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Chapter 6: TELNET
6.1 MINING THE NET
Like any large community, cyberspace has its libraries, places you
can go to look up information or take out a good book. Telnet is one of
your keys to these libraries.
Telnet is a program that lets you use the power of the Internet to
connect you to databases, library catalogs, and other information
resources around the world. Want to see what the weather's like in
Vermont? Check on crop conditions in Azerbaijan? Get more information
about somebody whose name you've seen online? Telnet lets you do this,
and more.
Alas, there's a big "but!'' Unlike the phone system, Internet is not
yet universal; not everybody can use all of its services. Almost all
colleges and universities on the Internet provide telnet access. So do
all of the for-fee public-access systems listed in Chapter 1. But the
Free-Net systems do not give you access to every telnet system. And if
you are using a public-access UUCP or Usenet site, you will not have
access to telnet. The main reason for this is cost. Connecting to the
Internet can easily cost $1,000 or more for a leased, high-speed phone
line. Some databases and file libraries can be queried by e-mail,
however; we'll show you how to do that later on. In the meantime, the
rest of this chapter assumes you are connected to a site with at least
partial Internet access.
Most telnet sites are fairly easy to use and have online help systems.
Most also work best (and in some cases, only) with VT100 emulation.
Let's dive right in and try one.
At your host system's command line, type
telnet access.usask.ca
and hit enter. That's all you have to do to connect to a telnet site!
In this case, you'll be connecting to a service known as Hytelnet, which
is a database of computerized library catalogs and other databases
available through telnet. You should see something like this:
Trying 128.233.3.1 ...
Connected to access.usask.ca.
Escape character is '^]'.
Ultrix UNIX (access.usask.ca)
login:
Every telnet site has two addresses -- one composed of words that
are easier for people to remember; the other a numerical address better
suited for computers. The "escape character" is good to remember. When
all else fails, hitting your control key and the ] key at the same time
will disconnect you and return you to your host system. At the login
prompt, type
hytelnet
and hit enter. You'll see something like this:
Welcome to HYTELNET
version 6.2
...................
What is HYTELNET? <WHATIS> . Up/Down arrows MOVE
Library catalogs <SITES1> . Left/Right arrows SELECT
Other resources <SITES2> . ? for HELP anytime
Help files for catalogs <OP000> .
Catalog interfaces <SYS000> . m returns here
Internet Glossary <GLOSSARY> . q quits
Telnet tips <TELNET> .
Telnet/TN3270 escape keys <ESCAPE.KEY> .
Key-stroke commands <HELP.TXT> .
........................
HYTELNET 6.2 was written by Peter Scott,
U of Saskatchewan Libraries, Saskatoon, Sask, Canada. 1992
Unix and VMS software by Earl Fogel, Computing Services, U of S 1992
The first choice, "<WHATIS>" will be highlighted. Use your down
and up arrows to move the cursor among the choices. Hit enter when you
decide on one. You'll get another menu, which in turn will bring up
text files telling you how to connect to sites and giving any special
commands or instructions you might need. Hytelnet does have one quirk.
To move back to where you started (for example, from a sub-menu to a
main menu), hit the left-arrow key on your computer.
Play with the system. You might want to turn on your computer's
screen-capture, or at the very least, get out a pen and paper. You're
bound to run across some interesting telnet services that you'll want to
try -- and you'll need their telnet "addresses.''
As you move around Hytelnet, it may seem as if you haven't left
your host system -- telnet can work that quickly. Occasionally, when
network loads are heavy, however, you will notice a delay between the
time you type a command or enter a request and the time the remote
service responds.
To disconnect from Hytelnet and return to your system, hit your q
key and enter.
Some telnet computers are set up so that you can only access them
through a specific "port." In those cases, you'll always see a number
after their name, for example: india.colorado.edu 13. It's important to
include that number, because otherwise, you may not get in.
In fact, try the above address. Type
telnet india.colorado.edu 13
and hit enter. You should see something like this:
Trying 128.138.140.44 ...
Followed very quickly by this:
telnet india.colorado.edu 13
Escape character is '^]'.
