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NetMonth, July-August 1989
******** **************************************************
* * *
* * The independent guide to BITNET *
* * *
* * July - August, 1989 *
* * *
* * Volume 4, Number 1 *
******** * *
* *
*** * *
* * * * *
* * * * *
* * * * Hora coctava per protiniam teremeles *
* ** * Limagiles teretant et quoque gyrirotant *
* Sunt tenuiscopi macrilli; saepeque virci *
* * Edomipali etiam vocibus eruditant. *
* * *
****** * 'Semper fac caveas, mi fili, Taetriferocem, *
* * Morsu qui laniat, unguibus et lacerat! *
* * Te procul incursu volucris recipe orbiiubatae *
* Devitaque itidem silvirapum frumium!' *
******** * *
* * Dextra vorpalem gladium tunc vibrat et effert: *
* * Hostem dirificum quaeritat ille diu -- *
* * Arborem iners prope tumtumiam *
* * stans tum requiescit *
* * Secum paulisper res varias reputans. *
******** * *
* Dumque manet, *
*** * conceptaque mente subarvia fingit, *
* * * Taetriferox, flammas eiciens oculis, *
* * * Per silvam blaterans argutat turmidulosam, *
* * * Et propius veniens burbulat assidue. *
*** * *
* 'Hoc cape! Et id cape!' *
****** * Sic penitus per Taetriferocem *
* * Vorpalem gladium perniciens adigit! *
* * Prostratum sic exanimumque deinde relinquit, *
* * Et capite arrepto cursiovans revenit *
**** * *
* 'Tune offere necem quivisti Tetriferoci? *
* * Te sine complectar, praehilaris iuvenis! *
* * Tempus vero laudificum! Dic "Euge, triumphe!"' *
****** * Ingenio elatus laetitia fritulit. *
* * *
* * Hora coctava &c *
* *
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* * *
* * *
* * *
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* * ****** ******* * * ***** * * ******* * *
** * * * ** ** * * ** * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * ***** * * * * * * * * * * *******
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* ** * * * * * * * ** * * *
* * ****** * * * ***** * * * * *
* * * *
*********************** *******************************
Editor: Christopher Condon CONDON @ YALEVM
********************* Contents - Issue 32 *********************
*********
* *** * EDITORIAL PAGE____________________________________
* *** *
* *** * Bitnotes ....................................... 1
*** *** Jim Conklin Returns ............................ 3
* *** *
* *** *
* *** *
*********
*********
* *** * FEATURES__________________________________________
* *** *
* **** * Athene: The Amateur Creative Writing Journal ... 5
* ***** * Communicating with CompuServe .................. 7
* ****** * Oasis .......................................... 9
* *** *** * Announcing NAMESERV@BRANDEIS .................. 11
* *** ****
*********
*********
* * DEPARTMENTS_______________________________________
* *****
* *** * Headlines ..................................... 12
* *** * New Mailing Lists ............................. 15
* *** * Helpdesk ...................................... 20
***** * Feedback ...................................... 23
* * NetMonth Policies ............................. 24
*********
********************** 5087 Subscribers ************************
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*********
* *** * Bitnotes
* *** *
* *** * by Christopher Condon
*** ***
* *** * Yale University
* *** *
* *** * CONDON@YALEVM
*********
"There he goes again..."
It's summer, and a particularly slow one at that. The typical
October to March flood of articles has slowed to a mere
trickle. Inevitably, the July issue has been delayed to the
point of becoming a July/August issue due to lack of material.
When the fall semester begins again I will no doubt have more
to print than I can handle. In the meantime, however, this
lull provides me with the perfect opportunity to get on my
soapbox once again and scream, "CONTRIBUTE TO NETMONTH!!!!"
This magazine has always depended on the contributions of its
readers. And while I wouldn't dream of trying to make you feel
guilty, it strikes me as odd that more you haven't been able to
send in articles and editorials. (This is particularly strange
when the number of subscribers continues to grow. Can you save
five thousand? I knew you could!!!)
Now, I know that you are all busy. Hell, *I'm* busy, more so
than ever. Yet I can still find the time to trek up to the
Yale Computer Center on a sunny weekend (ok, today it's
raining) and get the magazine together. If only one tenth of
you each contributed one article this year, I'd have more than
I'd ever be able to print.
Excuse Number One: "I have nothing to write about."
You must be kidding. How do you use the network? Whats your
opinion on the BITNET/CSNET merger? What ideas do you have to
make things better? How does network access help you do your
work better? What do you really HATE about BITNET, LISTSERV,
etc...? I am always looking for editorials. If you are in
EARN, NETNORTH, or some other network altogether, what is your
viewpoint? Surely you have an opinion about *something*.
