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NetMonth, March 1989
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* * The independent guide to BITNET *
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* * ***** March, 1989 *
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* * ***** ***** Volume 3, Number 9 *
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*********************** *******************************
Christopher Condon Editor CONDON @ YALEVM
Timothy Stephen Associate Editor STEPHEN @ RPIECS
Craig White Associate Editor CWHITE @ UA1VM
June Genis Contributing Editor GA.JRG @ STANFORD
David Hibler Contributing Editor ENGL0333 @ UNLVM
Henry Mensch Contributing Editor HENRY @ MITVMA
Deba Patnaik Contributing Editor DEBA @ UMDC
Gerry Santoro Contributing Editor GMS @ PSUVM
Valdis Kletnieks Helpdesk Editor VALDIS @ CLVM
Glen Overby Technical Assistant NCOVERBY @ NDSUVAX
Gary Moss The Eye MOSS @ YALEVM
********************* Contents - Issue 30 *********************
*********
* *** * EDITORIAL PAGE____________________________________
* *** *
* *** * Bitnotes ....................................... 1
*** *** Spacetime Physics .............................. 3
* *** * Joint Statement on the Internet Virus .......... 4
* *** *
* *** *
*********
*********
* *** * FEATURES__________________________________________
* *** *
* **** * NetCon '89 ..................................... 6
* ***** * Behind BITNET II ............................... 9
* ****** * Mednews ....................................... 12
* *** *** *
* *** ****
*********
*********
* * DEPARTMENTS_______________________________________
* *****
* *** * Headlines ..................................... 13
* *** * New Mailing Lists ............................. 15
* *** * Feedback ...................................... 19
***** * NetMonth Policies ............................. 20
* *
*********
*********************** Distribution: 4572 *********************
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*********
* *** * Bitnotes
* *** *
* *** * by Christopher Condon
*** ***
* *** * Yale University
* *** *
* *** * CONDON@YALEVM
*********
"Yes. No. I don't know."
I haven't played the part of Student for a few years. That is,
I haven't recently assumed the role where one takes classes,
fails tests, and ignores social events. My persona these days
is that of a young and hopefully up-and-coming lower level
white collar professional. Translated into English, that makes
me a Yuppie in training.
As such, my views of the network and how it works (or how I
think it *should* work) are influenced by my daytime life in
the wonderful world of business MIS. I tend to view my
audience as a group of education, research, and computing
professionals... as opposed to students. The people for whom I
write have practical, work-related reasons for being network
users. This is probably because the people who come in contact
with at work and in BITNET usually have practical, work-related
reasons for coming in contact with me. When I think of
students, I tend to think of those at the graduate level. In
my mind I imagine them discussing their theses on esoteric
mailing lists, or contacting researchers for the latest
information on genetic engineering, or what have you.
As you see, I like to think of NetMonth readers as a bunch of
happy, informed, and active network users. These thoughts, for
the most part, have little relation to reality as we know it,
but I *do* sleep better at night. The truth is that I probably
have had personal contact (such as it is) with maybe 25% of the
readers, probably less. That is still about 1000 people, and
of those there are maybe 100 with whom I have contact more than
once a month. These network "power users" are postmasters, run
mailing lists, or are otherwise very actively involved in
BITNET.
Too often I forget that there are people with access to the
network who don't have a "practical, real-world" reason for
using it. Very often they are here for the same reason as I:
for the fun of it. They find it interesting, intriguing,
enlightening. I think that this is the reason behind all
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reasons when somebody accesses BITNET. The difference between
most people and the power users is that the power users have an
easier time justifying their use of the network.
However, this doesn't mean that an undergraduate student can't
get some practical (albeit not measurable) benefit out of
BITNET. This can be expressed in that timeless phrase
"Experience makes good Resume Material". For example, this
excerpt from a resume might remind you of somebody:
"Yale Computer Center User Services, 5/85 to present: BITLIB
Help System Manager: Created an organized the online help
system, which is now distributed to over forty universities.
Activities include regularly updating information on the
system, and working as Editor for weekly and monthly
newsletters about BITNET network services for over 4000 readers
throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Far East.
As a consultant for users, the manager writes documentation and
promotes the responsible and effective use of the network."