Sun Jan 17 14:11:41 1994
Connection closed by foreign host.
What we want is the middle line, which tells you the exact
Mountain Standard Time, as determined by a government-run atomic clock
in Boulder, Colo.
6.2 LIBRARY CATALOGS
Several hundred libraries around the world, from the Snohomish
Public Library in Washington State to the Library of Congress are now
available to you through telnet. You can use Hytelnet to find their
names, telnet addresses and use instructions.
Why would you want to browse a library you can't physically get to?
Many libraries share books, so if yours doesn't have what you're looking
for, you can tell the librarian where he or she can get it. Or if you live
in an area where the libraries are not yet online, you can use telnet to do
some basic bibliographic research before you head down to the local branch.
There are several different database programs in use by online
libraries. Harvard's is one of the easier ones to use, so let's try it.
Telnet to hollis.harvard.edu. When you connect, you'll see:
***************** H A R V A R D U N I V E R S I T Y
***************** OFFICE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
*** *** ***
*** VE *** RI ***
*** *** *** HOLLIS (Harvard OnLine LIbrary System)
***** *****
**** TAS **** HUBS (Harvard University Basic Services)
*** ***
***** IU (Information Utility)
***
CMS (VM/CMS Timesharing Service)
** HOLLIS IS AVAILABLE WITHOUT ACCESS RESTRICTIONS **
Access to other applications is limited to individuals who have been
granted specific permission by an authorized person.
To select one of the applications above, type its name on the command
line followed by your user ID, and press RETURN.
** HOLLIS DOES NOT REQUIRE A USERID **
EXAMPLES: HOLLIS (press RETURN) or HUBS userid (press RETURN)
===>
Type
hollis
and hit enter. You'll see several screens flash by quickly until finally the
system stops and you'll get this:
WELCOME TO HOLLIS
(Harvard OnLine Library Information System)
To begin, type one of the 2-character database codes listed below:
HU Union Catalog of the Harvard libraries
OW Catalog of Older Widener materials
LG Guide to Harvard Libraries and Computing Resources
AI Expanded Academic Index (selective 1987-1988, full 1989- )
LR Legal Resource Index (1980- )
PA PAIS International (1985- )
To change databases from any place in HOLLIS, type CHOOSE followed by a
2-character database code, as in: CHOOSE HU
For general help in using HOLLIS, type HELP. For HOLLIS news, type
HELP NEWS. For HOLLIS hours of operation, type HELP HOURS.
ALWAYS PRESS THE ENTER OR RETURN KEY AFTER TYPING YOUR COMMAND
The first thing to notice is the name of the system: Hollis.
Librarians around the world seem to be inordinately found of cutesy,
anthropomorphized acronyms for their machines (not far from Harvard, the
librarians at Brandeis University came up with Library On-Line User
Information Service, or Louis; MIT has Barton).
If you want to do some general browsing, probably the best bet on the
Harvard system is to chose HU, which gets you access to their main
holdings, including those of its medical libraries. Chose that, and you'll
see this:
THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNION CATALOG
To begin a search, select a search option from the list below and type its
code on the command line. Use either upper or lower case.
AU Author search
TI Title search
SU Subject search
ME Medical subject search
KEYWORD Keyword search options
CALL Call number search options
OTHER Other search options
For information on the contents of the Union Catalog, type HELP.
To exit the Union Catalog, type QUIT.
A search can be entered on the COMMAND line of any screen.
ALWAYS PRESS THE ENTER OR RETURN KEY AFTER TYPING YOUR COMMAND.
Say you want to see if Harvard has shed the starchy legacy of the
Puritans, who founded the school. Why not see if they have "The Joy of
Sex" somewhere in their stacks? Type
TI Joy of Sex
and hit enter. This comes up:
HU: YOUR SEARCH RETRIEVED NO ITEMS. Enter new command or HELP. You typed:
TI JOY OF SEX
*******************************************************************************
ALWAYS PRESS THE ENTER OR RETURN KEY AFTER TYPING YOUR COMMAND.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPTIONS: FIND START - search options HELP
QUIT - exit database
COMMAND?