Sometimes articles about new servers and network links can be,
well, dry. Your editorials add a little life to NetMonth.
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Excuse Number Two: "I don't have time."
Listen, bud, if *I* can find the time to organize this thing
every month (or so), you can find the time to write something.
Remember, I'm getting paid as much for this as you are (nil,
nada, nothing, zilch). Sure, I enjoy it, but its hard to print
a newsletter without articles.
Excuse Number Three: "You probably already know about this."
And you're probably wrong. Remember that to keep BITNET
SERVERS up to date I need to know what services are new, what
has changed, what has gone the way of NICSERVE (dead). I'm not
only interested in servers, but in network related services,
too, such as ISAAC.
Okay, I think that I've prattled enough. You get the idea.
The point is that if you want something to read you have to
WRITE. As always, I am also looking for people willing to
write regular or semi-regular columns on some network related
subject or another, technical or non-technical. Tim Stephen
(The Human Factor) and Craig White (Flames To:) had admirable
stints here, and I am sure that more of you can do the same.
Lastly, I don't want to forget to thank the people who do
contribute. You are the people who make this possible.
Without you, there wouldn't be a NetMonth at all.
Virtually,
Chris Condon@YaleVM
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*********
* *** * Jim Conklin Returns
* *** *
* *** * by Jim Conklin
*** ***
* *** * BITNET Network Information Center
* *** *
* *** * CONKLIN@BITNIC
*********
Õfrom Bitnewså
I'd like to apologize for my invisibility on the network during
the last three months, and most particularly for my inability
to effectively keep up on my mail and respond to both
individuals and list messages in a timely fashion. There
simply have not been enough hours for me to accomplish critical
tasks and also handle the very large volume of mail sent me, so
I've had to put mail aside for future review on more than one
occasion. The same has been true of mail to some of the
generic BITNIC ID's, unfortunately.
The last three months have been a time of desperately trying to
accomplish those activities most critical to the operation of
the network, namely getting routing-table information updated
and distributed. Everything else, including even updating
people information not critical to routing-table distribution,
has had to take second place to the primary activity. But the
rest has not been forgotten. We will continue to have to
postpone tasks not critical to the network operation for the
next few weeks, but you should soon be seeing improvments.
We had a tremendous number of updates to handle during May and
June, with a corresponding number of errors to correct and
clarifications to pursue. Network and BITNIC 4361 problems
have also interrupted our work repeatedly. However, we're now
nearly back onto schedule in our completion of the monthly
processing. We've corrected several broken procedures and are
streamlining others. We've nearly completed implementation of
a Fourth Dimension database of BITNET member information, to
replace the Ingres database we had been using in Princeton.
This will improve our handling of member information. We're
developing new procedures for entering and updating mode
information; we expect in the longer run, to be moving toward
use of the EARN tools for this, and even enhancing some of
them. We've been slowly correcting data which works fine for
the tools Chris Thomas developed and uses for routing-table
generation but is incompatible with GENROUTS -- that process
continues.
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You should know that Amanda Spiegel's willingness to give
BITNIC and BITNET three months of eighty hour weeks, and her
ability to sleuth out the answers to why various procedures
didn't work as advertised, deserve most of the credit for the
completion of routing-tables during the last three months.
Mike Hrybyk's contributions, since he started, have also been
significant. Chris Thomas, as always, has been there helping,
despite our earlier promise to have him out of the loop by now.
Michael Gettes has helped us across several hurdles. And
others of you have been of assistance. Thanks to all!
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*********
* *** * Athene: The Amateur Creative Writing Journal
* *** *
* **** * by Jim McCabe
* ***** *
* ****** * Michigan Technological University
* *** *** *
* *** **** MCCABE@MTUS5
*********
I am pleased to announce the formation of a new network
"magazine" dedicated to short stories:
** ************
*** *********** **** **** ********* *** **** ***********
**** ** *** ** *** *** *** ** *** *** **** **
***** *** *** *** *** **** *** ****
****** *** ******** ****** ******** ****
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** **** *******
*** *** *** *** *** *** ** *** *** ****
********* ***** **** **** ********* **** *** ****
*** *** **** **
*** *** ------------------- **** ***
****** ***** The Online Magazine ***********
****** ***** of Amateur Creative Writing ************
---------------------------
* What is Athene? Athene is a free network "magazine" devoted
to amateur fiction written by the members of the online
community. Athene does not limit itself to any specific genre,
but will publish quality short stories dealing with just about
any interesting topic, including:
science fiction fantasy
religion mystery
computers humor
psychology sports
politics business
* Distribution: Hopefully, if all goes well, a new issue will
come out every month or so. This will of course depend on how
often people submit their stories.
Athene will be published by me, Jim McCabe, from MCCABE@MTUS5
on Bitnet. Send mail to me if you would like to subscribe, ask
questions, or just make comments.
The magazine is NOT restricted to Bitnet-only subscriptions --
hopefully Athene will be able to reach everyone who wants it.
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Right now I am considering distributing Athene in three
different formats - PostScript, IBM Script/VS, and straight
ASCII. The content of the magazine will be identical across
all formats. When you subscribe please indicate which format
you would prefer, and if you think this multiple format scheme
is a good idea in the first place.
* Miscellaneous:
This is a brand-new project, and needs your support. Without
stories, there can be no magazine. I'd like to kick off the
first issue with some great material, so please contact me if
you would like to see your work published in Athene. I would
like to send out the first issue at the end of August, but
again this depends on how quickly the submissions arrive.
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*********
* *** * Communicating with CompuServe
* *** *
* **** * by Christopher Condon
* ***** *
* ****** * Yale University
* *** *** *
* *** **** CONDON@YALEVM
*********
ÕAll trademarks of CompuServe are acknowledgedå
One of the questions asked on BITNET and the Internet for the
past few years has been "How do I send mail to CompuServe?"
For a very long time the answers have looked like this:
"I don't think you can."
"Forget it, there's no gateway."
"The question HOW presumes that one CAN. You CANNOT."
"Stop asking that question!"
"Not today, maybe someday."
Well, "someday" has finally arrived. Someone asked the
question recently, and lo, there was a positive answer.
Actually, there were several. I have combined the responses of
Murph Sewall, Thomas Ho, Bill McGown, James Gallagher and
others into what is hopefully a coherent explanation. I was
able to test this out with my own CompuServe userid and it
does, in fact, work.
* Sending mail to a user in CompuServe: Userids on the
CompuServe network have a numeric format: two numbers
separated by a comma. For example, my id is 72317,2337. This
comma, of course, would confuse mail systems everywhere else,
so a period is substituted instead. Therefore, if someone
tells you that they have a userid of 72115,2222 you would
address your mail to:
72115.2222@COMPUSERVE.COM
+
]
+--- Note the period, folks!
Simple, right? Well, your mail system might not know the
location of the gateway to CompuServe, in which case you have
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to name it explicitly. In this case, you would type the
address like so:
72115.2222%COMPUSERVE.COM@SAQQARA.CIS.OHIO-STATE.EDU
From the CompuServe side, you would use their EasyPlex mail
system to send mail to someone in BITNET or the Internet. For
example, to send me mail at my BITNET id, you would address it
to:
INET:CONDON%YALEVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Or to one of my Internet ids:
INET:CONDON@VENUS.YCC.YALE.EDU
Now, if you have a BITNET to Internet userid, this is a silly
thing to do, since your connect time to CompuServe costs you
money. However, you can use this information to let people on
CompuServe contact YOU. CompuServe Customer Service says that
there is no charge to either receive or send a message to the
Internet or BITNET.
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*********
* *** * Oasis
* *** *
* **** * by Adalma K. Stephens
* ***** *
* ****** * Educational Computing Network of Illinois
* *** *** *
* *** **** XAKS@ECNCDC
*********
ÕA Project of the Illinois Educational Consortiumå
OASIS is a catalog of microcomputer software suited for use in
higher education. Faculty can use it for planning curricula;
students will find software to supplement their courses, and
staff will find it helpful to identify software for research.
OASIS is operated by Adalma K. Stevens at the Illinois
Educational Computing Network. There is no charge to software
publishers for information maintained on the OASIS database.
OASIS is interactive; customized searches may be conducted
using up to 16 criteria, such as package name, category,
machine requirements, pricing, and publisher name and address.
Entries consist of a concise description, review citations, and
data that is important in determining the value of software
products. All information on software products is obtained
from publishers or developers. The information is verified for
accuracy prior to being listed on OASIS. The database is
updated and expanded with new entries on a weekly schedule.
OASIS is accessible through a server on BITNET, a toll free
number in Illinois (800/552-8699), on the ISAAC network (only
the IBM PC compatible software portion of OASIS is on ISAAC),
and through laboratory terminals that are connected to the
Illinois Educational Computing Network.
You can send commands to the OASIS server at the BITNET address
OASIS@ECNCDC in the text/body of a mail (the "Subject:" line is
ignored) or in the text of an interactive message. The valid
commands are:
HELP
returns a brief list of OASIS server commands.
INFO
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