religion.islam Discussions of the Islamic faith.
talk.religion.misc Religious, ethical, & moral implications.
talk.religion.newage Esoteric and minority religions &
philosophies.
alt.pagan Discussions about paganism & religion.
alt.religion.computers People who believe computing is
"real life."
clari.news.religion Religion, religious leaders,
televangelists.

The BITNET/Internet arena has The Islamic Information & News Net on MUSLIMS (available through LISTSERV@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU). ISLAM-L (on LISTSERV@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU) is a non-sectarian forum for discussion, debate, and the exchange of information by students and scholars of the history of Islam. BUDDHA-L (on LISTSERV@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU) provides a means for those interested in Buddhist Studies to exchange information and views. BUDDHIST (on LISTSERV@JPNTUVM0.BITNET) is for non- academic discussions. BAPTIST (LISTSERV@UKCC.UKY.EDU) is the Open Baptist Discussion List. THEOLOGY (contact U16481%UICVM.BITNET@VM1.NODAK.EDU) is a mailing list dedicated to the intellectual discussion of religion. In its self-presentation, it says:

Intellectual is stressed as opposed to the "personal," the inspirational, or evangelistic. This does not mean one cannot evangelize, but rather that participants should persuade rather than brow-beat or attack those they disagree with. Arguments are inevitable, but they ultimately should resolve into mutual understanding or at least a truce.

Pagan (Contact: pagan-request@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu) is set up to discuss the religions and philosophies of paganism. BELIEF-L (on LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET) is designed to be a forum where personal ideologies can be discussed, examined, and analyzed. The discussion list PHILCOMM@RPIECS.BITNET is where you debate the philosophy of communication. PHILOSOP@YORKVM1.BITNET is the Philosophy Discussion Forum. Several sacred texts and primary texts of religious interest are available by anonymous FTP or LISTSERV. The Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Koran (also spelled Quran) are available at many sites and in a variety of file formats. The Bible (King James Version) is available as bible10.zip and bible10.txt via FTP to mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (128.174.201.12) in the /extext/etext92/ directory. M.H. Shakir's translation of the Koran is available as 114 individual ASCII text chapters via FTP to quake.think.com (192.31.181.1) in the /pub/etext/koran/ directory. A short file containing quotes from the Koran is available via LISTSERV from LISTSERV@asuacad as PAKISTAN AL_QURAN. A collection of Sanskrit texts is available via FTP to ftp.bcc.ac.uk in the /pub/users/ucgadkw/indology/ directory. You may use the Archie service (see Appendix 4) to find other religious texts that are also available through the Internet. On FidoNet, check out JVArcServ.

Job-hunting by modem —————————— Unemployment is a global problem, and losing a job is often a bad experience. If this ever should happen to you, consider checking out the BITNET discussion list LAIDOFF@ARIZVM1 - "So, you've been laidoff?" Maybe you already have a job, but are constantly searching for something better. There are many forums and conferences devoted to help you get a new job. FidoNet has the JOBS conference, for those not in a hurry, and JOBS-NOW (Job & Employment offerings/listings) for those who have no more time to wait. On Bergen By Byte, it is called 'Job_market', and on ILINK CAREER. In many countries there are local bulletin boards operated by public employment agencies. On Televerket's Datatorg (Norway), you can browse jobs from the following menu (translated):

VACANT JOBS

Select desired profession Number 01 Technical, natural sciences ( 182) 02 Education, etc. ( 601) 03 Media,art ( 58) 04 Medicine, health care, etc. ( 951) 05 Social care ( 307) 06 Adm.,management, organization ( 348) 07 Finance,computers ( 100) 08 Secretarial, office work ( 138) 09 Sale,purchasing, advertising ( 576) 10 Agriculture,forestry,fishing ( 56) 11 Oil and gas, mining ( 38) 12 Transport,communication ( 68) 13 Workshop,fine mechanics,electro( 126) 14 craft,building and construction( 93) 15 Industry,ware-house,mechan. ( 68) 16 Hotel,restaurant,domestic work ( 133) 17 Service,surveillance,safety ( 170)