Oh, well! Do they have anything that mentions "sex" in the title? Try
another TI search, but this time just: TI sex. You get:
HU GUIDE: SUMMARY OF SEARCH RESULTS 2086 items retrieved by your search:
FIND TI SEX
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 SEX
2 SEX A
823 SEXA
827 SEXBO
831 SEXCE
833 SEXDR
834 SEXE
879 SEXIE
928 SEXJA
929 SEXLE
930 SEXO
965 SEXPI
968 SEXT
1280 SEXUA
2084 SEXWA
2085 SEXY
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPTIONS: INDEX (or I 5 etc) to see list of items HELP
START - search options
REDO - edit search QUIT - exit database
COMMAND?
If you want to get more information on the first line, type 1 and hit enter:
HU INDEX: LIST OF ITEMS RETRIEVED 2086 items retrieved by your search:
FIND TI SEX
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEX
1 geddes patrick sir 1854 1932/ 1914 bks
SEX A Z
2 goldenson robert m/ 1987 bks
SEX ABUSE HYSTERIA SALEM WITCH TRIALS REVISITED
3 gardner richard a/ 1991 bks
SEX AETATES MUNDI ENGLISH AND IRISH
4 irish sex aetates mundi/ 1983 bks
SEX AFTER SIXTY A GUIDE FOR MEN AND WOMEN FOR THEIR LATER YEARS
5 butler robert n 1927/ 1976 bks
------------------------------------------------------ (CONTINUES) ------------
OPTIONS: DISPLAY 1 (or D 5 etc) to see a record HELP
GUIDE MORE - next page START - search options
REDO - edit search QUIT - exit database
COMMAND?
Most library systems give you a way to log off and return to your host
system. On Hollis, hit escape followed by
xx
One particularly interesting system is the one run by the Colorado
Alliance of Research Libraries, which maintains databases for libraries
throughout Colorado, the West and even in Boston.
Telnet pac.carl.org.
Follow the simple log-in instructions. When you get a menu, type 72
(even though that is not listed), which takes you to the Pikes Peak Library
District, which serves the city of Colorado Springs.
Several years ago, its librarians realized they could use their
database program not just for books but for cataloging city records and
community information, as well. Today, if you want to look up municipal
ordinances or city records, you only have to type in the word you're
looking for and you'll get back cites of the relevant laws or decisions.
Carl will also connect you to the University of Hawaii library, which,
like the one in Colorado Springs, has more than just bibliographic material
online. One of its features is an online Hawaiian almanac that can tell
you everything you ever wanted to know about Hawaiians, including the
number injured in boogie-board accidents each year (seven).
6.3 SOME INTERESTING TELNET SITES
AGRICULTURE
PENPages, run by Pennsylvania State University's College of
Agricultural Sciences, provides weekly world weather and crop reports
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These reports detail
everything from the effect of the weather on palm trees in Malaysia to
the state of the Ukrainian wheat crop. Reports from Pennsylvania
country extension officers offer tips for improving farm life. One
database lists Pennsylvania hay distributors by county -- and rates
the quality of their hay!
The service lets you search for information two different ways. A
menu system gives you quick access to reports that change frequently,
such as the weekly crop/weather reports. An index system lets you
search through several thousand online documents by keyword. At the
main menu, you can either browse through an online manual or chose
"PENPages,'' which puts you into the agriculture system.
Telnet: psupen.psu.edu
User name: PNOTPA
California State University's Advanced Technology Information
Network provides similar information as PENPages, only focusing on
California crops. It also maintains lists of upcoming California trade
shows and carries updates on biotechnology.
Telnet: caticsuf.cati.csufresno.edu
Log in: public
You will then be asked to register and will be given a user name
and password. Hit "a'' at the main menu for agricultural information.
Hit "d'' to call up a menu that includes a biweekly biotechnology
report.
AIDS
The University of Miami maintains a database of AIDS health
providers in southern Florida.
Telnet: callcat.med.miami.edu
Log in: library
At the main menu, select P (for "AIDS providers" and you'll be able
to search for doctors, hospitals and other providers that care for
patients with AIDS. You can also search by speciality.