Now, I don't play this up nearly as much as I could (or
should), but there is a limit to how much text you want to pack
into one job description. The attempt here is to portray
myself as someone with self-initiative and ideas. The entry is
different enough from your typical "work experience" blurb that
it might generate enough interest to rate an interview.
BITNET is ready-made outlet for your initiative, whatever your
field may be. Whether you start a mailing list or produce a
newsletter or write a server isn't the point. That fact that
you *do* something and gain experience from that action is.
Look for the gaps in services or information you see in the
network and fill them. Opportunity awaits.
****
Finally, let me welcome Valdis Kletnieks to the NetMonth staff
as our new Helpdesk editor. If you have questions about how
and why things work in BITNET, send them to me at
BITLIB@YALEVM, and I will forward them to Valdis. Send in your
questions! Valdis is a veritable font of technical
information.
Also, you may note that there are a few articles in this issue
about practical applications for which BITNET is used. If you
have information about an interesting use for the network, tell
us about it! Everyone is looking for new ways to take
advantage of BITNET access, and your ideas help.
Chris Condon@YALEVM
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*********
* *** * Spacetime Physics
* *** *
* *** * by Dick Smith
*** ***
* *** * University of West Florida
* *** *
* *** * RSMITH@UWF
*********
SPACETIME PHYSICS is a regular college-course-for-credit being
taken by 30 students at 8 schools this term. A physics faculty
member, referred to as a Liaison Professor (LP), at each school
has arranged for local registration and subsequent academic
credit for interested students, and has agreed to meet
regularly with the group, to administer regular quizzes, and to
evaluate student projects. The course is supported by four
private Lists running on the Listserv at the University of West
Florida, a fifth list being used to coordinate the course among
all the LPs.
The course topic is Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity,
that part of physics which applies to objects moving at speeds
near the speed of light. Textbook for the course is a
prepublication version of "Spacetime Physics, Second Edition"
by Edwin F. Taylor and John Archibald Wheeler. One of the
course requirements is that each student send a Reading
Memorandum of reaction to each chapter to Taylor, who is
participating with us in this pilot course, and who is using
student reactions to fine-tune the revision.
Weekly assignments and discussion questions are posted each
week by the Discussion Leaders, Alex Burr (New Mexico State)
and myself. The questions are posed in such a way as to give
our students challenge and practice in using plain English
words in trying to understand the bizarre predictions of the
Special Theory. The fact that Bitnet is a text-oriented medium
makes it suitably difficult for students to retreat behind
swarms of equations, the usual safe haven for physicists.
Schools participating in the course are: Boise State
University, Dickinson College, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, New Mexico State University, Oberlin College,
Towson State University, the University of Vienna, and the
University of West Florida.
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*********
* *** * Joint Statement on the Internet Virus
* *** *
* *** * from BITNEWS
*** ***
* *** * Network Information Center
* *** *
* *** * BITNEWS@BITNIC
*********
In case you haven't seen it elsewhere, you may be interested in
the following statement adopted by the BITNET and CSNET Boards
after the Internet "worm" incident last fall.
Jim Conklin
Director, BITNIC
BITNET/CSNET Joint Statement on Internet Virus
The network worm (sometimes called virus) affair raises issues
that are very important to our field. Both the BITNET Board of
Trustees and the CSNET Executive Committee have been struck by
the fact that many public comments on the event have contained
statements such as, "We learned from it," "We will make sure
technically it will not happen again," or "He did us a favor by
showing...," unaccompanied by expressions of ethical concern.
We have succeeded as a profession technically in creating
facilities -- the BITNET, CSNET and other components of the
national research network -- which are now critical to the
conduct of science and engineering in our nation's academic,
industrial, and government research laboratories. Further,
this technology has spread within our nation's commercial
research and development organizations and even into their
manufacturing and marketing.
Just as medical malpractice can have a serious effect on an
individual's health, one of the costs of our success is that we
are now in a position where misuse of our national and private
computer networks can have as serious an effect on the nation's
economic, defense, and social health. Yet while almost every
medical college has at least one course on medical ethics and
insists on the observance of ethical guidelines during
practice, computer scientists seem to avoid such non-scientific
issues.
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The worm "experiment" caused a major disruption in the research
community. Many hours of talent were wasted finding and curing
the problems raised by this "game". Many additional hours were
lost when researchers were unable to access supercomputers and
mail systems due to system overload and network shutdown.
