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MMOUG April 1995 Newsletter Volume 3 Number 4 The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views held by the MMOUG or it's members. Don't agree with something you've read here? Write and tell us about it! If you have any contributions, please upload them to area 18 of the WoodMeister or send them to me via Internet at USDSSKZS@IBMMAIL.COM. If you work for the State of Missouri and have access to DISOSS, you can send them to POOLMWV at DSSHOST. MMOUG March Minutes March 15, 1995 Jefferson City, Dept of Social Services Attendees: Ben Hoffman, David Sharp, Rick Wolters, Steven Gramblin, Randy Wright, Gary Pool, Jay Robertson, Steve Maring, Dave Scott, Steve Petzel, David Keisker, Scott Brodbeck Officer elections were discussed. No nominations were made so existing officers were ask if they would be willing to serve again. Gary Pool said he would be willing to become the Vice President if a replacement for our Newsletter editor could be found. Volunteers are sought. Randy Wright, Rick Wolters and Ben Hoffman volunteered to serve again. Phillip Wilson and Woody Sturges will be contacted to see if they are willing to serve again. MMOUG mail is going to Phillip at the IBM office. Because of Phillip's availability Ben will discuss with Phillip the possibility of having MMOUG mail come into the office and which ever of them sees it first will forward this onto the appropriate person. (esp Bank statements). Columbia meeting location: Rick Wolters will check on the availability of the Wildlife and Fisheries conference room, Ben Hoffman will check on the Columbia Mall and Columbia Public Library and Gary Pool will check on the Newman Center. Next month meeting topic: Ben Hoffman will check to see what the KC users group is doing in April and see if we can piggy back on it. Another idea was to have a "Bring your favorite shareware/freeware app" meeting. The officers will check point the week of March 20th and finalize an agenda. A discussion took place the WPS customization. An IBM redbook, 'Workplace Shell Configuration Techniques" GG24-4201 was mentioned as good resource. A discussion of new OS/2 products: Performance Plus V3 and Partition Magic took place by members, possible future topics. Personal Communications/3270 for OS/2 was then demonstrated for our topic. Information Officer Input/Output Has another month passed already? Time flies when you're a procrastinator! This issue is a little late. The last week of the month (when I usually put this together) found me in Gaithersburg, MD for a class on Netview Distribution Manager/2. What an excellent class! I've been to classes before that had wasted time and information that was not that helpful, but NDM/2 is a complex product that is also very powerful. If you are unfamiliar with NDM/2, it is an OS/2 product by IBM that can be used over a LAN to distribute software. I hope to put it to use immediately. Hmmm, as I think about it, this could be an excellent topic for an upcoming MMOUG meeting. At any rate, some of the information that I needed to put the Newsletter together was back in Missouri, so although I was able to put most of it together, I'm not expecting to completely finish until Monday morning. There's quite a bit of information regarding the Internet in this month's issue of the MMOUG Newsletter. The Internet is such a wonderful source of information and is growing in volume and importance, I'm considering creating monthly piece to the Newsletter dedicated to the Internet. Well, we'll see. The Dog House Here are a couple of neat programs that I found. The readmes that accompany them are entertaining enough in their own right! FILEREXX ============ FileRexx is a REXX function library that offers a REXX script an alternative to REXX file I/O commands such as STREAM, LINEIN, LINEOUT, CHARIN, CHAROUT, etc. FileRexx allows the REXX app to determine file sharing, so that you can access files that other programs may also have open. Furthermore, FileRexx makes it very easy to read/write binary files. There is a function which can read 32-bit, 16-bit, or 8-bit, signed or unsigned binary values from a file, returning them as ascii numeric strings to the script (ie, in the form that REXX stores all of its variables). There is a complementary function to write out REXX variables as binary values. You can do away with all of the C2D and D2C hassle when reading/writing binary files. FileRexx also has a more powerful line reading function than LINEIN in that it offers several parsing features that can split up a line into numerous parts, each assigned to a separate REXX variable. FileRexx offers a complete interface to device drivers (although believe me, you don't want to interface much to 16-bit OS/2 PDDs). For example, you can send IOCTL commands to a driver and receive back data from an IOCTL. FileRexx can open, and read/write to any OS/2 driver. In fact, with the combination of FileRexx and Rexx Dialog, you can quickly and easily create PM apps and test tools for your drivers. FileRexx is Absolutely Free. The only price that you have to pay is the one that you're already paying by spending all of your time in front of a computer instead of developing healthier outlets. Just log onto the OS/2 Shareware BBS and download FILERX10.ZIP. STANDARD DISCLAIMER: These programs are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind either expressed or implied or tatooed in a place that only a few people have ever seen, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and the dubious assumption that the software has been created by a sane individual who would never do anything that may hurt you. The entire risk as to the results and performance of the programs is assumed by you or someone who looks exactly like you. Jeff Glatt does not guarantee that the functions in these programs will meet your requirements, especially if your requirements involve lots of latex and some docile, domesticated animal. Nor does Jeff Glatt warranty the programs to be uninterruptable or error-free, although mercifully free of "General Protection Faults". If you use said programs, you can not say anything nasty about the author, even if the programs inadvertently cause the erasure of your collection of X-rated GIFs of a conservative, overweight talk-show host plooking himself vigorously with his royalty checks from some rancid paperback. Jeff Glatt is not responsible for any damages as a result of anything that he has done, or hasn't done, or was supposed to do but never got around to it, and furthermore, he doesn't even care so leave him alone, ratface. You may have more or less protections in certain states of the union, depending upon how far your local politician is willing to bend over for some business lobbyist. Just remember that Jeff Glatt has no money, so don't bother suing him as a result of any damages caused by these OS/2 programs. Tell your greasy lawyer to go after IBM, and make sure that you pick 12 really stupid pinheads for the jury. If swallowed, induce vomiting immediately by contemplating the asthetics of Microsoft Windows. OS/2 is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Incorporated, and furthermore, Bill Gates is to blame for it. ===================================== =========== Rexx Dialog =========== Rexx Dialog is a utility that allows a REXX script to open multiple Presentation Manager windows with menus, push/radio/spin/checkmark buttons, list boxes, drop boxes, sliders, text entry controls, etc, that an enduser can operate with the keyboard or mouse or other devices such as a lazor-powered leather whip. In other words, Rexx Dialog is another "Visual REXX environment" thing, like VREXX, but more flexible in that you determine which types and numbers of PM controls you want in a window rather than being forced to choose a preset "list box" window or "group of radio buttons" dialog, etc. For example, you can open a window with a couple of list boxes, a slider, a few radio buttons, etc, and your script determines the arrangement of the controls within the window. Furthermore, you can open numerous windows, with the enduser being able to switch between them and operate the PM controls at will. Rexx Dialog also simplifies reading I/O from devices (such as a COM port), in the context of a Presentation Manager app. Well, let's put it this way: it makes it simpler than IBM's convoluted, archaic 16-bit PDD model warrants. There are also timers available to the REXX script. You can also attach help files to windows (for endusers who refuse to read docs unless