If your potential employers have an email address, you can send dozens of job resumes - while going for a cup of coffee! WORK-AT-HOME on FidoNet is for those planning to start their own business ("Take this job and shove it! I'll work at home!") CompuServe has the Working-From-Home Forum under the sysopship of online gurus Paul and Sarah Edwards. Its file library contains back issues of the electronic magazine "Making It on Your Own." GEnie has the Home Office Small Business forum (HOSB). Home based business opportunities may exist within areas such as desktop publishing, desktop video, high-tech equipment repair, import and export management, and professional practice management. Learn from others in forums or conferences on related topics. The good news is that many organizations are having problems finding qualified candidates for their vacant positions, and that some of them are turning to The Online World for help. One of them did it like this (from an online announcement):

Because it is difficult to locate qualified candidates for positions in special libraries and information centers, and to assist special librarians and information specialists to locate positions, the student chapter of the Special Libraries Association at Indiana University has formed a LISTSERV, SLAJOB, in connection with the Indiana Center for Database Systems. The LISTSERV, which is available on both the Internet and Bitnet, will help special libraries and information centers in the sciences, industry, the arts and within public and academic libraries to have a central location for announcing special library and information science positions. The LISTSERV is available to individuals or organizations that have an Internet or Bitnet network connection. For those on the network, subscribe by sending an email message to:

"LISTSERV@iubvm.bitnet" or "LISTSERV@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu". Leave the subject line blank and then type the following in the message of the text:

subscribe SLAJOB [firstname] [lastname]

The Israelis have the mailing list CJI, Computer Jobs in Israel. Send mail to LISTSERV@JERUSALEM1.DATASRV.CO.IL with the usual "SUB CJI Your-Full-Name" in the text of your message. This will give you monthly updated lists of open computer jobs. When you get tired of hunting for a job, why not relax with HUMOR at LISTSERV@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU. This mailing list distributes humor of all types, topics and tastes. To subscribe, send the following command to the LISTSERV:

SUB HUMOR [firstname] [lastname]

Chapter 6: Your personal HealthNet ==================================

Health is a concern in most families. Where a family member or a friend is suffering from cancer, AIDS, a serious disability, or a rare disease, finding help is imperative. Fortunately, there are many sources of information for those who want to know more. There are clubs and forums, where you can meet others with the same disease or problem. They are open 24 hours a day. Those who cannot sleep at night, can log in any time to "talk" with others. The social aspect of joining a club is important. However, it may be equally important to learn from other people's experiences with alternative treatment methods, doctors, medicines, and to get practical medical advice. Here are some examples to illustrate the width of the offering:

AIDS —— You may start with "The Fog City Online Information Service" in San Francisco, the world's largest bulletin board of AIDS information. The cost of using this BBS from afar may be reduced considerably by using i-Com or similar data transport services (see chapter 13). CompuServe has a Human Sexuality Forum and a MEDSig with associated file libraries. It also has a surcharged ZiffNet database with full-text articles about health topics (Health Database Plus). On the Well, enter "g aids". NewsNet has the newsletters "AIDS Weekly" and "AIDS Therapies." The latter is a directory, updated monthly, with descriptions of standard and experimental treatments for AIDS, along with a guide to treatments for the opportunistic infections (OI) of AIDS. It incorporates all existing and potential new AIDS treatments in one place. On BITNET, check out "AIDS/HIV News" (AIDSNEWS@EB0UB011) and the mailing list on AIDS@EB0UB011. Usenet has sci.med.aids (AIDS: treatment, pathology/biology of HIV, prevention), bionet.molbio.hiv, clari.tw.health.aids (AIDS stories, research, political issues), and bit.listserv.aidsnews. If you do not have access to Usenet, send a message to aids- request@cs.ucla.edu for articles from AIDSNEWS, statistics and news summaries. Aids-stat-request@wubios.wustl.edu is another source of current AIDS statistics. Send a request to info-aids@rainbow.UUCP. It is a clearinghouse of information, and discussion about alternative treatment methods, political implications, and more.