Among other points of attack, the worm exploited an overt, but
unadvertised, trapdoor that had been distributed as a software
"feature".
We condemn the perpetration of such "experiments", "games", or
"features" by workers in our field, be they students, faculty,
researchers or providers. We are especially worried about
widespread tendencies to justify, ignore, or perpetuate such
breaches. We must behave as do our fellow scientists who have
organized around comparable issues to enforce strong ethical
practices in the conduct of experiments.
We propose to join with the relevant professional societies and
the national research networks to form a Joint Ethics Committee
charged with examining existing statements of professional
ethics and modifying them as necessary in order to create a
strong statement of networking ethics and recommendations for
appropriate enforcement procedures.
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*********
* *** * NetCon '89
* *** *
* **** * by Reba Taylor
* ***** *
* ****** * Virginia Polytechnic Institute
* *** *** *
* *** **** REBA@VTVM1
*********
NetCon(tm) is a 'con' or a mini-convention that is planned and
coordinated by computer users, like yourself, whose main link
is the BITNET. NetCon89 offers you a chance to meet the "face
at the other end," meaning that you can finally meet the people
to whom you have spoken on Relay, UMNEWS, or directly.
NetCon89 allows you to meet many of these people at the same
time, in the same location (convenient, eh?). You also have
the opportunity to visit a new city and take in the sights.
NetCon89 will also feature speakers whose topics range from the
birth of the Relay to the future of the networks (BITNET,
NetNorth, EARN,the InterNet, etc.).
1. Time and Place: NetCon89 will take place May 26-29, in
Baltimore, Maryland.
2. Travel Information: NetCon, Inc., is working with Piedmont
Aviation, Inc., to finalize an arrangement for discount airfare
to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, a Piedmont hub.
Once an agreement has been reached, we shall notify you through
the NETCON-L list.
If you prefer to travel by train, you should phone Amtrak at
1-(800)-USA-RAIL. They should be able to help with scheduling
and costs.
Also if you are planning to drive to NetCon please send a note
to Reba Taylor (REBAT@VTVM1). She is trying to help people get
to NetCon with low travel expenses. If you need a ride or can
offer a ride or be of help, it would be greatly appreciated.
Please do not wait too long, or a good opportunity might be
missed.
3. Hotel Information: All meetings and lodgings will be at the
Comfort Inn on Franklin Street. This hotel provides a shuttle
to/from the BWI airport. The hotel is handicapped accessible
and has handicapped only rooms available. (Please specify on
the registration form if you need one of these rooms.)
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Rates vary, depending on the number of persons in the room.
All rooms have a tax of 11%.
1 -- $48 per night + tax, totalling $159.84 for the weekend.
2 -- $52 per night + tax, totalling $173.16 for the weekend.
This is $86.58 per person.
3 -- $58 per night + tax, totalling $193.14 for the weekend.
This is $64.38 per person.
4 -- $64 per night + tax, totalling $213.12 for the weekend.
This is $53.28 per person. (NOTE: the hotel does not
recommend 4 persons per room.)
A deposit of one night's lodging must be sent when you register
for NetCon89, so that we can make your room reservations for
you. Deposits will be as follows:
Single -- $53.28 Double -- $28.86 each
Triple -- $21.46 each Quad -- $17.76 each
The city controls the parking in the area. The parking fee is
$5.00 per car per night, totalling $15.00 for the weekend.
Depending on readiness and availability, it is possible for you
to check in early. The hotel provides complimentary
transportation to the Inner Harbor, or you may walk there if
you prefer.
4. T-Shirt Information: We are pleased to offer you the
official NetCon89 at a price of $10.00 per shirt. The shirts
come in small, medium, large, and extra-large. If you desire a
shirt, please include the price with your registration fees.
5. Registration Fees: The following fees must accompany your
NetCon89 registration.
$17.76 (or more) -- One night's lodging for room deposit.
$15.00 -- NetCon89 registration fee.
$ 5.00 -- Membership fee in NetCon(tm) Society.
$10.00 -- NetCon89 t-shirt (optional).
The registration deadline is May 1, 1989*. Note that Late
Registrations impose a $15 fine and no guarantee of your
receiving a room at convention rates.
NOTE: Deadline for registration if you order a t-shirt is
April 28, to insure that all shirts are prepared in time. We
do not guarantee that there will be extra shirts available at a
higher price in Baltimore.