you FORCE the enduser to), and Rexx Dialog can even automatically create a standard "Help menu" for a window. Rexx Dialog offers a REXX script the ability to be informed of every keypress that an enduser makes. Between this ability, and PM controls such as dropboxes and text entry, you can completely do away with the REXX PULL command and other forms of getting user input that have inflexible and\or graphically unappealing implementations (ie, you can create an interface without so much rat in it, which is more than one can say about 16-bit OS/2 Physical Device Drivers). Rexx Dialog includes an interface to OS/2's standard File Dialog (to choose filenames). Rexx Dialog even has an equivalent to REXX's SAY command for simple display of some text. Rexx Dialog is not nearly as fancy as VX-REXX, in that it doesn't implement such things as notebooks or value set controls or containers. Nor does it have lots of graphics functions such as drawing various primitives. But then, Rexx Dialog doesn't involve an 800K DLL. It consists of a 50K DLL, so it doesn't gobble up your RAM chips like Republican senators grabbing PAC money. It was designed to offer REXX scripts a basic assortment of functions to create a PM interface that is a lot more flexible and visually appealing than utilizing PULL and SAY for input and output, such that a REXX script can truly qualify as a PM app. It slices! It dices! It scares your cat and causes it to hide under the sofa! How much would you pay for such a REXX extension? Wait! Don't answer yet because we'll also throw in this handy feature: A C app can utilize Rexx Dialog to easily implement a REXX interface. Rexx Dialog has functions that a C app can call which are probably things that you would have had to write if you rolled your own REXX interface. And a C app that uses Rexx Dialog can launch scripts that use all of Rexx Dialog's commands to create a PM interface. An enduser can then extend your program with not only his own functions, but also his own interface for those functions. NOW how much would you pay for such a REXX extension? $20? $40? Well, you can have Rexx Dialog for the incredibly low price of... Absolutely Free (ie, as opposed to "We're Only In It For The Money"). Use it to inflict your own perverted vision of what constitutes computer software upon the rest of the world. Who says that you need to go out and buy an expensive visual REXX package just to create a utility that catalogs your collection of smutty picture files? Now you can unleash your most hideous programming bugs for a fraction of what it would normally cost you. There are no pagan user fees, surreptitious licensing, or other forms of devious capitalist trickery involved in the use of Rexx Dialog. You need pay for only what damage your buggy software does to someone else's system. Just log onto the OS/2 Shareware BBS and download RXDLG10.ZIP. If you're not absolutely, 100%, fully, completely satisfied, then piss off 'cause it's a freebie, ya know? If you have any neat REXX programs, please upload them to area 18 of the WoodMeister or send them to me via Internet at USDSSKZS@IBMMAIL.COM. If you work for the State of Missouri and have access to DISOSS, you can send them to POOLMWV at DSSHOST. Humor 30 Signs That Technology Has Taken Over Your Life: -- Joe Mullich, AmericanWay Magazine, 11/15/94. 1. Your stationery is more cluttered than Warren Beatty's address book. The letterhead lists a fax number, e-mail addresses for two on-line services, and your Internet address, which spreads across the breadth of the letterhead and continues to the back. In essence, you have conceded that the first page of any letter you write *is* letterhead. 2. You have never sat through an entire movie without having at least one device on your body beep or buzz. 3. You need to fill out a form that must be typewritten, but you can't because there isn't one typewriter in your house -- only computers with laser printers. 4. You think of the gadgets in your office as "friends," but you forget to send your father a birthday card. 5. You disdain people who use low baud rates. 6. When you go into a computer store, you eavesdrop on a salesperson talking with customers -- and you butt in to correct him and spend the next twenty minutes answering the customers' questions, while the salesperson stands by silently, nodding his head. 7. You use the phrase "digital compression" in a conversation without thinking how strange your mouth feels when you say it. 8. You constantly find yourself in groups of people to whom you say the phrase "digital compression." Everyone understands what you mean, and you are not surprised or disappointed that you don't have to explain it. 9. You know Bill Gates' e-mail address, but you have to look up your own social security number. 10. You stop saying "phone number" and replace it with "voice number," since we all know the majority of phone lines in any house are plugged into contraptions that talk to other contraptions. 11. You sign Christmas cards by putting :-) next to your signature. 12. Off the top of your head, you can think of nineteen keystroke symbols that are far more clever than :-). 13. You back up your data every day. 14. Your wife asks you to pick up some minipads for her at the store and you return with a rest for your mouse. 15. You think jokes about being unable to program a VCR are stupid. 16. On vacation, you are reading a computer manual and turning the pages faster than everyone else who is reading John Grisham novels. 17. The thought that a CD could refer to finance or music rarely enters your mind. 18. You are able to argue persuasively the Ross Perot's phrase "electronic town hall" makes more sense than the term "information superhighway," but you don't because, after all, the man still uses hand-drawn pie charts. 19. You go to computer trade shows and map out your path of the exhibit hall in advance. But you cannot give someone directions to your house without looking up the street names. 20. You would rather get more dots per inch than miles per gallon. 21. You become upset when a person calls you on the phone to sell you something, but you think it's okay for a computer to call and demand that you start pushing buttons on your telephone to receive more information about the product it is selling. 22. You know without a doubt that disks come in five-and-a- quarter-and three-and-a-half-inch sizes. 23. Al Gore strikes you as an "intriguing" fellow. 24. You own a set of itty-bitty screw-drivers and you actually know where they are. 25. While contemporaries swap stories about their recent hernia surgeries, you compare mouse-induced index-finger strain with a nine-year-old. 26. You are so knowledgeable about technology that you feel secure enough to say "I don't know" when someone asks you a technology question instead of feeling compelled to make something up. 27. You rotate your screen savers more frequently than your automobile tires. 28. You have a functioning home copier machine, but every toaster you own turns bread into charcoal. 29. You have ended friendships because of irreconcilably different opinions about which is better -- the track ball or the track *pad*. 30. You understand all the jokes in this message. If so, my friend, technology has taken over your life. We suggest, for your own good, that you go lie under a tree and write a haiku. And don't use a laptop. 