Example: Kidney disease ———————————- In chapter 1, I told you that my wife has a rare disease called Polycystic Kidneys. Here are more details about what happened during the "online health trip" to CompuServe with her doctor:

The command "GO HEALTH" gave the following menu:

1 HealthNet
2 Human Sexuality
3 Consumer Health
4 NORD Services/Rare Disease
Database
5 PaperChase (MEDLINE)
6 Information USA/Health
7 Handicapped User's Database
8 Disabilities Forum
9 Aids Information
10 Cancer Forum

Another menu, which listed available "PROFESSIONAL FORUMS," had choices like AAMSI Medical Forum and Health Forum. Besides visiting these, we searched several medical databases. Menu selection five gave us The National Library of Medicine's database (MEDLINE), which is full of references to biomedical literature. This database had more than five million references to articles from 4.000 magazines from 1966 and up to date, when we searched it in 1991. It increases by some 25.000 new references per month. Easy navigation by menus. Easy to search. The AAMSI Medical Forum (MedSIG) is sponsored by The American Association for Medical Systems and Informatics (AAMSI). It is a forum for professionals within health care, people within associated technical fields, and ordinary CompuServe users. The members meet to find, develop and swap information. MedSIG has a library full of programs and information files. This is an example of what you can find there:

ATLAS.ARC 21-Sep-88 30161

Keywords: STEREOTAXIC STEREOTACTIC STEREOTAXIS ATLAS THALAMOTOMY
MAP FUNCTIONAL GIF

This contains several of the most useful stereotaxic maps from the Schaltenbrand and Wahren Atlas in GIF format. If you can get GIF into your CAD or drawing program, you can scale the maps to fit your individualized patient's AC-PC distance, thereby generating a customized map for your patient.

CompuServe has many programs for reading GIF files, and converting GIF files to other graphical formats. Through IQuest, we searched medical databases. Simple menus helped define relevant search terms. When done, IQuest searched selected databases for us, and presented the finds on our local computer screen. The basic rate for completing the search was US$9.00. In addition, we paid the normal fees for using CompuServe. From Norway, this amounted to around US$ 40/hour at 2400 bps when logging on through the local Infonet node at that time. Today, it costs less. This gave us up to 10 article headlines, when searching in bibliographic databases. Abstracts of selected articles were displayed on our screen for an additional US$2.00. We used the search mode "SmartScan" in the area "Medical research." IQuest searched several databases with a minimum of manual intervention. First, it told us that the following databases would be included in the search:

BRS databases:
Ageline - Contains references to and abstracts of materials on
aging and the elderly. Covers psychological, medical, economic,
and political concerns.
AIDS Database - Includes critically selected articles covering
all aspects of AIDS, (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and
AIDS-related research.
AIDS Knowledge Base - Provides an online textbook of the most
current information on AIDS available from San Francisco General
Hospital.
Combined Health Information Database - For professionals,
patients, and the general public, CHID contains references to a
variety of materials on arthritis, diabetes, health education,
digestive diseases, and high blood pressure. Provides abstracts.
Embase - Includes extensive abstracts of articles related to
biomedicine from medical journals worldwide. About 40% of the
references are online only.
Rehabdata - Covers articles, books, reports, and audiovisual
materials dealing with the rehabilitation of the physically and
mentally handicapped. References only.
Sport Database - Indexes publications dealing with sports,
including training, medicine, education, and history. Drawn
mostly from English and French with technical articles from
other languages.