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6. If you wish to join the NETCON mailing list, send the
following command to LISTSERV@NCSUVM via mail or message: SUB
NETCON-L Your_full_name.
If you have any questions or need a registration form, please
feel free to send e-mail to any of the userids listed below.
We are always willing to help you.
The NetCon Committee
Wendel Bordelon (CI60UCU at TCSVM)
Charlene Charette (CI60UCU at TCSVM)
Rick Greene (18862246 at VUVAXCOM)
Ron Jarrell (JARRELLR at VTCC1)
Jon Lewin (ST6876 at SIUCVMB)
Bill McBrayer (C9M5R at ASUACAD)
John McMahon (FASTEDDY at DFTBIT)
Joe Ogulin (P12I1798 at JHUVM)
Lee Radigan (LIBLJR at SUVM)
Christy Russell (CRUSSELL at SUNRISE)
Reba Taylor (REBAT at VTVM1)
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*********
* *** * Behind BITNET II
* *** *
* **** * from the NETINFO FILELIST
* ***** *
* ****** * Network Information Center
* *** *** *
* *** **** LISTSERV@BITNIC
*********
BITNET has grown rapidly every year since its founding in 1981.
This growth has contributed to BITNET's success but also has
created a pressing problem: network congestion. At the same
time TCP/IP protocols have become widely accepted in the higher
education community, form the basis for other national networks
which have substantial traffic capacity, and offer a far richer
set of communications options than the RSCS protocols on which
BITNET is based. The BITNET II research project was conceived
to give BITNET access to TCP/IP transport and the
communications flexibility that access represents, potentially
helping to address the existing BITNET capacity problem and
possibly also allowing direct access to BITNET from the popular
TCP/IP protocols.
* The Goal:
To give BITNET access to TCP/IP as a transmission medium, so as
to broaden options for managing point-to-point BITNET
connections, to allow BITNET traffic to be carried by high-
bandwidth TCP/IP networks such as NSFnet, and to reduce the
dependency on intermediate hosts for the movement of BITNET
traffic.
Note that use of TCP/IP for BITNET traffic carries a number of
other possible advantages, including dynamic routing, support
of redundant links and a wide selection of communications
technologies and speeds, and the potential for network
management.
The BITNET II project does not seek to "convert BITNET to
TCP/IP," but rather to add TCP/IP as one of the link options
available for carrying BITNET traffic. A corollary possibility
would be to allow connection to BITNET of nodes who do not have
cost effective options for supporting RSCS over BISYNCH (e.g.,
many UNIX hosts).
* The Concept:
Encapsulate standard RSCS NJE traffic in TCP/IP segments and
use standard TCP/IP tools (IP routers, X.25 lines, Ethernet,
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whatever) to deliver those segments to the destination BITNET
node where they are unwrapped and processed by the target
BITNET node's RSCS.
The above concept is written in terms of the BITNET networking
program, RSCS, which runs on IBM hosts because this is all that
has been tackled to date. Nothing precludes expanding this
work to be available on DEC VAXes, UNIX hosts and so on, but no
such work is currently underway.
* The Pieces:
For now, the communications must always be between two BITNET
IBM VM/CMS hosts. Each host must run the following software
and hardware:
RSCS - the standard IBM package supporting BITNET on IBM VM/CMS
hosts. The RSCS routing table may be expanded to include LINKs
to other BITNET II hosts which are reachable via a TCP/IP link.
Version 2 of RSCS is strongly recommended for best performance
by using multiple streams.
VMNET - a custom package developed under the BITNET II project
by Princeton which runs on the IBM host. VMNET takes RSCS NJE
data, encapsulates and blocks it in TCP/IP segments, addresses
those segments according to the RSCS next hop destination and
delivers them to IBM FAL (see below) for routing.
IBM FAL - the standard IBM package supporting TCP/IP on IBM
VM/CMS hosts. FAL examines the IP destination address and
forwards the packets to the appropriate IP router.
IBM channel/Ethernet interface, such as IBM's 8232 or BTI's
Ethernet Lan Controller (which BITNET members can purchase for
approximately $5,900 with reference to a BITNET discount
program with BTI). The IP packets are passed from the IBM
hosts onto an Ethernet enroute to an IP router.
IP router such as made by Bridge, Proteon and others, including
cisco (which BITNET members can purchase at a 30% discount with
reference to a BITNET discount program with cisco). The router
removes the packets from the Ethernet and sends them down the
appropriate communications line toward the ultimate TCP/IP
destination. Compatible routers must be used at each end of a
serial communications line.
The packets move through an indefinite number of IP routers
until they arrive at their ultimate destination. There they
are forwarded onto an Ethernet, back through the channel
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interface, into FAL and via VMNET to the destination RSCS,
which, for all intents and purposes, thinks it received them
via a standard BISYNCH RSCS line.
* Current status and plans:
BITNET II software is in test today at Princeton, Cornell, CUNY
and Penn State using the Internet to provide TCP/IP
connectivity. Initial tests revealed a problem (RSCS's end-to-
end acknowledgements were timing out due to Internet delays);
this problem has been addressed by design changes which
eliminate the need for end-to-end synchronization. The revised
version goes into test in July. Assuming this version runs
well, the code will be rolled out to an additional six or so
schools (already identified, no volunteers needed yet!). Once
this larger configuration has run successfully for a period of
time, the code will be made available to any school who wishes
to participate.
Note that this software can be used to replace half duplex
BISYNC point-topoint connections; for example, if both Yale and
CUNY installed BITNET II it would be possible to route traffic
with full duplex IP routers over the existing line using BITNET
II protocols and technology, which can run faster than the
current approximately 14.4Kb throughput. Even better, with IP
routing, BITNET II schools could potentially avoid bottleneck
BITNET links such as CUNY-Yale and Penn State-Ohio State by
going direct or closer to direct to their destination node via
NSFnet.
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*********
* *** * Mednews
* *** *
* **** * by David Dodell
* ***** *
* ****** * Arizona State University
* *** *** *
* *** **** ATW1H@ASUACAD
*********
"*Jane* is 71 years old; she weighs just 100 pounds. She works
mornings in Washington, D.C., office, then travels to a
Virginia nursing home to care for her husband, a victim of
Alzheimer's disease. When she came down with shingles (herpes
zoster, a viral irritation of the nerve endings), her doctor
prescribed a painkiller he had used successfully in patients
for 20 years so she could keep up her routine.
"When Jane took the prescribed dose at work, something went
wrong. So violent were her dizziness and nausea that her
colleagues rushed her to a nearby emergency room. She was given
an electrocardiogram, intravenous fluids, and a sedative
injection. After five hours, she still needed help in getting
home, and she was still groggy a week later.
"Now recovered, Jane blames herself for not being more careful.
With her small frame, she'd had milder reactions to adult doses
of both prescription and nonprescription drugs in the past. She
feels she should have reminded her long-time physician of this
when he wrote the prescription. She wonders whether adult drug
dosages shouldn't be modified to take into account the
patient's health, weight and age.
"Jane isn't alone. In 1986 FDA received over 53,000 reports of
adverse reactions to drugs. While many reactions are mild, some
are serious indeed; more than 12,000 deaths or hospitalizations
suspected of being related to reactions to drugs are reported
yearly. (Not all of these suspected reactions are confirmed.)"
MEDNEWS is a weekly electronic newsletter. Regular columns
consist of medical news summary from USA Today, Center For
Disease Control MMWR, weekly AIDS Statistics from the CDC, plus
other interesting medical news items. To subscribe, send the
following command to LISTSERV@ASUACAD via mail or message: SUB
MEDNEWS Your_Full_Name.
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*********
* * Headlines
* *****
* *** * edited by Christopher Condon
* *** *
* *** * Yale University
***** *
* * Send your Headlines to BITLIB@YALEVM
*********
* Note to COMSERVE users: Comserve's host computer changed its
name from RPICICGE to RPIECS on Monday, March 20th. Despite
this, an arrangement was made to allow messages to Comserve or
to Comserve's hotlines to continue to be addressed to RPICICGE
for several months to come. Basically, the host computer has
two synonymous addresses for the present. Some correspondents
may find that their own computer, or one in the path to
Comserve, does not yet recognize the existance of RPIECS.
Should that happen, please revert to the RPICICGE node name.
Users of the Easycom program should not be concerned about the
address change since the RPICICGE address is still valid. We
will issue new versions of Easycom that use the RPIECS address
well before use of RPIECS becomes mandatory.
Users of the PDFILES feature of LISTSERV@RPICICGE should also
note this nodename change.
* John McMahon of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has
written a program for VAX/VMS users which changes Fortran form
feeds in an issue of NETMONTH to ASCII form feeds. This allows
a user on a VAX/VMS system to RECEIVE a copy of NETMONTH,
reformat it using this procedure, and print it using the
standard VMS PRINT command.
The program is internally documented, and you can get a copy by
sending the following command to LISTSERV@CMUCCVMA or MARIST:
SENDME NETMONTH COM. Thanks to John for taking the time to
write this program!
* BITNET Technical Meeting - Spring '89 (from BITNEWS):
Host: Emory University Atlanta, Georgia
Woodruff Health Sciences Administration Building
When: Saturday, May 6, 1989
8:30 AM to 5:30 PM (EDT)
Maps: GET BITTECH DIRECTIO from LISTSERV@BITNIC
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The objective is to provide a forum for the BITNET community to
get involved with network-related issues and develop proposals
for submission to the BITNET Board of Trustees through its
Committees.
The meeting opens with a one-hour session at 9:00, after which
the working groups break off for the rest of the morning.
Following lunch the groups reconvene, allowing time for a
summary later in the afternoon.
Each working group has a chairperson designated from the BITNET
user community. Jim Gerland, Harry Williams and Roger Fajman
have long been supporting numerous positive changes through
this forum.
One point to make with your management is that airfare is often
less when departing on a Friday -- enough that it usually
covers the extra night's hotel. There is no registration fee
for the BITNET Technical Meeting and refreshments will be
served.
At a typical BITTECH meeting we follow this rough agenda:
1) Opening session
a) Status of current projects (BITNET II, CSNET Merger, etc)
2) Break into working groups
a) Domains
i) Discuss issues for implementing 'Domains for BITNET'
b) Node Management
i) New NODE ENTRY tags formats
ii) Generating routing tables
iii) Postmaster Canon
c) New INFOREP/TECHREP orientation
i) Bring them up to speed on current working group activit
ii) Continue discussion of what needs to be in the 'INFORE
and TECHREP Information Packets'
d) Tools
i) What's out there and what needs to be converted/written
for VMS and other non-VM systems
3) Lunch on your own then back to the working groups
4) 4:00 all reconvene to summarize working group discussions
It's always interesting to meet the 'faces behind the userids',
so we hope to see many of you there.
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*********
* * New Mailing Lists
* *****
* *** * edited by Christopher Condon
* *** *
* *** * Yale University
***** *
* * Send your list descriptions to NEW-LIST@NDSUVM1
*********
Each of the lists described here is maintained on a LISTSERV
machine unless otherwise noted. To subscribe to one of these
lists you would send the following command to the the
appropriate server via mail or message.
SUBSCRIBE listname Your_full_name
For example, if your name is Kristen Shaw and you want to
subscribe to a list described as "DIAPERS@YALEVM" you would
send the following command to LISTSERV@YALEVM:
SUBSCRIBE DAIPERS Kristen Shaw
To make contributions to the list you would send mail to
DIAPERS@YALEVM. Please note that this is just and example and
to my knowledge there are no mailing lists about diapers
(although you never know).
*****
BIOMCH-L@HEARN - Biomechanics and Movement Science
This list is intended for members of the International,
European, American, Canadian and other Societies of
Biomechanics, and for others with an interest in the general
field of biomechanics and human or animal movement science.
For the scope of this list, see, e.g., the Journal of
Biomechanics (Pergamon Press), the Journal of Biomechanical
Engineering (ASME), and Human Movement Science (North-Holland).
The list was started in October 1988; at the time of writing
this item (Mid February 1989), membership is about 55 (Canada,
USA, Europe).
IDMS-L@UGA - Cullinet user forum
IDMS-L is a forum for users of Cullinet software. Cullinet
system software and application software operate on several
platforms. IDMS/R is the data base management software for
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mainframes; IDMS/SQL (aka Enterprise DB) operates on VAX.
Goldengate, Infogate, and IDMS/Architect are examples of micro-
computer software.
Appropriate discussion topics include (but are not limited to):
installation/migration issues, "How To" questions, and any
other concerns/problems encountered by users of Cullinet
software.
SEAC-L@UNCVX1 - Student Environmental Action Coalition List
This list is for members of local chapters of SEAC and students
interested in forming chapters of SEAC on their campuses.
Topics included actions taken by local chapters, coordination
of national efforts, conferences as well as bulletins of
scientific interest on enviromental topics.
To subscribe to SEAC-L, send a MAIL message with the following
line (no interactive messages) to MAILSERV@UNCVX1: SUBSCRIBE
SEAC-L
SKEPTIC@YORKVM1 - Discussions of the paranormal
This list is for the critical and _rigourous_ exchange of
information regarding claims of the paranormal. All topics are
welcome, and no one will be refused subscribership due to
inclination with respect to these claims.
Topics can include Creationism, the Bermuda Triangle, Ancient
Astronauts(?), Parapsychological Concerns, Trance Channeling,
spoon bending, astrology, UFOs, and so on...
The moderator of the list will to try to promote inquiry based
on the best evidence avaiable whether this evidence be
scientific, anecdotal, or otherwise. I wish to be as critical
as possible, for if these 'phenomena' are actual, we want to
have the best possible understanding of them to continue the
investigations.
In addition, the list will be providing space for the exchange
of papers on these subjects for the consideration of those who
are interested and those who might be qualified to provide
expert critique.
ESPER-L@TREARN - Esperanto List
A list on the Esperanto Language.
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ADND-L@UTARLVM1 - Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
This list has the purpose of discussing all the aspects of the
Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games; new
spells, new monsters, and so on.
PHOTO-L@BUACCA - Photography List
This list is a forum for discussion of all aspects of
photography, including esthetics, equipment, technique, etc.
HP-28@NDSUVM1 - HP-28 series caclulators
This list is for users/owners of HP-28C and HP-28S calculators,
ranging from "everyday-type" questions/discussion to more
advanced and technical-type support-- This list will be for
open discussion, posting of programs (see footnote) technical
support, advancements, and problem solving.
Things you may want to share/talk about: Bugs in the HP-28's,
Nifty programs, Uses of SYSEVAL, Modifying Hardware,
Accesories/Hardware, Other HP clubs and organizations, Machine
Language Programming, New Models, Making your 28C more like a
28S, Music and Graphics processing, and so on.
PSUNEXT - NeXT computer discussion
PSUNEXT list established to support discussion among developers
and users of the NeXT workstation. The list is maintained at
Penn State University. In addition to university folks, many
of the support staff from NeXT, Inc. are members of the list.
MECH-L@UTARLVM1 - Mechanical Engineering Discussion List
MECH-L was formed to discuss any topics pertinent to the
Mechanical Engineering communities such as meeting
announcements, software evaluation, composite material research
and others. MECH-L welcomes any suggestions and comments and
encourages faculty/students in ME-related areas (such Aerospace
and Civil) to join the list.
STORM-L@UIUCVMD - Weather related phenomena
The list STORM-L has been created for the purpose of discussing
weather-related phenomena such as severe storms, tornadoes,
forecasting, interesting local weather events, SKYWARN storm
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spotter groups, and tornado chasing --to name several. You can
subscribe by sending an interactive message to LISTSERV at
UIUCVMD as follows:
BEE-L@ALBNYVM1 - Discussion of Bee Biology
BEE-L is for the discussion of research and information
concerning the biology of bees. This includes honey bees and
other bees (and maybe even wasps). We communicate about
sociobiology, behavior, ecology, adaptation/evolution,
genetics, taxonomy, physiology, pollination, and flower nectar
and pollen production of bees.
CYBSYS-L@BINGVMB - Cybernetics and Systems
The Cybernetics and Systems mailing list is an open list
serving those working in or just interested in the
interdisciplinary fields of Systems Science, Cybernetics, and
related fields (e.g. General Systems Theory, Complex Systems
Theory, Dynamic Systems Theory, Computer Modeling and
Simulation, Network Theory, Self-Organizing Systems Theory,
Information Theory, Fuzzy Set Theory). The list is coordinated
by members of the Systems Science department of the Watson
School at SUNY-Binghamton, and is affiliated with the
International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) and the
American Society for Cybernetics (ASC).
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*********
* * Feedback
* *****
* *** * edited by Christopher Condon
* *** *
* *** * Yale University
***** *
* * Send your letters to BITLIB@YALEVM
*********
From: Gabriel Basco
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