See also under Health and Conversation.
AMATEUR RADIO:
The National Ham Radio Call-Sign Callbook lets you search for
American amateur operators by callsign, city, last name or Zip code. A
successful search will give you the ham's name, address, callsign,
age, type of license and when they got it.
Telnet: callsign.cs.buffalo.edu 2000 or ham.njit.edu 2000.
When you connect, you tell the system how you want to search and
what you're looking for. For example, if you want to search for hams
by city, you would type
city city name
and hit enter (for example: city Kankakee).
Other search choices are "call" (after which you would type a
ham's name), "name," and "zip" (which you would follow with a Zip
code). Be careful when searching for hams in a large city; there
doesn't seem to be anyway to shut off the list once it starts except
by using control-]. Otherwise, when done, type
quit
and hit enter to disconnect.
ANIMALS
See under Health.
ART
The National Gallery of Art in Washington maintains a database of
its holdings, which you can search by artist (Van Gogh, for example) or
medium (watercolor, say). You can see when specific paintings were
completed, what medium they are in, how large they are and who donated
it to the gallery.
Telnet: ursus.maine.edu
Login: ursus
At the main menu, hit your b key and then 4 to connect to the
gallery database.
CALCULATORS
Hewlett-Packard maintains a free service on which you can seek
advice about their line of calculators.
Telnet: hpcvbbs.cv.hp.com
No log-in is needed.
CONGRESS
The Library of Congress Information Service lets you search current
and past legislation (dating to 1982).
Telnet: locis.loc.gov
Password: none needed.
When you connect, you'll get a main menu that lets you select
from several databases, including the Library of Congress card catalog
(with book entries dating to 1978) and a database of information on
copyright laws.
For the congressional database, select the number next to its
entry and hit enter. You'll then be asked to choose which legislative year
to search. After that, a menu similar to this will come up:
***C103- THE LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION FILE FOR THE 103RD CONGRESS,
which was updated on 05/10/93 and contains 4,044 records,
is now available for your search.
CURRENCY: All information is NOT current through the above date, which is
machine generated when ANY information is added to the file.
Bill numbers, official titles, sponsors, and status (STEP) added
within 48 hours. Indexing terms and digests added later, in
some cases several weeks after the bill is added to the file.
TO START RETRIEVE to find: EXAMPLES:
SEARCH: member name --------------> retrieve rep gingrich
retrieve sen kennedy
bill number --------------> retrieve h.r. 1
subject keywords ---------> retrieve day care
FOR HELP: Type the word HELP and press the ENTER key.
READY FOR NEW COMMAND:
CONVERSATION
Communications Canada, a Canadian government agency is developing
Conversational Hypertext Access Technology (CHAT) is a system being
developed by Communications Canada to provide easy database access to
people with little or no computer experience, using what are known as
hypertext links. Instead of cryptic computer commands, users type
questions in English.
Telnet: debra.doc.ca
Log in: chat
You chose one of the three databases now online, one on AIDS, and
then ask questions in English.
Ask the AIDS database, "When was AIDS first discovered?'' and it
answers:
"The first case of AIDS in North America was diagnosed in 1979.
Before that, it existed in Africa, probably beginning in the 1950's.
AIDS was discovered in North America when a number of young men with a
history of homosexuality developed a rare type of cancer called
Kaposi's sarcoma.''
Sometimes, you do have to rephrase your question. For example,
when asked "What is the link between AIDS and drug use?'' the computer
responds:
"I know two things about drugs: the drugs that are used to treat
people with AIDS, and the risks that drug users have in getting AIDS.
Please ask about treatments or drug users.''
COPYRIGHT LAW
See under Congress.
CURRENT EVENTS
Every year, the CIA publishes a Fact Book that is essentially an
almanac of all the world's countries and international organizations,
including such information as major products, type of government and
names of its leaders. It's available for searching through the
University of Maryland Info Database.
Telnet: info.umd.edu
Chose a terminal type and hit enter (or just hit enter if you are
using VT100). At the main menu, choose the number next to "Educational
Resources." Then select the number next to "International," followed by
"Factbook." You can then search by country or agency.
