¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢ More on Internet Access¢¢ By Alan Sharkis¢ Editor, OHAUG Newsletter¢¢ Elsewhere in this newsletter, TOM¢ ANDREWS wrote beautifully about¢ Usenet and how to access newsgroups¢ with your 8-bit. However, there are¢ some of us who want to surf the Web. ¢ This can be done with your 8-bit if¢ you are willing to take a text-only¢ approach. There has been a lot of¢ discussion about that in¢ comp.sys.atari.8bit in recent days. ¢ Many claim that it's a big hassle,¢ with some people advocating buying an¢ inexpensive PC (is that an¢ oxymoron?), some talking about Web TV¢ (more on that below) to do the job,¢ and some saying that the best way is¢ to use an 8-bit with, yes again, that¢ text-only approach. When I was a¢ member of GEnie, I used that¢ approach. It has its advantages. ¢ You can stay "pure Atari" with it. ¢ You don't need a super-fast modem for¢ text, although I'd like to see¢ somebody come up with an interface¢ that runs faster than 19.2 Kbps so¢ that we can at least download some of¢ the graphics files that exist on the¢ Web without staying up all night.¢¢ Unlike Usenet and e-mail, however,¢ you do need a terminal program with¢ VT-100 emulation; so running Term 80,¢ FlickerTerm, or Ice-T is a must. ¢ I've heard that BobTerm with VT-52¢ emulation would probably work, but¢ the 80-column display wouldn't be¢ there. You would also have to access¢ a Lynx server. ¢¢ I did some research, and found¢ relatively few documents explaining¢ the process. One newsgroup¢ participant wrote to me that he did a¢ lot of trial and error. That was¢ PAUL CLARK (not one of our members,¢ but I wish he was!) who said that he¢ did the job with an MIO (transfer¢ rates to 19.2 Kbps using LEN¢ SPENCER'S Hyper-Handler), an SX212¢ modem (1200 baud limit), and Kermit¢ 65 (only 4800 baud with the Hyper-¢ Handler.) Ice-T and a 14.4 KBps¢ modem from Wallmart finally made the¢ process worthwhile. A document at¢ UMICH by Steve Wallace (xlsurf.txt)¢ seems to be older, and contains even¢ less detail, but also shows that the¢ process can be done.¢¢ A more useful, and more recent post¢ in the newsgroup (by MILE23) answers¢ a question posed by Ol' Hacker BILL¢ CORE. Bill was talking about 8-¢ bitters who want to put up Web pages¢ and make them Lynx-friendly. Mile23¢ answered by suggesting the following¢ sites and what they contain:¢¢ http://lynx.browser.org has lots¢ of good info, and a ton of links¢¢ http://www.crl.com/%7Esubir/lynx¢ /enhanced_pages.html has a list¢ of "Lynx-enhanced page. (The¢ symbol string "%7E" is the 8-bit¢ equivalent of the "tilde" on¢ the PC -- ed.)¢¢ http://www.anybrowser.org/campaign¢ is the "Best Viewed With Any¢ Browser" Campaign (There are pages¢ that are specifically designed to¢ be "Best Viewed" with a specific¢ version of Netscape or Internet¢ Explorer. These pages do not seem¢ to recognize the fact that there¢ are people out there that use¢ other browsers -- ed.)¢¢ http://www.cast.org/bobby/ will¢ check your HTML code and other¢ suggestions on how to make your¢ web page more compatible with¢ different browsers, including¢ Lynx. The site also has good¢ suggestions on how to make your¢ web site more easily navigable by¢ the handicapped (This is a good¢ place to go when we finally get¢ the OHAUG Web page going! -- ed.)¢¢ Some of us will, of course, go out¢ and buy PCs. For them, as for¢ myself, the PCs will probably have to¢ do more than just surf the net if¢ their cost is to be justified. In¢ the process, should any of you go¢ that way, I hope that you will not¢ abandon your 8-bit!¢¢ I also must comment on the¢ development of Web TV. About two¢ years ago, one of our members asked¢ me what I had thought of it. In my¢ usual, computer-owning snobbishness,¢ I answered that Web TV had many¢ drawbacks. You could surf with it,¢ but you couldn't very well handle¢ some of the other features of the¢ Internet. You couldn't print out¢ what you saw on the screen or save¢ files. I told that member that I¢ didn't advise getting Web TV. He¢ recently wrote to me, telling me that¢ he is no longer a member of OHAUG (I¢ hope we can fix that!) but that he¢ finally did go out and buy Web TV,¢ which has improved dramatically.¢¢ While my snobbishness will still not¢ let me endorse the Web TV approach,¢ my honesty must let me fill you in on¢ the improvements. Depending on the¢ model you get, attaching a printer¢ and/or a hard disk drive is now a¢ reality. You still must pay an ISP¢ for your service, and each individual¢ member of your family (up to five)¢ must have a PIN number (I believe¢ there is an extra charge for each¢ one.) Web surfing, e-mail and¢ newsgroup access, and even IRC are¢ possible now. Software upgrades are¢ automatically downloaded to your set¢ and installed as they become¢ available. The modems are 56 KBps¢ units using the Flex standard. Many¢ of the multimedia enhancements¢ available through popular Web¢ browsers are now available for Web¢ TV. It may sound like paradise on a¢ shoestring, but it's not a computer.¢ If you want to consider it as an¢ adjunct to your 8-bit, please¢ investigate it and the costs¢ associated with it carefully.¢¢ Now, about our own Web page. I have¢ a friend with a video capture board.¢ I took the Welcome screen we use with¢ this newsletter, modified it, took it¢ to his house to capture it, and came¢ away with a file that can be used for¢ our page.¢¢ My friend and I are also working on¢ creating a TrueType font that looks¢ like the Atari 8-bit screen font. It¢ would give any Web page an authentic,¢ "8-bittish" look, especially in white¢ against a blue background. That's a¢ more difficult task than the picture¢ of the Welcome screen. We're in a¢ bit of competition over it since he's¢ the vice-president of another Atari¢ user group that's also developing a¢ Web page. Both clubs, btw, have¢ received generous offers of space for¢ their pages. Our offer came from¢ OHAUG member JOHN HARDIE, and I must¢ thank him for it.¢¢ So, hopefully, in the not-too-distant¢ future, there will be a further¢ incentive for OHAUG members to surf¢ the web -- the OHAUG Web Page!¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢¢
