1358 lines
57 KiB
Plaintext
1358 lines
57 KiB
Plaintext
+--------------------------------------------------+
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| Accessing The Internet By E-Mail |
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| Doctor Bob's Guide to Offline Internet Access |
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| 7th Edition - July 1998 |
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+--------------------------------------------------+
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Copyright (c) 1994-98, "Doctor Bob" Rankin
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All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make and distribute
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verbatim copies of this document provided the copyright notice and
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this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Feel free to
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upload to your favorite BBS or Internet server!
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How to Access Internet Services by E-mail
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-----------------------------------------
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If you don't have direct access to the Internet through your BBS
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or online service, you're not alone. Many of the world's countries
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with Internet connections have only e-mail access to this world-wide
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network of networks.
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But if you think that sounds limiting, read on. You can access almost any
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Internet resource using e-mail. Maybe you've heard of FTP, Gopher, Archie,
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Veronica, Finger, Usenet, Whois, Netfind, WAIS, and the World-Wide Web but
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thought they were out of your reach because you don't have a direct
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connection.
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Not so! You can use simple e-mail commands to do all of this and much
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more on the Internet. And even if you do have full Internet access,
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using e-mail services can save you time and money. If you can send a
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note to an Internet address, you're in the game.
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I encourage you to read this entire document first and then go back and
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try out the techniques that are covered. This way, you will gain a
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broader perspective of the information resources that are available, an
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introduction to the tools you can work with, and the best methods for
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finding the information you want.
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Recent Changes To This Document
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-------------------------------
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7.3 A few new mailservers and items for the goodies section;
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Removed getweb@usa.healthnet.org, since it now charges a fee.
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7.2 Whew! mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu back in action.
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7.1 web-mail@ebay.com unplugged; Zippo unzipped; new server addresses;
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UPS tracking; mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu not responding
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7.0 Address updates, web search update, new usenet posting info, goodies.
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6.9 Several new/deleted server addresses
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6.8 Homepage by e-mail for German users only; LEO translation service;
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Reminders by e-mail; updated mail-to-usenet info; Mercury Mail by
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e-mail discontinued; WAISmail section removed
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Finding the Latest Version
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--------------------------
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This document is now available from several automated mail servers.
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To get the latest edition, send e-mail to one of the addresses below.
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To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (for US, Canada & South America)
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Enter only this line in the BODY of the note:
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send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email
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To: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk (for Europe, Asia, etc.)
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Enter only this line in the BODY of the note:
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send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt
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You can also get the file by anonymous FTP at one of these sites:
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Site: rtfm.mit.edu
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get pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email
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Site: ftp.mailbase.ac.uk
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get pub/lists/lis-iis/files/e-access-inet.txt
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Or on the Web in HTML format at:
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http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/internet-services/access-via-email/faq.html
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A Related Resource
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------------------
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JUNO: FREE E-MAIL AND MORE! is a must-have book that reveals the secrets
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of using Juno to the max! Learn how to access the Web, even though they
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say you can't. This tell-all book shows you how, and uncovers some cool
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undocumented features too. For info and online ordering, visit Dr. Bob's
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web page at http://biz.mhv.net/drbob or send e-mail to BobRankin@MHV.net
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with Subject: JUNOBOOK to get complete details.
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Before You Write...
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-------------------
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Please make sure you have the latest version of this guide before writing
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to the author with questions and updates. Don't give up too quickly on
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the busy e-mail servers, and if you get an error message, try your request
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again on a different day or time. If you'd like to keep up with the latest
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updates and announcements of new versions, send the command:
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SUBSCRIBE ACCMAIL Firstname Lastname
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in the BODY of a message to the address "LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM". In
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fact, the ACCMAIL list is a great place to ask any questions you have about
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this guide. You're likely to get a quicker response from one of the list
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subscribers, because the author gets several hundred messages per day!
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Other Translations of This Document
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-----------------------------------
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Several readers have graciously volunteered to translate this text into
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languages other than English. Please contact the author if you would like
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to assist in the translation of this document into another language. The
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list below shows the status of the translation work that has been done or
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is in progress. To obtain any of the completed texts, send e-mail with
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Subject: send accmail.xx (where "xx" is as shown below)
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To: BobRankin@MHV.NET
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Translation Filename Translation Filename
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----------------------- ---------- ----------------------- ----------
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Bulgarian (7th Ed.) accmail.bg Catalan (5th Ed.) accmail.ca
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Chinese GB (6th Ed.) accmail.cn Chinese BIG5 (5th Ed.) accmail.tw
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Croatian (4th Ed.) accmail.hr Czech (6th Ed.) accmail.cz
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Danish (5th Ed.) accmail.dk Dutch (6th Ed.) accmail.nl
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Esperanto (5th Ed.) accmail.eo Farsi (5th Ed.) accmail.ir
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Finnish (6th Ed.) accmail.fi French (6th Ed.) accmail.fr
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German (5th Ed.) accmail.de Greek (6th Ed.) accmail.gr
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Hebrew (5th Ed.) accmail.he Hungarian (7th Ed.) accmail.hu
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Indonesian (4th Ed.) accmail.id Italian (6th Ed.) accmail.it
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Lithuanian (6th Ed.) accmail.lt Japanese (6th Ed.) accmail.jp
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Norwegian (4th Ed.) accmail.no Polish (4th Ed.) accmail.pl
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Portuguese (6th Ed.) accmail.pt Romanian (6th Ed.) accmail.ro
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Russian (6th Ed.) accmail.ru Serbian (6th Ed.) accmail.sr
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Slovak (6th Ed.) accmail.sk Spanish (7th Ed.) accmail.sp
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Somali (5th Ed.) accmail.so Thai (6th Ed.) accmail.th
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Ukranian (6th Ed.) accmail.ua Vietnamese (7th Ed.) accmail.vn
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NOTE: Your "send accmail.xx" request MUST be in the SUBJECT line!
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Acknowledgements
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----------------
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This document is continually expanding and improving as a result of the
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daily flood of comments and questions received by the author. The following
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individuals are hereby recognized for their work in translating "Accessing"
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to various languages. (If I forgot anyone, let me know and I'll gladly add
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you to the list.)
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Flesch Balint - Hungarian Ron Barak - Hebrew
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Nikola Borojevic - Croatian Krzysztof Buniewicz - Polish
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Claude Bay - French Pierre Couillard - French
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S. Eivazzadeh, Ali Motamed - Farsi Vadim Fedorov - Russian
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Ricard Forner - Catalanian Alonso Gustavo - Spanish
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Stefan Greundel - German Mihai Jalobeanu - Romanian
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Paavo Juntunen - Finnish Joao Neves - Portuguese
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Stanislav Ponca - Slovakian Oe Wely Eko Raharjo - Indonesian
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Boonyakiat Saengwan - Thai Vidar Sarvik - Norwegian
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Christian Schou - Danish Darius Matuliauskas - Lithuanian
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Martin Slunecko - Czech Zvonko Springer - Croatian
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Andras Sogor - Hungarian Komatsu Toshiki - Japanese
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Rob Vandeweyer - Dutch Dario Vercelli - Italian
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Ewa Poskrobko - Polish Martin Weichert - Esperanto
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Yassin Ismail Ali - Somali Ukranian - Dmitry V. Bisikalo
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Brankica Kranjac - Serbian Ivan Stamenkovic - Serbian
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Grigoris Miliaresis - Greek Alexander Kachanov - Russian
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A Short Aside... "What is the Internet?"
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----------------------------------------
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Many introductory texts on the Internet go into excruciating detail on
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the history, composition and protocol of the Internet. If you were
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looking for that you won't find it here, because this is a "how to"
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lesson, not a history book.
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When you buy a new car, they don't make you read "The Life and Times of
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Henry Ford" before you can turn the top down and squeal off the lot.
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And when you get a new computer, nobody forces you to read a text on
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logic design before you fire up Leisure Suit Larry or WordPerfect.
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So if you're the type that wants to short-circuit the preliminaries and
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just dig in, you've come to the right place. I'm not going to bore you
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with the gory details. Instead, I'll just offer up my Reader's Digest
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condensed definition of the Internet, and encourage you to find out
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more as you gain skill at using the tools described herein.
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Internet (noun) - A sprawling collection of computer networks that spans
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the globe, connecting government, military, educational and commercial
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institutions, as well as private citizens to a wide range of computer
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services, resources, and information. A set of network conventions and
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common tools are employed to give the appearance of a single large
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network, even though the computers that are linked together use many
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different hardware and software platforms.
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The Rules of The Game
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---------------------
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This document is meant to be both tutorial and practical, so there are
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lots of actual commands and internet addresses listed herein. You'll
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notice that when these are included in the text they are indented by
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several spaces for clarity. Don't include the leading spaces when you
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try these commands on your own!
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You'll also see things like "<file>" or "<name>" appearing in this
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document. Think of these as place holders or variables which must
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be replaced with an appropriate value. Do NOT include the quotes or
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brackets in your value unless specifically directed to do so.
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Most e-mail servers understand only a small set of commands and are
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not very forgiving if you deviate from what they expect. So include
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ONLY the specified commands in the Subject or body of your note, leaving
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off any extraneous lines such as your signature, etc.
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Unless otherwise specified, you can leave the Subject and/or body of the
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note empty. If your mail software insists on a Subject or body, just
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type "XYZZY" or something equally non-sensical.
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You should also ensure that you have one blank line between the note
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headers and the body of your note. And do pay attention to upper/lower
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case in directory and file names when using e-mail servers. It's almost
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always important.
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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
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SPECIAL NOTE: The e-mail servers listed in this guide are for the most
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part operated by kind-hearted volunteers at companies or universities.
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If you abuse (or over-use) the servers, there's a very good chance they
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will be shut down permanently. This actually happened to several of the
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e-mail servers recently, so treat them with respect.
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If you have direct Internet access, let others who are less fortunate use
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the e-mail servers. Try to limit your data transfers to one megabyte per
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day. Don't swamp the servers with many requests at a time.
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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
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FTP BY E-MAIL
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-------------
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FTP stands for "file transfer protocol", and is a means of accessing
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files that are stored on remote computer systems (sites). Files at FTP
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sites are typically stored in a tree-like set of directories (or nested
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folders for Mac fans), each of which pertains to a different subject.
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When visiting an FTP site using a "live" internet connection, one would
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specify the name of the site, login with a userid & password, navigate
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to the desired directory and select one or more files to be transferred
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back to their local system.
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Using FTP by e-mail is very similar, except that the desired site is
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reached through a special "ftpmail server" which logs in to the remote
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site and returns the requested files to you in response to a set of
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commands in an e-mail message.
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Using FTP by e-mail can be nice even for those with full Internet
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access, because some popular FTP sites are heavily loaded and
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interactive response can be very sluggish. So it makes sense not to
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waste time and connect charges in these cases.
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To use FTP by e-mail, you first need a list of FTP "sites" which are the
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addresses of the remote computer systems that allow you to retrieve
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files anonymously (without having a userid and password on that system).
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There are some popular sites listed later in this guide, but you can get
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a comprehensive list of hundreds of anonymous FTP sites by sending an
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e-mail message to the internet address:
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mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
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and include these lines in the BODY of the note.
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send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part1
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... (19 lines omitted for brevity) ...
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send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part23
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You will then receive (by e-mail) 23 files which comprise the "FTP Site
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List". Note that these files are each about 60K, so the whole lot will
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total over a megabyte! This could place a strain on your system, so
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first check around to see if the list is already available locally.
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Another file you might want to get is "FTP Frequently Asked Questions"
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which contains lots more info on using FTP services, so add this line to
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your note as well:
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send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/faq
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After you receive the site list you'll see dozens of entries like this,
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which tell you the site name, location and the kind of files that are
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stored there.
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Site : oak.oakland.edu
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Country: USA
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Organ : Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan
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System : Unix
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Comment: Simtel Software Repository mirror
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Files : BBS lists; ham radio; TCP/IP; Mac; modem protocol info;
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MS-DOS; MS-Windows; PC Blue; PostScript; Simtel-20; Unix
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If you find an interesting FTP site in the list, send e-mail to one of
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these ftpmail servers:
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ftpmail@obelix.vslib.cz (Czech)
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ftpmail@sunsite.auc.dk (Denmark)
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postiftp@ftp.ut.ee (Estonia)
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ftpmail@garbo.uwasa.fi (Finland)
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ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de (Germany)
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ftpmail@mx.westel.hu (Hungary)
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ftpmail@dna.affrc.go.jp (Japan)
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ftpmail@vcom.or.jp (Japan)
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ftpmail@sympad.moldnet.md (Moldova)
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ftpxcorreo@ftp.rcp.net.pe (Peru)
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bitftp@plearn.edu.pl (Poland)
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ftpmail@demos.su (Russia)
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ftpmail@relay.interbit.ro (Romania)
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ftpmail@ftpserver.nus.edu.sg (Singapore)
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ftpmail@ftp.sunet.se (Sweden)
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ftpmail@ftp.luth.se (Sweden)
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ftpmail@xopen.co.uk (United Kingdom)
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bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu (United States)
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ftpmail@ftpmail.ramona.vix.com (United States)
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ftpmail@btoy1.rochester.ny.us (United States)
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ftpmail@online.ora.com (United States)
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ftpmail@conicit.ve (Venezuela)
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bitftp@vm.gmd.de (CLOSED)
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ftpmail@src.doc.ic.ac.uk (CLOSED DUE TO ABUSE)
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It doesn't really matter which one you choose, but a server that is
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geographically close may respond quicker. (Please DON'T use the first
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one in the list just because it's there!) In the body of the note,
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include these lines:
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open <site> * use "connect <site>" for dec.com sites
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dir
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quit
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This will return to you a list of the files stored in the root directory
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at that site. See the figure below for an example of the output when
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using "oak.oakland.edu" for the site name.
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+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
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-r--r--r-- 1 w8sdz OAK 1255 Nov 9 16:32 README
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drwxr-xr-x 3 w8sdz OAK 8192 Feb 25 05:17 SimTel
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d--x--x--x 3 root system 8192 Jan 19 20:26 bin
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d--x--x--x 5 root system 8192 Dec 30 05:15 etc
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drwxr-xr-x 3 w8sdz OAK 8192 Jan 30 17:37 pub
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+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
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In your next e-mail message you can navigate to other directories by
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inserting (for example)
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chdir pub (use "cd" if "chdir" doesn't work)
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before the "dir" command. (The "chdir" means "change directory" and "pub"
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is a common directory name, usually a good place to start.) Once you
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determine the name of a file you want to retrieve, use:
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get <name of file>
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in the following note instead of the "dir" command. If the file you
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want to retrieve is plain text, this will suffice. If it's a binary
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file (an executable program, compressed file, etc.) you'll need to
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insert the command:
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binary
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in your note before the "get" command.
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Tip: Many directories at FTP sites contain a file called 00-index.txt,
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README, or something similarly named which gives a description of the
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files found there. If you're just exploring and your "dir" reveals one
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of these filenames, do a "get" on the file and save yourself some time.
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OK, let's grab the text of The Magna Carta. Here's the message you send
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to ftpmail@win.net (or another ftpmail server):
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open ftp.spies.com (The name of the FTP site)
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chdir Gov/World (The directory where the file lives)
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get magna.txt (Sign here please, John)
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quit (Bring it on home)
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Here are the commands you would send to to get a file from the Simtel
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Software Repository that was mentioned earlier.
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open oak.oakland.edu
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chdir SimTel/msdos/disasm
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binary (Because we're getting a ZIP file)
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get bubble.zip
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quit
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Some other interesting FTP sites you may want to "visit" are listed below.
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(Use these site names on the "open" command and the suggested directory
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name on your "chdir" command, as in the previous examples.)
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rtfm.mit.edu Try: pub/usenet/news.answers for USENET info
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ftp.simtel.net Try: pub/simtelnet a huge DOS/WIN software library
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gatekeeper.dec.com Try: pub/recipes for a cooking & recipe archive
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Remember that you can't just send e-mail to ftpmail@<anysite>, rather you
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send the "open <site>" command to one of the known ftpmail servers.
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Notes:
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- The ftpmail servers tend to be quite busy. Your reply may not arrive for
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several minutes, hours, or days.
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- Some large files may be split into smaller pieces and returned to you as
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multiple messages. You can control this (and also override the return
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e-mail address) using special ftpmail commands.
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- The commands are not the same on every server - send the "help" command
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to find out how FTPMAIL works on the server you are using!
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- Often the ftpmail servers keep local archives. Open the local archives by
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not specifying a site on the "open" line. Using the local archives gives
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your request priority so it will be processed before all outside requests.
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If the file that is returned to you ends up looking something like what
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you see below, (the word "begin" with a number and the filename on one
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line, followed by a bunch of 61-character lines) it most likely is a
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binary file that has been "uuencoded" by the sender. (This is required
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in order to reliably transmit binary files by e-mail.)
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begin 666 answer2.zip
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M4$L#!`H`!@`.`/6H?18.$-Z$F@P```@?```,````5$5,25@S,34N5%A480I[
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M!P8;!KL,2P,)!PL).PD'%@.(!@4.!P8%-@.6%PL*!@@*.P4.%00.%P4*.`4.
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You'll need to scrounge up a version of the "uudecode" program for your
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operating system (DOS, OS/2, Unix, Mac, etc.) in order to reconstruct the
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file. Most likely you'll find a copy already at your site or in your
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service provider's download library, but if not you can use the instructions
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in the next section to find out how to search FTP sites for a copy.
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ARCHIE BY E-MAIL
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----------------
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Let's say you know the name of a file, but you have no idea at which FTP
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site it might be lurking. Or maybe you're curious to know if files
|
|
matching a certain naming criteria are 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 (use the closest one):
|
|
|
|
archie@archie.au (Australia)
|
|
archie@archie.univie.ac.at (Austria)
|
|
archie@archie.belnet.be (Belgium)
|
|
archie@archie.funet.fi (Finland)
|
|
archie@archie.th-darmstadt.de (Germany)
|
|
archie@archie.kornet.nm.kr (Korea)
|
|
archie@archie.unipi.it (Italy)
|
|
archie@archie.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp (Japan)
|
|
archie@archie.icm.edu.pl (Poland)
|
|
archie@archie.luth.se (Sweden)
|
|
archie@archie.rediris.es (Spain)
|
|
archie@archie.doc.ic.ac.uk (United Kingdom)
|
|
archie@archie.bunyip.com (United States)
|
|
archie@archie.internic.net (United States)
|
|
|
|
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 enter the command:
|
|
|
|
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 (or one of
|
|
the other archie servers), and include the following lines in the message:
|
|
|
|
set match_domain usa
|
|
set search sub (looking for a substring match...)
|
|
find 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.
|
|
|
|
It should be noted that the latest version of uudecode can be found at
|
|
the SimTel repository. Send e-mail to listserv@SimTel.net,
|
|
including any or all of these commands in the BODY of the note, and the
|
|
requested files will be returned to you by e-mail.
|
|
|
|
get uudecode.bas
|
|
get uudecode.c
|
|
get uudecode.doc
|
|
|
|
SPECIAL NOTE: For DOS users, there is an EXECUTABLE ASCII version of the
|
|
UUDECODE.COM program available. This is a rare exception to the rule that
|
|
executable files must be encoded to survive e-mail transmission. You can
|
|
receive it via e-mail and execute it "as is". To get a copy, send e-mail
|
|
to BobRankin@MHV.net with Subject: send uudecode.com (must be lowercase).
|
|
For further info on using uudecode, request the "uudecode.how" file.
|
|
|
|
|
|
GOPHER BY E-MAIL
|
|
----------------
|
|
|
|
Gopher is a tool for exploring the Internet and is one way to find a
|
|
resource if you know what you want, but not where to find it. Gopher
|
|
systems are menu-based, and provide a user-friendly front end to
|
|
Internet resources, searches and information retrieval.
|
|
|
|
When visiting a Gopher site using a "live" Internet connection, one would
|
|
specify the name of the site, navigate through a series of hierarchical
|
|
menus to a desired resource, and then either read or transfer the
|
|
information back to their home system.
|
|
|
|
Using Gopher by e-mail is very similar, except that the desired site is
|
|
reached through a special "gophermail server" which gophers to the remote
|
|
site on your behalf and and returns the requested menu, submenu or file to
|
|
you in response to a set of commands in an e-mail message.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: In recent years, Gopher has fallen in popularity and most of the
|
|
gophermail servers have closed down. But still there is quite a
|
|
bit of information available on gopher servers, and a few working
|
|
gophermail servers.
|
|
|
|
Although not every item on every menu will be accessible by "gophermail",
|
|
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:
|
|
|
|
gopher@dna.affrc.go.jp Japan
|
|
gopher@ncc.go.jp Japan
|
|
gophermail@eunet.cz Czech Republic
|
|
|
|
You can optionally specify the address of a known gopher site on the
|
|
Subject line to get the main menu for that site instead. Here are some
|
|
interesting gopher sites you may like to explore at your leisure.
|
|
|
|
cwis.usc.edu
|
|
gopher.micro.umn.edu
|
|
|
|
Let's be bold and skip the HELP stuff for now. Fire off a note to one of
|
|
the gophermail servers and specify
|
|
|
|
Subject: cwis.usc.edu
|
|
|
|
You'll get a message back from the server that looks something like
|
|
the text in the figure below.
|
|
|
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|
Mail this file back to gopher with an X before the items you want.
|
|
|
|
1. About USCgopher/
|
|
2. How To Find Things on Gopher/
|
|
3. University Information/
|
|
4. Campus Life/
|
|
5. Computing Information/
|
|
6. Library and Research Information/
|
|
7. Health Sciences/
|
|
8. Research and Technology Centers/
|
|
9. Other Gophers & Info Resources/
|
|
|
|
You may edit the following numbers to set the maximum sizes after
|
|
which GopherMail should send output as multiple email messages:
|
|
|
|
Split=27K bytes/message <- For text, bin, HQX messages
|
|
Menu=100 items/message <- For menus and query responses
|
|
#
|
|
Name=About USCgopher
|
|
Numb=1
|
|
Type=1
|
|
Port=70
|
|
Path=1/About_USCgopher
|
|
Host=cwis.usc.edu
|
|
# ... (some lines deleted) ...
|
|
Name=Other Gophers and Information Resources
|
|
Numb=9
|
|
Type=1
|
|
Port=70
|
|
Path=1/Other_Gophers_and_Information_Resources
|
|
Host=cwis.usc.edu
|
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|
|
|
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. In the example
|
|
above, let's select
|
|
|
|
x 9. Other Gophers & Info Resources
|
|
|
|
and mail the whole shebang right back at the gophermail server. You should
|
|
then get a menu with a number of interesting selections including "Gopher
|
|
Jewels". You'll find a LOT of good stuff along that path. The Gopher
|
|
Jewels project is probably the best organized collection of Internet
|
|
resources around.
|
|
|
|
If a menu item is labelled "Search" you can select that item with an "x"
|
|
and supply your search words in the Subject: of your reply. Note that
|
|
your search criteria can be a single word or a boolean expression such as:
|
|
|
|
document and (historic 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.
|
|
|
|
Just remember that if you use this approach, you must specify "get all" on
|
|
the Subject line. (Exception: for searching, specify only the search
|
|
terms on the Subject line.) The example below is equivalent to selecting
|
|
"option 9" as we did earlier.
|
|
|
|
Split=0K bytes/message
|
|
Menu=0 items/message
|
|
#
|
|
Name=Other Gophers
|
|
Numb=9
|
|
Type=1
|
|
Port=70
|
|
Path=1/Other_Gophers_and_Information_Resources
|
|
Host=cwis.usc.edu
|
|
|
|
If this looks like nonsense to you, here's a human translation:
|
|
|
|
Connect to PORT 70 of the HOST (computer) at "cwis.usc.edu",
|
|
retrieve the sub-menu "Other Gophers", 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! You
|
|
can use boolean expressions in Veronica searches. For a guide to composing
|
|
Veronica searches, send these lines to a gophermail server:
|
|
|
|
Name=How to Compose Veronica Queries
|
|
Path=0/veronica/how-to-query-veronica
|
|
Host=veronica.scs.unr.edu
|
|
|
|
|
|
USENET BY E-MAIL
|
|
----------------
|
|
|
|
Usenet is a collection of over 25000 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
|
|
|
|
and include 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 (also get part2)
|
|
send usenet/news.answers/alt-hierarchies/part1 (also get part2 & part3)
|
|
|
|
To get the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file(s) for a given newsgroup,
|
|
try a command like this:
|
|
|
|
index usenet/<newsgroupname>
|
|
|
|
(Substitute dots for dashes if they appear in the newsgroup name.)
|
|
If any FAQ files are available, they will be listed in the returned info,
|
|
and you can request them with a command like:
|
|
|
|
send usenet/<newsgroupname>/<faqfilename>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reading Usenet Newsgroups
|
|
-------------------------
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Specify "Subject: get all" and include only these lines in the message body.
|
|
|
|
(You must replace "<newsgroup>" below with the name of the Usenet
|
|
newsgroup you wish to access. eg: alt.answers, biz.comp.services,
|
|
news.newusers.questions, etc.)
|
|
|
|
Type=1
|
|
Port=4320
|
|
Path=nntp ls <newsgroup>
|
|
Host=services.canberra.edu.au
|
|
|
|
If this doesn't work, you can try another Host by substituting one of
|
|
the lines below.
|
|
|
|
Host=gopher.ic.ac.uk
|
|
Host=risc.upol.cz
|
|
Host=gopher.tc.umn.edu (maybe, very busy)
|
|
|
|
Note that some of these sites carry only a limited range of newsgroups,
|
|
so you may have to try several before finding one which carries the
|
|
newsgroup you're looking for. When the newsgroup does not exist,
|
|
gophermail sends something like "'nntp ls <newsgroup>': path does not
|
|
exist". When a site does not accept outside requests, gophermail sends
|
|
something like "Sorry, we don't accept requests outside campus".
|
|
|
|
If successful, the gophermail server will send you a typical gopher menu
|
|
on which you may select the individual postings you wish to read. If your
|
|
query returns nothing, or you get a "not found" message, try it at another
|
|
time of day. The servers are very busy during regular business hours.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: Gophermail servers are a vanishing breed. You can also get Usenet
|
|
postings from several webmail servers listed in the WORLD-WIDE WEB BY
|
|
E-MAIL section later in this document. There are two approaches:
|
|
|
|
1) Use a webmail server to access a gopher site which carries Usenet. The
|
|
example from above when translated into a web address would be:
|
|
gopher://services.canberra.edu.au:4320/1nntp
|
|
|
|
2) Look for an Agora server with a "Y" in the "Usenet Access" column and
|
|
send a command like this in the message body: send news:<newsgroup>
|
|
|
|
With a little luck, you'll get a list of recent postings to the newsgroup,
|
|
and then you can retrieve the individual postings by replying to the
|
|
message from the Agora server. Make sure not to change the subject line
|
|
of the reply message, and just put the number of the posting you want in
|
|
the message BODY.
|
|
|
|
Posting In Usenet Newsgroups
|
|
----------------------------
|
|
|
|
If you decide to make a post of your own, here are two methods to try:
|
|
|
|
METHOD 1: Mail the text of your post to:
|
|
|
|
group.name@myriad.alias.net
|
|
post-group.name@newspost.zippo.com (Defunct 2/98)
|
|
no.group.name@news.uninett.no (Norwegian newsgroups only)
|
|
group.name@news.uni-stuttgart.de (CLOSED DUE TO ABUSE)
|
|
|
|
So to post to news.newusers.questions, you might send your message to:
|
|
|
|
news.newusers.questions@myriad.alias.net
|
|
|
|
Be sure to include an appropriate Subject: line, and include your real
|
|
name and e-mail address at the close of your note.
|
|
|
|
METHOD 2: Mail the text of your post to:
|
|
|
|
mail2news-YYYYMMDD-group.name@anon.lcs.mit.edu -OR-
|
|
m2n-YYYYMMDD-group.name@alpha.jpunix.com
|
|
|
|
Substitute today's date instead of YYMMDD and the newsgroup name instead
|
|
of "group.name" in the address. For more information, send to
|
|
mail2news@anon.lcs.mit.edu with Subject: help
|
|
|
|
Note on Usenet Posting
|
|
----------------------
|
|
|
|
Use a webmail server to fetch Don Kitchen's helpful document at
|
|
"http://www.sabotage.org/~don/mail2news.html" (See "World-Wide Web By E-Mail"
|
|
below for help with this). It contains tips on finding out if a mail server
|
|
supports your newsgroup, keeping your address away from spammers, and
|
|
an updated list of mail-to-news servers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Searching For Usenet Newsgroups
|
|
-------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Don't know the name of the newsgroup? To search for Usenet groups about
|
|
"pets", for example, send e-mail to an Agora server (see WWW section) with
|
|
this line in the message BODY:
|
|
|
|
send http://www.nova.edu/Inter-Links/cgi-bin/news.pl?pets
|
|
|
|
Another way to find newsgroups: Send e-mail to "liszter@bluemarble.net" with
|
|
|
|
news "keyword"
|
|
|
|
in the BODY if the message. (The quotes force an exact match.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
USENET SEARCHES
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
A service called REFERENCE.COM 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 "email-queries@reference.com"
|
|
with HELP in the body of note for full details. A similar service
|
|
called the Vigilant Information Filter is now closed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
WORLD-WIDE WEB BY E-MAIL
|
|
------------------------
|
|
|
|
The World-Wide Web is the premier Internet navigational tool - 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 in the world they
|
|
were talking about? Now you can retrieve WWW documents by e-mail using
|
|
an Agora webmail server.
|
|
|
|
All you need to know is the Uniform Resource Locator (or 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 one of:
|
|
|
|
Agora Server Address Location Usenet Access?
|
|
--------------------------- -------------------- --------------
|
|
agora@dna.affrc.go.jp (Japan) Y
|
|
agora@kamakura.mss.co.jp (Japan) Y
|
|
agora@www.eng.dmu.ac.uk (United Kingdom)
|
|
agora@uit.no (Norway)
|
|
agora@mx.nsu.nsk.su (NSU.RU users ONLY)
|
|
|
|
In the body of your note include one of these lines, replacing "<URL>"
|
|
with the actual URL specification.
|
|
|
|
send <URL>
|
|
rsend <return-address> <URL> (to override your return address)
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
To try WWW by e-mail send the following commands to an Agora server :
|
|
|
|
www
|
|
send http://www.w3.org
|
|
|
|
In a few minutes you should receive the Agora help file and the "WWW
|
|
Welcome Page" which will include references to other Web documents
|
|
you'll want to explore. Please read the Agora help file, as it contains
|
|
answers to many commonly asked questions!
|
|
|
|
THERE ARE SOME OTHER webmail servers listed below, which run software
|
|
other than Agora. They work pretty much the same, but it's a good idea
|
|
to request the help file for the server you decide to use.
|
|
|
|
Note: The GetWeb servers below can handle web pages which contain fill-in
|
|
forms. Other webmail servers do not provide this ability.
|
|
|
|
Address Syntax Comments
|
|
----------------------- ---------- ----------------------------
|
|
|
|
getweb@info.lanic.utexas.edu GET <URL> Send HELP for usage info
|
|
getweb@unganisha.idrc.ca GET <URL> Send HELP for usage info
|
|
getweb@getweb.ecn.cz GET <URL> Send HELP for usage info
|
|
w3mail@gmd.de GET <URL> Send HELP command for info
|
|
webmail@www.ucc.ie GO <URL>
|
|
wwwfmail@linux.netmor.com Use 'Subject: info' for help
|
|
|
|
Note: The webmail servers are sometimes unavailable for days (or weeks)
|
|
at a time without explanation. If you get an error or no reply, please
|
|
try another address or retry in a day or so.
|
|
|
|
|
|
WWW SEARCH BY E-MAIL
|
|
--------------------
|
|
|
|
There's a lot of great stuff out on the Web, but how do you find it?
|
|
Well, just like Archie and Veronica help you search FTP and gopher sites,
|
|
there are several search engines that have been developed to search for
|
|
information on the Web. But until now, you had to have direct Internet
|
|
access to use them.
|
|
|
|
After a bit of research, I have found that it is possible to use several
|
|
WWW search mechanisms by e-mail. Here are some sample queries that you
|
|
can use to search via Lycos and WebCrawler. Any of these lines can be
|
|
sent to an Agora server (see above) to perform a search. If you're not
|
|
interested in frogs, then by all means feel free to use your own keywords.
|
|
|
|
For Lycos, append a dot to your keywords to force an exact match, or you
|
|
will get a substring search by default. Separate words with a "+" sign.
|
|
|
|
http://www.lycos.com/cgi-bin/pursuit?query=frog.+dissection.
|
|
|
|
For WebCrawler searches you must separate words with a "+" sign.
|
|
All searches are exact, no trailing dot required.
|
|
|
|
http://webcrawler.com/cgi-bin/WebQuery?frog+dissection
|
|
|
|
Another way to access search engines is to send a message to
|
|
getweb@unganisha.idrc.ca with a line like this in the message body:
|
|
|
|
SEARCH <engine> <keywords>
|
|
|
|
Replace "engine" with YAHOO, ALTAVISTA, or INFOSEEK, and use your own
|
|
search words. Here's an example:
|
|
|
|
SEARCH YAHOO consumer protection
|
|
|
|
|
|
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@LISTSERV.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 e-mail to "liszter@bluemarble.net" with
|
|
|
|
search "keyword"
|
|
|
|
in the BODY if the message. (The quotes force an exact match.)
|
|
(Of course you must replace "keyword" with your own search word
|
|
such as "marketing", "bicycles", etc.)
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
in the BODY of a note 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 this line (in the message BODY) to a webmail server:
|
|
|
|
send http://www.mit.edu:8001/finger?<user@site>
|
|
|
|
Use one of the e-mail addresses below instead of <user@site> ...
|
|
|
|
nasanews@space.mit.edu coke@cs.cmu.edu
|
|
quake@gldfs.cr.usgs.gov copi@oddjob.uchicago.edu
|
|
|
|
|
|
"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 Internet site 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! It should be noted that WHOIS is
|
|
not a comprehensive listing of all Internet users. It contains mostly
|
|
network administrators and some "notable" Internet figures.
|
|
|
|
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 to
|
|
"mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu" and include this command ONLY in the 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
|
|
|
|
NETFIND is another more powerful search engine that uses a person's name
|
|
and keywords describing a physical location to return a bunch of info
|
|
about the person (or persons) who fit the bill.
|
|
|
|
Let's say we want to find someone named Hardy at the University of
|
|
Colorado in Boulder. Our Netfind query will be addressed to
|
|
an Agora server (see list in WWW section) and will contain the only line:
|
|
|
|
gopher://ds.internic.net:4320/7netfind%20dblookup?hardy+boulder+colorado
|
|
|
|
Netfind works in two phases. First it displays a list of internet
|
|
domains that match your keywords, then it looks for the person in the
|
|
domain you select. Netfind by e-mail is very similar, in that you'll
|
|
receive a listing of matching domains from which you must make one or
|
|
more selections.
|
|
|
|
Each selection is numbered and there are corresponding "gopher://"
|
|
commands at the bottom of the listing. Let's pick the selection for
|
|
|
|
cs.colorado.edu computer science dept, university of colorado, boulder
|
|
|
|
which means that our next command to the Agora server will be:
|
|
|
|
gopher://ds.internic.net:4320/0netfind%20netfind%20hardy%20cs.colorado.edu
|
|
|
|
If all goes well, you'll receive a list something like this:
|
|
|
|
full_name: HARDY, JOE (not a real person)
|
|
email: CrazyJoe@Colorado.EDU
|
|
phone: (303) 492-1234
|
|
address: Campus Box 777
|
|
department: COMPUTER SCIENCE
|
|
|
|
Note that if you know the person's domain name already, you can jump right
|
|
in with a query like the latter one above.
|
|
|
|
You can also try the "Four11 Online User Directory", a free directory of
|
|
users and their e-mail addresses. Send e-mail to info@four11.com for
|
|
details on how to search the Four11 directory.
|
|
|
|
|
|
TELNET BY E-MAIL
|
|
-----------------
|
|
|
|
Sorry, there is no way to access TELNET sites by e-mail.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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!)
|
|
|
|
|
|
* THE INTERNET TOURBUS
|
|
Take a virtual tour of the Internet - hop on The Internet TourBus! You'll
|
|
receive a short mailing twice a week highlighting fun and interesting sites
|
|
on the Internet. It's absolutely free, and you can join 80,000 others by
|
|
sending SUBSCRIBE TOURBUS Firstname Lastname in the BODY of a message to
|
|
"LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM".
|
|
|
|
* FTPMAIL/WEBMAIL SERVER STATUS
|
|
Is your favorite FTPmail/Agora/GetWeb site overloaded or down? Find out
|
|
by sending the "get file stats.txt" command to mailserv@netservs.com.
|
|
|
|
* GERMAN <-> ENGLISH TRANSLATION SERVICE
|
|
The LEO translation service is now available by email, by sending to
|
|
translate@leo.org. The helpfile at http://www.leo.org/dict/mail.html
|
|
can be retrieved via webmail.
|
|
|
|
* REMINDERS BY E-MAIL
|
|
The E-minder service sends you reminders about your events. For directions
|
|
on setting e-minder appointments by e-mail, send a message to
|
|
e-minder@netmind.com, with Subject line "e-minder help".
|
|
|
|
* FREE HOME PAGE BY E-MAIL (For German residents only)
|
|
InetWire offers free non-commercial homepages with up to 500KB of space.
|
|
Make a zip file with index.htm being the home page, put a URL something
|
|
like "http://inetw.com/home/myname" in the Subject line and then send
|
|
your zip file as an ATTACHMENT to attach@inetw.com. (If your e-mail
|
|
program doesn't support file attachments, you're out of luck.)
|
|
|
|
* RECEIVE E-MAIL WHEN YOUR FAVORITE WEBSITE CHANGES
|
|
Try URL-minder by e-mail. Send a message to URL-minder@netmind.com with
|
|
HELP in the Subject line for instructions.
|
|
|
|
* MORTGAGE/LOAN CALCULATOR
|
|
To calculate your monthly loan payment, send this line to an Agora server:
|
|
http://www.ibc.wustl.edu/mort/mort.cgi?prin=100000&int=8.25&term=30
|
|
(Change the values for principle, interest and term as appropriate.)
|
|
|
|
* WORLD NEWS REVIEW
|
|
A daily news digest from international press and broadcast sources. Send
|
|
e-mail to inbox@netserve.FT.com with "info nr-world" in the message body.
|
|
|
|
* VIRTUAL PIZZA!
|
|
Order an electronic pizza by e-mail. Send e-mail to "pizza@ecst.csuchico.edu"
|
|
with a subject of "pizza help" for details.
|
|
|
|
* WEBSTER DICTIONARY LOOKUP
|
|
To retrieve the definition of a word, send this line to an Agora server:
|
|
send http://c.gp.cs.cmu.edu:5103/prog/webster?whatever
|
|
|
|
* MORE WORD FUN!
|
|
The wordserver at wsmith@wordsmith.org will serve up A.Word.A.Day,
|
|
Thesaurus-by-mail, Acronym-by-mail, Anagram-by-mail and Rhyme-n-Reason.
|
|
|
|
* PLAY GAMES BY E-MAIL
|
|
Yoyodyne specializes in online games. Send mail to "win@yoyo.com".
|
|
You can also play games via the PBeM Server, for info, send e-mail to
|
|
"pbmserv@gamerz.net" with Subject: help
|
|
|
|
* BIBLE SEARCH
|
|
Search the King James version of the Bible. Examples below can be sent to
|
|
an Agora server. Use "+" to specify multiple words; prefix proper names
|
|
with "%23"; add "&PHRASE=ON" to find a phrase.
|
|
send http://estragon.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/KJV?title=&word=angel+%23Mary
|
|
send http://estragon.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/KJV?title=&word=fig+tree&PHRASE=ON
|
|
|
|
* THE USENET ORACLE
|
|
A cooperative, anonymous and humorous exchange of questions and answers.
|
|
Send e-mail to oracle@cs.indiana.edu for more information.
|
|
|
|
* SENDING A FAX BY E-MAIL
|
|
Free faxing via the Internet? You bet. For details, send the line below to
|
|
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (in BODY of note)
|
|
send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq
|
|
|
|
* U.S. CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE
|
|
Find out if your congressperson 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).
|
|
|
|
* OTHER SOURCES OF US GOV'T INFO:
|
|
Send the lines below to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (in BODY of note)
|
|
send usenet/news.answers/us-govt-net-pointers/part1 (also part2)
|
|
|
|
* FINDING E-MAIL ADDRESSES
|
|
For a guide to finding someone's e-mail addresses, send the line below to
|
|
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (in the BODY of the note)
|
|
send usenet/news.answers/finding-addresses
|
|
|
|
* SENDING MAIL TO VARIOUS NETWORKS
|
|
For a guide to communicating with people on the various networks that
|
|
make up the Internet, send the line below to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (in
|
|
the BODY of the note)
|
|
send usenet/news.answers/mail/inter-network-guide
|
|
|
|
* INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE
|
|
Get tons of info on movies, actors, & directors. Send e-mail to
|
|
movie@imdb.com with HELP in the subject line.
|
|
|
|
* 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.
|
|
|
|
* CURRENCY CONVERSION
|
|
You can get foreign exchange rates for the U.S. dollar and other
|
|
currencies by sending one of these lines to an Agora server:
|
|
send http://cnnfn.com/markets/currencies.html
|
|
send http://www.dna.lth.se/cgi-bin/kurt/rates/rates?USD+ALL
|
|
|
|
* ANONYMOUS E-MAIL
|
|
An "anon server" provides a front for sending mail messages and posting
|
|
to Usenet newsgroups anonymously, should the need ever arise. To get
|
|
instructions send e-mail to help@nym.alias.net or help@anon.efga.org
|
|
|
|
* ASK DR. MATH
|
|
Have a math question? No problem's too big or too small for The Swat
|
|
Team. Write to dr.math@forum.swarthmore.edu
|
|
|
|
* ASK-A-GEOLOGIST
|
|
Send your earth-shattering questions to ask-a-geologist@octopus.wr.usgs.gov
|
|
and a US Geological Service scientist will try to help.
|
|
|
|
* VIRUS PROTECTION SOFTWARE
|
|
F-Prot, one of the top PC virus scanners can be requested by e-mail.
|
|
To get the current version (uuencoded) send e-mail to
|
|
f-prot-update@complex.is with this message body:
|
|
|
|
send-as: uue
|
|
|
|
* SCOUT REPORT
|
|
...is a weekly featuring announcements of new and interesting resources
|
|
on the Internet. To subscribe, send e-mail to listserv@cs.wisc.edu
|
|
with "Subscribe scout-report Your Name" in the body.
|
|
|
|
* EMOTIONAL SUPPORT
|
|
There's a suicide helpline accessible by e-mail. Send your message
|
|
to jo@samaritans.org -- No syntax, they have humans! Also any mail to
|
|
care@netservs.com returns a listing of hundreds of emotional support
|
|
resources on the Internet.
|
|
|
|
* CANCER DATABASE
|
|
To access the National Cancer Institute's database, send e-mail to
|
|
cancernet@icicb.nci.nih.gov with "help" or "spanish" in the message body.
|
|
|
|
* ISPs BY AREA CODE
|
|
For a list of Internet Service Providers in your area code, send this line
|
|
to an Agora server: http://thelist.iworld.com/areacode/???.html (where
|
|
???=your area code)
|
|
|
|
* E-MAIL TO FAX
|
|
Full-featured service with free trial period. They also accept resellers
|
|
who are able to promote the service on a personal home page. For details,
|
|
send e-mail to fax@hasada.com
|
|
|
|
* E-MAIL TO SNAIL-MAIL
|
|
Need to get a message to someone in Britain who doesn't have e-mail?
|
|
Send it to PaperMail! For full details on this fee-based service, send
|
|
e-mail to info@papermail.win-uk.net
|
|
|
|
* INTERNET TIMELINE
|
|
To learn the history of the Internet from 1950 to 1996, send e-mail
|
|
to timeline@hobbes.mitre.org
|
|
|
|
* COUNTRY CODES
|
|
Stumped by those 2-letter country codes in Internet addresses? Send
|
|
e-mail to address-codes@newbie.net for an explanation.
|
|
|
|
* LEARN TO SPEAK GEEK
|
|
Get BABEL, a glossary of computer abbreviations and acronyms by sending
|
|
to listserv@vm.temple.edu with GET BABEL TXT HELP-NET in message body.
|
|
|
|
* FINANCIAL AID FAQ
|
|
A comprehensive guide to higher education financial aid. Send e-mail
|
|
to query@finaid.org with "send faq" in the message body.
|
|
|
|
* TRACK UPS PACKAGES
|
|
You can track your UPS packages now thru e-mail. Send an e-mail to
|
|
totaltrack@ups.com and in the subject or the body place the
|
|
complete tracking number.
|
|
|
|
* FOR FURTHER READING
|
|
A variety of helpful files are available by sending to one of the webmail
|
|
servers listed earlier in this guide. Use the "send" commands below in
|
|
the body of your message to the webmail server.
|
|
|
|
send ftp://ftp.crl.com/users/iv/iverham/email4u.txt
|
|
- for additional information on e-mail retrieval services
|
|
send ftp://ftp.crl.com/users/iv/iverham/fun4u.txt
|
|
- for other fun things you can do with e-mail
|
|
send ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/gb/gboyd/wsintro.faq
|
|
- more details on using web search engines by e-mail
|
|
|
|
SOMETHING MISSING?
|
|
------------------
|
|
|
|
This file should be somewhere between 1300 and 1400 lines of text, and
|
|
about 58KB in size. If the file you have is much smaller, or says
|
|
something like "part 2 of 2" near the top, you're missing something.
|
|
Most likely, that's because your mail system has file size quotas that
|
|
prevented part 1 from reaching you. Here's the solution:
|
|
|
|
To get the file in multiple chunks, send to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
|
|
and enter only these lines in the BODY of the note:
|
|
|
|
size 25000
|
|
send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email
|
|
|
|
The mail server will break up the file into chunks of 25000 bytes and
|
|
send them in separate messages. You can change "25000" to another
|
|
number if it suits your needs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
|
|
---------------------
|
|
|
|
I welcome 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 services in future editions of this guide.
|
|
|
|
E-Mail : BobRankin@MHV.net
|
|
Web : http://biz.mhv.net/drbob
|
|
US Mail : Bob Rankin / P.O. Box 39 / Tillson, NY / 12486
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Copyright (c) 1994-98, "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!
|
|
|
|
Persons wishing to summarize this document in other publications
|
|
may do so, but please include the instructions herein for obtaining
|
|
the full document. I also request that you kindly supply me with a
|
|
copy of the article when published.
|
|
|
|
# # #
|
|
|