This site also maintains copies of the U.S. budget, documents related
to the North American Free Trade Agreement and other government
initiatives. At the "Educational Resources" menu, select the number next to
"United States" and then the one next to "Government."
The Access Legislative Information Service lets you browse through
and look up bills before the Hawaiian legislature.
Telnet: access.uhcc.hawaii.edu
ENVIRONMENT
Envirolink is a large database and conference system about the
environment, based in Pittsburgh.
Telnet: envirolink.org
Log on: gopher
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintains online
databases of materials related to hazardous waste, the Clean Lakes
program and cleanup efforts in New England. The agency plans to
eventually include cleanup work in other regions, as well. The
database is actually a computerized card catalog of EPA documents --
you can look the documents up, but you'll still have to visit your
regional EPA office to see them.
Telnet: epaibm.rtpnc.epa.gov
No password or user name is needed. At the main menu, type
public
and hit enter (there are other listed choices, but they are only for
use by EPA employees). You'll then see a one-line menu. Type
ols
and hit enter, and you'll see something like this:
NET-106 Logon to TSO04 in progress.
DATABASES:
N NATIONAL CATALOG CH CHEMICAL COLL. SYSTEM
H HAZARDOUS WASTE 1 REGION I
L CLEAN LAKES
OTHER OPTIONS:
? HELP
Q QUIT
ENTER SELECTION -->
Choose one and you'll get a menu that lets you search by document
title, keyword, year of publication or corporation. After you enter
the search word and hit enter, you'll be told how many matches were
found. Hit 1 and then enter to see a list of the entries. To view
the bibliographic record for a specific entry, hit V and enter and
then type the number of the record.
The University of Michigan maintains a database of newspaper and
magazine articles related to the environment, with the emphasis on
Michigan, dating back to 1980.
Telnet: hermes.merit.edu
Host: mirlyn
Log in: meem
GEOGRAPHY
The University of Michigan Geographic Name Server can provide
basic information, such as population, latitude and longitude of U.S.
cities and many mountains, rivers and other geographic features.
Telnet: martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000
No password or user name is needed. Type in the name of a city, a
Zip code or a geographic feature and hit enter. The system doesn't like
names with abbreviations in them (for example, Mt. McKinley), so spell
them out (for example, Mount McKinley).
By typing in a town's name or zip code, you can find out a
community's county, Zip code and longitude and latitude. Not all
geographic features are yet included in the database.
GOVERNMENT
See under Current Events and Congress.
HEALTH
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration runs a database of health-
related information.
Telnet: fdabbs.fda.gov
Log in: bbs
You'll then be asked for your name and a password you want to use
in the future. After that, type
topics
and hit enter. You'll see this:
TOPICS DESCRIPTION
* NEWS News releases
* ENFORCE Enforcement Report
* APPROVALS Drug and Device Product Approvals list
* CDRH Centers for Devices and Radiological Health Bulletins
* BULLETIN Text from Drug Bulletin
* AIDS Current Information on AIDS
* CONSUMER FDA Consumer magazine index and selected articles
* SUBJ-REG FDA Federal Register Summaries by Subject
* ANSWERS Summaries of FDA information
* INDEX Index of News Releases and Answers
* DATE-REG FDA Federal Register Summaries by Publication Date
* CONGRESS Text of Testimony at FDA Congressional Hearings
* SPEECH Speeches Given by FDA Commissioner and Deputy
* VETNEWS Veterinary Medicine News
* MEETINGS Upcoming FDA Meetings
* IMPORT Import Alerts
* MANUAL On-Line User's Manual
You'll be able to search these topics by key word or
chronologically. It's probably a good idea, however, to capture a copy
of the manual, first, because the way searching works on the system is a
little odd. To capture a copy, type
manual
and hit enter. Then type
scan
and hit enter. You'll see this:
FOR LIST OF AVAILABLE TOPICS TYPE TOPICS
OR ENTER THE TOPIC YOU DESIRE ==>
MANUAL
BBSUSER
08-OCT-91
1 BBS User Manual
At this point, turn on your own computer's screen-capture or logging
function and hit your 1 key and then enter. The manual will begin to
scroll on your screen, pausing every 24 lines.
HIRING AND COLLEGE PROGRAM INFORMATION
The Federal Information Exchange in Gaithersburg, MD, runs two
systems at the same address: FEDIX and MOLIS. FEDIX offers research,
scholarship and service information for several federal agencies,
including NASA, the Department of Energy and the Federal Aviation
Administration. Several more federal agencies provide minority hiring
and scholarship information. MOLIS provides information about minority
colleges, their programs and professors.
Telnet: fedix.fie.com
User name: fedix (for the federal hiring database) or
molis (for the minority-college system)
Both use easy menus to get you to information.
HISTORY
Stanford University maintains a database of documents related to
Martin Luthor King.
Telnet: forsythetn.stanford.edu
Account: socrates
At the main menu, type
select mlk
and hit enter.
SKI REPORTS
See under weather.
SPACE
NASA Spacelink in Huntsville, Ala., provides all sorts of
reports and data about NASA, its history and its various missions,
past and present. You'll find detailed reports on every single probe,
satellite and mission NASA has ever launched along with daily updates
and lesson plans for teachers.
The system maintains a large file library of GIF-format space
graphics, but you can't download these through telnet. If you want
them, you have to dial the system directly, at (205) 895-0028.
Telnet: spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
When you connect, you'll be given an overview of the system and
asked to register and chose a password.
The NED-NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database lists data on more than
100,000 galaxies, quasars and other objects outside the Milky Way.
Telnet: ipac.caltech.edu.
Log in: ned
You can learn more than you ever wanted to about quasars, novae and
related objects on a system run by the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.
Telnet: cfa204.harvard.edu
Log in: einline
The physics department at the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst runs a bulletin-board system that provides extensive conferences
and document libraries related to space.
Telnet: spacemet.phast.umass.edu
Log on with your name and a password.
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS
The University of Maryland Info Database maintains U.S. Supreme
Court decisions from 1991 on.
Telnet: info.umd.edu
Chose a terminal type and hit enter (or just hit enter if you are
using VT100). At the main menu, choose the number next to "Educational
Resources" and hit enter. One of your options will then be for "United
States." Select that number and then, at the next menu, choose the one
next to "Supreme Court."
TELNET
Hytelnet, at the University of Saskatchewan, is an online guide to
hundreds of telnet sites around the world.
Telnet: access.usask.ca
Log in: hytelnet.
TIME
To find out the exact time:
Telnet: india.colorado.edu 13
You'll see something like this:
Escape character is '^]'.
Sun Apr 5 14:11:41 1992
Connection closed by foreign host.
The middle line tells you the date and exact Mountain Standard
Time, as determined by a federal atomic clock.
TRANSPORTATION
The Subway Navigator in Paris can help you learn how long it will
take to get from point A to point B on subway systems around the world.
Telnet: metro.jussieu.fr 10000
No log-in is needed.
When you connect, you'll be asked to choose a language in which to
search (you can choose English or French) and then a city to search.
You'll be asked for the station you plan to leave from and the station
you want to get to.
WEATHER
The University of Michigan's Department of Atmospheric, Oceanographic
and Space Sciences supplies weather forecasts for U.S. and foreign cities,
along with skiing and hurricane reports.
Telnet: madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000 (note the 3000).
No log-in name is needed.
Also see under Weather in the FTP list for information on downloading
satellite and radar weather images.
6.4 TELNET BULLETIN-BOARD SYSTEMS
You might think that Usenet, with its hundreds of newsgroups,
would be enough to satisfy the most dedicated of online communicators.
But there are a number of "bulletin-board" and other systems that
provide even more conferences or other services, many not found
directly on the Net. Some are free; others charge for access. They
include:
Bookstacks Unlimited is a Cleveland bookstore that uses the Internet
to advertise its services. Its online system features not only a catalog,
however, but conferences on books and literature.
Telnet: books.com
Log in with your own name and select a password for future connections.
Cimarron. Run by the Instituto Technical in Monterey, Mexico,
this system has Spanish conferences, but English commands, as you can
see from this menu of available conferences:
List of Boards
Name Title
General Board general
Dudas Dudas de Cimarron
Comentarios Comentarios al SYSOP
Musica Para los afinados........
Libros El sano arte de leer.....
Sistemas Sistemas Operativos en General.
Virus Su peor enemigo......
Cultural Espacio Cultural de Cimarron
NeXT El Mundo de NeXT
Ciencias Solo apto para Nerds.
Inspiracion Para los Romanticos e Inspirados.
Deportes Discusiones Deportivas
To be able to write messages and gain access to files, you have
to leave a note to SYSOP with your name, address, occupation and phone
number. To do this, at any prompt, hit your M key and then enter,
which will bring up the mail system. Hitting H brings up a list of
commands and how to use them.
Telnet: bugs.mty.itesm.mx (8 p.m. to 10 a.m., Eastern time, only).
At the "login:" prompt, type
bbs
and hit enter.
Cleveland Free-Net. The first of a series of Free-nets, this
represents an ambitious attempt to bring the Net to the public.
Originally an in-hospital help network, it is now sponsored by Case
Western Reserve University, the city of Cleveland, the state of Ohio
and IBM. It uses simple menus, similar to those found on CompuServe,
but organized like a city:
<<< CLEVELAND FREE-NET DIRECTORY >>>
1 The Administration Building
2 The Post Office
3 Public Square
4 The Courthouse & Government Center
5 The Arts Building
6 Science and Technology Center
7 The Medical Arts Building
8 The Schoolhouse (Academy One)
9 The Community Center & Recreation Area
10 The Business and Industrial Park
11 The Library
12 University Circle
13 The Teleport
14 The Communications Center
15 NPTN/USA TODAY HEADLINE NEWS
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help
Your Choice ==>
The system has a vast and growing collection of public documents,
from copies of U.S. and Ohio Supreme Court decisions to the Magna
Carta and the U.S. Constitution. It links residents to various
government agencies and has daily stories from USA Today. Beyond
Usenet (found in the Teleport area), it has a large collection of
local conferences on everything from pets to politics. And yes, it's
free!
Telnet: freenet-in-a.cwru.edu or
freenet-in-b.cwru.edu or
freenet-in-c.cwru.edu
When you connect to Free-Net, you can look around the system.
However, if you want to be able to post messages in its conferences or
use e-mail, you will have to apply in writing for an account.
Information on this is available when you connect.
DUBBS. This is a bulletin-board system in Delft in the
Netherlands. The conferences and files are mostly in Dutch, but the
help files and the system commands themselves are in English.
Telnet: tudrwa.tudelft.nl
ISCA BBS. Run by the Iowa Student Computer Association, it has
more than 100 conferences, including several in foreign languages.
After you register, hit K for a list of available conferences and then
J to join a particular conference (you have to type in the name of the
conference, not the number next to it). Hitting H brings up
information about commands.
Telnet bbs.isca.uiowa.edu
At the "login:" prompt, type
bbs
and hit enter.
Youngstown Free-Net. The people who created Cleveland Free-Net
sell their software for $1 to anybody willing to set up a similar
system. A number of cities now have their own Free-Nets, including
Youngstown, Ohio. Telnet: yfn.ysu.edu At the "login:" prompt, type
visitor
and hit enter.
6.5 PUTTING THE FINGER ON SOMEONE
Finger is a handy little program which lets you find out more about
people on the Net -- and lets you tell others on the Net more about
yourself.
Finger uses the same concept as telnet or ftp. But it works with
only one file, called .plan (yes, with a period in front). This is a
text file an Internet user creates with a text editor in his home
directory. You can put your phone number in there, tell a little bit
about yourself, or write almost anything at all.
To finger somebody else's .plan file, type this at the command
line:
finger email-address
where email-address is the person's e-mail address. You'll get back a
display that shows the last time the person was online, whether
they've gotten any new mail since that time and what, if anything, is
in their .plan file.
Some people and institutions have come up with creative uses for
these .plan files, letting you do everything from checking the weather
in Massachusetts to getting the latest baseball standings. Try
fingering these e-mail addresses:
weather@cirrus.mit.edu Latest National Weather Service weather
forecasts for regions in Massachusetts.
quake@geophys.washington.edu Locations and magnitudes of recent
earthquakes around the world.
jtchern@ocf.berkeley.edu Current major-league baseball standings and
results of the previous day's games.
nasanews@space.mit.edu The day's events at NASA.
coke@cs.cmu.edu See how many cans of each type of soda
are left in a particular soda machine
in the computer-science department of
Carnegie-Mellon University.
6.6 FINDING SOMEONE ON THE NET
So you have a friend and you want to find out if he has an Internet
account to which you can write? The quickest way may be to just pick up
the phone, call him and ask him. Although there are a variety of "white
pages" services available on the Internet, they are far from complete --
college students, users of commercial services such as CompuServe and
many Internet public-access sites, and many others simply won't be
listed. Major e-mail providers are working on a universal directory
system, but that could be some time away.
In the meantime, a couple of "white pages" services might give you
some leads, or even just entertain you as you look up famous people or
long-lost acquaintances.
The whois directory provides names, e-mail and postal mail address
and often phone numbers for people listed in it. To use it, telnet to
internic.net
No log-on is needed. The quickest way to use it is to type
whois name
at the prompt, where "name" is the last name or organization name you're
looking for.
Another service worth trying, especially since it seems to give
beginners fewer problems, is the Knowbot Information Service reachable by
telnet at
info.cnri.reston.va.us 185
Again, no log-on is needed. This service actually searches through a
variety of other "white pages" systems, including the user directory for
MCIMail. To look for somebody, type
query name
where "name" is the last name of the person you're looking for. You can
get details of other commands by hitting a question mark at the prompt.
You can also use the knowbot system by e-mail. Start a message to
netaddress@info.cnri.reston.va.us
You can leave the "subject:" line blank. As your message, type
query name
for the simplest type of search. If you want details on more complex
searches, add another line:
man
Another way to search is via the Usenet name server. This is a
system at MIT that keeps track of the e-mail addresses of everybody who
posts a Usenet message that appears at MIT. It works by e-mail. Send a
message to
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
Leave the "subject:" line blank. As your message, write
send usenet-addresses/lastname
where "lastname" is the last name of the person you're looking for.
6.7 WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
* Nothing happens when you try to connect to a telnet site. The
site could be down for maintenance or problems.
* You get a "host unavailable" message. The telnet site is down
for some reason. Try again later.
* You get a "host unknown" message. Check your spelling of the
site name.
* You type in a password on a telnet site that requires one, and
you get a "login incorrect" message. Try logging in again. If you get
the message again, hit your control and ] keys at the same time to
disengage and return to your host system.
* You can't seem to disconnect from a telnet site. Use control-]
to disengage and return to your host system.
6.8 FYI
The Usenet newsgroups alt.internet.services and alt.bbs.internet
can provide pointers to new telnet systems. Scott Yanoff periodically
posts his "Updated Internet Services List" in the former; Thomas Kreeger
periodically posts "Zamfield's Wonderfully Incomplete, Complete Internet
BBS List" in the latter newsgroup. The alt.bbs.internet newsgroup is
also where you'll find Aydin Edguer's compendium of FAQs related to
Internet bulletin-board systems.
Peter Scott, who maintains the Hytelnet database, runs a
mailing list about new telnet services and changes in existing ones.
To get on the list, send him a note at scott@sklib.usask.ca.
Gleason Sackman is a vetern net.surfer who maintains another mailing
list dedicated to new Internet services and news about the new uses to
which the Net is being put. To subscribe, send a message to
listserv@internic.net. Leave the "subject:" line blank, and as your
message, write: Sub net-happenings Your Name.
rsity Circle
13 The Teleport
14 The Communications Center
15 NPTN/USA TODAY HEADLINE NEWS
------------------------------------------------
h=Help, x=Exit Free-Net, "go help"=extended help
Your Choice ==>
The system has a vast and growing collection of public documents,
from copies of U.S. and Ohio Supreme Court decisions to the Magna
Carta and the U.S. Constitution. It
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