31. You email this message to your friends over the net. You'd never get around to showing it to them in person or reading it to them on the phone. OS/2 Tips 'N' Techniques I just learned something new and exciting regarding OS/2 Warp's pop-up menus. I assume this only works with OS/2 Warp and not with OS/2 2.1 or earlier. If you're tired of seeing the rather large, confusing, pop-up menus (with unnecessary options you never use, such as: Help Find, Create Shadow), you can add the line SET MENUSTYLE=SHORT to your OS/2 CONFIG.SYS file to shorten your pop-up menus down to a reasonable size (of course you must re-boot to see the change take effect.) Here, have another tip, free of charge! Assuming you are using Warp, you can use the SUPPRESSPOPUPS statement in your CONFIG.SYS. It's covered pretty thoroughly in the OS/2 Command Reference, but in a nutshell you just add a line in your CONFIG.SYS that looks like: SUPRESSPOPUPS=C and any time that OS/2 traps, it will write the information to your C: drive in a file called POPUPLOG.OS2 instead of showing it to you. I believe that log will containt a "plain text" copy of what you see on the normal OS/2 trap window. Rebound -- Off the boards ▄▀▀▀▄ █ █ █▄ ▄█ █ █ █ ▄ █ █▀█▀█ ▀▄▄▄▀ ▀█▀█▀ █ █ <══════════ The OS/2 Woodmeister ══════════> Overview of downloadable files (314) 446-0016 FIDO Node 1:289/27 1200/2400/9600/14400 D/S Modem: (314) 446-0016 VModem: owm.carenet.org (159.251.161.3) Telnet: owm.carenet.org Web: http://owm.carenet.org Ftp: owm.carenet.org <══════════════════════════════════════════> (Mon Apr 03 05:33) Last 1 months newest of a total of 3037 files (521 MB) Maximum privilege shown: Disgrace Newest: OWM_NEW.ZIP dd 4-02-95 (avail: 4-02-95) Date flag: new on this system since: * = 1 week, + = 1 month Filename Area Size Date Description ──────────── ──── ───── ───────── ───────────────────────────────────────────── CFGINFO3.ZIP 10 565K 3-04-95+ Its GOLD! GA version of Rick Meigs' great OS2 config.sys information utility (beta was known as cfgbeta2). Check it out. A must FILERE.ZIP 6 98K 3-09-95+ DLL for file I/O enhancements MMOUG395.ZIP 2 75K 3-09-95+ Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group Newsletter March Edition MVPROD.ZIP 7 30K 3-08-95+ OS/2 Media OS2FFA.ZIP 5 71K 3-09-95+ Detailed font info in INF and ASC format OWM_ALL.TXT LIST 333K 4-02-95* All files on the OS/2 Woodmeister OWM_ALL.ZIP LIST 121K 4-02-95* All files on the OS/2 Woodmeister OWM_NEW.TXT LIST 349K 4-02-95* New files (last 30 days) on the OWM OWM_NEW.ZIP LIST 124K 4-02-95* New files (last 30 days) on the OWM POLYC.ZIP 9 66K 3-09-95+ polycalc calculator SHAREFIX.ZIP 10 5K 3-13-95+ This little utility helps DOS programs load if they are search for SHARE.EXE. Works great with Warp. THEICN06.ZIP 14 2470K 3-31-95* This is a HUGE file of icons - I think 6.5 megs when unzipped. Unzip it into its own folder - it'll take awhile to open. VXC21A.ZIP 6 1872K 3-10-95+ VX-Rexx 2.1a C/S Edition patch VXS21A.TXT 6 2K 3-09-95+ Explanation of VX-Rexx 2.1a patch VXS21B.TXT 6 1K 3-09-95+ Explanation of VX-Rexx 2.1b patch WKICKR.ZIP 10 1706K 3-03-95+ Customize many characteristics of OS/2, including controlling the numlock key, window scrolling, system beeps (great for those without soundcards), menu operation, etc. NUMLOCK.EXE remains from the previous release of NumLock. It is a DOS ZOC205.ZIP 12 553K 4-02-95* ZOC V2.0x - PM Terminal Application for OS/2. Outstanding user interface, solid VT102 and Zmodem, countless options, fast screen output and scrollback buffer, external CIS-B protocol, online JPG viewer, powerful script language (REXX) and l ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ List created with DOWNSORT 5.5g by Rob Hamerling on Mon Apr 03 05:33 under OS/2 2.3 ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The OS/2 Woodmeister Overview of downloadable files (314) 446-0016 FIDO Node 1:289/27 1200/2400/9600/14400 D/S Threads "Threads" are a collection of posts that may be of interest to individual readers. OS/2 Warp Upgrade Info The following is taken from a discussion about the "sniffer" program that comes with the OS/2 Warp Upgrade package. The upgrade is cheaper because you have already paid for a copy of Windows when you had a fullpack of OS/2. There was a concern, however, that if a disk was destroyed, trying to reinstall would be problematic. The following is a work-around in case such a situation occurs. I have been doing tests comparing OS/2 Warp 3.0 Full version GA with WinOs2 to OS/2 Warp Upgrade with WInOs2 GA. From all my testing it appears that the sniffer program is ON THE CD ROM. It makes no difference if disk #1 is or is not write protected. The sniffer program is absolutely looking for the file SYSLEVEL.OS2 in the /OS2/INSTALL directory. This is an ASCII file and can be read. It must say OS/2 2.1x or greater. If you own OS/2 2.1 and you did a low level format to your hard drive or pre-formatted your hard drive, OS/2 Warp upgrade will fail to install. There is a simple work around. Work around: CD ROM version: Do not insert CD ROM. Boot up Warp Installation and disk#1. When error message appears about a missing CD ROM disk press enter to switch to a Command prompt. If the disk was low leveled formatted or just plain formatted. Insert CD ROM. FDISK is located in the os2image\DISK_1 and FORMAT is located in the os2image\DISK_2 directory. After you have set up the hard disk enter the following commands. On the Hard disk C drive (yes C drive always) MD C:\OS2 MD C:\OS2\INSTALL CD C:\OS2\INSTALL From Diskette #1 copy the file SYSLEVEL.OS2 to this directory. Now simply reboot and do a normal install. Please note that the reason this works is because OS/2 version 3 with Winos2 can install over itself and it is looking for version 2.1x. We all know that OS/2 3.0 is really version OS/2 2.####. For the disk Version. Follow the same procedure but after disk #1 press F3 to get to the command prompt. Also instead of using the CD ROM to get to the files FDISK and FORMAT you will be using disks #1 and #2. I have tested this now on 3 systems with and with out CD ROM and it works 100% Bottom line: Before you install OS/2 Warp upgrade, if you lost your previous installation of OS/2 2.1x, simply copy the SYSLEVEL.OS2 from disk#1 to the directory OS2\INSTALL. Good luck. Post your results so others will also find out this works. Thank you Jerry Sitbon, IBM's Mwave Windsurfer has minimal support under OS/2 2.11 and No support for Warp. When will they learn? Day (718) 631-6289 or 357-4369, Voice Mail (201) 722-1016 Support Problems "Befuddled PC Users Flood Help Lines, And No Question Seems to Be Too Basic," by Jim Carlton - Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal Austin, TX - Exasperated caller said she couldn't get her new Dell computer to turn on. Customer: "I've pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and nothing happens." Dell Tech: "Foot Pedal?" Customer: "Yes, this little white foot pedal with the on switch." - Foot Pedal turned out to be the mouse - PC makers discovering it's still a low-tech world out there - having success selling PC's to households - now have to deal with people to whom monitors and disk drives are as foreign as another language - 2 years ago, most calls came from techies seeking help on complex problems - Now, as many as 70 percent of calls come from rank novices - Part of reason some companies are now charging for tech support - Questions often so basic, they could be answered by opening the manual - One woman called Dell asking how to install baterries in her new laptop computer - Told directions were on first page of the manual - Woman replied angrily, "I just paid $2000.00 for this damn thing, and I'm not going to read a book." - These buyers rarely refer to manuals - Would rather use the phone - "It's a phenomenon of people wanting to talk to people." - Craig McQuilken of AST Research - Compaq help center in Houston indundated with 8000 calls a day with inquiries like - " A frustrated customer called, who said her... )PC[... would not work. She said she had unpacked the unit, plugged it in, opened it up and sat there for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened when she pressed the power switch, she asked, "What power switch?"" - So many people have called to ask where the "any" key is on their keyboards when the "Press Any Key" message is displayed - Compaq considering changing message to "Press Return Key" - AST - one customer complained that her mouse was hard to control with the dust cover on it - dust cover turned out to be the plastic bag in which the mouse was packaged - Dell - one customer held the mouse in the air and pointed it at the screen, all the while clicking madly - Compaq - one customer was having diskette problems. After trouble shooting for a while (magnets, heat, etc.), tech asked the customer what else was being done with the diskette. Response: "I put a label on the diskette, roll it into the typewriter..." - AST - customer complied with tech's request to send in a copy of a defective diskette. A few days later, tech received a letter from the customer along with a Xerox copy of the floppy. - Dell - tech advised customer to put his troubled floppy back in the drive and close the door. Customer put the phone down and was heard walking over to shut the door to his room. - Dell - customer called to say he couldn't get his computer to fax anything. After 40 minutes, tech discovered the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the monitor screen and hitting the "send" key. - Dell - customer needed help setting up an app. Tech referred him to the local Egghead. Customer: "Yeah, I got me a couple of friends." When told that Egghead was a software store, the man replied, "Oh! I thought you meant for me to find a couple of geeks." - Dell - Customer called complaining his keyboard no longer worked. Customer had cleaned his keyboard by submerging it for a day in warm soapy water in his bathtub. - Dell tech once calmed a man who was enraged because "his computer had told him he was bad and an invalid." Tech patiently explained that the computer's "bad command" and "invalid" responses shouldn't be taken personally. - Techs increasingly find themselves taking on role of amateur psychologists - Dell tech (formerly a psychiatric nurse) once defused a potential domestic fight by soothingly talking a man through a computer problem after the man had screamed threats at his wife and children in the background. - Also the lonely hearts reaching out for human contact, even if it happens to be a computer techie. - man from New Hampshire calls Dell every time he experiences a life crisis. Gets a tech to walk him through a contrived computer problem, apparently feeling uplifted by the process. Internet Access with E-Mail From: BobRankin@Delphi.Com (Doctor Bob) Subject: Accessing the Internet by E-Mail FAQ Date: 30 Nov 1994 09:42:45 GMT Last-modified: 1994/11/30 Version: 3.0 Summary: This guide will show you how to retrieve files from FTP sites, explore the Internet via Gopher, search for information with Archie, Veronica, or WAIS, tap into the World-Wide Web, and even access Usenet newsgroups using E-MAIL AS YOUR ONLY TOOL. Accessing The Internet By E-Mail Doctor Bob's Guide to Offline Internet Access 3rd Edition - December 1994 Copyright (c) 1994, "Doctor Bob" Rankin All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document provided the copyyight notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Feel free to upload to your favorite BBS or Internet server! How to Access Internet Services by E-mail ----------------------------------------- If your only access to the Internet is via e-mail, you don't have to miss out on all the fun! Maybe you've heard of FTP, Gopher, Archie, Veronica, Finger, Whois, WAIS, World-Wide Web, and Usenet but thought they were out of your reach because your online service does not provide those tools. Not so! And even if you do have full Internet access, using e-mail servers can save you time and money. This special report will show you how to retrieve files from FTP sites, explore the Internet via Gopher, search for information with Archie, Veronica, or WAIS, tap into the World-Wide Web, and even access Usenet newsgroups using E-MAIL AS YOUR ONLY TOOL. If you can send a note to an Internet address, you're in the game! This is great news for users of online services where there is partial or no direct Internet access. As of late 1994, there were 150 countries with only e-mail connections to the Internet. This is double the number of countries with direct (IP) connections. I encourage you to read this entire document first and then go back and try out the techniques that are covered. This way, you will gain a broader perspective of the information resources that are available, an introduction to the tools you can work with, and the best methods for finding the information you want. Finding the Latest Version -------------------------- This document is now available from several automated mail servers. To get the latest edition, send e-mail to one of the addresses below. To: listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu (for US/Canada/etc.) Leave Subject blank, and enter only this line in the body of the note: GET INTERNET BY-EMAIL NETTRAIN F=MAIL To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (for Eastern US) Leave Subject blank, and enter only this line in the body of the note: send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email To: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk (for UK/Europe/etc.) Leave Subject blank, and enter only this line in the body of the note: send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt You can also get the file by anonymous FTP at one of these sites: Site: ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu get NETTRAIN/INTERNET.BY-EMAIL Site: rtfm.mit.edu get pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email Site: mailbase.ac.uk get pub/lists/lis-iis/files/e-access-inet.txt Acknowledgements ---------------- This document is continually expanding and improving as a result of the daily flood of comments and questions received by the author. The following individuals are hereby recognized for their contributions. (If I forgot anyone, let me know and I'll gladly add you to the list.) Miles Baska Sylvain Chamberland Roddy MacLeod - Engineering Faculty Librarian, Heriot Watt University George McMurdo - Queen Margaret College Jim Milles - NETTRAIN Moderator, Saint Louis University Glee Willis - Engineering Librarian, University of Nevada Herman VanUytven - Netnews->Email server developer A Short Aside... "What is the Internet?" ---------------------------------------- Many introductory texts on the Internet go into excruciating detail on the history, composition and protocol of the Internet. If you were looking for that you won't find it here, because this is a "how to" lesson, not a history book. When you buy a new car, they don't make you read "The Life and Times of Henry Ford" before you can turn the top down and squeal off the lot. And when you get a new computer, nobody forces you to read a text on logic design before you fire up Leisure Suit Larry or WordPerfect. So if you're the type that wants to short-circuit the preliminaries and just dig in, you've come to the right place. I'm not going to bore you with the gory details. Instead, I'll just offer up my Reader's Digest condensed definition of the Internet, and encourage you to read more about the Internet in one of the many fine Internet books and guides listed in the "Suggested Reading" section. Some of them are even free, and accessible directly from the Internet! Internet (noun) - A sprawling collection of computer networks that spans the globe, connecting government, military, educational and commercial institutions, as well as private citizens to a wide range of computer services, resources, and information. A set of network conventions and common tools are employed to give the appearance of a single large network, even though the computers that are linked together use many different hardware and software platforms. The Rules of The Game --------------------- This document is meant to be both tutorial and practical, so there are lots of actual commands and internet addresses listed herein. You'll notice that when these are included in the text they are indented by several spaces for clarity. Don't include the leading spaces when you try these commands on your own! You'll also see things like "<file>" or "<name>" appearing in this document. Think of these as place holders or variables which must be replaced with an appropriate value. Do NOT include the quotes or brackets in your value unless specifically directed to do so. Often you'll be told to "send e-mail with a blank subject" to some address. This means to simply leave the "Subject:" field blank in your note. If your mailer refuses to send messages with a blank subject, give it some dummy value. In most cases this will work fine. Most e-mail servers understand only a small set of commands and are not very forgiving if you deviate from what they expect. So include ONLY the specified commands in the "body" of your note and leave off any extraneous lines such as your signature, etc. Pay attention to upper/lower case in directory and file names when using e-mail servers. It's almost always important! FTP BY E-MAIL ------------- FTP stands for "file transfer protocol", and is a means of accessing files that are stored on remote computer systems. In Internet lingo, these remote computers are called "sites". Files at FTP sites are typically stored in a tree-like set of directories (or nested folders for Mac fans), each of which pertains to a different subject. When visiting an FTP site using a "live" internet connection, one would specify the name of the site, login with a userid & password, navigate to the desired directory and select one or more files to be transferred back to their local system. Using FTP by e-mail is very similar, except that the desired site is reached through a special "ftpmail server" which logs in to the remote site and returns the requested files to you in response to a set of commands in an e-mail message. Using FTP by e-mail can be nice even for those with full Internet access, because some popular FTP sites are heavily loaded and interactive response can be very sluggish. So it makes sense not to waste time and connect charges in these cases. To use FTP by e-mail, you first need a list of FTP "sites" which are the addresses of the remote computer systems that allow you to retrieve files anonymously (without having a userid and password on that system). There are some popular sites listed later in this guide, but you can get a comprehensive list of hundreds of anonymous FTP sites by sending an e-mail message to the internet address: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with a blank subject and include these lines in the body of the note. send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part1 send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part2 ... (lines omitted for brevity) send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part13 send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part14 You will then receive (by e-mail) 14 files which comprise the "FTP Site List". Note that these files are each about 60K, so the whole lot will total over 750K! This could place a strain on your system, so first check around to see if the list is already available locally, or consider requesting just the first few as a sampler before getting the rest. Another file you might want to get is "FTP Frequently Asked Questions" which contains lots more info on using FTP services, so add this line to your note as well. send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/faq After you receive the site list you'll see dozens of entries like this, which tell you the site name, location and the kind of files that are stored there. Site : oak.oakland.edu Country: USA Organ : Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan System : Unix Comment: Primary Simtel Software Repository mirror Files : BBS lists; ham radio; TCP/IP; Mac; modem protocol info; MS-DOS; MS-Windows; PC Blue; PostScript; Simtel-20; Unix If you find an interesting FTP site in the list, send e-mail to one of these ftpmail servers: ftpmail@sunsite.unc.edu (USA/NC) bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu (USA/NJ) bitftp@vm.gmd.de (Europe) bitftp@plearn.edu.pl (Europe) ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk (UK) ftpmail@cs.uow.edu.au (Australia) and in the body of the note, include these lines: open <site> dir quit This will return to you a list of the files stored in the root directory at that site. In your next e-mail message you can navigate to other directories by inserting (for example) cd pub before the "dir" command. (The "cd" means "change directory" and "pub" is a common directory name, usually a good place to start.) Once you determine the name of a file you want to retrieve, use: get <name of file> in the following note instead of the "dir" command. If the file you want to retrieve is plain text, this will suffice. If it's a binary file (an executable program, compressed file, etc.) you'll need to insert the command: binary in your note before the "get" command. OK, let's grab the text of The Declaration of Independence. Here's the message you send to ftpmail@sunsite.unc.edu (or another ftpmail server): open ftp.eff.org (The name of the FTP site) cd pub/CAF/civics (The directory where the file lives) get dec_of_ind (The name of the file to retrieve) quit (Beam me up, Scotty!) Here are the commands you would send to to get a file from the Simtel Software Repository that was mentioned earlier. open oak.oakland.edu (The name of the FTP site) cd SimTel/msdos/bbs (The directory where the file lives) binary (Because we're getting a ZIP file) get answer2.zip (Sounds interesting, anyway...) quit (We're outta here!) Some other interesting FTP sites you may want to "visit" are listed below. (Use these site names on the "open" command and the suggested directory name on your "cd" command, as in the previous examples.) ocf.berkeley.edu Try: pub/Library for documents, Bible, lyrics, etc. rtfm.mit.edu Try: pub/usenet/news.answers for USENET info oak.oakland.edu Try: SimTel/msdos for a huge DOS software library ftp.sura.net Try: pub/nic for Internet how-to documents quartz.rutgers.edu Try: pub/humor for lots of humor files gatekeeper.dec.com Try: pub/recipes for a cooking & recipe archive You should note that ftpmail servers tend to be quite busy so your reply may not arrive for several minutes, hours, or days, depending on when and where you send your request. Also, some large files may be split into smaller pieces and returned to you as multiple messages. If the file that is returned to you ends up looking something like what you see below, (the word "begin" with a number and the filename on one line, followed by a bunch of 61-character lines) it most likely is a binary file that has been "uuencoded" by the sender. (This is required in order to reliably transmit binary files on the Internet.) begin 666 answer2.zip M4$L#!`H`!@`.`/6H?18.$-Z$F@P```@?```,````5$5,25@S,34N5%A480I[ M!P8;!KL,2P,)!PL).PD'%@.(!@4.!P8%-@.6%PL*!@@*.P4.%00.%P4*.`4. You'll need to scrounge up a version of the "uudecode" program for your operating system (DOS, OS/2, Unix, Mac, etc.) in order to reconstruct the file. Most likely you'll find a copy already at your site or in your service provider's download library, but if not you can use the instructions in the next section to find out how to search FTP sites for a copy. One final point to consider... If your online service charges you to store e-mail files that are sent to you and you plan to receive some large files via FTP, it would be wise to handle your "inbasket" expeditiously to avoid storage costs. ARCHIE BY E-MAIL ---------------- Let's say you know the name of a file, but you have no idea at which FTP site it might be lurking. Or maybe you're curious to know if a file matching a certain naming criteria is available via FTP. Archie is the tool you can use to find out. Archie servers can be thought of as a database of all the anonymous FTP sites in the world, allowing you to find the site and/or name of a file to be retrieved. And using Archie by e-mail can be convenient because some Archie searches take a LONG time to complete, leaving you to tap your toes in the meantime. To use Archie by e-mail, simply send an e-mail message to one of the following addresses: archie@archie.rutgers.edu (USA/NJ) archie@archie.sura.net (USA/MD) archie@archie.unl.edu (USA/NE) archie@archie.doc.ic.ac.uk (UK) archie@archie.luth.se (Sweden) archie@archie.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp (Japan) To obtain detailed help for using Archie by mail, put the word help in the subject of the note and just send it off. You'll receive e-mail explaining how to use archie services. If you're the "just do it" type, then leave the subject blank and enter: find <file> where "<file>" is the name of the file to search for, in the body (not the subject) of the note. This will search for files that match your criteria exactly. If you want to find files that contain your search criteria anywhere in their name, insert the line set search sub before the "find" command. Some other useful archie commands you might want to use are: set maxhits 20 (limit output, default is 100 files) set match_domain usa (restrict output to FTP sites in USA) set output_format terse (return output in condensed form) When you get the results from your Archie query, it will contain the names of various sites at which the desired file is located. Use one of these site names and the directory/filename listed for your next FTP file retrieval request. Now you've learned enough to locate that uudecode utility mentioned in the last section. Let's send e-mail to archie@archie.rutgers.edu, and include the following lines in the message: set match_domain usa (restrict output to FTP sites in USA) set search sub (looking for a substring match...) file uudecode (must contain this string...) Note: You'll be looking for the uudecode source code, not the executable version, which would of course be a binary file and would arrive uuencoded - a Catch 22! The output of your archie query will contain lots of information like this: Host ftp.clarkson.edu (128.153.4.2) Last updated 06:31 9 Oct 1994 Location: /pub/simtel20-cdrom/msdos/starter FILE -r-xr-xr-x 5572 bytes 21:00 11 Mar 1991 uudecode.bas Location: /pub/simtel20-cdrom/msdos/starter FILE -r-xr-xr-x 5349 bytes 20:00 17 Apr 1991 uudecode.c Now you can use an ftpmail server to request "uudecode.bas" (if you have BASIC available) or "uudecode.c" (if you have a C compiler) from the ftp.clarkson.edu site. GOPHER BY E-MAIL ---------------- Gopher is an excellent tool for exploring the Internet and is the best way to find a resource if you know what you want, but not where to find it. A gopher system is menu-based, and provides a user-friendly "front-end" to Internet resources, searches and information retrieval. Without a tool like Gopher, you'd have to wander aimlessly through the Internet jungles and swamps to find the treasures you seek. Gopher "knows where things are" and guides you to the good stuff. Gopher takes the rough edges off of the Internet by automating remote logins, hiding the sometimes-cryptic command sequences, and offers powerful search capabilities as well. And of course you can use Gopher by e-mail! Although not every item on every menu will be accessible by "gopher mail", you'll still find plenty of interesting things using this technique. Down to brass tacks... let's send e-mail to one of these addresses: gophermail@calvin.edu (USA) gopher@earn.net (France) gopher@dsv.su.se (Sweden) gomail@ncc.go.jp (Japan) Leave the Subject blank, enter HELP in the body of the note, and let it rip. You'll soon receive by e-mail the text of the main menu at the gophermail site you selected. (You can optionally specify the address of a known gopher site on the Subject line to get the main menu for that site instead.) To proceed to a selection on the returned menu just e-mail the whole text of the note (from the menu downwards) back to the gopher server, placing an "x" next to the items(s) you want to explore. You'll then receive the next level of the gopher menu by e-mail. Some menu choices lead to other menus, some lead to text files, and some lead to searches. To perform a search, select that menu item with an "x" and supply your search words in the Subject: of your next reply. Note that your search criteria can be a single word or a boolean expression such as: document and (historical or government) Each of the results (the "hits") of your search will be displayed as an entry on yet another gopher menu! Note: You needn't actually return the entire gopher menu and all the routing info that follows it each time you reply to the gophermail server. If you want to minimize the size of your query, you can strip out the "menu" portion at the top and include only the portion below that pertains to the menu selection you want. The example that follows shows how to select one specific item from a gopher menu: ------- begin gophermail message (do not include this line) Split=0 bytes/message - For text, bin, HQX messages (0 = No split) Menu=0 items/message - For menus and query responses (0 = No split) # Name=EE Telecommunication Overview Type=0 Port=70 Path=0/.d-f/eetel.info Host=nceet.snre.umich.edu ------- end gophermail message (do not include this line) If this message looks like nonsense to you, here's a human translation: Connect to PORT 70 of the HOST (computer) at "nceet.snre.umich.edu", retrieve the FILE "eetel.info" (whose NAME is "EE Telecommunication Overview") and send it to me in ONE PIECE, regardless of its size. Note: Sometimes gophermail requests return a blank menu or message. This is most likely because the server failed to connect to the host from which you were trying to get your information. Send your request again later and it'll probably work. VERONICA BY E-MAIL ------------------ Speaking of searches, this is a good time to mention Veronica. Just as Archie provides a searchable index of FTP sites, Veronica provides this function for "gopherspace". Veronica will ask you what you want to look for (your search words) and then display another menu listing all the gopher menu items that match your search. In typical gopher fashion, you can then select one of these items and "go-pher it"! To try Veronica by e-mail, retrieve the main menu from a gophermail server using the method just described. Then try the choice labelled "Other Gopher and Information Servers". This menu will have an entry for Veronica. You'll have to select one (or more) Veronica servers to handle your query, specifying the search words in the Subject of your reply. Here's another example of where using e-mail servers can save time and money. Often the Veronica servers are very busy and tell you to "try again later". So select 2 or 3 servers, and chances are one of them will be able to handle your request the first time around. A Gophermail Shortcut: ---------------------- The path to some resources, files or databases can be a bit tedious, requiring several e-mail messages to the gophermail server. But here's the good news... If you've done it once, you can re-use any of the e-mail messages previously sent in, changing it to suit your current needs. As an example, here's a clipping from the Veronica menu you would get by following the previous instructions. You can send these lines to any gophermail server to run a Veronica search. Split=64K bytes/message <- For text, bin, HQX messages (0 = No split) Menu=100 items/message <- For menus and query responses (0 = No split) # Name=Search GopherSpace by Title word(s) (via NYSERNet) Type=7 Port=2347 Path= Host=empire.nysernet.org Specify the search words in the Subject line and see what turns up! USENET BY E-MAIL ---------------- Usenet is a collection of over 5000 discussion groups on every topic imaginable. In order to get a proper start and avoid embarrasing yourself needlessly, you must read the Usenet new users intro document, which can be obtained by sending e-mail to: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with blank subject and including this line in the body of the note: send usenet/news.answers/news-newusers-intro To get a listing of Usenet newsgroups, add these commands to your note: send usenet/news.answers/active-newsgroups/part1 send usenet/news.answers/active-newsgroups/part2 send usenet/news.answers/alt-hierarchies/part1 send usenet/news.answers/alt-hierarchies/part2 Once you've handled the preliminaries, you'll need to know how to read and contribute to Usenet newsgroups by e-mail. To read a newsgroup, you can use the gophermail service discussed earlier in this guide. To obtain a list of recent postings to a particular newsgroup, send the following lines to one of the gophermail servers mentioned previously. Leave "Subject" blank and include only these lines in the message body. (You must replace "<groupname>" below with the name of the Usenet newsgroup you wish to access. eg: alt.answers, biz.comp.services, news.newusers.questions, etc.) ------- begin gophermail message (do not include this line) Type=1 Port=4320 Path=nntp ls <groupname> Host=info-server.lanl.gov ------- end gophermail message (do not include this line) The gophermail server will send you a typical gopher menu on which you may select the individual postings you wish to read. Note: The gophermail query in this example is the greatly edited result of many previous queries. I've pared it down to the bare essentials so it can be tailored and reused. If you decide to make a post of your own, mail the text of your post to: newsgroup.name.usenet@decwrl.dec.com (USA) newsgroup.name@news.demon.co.uk (UK) For example, to post to news.newusers.questions, you would send your message to one of: news.newusers.questions.usenet@decwrl.dec.com news.newusers.questions@news.demon.co.uk Be sure to include an appropriate Subject: line, and to include your real name and e-mail address at the close of your note. An Alternative Usenet->E-mail Method ------------------------------------ Another way to get Usenet postings by e-mail is via a special server in Belgium. It's a bit easier than the gophermail approach, but it carries only a subset (about 1000) of the Usenet groups. Send e-mail to: listserv@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be with this command in the body of the note: /NNHELP and you'll get complete details. If you can't wait, send the command /NEWSGROUPS to get a list of the newsgroups available on the server. If you're even more impatient, try something like: /GROUP comp.unix.aix SINCE 19941215000000 and you should get a list of postings made from 15 Dec 1994 onward. Yet Another Usenet->E-mail Method! ---------------------------------- See the section "World-Wide Web By E-Mail" for an even easier method of retrieving Usenet posts by e-mail! This method is limited to the set of newsgroups carried at the CERN server, but the selection seems to be quite comprehensive. WAIS SEARCHES BY E-MAIL ----------------------- WAIS stands for Wide Area Information Service, and is a means of searching a set of over 500 indexed databases. The range of topics is too broad to mention, and besides, you'll soon learn how to get the topic list for yourself! I recommend that you send e-mail to "waismail@quake.think.com" with HELP in the body of the note to get the full WAISmail user guide. But if you can't wait, use the info below as a quickstart. A list of WAIS databases (or "resources" as they like to be called) can be obtained by sending e-mail to "waismail@quake.think.com" with the line search xxx xxx in the body of the note. Look through the returned list for topics that are of interest to you and use one of them in the next example. OK, let's do an actual search. Send e-mail to: waismail@quake.think.com with the following commands in the note body: maxres 10 search bible flood This will tell WAISmail to search through the text of the "bible" database and return a list of at most 10 documents containing "flood". You will receive an e-mail response something like this: From: WAISmail@Think.COM Searching: bible Keywords: flood Result # 1 Score:1000 lines: 0 bytes: 3556 Date:910101 Type: TEXT Headline: Genesis: Chapter 9 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons... DocID: 0000000457KJV :cmns-moon.think.com@cmns-moon.think.com:210%TEXT To retrieve the full text of a matching document, just use one the returned "DOCid:" lines exactly as is. So your next e-mail to WAISmail would be: DocID: 0000000457KJV :cmns-moon.think.com@cmns-moon.think.com:210%TEXT This will cause the referenced "document" to be sent to you by e-mail. World-Wide Web By E-Mail ------------------------ The World-Wide Web is touted as the future of Internet navigational tools. It's a hypertext and multimedia system that lets you hop around the Net, read documents, and access images & sounds linked to a source. Have you ever heard someone say, "Wow, check out the cool stuff at http://www.somewhere.com/blah.html" and wondered what the heck they were talking about? Now you can retrieve WWW documents using e-mail! All you need to know is the URL (that long ugly string starting with "http:", "gopher:", or "ftp:") which defines the address of the document, and you can retrieve it by sending e-mail to either of: listserv@www0.cern.ch listproc@www0.cern.ch In the body of your note include one of these lines, replacing "<URL>" with the actual URL specification. send <URL> This will send you back the document you requested, with a list of all the documents referenced within, so that you may make further requests. deep <URL> Same as above, but it will also send you the documents referenced in in the URL you specified. To try WWW by e-mail send the following command to listproc@www0.cern.ch : send http://info.cern.ch You'll receive in due course the "WWW Welcome Page" from Cern which will include references to other Web documents you'll want to explore. As mentioned earlier, you can also get Usenet postings from the WWW mail server. Here are some examples: send news:comp.unix.aix (returns a list of recent postings) deep news:comp.unix.aix (returns the list AND the postings) Note: The URL you specify may contain only the following characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and these special characters /:._-+@%*()?~ There is another WWW-mail server whose address is: webmail@curia.ucc.ie This server requires commands in the form: go <URL> MAILING LISTS ------------- There are literally thousands of discussion groups that stay in touch using e-mail based systems known as "mailing lists". People interested in a topic "subscribe" to a "list" and then send and receive postings by e-mail. For a good introduction to this topic, send e-mail to: LISTSERV@vm1.nodak.edu In the body of your note include only this command: GET NEW-LIST WOUTERS Finding a Mailing List ---------------------- To find out about mailing lists that are relevant to your interests, send the following command to the same address given above. LIST GLOBAL /keyword (Of course you must replace "keyword" with an appropriate search word such as Marketing, Education, etc.) Another helpful document which details the commands used to subscribe, unsubscribe and search mailing list archives can be had by sending to: LISTSERV@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu In the body of your note include only this command: get mailser cmd nettrain f=mail New in These Parts? ------------------- If you're new to the Internet, I suggest you subscribe to the HELP-NET list where you're likely to find answers to your questions. Send the command: SUBSCRIBE HELP-NET Firstname Lastname to LISTSERV@VM.TEMPLE.EDU, then e-mail your questions to the list address: HELP-NET@VM.TEMPLE.EDU FINGER BY E-MAIL ---------------- "Finger" is a utility that returns information about another user. Usually it's just boring stuff like last logon, etc., but sometimes people put fun or useful information in their finger replies. To try out finger, send e-mail with Subject: FINGER jtchern@headcrash.berkeley.edu. To: infobot@infomania.com You'll receive some current sports standings! (The general form is FINGER user@site.) Just for kicks, try finger using a combination of gopher and WWW. Send the command: send gopher://<site>:79/0<user> to the WWWmail server mentioned earlier. "DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE" BY E-MAIL -------------------------------- "Whois" is a service that queries a database of Internet names and addresses. If you're looking for someone or you want to know where a particular computer is located, send e-mail with Subject: whois <name> To: mailserv@internic.net Try substituting "mit.edu" or the last name of someone you know in place of "<name>" and see what comes back! Another alternative name looker-upper is a database at MIT which keeps tabs on everyone who has posted a message on Usenet. Send e-mail with a blank subject to "mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu" and include this command ONLY in the note body: send usenet-addresses/<name> Specify as much information as you can about the person (lastname, firstname, userid, site, etc.) to limit the amount of information that is returned to you. Here's a sample query to find the address of someone you think may be at Harvard University: send usenet-addresses/Jane Doe Harvard A FEW NET-GOODIES ----------------- Here are some other interesting things you can do by e-mail. (Some of them are accessible only by e-mail!) * WEBSTER BY E-MAIL Don't have your dictionary handy? Send e-mail to infobot@infomania.com again, but this time make the subject WEBSTER TEST and you'll get a definition of the word "test" in reply. * ALMANAC, WEATHER & THE SWEDISH CHEF Infomania offers a bunch of other services by e-mail! Almanac (daily updates), Weather, CD Music Catalog, etc. Send e-mail to infobot@infomania.com with subject HELP for full details. * THE ELECTRONIC NEWSSTAND The Electronic Newsstand collects articles, editorials, and tables of contents from over 165 magazines and provides them to the Internet. To get instructions on e-mail access, send a blank message to gophermail@enews.com * U.S. CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE Find out if your congressman has an electronic address! Just send mail to the address congress@hr.house.gov and you'll get a listing of congressional e-mail addresses. You can also contact the President (president@whitehouse.gov) or Vice President (vice.president@whitehouse.gov), but don't expect a reply by e-mail. Messages sent to these addresses get printed out and handled just like regular paper correspondence! * USENET SEARCHES A new service at Stanford University makes it possible to search USENET newsgroups for postings that contain keywords of interest to you. You can even "subscribe" and receive a daily list of newsgroup postings that match your search criteria. Send mail to netnews@db.stanford.edu with blank subject and HELP in the body of note for full details. * MOVIE INFO To learn how to get tons of info on movies, actors, directors, etc. Send mail to movie@ibmpcug.co.uk with blank subject and HELP in the body of note for full details. * STOCK MARKET REPORT Send e-mail with subject STOCK MARKET QUOTES to martin.wong@eng.sun.com and you'll receive a rather lengthy stock market report (every day until you ask Martin to stop sending them)! Please note that this is not an automated server, so be sure to include a word of appreciation for this useful service. * STOCK MARKET QUOTES If you want to get a current quote for just 1 or 2 stocks, you can use the QuoteCom service. They offer this free service along with other fee based services. For details, send e-mail to "services@quote.com" with a subject of HELP. * ANONYMOUS E-MAIL The "anon server" provides a front for sending mail messages and posting to Usenet newsgroups anonymously, should the need ever arise. To get complete instructions, send e-mail to: help@anon.penet.fi (English version) german@anon.penet.fi or deutsch@anon.penet.fi (German version) italian@anon.penet.fi or italiano@anon.penet.fi (Italian version) * NET JOURNALS LISTING I highly recommend "The Internet Press - A guide to electronic journals about the Internet". To get it, send e-mail with Subject: send ipress to savetz@rahul.net. Be sure to check out Scout Report & Netsurfer Digest! SCOUT REPORT: Forget building campfires. Scout Report is a weekly featuring new resource announcements. News reports about the net were promised but are pretty lean. Put out by gods at InterNIC. E-MAIL - To: majordomo@is.internic.net Subject: Ignored Body: Subscribe scout-report SUGGESTED READING ----------------- There are lots of good books and guides to help you get started on the Internet, and here are some that I recommend. The first few are free (FTPmail commands listed below), and the others can be found in most bookstores that carry computer-related books. "Zen and the Art of the Internet", by Brendan Kehoe open ftp.std.com cd obi/Internet/zen-1.0 get zen10.txt "There's Gold in them thar Networks", by Jerry Martin open nic.ddn.mil cd rfc get rfc1402.txt "Unofficial Internet Book List", by Kevin Savetz open rtfm.mit.edu cd pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services get book-list "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog", by Ed Krol Publisher: O'Reilly and Associates ISBN: 1-56592-063-5 Price: $24.95 "The Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet", by Adam Gaffin Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0-262-57105-6 Price: $14.95 "The Internet for Dummies", by John Levine and Carol Baroudi Publisher: IDG Books ISBN: 1-56884-024-1 Price: $19.95 CONTACTING THE AUTHOR --------------------- "Doctor Bob", also known as Bob Rankin, welcomes your feedback on this guide and can be reached at the following addresses. Send corrections, ideas, suggestions and comments by e-mail. I'll try to include any new e-mail services in future editions of this guide. Internet: BobRankin@Delphi.com US Mail : Doctor Bob / P.O. Box 39 / Tillson, NY / 12486 MORE PUBLICATIONS FROM DOCTOR BOB! ---------------------------------- Announcing ... +------------------------------------------------+ | "100 COOL THINGS TO DO ON THE INTERNET!" | | Doctor Bob's Internet Tour Guide | | Over 100 places you *must* visit in cyberspace | +------------------------------------------------+ This is the guide I wanted when the Internet was new to me. Just a quick overview of the "tools of the trade" and a list of "cool things to do". Not 300 pages... And not $39! This information could save you money, hours of valuable time, or lead you to a new career. There's a goldmine of information, software and services out there just waiting to be discovered! It can be yours, but it's not easy... That's why you must have this informative report which gives you the lowdown on: * Online databases * Electronic Library Catalogs * Shopping in Cyberspace * Job Postings Online * Vast software libraries * ALL FREE! You'll learn the basics of TELNETing, FTPing and GOPHERing to the information you want, with specific instructions and the "secret keys" you need to unlock all the doors on the way! +------------------------------------------------+ | Doctor Bob's Internet Business Guide | | An Introduction to Good | | Old-Fashioned Capitalism In Cyberspace | +------------------------------------------------+ There are those who say that the Internet should be free of capitalism, commerce, advertising and anything that smells like "business". But there ARE ways to conduct business on the 'Net without raising the ire of the inhabitants of the electronic domain. You can lower costs, make money and even get thanked for providing your service if you know how to do it right! I can't promise that you'll make lots of money selling your product or service, but I'm certain that after you've read this guide, you will have a better understanding of: * Internet Tools & Techniques * Business Resources on the Net * Setting Up Shop on the Net * Avoiding Net Marketing Pitfalls * What business are on the Net * Getting paid for your product To get your copy of: "100 COOL THINGS TO DO ON THE INTERNET!" - or - "DOCTOR BOB'S INTERNET BUSINESS GUIDE" Send just $5 each (cash, check or money order) plus a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: --> DOCTOR BOB --> PO BOX 39, DEPT U3 --> TILLSON, NY 12486 USA Outside the USA: Skip the stamp, but please add $1 for postage. And if it's too difficult to get US funds, send 12 International Postal Coupons in lieu of payment. I also accept NetCash! For details on electronic payment, send e-mail to netbank-info@agents.com with the keyword "netbank-intro" (minus the quotes) on the first line of your note. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1994, "Doctor Bob" Rankin All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Feel free to upload to your favorite BBS or Internet server! Person 2 Person on the Internet I have been playing with the Person 2 person software bundled with OS/2 Warp. In particular, I have been using it on the Internet. The bottom line is that it is very useful for collaborating on *anything* over the Internet - or just using as a sort of Internet Relay Chat - with graphics and pictures, too. Last week, I announced in comp.os.os2.misc that I could be called via P2P from 7PM EST time on Monday. In the 5 hours that followed, I had about 20 people call in - up to 6 at one time not including me. All could chat to each other, share bitmaps, the clipboard, screenshots, pictures of their kids, of their towns/houses/cars/whatever for the whole group. The callers were mainly from the US, with a german and some one in Singapore also joining in. Of course, I live in New Zealand. As it was such a success, I plan to be online each Saturday and Sunday at 13:00 (US) EST. You can call me at IP address 192.100.53.241 When you call, don't tick any apps. I will join you in with whoever else is online. At most, tick the talk box if you think I am too slow. Have your local IP address ready incase I have to call you back. So if you want to try this out use P2P to call at the above times. I have a picture of Wellington ready for display. :-) The limit is 8 people. Steve Withers ASKIBM IBM New Zealand Next MMOUG Meeting Next month's MMOUG meeting will be held in Columbia on Wednesday, April 19, 1994, 4 pm at: FISH and WILDLIFE Research Center 1110 South College Ave. Columbia 65201 From Jefferson City: Take 63 North to Stadium. Go left on Stadium to College Avenue. Turn right on College Avenue. The Fish and Wildlife Research Center should be immediately to the right. This month is "BYFS" -- Bring Your Favorite Shareware. This will give us an opportuinty to check out what everyone has as their favorite piece (or pieces) of shareware and freeware, and possibly do some swapping. In addition, it is time once again for the election of officers! MMOUG Registration Form Name:_____________________________________ Nickname:_____________________ Last Name, First Initial Company Name:_____________________________ Address:___________________________________ Work Phone:___________________ ___________________________________ Home Phone:__________________ City:_________________________ State:_______ Zip Code:_____________________ Questionnaire Your Operating System: ___ DOS ___ OS/2 ___ WINDOWS ___ UNIX ___ OTHER __________________ Your Interest in Computers Include (Check all that apply): ___ Education ___ Business ___ Entertainment ___ OTHER ________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ Annual membership fee for the Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group is $30.00 US. Purchase Orders are accepted. Please make your check payable to MMOUG and mail to: MMOUG, P.O. Box 30654, Columbia, MO. 65205-0645 Thank you for your support. _______________________________________________________________________________ The Mid-Missouri OS/2 Users Group is a non-profit corporation who's dedicated purpose is to aid and facilitate the education and communication between individual computer users, different computer groups, and the general public. The Woodmeister BBS is the official Bulletin Board of the MMOUG. A copy of the Bylaws is available for downloading from the Woodmeister BBS (314-446-0016). For assistance with OS/2, call our Voice Mail at 314-636-0805.