Dialog databases: BioBusiness - Deals with the business aspects of biotechnology and biomedical research. Draws from BIOSIS and MANAGEMENT CONTENTS. BIOSIS Previews - Provides international coverage of all aspects of biological science. Cancerlit - Monitors articles from journals and other technical publications dealing with all aspects of cancer research throughout the world. Includes abstracts. Clinical Abstracts - Covers human clinical study articles of major importance selected from leading medical journals. Includes all aspects of clinical medicine. Corresponds to Abstracts in Internal Medicine. Abstracts available. Life Sciences Collection - Abstracts technical literature in the life sciences from journals and other scientific publications worldwide. Medline (1966 - to date) - Indexes articles from medical journals published worldwide. Corresponds to Index Medicus, International Nursing Index and Index to Dental Literature. Includes abstracts in roughly 40% of the records. SciSearch - Monitors worldwide literature across a wide range of scientific and technological disciplines. Produced by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).

Then we entered our search term: "LIVER AND CYST/". The search word
"CYST/" signified that "cyst" should match any words starting with
these four characters.
While searching, IQuest gave the following progress report:

Scanning BRS databases.

Accessing Network………..Completed.
Accessing Database Host…..Completed.
Logging on………………Completed.
Logging on (second step)….Completed.
Selecting Databases………Completed.

Each period equals one line of scanned data. This may take several minutes…………………………..

It continued in the same way with a "Scanning Dialog databases." When the search results were presented, we glanced quickly at the article abstracts, ordered two articles to be sent us by mail and typed BYE. CompuServe reported "Off at 09:12 EST 17-Nov-88 Connect time = 0:35." The two articles arrived Norway by mail a few weeks later. The whole trip, including visits in medical forums, took 35 minutes. The cost, including local telephone and network charges, was US$95. Of this total cost, the extra cost of searching through IQuest amounted to US$54.00. We all felt that the costs were well justified.

| A note about the costs: The online tour was done manually, | | using full menus. We discussed our search strategy while | | connected, which is more expensive than logging off to plan | | the next moves. Also, note that the extra cost of searching | | IQuest ($54) was not time dependent. |

Right now? I have promised to donate one kidney to my wife when the time comes. This has prompted me (1993) to join a mailing list for "Organ transplant recipients and anyone else interested in the issues" (TRNSPLNT@WUVMD.BITNET).

Cancer
———
FidoNet has the forum CARCINOMA (Cancer Survivors). BITNET has the
discussion lists CANCER-L@WVNVM and CLAN (Cancer Liaison and Action
Network on CLAN@FRMOP11). CompuServe has a Cancer Forum. NewsNet
offers the newsletter CANCER RESEARCHER WEEKLY.
In September 1992, the following message was posted on CANCER-
L by a member from Brazil:

"A close friend was just diagnosed with acute leukemia of a type called calapositive pre-B linphoplastic. It is supposedly an early diagnosis since he is not anemic. We are very shocked but he is reacting quite bravely and all he wants is to have access to literature on his condition. Are there any new genetic engineering developments effectively clinically available? What is the present state of knowledge regarding this specific form of leukemia?

He was diagnosed three hours ago, is 48 yrs old, and will start chemotherapy tomorrow. He was informed that chemotherapy is quite effective in this type of leukemia. But we wonder if there isn't a possibility to use gene therapy.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. - Dora."

There were several helpful replies. This came from a member in the
United States:

"In response to the request for information on treatment for leukemia, I recommend that you access CancerNet, the National Cancer Institute's mail server on the Internet which provides current information on treatment for leukemia. To request the Contents List and Instructions, send a mail message to

cancernet@icicb.nci.nih.gov (Internet address) cancernet%icicb.nci.nih.gov@nihcu ( BITNET)

Leave the subject line blank, and in the body of the mail message, enter "HELP". When you receive the Contents list, request the statement for Adult Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (cn-101024).

There are also News and General Information items, under the Heading PDQ Database Information in the Contents List which provide information on centers which have access to Physician Data Query, NCI's database of cancer treatment information which includes clinical trials information for leukemia. - Cheryl."

CancerNet is the U.S. National Cancer Institute's international information center. It is a quick and easy way to obtain, through electronic mail, recommended treatment guidelines from the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query system. To access CancerNet, send email to: