351 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
351 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
Chaos Corner V03 N03 31 May 1993
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Mailbag -- Chaos Corner now world readable?
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Dr. Chaos wants to thank Hubert Roth in Grenoble for pointing out that
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the PostScript version of Chaos Corner Volume 1 was protected and was
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not available via anonymous FTP from pelican.cit.cornell.edu. The
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problem has now been corrected and Dr. Chaos has verified that all
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back issues and "annual issues" are world readable. Speaking of world
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readable, Chaos Corner does have subscribers from all continents
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except Antarctica. Does anyone know if the research stations there
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are on the Internet?
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-------------------------------------------------
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Mailbag -- Earthquake Information
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Ken Stuart at CIT's Helpdesk sends a note about an online US
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Geological Service database of earthquake information. When Dr. Chaos
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tried to check it out, the machine seemed to be taking a holiday (it
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is a holiday in the USA today), but try to telnet to NEIS.CR.USGS.GOV
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or 136.177.20.9 and respond to the 'Username:' prompt with 'QED'. You
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should be connected to the USGS Branch of Global Seismology and
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Geomagnetism.
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-------------------------------------------------
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New Job Titles
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As Cornell University just winds up a multi-year job classification
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review and attempts to re-rationalize job titles and salary ranges,
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it seems appropriate to point out that new organizations often have
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job titles that don't fit into the traditional mold. Dr. Chaos
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received a subscription request from Creed Erickson at Taligent, Inc.
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who claims to have a job title of Spurious Interrupt. When asked
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about it, he responded that he was giving serious consideration to the
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titles "Associate Rocket Scientist" and "IBM CEO in Training".
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-------------------------------------------------
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Amateur Radio Information available
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The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has the ARRL Information Mail
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Server. This automated server lets you access many of information
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files containing information about various facets of Amateur Radio.
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You can retrieve any or all of these files by sending an email message
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to info@arrl.org. Each file you request is mailed to you
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automatically, usually within a few hours.
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Each line of the message should contain a command as shown below. You
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may place as many commands in a message as you want. Each file you
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request will be sent to you in a separate message. Only ASCII text
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files are supported at present.
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Valid INFO commands:
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help Sends this help file
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index Sends an index of the files available
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send file Sends "file" example: send email
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quit Terminates transaction (use if you have
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a signature at end of message.)
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reply <address> Sends response to the address. Put this
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at the BEGINNING of if your From: address
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is not a valid Internet address.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Ham Radio CD-ROM Available and other CD-ROMs
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The QRZ! Ham Radio CD-ROM contains the complete US CALLSIGN DATABASE
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(March 1993 Edition), PC (MSDOS) compatible search and retrieval
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software, and tons of ham related material totaling over 500
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Megabytes! If you want more details, ftp the readme and index from
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cdrom.com:/pub/cdroms/ham.
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The price is $25. S&H is $5 for US/Canada/Mexico, and $10 for
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overseas. (CA residents add sales tax)
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1 800 786-9907
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1 510 674-0821 FAX
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orders@cdrom.com
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Here is a list of some other CD-ROM titles published by Walnut Creek
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CDROM:
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CICA Microsoft Windows CD-ROM - Shareware collection $25
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Simtel20 MSDOS CD-ROM - shareware/PD swr collection $25
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GIFs Galore - Thousands of GIF images $25
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Hobbes OS/2 CD-ROM - shareware & PD collection for OS/2 $25
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Garbo MSDOS/MAC CD-ROM - shareware & PD for DOS and Mac $25
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Sprite CDROM - Sprite Research Operating System $25
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Nova CDROM - NeXT Workstation software $40
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Source Code CD-ROM - Usenet source archives on CD-ROM $40
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X11R5 and GNU CD-ROM - X11R5 Window System Source $40
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C User's Group Library CDROM - C source code $50
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Libris Britannia - British shareware $69
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For a more detailed list, you can ftp the latest catalog from
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cdrom.com, look for the file /pub/catalog.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Trying to locate files? - New version of Xarchie available
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Xarchie is an X11 browser interface to the Archie Internet information
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system. Archie provides information about files available for ftp
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anywhere on the Internet; Xarchie displays this information using an
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easy-to-use, point-and-click interface. Xarchie allows you to further
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explore ftp sites by examining directories returned as query matches,
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and allows you to retrieve files located this way.
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Xarchie 2.0 has been extensively tested on R4, R5, and a variety of
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other flavors of X, and on a wide range of systems. The completely
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revamped version is now available at export.lcs.mit.edu as file
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/contrib/xarchie-2.0.tar.Z
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While you are there, Dr. Chaos recommends that you also take a look at
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the recently released version 2.0 of Xminesweep in file
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/contrib/xminesweep2.1.tar.Z. Of course, don't forget to specify
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'binary' before transferring these files.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Sound Blaster support and Internet Talk Radio archives
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Always wanted to use the Microchannel version of the Sound Blaster
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with AIX on the RS/6000? A device driver is available that is
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dynamically loadable and comes with ODM auto-config (Object Database
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Manager) programs to configure/unconfigure. It also has a SMIT
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interface and installation of the package conforms to AIX "installp"
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guidelines.
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The package includes several X/Motif applications for digital
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sampling, FM synthesis, MIDI music files, editing custom FM sounds,
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audio mixing, text-to-speech and X-Windows games with FM sound.
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To obtain this package, ftp (anonymous) to: ftp.uwp.edu and look in
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the pub/rs6000/soundblaster directory for the files sbp.tar and
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sbp.README. In Europe, use site ftp.funet.fi and locate the files in
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the pub/unix/aix/rs6000 directory.
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For further information, contact the author, Dev Mazumdar, at
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dev@hollywood.acsc.com
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For information about the archive site locations for Internet Talk
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Radio, send electronic mail to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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WUARCHIVE ftp Server is available - version 2.1
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The Washington University Office of the Network Coordinator has
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announced the release of a new version of the wuarchive FTP server.
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This release includes full documentation for installation and
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configuration, and reportedly is very easy to compile and install.
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See wu-ftpd-2.1/INSTALL and wu-ftpd-2.1/NOTES for more information on
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how to install and operate this ftp server.
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The server may be retrieved via anonymous FTP from wuarchive.wustl.edu
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in the directory /packages/wuarchive-ftpd. There are two distribution
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formats, a tar file and a shar file. Fetch one of the files, and use
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the appropriate method to extract it -- the individual files will be
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stored in a new subdirectory called "wu-ftpd-2.1".
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-------------------------------------------------
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THE - a free clone of Xedit or Kedit
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Has "downsizing" got you down because you lost your favorite editor
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and you feel like you will never learn vi or emacs? Eric Giguere at
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the University of Waterloo reports that Mark Hessling's THE editor, an
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XEDIT clone for OS/2, DOS and UNIX, is available on rexx.uwaterloo.ca
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in directory /pub/editors/the. The DOS and OS/2 executables are in
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the file theexe11.zip, and source is in thesrc11.zip and pdcurs21.zip.
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(To use THE under UNIX, you will need to get thesrc11.zip and compile
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it yourself.)
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-------------------------------------------------
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Maps of the Internet and other places
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Although they are mostly over a year old, there are a number of
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PostScript maps of the Internet available for anonymous ftp from
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nsinic.gsfc.nasa.gov (128.183.112.71) ... look in the /maps directory.
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If you want to get a file describing how to get access via gopher to
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US Geological Survey maps, utilities, and information ... send your
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request to Dr. Chaos at chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Want to know more about Fractals? -- get the Fractal FAQ
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Like most lists of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), the most recent
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copy of this FAQ is archived at places such as pit-manager.mit.edu
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(18.72.1.58) in the file /pub/usenet/news.answers/fractal-faq and on
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ftp.uu.net (137.39.1.9 or 192.48.96.9) in the compressed file
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/usenet/news.answers/fractal-faq.Z (don't forget to specify binary
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file transfers when retrieving compressed files).
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If you have trouble remembering 'pit-manager.mit.edu' you can always
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try 'rtfm.mit.edu', since that is an alternate name for the same
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machine.
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-------------------------------------------------
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IBM MONITOR REPAIR: Models 8512, 8513, 5154, 5175 and 3192
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Ask Dr. Chaos at chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu if you would
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like information on failure modes and repair instructions for IBM
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monitors, models 8512, 8513, 5154, 5175 and 3192
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-------------------------------------------------
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Would you like to visit an Electronic Art Gallery?
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An electronic art gallery named OTIS now spans the length and breadth
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of the computer networks of the world. OTIS exists: "...to distribute
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original creative images over computer networks for public perusal,
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scrutiny and retransmission; to facilitate communication, inspiration,
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critique; and to set the foundations for digital immortality." The
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OTIS creators claim, "The basic idea behind "digital immortality" is
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that computer networks are here to stay and that anything interesting
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you deposit on them will be around near-forever." As of May 1993,
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OTIS has two FTP sites:
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141.214.4.135 (projects/otis), the UWI site
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sunsite.unc.edu (/pub/multimedia/pictures/OTIS),
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(you can GOPHER to this site for OTIS as well)
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For more details, including guidelines for contributors, send mail to
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chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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-------------------------------------------------
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List of Bulletin Board Systems accessible from the Internet
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Bill Schwartz at aug3.augsburg.edu has the following advice on getting
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the latest information on BB Systems that you can telnet to while
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connected to the Internet:
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send email to bbslist@aug3.augsburg.edu and the computer
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will reply with the lists, subject and contents of your
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message don't matter.
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anonymous ftp to aug3.augsburg.edu look in files/bbs_lists
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-------------------------------------------------
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The Official Word from the White House
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At random intervals, the White House makes available summaries of
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events generated by the White House staff (e. g. news conferences,
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radio interviews, etc.) To subscribe to this summary service, send
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electronic mail to:
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almanac@esusda.gov
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In the body of the message, type
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subscribe wh-summary
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To request a specific document from a summary (e. g. the full
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transcript of the news conference), send a message to:
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almanac@esusda.gov
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and in the body of the message
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send white-house number
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where number is the request number for the document (the summary will
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tell you which document to request). Dr. Chaos notes that this
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service was active and useful BEFORE the firing of the White House
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travel staff ... there hasn't been much activity recently and it will
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be interesting to see the changes wrought by the newly appointed Press
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Secretary.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Answer to the question, "What is the Internet?"
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Ever need a ready cocktail party answer to this question? While Dr.
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Chaos doesn't guarantee that this is THE answer, it just might help
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you understand what kind of answer to give. This INTERNET DRAFT is
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produced by the User Services Working Group of the Internet
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Engineering Task Force (IETF). Containing a modified chapter from Ed
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Krol's 1992 book, "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog," the
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paper covers the Internet's definition, history, administration,
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protocols, financing, and current issues such as growth,
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commercialization, and privatization.
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Internet-Drafts are available by anonymous ftp from the sites listed
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below. After logging in:
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Type "cd internet-drafts".
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"get draft-ietf-uswg-fyi-00.txt".
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Internet-Drafts directories are located at:
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o East Coast (US)
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Address: ds.internic.net (198.49.45.10)
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o West Coast (US)
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Address: ftp.nisc.sri.com (192.33.33.22)
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o Pacific Rim
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Address: munnari.oz.au (128.250.1.21)
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o Europe
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Address: nic.nordu.net (192.36.148.17)
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-------------------------------------------------
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Special until July 1! Quality PC Utilities
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These are packages which they have developed and added to their
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"software toolbox" during 12 years of computer consulting. Many of
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them came into existence because they needed a specific tool and could
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not find an existing one for the PC which (1) worked, and (2) met
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their professional standards. The packages run the gamut from low-
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level PC utilities to high-level applications of general interest.
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Because this process is automated, requests to their Mail Server must
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conform to the following conventions or else the server software won't
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recognize your request:
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1) Email must be addressed to "joan@grebyn.com".
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NOTE: CompuServe users should send through CompuServe's Internet
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gateway by addressing it to ">INTERNET:joan@grebyn.com".
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2) The "Subject:" line must contain "Mail Server, Please", although
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case is not significant.
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3) The body must cinsist of a limited set of commands but for now
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suffice it to say that you should use HELP or CATALOG to get
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started.
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While Dr. Chaos has yet to personally use any of these utilities, he
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thinks it is an interesting concept for software distribution. Note
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that until July 1,1993, the fully set of PC utilities is available for
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only $30.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Wrapup of V03 N03
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Apologies for the length of this edition ... sometimes it is really
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hard to stop once we get on a roll. Will we get the next issue out
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before IBM ships the non-beta version of OS/2 2.1? Only time will
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tell. Remember, for your own *free* subscription to Chaos Corner,
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send electronic mail to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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Dr. Chaos (I have a master's degree ...)
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